You're listening to Necromancing the Dungeon, a soft core TP or P
podcast about furos navigating their daily lives while looking
for love in an underworld full of peril monsters and heart
eaters. This OH isn't in depth for
mature audiences and it can change as it contains gruesome
themes and yes, even sexy ones. Content warnings can be found in
episodes death descriptions. This is a Cage of sound story
created by Luciella Elizabeth Scarlett and it's available on H
dot IO for anyone who's interested in playing.
It can be played solo, or in our case, in a group.
It's a time loop TTRPG played using tower cards.
It's violent, it's murdery. It's perfect for a Halloween
special, and our players today will be collaboratively and
collectively guiding 1 character known as an avatar through the
story we're telling, and I'll be playing any of the other
characters they pull from the deck and interact with as the
loop continues and repeats until we decide to stop.
The only time I won't be doing that is if I'm already playing
an MPC, someone else at the table might jump in.
It's very collaborative, it's very ensembly.
The role play moments will feel like just little snippets of
memories dipped in and out. It's not really going to be a
beginning, middle, and end to scenes.
It will just be, here's a sentence they say, here's what
we hear. It's mostly prose, not a lot of
dialogue, but we'll do our best. Are you a lonely, miserable, or
just plain horrific? While you've taken the first
steps to dissolving your phobias, at least you're
decapitating ones. Welcome to D8 demented, damned,
devilish, or decaying brave days for decrepit demons.
My name is God's slay curse. Hander, CEO and love wizard and
I dare you to tell me Haunt Harry, kill the heroes of Tezra
and that AJ fellow. So I would probably.
Halloween. I would probably Harry Hefesta
because it's way more fun to annoy her I think than a haunter
and you've. Killed her enough.
It's true. Well, I didn't kill her.
I would probably kill AJ. It's a drama of.
Oh yeah, true. Yeah, yeah.
It'd also be so good in the underworld.
They'd love me then. I'm taking that back if that's
nothing to go by, no, And I'm probably going to haunt Nate.
Oh, you normally do a cool bit like, yeah, me too.
You normally breath. As God's coming on there.
I'm too upset character. What is their motivation?
In a place the world has forgotten, halfway between
neither here nor there, lies a small mountainside village known
as Willowdale, modest in size and sentimentality.
A good place, it is, home to a cozy cast of villagers.
More than we'll meet in our story today, but not by many.
If memory serves, Willow Dell has recently found itself in
good fortune. Here lies a large store of iron
ore in the mountains nearby. Coupled with their surrounding
Woodlands, it is on the precipice of industry, but too
small to really capitalize on this boom of good fortune.
It must instead rely on the occasional travelling merchants
to carry valuable goods trading with larger cities.
Quite. Oh, by the way.
And so it is here that our story takes place.
We swoop and glide across the top of Woodlands, seeing the
village small below from the vantage point of a snowy owl.
We're drawn into the village itself, circling past small
farmyards, along the steep mountainsides to the southwest,
over small valley paths, across a river, past the smithy's forge
and the butcher and the old keep, drawn towards the sound of
low rumbling singing in a temple that sits at the center of town.
Morning bells chime, for although Willow Dell is small,
people take faith in the old gods, and much like this village
of all but being forgotten. And so, as this owl finishes its
nightly hunt and returns home to the temple, we see it swoop into
a gap in the roof, nestled in the awnings, looking down on a
majestic stained glass window which twinkles in the morning
light as the brothers continue their ritual.
It's with this chanting not too far away that you singularly You
awake from a nightmare you can't recall.
You wake with a disturbing sense of deja vu.
You encounter strangers you seem to already know.
You sense that there is something important you're
forgetting. You can only hope you'll
remember this and the curtain rises on a cage of sand by
Luciella Elizabeth Scarlett. So let's start our morning.
We've done for the audience listening to this.
We've done our kind of prep of pulling the cards, the morning
ritual, the characters we're going to meet in the game today.
Umm, and we're kind of just dramatizing or audio playing
this game more than actual playing it.
This is way more of a narrative than an actual play.
Example of a age of sand works. And so as Gray, a recent, what
would you say, a recent blow into the town, a traveling Bart,
a a handy person around, often tasked with fixing fences or, or
checking on pipes or, or doing anything a any of the villages
they travel to might need. So Gray they then wake up.
They are an air Ganassi. And I'll go in the kind of we're
going to go around the table. This is a loop, but we're also
doing a sort of clockwork spotlight here.
So Dahi. What?
Do you think Gray looks like when they wake up and you're
staying in a sort of accommodation nearby?
Actually, if you wanted to, you could stay in that kind of
awning of the temple, up in a sort of loft space looking down
on the for their singing. Or it can be in a separate
accommodation, whatever. I think the loft space sense, I
think it's kind of cool. It's kind of main character, I
think waking up because like they do wake up after this
unsettling dream that they don't remember.
They're kind of a little frazzled and a little kind of
like startled awake almost. And the first thing they think
of is like, Oh no, I need to get ready.
And so they'll kind of start their morning routine of getting
ready for the day and getting their tools ready.
Yeah, you check and you have a small kind of patch of
woodworking tools, instrument carving tools, things that to an
uneducated in this field person, kind of hooks and waxes and and
sharp pieces of wire. They look kind of menacing.
The type of things that you hook into the body of a violin and
pull and scrape and kind of carve out wood.
They're sharp. Your tools are there, and as
you're inspecting them, you look to the stained glass window
which your awning overlooks, and you see it's beautiful from the
inside. It feels bright enough outside
today. It's a cold winter morning, and
you've been staying here a couple of nights.
You've gotten to know a couple of people around the town.
They've gotten to know you. And as you look out towards this
window, it's just this beautiful scene.
You can't really put your finger on it, but it seems to be the
story of two people who fell in love, fell out of love, and then
the world suffered because of it.
And in the very center of the stained glass feature is this
heart made of individual pieces, all sort of shattered and
reflecting in light. I think part of their part of
their morning as well, as they go to prepare to get these tools
ready, they're kind of humming to themselves, maybe a love song
that they don't quite remember, but they know the melody.
We'll move the spotlight around. So that's kind of the first
thing is checking the tools, I'd say for you, Louise, what is the
next, what is the next step of Gray's morning routine?
Well, after checking their tools, I think the next thing
that they're going to do is walk over to the wash basin and stare
at the little makeshift mirror that they've put up for
themselves. To be able to check their face,
their hair and all that first thing in the morning and slowly
take off their nightcap that they use to keep their hair in
place and as presentable and easy to maintain in the morning
as possible and just start with washing their face and brushing
their hair. For both myself and the
audience, as a air Ganassi, umm, remind us, what does Gray look
like? How tall?
What's their kind of general? Are they young?
Are they old? Paint us a little picture of who
this avatar is. So they I believe they're
they're just gone beyond young adults at this stage in their in
their life very much matching their name Gray skinned.
I think lighter Gray here than to match with that.
That does seem to kind kind of move gently to its own breeze.
And Amber, after kind of putting themselves up, preparing,
putting their face on, checking their tools, is there any final
ritual or, or activity that Gray takes part in to start their
day? Yeah.
And they're they're here by choice, but they're not at the
same time, like they're just trying to keep going.
But the real goal here is to to be a performer, to be, you know,
musicians. So they never leave the house
without kind of manifesting that by just picking up the lutes,
playing a little tune, a little something, just letting that
little bit of magic even kind of flow through them.
Not necessarily doing anything specific with it, but just kind
of reconnecting to that part of themselves.
So they always do that before they step out the door.
Nice. As you're kind of humming as you
climb down the ladder from the loft, as you see or the
Woodford, Woodford, some of the acolytes, something at the back
of your mind, just sort of the hairs at the back of your neck.
It's like the owl kind of came in, rustled and settled in for
the day. I think I'm right in thinking
owls are nocturnal. Don Conroy brought me anything.
He's there. He's one of the brothers.
He's just painting an hour in the corner.
It's almost like a shadow flipped past the roof.
New look and nothing, nothing's there.
And it might have been that you're humming or like a little
kind of burst of dust as you slip down with a little pep in
your step. But it brings us to our first.
So they get the way this game works for anyone listening for
the first time is there's the setup stage the morning that is
usually always the same until the loop becomes apparent.
Then there's a couple of minor and major interactions, which
leads us towards the kind of crux of the game, which is when
horror and murder begins, and then a kind of end event that
resets the loop. So we'll move into Act 2, the
first of the minor interactions, and decline.
Can you pull a card from the deck of characters to see who we
come across first? It's Felix R Goliath,
blacksmith. Nice.
You make your way through the town.
You hear some people kind of whispering and chatting in small
little groups, looking towards the mountainsides.
You're picking up things like yeah, there's there's there's
guards in the area or increased presence.
I think they're here to collect taxes maybe or I don't know.
It's just very someone's very important is with them and the
town is on edge and you do over hear a they're not staying with
me. They could be staying they're
not staying with me. Anyway, as you head in the
clouds, perhaps bump directly into this Goliath.
You also pulled a prompt. Cards.
What was the prompt? It's the King of Swords in
reverse. The King of Swords in reverse.
Yeah, this Goliath bumps into carrying a load of They're
carrying their tools, their equipment.
They're making their way towards the forwards and they clang into
you. Whoa, watch where you're going.
Excuse me? Eyes to what's around you.
You bumped into me and I was going this way and grey is this
kind of just gesture in the path.
So if you are going to lollygag in the middle of the path, I
suggest you remove. Yourself, whatever.
Too busy to deal with whatever this is today.
I have to get my best wares out. Couple of sheets of metal and a
couple of hammers I guess. Some of the finest weaponry,
swords, arrowheads from the recent finding of ore and iron
to sell to the cities and make this town something.
I think Grey would kind of maybe like at that, like he's not.
I think it's kind of a join. You're knocked out of a Daydream
and he doesn't. They don't want to kind of admit
that they walked into. So it's now kind of taking that
sort of like, well, the best defense here is offense and I'm
not going to back down. I think might like, you know,
snatch like one of the arrowheads or something kind of
like kind of like hold it up kind of a give a kind of a keen
eye. I kind of I think might even
press on it between their kind of index finger and their thumb.
Not that sharp, but I suppose, you know, if you keep at it,
maybe Jack of a trade master and he's just going to kind of pop
it in and kind of bend, maybe kind of like half sidestep
around him. Yeah.
Where do you think, Grey? Where are they headed?
Right now they're looking to get IF I, I kind of see it as the
brothers are maybe fasting kind of in the morning, in the
afternoon. That doesn't work for Gray.
So Gray is now kind of maybe on their way to look to fill their
belly before they start the day. You can't start the day on an
empty stomach. And you're probably making your
way towards the Tavern. Tavern.
It's general area. Yeah, and it's it's such a small
Willow Dell is so small, it's not even known as like there's
no fancy like the King's rest, the worm's ear.
It is simply I thought you. Were going to say the King's
rectum first. The King's ass.
No, they changed it to the King's anus.
The Queen's taint, it's just partox place and die.
If you wouldn't mind pulling a second minor interaction.
So, oh, very fun. So I pulled the character
Dolores, who is our blacksmith's wife who say halfling, and our
interaction card is the King of Cups.
King of Right, The road takes you towards the Tavern, takes
you past the forge, and you look in and it's not necessarily a
moment of conversation, but you see Dolores pulling a sheet over
a pile of ore and tucking it away in a corner.
Not necessarily. You catch them hiding some of
their wares. You piece it together because
there is a tax collector in town, because we have Montgomery
the tax collector, and we also have Archibald, sort of de facto
Lord of the area. Everything seems to be in a bit
more of a a tizzy today. Activity people are kind of
putting on their someday vest as if they're welcoming a
procession to the town, or at least there's rumours of it.
I think, I think Grey does have a thought as they walk past to
say jeez, I got to run into the whole family or.
What and? Then she's going to very much
sidestep her on purpose. What this?
This is apt. I pull the barmaid, Nessie.
Yes. The two of cups.
Two of cups. You make your way to Partock's
place and start hammering on the door.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom.
It's early enough for Tavern. You might be.
If there was a type of place where people would stay, where
travelers would kind of take lodgings.
You'd be waking them up and the door creaks open and you see
Nessie, who is a dwarf, look up at you.
Morning. Hiya uh, got a room for someone
to have a bite to eat? Bit early and we're a bit busy.
What? Would Anthony got like because
the brothers are fasting, they've nothing going on up
there? If you wouldn't mind cleaning up
after yourself or or. I suppose OK.
Well, come on. And she opens it up.
It's a, it's a small, it's almost like a living room that's
been turned into a bar. There's like nice cozy couches.
Everything's a little bit hodgepodge and it's all a little
bit kind of unusual, not matching furniture.
There's a fireplace. You can see that it was lit last
night. And she goes behind the bar and
goes, I could do some dried meat straight away or, or perhaps
would you like me to cook up some breakfast for you?
How? How are you intending on paying?
I kind of packed my pockets. I'm I'm sure there's a few coins
floating around. Put it on the tab.
Yeah, if you wouldn't mind. And I kind of, I, I'm walking
and waving my hand back behind me in agreement.
And then to just kind of almost side sit along one of the
couches and sprawl myself a little.
Nice. Treating it more like a chaise
lounge than a than a couch. Yes yeah fair Nessie busies
themselves preparing the Tavern and they're kind of talking to
themselves, but talking in the way that someone will like have
a conversation with you, but they're have a clearly just
having a conversation with themselves like some big news,
huh? Yeah, what what with the king
coming about and wanted to know about our little town and
probably the. I think someone told them about
the ore, obviously. So that's very exciting.
What do you think about it? I mean, it's our ore, obviously.
So, So what What do you think? I think we should be allowed to
keep it. I don't even know who told them
about it, really, but I suppose it's the king.
Not that they have any jurisdiction here.
We're outside of the Kingdom, so.
You think he'd be in want of entertainment while he's here?
Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure he will.
And he loves entertainment. Oh, that's.
Good. Yeah, I don't know.
I'm not really worried about the rest.
Right well, and then a lovely morning kind of stewed outs with
caramelized apples, a little bit of cinnamon.
It's it's basic, but it's well put together as Nessie goes.
I'm haven't had a lot coming in and out of the town.
So a little bit scarce on scarce.
How do you say that in a little bit scarce on, you know, some of
the fancier things. But but hopefully with her good
fortune, this town could be on the up.
People know what will or doubt it is.
They sure will. You E relax, time passes.
Boy howdy. This place is great.
As we come to our major interactions, there are two
which is nicely kind of set around our table.
OK, so we got par talk the barky.
Oh. And the prompt is the Seven of
Swords. The Seven of Swords.
The character is going to make an unreasonable request for your
avatar's help 0. Gosh, we're already annoyed of
the. Group.
Can I please finish my food? Quite great.
It's Gray's turn. Sorry, I just got that.
Shut up, Gray. It's.
Very venom like. We are venom shut.
Up, Gray. Gray speaking.
Quite Gray. Good one Gray got him Gray.
So part talk is 1/2 work comes out to you.
You were talking to Nessie there.
Yep. You're a Bard, are you?
Yep. Used to a danger on the road.
I mean, a bit. Yeah, sure.
Sometimes you got to fight off a few assholes.
Do you want some coin? Maybe?
Why? We have a shipment of meats to
get out of the town. Hey, if you pick it up tomorrow
you might make noise as you're moving it, but as long as you
see nothing, say nothing and get this N soon as possible there.
Could be. 3 gold in it for you for four gold.
I'll guarantee it gets there safely.
You have yourself a deal. Shit.
All right, thank you. And they hold out their hand to.
Shake on it. Yeah, and this half work shakes
your hand and gives you a gold coin, one up front, 3 when you
return safely. Fair.
As a group, but mainly with with Amber leading because time can
pass. What would what would Gray's
reaction to that be? I think very bold upfront, but a
little bit shook inside. Like, yeah, very like, yeah, of
course I can do that. Yeah, whatever.
Yeah. And then like, oh, shit.
Like what's what's going to make noise?
Why is the meat making noise? That's just called a cow.
Like what are you talking about? The meat's making noise.
It must be. It's beef, it's a cow.
It's. Buff it's buffet that me it's
always making noise. No, I agree.
I think I think confident with an inside of Oh fuck.
Yeah, what did I just get myself into?
But like, really? Need the, but also I yeah, I
need the money. Yeah, yeah.
Also, it's not repairing stuff. Yeah, not my usual wheelhouse,
but also yeah, and. I heard birds do this kind of
thing, right? They like adventure and shit,
yeah. Let's say a little bit of time
has passed. You've wasted away your
afternoon knowing that there's money coming in tomorrow.
There's no real need to get around to that fence or get
around to helping anyone else out.
Carrying groceries for little sweet old ladies.
This will have you set for months.
I'm sorry, you said carrying groceries for sweet old ladies.
And we all went like, you went audibly and I saw a decade ago
and I kind of went like. Like the most horrifying thing
of all, AJ's personality. Kind people.
I love how. We're doing our best to just be
an asshole too. Sorry, that's sort of like lazy.
Asshole. Yeah.
We're not. We're not mean.
We're just we're. Just selfish, selfish, selfish
selfish. Definitely.
Could you pull our next major interaction for this day?
Oh, it's with Archibald landlord.
Well, the page of cups. And it's the Age of Pentacles.
Age of. Pentacles in reverse.
How appropriate. It's Pentacles.
Yeah. Yeah.
The character gives your avatar a gift or your avatar gives them
a gift. Well, I think we know which one
of these we're. Obviously giving a gift we're so
no, yeah, I think it's. Give me yeah.
Does Gray carry around any visual clues that they might be
a barred a performer? Is it always that there's?
Oh yeah. I think if at least, yeah, I,
but I think it's sort of a small little, like it's like a little
harmonica, but it's on a chain. So it's that thing of like if
they are walking on the road, you can't like that thing of
the, you know, the bar playing the loot as they walk and stuff
like that. We've to have eyes, but I think
it's a small little thing that they can kind of blow into.
It's like a little bit bigger than a whistle, we'll say, but
it is there. It's on a chain.
And it might even be that thing of like kind of reflexively as
they're pondering or like walking and it's, and I think
maybe as they're trying to get their thoughts, it is just maybe
playing a little bit of music to themselves, kind of like.
You know, like an ocarina. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, as you're lazing about the village, small enough, like you
could walk around this easy, within 20 minutes, you're kind
of bored. You hear a clicking.
You there kid. Hello kid, you there?
Oh, sorry, are you looking for somebody?
Yes, you. Oh, it's just I couldn't hear
you over all the clicking. You could try with hello.
Yes, hello, welcome to Willowdale.
Lovely. About to be even lovelier
because, as you know, we're now rich like not rich like me, but
the town is now rich. So my little investment, it's
paying off. They've found or I and or.
I'm just going to Who are you? Who am I?
I'm Archibald. You can call me Archie and I
don't need to know who you are. I just need to know that you can
help me because I have a gift for you, a job, if you could
find some talent, some performers, some rivalry.
What I have done is. Archie, Archie Arch Arch Arch of
Balls. Archie.
Archie, you can. I don't mean to interrupt, but
allow me. I've you.
I I bring you a gift. A gift of me.
You know someone. I am someone.
You're no one, no. No, no, allow me.
And I think we'll take out the ocarina and.
A child's toy. Lovely.
Oh. Sean off Greg.
Sean off, Greg. Go on, Greg.
And he's just going to like just roll their neck and like a very
audible click sound. And as they as they do just sort
of with their hands, because it's always, it's always in the
hands. There is just an element of like
showmanship and kind of trying to distract Archibald with these
as they conjure mage hand. And now the ocarina is floating
and Grey will literally dance with it.
It's like it's as the mage hand moves, they are spinning,
they're moving, they're it's almost like they're dancing with
an unseen servant. Can I suggest something to as an
air Janasi? They've got a little bit of flow
with the wind around them, so they have that play the ocarina,
yes, while the mage hand like works the ocarina, the wind
around them plays it for them so they don't have to, so they can
dance along. But.
Even then occasionally then their voice will match the
sound. Lovely.
They're not quite singing. It's more kind of that humming
thing. There's a kind of a harmony
between Gray's voice and the notes being played on the
ocarina by the wind. And it is that thing of like
there's a sharp, shrill sound that kind of kind of cuts
through it as the ocarina kind of spins up with the wind.
It's the mate change, but it levitates right into raise hand
at the end and there's no need for applause.
You're welcome. Archibald applauds anyway, but
like a spoiled like oh, goody, yes, yes, goody, yes, very good,
very good. Yes, that will do.
That'll be quite, quite impressive.
Wow. And you do that all you learn
that yourself and there's a career in that.
Wow. Well, it's it's hard because as
you spun and as you were kind of in this Town Center for the
temple was you saw the glass window, that same shadow from
earlier. You just see it disappear and
you always see behind a curtain nearby just flicker and shut
close. It seemed like a couple of hands
were just kind of peeking out. You were attracting some
attention of the town, but no one wants to be anywhere near
Gray. Obviously, it's not Archie.
It's not the man, baby. It's the big man.
I think Gray has a like. It's that I'm grinning, I'm
smiling, but my teeth are grinding inside my head.
The. Smile does not reach the eyes.
Yeah, not. Smising No.
And there's very much kind of a think of the money, think of the
money. So Archie, you are obviously in
need of an entertainer such as myself and you have the budget,
the means to. Oh.
Don't talk about something as crude as money.
This town is going to be swimming in it.
I like to dip my toes in first though, just to make sure you
know. 500 a thousand What? What?
What did you normally get paid? And there is a hard swallow 500
usually kind of for the 1st. Well, this is a very important
event. So if I gave you 1000, would you
would you do your best job a little better than that, but you
know. All the voices are furiously
nodding like yes please. I think Grey's actually nodding,
trying to be cool, but like, the whole time.
All of us are nodding, so Grey's like wait, wait, hold on.
A unison of grace. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Yes Archibald, I think, given the importance of the
performance and the need for really to bring all of this
together, you and I are acquainted now 1000 should all
right mates rates OK, 1000 umm and I think he's going to put
out a hand the same hand that he used to shake Pardox uh out to
Archibald. Great.
So tomorrow, umm, tomorrow, tomorrow during the day, let you
in on a little secret. You're going to be performing
for royalty. Umm, it's very exciting.
Uh, the king is coming here and we're going to show off the
town, umm, unveil the iron ore and, and set up a little deal
where we send a little bit to them, a little bit up to our
neighbours to the north. Just kind of dispersed the
wealth around. But we're going to now be the
centre of commerce for the for the mountain thorough pass
between two major cities in the world.
I'm, I'm sorry, you lost me at 1000 gold pieces.
That's wonderful. Yes.
If you could keep the how wealthy we are on the hush.
Yes, yes, I, I, I can. I can do that for you.
Whoever controls this iron mine sort of controls what controls
all weaponry, so it's quite strong stuff. 1000 gold. 1000
gold there's. Nothing else in gold.
Nothing else in Grey's ears other than 1000 gold. 1000 gold.
Which brings us to an inciting event.
So if die if you wouldn't mind pulling a card.
OK, we have the 9 of wands. A letter or a phone call.
This is what heralds the beginning of Act 3, which is
where everything kind of turns in this game.
I'm going to say that the there isn't for for grey.
OK, but you hear kind of the riding of horses.
One horse, one horse. Yeah.
Horse, horse, horse. Horse, horse, horse, horse. 1000
Gold. 1000 Gold. Horse.
Horse, of course. What are we?
We're the seagulls from Finding Nemo.
Mine, mine, mine. Mine, you hear?
A horse galloping through the center of the village, followed
by more horses as you almost have to dive out of the way as
from the back of the forge you see Felix's wife Dolores Dolly
Dolores Dolores take off on a. Horse on a horse.
On a horse. With a little cart and you can
hear the rattling, rattling, rattling of things in the back,
followed by three other characters who kind of just sort
of looking at going. I think I know them.
I'm almost certain I know them, but I can't place them.
I met them before. I don't know.
They seem to be with bundles in tow, making a break north and
they they roll out of town and you see Felix look holding a
letter in his hand and he throws the letter into the fire of the
forge, staring after his wife. Archie doesn't seem to notice.
He's yammering on to himself. To himself.
Yeah. Yeah.
And I love the idea that we just walked away and he just kept
going, like, just kept talking about how, how well the town's
gonna do. Yeah.
We're like, OK, you make your way. 1000 gold back story.
Stuff back to. The temple to plan your
performance for tomorrow. And it's on your way back that
we begin Act 3, which is where we start pulling people who die.
That's fun. Yay.
Hey, we put back in the other names.
Yeah, that we met, don't we? Do you want to hold on the?
Piece because you're drawing. The first one up to you whether.
You want to draw one or two or three?
How many bodies do we want? Let's.
Do a 2-3 felt. Like, a lot in the practice.
Let's do two. Yeah, let's do 2 to start. 2 is
a good number, yeah, nice, even. Number of bodies.
Unfortunately, the. First one that we encounter is
Tabitha, our retired to backseat performer.
Oh no, she's probably the only. Person in town we liked I know
what a. Queen even.
With her insistence of. Educating us?
Oh. And.
We have found Montgomery the tax collector.
Oh. Interesting SO.
If you could just pull a prompt card for me the 9 of swords.
The 9 of Swords the killer. Leaves obvious signs of the
cause or time of death. Step step, step, step, step.
I do. I think it's a.
Clear, I think throats have been slit and there's, there's no,
it's a very, very clean cost. It's not high quality.
Weaponry, some would say. I think so, yeah.
Somewhere, some might. Say some might say, some might
say high quality. Weaponry.
Some might say 1000. Sorry if.
I if I could I. Neither Tabitha or Montgomery
look like they knew what was about to happen.
Yeah, there was an advantage here.
Like they rolled with it, obviously.
You make your way over the river, back towards the temple.
It is. You look down into the you see
the sparkling of river water on a cold winter's morning, and it
reminds you of how rich you're going to be until you see that
trickle of red making its way down the stream.
You know you shouldn't. Everything in your body tells
you just leave it, you're going to be rich. 1000 gold until.
You see? A foot in the reeds sticking out
and you look a little closer and both Tabitha and Montgomery are
dead tabby. Throat slit.
And loosely stuffed into the reeds of the riverbank.
A little bit further up the river, you've kind of left the
town towards The Woodlands. We need more people to die, so
if you wouldn't mind pulling one or two or three.
Oh, we have Woodford. One of the brothers of the
Temple? Oh no.
And we've Nessie the barmaid. Nessie No.
So. The ace of ones.
The time or cause of death or
the identity of the victims is hidden.
Maybe at this point it's peripheral and you don't want to
look like we've seen the two. We don't really want to get more
involved. So like there's definitely
something going on over there and we're just going to kind of
turn our head away. I'm going to say scene 2.
Scene 4 freaks you out a little bit and you take into a Sprint
back towards your room in the temple and it's on that Sprint
back that you hear someone in a house nearby.
I go is. It me, Yeah.
Is it? Me, am I the am I the grey?
Yes, yeah. And then I think they'll kind of
run towards them and not try to make too much noise.
I guess they bundle you into. Their living room?
What is happening in? This freaky little town it's.
Dark. It's hard to.
See who they are. It's hard to even place it.
It's the window that you saw earlier, the curtain twitcher.
And they back their way. Into the corner come no closer.
Come no closer. Oh, why did you?
Pull me in here. Because you're not from me here.
This doesn't concern you. That's why I was running.
Away. Well, I mean.
Look, I just want to make music and I just wanted to be paid the
1000 gold that I was offered to play music.
I don't know this place, I this is who are you?
That's not for you to know. Oh my God, make.
Your peace. Today.
What does that mean? I see.
Truth. I tangled with the wrong.
Powerful being and all I see is. Truth.
And at that light. Passes through and you see a
gigantic spider web behind this person as they are against the
wall and they seem to have been somewhat cursed or transformed
into a shape arachnid isk. The web is.
Covered. There's not an inch of it that
isn't just absolutely white. I see it all.
I see everything. And today's the day.
Oh, that's. That's great.
And I'm looking for the door handle.
Yeah. I'm like that's that's really
lovely. And if I find it, I bolt.
The hell out of. There, let's pull another
victim. No Dolores.
I didn't like her. And what prompt for how?
They, how they die, wait and a prompt.
Yes. She was running away.
On the cars you get a flash. Of running down the road out of
town N you are not currently doing it, but you are feeling
like I have. You were imagining what it would
be like if you ran out of town. And in that imagining, and in
that memory, could you call it a memory?
You see the you don't see a cart, you don't see a horse.
You just see Dolores pins to a tree with the sharp Arrowhead
from a shaft, a deadshot, as if they were just taken off.
And the horse and card have both did continue, but they've just
been, and they're tumbled into the ditch.
But you're not there. In this loop, just something in
your mind goes they're watching the roads N you run back towards
the temple and you walk into the kind of open congregation room.
I wish I knew churchy things. The big room where everyone sits
in the pews. Yeah, the church.
Yeah, the hall of it. Yeah, because we you said we.
We're staying kind of over like we're like in the loft.
Yes, I think it might be climbing the ladder.
I like get to my room, get my stuff and get the hell out of
here and I'm not going north. Umm, it's, I think maybe halfway
up the ladder. It's just that out of the corner
there, right? They, they, without having to
even look at it fully, they literally see a body in two
parts there and they just keep walking.
They keep climbing and it's just that just focus on the the top
of the the the loft and one hand in front of the other, one leg
on it on the rung and keep climbing.
It is up near. The altar where you find this
body in two parts underneath that stained glass window with a
ladder collapsed to the side. They were trying to do
something. But were killed.
In the process. It is at this moment.
In time, as you grab your tools, as you grab your instruments
that allowed deafening boom rattles through the village.
Followed swiftly. By the thundering of what sounds
like 1000, who's trampling towards me?
In your. Final moments you hear a voice
somewhere in the courtyard scream out.
AJ, please help me before your world turns deathly white on the
stained glass window. Before we start our.
Next loop Declan, will you make me a wisdom saving throw with
advantage? You can add +2 to this.
My wisdom is so much higher. Than that though I know but a
JS. Isn't.
Not 20, not 20. Oh, you feel your head
something. You are hanging upside.
Down, chained to a cobblestone wall, 3 blank expressionist
faces stare back at you, wearing pearly white masks or two jet
black dots and a simple straight line to you, the seams upside
down. They're floating, almost
circling around each other. In your blurred vision, one of
them is chanting, humming. Arcane energy crackles around
them. From somewhere in the darkness
behind them, a voice says. Good.
Again, why don't you? Tell us what?
Really happened. And we'll start our loop.
Again. Oh, I didn't.
Like that I did not like. That I loved it.
Do it again. In a place the world has.
Forgotten. Halfway between neither here nor
there lies a small mountain sized village known as
Willowdale. Modest in size and
sentimentality. A good place, it is, home to a
cozy cast of villagers, more than we'll meet in the story
today, but not by many. If memory serves, Willowdale has
recently found itself in good fortune, for here lies a large
store of iron ore in the mountains nearby.
Coupled with the surrounding Woodlands, it is on the
precipice of industry, but too small to really capitalize on
this boom of good fortune. It must instead rely on the
occasional travelling merchant to carry valuable goods, trading
with the largest cities quite a while away.
And so does hear that our story begins.
We swoop and glide across the top of The Woodlands, seeing the
village small below. From the vantage point of the
snowy owl. We're drawn into the village
itself, circling past small farmyards and along steep
mountain sides to the southwest, over small valley paths, across
a river, past a smithy's forge and the butcher, drawn towards
the sound of low rumbling singing in a temple that sits at
the center of town. Morning bells chime, for
although Willowdale is small, the people take faith in the old
gods, who, much like this village, have all been but
forgotten. You wake with a disturbing sense
of deja vu. You encounter strangers you seem
to already know. You sense that there is
something important you're forgetting.
You can only hope you remember this.
Could I suggest that Grey, for some reason now notices the
abundance of cobwebs in the? Where they're staying.
And it's just like, why? Does that Why?
Why am I noticing these? Like why would I notice these?
The abundance of these like. Webs like across the top of the
room I think. If they're no you.
Can't. No.
No, I think. For me it's the.
Hiding of the OR but that Dolores is curious actions.
I think that's what I want to stick with me from the from the
day before that. That's what I went through so
recall. I.
Can I pitch? Yeah, of course.
No. A secret third thing.
Because I actually. Like that, getting the kind of
the ick from those for no, like, like they're spider webs.
They've been here forever. But it's a lie.
On my own settle of them and I like kind of the the idea of
Dolores. But if there's one thing I think
we've established about Grey was it was the money.
And if the first thing to do is going to go for their
instruments and stuff, it's going to be the ocarina, I
think, and it's the all God. It's today, and they know that
today is the day that they're going.
They feel in their. Bones, today's the day I get.
Today's the day I make my big. No idea, but it is it's.
And it's a, it's, it's, it's 1000 kind of rings.
And it's, it's literally the way we said they they woke up and
they were humming. It's that like they're humming
maybe that same tune. They played the day before,
Yeah, and it's OR. Today, yeah, I think.
They've always been. It's always the same.
Song when they perform to Archibald, the one that they're
humming to themselves. Yeah, but it's different in the
morning. It's like chipper.
It's happy. It's not performing it.
It's humming it out of like the joy of it.
Like it's humming out of excitement.
Yeah. And we in the 1st loop, we don't
know why we're excited. Yeah, but now there's a reason,
but we don't know the exact reason, but we know there's a
reason to be excited for today. So we're waking up happy.
I think what's sticking with us? Is the feeling of like, today's
the day, Like this is I'm finally going to get my big
like, you wake up every morning and you think this is it, I'm
going to do it. But today you wake up and you're
like, this is it? Yeah.
Louise, will you throw me AD 20? Oh God no.
Poor Louise. A 1313.
You wake up one day. Cobwebs creep your eyes.
You wake up another day. Something about the money sticks
with you. You wake up a day and it's Today
is the day. You wake up and you've met
Azrael the merchant. You wake up and you've had
conversations with the tax collector, Montgomery.
But you wake up and today's. The day no, you wake up.
And what were you saying but when you wake up?
Dolores, Dolores, Dolores. Something about the OR.
No one knows this place. What or or are you talking
about? You wake up and you start your
morning routine. I don't like this this one I.
Do to you all the time because I don't like this.
It's not nice when it's thrust of on you.
I'm not even in the room and. Yes, when you record and this.
Isn't the second. Loop.
The one we just played wasn't the 1st loop.
But yeah, how would you like to start your?
Morning routine today, knowing that every day for the last two,
who knows how many days? You've checked your tools.
You've checked your instruments. You've washed your face.
I think their hand just kind of grazes.
Their tools and their instrument and they walk over to look at
themselves in the in the in the makeshift mirror that they have.
And. Really.
Trying to look. Nearly into their brain to see
what? What?
What is going on? Behind you, twinkling in.
Brilliant. Stain pink.
The glint of that heart catches your eye and there's a part of
it it's like shading that's just jet black.
I turn around and look at it closer and try to remember if
that was there before. Far as you know, it's there.
You're, you're kind of up in your awnings.
You're looking at the, the brothers, the acolytes are
singing and homing and below the bell is ringing.
It's hard to concentrate, but you're looking at it and you can
see around this church, some of the windows are small little
scenes sitting in a glade or under a tree.
The early blossomings of love, the strength that love brings
you, how two people can be elevated and then right in the
center, split either side. It's the first time you're
noticing that the scenes all to the left, there's a woman.
Predominantly in them. And the scenes all to the right
a man but. There, right there.
Just slightly to the right, in a corner of shading, is a Shard of
black. Great, I think.
I think then. That I completely.
Broken out of. My ritual of the morning, I just
throw on my clothes, go down the ladder and get out the door.
Just going into town to look, to genuinely look around at what's
going on. Yes, let's start some.
Yeah, happy go lucky role play. Let's pull some minor
interactions. So first I run.
Into Dareth and Dareth is the for people listening, it's kind
of a guard captain of the 10. And they have a sword at their
sides. They have a sort of hunting bow
on their back. And they go, oh, good morning.
You're new in 10? Yeah.
By a couple of days, yeah. And you haven't noticed anyone,
obviously, with you being new, Anyone else new in the 10?
Nobody newer than two days, no. No, didn't think so.
No. If you do notice anyone, anyone
who's up to no good or or maybe kind of causing an unrest, would
you let me know? That kind of feels like your
job, but sure. Yeah, fair, fair.
If you do, I'm just staying up by the Southwest.
There's a little camp there, OK? Great, won't forget that.
He jogs off towards the woods. This time you see Felix coming
towards you, carrying tools and weaponry and swords, but your
eyes are up. They are.
And they're also on something that I don't know if I'm allowed
to do this. So tell me if I'm 100% in this
game. Like, as much as I'm D Ming,
Yeah. And we kind of all know the
conceit in a way. Now everyone add whatever they
need. If if he's holding something and
he's like I walked into his back.
I think Gray is going to try and mate.
Hand that letter. Umm.
Oh, like just it's that thing of he's.
Distracted he's his hands are busy and I think might even bump
in, but while I'm doing that pandas search the mate and is
searching yes, if that's just like.
It's kind of, I like the idea that it's not even searching for
a letter. It's like I know he has
something that I need to know about.
Yes, there's something here. And I I want to know he's
wearing one of those, sort of. Blacksmith aprons, big pockets,
easy to slip a May chant in and take a letter out.
It is, you see, as you, I presume you kind of duck around
a corner. Sneaky read a letter.
Oh yes. Oh, oh, Felix.
I'm so sorry. Look at you carrying your sharp
things and just oh, like, oh, kind of like all hands and like,
oh, hands up and then kind of scooting down, May chant behind
your back with yeah. And then kind of down behind
like a house. You see?
A on official headed paper, an order for a large amount of iron
ore with notes. As you kind of scan through
you're kind of picking up little pieces of information.
There is a new company set up in a place called Kappa's Anvil
Ink, Ayleshire, looking for the mass manufacturing of weapons
and hoping for exclusive rights to the OR in Willowdale.
It's written in that sort of legalese that's vaguely
threatening. It doesn't ever say or else, but
there is a very much an implication that of or else
this. Is ours.
What else would that letter say? I think that's pretty much OK.
You get the gist to the point. Yeah, yeah, yeah, me.
You, me along you, along me. Oh, funny.
We speak of tax collectors. Montgomery, the tax collector.
I'll give you a choice. In that you don't have to.
These minor interactions are meant to just reveal kind of
seemingly innocuous or details about it because you've sort of
under the way to read this letter, you see, Montgomery.
So you can kind of watch what they're up to.
Yeah, I think. I think that's a good idea.
We'll watch them. I think Montgomery is talking to
Dolores and Montgomery is collecting from Dolores and she
is handing him some sort of very like official document.
But we know that Dolores has something else going on.
So, and when we have that feeling, we see Dolores, we see
the tax collector, we see the letter, we're like something is
up with her. Something is going on with her.
I why was I thinking about her this morning?
And I see her with this collector and I've this letter
like it's, it's all these like clues that don't make any sense.
So I think it's still the worst. Had we as a group?
Feel obviously Montgomery is a tax collector for this town who
would be employed by Archibald and Archibald's family.
Not necessarily by UMM, anyone in Gilshire, not necessarily
with anyone in visage. This town is far enough away
it's theoretically not in anyone's jurisdiction.
There's no right for either side to to claim here.
It's it's in the middle of the Dragon Box Mountain.
Our perception of. Montgomery has changed through
the loops. So at the start we thought, oh,
he's some weirdo attacker monitor.
He always seems looking for money.
But now we see he's actually helping the community.
Yes, I like that our perceptions of characters are actually
changing throughout the loops too.
But like, we've always thought about thought this about
Montgomery. Yeah, he's he was kind of a
stand up guy. He always thought that.
Yeah, he was. Never a.
Weirdo who's just running around collecting money?
Yeah, never thought that. No, he never.
Thought that no as you here from behind you by the head.
You're beginning to see. You're beginning.
To see the truth. This is a helpful person.
You're just popping. I like him just because I give
him like, Aiden Gillen sort of accent.
Yeah, they put spiders in. There for you, Jack, it's the
Aiden Gillen. Thing, yeah.
That's the ever changing accent and you notice you are by that
person's house, I think. They.
I think Gray instinctually goes to run.
But it's kind of. Like running away as in like
they're kind of like fast walking, but they kind of can't
stop themselves from looking at the house.
And it's like, no, no, I'm running away because that's
dangerous. That's spooky, that's creepy.
But also, are they trying to help me?
Who is something there? What is going on?
Yeah. And I think, yeah, I think it's
a. Curious.
Like kind of swift walk away.
Yeah, because I just don't. I don't.
Know if everybody I just don't think we're ready to no no we're
not no I. Think.
Kind of in the stumbling, trying to get away, curious, but also,
oh, not ready to deal with that walk, Gray stumbled into Nessie
the barmaid. Who would be on their way to the
river? You didn't go to the Tavern this
morning? No, we didn't.
So they say to you. Afternoon.
Well after. Should you not be at work?
Sorry. Who are you?
Poor talk. Make the breakfast, get the
water, pour the drinks. Sorry it's not my bar, just a
little bit. I got a little bit thrown off,
sorry. Sorry, how sorry are you?
Well, not that sorry, but I am. Sorry, I don't mean to upset you
further because. I could use a bit of help down
by the river. Doing what?
Collecting. Water.
Why? To wash the.
Floors what? What?
Fine, fine, fine. Fine, OK, you make your way
down. To the river so.
Nice town, ish I. Suppose.
You've been here now. All my life.
Where are you from? Sorry.
All over the place. Really, I haven't been tied down
to one place for very long, you know, Just wandered the length
and breath of GAIL Shire. Wow.
Yeah, what's it like? Well, she can out and see it.
That's that's the. Plan.
I'm kind of saving up for a trip.
Oh really? Where are you thinking you're?
Going GAIL Shire. Oh, the.
Capital itself. Yes, yeah, yeah.
Not this year, but maybe yes. I'm excited.
You probably know all about it, but every year since I was a
kid, I I've been saving up money and not this year.
I don't have enough this year, but next year I'm going to go to
the winter Gala for the for the King's birthday.
Do you want to go? You want me to go with you?
If you're still here, next. Year I could do with the company
on the road. I'm still here next year.
Another major. Interaction please.
Tabitha. Tabitha.
Yes. Performer where?
Do we think Tabitha stays? I think she's a nice house, but
I don't think it's quite in the village.
I think she's, yeah, like she's off a little bit upstream, I
think. It's that thing of like there is
a little water wheel. Yeah, she's a nice.
Little Cottage. Yeah, I think so.
I'm thinking you were down by the Riverside and coming from
upstream. You do hear kind of faintly on
the wind, a melody and without really much planning in your
day. Especially not wanting to go
back into the. Village.
You wander upstream. Yeah, a little bit to yourself.
You're kind of humming along and you come across this house.
It's probably the first time, given that you've only been here
2-3 days. You only arrived a couple of
days ago. Of course.
Well, don't just lurk out there. Come in.
Oh, I I think maybe we had like climbed up the little hill and
we're actually kind of looking out like away from the house a
little bit and over the village. So like I think Ray kind of
spins around. She's like, oh, yeah, sorry.
Nice little place you. Got figured.
It out. Yeah, she looks at you.
Like you haven't, huh? Well, when you do, if you want
out here, it's just out of the path.
I mean, I think they just kind of look at her and they kind of
look back down the village. Like if I went out of you see
the horse and carts making a dash for it.
Yeah, yes. So that gives us not long, and
then she points up to the southwest, and then this will
go, the village will be gone, and the day begins again.
You haven't figured it out yet. I'd suggest going back down to
the village. I think in this.
Moment like again, the hair is kind of stand up and it's it's a
little bit of like a this is creepy, but that's also creepy
and like don't really want to go either way.
But at least the village we have a little home.
We have a space of our own. So maybe we just kind of like
give a little wave and like a little thank you and just kind
of back our way back down. OK.
And I, I think we're back to that little, like, fast walk
down the hill. Yeah, you run down the hill and
from the thundering of your shoes, you don't.
Hear. Because you're just your heart's
racing your heart until you skirt into the centre of town
and. And you look to where.
Tabitha pointed and all goes white.
So I I think. With with almost like these
memories as fragments or shards, these loops, these experiences.
I think it's almost that thing of like, like chicks on them
together the way you would a stained glass window and things
fitting. I think some of these pieces are
starting to make sense as individual things and you can
see them connected where the glass is fused with that.
I don't know, is it that type of metal or whatever?
Yeah, you can see where they kind of sit and they fit
perfectly. Uh, you have Dolores and Felix,
their conversations with Montgomery and their worry about
the ore and hiding some of it sneaking out of the town, uh,
Nessie and this like, uh, oh, I got this job working for Partock
and, uh, just somebody who's here, umm.
And now hopefully with Archibald and the money that's going to
come, she'll have a chance to get out and to see the world.
We start to see these things and with all of them, they all hinge
on the mine and the iron ore, But there's still nothing to
explain the disaster that comes. And the only thing that doesn't
fit right now is, is that trigger Is that sort of why?
And I think for grey, there's no point leaving it half finished
this this stained glass scene. So I think it's as they wake up
that morning, close on and down the ladder, go straight to that
house. You feel your head.
Thumping. You're hanging upside down.
Change to a cobblestone wall. 3 blank, expressionless faces
stare at you with pearly white masks, 2 jet black dots, a
simple straight line upside down.
They're floating, almost circling around each other, near
blurred vision. One of them is chanting,
humming, waving their hands in the air as arcane energy
crackles around them. From somewhere in the darkness
behind, a voice says, Why don't you tell us what really
happened? Give me a.
Wisdom saving. Throw with advantage.
Why do you mean that you roll? Why that?
'D be a six. Perfect.
What was the highest number? 66, so it's an 8 because I think
he's got +2. You're here in your head.
That's. Not quite right.
Why didn't? You tell us what really
happened. Almost.
Still not quite there. Why don't you tell us what
really happened? Not yet.
Why don't you tell us what really happened?
That's right. You set the charges.
You. Lit the fuse.
You didn't try to help because they were bandits, Barbarians.
They threaten the safety of the city.
They threaten the safety of your king.
Good boy. I think you can let him down.
Wipe as much of this as you can and send him to the Temple of
Nan to recover from his wounds. The loop begins.
Again. In a in a place.
The world has forgotten lies, lies, lies, lies a small
mountainside village known. It's known as if if memory
serves, it's recently found itself on on the on a precipice
on a precipice with with with a boom.
It's we're seeing we're seeing the village small below from
from the vantage point of a steep mountain side to the
southwest. It's it's there's a low
rumbling, low rumbling. You awake?
From a nightmare you can't recall you sense.
There is something. You're forgetting.
You can only hope. You remember this?
We go, we get up. Yeah, we have our clothes on.
There is no like, it's literally.
Yeah, I think, I don't even. I think the only thing they grab
is that ocarina. I think it's nearly forgotten.
I think they're like 1 foot out the door, reach back, grab it
and actually 100% and I don't even think.
They put it on. I think it's just it's held in
the held it. Held in their hand.
And like, if they can fasten it to something on themselves, they
do. It's not put around the neck as
that's too fiddly. They just quickly fasten the
rabbit. Yeah, like even kind of a loop
in. There like around a button or
something that just to keep it yeah and straight.
Just slide down the ladder out the door.
Doesn't even, I imagine the brothers kind of like, where are
you going? Such a hurry.
You're running such a hurry, Louise.
New so they run straight out the.
Door straight into the town and straight to creepy, Spider says.
We haven't even bothered to learn their name.
Straight to the creepy spider's house and just talk to him
enough. Whatever.
I don't think it's a knock on the door.
I don't think. I think it's just if it doesn't
open, we kick it open like we're coming in.
I cast No, yeah. House.
Great. What's the matter?
What? What do you mean what's?
The matter. You're the one telling me all
sorts of creepy things are happening in this town.
What? What is wrong with you?
You're the matter. That's a.
The grey matter it's.
Not funny. It's.
Just got it. You just get.
Your own joke, I guess. The joke?
Was funny but now it's actually AJ soup brain.
When you came up with grey? We didn't even.
You didn't even throw that in there.
That's. Weird.
That's weirdly matchy. That's really funny.
It's. Very funny.
Breaking the 4th wall. Stop talking to those.
Out of characters back in the box, what is it I can help?
You with what is happening? Here, what is going on?
What is all of this, the same thing every day over and over
and then and then it ends and, and what is happening?
You're being smoothed over. OK, why?
Because. What you know is dangerous, I
don't know. Anything.
That's why I'm asking you. I'm so confused.
Well, I've tried to make it abundantly clear and this.
Arachnid character kind of and points to the web on the wall.
It's just ceiling. To floor.
Side to side webbing. This is the pattern on the.
Wall behind you. I'll post this on our socials
and stuff, it's very clear. I couldn't make it clear.
Grace, just saying you're. Squinting really hard.
Wait, hold on one second. I couldn't make it clear.
Can we post that on our here? Wait, you don't have time?
Just, you know, no, we have to figure it out.
Shut up, Spider. Shut the don't give me puzzles.
And then tell me I don't have time to solve them.
Can I hold it to? Squint at it.
The way to tell which? Was up is I drew a little spider
on the bottom. Well, maybe that's my problem.
So that's yeah, you're looking at it the right way.
The spider's on the bottom. The spider's on the bottom.
Anyway, OK. Yeah.
So you run into this, I say first story like we take a
candle, we have a look and then it's he as you take a candle,
the person goes terrible, terrible.
And. Flame flickers on the web.
Oh my God. I'm gonna have to start again.
Thankfully have all the time in the world.
And you see this spider creature just begin to weave another web.
Do we at least catch the images before it'll catch one of them?
They're not all that important, to be honest.
That was just fun for us at the table.
But also the fact that grey. Doesn't like looking at it.
It's webs. Yeah.
Like it's, I think someone has drawn something and that they
know very clearly what it is. Exactly what it is.
Yeah. You know.
Exactly what? That is in there OK the the.
Web goes up in flame and I think as the spider guy just starts
rebuilding and it's clearly not engaging, not being super
helpful or as far as Gray's concerned, like that's no help
at all. I think they bolt again to the
sheriff maybe. And then do we want to maybe
pass? I think it was Darius.
We wanted to Darius. Yeah.
Because we wanted to. Like, I guess I think he was the
other person who we know knows what's going on because he
talked about the camp to the southwest.
I'll go with the majority Gray. But I think the answer is lie
with this spider. Yeah, I don't think we should
have rushed out just. Yet I we OK, we don't have.
To I'm happy to stay behind and keep trying if that last time.
We we were running away and something, some part of us
wanted to stop and it was a walk away then and then this part
stopped. Yeah, this time we did, and now
it's. AI think as we go to leave it
they turn around I think. No, no enough.
I, I, I, I, I I don't know how many times I've done Good
morning. And you see the webs behind.
Them. Speak plainly what is happening?
I cannot make sense of this. As intricate and as wonderful as
the peace you have made. I do not understand what you are
trying to show me. I can't tell.
You what you don't know. Everything that comes out.
Of my mouth has to come. From you Gray.
So I can't help you. I think this.
Gray is thinking why me? Why does it have to come from
me? All I can show.
You is what you already know, but if you.
Can't see it? There's nothing I can do.
I know there's an avalanche. I know so many people are going
to die, I just want to know how to stop it all.
And I think in saying that maybe in the web, suddenly Tabitha's
house and her become a thing you look to.
The webs and in loop and loop. Before it has just been wall to
wall white like an avalanche barreling towards you.
But now as your mind is racing, wrestling with itself, you're
trying so hard. Wait, this isn't the latest
loop. This was an earlier loop.
This is when you knew knew the truth.
You're in an earlier loop and you knew the truth then.
And you cut to the last loop and it's all muddled.
You we cut. To the earlier.
Loop and it's You see Tabitha's house as a way out, as a you see
it shrouded in hedges and privacy and overgrowth.
You remember spending days there, little by little, piece
by piece with what small part of magic that you had hiding it.
Oh. You fucking asshole.
Sorry, that's a compliment. That's the.
If anyone knows, Tabitha knows what?
You can't. Ask Tabitha.
Because you're not in now, you're in then, and you're not
there. You're.
Not here. You.
Are plunging. Through the river, under the
prison in. The city of Galeshire.
Holding onto a bag filled with an air and a mental and it's
that cold. It is that cold.
That shocks this memory and it's gone.
And you're back in the. US and it's webs and it's
confusion and it's muddled. I think can I ask for?
Something in the webs. Can I?
Sorry, can I? Go on the web and ask something.
I could ask Jesus, I think. I think.
I think what Gray is thinking about is the is about Gareth and
do I see him? Leave.
Town do I Can I picture him leaving town?
On the way to the southwest. The guard captain who's going to
set all this off or who's going to be part of this?
Because I but I still want to know who was involved.
I still want to know who in the town actually survives this.
I want to know, do any of them survive this?
This? Who knows what's going on?
Who knew what was going on and who was trying to get it out
you? Go to.
Find Darth. You can picture them so clearly.
You've seen them every day. For the last how many times?
This has gone over in your head, in fact, you know.
Exactly what they. Do every morning they wake up
and they check their tools and they make sure all their
equipment is there and they look at themselves in the mirror and
say today's going to be a good day.
And you remember that conversation, but you don't see
it from Ray's perspective. You see it from Dart's
perspective. Dart's was and.
You look out of the house and you just see a shadow moving
through the town, observing. People.
Checking their movements, seeing who's moving and where, and
seeing if there's anything about this town that's in any way what
you've heard about it, which is that it's full of bandits and
Barbarians. But you know these people,
you've spent time with them, you've met them on your way from
Galshire to Visage many times. It's always meant to be secret.
It's a secret place. No one's meant to know about
this place because this place has something very important.
It has a heart, no, a part of a heart.
It has a Shard of a heart in a window that no one should ever
find. And part of you goes.
They shouldn't be found. And then another part of you
goes. Well.
It's top of my job. And then some of you goes.
Just protect them. Any way you can keep them
hidden? Keep them safe.
And then you remember. No, you don't.
You weren't there. You were here.
You were in this town. Used to stay in this town.
But you can see your hands. In front of the mirror washing
your face and you can see your hands in front of a box full of
explosive charging jellies. You can see the town getting
covered in snow, but you can also see the snow coming towards
you. And the last thing.
You remember, as this sharp pain cuts through you, is the
shattering of glass and the flying and scattering of one
small black Shard. Getting buried.
You've been listening to Lethi. A Romancing the Dungeon
Halloween special featuring Ben as our Dungeon Master Amber,
Louise, Dahi and myself Jacqueline as Grey.
You need to check out Cage of Sand from Luciella Scarlett If
you're looking for something new around your table for your
players, or maybe you fancy dabbling a little in solo
tabletop role-playing games, highly recommend it.
For more information on the game and to pick it up yourself,
check out the episode description.
We're back in two weeks, time for another brand new episode.
And we're going to find out. Just what FIA has been up to.
We'll see you then. Tender.
You know what, right? I came in here.
Complimenting your play on FIA and like how you play FIA and
stuff so I can't let your head get too big.
You said it was a trash. Can.
No, I. Said you were a trauma.
Then. Because that's where Declan.
Puts all of the trauma. That's not an indictment of your
character. It's an indictment of Declan's
treatment of you, actually.