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Tara through the campaign many polos.
Fucking. Craig.
My Lord. Fucking Craig.
The Hand of Fate tosses the dice rolls, spins, turns.
The campaign starts and ends, leaving memories that become
stories. Stories flow out into the
infinite sea, painting it with legends.
Legends wash up on the shores throughout the Infinite Sea,
fading to myth until myths are forgotten and campaign that gave
it birth comes again and again. The hand of fate tosses the dice
rolls, spins, turns. Hitherto, we left our adventures
on the second level of Hell Lust, where they found
themselves after solving the next side on the tridecahedron
in a rush after. After escaping the quickly
flooding chambers of Kai Shen which was soon to be electrified
on top of it, they escaped from his heavily defended prison back
to his the church in the caverns with with a plan to move out of
all of hell entirely and give up on taking over the crashed
astral ship that is Kaishen's prison.
They had beat beat a handful of the 100 or so guards that stood
in in their way to his prison and had hoped to kill them all.
Now with the Tridecahedron next size side solved, hoping it
would be that lead them to the first level, realizing instead
that it dropped him on the second as it flashed red and
sent. Faust was able to inform them
where they were headed with the book that he has, which you
should have stats for all that. Now, now, now they stand, water
evaporating quickly off of their shoes in a blistering heat of a
desert Oasis with what appears to be a Tavern called the Crusty
Mummy or the Dusty Mummy. It's hard to read the sign, all
holding hands with their torques off and in a locked lead box in
the pocket Rocket. Let's find out what happens this
time. Well, all right, for some place
new guys drink. I don't like standing with her,
and Ezra reverts to looking like a humanoid like everybody else
so that you know sand doesn't get in his fur.
I can't feel Heat did. You say you can't feel your
feet. No, I can't feel heat.
Oh. Lucky.
Yeah, I know it's. A way to.
As far as this is nice humid. Here.
I like is there a sky? Oops, sorry, I just.
She'd, she'd asked if it was hot and humid.
And to that answer, no, not really.
It's more of a dry heat, but not quite as sweltering as where you
guys came from on the fourth level, which is nice.
So it's, it's kind of a relief, but it's still easily, you know,
hot enough that you could, you could find yourself dehydrating
if you weren't. You know, with.
Dry heat. It's a humid heat.
It's a dry heat. Very.
Dry and there is a sky above you, Franklin, but it just looks
like a kind of grayish wash of yellow hues on top that are
coming from some sort of light above you.
But there's no clear ceiling. No, no, he falls down.
Never seen this guy before. Ezra's going to pick you up and
hold you. Which direction is down?
This is terrible. I need a ceiling.
I think it's more clear which direction is down without a
ceiling. But we're in hell.
Do numbers count up or down? I don't know, I never learned
how to count. Mama, Ash, do do we have to go
number go up or number go down to get out?
Yeah. We have to count down because
we're on the level 2 and we want to get to level 1 and then
hopefully that's the way out. And numbers.
Oh no, we went wrong way. We counted off.
Oh God. Then we find the seal.
Break it. Here now.
Continue onwards. We need to get a little one.
That's the number we need to go to.
That's that's the one that's opened, right?
I believe so and we're on 2 so we are closer.
We could go inside here and ask some questions.
OK, I have my hand covering my eyes.
What? The hell is linear.
That's true just. Saying.
That is very true. I'm.
Assuming hell is linear. It doesn't sound like hell.
What do I know? I just have an ass.
Ezra. Ezra's going to put Franklin
from his hand, like in his arms on his shoulder, so he has his
hands free. I March into the bar.
I March on now so. Maybe I have to?
Be able to get in. Should be able to get in.
Yeah. Cool.
You guys go in and instantly feel the relief of the sun not
beating down on you. And it is a moderately cooler on
the inside as it seems that there are a couple wells that
are centered inside of an ovular shaped bar itself that are keep
keeping it somewhat cool. Besides the heavy thick stone
walls on the outside. Seems like a very well stocked
bar. Doesn't seem anybody inside
though at this time other than the bar keep themselves.
Who greets you as you walk? Customers.
Welcome. Looks like some sort of very
almost husk of a person. They they they look like they've
been left out in the sun for eons and you're surprised to see
them even being able to move and walk around.
It looks like they shouldn't be a mummy or dehydrated corpse.
Did you say that? Did you say there's a well in
here? Or a few wells it looks like.
Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, in his mind panics.
He sees how desiccated that guy is, and he remembers that
Franklin kind of looks like that too.
So he rushes over and places Franklin in the water, going
don't worry, don't worry, you'll be safe.
I go to the bottom 'cause I can breathe.
I don't breathe, so I don't need to.
I'm going to go check out the bottom while you guys talk to
this guy. Oxygen's not important.
It's fine. He needs to breathe.
I say Franklin, I mean. If we're in hell, aren't we all
dead? That's what I'm saying.
Are you Faust and getting in there too?
I see mommy is wandering in. And he's just going to let Ezra
do whatever the hell. I can't see the map by the way.
Oh it might be the Yep it is the tokens issue.
My bad, thank you. Sometimes that happens whenever
I'm copying them from one place to another.
They don't have their vision enabled.
That should work. Should be able to see stuff now
and I'm still looking for and I do not have not found your human
tokenism. You've been a.
You've, you've you've. I've been doggy for so long.
Your human form is lost. See a blank grid?
Oh, this is the killer Dorian. I'm retarded.
This is I'm a special. Oh boy.
Let's see, let's go back to it. Yeah, looks like the tokens
working on my end. So let me know when you get back
to that point there. Otherwise the the bar key you're
you're greeting Ash it sounds like.
Yeah, I would walk in and I'd greet them.
Yeah, it's still very. Dark for me, I can't see
anything. Just checking all of the tokens
are on the one spot case you were because I was able to
separate them before they they're all on the same map.
Everyone else can see all right though.
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Odd. Yes, yes.
Can you? Can you see your token?
No. I can see his token.
I can see the future. I can see clearly now the
table's gone. See something else here details
controlled by that might help. I would do it.
There's always all. These things.
Let there be light righty then. Yeah.
Did that work? Yes, I can see it now.
Awesome. Can you see me now?
Ha. Ha ha ha.
So you're greeting the barkeep and he's kind of like waving you
off for a second, Ash. And he's like.
Wait, I wouldn't go. Down all the way down there yet
and as you're like starting to type down.
I'm going down baby. Sending my squad out in front of
me just in case, but I'm going down baby.
Ezra just kind of turns. Ezra just kind of turns back to
him, like face kind of half shifted.
He he will not be like you. He will be hydrated.
OK, well, you should probably would be worried.
There's the the, the Frog King down there.
He's he, he he only accepts visitors on a paying basis.
So hopefully he has some sort of payment.
I run over and I just pull like 3 rubies out of my bag and throw
them down the well. And hits me in the head.
What the fuck? And I yell down, those are for
payment for wherever you're going.
We'll go back to what's happening down there.
So don't move, don't move your character, but you can kind of
see what's what, what you splash into after a second there
because I mean your token and shit, but but Josh is.
Ready for that? Yeah.
I want to shut the down here. I look up.
Go ahead. Is there a reason we are
behaving erratically with no information?
Franklin, what we do could end up like that.
And then I put Franklin in the water.
Is a pile of bones. No, he he turtle.
He just when he gets scary, he. Just isn't he bones?
Like actively. Right now.
Permanently now. Yeah, now permanently bones, but
I have I'm covered with the with all of my swarm, which takes the
facsimile of skin. So do you just not like how long
they're probably going to die? Well, pastoral, familiar.
Do they die? If you're not worried about him,
I guess I'm not worried about him.
So welcome to the Crusty Mummy. Home of the Crusty Mummy points
to himself. Can may I take your order?
I turned to him and I'm like you act.
Like our friend is going to. Be OK What's down there?
Oh, the Frog King. He he guards the well and the
the well source. Ezra says and thinks about frog
legs. I suppose the excellent way to
gather information is to charge head forward like.
Now we know there's a Frog King, yes?
We do OK, make notes of that frog king and well.
Frog King guards the well, interesting.
Who is this fraud king beyond guarding the whale?
Source. Oh well, they're kind of a
ferryman of sorts to other portions of the underground
aqueducts. There's only really one place
anyone really wants to go though, which is the underground
temples. Temples to who?
Depends upon who you I want to praise, I guess.
Praising kind of down. Here.
Also, it's because because you know it's so dry above, only
wetness comes down from below and.
Every beach we. Are in the, so this is where it
becomes the ring. Of life, hopefully.
Yeah, A. Boy.
What do you have for sale? Oh God.
What's the third? What does it?
What do you have for sale? He's wondering what drinks he's
got taking. The logistics.
Right. I think I hear Eric.
Hi, Eric. Hold on.
Wait, everybody says hi. Hi, Eric.
You're one of the few chosen
ones. Take your rifle.
Please. Well, we've got all sorts of
things for sale. I've got do.
You have anything edible for sale?
Oh, absolutely. What what's your what's what's
what's what's your flavor? I see, so that's pretty vague.
I guess anything has a taste if you try hard enough, even rocks.
No, no, like, like a good taste. I want, I want something
appetizing and delicious. What's your What's your most
delicious thing you have here? I well, I think it's going to be
a liver cordial, but that's just because I'm an IO deficient and
I like liver. You have anything with bread?
Bread. Pasta.
We've got a couple breads, but those are on the pricier side of
things. We don't get a lot of grains
growing, mainly meats. That's.
Fine. And.
Oh, no ale then. Oh def definitely ale, but it's
not going to be your standard ale.
It's going to be somewhat a bit of a a Moss and scrub grass type
stuff might be. Oh actually do you have?
Any. Go ahead.
Oh, actually, what? I was just just just going to
say that we we do have a a a very good since we're in the
Oasis, I've been growing and culturing my own lychees and
seeds that I can get from the aqueducts and have a pretty
decent lychee tea that I've just fermented into a male.
Scrub, grass, whatever. OK.
You have frog legs. No, I think that would be in
poor taste. I don't want to anger the king.
And he goes over to the wall, grabs the mug off of the wall,
goes over to what looks like to be an already tapped keg.
And you see as he spins the spigot out, outcoming a kind of
muddy looking ale, but it's not as thick as mud, just that kind
of coloration and sets it down in front of you with just only
the IT almost has no head, but it does have almost an
effervescence to it. He'll try a sip of it.
If it tastes awful, he's going to use Prestidigitation to make
the rest of it palatable. It depends upon what you defined
as awful, I guess. So he when you taste the sip,
you get a a decent earthy note that that is the main forefront
taste. But as it kind of fades, there's
some kind of sugared Carmelie back back notes that finish and
linger on the tongue. But.
He'd probably be fine during that.
Tell me more about these temples.
Oh well, they're going to probably be the main way you
want to get around is the temples lead to some of the
other. Factions that most of this is
desert if you hadn't seen and you're looking out across the
vents expanse of nothingness out there but yeah you find yourself
in besides the crusty mummy, this is one of the only Oasis
this is for hundreds of miles maybe thousands.
I don't I'm not real sure. I don't really leave, but I've
heard tales that there's a there's some marines out in the
waste and and one of which is the castle itself that you can
get to through the aqueducts. I think it's got to do with the
temples though and some of the back backroom tricks that
happened there to get in. I haven't had the pleasure and
I've heard also tale from that castle that the the queen, the
demon queen there is ruling it where this there is there's a
way out to to the next level of hell, but I've just never I've
never made it my mission and I quite like it here says with a
like creaking of their bones or skin.
You're not real sure when they're moving around saying.
Pride, the only Oasis, must be somewhat lucrative.
Yes, yes, even the Frog King himself comes up every now and
again for a drink with his cohorts.
Ezra hears that and his ears perk up.
He does. Oh, of course.
He won't leave the Tavern though.
Or the well, or the aqueducts. If he were to go out in the sun,
I think he would turn into a crisp.
Then maybe you'd have those frog legs that you're talking about.
But I shouldn't say anything like that, No, no.
Ezra is intently watching the the well now.
I need to buy him, I comment to myself.
Demon Queen? I assume she rules this level of
hell then. Oh yes.
I mean the the the the the frog King and the Demon Queen,
they're related. Is there any connection there?
Oh, kind of I anyway. Well, to answer your first
question there too, it was the Demon Queen who does take all
the overarching taxes and the frog king is kind of her tax
collector. But also besides that
relationship, I, I, I think there's something else going on
there. But tell him I said that.
I I don't know what that people all been saying but some of the
rumors I've heard her pretty lewd if you catch my drift.
So if we eat the king, we'd no pay taxes.
If he ate the king, I'm pretty sure the Demon Queen would eat
you. Not in the pleasant way.
Ezra Ezra transforms into his bipedal wolf and goes.
She can try. I think she'd like puppy.
She's fucked up like that. Mama Ash, what do you mean?
I think that means she'll eat dog and you are close enough to
that. So wait this is you said there
were lewd rumors about her and then she just eats people?
Well. There are there are plenty of
fluid rumors about her being that everything is so dry here
and she has quite a capitalization on the only wet
resources but but also, well, I don't know if you know, but you
find yourself in the realm of lust and.
I could have been. I can tell you another way, you
can pay for those drink that drink you just got if you don't
have any cash on you. And it and the there.
Is going to be a coin on that table.
Ezra kind of scratches the head. What do you mean, Lou?
I walk over to Ezra and I just lean down to whisper in his ear.
A quick definition of Lou. While you're doing that, the the
patron just goes. Well, that would be a silver.
Silver on the table, Silver on the table.
Shucks, just grabs it, joints creaking, slides it under the
table. OK, OK, so I'm just I'm just
trying to picture this. There's this decrepit looking
mummy guy or just very dehydrated person just giving
grand am the eyebrows like hey. Oh yeah.
Well, not Grand Am, but yeah. Faust, Yeah.
Sorry, sorry, Faust just giving him the eyebrows like oh.
The grand damn might have might have taken him up on it, who
knows? Andrew just kind of kind of put
like what what Ash told him and then looking at him, looking at
Faust, looking at him and he's down to Ash.
I'm not sure that worked. He might be missing something.
I I giggle that I don't like he might be.
What is the proper procedure for hiring the Frog king to travel
the aqueducts? Is standard going great for a
guided tour, I guess you could say would be 1000 gold, but he
could and that would take you straight to the cat castle and
and get you an audience to get you an audience with the with
the demon Queen. If what's to say?
I don't know why that would be. What would you're after?
I don't some people, though, have asked me that one before,
especially the adventures that seem to be keep popping up and
around here. That's another thousand gold.
You have very direct and you're very good at answering
questions. I didn't ask, but thank you.
Yes, sorry I've I've got experience in this.
Also provides another wink. 1000 gold to get a tour from the Frog
King and I dropped down 3 rubies with Franklin so hopefully
that's enough for him to not be. I don't know what he's going to
do to Franklin. I hope nothing.
Gold. For a guide to be guided to
what's slow, I'd look. At that, he'll do to be.
Oh. No, and they usually ask for
some favors as well, but yeah. And favors.
Yeah, if I'm being completely forthcoming, just with the, you
know, hopes that you'll order another drink and not pay with
that coin. If I give you a gold, stop
asking for that. Does this poor bark peep have a
dry spell going on? He's just desperate.
That would be an accurate observation considering the
context and the situation and also, you know, kind of wider
context of a desert. Yeah, poor guy.
So why doesn't he take a dunk in the well?
I've got to keep the bar running.
I see. I guess I'll take that gold.
Consider a payment for the information.
Thank you for your candid nature, Sir.
And you can see him visibly biting his lip without coming
out of some sort of smart retort.
You're welcome. Poor guy so bad.
Use mage handed. Just give him a handy real
quick. Still bad.
The most low effort? Like, wait, he says he's going
to dress well. Hold on.
Ezra thinks about that for a moment, as there has Nadia.
He goes to bipedal form, goes around the bar, hikes up his
leg. No, no.
I'll swat him with my cane with my staff, no.
Bad, he he said try, try. You can see him immediately like
it turn not immediately. So he, he was talking with you,
but seeing that you were approaching him rather.
And as soon as you're lifting up your leg, his eyes go wide.
And then he drops down to his knees and like puts his arms
back like ready for it like. And then when you're whacking
him with it, he's like, oh. Come on.
I I see. That I see that like we don't
give it away for free. It is expensive here guys in
bottles. Once it ever sees that he does
that he ever kind of like Mama? I said lewd.
I probably should stay away from you.
Only stay away from things that you don't like, which I say out
loud. No.
It says well as long as you mean only if you don't want to have a
fun time. But OK, you guys are more than
welcome to stay here on the on the floor if you need or I
could. That sounds like a trap.
I can easily, easily suggest that you follow your friend down
the well, but you might be a little bit less harrowed if you
were to take and he goes over to behind the bar and you just
notice now coming down from the rafters as he's like pulling on
some sort of not pulling but more like rotating a crank of
some sort. You can see behind the bar and
dropping into the well is a bucket or barrel, half of a
barrel that almost looks like into one of the wells that's
large enough to hold 2 medium creatures or you know, one
large. I like that better than jumping
in. So that what about breathing?
And that should be something we should worry about if we go down
there. But I do want to know what is on
these shelves lining the side of this building.
Those are most of my ingredients for cooking.
I've got some lizard tongue, some lots of lizard parts,
honestly. And then there's some, some,
some, some crab down in the aqueducts.
There's some, there's some good crab in and oh, oh, I used to
know them as shrimp. They're not shrimp.
They're the smaller form of they're like fresh water shrimp.
Crushes. Yeah, those things, I got some
of that. Maybe we should have a meal
before we venture down, or maybe grab just some rations and carry
on with our friend. Mom is going to cough real loud.
Like, yeah. Drink.
OK. You guys putting it in an order
then? I can give you the house
special. What is your house special?
What it? What is it?
Well, I'd said I like live with rut.
I know most people don't. So we stuck with the back straps
of of a lizard with the rattlesnake bites and like a
shrimp sandwich covered in and. His eyes kind of go one big, one
large, almost like he's enjoying it too much creamy.
Sauce, OH. No.
I'm moving. I get in the bucket.
I will take one of those. Fast I get in the bucket.
I I will take a meal of the day and a drink.
I look to Faust and I'm like, if you are going to head down there
ahead of us. I reach back into my bag and I
grab out. I'm like, hold out one of your
hands and I just pile like some gems into it.
Wait, I won't wait terribly long.
I put 13 gems into his hand. Of.
I'll give him. What is roughly the value of
these gems in my hand because. I'm I'll give him. 1000 at
least. 6 rubies and what did I say?
13 yeah. 7 Amethyst. I didn't spell that right, but
that's OK, right? Well, it'll take me a minute to
whip all that up. Oh, I forgot to mention there is
a, a pretty good coconut salad that I, I made the sauce out of.
I just had the flesh chopped up and then added in some some
herbs from my herb garden. It's pretty good.
Yeah, so mommy is going to say, yeah, I'll take some.
I'll take a coconut salad and bread.
You don't want the rest of the special.
Not the salad and sandwich sounds weird the po boy, but.
I think that's what somebody did call at one point is like a po
boy. I don't know what that.
Means exactly. OK, sure, sure.
Yeah, yeah. I want a Yeah special.
Yeah, I'm just thinking. Something that's not.
And a rum. A glass of rum.
Oh yeah, I can do. I can do rum.
We've got we've got barrels and barrels of that.
And he sets to sets about working some of that up.
You you might want to pick a table and I'll bring it over
when it's ready. Sure.
Yeah. All right.
At that point, I will go over to Franklin and then Foust to
follow it sounds like as you guys are setting up.
Josh, I also sent you a message of an item that Ash wants to
discreetly ask for. Oh, OK, yeah.
He just, he just would try. OK.
That would be oh, that's pretty common around here.
Yeah, I could get you that for a month's supply for a silver.
I I hand over 1 silver, I'm just, I'm like thank you good
Sir. And I kind of like caress his
hand as I put it, the silver palm into his palm.
And he grasps your hand firmly as you're starting to pull away,
and he just leans in. You're welcome.
In your ear and then goes to his work.
I just smile at him, wander back to the table.
Oh, I did leave one particular fact about this part of hell
that you guys have all starting to notice, especially you, Ash
and Franklin, who have a perspective on the world outside
of this. There's this weird perfumey
scent that seems to hang about everywhere, even as you could
come out of the bottom of this well.
And yes, I I said that correctly, even though it's
somewhat confusing. You're going down the well,
Franklin, just to describe for yourself and swimming, and then
you start to see a light at the bottom of it and then.
The light at the end of the tunnel.
Oh my God, I've been waiting for this.
And then as you get right to the edge of it, you feel your hands
go through the water, out into an open air.
As you pull the rest of your body through.
You're now in open air, you realize, and you do one of those
cartoon moments where you're just swimming in the air for a
second and then you're looking, you look, you kind of try to
turn yourself back around to look up at the, you see a
circular hole that is where the well, it is in the ceiling that
you just came through. And you're falling and you
splash into a pond underneath of you with a enormous frog that
sits upon it and a small tiny frog and the enormous frog
that's easily 2 times your size. Just bits as you're splashing
around. Turn around and see him.
Hi one second at Franklin. I pull out.
I will take a few steps back kind of gauging what's around
me, and then I will push off a divine sense to determine if
they're, oh, where is it? Find a man, find sense as an
action, detect good and evil. Until my next turn, I can sense
anything affected by the Hallo spell or know of any celestial
fiend undead within 60 feet. And it's a little thrown off by
that cell smell, that perfumey smell that I was starting to
mention. Oh yeah, How does that work?
Because I don't breathe. Do you have?
Nasal cavities. Yeah, he does.
In his skull. And does he have a sense of
smell? Because I don't think breathing
means you don't have a sense of smell.
But I guess it would be. Up to you, although in the in in
a technical sense, you know, I believe part of being undead is
no longer needing air. Correct.
Yes, that's why I'm not worried about swimming.
You've described yourself as being a skull and bones, meaning
you don't really have that many sensory organs left.
Wink. So we're going to have.
To tell them there. We're going to have to re flavor
it a little bit and say. Then Aura.
It's no he could. Taste it.
It's like permeating through the air.
It could be thick enough that he tastes it.
He also doesn't have a ton. Without a sense of smell, as
other senses could probably be heightened.
Like I'm not I, so just to clarify, I'm not specifically
trying to avoid whatever is going on, I just want to clarify
if I do avoid it because of the nature of the fact that I am not
an alive. Well, also, I mean, I was trying
to look at divine sense, right, which specifically states that
your your sense for evil is noxious odor specifically and
good comes through his music. But I think we're going to have
to even reflavor that as a bit of more of like less of a music
even for the good and and the evil.
And there's more of a ringing sound, we'll call it.
And there is like a higher pitched ring.
To the, to the. Good, maybe and and and.
Like a lower, deeper, bassy ring to the evil.
I ignore my own incredibly deep bass.
And focus around me because yeah the bones would still be able to
sense vibrations at least in my mind.
But toward that point and to finalize what I was saying there
about the the scent that everyone else is getting that
you apparently are missing. It's probably especially
aggravating Ezra, because for for everyone's at the tables
description, it is that of somebody that has used way too
much goddamn axe. Body.
Oh God. Yeah, my favorite.
I remember this from high school.
But for Franklin, this is This is because.
I teach when Mama has like the means.
This is totally what Mama smells like.
And for Franklin's sake, I guess it would come across more of
like a disharmonious humming that kind of just comes through
like somewhat interrupting your divine sense that permeates
everything there. And and even though that that
you now focused on it, at this point, I would say you're
getting some deeper hummings from the water and the frog in
front of you, probably maybe not as deep as your own, but still
pretty, pretty low Basie hums. Knowing, knowing now, knowing
this now, Franklin switches from passive to friendly instead of
going intimidation. I have advantage on it eating
charisma check with a evil aligned creature.
Hi, I'm Franklin and I wave. I look very innocent.
Hello. I like your house.
Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude by Fred Throby at a well 'cause
he thought I was dying and. Then as you're treading water
there, probably you've you're going to want to roll me a
Dexterity save me throw, we'll say.
Oh no Dex save? Or a sleight of hand, whichever
you prefer. Yes, I'll do a dex save 9.
You look up just in time to see the rubies on top of your head
and then bounce into the water. What the fuck?
Hold on, might go get off that hurt.
Thank you. And as you swim down to get
them, you see a little what you just hadn't realized quite
before, especially being on top of the water for the most part.
A tentacle looking frog's arm comes up to swing and grab the
rubies before you can catch them.
Oh. Oh, you're a fast one.
I wave at him too. Oh, so you don't?
Try to contest him for it. Sure, I'll try to grab some.
OK, not super fast. What do I do?
You're going to want to. Instead of that, can I try to
persuade him? I point at the things underwater
and I say, oh, those are actually by.
Sorry. Since you have advantage for
sure, yeah, go for it. I like having a high charisma.
22 I would say that works. He rolled a nine, thank you.
And he he rivets down into the water.
Come up and you see. I give him one.
Just from under you. He he who took him from you.
He surfaces or they. I guess it's big.
Big. Yeah.
Well. Oh, I don't even know how.
Let me see here. What is that distance again?
His main main body is 20 feet across, comes up, water flowing
off of them, one of the tentacles that are holding the
three rubies present to you, and then two more come out of the
water doing the same thing because he didn't specify who to
come up it sounded like. You can have two more.
Rubies so frog in the middle but.
Thank you. You said we could have one.
Yeah, of course we're friends now.
OK. And then his tongue just flies
out and snaps one of the last one up out of the the other.
The other one's technical and he.
You guys eat Ruby's? Disappear in his mouth.
No, I would just store them here.
Like you're a big piggyback. I'm a frog.
Oh, you're a big froggy bag. I'd have.
This is. Cool.
Bit of the Bank of this level. Uh huh, I like your flora here.
You keep a well maintained bio but if I take a few cuttings,
our bio diesel, some additional species.
Well, that's mainly the bartender above that does our
planting the. Leech.
Well, do you buy it? It's just a small piece that I
could plant some, but a little. I don't think so, not after
you've given me the Ruby. Oh, thank you.
OK, I send off. Hey boss, could you get a
respectable yet honorable cutting from each of these
plants so that we could plant them in the bio but get more
oxygen? I should tell the others they
would like it here. They could probably come out
here anyway. So.
And almost out of reflex, all three frogs see your bugs start
to scatter. Actually, all four.
Do you have my friends? And it was.
Sorry it's a little too late. Yeah, fuck.
Don't you kill your boss? I'm like, I don't have to go
into combat immediately. Oh no.
You're not seeing anything on your side, are you?
No, not any rolls that you're making.
Oh, it's because it's just ADC strength check.
That's all I need. So I'm going to need a strength
check from, I guess, the dire cricket.
Sure, I have a dire cricket tab on my computer as a strength
plus one. So I will roll AD 20 and then we
will see what happens. Trying to be friendly, 17.
You see one disappear. That's all right.
You know, I just released about several thousands of them on the
last floor. Otherwise, I would kind of save
more for you guys, but I'd appreciate it if you did attack
by familiar. They are like family.
Oh, you're going to have to do that three more times.
I'm sorry, because there was, there's four frogs.
Oh God. At this point. 13176 BRB, says
Jesse. I see that, yeah, but three more
disappear, so a total of 4. And I I really don't want to do
that to Amos, but. My baby boy.
He's definitely the first one that was out there.
Where are you? Where do?
Where would Amos be when he's talking to you, though?
That would be my. On my shoulder.
On your shoulder. Yeah.
No, I don't think that would be. I think they would just be the
ones that were trying to go out and get some clippings for you
is probably the first ones that that would have caught
everyone's eyes. Yeah, exactly.
Because he was still attached to you as like an entity.
So they knew that you were a friendly, more or less, and then
they seen bugs start to migrate away from you and they're just.
Like oh that's fine, I'm willing to trade a quality of bi dire
crickets in case you need a population.
I don't really see any active organisms in here outside of
yourselves. Probably because you ate them
all. But you know, no, no judgement
here. That wouldn't be.
That wouldn't be bad, but could we get like larvae and we could
like put them in stasis? Oh, like a frozen?
Yeah, I mean, I could totally do that.
My stock is a little low right now.
God, why am I talking about this?
I sound like rural. Yes.
We'll come up with a deal with that.
It'll be great. What is this place?
Do you know how to get from here to the first level of hell?
I'm the frog king. Oh, congratulations, my Lauren.
Is this your Kingdom? It is.
It's nice. Nice.
Well, I sit. This is essentially my throne
room, but from here I can get to most anywhere in the.
Deserts of the second level. Wow, so it's the underground
highway? Yes, you just need to well,
maybe I don't know exactly what that means, but I I'm I'm taking
from context here, sure. And it just has to do with who
you can please and one eye blinks slowly.
But who you could please? OK, don't really know what that
means. But do you think, do you know
where the seal to the first level of hell is?
We're trying to get out of here. I just talked to someone.
We got a narrow window of opportunity, got to capitalize
on it. His eyes get real big.
And then one of the. Other guys too.
Larger frogs tongues snap out and lick his eye before snapping
back in his tongue in his mouth so it's like one of the other
frogs licks his eyes and he just ribbits real loud.
It's a cool ability, Dad, I'd like that.
He goes. Sorry, I was distracted.
What was the question? I don't remember.
Oh, yeah. Do you know how to get from here
to the first level of hell? That's where we're trying to go.
We've got so many adventurers coming through here.
Gosh, you must be. Adventurers, what is that?
Thought you were going to be one of my cohorts.
I thought we were going to start a whole new faction or
something. He's mumbling this.
Action. Faction of what?
He's he was mumbling that if you want to roll a.
Perception. I have a passive perception of
20. Twenty you probably caught like
the keywords and you say faction.
What is a? Faction and he goes.
Don't worry about it, kid. OK.
I was trying to stay on the topic as much as possible, but
there is a way out. You just have to break the seal.
He left. Yeah, that's what we did last
time and. Then he stops laughing and
abruptly and go and focuses both eyes even though one's on the
other side of his head so you know that's it's turned at a
cock eyed angle 1 towards you and the other directly straight
and he's eyeing you like. What'd you say?
You've broke a seal of hell. Yeah, several.
Yeah, I, well, I'm not going to show you.
Well, actually everybody know that part.
Yes, we've broken several seals of hell.
Gosh, I think fifth level, fourth level, third level.
No, that third level, we GP, we TP Ed out of there.
So 2 so far that I was a part of maybe one or two more before
that. We've got an agreement with
someone on the surface because the first level's also broken,
so if we break the this one, we could just go straight to the
surface of the all set. His eyes go real squinty.
Do you? Say the fourth level.
I know for a fact the 4th level is still intact.
I don't remember what the 4th level is.
He just keeps. I don't remember which one is
that? Greed.
Greed, though. OK, fourth level.
So that we just left 'cause I blew, I didn't do anything bad
there. No, we, we just left greed
'cause it was a, there's a, there's a giant braid there.
That's kind of weird. And you keep trying to talk to
me and the I don't talk to older men.
Oh, well then why are you talking to me?
You're a frog. Oh, I guess for family and
vertebrae. Anyway, do you like it here?
At that point, as you're asking, do you like it here?
He just looks straight up and you see a couple droplets
landing just before where you were in the water and a what
looks like a bottom of a barrel come slowly lowering its way
down. And Faust from your perspective,
as you were going down the well, the water would kind of schluse
around the barrel and then create this cap over top of you
of just air that you sat in in in the barrel more or less, and
then it would lower straight. I don't know, maybe if I can get
your character token down here, but there it is.
It would lower you straight down on top of the water.
Actually, it probably lower you that one that you entered as
opposed to 1 Franklin entered would lower you straight down on
the island that this frog king is sitting on.
And can you see Roust I? See you.
Cool. Testing.
Yep, here you know. Sometimes my mic has been
cutting out lately, I don't know why.
Magic. And you can kind of see there's
like a hinged part where you can undo it so you don't have to
crawl over even the side of the barrel.
And you just are able to walk out onto the island.
And as you step out of the barrel, you see it kind of
jostle the line and then it starts to retract on its own,
almost back up through the well. Whoa, it's like a elevator.
Oh. Which robides me since we're
talking about Kai Shad. I pull out one of the corpse
heads that I have been cutting off of the guards at the prison
and I will cast speak with dad on it and I'll be like hey bud,
is Kai Shad really the like your prisoner there?
Would you mind? Sharing this beak with Dad, I
want to see what is going on. Now the time for this Franklin.
Oh I don't know, I'll just ADHD. I figure I'll ask this guy a
question, then I'll throw it to the one of these frog boys for a
snack. Frog King, I presume?
Yeah. Oh, you know, I'm already.
This is by Fred Faust. Ribbits in response.
Is this speak with that the one where you can only ask 3
questions? Yes, that's why I cut a bunch of
heads off so we could ask a bunch of questions.
So you get it. I'm still trying to find out
it's a feature and trait 'cause I have it through like my
warlock thing so I'm trying to find like the where it exactly
is. OK.
While you're doing that, I guess the greeting from the Frog King
going. It seems you guys are together.
Yes, this is my friend. Already paid for a sizable
chunk, so you're welcome to use the the the wellspring here.
It keeps at a constant warm balmy 90° in the water.
My companions and I are seeking passage to the I believe the
mummy called it to the castle. Oh, Cliff Castle.
Oh, are we? Seems to be that says.
Is that where the seal is I? Don't know that.
We need to be advertising our purpose.
Would be where the seal is 'cause I think that was his
question and he points to Franklin.
Yeah, I did. I advertise their purpose.
And he said you guys already broke some levels of hell
sealed, some of which I'm not so sure I believe, but could gain
with that caveat of knowledge could gain you an audience with
the Queen, but. So just for context, is it a
good thing we're breaking these for these people, or is it a bad
thing we're breaking them? You mean out of con?
Like, like, hats off. Yeah, hats off.
But I you would probably understand that they would want
out of hell as well, just like anyone that's in hell.
Why would if they're keeping them, why are they not breaking
them? They can't, but we they're a
bunch of panties. Yes.
There's something to. Do with It's because we're
players. Something to do with our
connection to the God then. Yeah.
For sure. Yeah, we've been giving a, we've
been given the ability to do so, but they have not.
I mean, in reality, we should be flaunting that ability like,
hey, like, don't fight us, just join us and we're all, you know,
GTFO. Then yes.
I mean. If they are not guardians of
them, we can. Advertise, right?
I was not aware. Said.
Yeah. No, we do not guard the seal.
We are. Your number of them.
Our intention is to break out of hell.
Yeah. Is admirable, but also, I hate
to say, laughable. Most do not.
Lots have tried, but none have succeeded.
Obviously. Certainly we've got information
from the outside already. But you have no reason to do
anything other than accept our coin and allow us passage then.
Absolutely not. We, we will.
We'll certainly do so. And the standard going rate
still stands for Passage to the Castle.
And he looks to you and Franklin and I don't know if the buck
heap above told you this, but to the castle is 1000 gold pieces
and an audience was a queen herself is 1000 on top of that.
You just said that she want to talk to us if we broke a seal of
hell, so we got to pay for that. Definitely negate one of the
additional favors that would be asked of you because I think the
Queen herself will want to speak with you.
But. Favors.
I do not see that breaking the seal would help us all that
much. You know, me being a Frog King,
I'm quite content in my Oasis. I mean you don't want to send
off like a some spawn to the real or to the surface world the
colonize there. I don't have any ambitions of
such, no. That must be nice.
Fairly good enough existence for me, although as a favour I would
like that you enter the temple before the the castle.
It is. It is harboured by all insight.
You can, you can roll insight and he just is sighing a big
froggy sigh and goes. What do you think happens after
you die? He asks.
Oh, I know this one. A guy shows up in a portal and
offers you immortality if you torture people forever, and then
yeah. I give Franklin a very concerned
look. You are in hell or not.
Yeah. And the frog shrugs.
Well, if that's what you wish, but.
It's not what I wish, it's what happened.
It's your belief, isn't it? You can change.
No, that's what happened. That's gross.
Are you sure you're dead? Pretty sure I show him my skull
face. I dare.
Wear that looks pretty dead. Yeah, pretty dead, but I've seen
worse. Have you seen?
Really. Yeah.
He looks bad. I think that's why they threw me
at the well, a bag of a a leather bag of.
Skin on top of some bones, so. Weird that he's got access to
headless water but doesn't want to drink it.
Oh, he drinks it. He just, yeah, there's nothing
that's going to help him now anyway.
Maybe he wants to leave. Back to the matter at hand, you
said something of additional favors on top of gold.
Ah yes, the temple so I was after.
Or rather, I was hoping that as a favor for taking you to the
castle that you could speak to the priests there.
They're the priests of the Deep, or of a sort, and they have sway
in what happens, in my way of thinking, for the afterlife.
I don't understand. Are you not?
You know what? Never.
Well, the real the real thing that happens for us is that if
we haven't provided enough and ate enough and produced enough
that we can't ascend to a high enough level.
And I just want to make sure that not only that I've done
this, but that I've given her enough back in doing so.
And I've done such for the temple many times before, but by
bringing adventurers there, they give me something to take on to
the afterlife. We went to a temple on the last
floor and they locked the door until some of us were at us.
Sure of them. Not really about that.
OK, well, if. He found his own man.
Another way that I can think of is that if you would would be
willing to resurface. And this is not everyone.
No, no one particularly wants to do this one.
This is why Ioffer the other one first.
It's pretty simple, but if you go to the lens outside of the
Oasis inside of the sand dunes, you can find some relics of the
past hidden amongst them. And if you can bring me back
one, I'm sorry. A relic of the a relic of the
past hidden. Rock.
No, it has rocks are very old. It has to be of great value.
About a big rock, What about a rock from the the realm of the.
Gods preferably a great value to us and me and my kin, but if
it's if it's at least something that we could find and sell to
someone else that would be reasonable.
But I don't think anyone wants Then you old rock for a great
value. I pull out a rock, or actually a
sack of rocks. I take one out.
It's rock. It's shrub.
Team with was, I'd be sizing these people up right now, but
I'm looking at these rock Hemus and I'm like, I don't want to do
that. And you're not just looking at
at frog, frog, he myths. You're realizing you're probably
looking at and this is at at the hat hats off thing too, just for
your own sake. Elder Frog he myths.
Oh, old giant frogs, got it. Yep.
All right, going. To yummy snacks for Ezra.
To communicate telepathically with the people upstairs.
Do we want to go into the desert or do we want to go talk to some
priests? Can't.
Do you have that ability just like inherently?
I can cast sending. OK, you'd have to do something
like that because the torques are too.
Short Yeah, the torques are gone because we don't want any
connection to fucking God damn it.
You give up good shit. Somebody's going to have to make
sending stones for us to just have.
Yeah, so sending stones would be good.
You have a shop in the in the pocket rocket we've yet to use.
Yep, there's a there's a couple crap goblin Craftsman that have
been living in there. And the guy who has his whole
magic item stockpile that we stole.
Acquired. I think you you have that all.
It's not legally acquired. No, I thought like he, we gave
it back to the the guy, didn't we?
Because he was the only one you could like, pull stuff out.
I don't want the magazine. No, we.
Strategically transported it the equipment to an alternate
location. What was that, Faust?
We strategically transported equipment to an alternate
location. I was speaking along with.
OK, but no, the you hadn't given it to him yet.
You would given it to the priest who the pimp preacher who who
tore pages out or took pages out for you invoking the curse.
But the curse couldn't be lifted except from he he'd taken a look
at it for you and said it couldn't be lifted except for at
the place like it had a it had a specific location inscribed into
it. That's why it was triggered in
the 1st place. So it can only could only be
really like uninvoked. So now it's just a cursed
magazine of a bunch of items. We'll just keep using that.
So we go back to that floor. What is your?
What is your price to perco these favors?
Priced well, I don't, but that's usually the going right already.
1000 gold and a favor. I'm doing you a favor.
You're providing me coin for my work efforts and a favor in
return. Not.
Fair, he says, with like. You're.
With a tongue. It sounds like you're describing
what is the term services rendered for payment but.
Why? Let's just go to the desert.
Why? What is the cost of the favour?
I watched GM wants a side quest. GM gets a side quest.
I guess I'm just going to wait for the others either to get
down here or the bucket to come back so I can go back up.
I mean, yeah, I think, what is it, Mommy?
I would go. I'll go back up here in a
second. You're.
Eating Ezra. What if Ioffer them blower food
too? Yeah, Ezra's up there with you
guys. Well, Ezra wanted food too.
I'll be. Right back.
Yeah, I would also just order him food.
OK. I offered you larva because you
like the idea of that. Wait, who are you offering larva
to? Today, the Frog King.
Oh, OK. The Frog King.
I don't think that would be an adequate trade for a favor
unless you were talking in the hundreds of thousands of can't
do that one yet family for generations, right?
OK, so choices are either to go to this temple, put ourselves
into the power of a God which the legs, or go into the desert
and find you some relics to sell.
Yes, and then this demon queen will want to meet us because
we've broken a seal. Absolutely.
That would that nullifies one additional favor as I mentioned,
right? OK.
How far away is the Demon Queen from here at these like cool
streams yacht? At least five days swim.
That's not bad. All right, well, thank you for
this information. I assume we have to talk amongst
ourselves as a group and decide what to do.
Is it like a straight shot? Is it like a map?
No, not really. Oh, underground labyrinth.
Yeah. Wait of the desert of the
waterways. Right.
He understood. The waterways, waterways, 'cause
like we could, we could, I could swim for five days and get there
by ourselves, but I don't know how to do that for.
Yeah, we would just need to know the way.
Yeah. So going back up up the well.
How do I do that? Oh, I was.
I stand at the bottom and I raise my hands and I go up east.
I was talking, I was talking like I'm going, I'm switching
the camera back up the well, sorry, no worries.
And the the bar keep walks over limbs creaking, sets down the
four plates each or three plates each with bowls of of the actual
dishes on top of them laid out for everybody, including the
sandwich, which seems to be less of a sandwich and more of a, an
what they call an open faced sandwich.
But you know, you still have to use a fork to eat it with
because there's no good way to eat it.
And then doesn't give you any utensils and just looks
expectantly at you guys waiting for you to eat.
Like here you go. So I kind of chuckle.
Mama's, yeah, Mama's going to give a big like, thank you and a
salute. And just like starting in bare
hands, Ezra's going to paw, paw the table and then paw the
floor. Hey down here guy.
My bad. Here you go.
Sets it down on the floor for you.
I start delicate, delicately eating with my fingers.
And he, he stands back up against the wall, pools some
sort of smokeable herb out and just watch as you guys eat and.
I make it a an effort to kind of be as Slurpee as possible.
I'm so glad to have customers eating my food.
Worst circle of hell? I want to go back to Wrath.
You mean greed? Where you guys were?
Greed to wherever. The electric bugaloo.
The whole time I'm eating too, I'm just making like direct eye
contact with a bartender. Makes a big puff.
From the from from the herb and just blows a ring out and
watches you through it. He's got the crustiest, driest
balls. He doesn't seem like he would be
a top though. Oh.
Shit, dude 100% has a. That's not that's not his skin,
it's his GIMP suit. He's really a skeleton.
Oh my. But the food you guys are
tasting is otherwise surprisingly delicious.
There the the sauce on on this on the sandwich you can tell is
some sort of it's got to be your your your hoping to the to the
highest ends that it's some sort of egg based substance with
light citrusy notes. And the coconut salad is
finishing everything off with the somewhat sweet and party,
but also still fibrous after tones that you need to finish a
meal off with that like that. Oh, what else did I say was in
there Lizard? Yeah, those are probably braised
chunks that were off in between in in its own bowl there with a
little bit of a a salty sauce on the side, brownish liquid that
seems to be intended for dipping.
And he says you got. To dip that.
I reach over and I. Dip mom.
I just kind of belt. I bet he loves both of these
things. The belching, the dipping.
He's not unhappy with any of it. He just bends over for a second,
as if like he's catching his breath with his hands on his
knees and just. Goes I'm so happy.
Is Bob noticing this place and is he silent through it all?
Like I have not taken the time to speak to it but I feel like
if there was any time he would just speak of it might be here.
Although I do think he is a bit of a pervert but only swings
towards the lady side of things I think.
He would probably have been more or less silent, kind of probably
taking everything in as well as in general.
He defers to you, so he's kind of like that, quiet.
But you can tell his eyes flare up at that moment, probably like
he wants to say something but he doesn't.
Upon noticing the eyes flare up, I kind of like, lean down to him
a little bit as if I am, I don't know, wiping my fingers off on
something. And I'm just like, So what do
you think of this place? I sit back up to continue
eating. And you just hear the faintest
whisper down from his skull. Just I.
Belong here. I chuckle and keep eating.
In the back of my mind I'm like, man, I wonder if we can find him
a body here. I don't even need payment after
that show. Thank you, I really do.
It's great to have guests by that enjoy my cooking.
Ezra looks at him. Keys.
What show? What show Their show?
I just kind of looked out. I don't like, don't worry about
it, it's OK. You feel the clawed, crusty hand
on your head. He's petting you.
Don't worry about it, boy. Ezra kind of growls and snaps
out in a little bit. No.
Oh. No, sorry, no, no.
I had a dog in my youth. It was reflex.
That poor dog. So while eating, I'm going to
ask him and be like, how long have you been the bartender
here? I don't know what year is it
anymore. I feel feel like we never did.
Ash remembers. Yeah, that's the thing.
No year has been stated, but we are in hell and there isn't
really a real passage of time. We just kind of adventure until
we get tired and then we take a nap and then we get up and we
adventure some more until we get tired.
Yeah. And then?
We just goes through and it just goes 5.
That's true, nobody knows. I guess we never asked each
other what years we come from. Maybe we're time travelling.
Oh goodness. Yeah, So what year does Ash
remember? I feel like we established a
timeline forever ago when you guys were back at like the
witch's Hut because there was like a question about the fact
that they've been in hell for like 300 years.
So I kind of established 1 based in the sense that 300 years
since the last breaking. So to your guys's or for when
they since they've been in hell. Actually, it was 300 years, but
it been 200 years since or before that even that that last
breaking was. So it's been, it's like 500
didn't. We'll say now we're up to 504
top side, but Franklin probably wouldn't know that Nope at all.
Never learned the dates. You would probably still think
it's like 501 because you don't. You haven't been able to follow
time very well down here, but. So that's how I would respond.
Like the last I checked it was five O 1.
I don't know what are. That was great.
Yeah, I was like, I was, I was just trying to think is like
something. AB.
After break AB Yeah, that sounds good.
Five O 1 AB the last time I checked.
AB. Edger Edger's account attempting
to count 1-2 3/4. Emily knows how old he is. 501
after the last recorded breaking.
Interesting. I was around I think since
something like 20 maybe, but that can't be right.
I've just been serving drinks here.
I don't know, time works weird down here.
That it does. And you said you don't get a lot
of customers. When's the last time you had any
patrons to this place? I say, licking sauce off my
fingers. Hard to say, the sun doesn't
really set here. I I but I I want to guess.
They came and told me it was around 300 AB so I'm not too
surprised. If you're telling me it's 500
now it's time. It's weird.
Also, the last person you served was 300 AB.
That was a hot minute ago. Yeah, every minute it's hot
here. I bet.
For constantly adventurers going through I'm not there, but yeah,
I. Was going to say every couple
100 years but maybe they don't make it to this level very
often. Ezra, you know, gets done with
his food. He kind of like paws up on the
table and starts licking at Mommy and Ash's plates.
That's fine, I figured Ash was pretty much done.
I want to continue asking him questions.
Have you been outside the bar? What's it like in this level of
hell besides in your nice pleasant bar?
Oh no, I have not been outside of the bar in all that time and
it's never see any point I guess unless you count the frogs
spring down below. Oh, so you have been down there?
Yes, the. Frog Queen King.
Sorry, the frog King. He he's invited me down once or
twice since. I've served them drinks on
several occasions. I'm standing up at this point.
I'm walking around the table to towards the the bar keep and I
kind of just like swirl my finger around on his shoulder
and I'm like, yeah, he invited you down.
Was it a good time? And I kind of like raise my
eyebrows a little bit. Oh yeah, it was.
Every time I go down it's a good.
Time and he starts to lower himself like he's trying to draw
on your what you're trying to say just looking for.
Information at the moment, but I mean any information is good
information. I mean, I shouldn't say that.
Probably give us something stupid.
He's still lowering himself down.
He's almost on his knees at this point.
I'm going to just like kind of walk past him and go over to his
shell. God damn fucking tease.
And just kind of like start playing with things on the
shelves and be like, so if you only go down to talk to the
frogs and you've only ever seen adventurers come through here
every what, like, well, 200 years ago, what do you do in
your free time? What happens around here?
Not too much like just gather resources as they come through.
Being one of the fair few Oasis in the desert here I'm able to
see many creatures come by, so it's where I get my resources
for the for the food you ate for instance.
So you're in a far a hard to reach place here in the desert
in the level of hell, in this level of hell, it must be awful
only. You're telling me and no one can
ever seem to find the right spot.
And as you're walking around, you see what looks like on the
walls, a large kind of depiction that you're guessing as you're
kind of letting your eyes wander across it.
It seems rather abstract but well I gotta I gotta add it but
it seems like kind of a map maybe but in the most abstract
way. I'm uploading it now so don't
mind me. And this is hanging on the wall
or etched into the wall. It's kind of more like a
combination of being etched and tiled in.
OK, like a mosaic. Yeah,
still uploading but. Oh OK, just taking it sweet old
time. Yep.
Are you uploading it to discord or here on rule 20?
Rule 20 so that we can have a constant reference for it.
So this map it's still uploading correct?
Yep. Does it look like a map of the
desert? Like is there any way you can
describe it to us just a little bit or?
Yeah, it looks like an overall map of the of the desert itself,
which seems to be a varying amounts of cliffs, kind of
ovular, sort of similarly shaped to the Oasis itself, but
expanding out with a a large vast waste in between each level
of the cliffs there. There are mainly 2 levels, an
inner level and an outer level. But just above the inner level
there seems to be a slightly more raised portion where the
castle it seems to be sitting is so and save changes.
So that should be in your handouts now.
There is a castle above ground, but we can get there through
the. Water, we're gonna.
Put them down. In many polis though, there it
is, second level of well, just a second level.
I gotta edit the name. Should be in your handouts now
though under Manipulus with a big arrow over top of the
Oasis saying you are here. Does anyone see it?
You are out here handouts. Hello, I'm looking Minneapolis
second level of hell. OK, OK, Oh, I know what this is.
Oh. Very good.
Ha ha ha. I get it.
That's. Enough it'll see an arrow, but I
do see a lot of that. No touching.
Hello. All right, so this is the mosaic
tile etched map that that we see.
Yeah, do you see? Dinosaurs on this.
Maybe. Oh yeah.
OK, I love the dinosaurs. That's my favorite part.
Well, we see it. Johnny just yelled down the
Clitosaurus, right? Hey, you said you said.
Remember this is coming from you since now that we were in a Dick
fortress, we have to be in a vagina one now so.
I mean, it makes sense. OK, so I see this map.
I leaned down towards Bob. I leaned down towards Bob and
I'm like, Hey Bob, do you recognize this map?
OK, hello. Hello.
Hey, think Josh is having trouble, Uh.
Oh, Oh no, you having? Problems.
Pretty good. They will lose Josh.
I can hear you now. I don't know what.
Keeps happening there. You said.
You leaned down towards Bob. I leaned down towards Bob and I
asked him, Hey, Bob, do you recognize this map?
And I, I'm trying to like kind of talk to Bob without drawing a
ton of attention to him, but I kind of like lean the hip that
he's resting on towards the map. And he just goes.
I know quite a few of those maps, Mistress.
Trying to hold my chuckles in, I turn to the barkeep and I'm like
a barkeep. I love this artwork you have up
here on the wall. Can you tell me about?
This and he stubs out his herb that he was smoking in a in his
own palm and he just and am I still there?
Yes. Dang it.
Yeah. We still hear you.
Hello. Hello.
Yep. Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you hear my voice? Do do do do.
Do. Do, do, do, do.
Oh. No, I mean like I said it.
Was no, it's gone away. I was.
Pretty worried we were going to lose Internet or power and down
in town and he lives way way up on a hill so.
Mm hmm. Uh.
Oh, fitting. Oh, no fitting.
That's a sad sound. Think he might have switched to
his phone. He's done that in the past, I
think. Yeah, I think he's muted it.
The trap on this one isn't the Internet.
Yeah, isn't the Internet at Josh's house through his phone?
No, no, because I've I've been and lived in his house and
worked from home while he was gone.
OK, so yeah, he doesn't have to rely on his phone for Internet,
but if anything interferes with it, I know that when I was
living with my mom, she lived really far out there.
And if like a bird took a shit on the satellite, this we we
lost Internet. Need tunnel fighters?
So anyway, I started blasting. I'm on board with this plan,
Frog. He must probably eat me whole
though, so maybe not. Dude.
So I point out the map to Ezra. I'm like, Ezra, do you recognize
this? Do I need to explain any of
these locations to you? And we want a quick, quick sex
Ed lesson with the desert map. The desert.
Ezra, just looking at it on It's a desert.
You're right, it is. It is a desert.
And then? And there and there's water.
Yep, I'm like, this is the Oasis.
This is like a. Good spot.
And this castle, this is where the queen is, this is.
Like the? Best spot This is the spot where
everybody should be. For all the parties are.
Really hard time finding it. Any future level lovers you have
will really appreciate you being able to find the Queen's castle
every time. As as Reg the.
Quest for the Queen's cast? Wait.
What does that say? He said I will.
I will take everybody to the Queen's castle.
Yes, do. That.
Turn to Faust. Good job on the thingy.
Get this here. What are you going to do when we
get to the real world or from to the surface?
I'm not the one for counting my chickens before they hatch.
What's a chicken? Oh wait, now we have cat.
No, wait, cat's in the other one.
Yes, cat is the thing. But he knows what a chicken is
now. But you're aware of cat.
I'm aware. It is a thing that has to
happen. In your polka dot.
Value true. Can.
You just let me know. Now I can.
Barely, but yeah. Oh.
My God I had some error that like I had to go, I had to
watch. I was like watching like a 5
minute fucking YouTube video to figure out it was.
Like. You had to go to.
I had to go to like voice and video and reset voice settings
because I kept getting like an RTC.
No no route was what it would kept telling me just randomly.
That didn't change anything else, it just did it on its own.
That's weird. Evolution the machines are
learning. Yeah.
Technical Difficulties is definitely the name of the
channel. So last I heard you were trying
to talk to Bob. Yeah, I just asked Bob if he had
recognized the map, and you said that all he did.
And then I wanted to ask the bartender to describe this
lovely artwork that he has here on the wall.
Well, Oh yeah, that's where he I started to describe before I
went down the and found that freaking video.
He takes the herb that he was smoking.
And then puts it out in his own hand and just goes yes, and
turns to the painting or the the mosaic and goes, Oh yes, that
that was done by some adventurers that were passing
through here and had made a pretty Standard Time of.
Going to the around and making connections.
They were one of the ones that, when I first got here, set up
some of the trading between myself and the Queen via the
Frog King. So is that the only trading that
takes place between you, the Queen and the Frog king?
I am really all that pervy to. Just wondering if there are any
other factions here that we need to be aware of.
Oh well, I guess the the temple and some of the that any of the
others there I've heard tail out in the desert.
You can see that the giant monsters out there too.
There are some enormous lizards that make their homes there
sometimes, but I've never seen them.
They don't come to my Oasis. Oh, if we find a lizard, we got
to give it to Bob. I turn all the way to him and I
kind of gesture towards the well.
I'm like, how long are my friends going to be down there?
Shouldn't they be coming back up after they've had talks with the
Frog King? Because I'm sure nothing's
happened to them. Well, if they didn't pay the
price, but I, I, I, you said you just threw down some stuff to
get to, they could pay. They they're probably just
hanging out and enjoying the the springs that are down there
getting a nice wash on I would guess.
Is that what you do when you go down there?
Oh definitely, I wash every crevice.
Well, how do we signal to our friends that they should come
back up? You want them to come back up?
I could just sit down the barrel again.
Yes. I would appreciate that.
It goes over to the bar, starts cranking again and grunting.
Again, I lean down towards Bob and I ask him, like, do you
recognize this guy? Oh, God recognize.
No, at least not in this current state.
But I was around. And he just kind of hesitates.
Never mind. I would.
I would, I've been around a while.
Were. You around before he was a
decrepit being. Possibly hard to really say.
The time people you the you the way that people measure time
anymore. Mistresses is just unimportant
to me for the most part besides the times in between when I'm.
You know my skull, or meant that of flesh.
I kind of give him a little gentle tap on the head.
I'm like, don't worry, we're going to find you a flesh form
soon. And I saunter over to the well
and I just kind of like look down watching the bucket go
down. I wanted, I do want to say out
loud that I was trying to make a mental note to memorize the map
as much as possible. So from your guys's perspective
then Faust and Franklin, as you guys are just kind of sitting
there splashing around in the water, you see a bucket lower
down from above. There's nobody in there.
Maybe they're invisible? And it stops just inches above
the island and kind of shakes. And the Frog King goes I, I, I
think your friends want you to go.
Up for them to come down. OK.
We could do that, a turn of house.
Do you have any other questions for this guy?
Again, the bucket. Yeah.
Oh, I, I said none but. I also get in the bucket and I
hug Foust around the pillow and I say it was very nice to meet
you, Mr. Frog King. Hopefully we'll see you very
soon and then we'll go see the Queen's castle.
Make sure we take care of that. I look at the screen I'm.
Sure, she'll show you her castle as.
Soon as he lets go over the hug, Faust is going to discreetly.
I don't. Digitation on.
Himself. Himself.
I don't. He's just gonna.
Hold on, dude. All right, all the entire ride.
My bugs are very clean. I'll have you know we don't
carry any diseases. We're fact, we're immune to
them. Did you make it out of there
with most of your bugs or did they get eaten?
Sounds like some of them got eaten, but yeah, well, most I'm
going to. Give them the rundown of the
Frog Kings and required favor. Personal actions I'm.
Talking to Personally, I think talking to a group of priests
would be the easiest route, but I have thinking suspicion that
the favor required is not so cut and drunk.
No, I mean, look what happened last time we talked to the
priests. No, they we killed all of them.
I suspect that he was some sort of Eldridge Horror that one once
our souls or something like that.
I can't have mine, it's already sold.
Well. Actually, that's a good
question. What if I signed another
contract? Will I just fight?
Your immortal undead body can likely be tormented for
eternity. That's.
True. Don't I know it?
All right, let's go out. You guys are up and they this.
Is me trying to convince like conveying the required favor
options to them? Go talk to priests or or we'll
go to the church and talk temple and talk to the people there.
Or go find a relic in a forgotten ruins.
Something of value. To his him or his people, or
that he can resell. I feel like.
Does that take us to the Queen's castle?
That's. Is Ash says It's very important
that we feel like if we find castle.
This is part of his payment to transfer or.
We just go there. I could.
I could breathe underwater. Value in the desert, we're just
right. Well, we're going to keep it
right whatever we find. So there's no point in going to
the desert to look for things 'cause we're not giving these
people shit, right? Well, I don't really want to
talk to their priests. What are our alternative
transportation methods? I could breathe underwater and I
could eventually probably get there, but I'd have to wander
around for a while. I say we go out in the desert
and if we find any relics we can probably just keep them for
ourselves. But I say we locate one of those
giant monstrous lizards our host has told us about because I have
a feeling we could get that lizard to befriend us and take
us to the castle. Confidence in your ability to
befriend a lizard. Where does?
It stem from. I kind of just pat like Bob's
call without saying anything and I was like, I've got a a a
couple of ways we could do this. I could I have the ability to
dominate a monster, so maybe that could be used in
conjunction, but aren't you guys going to die of this in the in
the desert? If we take proper rations with
us, water, food and a tent. We can take shelter in the
pocket rocket. And yes, that's true.
Shelter in the pocket rocket. That's true and I don't need any
of those things so. Long as we are appropriately
wrecked. Mommy, say that again.
Bobby Craig, is that you? My Lord?
We're working on it. I've sued to be at the property
of the. Mama, you're cutting out a
little bit. You are sounding like our evil
overlord that we definitely need to follow.
Or someone talking into a fan. That too.
They're their best imitation of a robot from the 1960s is.
That better? Yeah, actually, yeah.
That's wild, man. OK, technical difficulties.
Anyway, we we sleep during the day, we move at night.
That's fine. We utilize that pocket rod it.
Could do that. We would need enough food.
I've collected some corpses recently so we should be good at
protein, but it would probably be good to stock up again
because. Jalapeno poppers.
Let's ask our host here what all he could lend us on our
adventures. I have lost the ability to make
the jalapeno poppers. Oh no.
Let me check. Not the jalapeno poppers.
'Cause it's good, Berry. Yeah, that was from when I was
originally a rogue or a Ranger. Druid and Ranger.
Yeah, good. Berry you what?
I definitely cannot learn good Berry.
No, I I did at the start of the campaign.
Water breathing I can hook us up with but it only lasts an hour.
Well, no, I have hell clay. I can craft any food we need.
Oh, OK. Because I saw because I gave my
arm to that ghost and whatever level of hell that I started on.
Yeah. On level 5.
Composed of hell clay like tofu. Very nutritious.
All right. So I think that means we're good
to go as long as the pocket rocket is fully stocked.
Do we need? To have on that.
Anything else before we leave? I mean, I think that the wisdom
of taking a guide in an unknown place is something we should not
overlook. So you want to take the guy?
We're just going to steal the bartender.
Kidnap him? No, I think the I think it would
be 1. You can tell he's eavesdropping
because of that. He just, he just he, he.
He just goes, yes. Please.
He wants to come. Hey, actually, I turn around.
Do you like it here? Do you want to go to the
surface? I want him very far away from
me. Do you do you want to go to the
surface there? I don't you mean.
Taurus. Yeah.
Wait, what's it like these days? I don't know.
I'm around him. I want him nowhere near.
Me, I was only in a buy it basement when I was there.
I described the world I remember a vibrant cities, lush fields,
huge green growth forests, bustling people anywhere, and
plenty of places to satiate any appetite one may have.
I like the sounds of that I I guess I could go for that, but
my main main qualm with it is I don't know who would take care
of the crusty mummy here. I actually have a guy who
desperately doesn't want to live with us anymore.
No. Because we kept torturing him.
You can't hold on. I don't really go get him.
You pull out the poop. He's not your snack.
We've talked about this. The guys that are inside are not
your snack. Actually, we should let them out
and let them have like, you know, fill the bar.
That guy would like that. Hold on, I'm gonna go get them.
I pop into the pocket rocket. Yeah, just bring them all out,
see how they like this level of hell.
You you pop into the pocket rocket and go up to the level.
I'll, I'll just pop you over there real quick I guess too.
Sure. I just want to talk to him, be
like, hey, this situation, we're in a safe space.
I promised before that I would bring them out or let them know
I was making it, get out and buy stuff.
I was looking at that map too. So you pop in there, presumably
go right up to. Field dress, I think.
Yeah, the the probably he's probably, you probably ask one
of the goblins that are down, down in the eating area and
suggest for you to go up to their level where they've more
of the pocket rocket, you know, to make room for all of them and
tracks you to to Bildreth who is leading some some folks in.
Shit, we have the rocks. Sorry, go ahead.
Leading some folks in planning their this just how they're how
they're going to keep themselves preoccupied in the meantime with
maybe crafting some of the stone that they've quarried out and he
goes. Oh hey, where's Ash?
She's outside right now, which is actually what I want to talk
to you about. Oh, really?
Yeah, we, we are now on the second level of hell in a
Tavern. It appears to be a fairly safe
space. I had promised you and your
people that the next time we were in a location where you had
the option to, like, go out and stretch your legs, buy some
stuff, you know, not be here. And now's the time.
Also, can I get some of those adamantine?
Because, like, the eye really is into rocks.
He wants a valuable rock. And like this valuable rock,
maybe they'll like it. Well.
We don't own the adamantine. But no, I do.
Yeah, I so obviously take as much so.
Could I have some thank you? Oh, that was a request like you
get some boxed up for me. Oh.
Oh, I see. I understand why you're asking
now. I thought I, I I I'm with you
now. Well, do you want them like,
drafted? I mean, it's, it's valuable, but
only to the right person in this stage, you know where.
As well, I've drafted. Into something right?
Could it could be of much more value?
Well, here's the thing. So a number one, I think you
guys need to craft everybody in the party at about tide armor of
some sort, those who use it or a shield or something, just to
give you guys some tough something to do.
And since you live in our house #2 maybe I don't know what this
guy wants it for. He seems to want to sell it or
use it, so knowing that we could craft something is a great
bargaining chip that we should talk to him about.
But I just want a sample to prove that we have it right now.
OK, here you go. Thank you.
Provides the sample he was just holding that was a prime piece
of adamantine that they'd coral coraled out and goes well.
I don't. Think any of us are used to
whatever this outside is that you're talking about but it.
Sounds like a bar. There's a sky.
Don't look at it. OK, there's a bar.
I think a couple of I tell you what.
A few at a store. A few of us could step out and I
think. That's what you did before is
you could these few charms with me in charge.
To to direct. Those that came out so that way
I can use this as a reward to those who have been doing well.
Yeah, now's the time, buddy. Yep, and a chance for, you know,
future rewards. I like this.
OK, shall I go go get them now? You're in charge, Matt.
You do whatever you want. You want to tell them now?
Great. You want to tell them later,
great. I don't know if we're going
anywhere right away. At some point we're going to be
crossing the desert, so you probably want to do it sooner
than later. OK, just give me a few minutes.
Whatever. A desert is.
Wait, no, I know the desert is now anyway.
Oh my God, I know how to count and read.
No, she's expanded so much. He just wanders off and starts
talking to a few other people trying to get get a cohort.
Together pass off the cuttings that I have gotten to the
resident. Whoever is currently in charge
of doing stuff in here to get planted in the biosphere should
also pick up a bunch of soil while we're on this level to
even it out. We should actually make sure we
do a thorough check out of like a survey dud of all of the walls
of this place to make sure that we didn't carve out too much.
So yeah, sorry, just gotta get rid of take care of things.
OK bye. I'm gonna pop out.
One of the dire crooked takes the the clippings that you had
and starts to to and and that information and just kind of
looks at you glassy eyed like. He most didn't prepare me for
that. As you leave.
I also hear that and I talked to another one about setting up a
school for the dire cricket so that they come out smarter.
We want educated dire crickets. The I yes, that was and he's,
you know, talking with his gestures and cricket.
Goes that was Clack Jaw. He's not one of the brightest.
I don't. We need top quality material.
I guess like. I I guess I can eat him.
I'm I'm. Or feed him to the skeleton
monster. I'm Kierkegaard.
Oh hi, that's a really fun name. Kierkegaard.
It's interesting you guys all have names of so many different
cultures. I love it.
Anyway, you're doing great buddy.
All right, well, should I take those clippings then?
And then? Hand looked over at Collector
and he just nods. Listen, I don't want people to
think I'm like, I'm a nice guy, but like got to do your job.
Yes, Sir, he says without even a second.
And as you're pooping out of the pocket rocket, you just see
Kierkegaard jump on the top of Collector and bite at the back
of his neck, ripping his head off.
A charity of his his brood are also taken care of.
We don't want that nasty trait spreading.
Thanks guys. Just a.
Normal day, everything's fine. Didn't think you were going to
be doing that today, did you? Not exactly, but now I guess I
need to turn this into like a genetics program.
Keep in mind intelligence is not the only thing you want to
select for. Otherwise, that's absolutely
accurate. You'll.
Have unhealthy organisms. Right, that's a good point.
I will set up a control group and maybe one different quality
for each main stat and then we'll see what happens after a
few generations. How quickly are generations
made? I put on my scientist outfit.
Anyway, back to the main game, Sorry for derailing.
Meanwhile. And what was that fucking game
like? It was a strategy game where you
controlled a bunch of weird animals.
Yeah, whatever. Go fish.
I don't. Believe so.
So what's the plan, guys? We can.
We're out across the desert. We're not going to also wait,
no, I come out and I show the group the adamantine and I say,
like, I wanted a rare rock, right?
Or something he could sell. We have a fair bit of this
adamantine and Craftsman who will be out shortly.
Some of them act like it's a big deal, like congratulate them
'cause like this is like a, like a, like a reward system for
them. So like, you know, make them
feel like good anyway they could.
Make stuff. I don't.
Fuck that guy. We're going through the desert.
We don't. We don't need to placate the
Frog King. We're not even using his goods
and services. No, that's what I'm saying.
If we wanted to and avoid doing like the castle run or the
temple run, we could offer him Adamantine instead.
Nah, I say. We go across the desert and
maybe along the way we'll find cool ruins like he's talking
about and we'll like pick up some cool things.
I like that. It'll be an adventure and then
we'll get to the castle and we'll obviously now have sweet
things to woo the queen with. And she already thinks we're
cool, right? Mommy Man, Mr. Mr. Crusty.
Yeah, yes. How many thousands of miles did
you say it was in any direction until we encountered any sort of
civilization to the desert, I believe thousands was the word
you used. Accidentally. 213,000.
My God, I. Need to take the frog.
Yeah, that's a pretty big. He did say five days worth of
swimming to get to the Queen. Yeah, the I could the aquifers
are are move it at a top knot a. Incur.
I think we should. There's.
A good bit of what if we go down?
A good bit of hidden ruins out there.
You could probably take shelter in between here and the castle.
But that's a long time. How many?
Allow me to do a quick calculation.
OK. What is the circumference of
tariff we're? Going to do math now.
Ezra has an idea. We go down to the frog.
Yeah, if you. Had a rough idea of how.
Old a frog, they're truly about. Around 25,000 miles
circumference. And this is 250,000 miles to get
anywhere. No, no, no, no 200 and and and
and were you saying a mile? 49,000 miles.
Yeah. 213,000 miles of what you. Said in any direction, so
500,000 miles between here and the nearest thing.
Feet, were your units off? Did you mean 230,000?
Maybe that was it, yeah. Yeah, it is 10 times the
circumference of Earth anywhere. It is.
Hell. I understand it is.
Hell, I'm not arguing with it. I'm saying we should not take
that route. I don't want to cross the earth
6 * 8 times, however many times it is.
It's about 50 miles, 50 miles up and down sand dunes, you know?
But if we were to a. Lizard.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, 213,000 feet, yeah.
I mean, that's a lot more doable, like 50 miles is I think
you can. Well, if it's five days via
swimming, how many miles can you walk?
How many? About 3 miles.
So it's not a straight line and it's not packed earth, right?
It's desert. So it's sand and right?
Have you seen sand dunes? Those fuckers can be.
Yeah, the Internet, says Pace. I'm assuming it's like the
Sahara. Low for is 18 miles a day and
normal is 24 and fast is 30, says the Internet about this
specific you know. Movement and it's the heat
right? So like this is like a severe
disadvantage. I wouldn't even say the.
Level to teleport blindly safely before we get there.
Also, I guess that the question is we're in.
A ravine, so we would have to climb out of it to get up a
level and then climb again to get to the level of the cast.
Yeah, it's also on a plaque tower.
I think we. Have.
Like 1. Real way forward.
GM wants us to talk to Frog King, so we're going to talk to
the fucking Frog King. And now there's the other way I.
Can totally. Still wander through the desert
for a couple days. A couple.
Ezra has for sure What if we? What if?
What if we killed the Frog King? I guess it's killed the four
elder frog game of. Ezra's down.
OK, we did just attempt to storm by force the other level of hell
and almost got wiped immediately.
Please try diplomacy. My axe is thirsty for blood.
Let's go to the ruins. I'm certain we will find blood
there. We will find his object.
And then we will play him. Yeah.
And then we will carry on with our lives.
Yeah. Yeah, my first option is totally
to go through the desert. All right, let us go to the
desert and find some ruins 1st and I think after that point.
And or a giant lizard. Yeah, and or a giant.
Giant. Lizard and then, and then we.
We could just parade ourselves. Cough cough to death the lizard.
So does anyone then have the ability to fly and or move
quickly if we're just trying to scout out where to go versus
trying to just walk in in a random direction?
I have long strider. That second one.
The second one just randomly walk away.
Yeah, it's worked so good for us in the past.
What? What could go wrong?
That's how we held ended up in hell.
Is that not absolutely true? Sense of adventure Franklin
isn't. Yeah, and isn't Hell such an
adventure? No.
You have. So many.
I spent so long in hell, you're. Going to be the life of the
party for the rest. Of your life, I'm dead.
The party man. Beyond death of the party.
So even more time to. I look at you and I'm like,
we're still alive, We're just trapped in hell because we're
going to get out and we're going to be fine.
OK. Now we'll get you, OK.
Completely dead, yeah. She's still speaking and talking
to me. I think that is very much alive.
Ash still does not believe that she is dead.
That is a state of mind, Franklin.
That it is utter utterly foolish to attempt to cross the desert
if this is even if his, if his estimate is within any, is
within like 2 orders of magnitude of correct, we should
not we we should, we should not like even if he is within two
orders of magnitude of being correct, we should not take the
desert route. He's not he's not wrong.
Who's not that big, See. And Ezra holds up to that.
You see, do not big. You're a good boy.
Leave the thinking to people that have or leave the thinking
to other people if it involves. I don't believe it to me, Ezra.
I think we make AI think, we make a compromise here.
I think that we find adventure, right?
We don't just wander into the desert.
We find adventure. We go do that adventure and then
instead of spending 40 years trying to find the way out, we
maybe accelerate that by trading either an astral diamond, either
that or adamantide or whatever we find out there to get to
where we're going. I did.
I, I mean, you guys don't know this.
I turned around and went, OK, so I talked to someone on the
surface of Taurus recently. I looked to Bombay.
Some of that, well, you don't really know them, but they know
you and they are. They agreed to leave the portal
from the first level of hell to the surface open for us to
escape. OK, but that's going to be like
a time thing. So we don't want to spend, you
know, like 40 years literally. I like.
To move and every time Franklin breaks.
Franklin. That like Foust's eyes just
glaze over. And that's not breaking the 4th
wall. There's somebody else on the
planet that I talked to that's in game.
But through through meta knowledge.
You don't know that. Yeah.
So that's. Hard.
I just imagined that like. Franklin.
Franklin, you have a shell. Do you know how much sand
surfing you can do? That's true.
We can like get to the top of a dune and I can like throw we.
Could totally do that without spending 40 years in the desert.
But I want a sand surf for 40 years.
That sounds amazing. Let's do that after we get to
like the surface. Faust is going to take out the
puzzle box and start just playing with it.
Like how can I get? I am already in hell, I might as
well send descend to a lower level.
I'm looking at the map and I'm like, if we had what I think is
directly north of here, there might be some ruins for us to
find. So maybe we can make a quick
trip to these ruins and check out the desert from here to
there. I would be fond with that.
Yeah. Like we could do totally do like
a whole side class, but like we could not spend 40 years walking
through the desert guys. Like you guys are still mortal.
You'll be 40 years older. Yeah, we gotta get back to.
It OK, Well, good to be out of the rain in the desert.
I don't remember. Do our.
We'll go find a horse. A horse out of the.
Pocket Rocket while we're having this heated discussion about
what to do. Yeah, Oh yeah, yeah.
And they walk up to the counter probably and start asking the
the mummy for supplies and such and the you see one of them look
back over the one that's been leading it looks like Bill dress
over to another one and they're talking in goblin.
And I think Ash is the only one that speaks goblin if I remember
correctly. Although.
Yeah, I do. You might have a little bit if I
remember correctly too. Anyhow, yeah, they're they're
speaking to him in goblin seems like and one of them just Bill
dress nods to and he goes behind the counter and you you can see
the mummy making some faces and holding in some breaths.
And then the the goblin comes back out, looking ashamed of
themselves, but holding some of the supplies that they were
asking for. Why did Bildra do this?
Or just one of the other goblins.
One of the other goblins that he sent back there.
We could've paid for that. Yeah, I think that's funny that
they immediately went to that and didn't use the money.
I don't think they have money. They don't.
We haven't paid them. Buildreth does chime in with we
got money but no way make new money in.
Common. I called back out in goblin.
I was like, what exactly does that mean?
And I kind of start wandering over towards them.
Well, you know, come back, buy goods so long we don't have.
We got to buy stuff from them. We don't have new source income
yet. OK.
So we have to buy stuff from them and we are their source of
income, OK, But they have not made anything yet.
They've just been harvesting the metal for us, correct?
Yes. It could make, if anyone's
interested, some sort of adamantine armor and or shield
and or weapon. And Buildruth is nodding along
to this. So if anyone's interested, I
actually am interested because I don't have AI, don't have a very
good like I have a plain like melee weapon.
Yeah, I mean Ash would definitely be interested, but I
think I only wear light armor. And guys, I'm glad we skipped
the 6th level of hell. You don't like lust?
You would have hated that one. What's that one?
B Steel. Wait, that's the 6th?
And that would be pad. You could do studded leather
with adamantine. I don't know what adamantine
does. Wait, did we 6?
Did we skip sexy Satan level? Yeah, it's 9th.
Whoops. Oh well, I think we killed his
bride anyway. Oh, medium or heavy armor?
Shoot. Yeah, hell, it's definitely not
linear. By no means.
I, I continue to talk with Bildreth and I'm just like, OK,
well we will soon. Bye goods from you as soon as
like I guess we have to put in request.
So thank you for all the work that you've done.
And I asked him if he is going to continue to do more business
with our nice barkeep here. And I say all this in goblin.
Does the barkeep understand Goblin?
It seems to and he he he just purses his lips in like the most
duck look lip looking thing of a kiss that you can only tell just
because of the slight smacking of his lips that he makes at the
end. Just it's.
Just little dry, wrinkly lines. Yep.
Well, we, we could do more business with them, but Franklin
told us that we need to hurry it up because we're not staying
here. So I wanted to make sure that we
got some basic provisions for the for the rest of the goblins.
I mean, we're going to go be, I think the plan is we're going to
do a, a short side quest where we go off and I don't know, raid
a temple or tan a dragon or something like that.
And then we'll come back here and then take the the underwater
water cave to the castle. So you may have a couple days.
I don't know. What do you guys think?
Yeah, maybe. Give us a couple of days, a day
and a night and a day, yeah. Couple days.
I, I'm saying all this to Bill Drift and I kind of put my arm
around his shoulder and I walk him away from the bar and I like
whisper to him really lowly and I really low.
And I'm just like, hey, so if you want to keep doing business
with the bartender, but you don't want to keep doing
business without paying, I hand him a little satchel of gold
that's got 500 gold pieces in it.
Thank you. I, I guess that's you buying the
bar back from me. He winks.
The the the other way that we were thinking to make an income
is that I did set up a bar keep inside the pocket rocket for
you. It's probably just as adequate
as before. You know Steve, he was heavy.
Poor, but I remember Steve, yes. Anyhow, so yeah, we've got a
bartender in there that you have to pay for, but you know, at
least it'll help, you know, provide for the families that
are affected and displaced from into the into the pocket rocket
now. But yeah, yeah, we could craft
some things for you too with a broad Franklin's I believe and
Ezra and such good bit of tradesmen and knowledge to
people. So we have opportunities for
other trades. But so I'm not going to stay in
the Tavern if you guys are going to take the pocket rocket with
you. I don't want a chance that you
guys are going to get lost and not come back.
But I could leave a couple. Of the and.
He just says in common I could leave a couple of the other
underlings basically. Sure, what is it just to add a
mantine armor or like stuff they could make?
Or can I make like other items? I brought some of the enchanters
too so they can make good. That's good.
Just just need a Mace of terror. Might need more to script
descript words than that. Sure.
Like some good items out of the materials and enchanters you
brought with us. I say in goblin and then say
again out loud in common. Yes.
Any nods? I was like, all right, that
sounds good. And I pat him on the back and I
walk over to Franklin and I was like, all right, let's make sure
we're supplied up and then we can get underway.
I do want to point out because Mimi had the hop out for the
night, but she says, guys, we don't want to go to the first
level of hell. We want to go to the 13th.
Why? What's on the 13th?
I don't know, going back to our Manny.
Yeah, that's where Manny Polis lives.
But I don't want to go there. Yeah, I thought we decided that
we didn't want. That we don't trust him.
And we don't trust Manny and we did not want to set him free.
I think that one of the things that Mimi is forgetting his all
or mami so. Like I could see getting to the
9th to get to sexy Satan, but he's also on the betrayal level
which I find concerning. Yeah, I mean, we've already
betrayed him by killing his bride, so we've achieved that
levels purpose without sexy Satan.
I think, I think we're trying to go up and out.
Yeah, I thought that was our. We're not allied.
Yeah, we are not allied to Minneapolis.
We take all of our stuff off. Maybe we should remind her of
that. Probably she might also just not
want to face herself as Mimi. Right.
Yeah. I mean, that's totally fair.
We are coming very close to a a potential crossover, more than
there is, but an actual crossover.
Yep. Ash is ready for it, she doesn't
care. Yeah, I'm also ready for it.
I Oh yeah, I sent to ashes here and nobody else says I don't
know others are. But Ash is here and I know what
her goals are. Turn to Ash, they say Ash.
Just so you know, I made a deal with some people above to get us
out. Like I had said, they said they
would leave us alone if we live them alone.
If we take over a considerable chunk of the power of the of the
the decrements are guys on level 1.
We could claim that they are quote in our party and then just
all leave at the same time safely.
OK, I'm all for about acquiring more power.
Hell yeah, High 5. We high 5.
Yeah. Exactly what he's talking about.
Because Ash has sat at the table, so you have all the
memories Ash does. Oh.
Yeah, of you know, your yourself, Jesse and and Cat.
Yes, Cat. Cat didn't make it to the table
though. No, but because because Ash sat
at the table, she has like a constant stream of memories that
she could kind of it's like in the background of her mind, but.
OK, so she has her own conscious, her subconscious, and
then she's also aware of the conscious of me, myself, Jesse,
and of me, myself, Cat. Right.
So that sounds incredibly confusing, but you said she
doesn't get nosebleeds anymore, so her mental willpower is
growing. Yeah aha.
Everyone be afraid. Yeah, I used it to reach out to
speak to the Admiral, to try to come to some sort of
accommodation. I have the ability, if you're
interested, I can send a message to anyone you would like that's
on this plane of existence, so in Hell or on Tarth, and I think
we should strategize with that. So maybe we want to reach out
to. My.
Mother. Your mother, we could reach out
to the queen of Socrates. We could reach out to the head
guy. God, we could reach out to the
head guy of the of the the the Necrovancer Guild that's try to
attack Socrates. They try to establish a line of
communication between US and the PNC.
Ashuma of the PNC. Ashuma, that's a smart idea.
I was going to say I think my family had ties with the PNC
like on the surface of Tarth, I think because.
I know that. Josh and I had talked about it
at one point. They possibly do at this point,
I would say, but I know that the group that we were talking about
before was the Neophytes. Oh OK, right, the neophytes.
Because yeah, Ash comes from a royal family who is constantly
seeking power, and Ash has been like trained her whole life to
eventually become ruler of something.
Why don't we lean into that? We I could contact your parents
if you could give me some information that only they would
know for confirmation. We could get our own group, our
own faction of Antara started working for us in the shadows in
preparation for our eventual escape.
They could be ready with supplies, they could be ready
with the transportation. We're going to be able to get
out, but we're going to need a way to leave quickly.
All right, I've got to dig through my back story and figure
some things out. Fuck yeah, so I will.
Once she does that, I will cast a dream and we can deal with it
the next time we play. OK.
And reach out to, well, I guess that's a question.
Can I reach out to her dream or to someone she knows?
I don't think it. Look up dream a second.
Worded that way, I think it's somebody that you know.
Yeah, that's why I was waiting, like I had to wait until we sat
at the table because I couldn't. I didn't know like the Admiral
till then display in BTT. So who could we contact that I
would know that could contact your family?
We know all of the NPCS in Socrates, so we could easily
call like the the taxi guy, I could dream the queen, I could
dream the steward, I could dream any of the PNC members that we
know of. Here it is.
I don't know about their connections they have with
Socrates, because I know that they were.
I think Josh, you could, I guess you could do that.
But I think Josh and I had established what city they had
come from, or at least talked about the name of.
The city, the neophytes. The city that my family house
resided in. Yes, they're if you're under
Allopolis. I have it on the map of Taurus
globe. OK, yeah, that's the one I'm
looking. At Athenia, I wanted to say I'm
trying to enlarge it right now. Yeah, Athenia.
Oh yeah, 'cause it was the neighbor of Gargon.
Oh, you're next door. That's OK.
So your family's nearby. So that could be our escape.
That's could be where we go to. I could our.
Could. Be from the The Crack in the
Earth to Athenia. Right.
So then if that's the case and I can't reach out to your people,
do I reach out to that PNC guy and try to set something up with
him? Or do I reach out to just a
regular guy and hire him to send a message?
Well, do we? If we tell the PNC, they'll know
we're at that we're coming from the Level 2 upwards.
And I don't know, do we want to advertise ourselves when we get
there and race, go through the ranks like normally, or do we
want a hostile takeover? Well, I kind of think we should
do whatever would be fastest, and I want to say a hostile
takeover would be fastest, but seeing as we didn't do so well
trying to take over that guy's ship.
So if we reached out to the PNC guy that's attacking the city,
we might be able to convince him to splinter off with us and
become our starter army. We could do that.
Or we I think that's that's option one.
Or option 2, we splinter or we call just a random guy and have
your family have some sort of transportation around.
Yeah, some sort of transportation ready to go.
Yeah, so we don't have to, I guess we don't have to answer
that now 'cause it's 8 and we, you know, aren't going to be
doing any of this yet, so. Yep, but things to think about.
Yeah, we'll do probably one of those or a third answer that we
haven't thought of. But now you know at least two
that you're going towards the desert, at least for a little
bit. Yeah.
Temporarily, yeah. OK.
Thank you for the game. Absolutely.
Fun. Looking forward to Rick's game.
We still need to coordinate on characters, but I think a very
smart decision might be if we all I mean, I know we're not
going to have variant human all of them, but you could somehow
get the eldritch invocation, devil's site and the darkness
spell. Then we will be well set up.
We'll. Be able to do it.
All right, have a good night all.
Good night. A grand and wonderful thank you
for those who took the time and made it here to the end of the
episode where I know sometimes we are long winded and others we
are just dead silent. I don't know what to tell you.
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