Previously on of Mice and Men and Monsters. Aewyn runs up to this dragonborn, rips off all of his clothes and grabs the dragonborn's head and is just making deep eye contact. My name's Mildred. Look, I don't know how many charges or uses they have, but these are like mini to-go Eckelberg eyes, and you can push time back seven minutes. That's what we got it up to. A ring of tracking.
It's basically a tracking device. It says it's a simple ring. When attuned to a user, the user knows the location of the ring at all times. We can't do this if you're still here. If you're still going to, if you could still die, you have to go. A small flash and it's gone. You see her shake Robin's body. Marion locks eyes with you, Penny. She's gone, Penny. She's... You guys have to get out of here. Lastly, I pull out my quill and I cast telekinesis on Robin's body and I have it...
Pull towards me. Remember, follow the yellow brick road. So when we last were all together, you three had been thrown through the gates of the Standing Stones. The circle that would transport you to safety from the chaos that was the burning wreckage of the island that you're leaving behind you. Moments before you stepped through those stones and hurtled away, you had witnessed many an atrocity. You saw an army.
really a literal army of evil pappies. You saw people that you had worked alongside and gotten to know and perhaps even care for struck down. Most importantly out of those few, Pappy and Robin. the last of which, who was struck down by Lady Macbeth herself, who, as the general, really, of the Spotted Hand, had led those forces in... an attack a surprise attack on the island and so now your people are scattered those with you now are the three of you millie
And Ishmael, of course. And then Robin's body. It is now the morning after. So I'm going to pause there. Press pause on the scene. And then I'm going to kind of go over and pull the curtain back so that we can see behind. And this is where I'm going to say you three are finally leveling up. It's been a while for your characters overall. It has been a good bit. You guys are at a level 11. And so if you would be so kind.
As to walk me and our dear listener into what that looks like for each of your characters. How have you leveled up into level 11? Whatever that looks like for each of you. Let's start with Bertram. Start with the best. I kind of a simple upgrade. I picked a I got a sixth level spell.
Which is awesome. Level 11 is the highest I've ever played in D&D. Dang. Fun fact. I've never played in the tabletop version of this. Yeah. This is the highest I've ever been. So this is really exciting. We're getting beefy. We're getting very beefy. So yeah, I picked up a 6th level spell. I picked up something called Scatter, which sounds super fun. I'm able to take up like five creatures and basically like super misty step them if I want to. Like I can move.
Friends and enemies just around the board in a pretty far distant, which sounds really fun. And that's the kind of spells I like. Sounds like something Bertram will love. Yeah. There's some really powerful spells, but I don't know why I, Adam, find that boring sometimes. It's like, you got hit for 80 HP. It's great, but I like stuff that I can do weird stuff with.
I like where I can use my imagination to try and do weird things. So scatter sounds like that'd be fun. Besides that, I appreciate our faithful listeners. I'm always blown away by people who... go back with a fine tooth comb and listen to stuff and remember stuff that I forgotten. So just not so much an upgrade, but I'm remembering things.
I forgot that my wild magic surge now starts at a two as a baseline because after my surgery where I had to give up some blood in the maze at Macbeth, I forgot that losing a little bit now made me a little bit more unwieldy. So my baseline is two now. So thank you, dear listener, for correcting me on that. And also myself, I'm going to whip myself because I, guys, I forgot that I do not have a proficiency with shields and I have been using a shield occasionally.
So please, please forgive me. Please, please forgive me. The things the three of you get away from because I am not a rule lawyer. I'm like, yeah, that sounds about right. That's on me. I think seriously, Baldur's Gate 3 has opened me up to like the things that I'm doing wrong. And I was like, I played a sorcerer on there, and I was like, why? I can't have a shield? I can't do... Oh, shit. Uh-oh.
Sorry. So my AC is down to a measly 13. My AC is not good. Oh, no. I'm squishy. Now I know who I'm coming for. Have you been using a literal shield? It's just that you're made of metal. I had this thing where I said that there was a part of my chest that I could undo.
and hold out in front of me, kind of serving as a shield. Guys, I wasn't allowed to do that. I was not allowed to do that. Put that thing right back in your chest. Yeah, that thing is welded. That's welded together now. That's not coming out anymore. so that's that's it one one big upgrade in a couple in a couple corrections lovely okay uh next let's hear for a win what does level 11 look like for him
All right, so I took one level of Warlock, as we all know, unfortunately. As we all were waiting for. You finally did it. Yes. I drank of the sweet, sweet bonds that I shouldn't have.
let's see so so this is actually level 10 for druid which is a decent level i mean at first i thought it was kind of a crappy level because the the like 10th level druid thing is called nature's ward and you just can't be charmed or frightened by elementals or fae and you're immune to poison and disease those are nice things they seem like a little bit minor um but then i remembered oh shoot
You also get your 10th level circle spell. So the 10th level circle spell for the, remember, I am the circle of civilization, the urban druid. It's called Bond of Companionship. So at 10th level... I can, I'm now adept at forging powerful bonds between myself and my allies. Oh, yo, we need that. We need it. But are you going to, are you going to live it though?
find out how my bond of companionship how does that play out mechanically like is it a it means that like during a long rest i can choose to bond one of you One of the people that are willing. And while you're within 100 feet of each other, as an action, I can see through your eyes or hear what you hear until the start of the next turn.
So if you have any special senses or anything like that. Or you can do it to me. Also, as a bonus action, I can teleport to an unoccupied space five feet from my bonded creature or friend. After a long rest, I can do that. So I can do that once per long rest. And then I can also cast a spell with a range. Let's see, that originates from my bonded person, which is pretty cool.
Very cool. So that lasts as long as I want until I bond someone else or choose a separate. That sounds like a YouTube thing. You know, you absolutely know that every time you do this, I'm going to ask you to basically describe. At the very least, describe at the very best roleplay. Like, what does that look like for Eowyn to bond? I need you to like brainstorm that. How are we going to bond? Yeah, what is it like? Going up like, walk up to Bertrand, maybe like scrape your toe on the ground.
hands clasped behind you. Hey, tonight when you don't sleep and I meditate, let's just stare into each other's eyes. And out of each other's eyes. We're not going to say. We will truly become one. I see you. You see me. Let's look back at ourselves from each other. It would be great. Good God. And now we are doing Molly.
Okay. Slippery slope. Does that wrap up Aewyn? I mean, that's a lot. That's really, that is crazy. It was like, I'm not afraid anymore of those Fae. And then it turned into like, hey, I have a deep bond with... Creepiness. That's why. That's why you're not afraid anymore. I mean, we saw that back in the cave. These bonds do strengthen you. So full circle for you, my dear friend. And finally...
Let's hear that level up for Penny. What does that look like? I am now a fourth level Ranger. So I'm at the moment alternating on the story wise. It makes real sense to lean into one. But I'm a fourth level ranger, which meant I got to increase an ability score. Now I'm going to reread that again just to make sure I really... You could have taken a feat too, but you wanted to do ability score?
I, okay, what is it? See, maybe I didn't do this right. What is it? Feet is just like a random attribute, like you're lucky. There's a list of things you can choose from that are just like superpowers kind of thing or attributes. There wasn't a hyperlink because I couldn't click it. I just didn't think it would help me. That's the honest truth of it. If you want to boost your ability score, that's great too. Ability scores are great to up, especially if they...
Bump you up to that next modifier. Bump your dex. That needs help. Oh, that's the thing. I probably didn't. How do I get to my next modifier? Every even number. It's every two, right? Oh, because I went up two. So now I'm at, this is great, guys. I went up to 15. Did you add plus two to your dad? Plus two to wisdom. 13 to 15. Smart. Okay. Plus two. Great. I really, I thought about it and I think this was a real wake up call for Penny.
to maybe not answering the doubts and frustration she had, but rather giving her clarity on what she needed to focus on at this moment. So I think she gained wisdom in the heaviness of what just transpired. She's wiser. So she now has 15 wisdom. That's great. Trauma can do that. And you changed all your modifiers, all of your skills that pertain to wisdom? Yeah, I totally did that. I totally did that.
100%. Remember my cool brag at the beginning of this? You're like, guys. I realized I didn't have to do those things. I Googled how to level up. What do I look at? And it told me. And I did that. And I just didn't do enough. Two years ago, you should have joined D&D Beyond. You have none of these problems.
We've only been playing for a few weeks. I couldn't tell you I was a changeling. I'm just joking. So for wisdom, you'll want to increase your animal handling. You want to increase insight. Animal handling, insight, medicine. Perception is to go up again. I got 13. Perception. Oh my god. And then survival as well. And survival, yep. It's all up. Wow. Which feels appropriate because I survived. All my skills are terrible. Stick with me. But clearly the pro D&T. Great.
Is that it? Just the ability score improvement? Yeah, it was just the ability score unless I missed something, but yeah. Yeah, I didn't choose a feat. I chose this. Nice. That's classic. Why not? Intentionally, totally on purpose. Hehehehe. So it is the morning after your escape from the island. You are waking up and you... are barely coming to just this awareness of life around you when the sharp memory of death and destruction and fleeing and loss
just crash into your brains as you come to. And especially for you, like the sharp feeling penny just pierces into your mind and trying to... Trying to center yourself, you know, just a little way off. It's a small brook rushing and sparkling along between green banks and murmuring in a voice very wondrous. Especially to you, a girl who had lived so long on the dreary, gray city streets. But that momentary awe at such a natural scene of beauty.
crumbles away as you remember seeing the light leave Robin's eyes. So this is my first question for you guys. Since it's the morning after, What have you guys done with Robin's body? Where did we drop in the portal? That's a good question. I will say this. You entered into the portal. just rush of the tornado of wind emanating from Lady Macbeth followed you and bustling you around the four of you plus Robin.
I always forget Ishmael. The five of you, I should say, plus Robin. Just drop down into a dense forest that you do not recognize. When you had it was evening, looking around, you had seen no other signs of other Green Hoods members, nothing that would belie where you are. no hint of friend or even foe in the area. As far as you foreknow, you are completely and utterly alone.
I think I would have petitioned to make, like, a pyre to burn her. Jedi style? Yeah, I mean, like, up in the flames. I don't know. Let's role play that. Maybe let's say like you you were exhausted. It's it was nighttime. You crash landed. You're waking up and now you look over and you do see Robin. Let's jump into that. Oh, God. We're doing the action. We're going to burn her. Do we have to do this? We're going to roleplay burning her? Jesus.
I don't think you can say like it's afterwards. That's fine. We did that. We did that yesterday. Yeah, we did that. Oh, okay. We're role playing this. No, no, well, I'm just saying, Penny, whether we roleplay this or not, Penny would not let you burn her. A, it's a terrible tactic. We don't know who's around. You know what draws attention? Large fire and smoke. Bad tactic. Secondly, it sounds awful.
We're not burning her. I think at this point, Aewyn would go. If there's any pushback, Aewyn would just allow her. Penny's going to shut down Aewyn Harden a little tersely, to be honest. It's going to be an immediate like, no. That is a terrible plan. Penny's going to turn to Bertram and look at Bertram, honestly, very vulnerably in his eyes. I can't speak for Bertram. No, yeah.
Penny is going to speak gently to Bertram, probably the more than she ever has, and says, if anyone knows the proper thing to do, Bertram, it is you. How should we proceed? I think feeling the hostility and the tension and the grief and all of these things happening, I think Bertram is just going to shut the fuck up for once. And isn't going to even like...
audibly say anything. I think I would just, trying to lead by example and not trying to put my foot in my mouth, as Bertram is prone to do, I think I would quietly just reach into my bag and pull out a shovel. And I would just start methodically, just start making a whole, one little bit at a time, just kind of just starting to quietly, there's nothing to say at this moment.
And so I think I'm just digging right now and want to see if other people will join me. Yeah, Ewen walks up, I think, next to Bertram and just puts his hand deep into the ground and casts Fabricate to use the dirt to make a... I don't know if it's a mausoleum, but it's like a druidic kind of burial mound. Very cool. Putney, what would you do, I think, after your vulnerability and me not necessarily answering you in a different way maybe than you expected? How do you respond to that?
Penny would stand back quietly, watching, not moving much, just sort of seeing what is happening. I think Penny would stay out of the way until the very end, once you've done the work and once. robin is buried uh penny would untie Am I missing it? Have I ever taken off that bracelet, that headband that Marion gave me? There's no storyline in which I got rid of this thing, right? I still have in mind notes I have it.
It helped you with cloaking your pinkness, right? I think you still have it. I mean, it's like a thin brain. It increased your wisdom. Gave you a boost to your wisdom. no penny's going to then once everything's done penny's going to walk over uh to the mound in my mind it's like one of those like viking burial mounds or like when you like bronze age in england where it's like this really lovely exactly um mound
Yeah, in my dreams, it's already like grown over with grass magically and is peaceful. And Penny will walk over and take off, untie the headband she had around her wrist. and then leave it on the grave um nothing needs saying but just as a sign of honor and respect and then slowly step back and i think penny would then walk away a little bit to sort of center herself outside of everyone
And was this kind of like a flashback, Kate, would you say? Yeah, I was giving you just a moment of like what you guys did. So you've had a full rest since then. Because God, all of you need it. especially Millie, who I would say during that scene was like passed out, just was at, at not doing well. You guys, she was more than bloodied and it's the next morning. And here you are. Penny, you look over and you see that newer mound. You see that strip of leather unobtrusively lying there.
And you look over and you see the seated forms of your compatriots. Penny just takes a moment and closes her eyes. and does the things Marion talked to her about. She feels fingers, she breathes, she counts, she smells, she takes note of her surroundings. And in doing so, she looks at her grief and says, soon, and puts it away. And then with an exhale, She walks over and sits herself with her two companions and waits for whenever they're ready to talk. Nearby Bertram.
nearby where this burial site and our campsite is, just kind of like we're all kind of scattered around. I am in the ground, kind of nearby my bag, like my open bag with all my supplies in it, and I'm holding, I'm... thumbing something, flicking or moving around something in my fingers, something I'm holding. And I hold it up to show the others. And it's the mini Echelberg eyes. Seven minutes. Seven minutes. What could that have changed? What could we have done to stop that? To save...
And kind of shakes off that thought. I forgot I had these. What? Can you remind me what that is? Yeah, the mini Echelberg eyes were given to us. by gatsby i believe they were if you put them on you can reverse time by seven minutes i have been too distracted we all have been too distracted with our bickering and our different vices these things that are pulling us in different directions
We haven't been our best selves. We haven't been a good team in a long time. I'm holding up the glasses again. Something like this. could save one of our lives. It could have saved her life. We need to get on the same page. Guys, I messed up. I saw a lot of things in that cave. Just put everything into perspective for me. And I don't know what to do because it's my fault that Robin is dead. This stupid ring. I think it called them in. What do you mean called them in?
I don't know. There was something going on in the cave where it was a trip. It was like every memory I ever had, I was just reliving it. The weird sisters in the ring, that creature, the thing that you've heard, it came. It came for me. And I don't know if it did something to send it off, if it was the ring or what it was, but I guess it was my fault.
Penny stands up really quickly and takes a step away and like turns her back on them and takes a step away to kind of gather for a moment. And then she turns back and says, we told you. Eowyn, we told you it was bad. We told you so many times this was not going to give you what you wanted. We told you. You were right. And you still have the ring. I don't want this ring. And he takes it. And he looks at it. And he just throws it down onto the ground. I don't want this ring. It was a mistake.
I thought I could use the power to make it right. I thought I could use the power to make things right, to do it the right way. But I couldn't. And you're right. You were right. I'm really sorry. And I can't make it right. Never. I can never. I can never fix what has happened. And he closes her eyes and takes a really big breath. She's, I mean, understandably furious. But she opens her eyes.
And her eyes have tears in it, but she's not crying. She's just... You're right, that probably did call them. But it also happened because you were trying to do the right thing in the end. You can't fix this. You can damn well try. You better start. I will. Penny just quietly nods. This is enough for her. That's enough for her. I walk over to Aewyn and sit beside him, kind of like meeting him where he's at and seeing this big gesture. And I hand him another ring.
What? Take this ring instead, Awen. Oh my god. Are you on one knee? No, I'm sitting next to him. Oh, shit. We're bonding forever now, dude. I take his hand and I put it on. No. You open and then you snap it right when he reaches the door. I pretty woman him. I thought you learned your lesson. I hand him a different ring instead. I like tentatively reach out. Aewyn reaches out and...
I think he grabs it, but he doesn't pull it in, if that makes any sense. He's holding it and looking at it from a distance. This is a ring that will bring us closer together, as opposed to that ring that tore us apart. This is a ring of tracking. If you put this on, I will know where you are. If we get separated, I can find you. Find my druid?
Find my Druid. Yeah, yeah. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I'll have it in my app, in my phone app. Find my Druid. Okay, okay. No, no, it's a serious moment. We can do it. No, it's good. We all, we've been doing this for a long time. We have these weapons and items and things at our disposal that we're not using. We keep focusing on ourselves and what we want and...
We just need to start thinking about each other and what each other needs. Aewyn. Aewyn, you fucked up. I've fucked up. Penelope has fucked up. We've all made mistakes. Don't say that. Don't say that so loud. She's not. She's not. She knows what she's done. Okay. She's not perfect. But. I appreciate the gesture and I appreciate. It's good to have you back, Awin. It's good to be back, Bertram. I don't want to be where we were anymore. Because it sucks.
And I look over at Penny and I say, I know that you are exceptionally mad at me. And you have every right to be. I killed your dog. I didn't listen. There have been so many opportunities and bids for friendship and connection that I just completely missed because I was worrying about myself. I was having a little pity party. Poor little Ewan. Nobody loves me. Eating my small potatoes. And instead, the reality was I was missing out.
on what I had right in front of me. And you know what? That is the consequence of my action. I missed out on that thing. And I won't get it back. You hear the sound of a loud crunch from behind you. Turning around, you see Millie, who's just sitting cross-legged on the ground, and she's just eating some chips, watching the three of you avidly.
Is this what it's like all the time with you guys? I mean, we seriously, on the ship, we have talked about, like, what is it like with the three of you on your adventures that you guys go on? But this is like a... special episode i'm here for it like seriously penny go to him bertram go to him why aren't you going to each other go to him Penny just looks at Millie and then just does the biggest eye roll. And then just stands there with her arms crossed. Penelope, do you have nothing to say?
Have you not changed at all after everything that just happened? I mean, I'm asking that in a genuine way. Oh, I know. Like, come on. I've just said we need to come together. And you're still like literally arms crossed walking away. She's like, I'm not ready to back down. See, this is what's very interesting is you're seeing this as like her not having changed. I see this as, I don't, I actually don't think she's in the wrong in this. This is why this is very interesting.
Say that. Say that. Yeah, say that. Sorry. Penny just goes, changed. What did I have? I'm not walking away. I'm not abandoning anyone. But I'm not allowed to be mad. I'm not allowed to take a little time. I told him. That's enough for me. Do I have to be happy and give him a hug right now? He has to prove some things. I'm here. I care. He threw the ring down. Oh, good. I'm glad he threw the ring down.
Let him take a couple steps in the right direction and then maybe I'll get cuddly. Penny just stomps off. She's over this. She doesn't want to be told how she's supposed to feel by these men. I'm a robot. As Penny stomps off, Millie reaches, you hear just like a rustling of leather and... You see Millie reach over and she grabs up what you recognize as Robin's pack and kind of shakes it. Oof. Okay. Glad thing we kept this.
important documents in here, but also I think she was holding some stuff for you guys or stuff. I don't know. There's some cool things in here. I'm grabbing this and she, you see her like grab this mask out and she's like, this is mine. This is all mine. I don't know what it is, but I'm just going to put it on my face and see what happens. Yeah. Oh, my God. Nothing happens. I was going to say this isn't in every book. It's not a good thing.
But yeah, she puts it down and she's rummaging through and she's like, all right, first aid kit, helpful. Don't know where we are, so that might come in handy. Snacks. And yeah. Awin, Bertram, come and check this out. Okay. So this is where I'm going to invite you guys to roll on my magic items table that I had made for you guys a while back. So you're going to roll a d20.
D20 for me. Is the higher the better? Or is it just like all random? Higher tends to be better. Yeah. Oh my God. I'm not lying. I got a fucking nat 20. 16? Okay. Oh, nat 20. I'm not lying. I wouldn't do that to you. Never. Never. Oh, you did? Yeah, okay. Yeah, there we go. Sorry, what am I supposed to roll? No, you don't have anything.
It's not for you, Penny. I think we're going to role play in a second that you have the ruby slippers. I'm going to roll on my own. Exactly. You already got your ruby slippers. True, true. You're right, I did. Okay. Eowyn, you reach in and your hand closes around a glass vial. And looking in, you see what looks like just a simple, unobtrusive potion.
Go ahead, and you can choose either survival or medicine here just to see if you immediately know what it is. All right, that is a 16 medicine check. Yeah. You recognize this because actually you had seen it used multiple times by some of your old circle. This is a ramble tonic. This is used to loosen someone's tongue. So it's like a Virata serum. So when you give it to someone, they are unable to lie for 1D6 days.
Ooh, days. Dang. That's legit. Man, if we have a mask reference and a liar liar reference. Watch out, GC. I can get behind this. Is this actually a Jim Carrey story? Is Penny going to turn into a pet detective? Oh, surprise. Is she going to lose Bezzy? And at the end, you're going to meet the Grinch. No, do not go in there. Bertram, as he's looking through this glass file, you reach in and your hands grasp onto a very thick book.
A book. On the outside. It's like Christmas. A book. A book. On the outside, it's simply labeled Tome of Leadership and Influence. Oh, I've already read this book. I already mastered this book. Okay. As you open it up, it becomes very clear that this book contains guidelines for influencing and charming others and its words are charged with magic. So...
According to the preamble in this, sorry, according to the prologue in this, if you spend 48 hours over a period of six days or fewer studying the book's contents and practicing his guidelines, your charisma score increases by two. No way. As does your maximum for that score. Whoa, the max too? That is fucking beefy because that's what I cast from. Jeez, Alou. Ooh. That is super powerful. Surprise, surprise. So yeah, this is known as the Tome of Leadership and Influence. Wow. That is...
I can't think of anything that would be functionally better for a charisma caster than upping my charisma by two. Jeez. That's it. That's what the 3VC accepts. Both of you roll perception. Who? All of us? The two of you. Not Penny, since she's not right there. She's kind of walked away. She's stalked away.
14. Ooh, that was a nine. Bertram, you note that just as you're looking through this book, something had been... kind of plastered stuck, almost just as with time it had been pressed against it so long, and it flutters down onto the ground, and you see that it is a... what looks like a folded note, and it has been folded and refolded in different configurations, so it's just a hot mess there. But it is addressed to Penny. Oh, God.
What are you going to do? I pocket that for now. Oh, oh my God. Scandalous. After the way she was talking to me. She doesn't deserve this note. I think... I stand by everything she said. No, no, I think that's great. Do you try to do it sneakily or do you just... You already said that she's kind of far away. I don't know. Is Penelope watching us like a hawk or... Penny's not. She's mad. Just look her way. Yeah, I think I would try and stealthily just be like...
Yeah, I would try and sneak it from the others because I don't want anyone mentioning it. Roll sleight of hand. And then for this, I'm going to allow, yeah, Eowyn, roll perception, and so will Millie. Fuck. Oh, 14 for me. Oh, fuck. 11 for Millie. What number do you have, anyone? 14. Okay, I have 14 also.
Tygo's the roller? Tygo's the runner. So that's you. Yeah. So nobody seems to notice that you have done this. I've been sus. A1 is too taken up with his vial. Millie is in the middle of having it just. exchanging barbs with Ishmael. You slip that into your pack. I pocket it and I kind of glance over to see if Penny saw me. And I see that she didn't. I look towards her bag and I see a pair of bright red, ruby red shoes that I haven't seen before. Penelope, what did you get?
Did you get those shoes from Robin's bag? Penelpy. Kind of shakes off, tries to shake off her mood a little bit because, oh, right. Yes. When I was with Rob Robin, she she gave me these and she pulls them out. Did I write down? Yes. She pulls them out and sort of just places them in front of her and in front of Bertram and Eowyn. Yeah, when you, the where, when you tap them together.
uh, blades appear. But if I knock the heels three times, it's a, it'll be a, it works like a guidance system. It'll take me where I want to go. A guidance system. I think you could connect it up to my, uh, my air tag that Bertram gave me. I don't think anything I don't think anything's guiding her to you right now just wait for the right moment wait for the right moment that is the that is the thing I am
You know, does it take me where I want to go? Does it take me to who I want to go? I don't know. It really pipes up. Well, where is it that we need to go? We need to figure this out. Since we have no fucking clue where we are, we stepped through the portal and since we were the only ones at that time, it took us to a completely different configuration from the others. Not only that, we probably got blown off even further off course where it was intended because of that stupid tornado.
Yeah, Millie, so we are all together because we went through at the same time? Where did everyone else go? Are they just scattered to the wind? Pretty much. Every minute, it's a new, it's like clockwork. Seriously, did none of you guys read the guidebook that they gave us? None of you read the training? Went to those special PD trainings that we had to go to?
We've been on back-to-back missions since we met you. I don't have a downtime on a ship like you have. No, that's true. Yeah, I kind of did all the... the professional development remotely, you know, played into the background, but I remembered. Yeah. So standing stones. Same thing as like out in the ocean when we would sail. You have specific times where it would change where it would send you to, different coordinates.
As long as you're together within that minute time frame, you all go. But everybody was just going through at different times. It could be everybody's at different spots. So do we want to find the others or did you guys have another mission already? Penelope, what were you talking? You were talking with Robin. Yes. What did you two discuss before everything went to shit?
We were going through letters. We were going through letters of Marion's. Robin was trying to understand these letters. Marion was writing, I guess, the head of the Green Hoods. I know that, right? I knew it was that. Okay. There's no name. It's just the initials HS. Everyone with their initials. It's just infuriating. Honestly, there's not that much to go through. You guys can look through them, but...
There's a mention, the only name is in here, there's a mention of a Dr. Jekyll. I don't know, I've never, I've never heard of him, right? Or have I? Right. Okay. I got, I have no idea. I don't know. Have either of you ever heard of a Dr. Jekyll? I never have. If you'd like, if you already know that you want it, then...
No, but if you would like to take a chance, you're welcome to have your character role history. I wonder if I would, just from like, not because I knew him, but maybe one of the Featherfoot family might know someone. We have connections. That was a 23. Oh. Dr. Jekyll is a name that you would definitely have heard before. And you would have known it in connection to... the King's College, so the university of this realm that...
Those who would be seeking patents would go to and working alongside certain professors with scientific discoveries. And so Dr. Jekyll briefly worked alongside... You know Dr. Jekyll briefly worked alongside Lord Featherfoot. And you even remember... Oh, like panting, like shoes? Oh, very cool. And you even remember that they were introduced. You remember him... You even remember Lord Featherfoot saying that he had been introduced to Dr. Jekyll by the same person who created you. By your dad.
was introduced to Jekyll by fucking Frankenstein. Fucking Frankenstein, yeah. Mr. Fucking Frankenstein. That's Doctor. Dr. Jekyll, I've... Dr. fucking Frankenstein. Do you know... Thank you, thank you. Do you know... Do you guys know who Dr. Jekyll is?
I lived in the woods most of my life. Oh, that's right. If it was a tree, maybe you would know him. I do know a lot of trees. Dr. Jekyll works at King's University. He... worked with my featherfoot family on some patents i know he worked with them with some something with their boots they were working on i never met the man but hm maybe
King's University is where we should be going? Finding this Dr. Jekyll? There was some, he actually even had a connection to Dr. Frankenstein at some point. I wonder if he would know just something. I don't know what else we have to go on. I mean, Dr. Frankenstein. We know he was up. Yeah, Dr. Jekyll could certainly be a part of... a spotted hand. I think...
I mean, it seems like it's the only really lead we have, right? Is that muggle territory? We have to, like, cross a boat? Well, Penelope, you... Penelope, can you put those... shoes on like what what happens i'm just i'm curious to see if if anything what happens
Penny, while they're discussing this, she had kind of honestly zoned out. She'd been in her thinking, and she remembers these sending stones. She... quickly jumps up and runs over to the bag of holding and starts like throwing random whatever objects out trying to find them and then I would say quickly locates them and then
never having used it, looks at Bertram and Awen almost wildly and just like, do you just talk and do it? Like, what does it do? Do you tap it? Just hold it, squeeze it, and then think your message. think the mess so i don't want to say it yeah just think it good i don't want you fools hearing me anyway um okay wow um and he sits there focus it squeezes it and then
Just keep sending, where are you? And are you okay? Over and over towards Crusoe sending stone. You're able to do that until you equate up to 25 words. Yeah. She says it over and over until. You send it out until your 25 words, of course, are used up. Minutes go by. Nothing. No response. Did you tell him that I'm okay? First thing he asked. Did you get anything back from him? No, nothing. Penny also remembers the gift he had given her to find her, but...
initially realizes that they are going to be on the move soon and decides this is not the time to try it. Avon walks up to Penny and just says, Penny, I'm really sorry. I know how much... That stupid guy I meant to you. And I'm sure that he will be fine. I'm behind Benny, like, doing the, like, don't say that kind of gesture to Eowyn. No, I'm just...
I'm just joking. I'm just joking. It's not a joking time, but that's all we got. And I didn't, honestly, we just always bickered. I hope he's okay. That was so bad. That was good. It was not good at this. I think that's very genuine, and it should go that way. Yeah. Penny just kind of slightly side-eyes A-Win, but goes, thank you. And very clearly communicates.
Let's not discuss this any further with her face. Yeah, for sure. I'm getting those fuck you eyes. Penelope, can you try on those shoes? Let's see what that does. Maybe... As you're waiting to hear back from Crusoe, maybe we can start walking. Who knows how long they can find us still? I think we need to be on the move soon. Yeah, I think you're right.
As you stoop down to change your shoes into the ruby slippers that Robin had given you, a feeble... a small yet somehow strangely familiar cry of help sounds uh off a little bit into the distance Friends, half-orcs, countrymen, lend me your portiers! Hey guys, it's me, Kate, your master teacher here at the break. So here we are finally in a new work of literature in our very first episode for the arc featuring...
Frank L. Baum's Wizard of Oz, which if you guys were catching on, you know, with the special shoes that Robin gave to Kimmy's character, to Penny, even with the very final line. And the whirlwinds, the maelstroms, the tornadoes that Lady Macbeth was throwing their way. Little Easter eggs little hints there for you. So here we are Just here at the break real quick. Just a couple things a couple points of order before we move on first of all
Thank you so much for listening. And if you're feeling extra generous, I invite you to leave us a rating and review wherever you're listening to us right now. If you would just take a few moments, just a clickety clack, how many hearts or stars or... all the numbers, one through five, whatever it is where you're listening, to give us a rating.
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That's all. I'm just going to drop a little teaser there for you to join us. But really, I hope that you guys get a kick out of this brand new arc that I have for you with the Wizard of Oz and to see what shenanigans I can put these three into. And of course, healing after I just dropped a doozy on you at the end of the last arc. So with that, that's enough of me. Let's get back to the show, shall we?
Penny would immediately roll perception to try to figure out exactly which direction is coming. Go ahead. Yeah, I invite all of you to roll perception. 72. 23 23 you can hear it just beyond the so you get 13 okay I should not have cut you off. I invited all of you to do it. So definitely Penny's going to hear this. I'm opting not to do it because I do not have a great perception. Penny and Awin, you both hear the cry coming from the direction.
immediately just beyond the clearing of trees, so the edge of the trees. So you are kind of in a denser forest area. There's an edge of the trees and just beyond it looks like a field. like an actually somewhat cultivated field of wheat. What you notice beyond that penny is that this voice is... You can't exactly place it, but this voice is feminine and you hear fear in the voice and even surprise. So kind of a mixture of surprise and fear.
And even though you don't know who it is, it is still a manner of, your memory of this voice is not associated with anything harmful or malevolent towards you. Penny immediately looks A1 in the eyes and then looks towards the field. And then I would say quickly but stealthily heads towards it to...
Not 100% that this is like the safest thing, but pretty instinctually it's like we got to go do something. And she is still wearing her normal shoes, not ruby slippers yet. She leaves us ruby slippers with the rest of her thing. Eowyn turns into a panther. One of those nightcats. The gear is back, everybody. That's what I figured, yeah. And yeah, if y'all are going off, I'll follow after.
As you are kind of picking your way forward, you get to the edge of the trees and look out. And you see... kind of strapped very uncomfortably in what you can see it looks like a tall standing pole the types of poles that you would typically see a scarecrow on top of But instead of a scarecrow, you see a very uncomfortable and very stricken familiar figure of a blue dragonborn. The last time you had seen her, she was delivering food.
to the Macbeth Manor. Mildred? I think it's Mildred. That's what I have down. Yeah. Last time she had been wearing a uniform for post-mages. This time it looks very different. But still, a uniform nonetheless that you can tell. And these vines seem to be wrapped around her in such a way that her arms are held out and bent in an awkward position as if she is struggling against them being outstretched completely.
and she is plaintively crying out. Help! Anybody can... Oh, this is stupid. I'm nowhere. There's no one out there. Oh, okay. I don't get paid enough for this. Please, somebody. And she just continues on this just pathetic plaintive cry. I cast Dispel Magic. Ooh. To dispel the charm of the finds. Okay. As you do that, you notice that the vines themselves stop growing, but don't fall away. And she's still held in this upright position. Also, wait, no. Back up. You're a panther.
Yeah. How are you casting? I don't think you, can you cast magic wall in animal form? No, you're right. You're right. I don't do that, I guess. Sorry. You think it, you like go to it, you're like, hmm. Man, I wish I was like 15th level. just you wait let's see what can I do um
Do I recognize him from a distance? Like, so we're getting closer. All three of you recognize like, but it doesn't sound like any of you have come out of the line of trees in the forest. Does it look from looking like these vines that are.
grabbing her like is that nearby us like if we try to get towards her we'd be running through that like do i have to stay how far away do i need to stay so i don't fall into the same kind of trap she's about 12 feet away from you So, you know, where it's shadowed and unless she, if she were to look directly in where you were and kind of squint her eyes, she could probably see that there were figures there, but it's still early enough in the morning.
The sun is not shining brightly enough that she would immediately see you emerge from the shadows. And the vines where they are, they're just coming from this stake that's in the ground. And it seems like they've emerged from the ground directly from it, winding their way up the pole and then wrapping and securing her in place. I want to recognize her. who it is i say mildred um it's us your friends from the macbeth manor
I think I was naked last time I saw you. That's right. I forgot about that. We last saw you on Raven's Week. You don't remember me? You can't remember a naked elf druid? Why do you guys have a growling cat with you? I don't remember there being... Is that a panther? Why are you a scarecrow? I'm not like this always. I'm trying to take this bag of bagels on the next stop. Bagels? Bagels? Everyone goes up to the vines and starts to chew on them.
Make a dexterity saving throw. Oh, no. That's the words I didn't want to hear. Hey, 19, 21. Nice. Well done. I'm a panther. You're a panther. Here's what does happen with that 21. You hear kind of this mechanism. And as if something winding up and you feel the kind of ground below you start to spring forward and you leap back out of the way. And you see another one of those posts just come straight up out of the ground as if it was just waiting for someone else to step on it and become...
Yet another scarecrow. So it's got him now? No. No, he's dodged out of the way. Yeah. No, that was a high enough. I don't know what the DC for that thing would be. No, but now you see. And so that has given you an insight into what exactly this is. I'm sorry. Kitty? Cat? Don't come up here. Don't worry, Mildred. I don't know what else is here. That's my friend. Stay calm. Okay. I mean, please?
I can hear crows off in the distance. I do not like most birds. No, thank you. Penny also is looking at this. So was he able... Was he able to at all get anything off of her? Or did he just have to dodge out of the way fully? Was he having any luck with the vines? I would say he stopped the... What he was able to do was not free her, but he was able to trip the mechanism that earlier would have been the same effect as Dispel Magic, which is to stop the vines from binding around her.
So he was able to scrape at the mechanism to stop it from increasing any kind of pressure on her that would do immediate damage. But she is still stuck up on this pole. All right. Penny is going to take out her daggers and she's going to try to artfully slash in a very acrobatic way. flash away these bindings to free her. Okay, since now you have seen the mechanism for the pressure plates in the ground here, roll for first a dexterity saving throw with advantage.
And that's literally just my, whatever the ability is, right? That's the number? There's a column where your saving throws are. You might have a special saving throw just for decks as well. 10. I haven't increased those at all. I don't know if I've touched those. What is your regular dexterity? My dexterity is 18, or the modifier is plus 4. Okay, and so you rolled a 6? I rolled a 7.
Seven. So let's just say then you rolled an 11. You have an advantage, I think she said. Did you roll twice? That's almost a two. 16. Okay. Yeah, you see it coming. You hear the mechanical renderings. You step softly out of that. So now you're able to then utilize these. So go ahead and... Roll sleight of hand. 20. Not naturally, but 20. You slice through exactly the right amount of the vines in the correct upward motion and Mildred just crumples down on the ground in a heap.
and looks up at you thank you i i last time the first time we met i was scared of you and you guys kind of threatened me but now i i don't know what i would have done up there i mean I definitely would have gotten these bagels to... And she looks down at just this brown bag and looks on the name of it. Whoever Uncle Henry and Toto are, but, you know...
Even worse, I did not want to be around when any kind of crows came around. That's what scarecrows do, right? The road has been treacherous around here. Lately, it's been... traps and and weird army movements and stuff it's I don't know how much longer I can go with this I changed jobs last time I saw you guys it was it was really weird I was a post mages but then
The whole thing with that Macbeth Villa and then I saw lots of just this bunch of these marching metal things. And so I got a new job. I'm... i'm with munchkin munchies now they're great uh great hours but it's happening now here like i i i went five counties over to oz and now these same marching honks and metal are here too oz okay so we're in we're in oz yeah oz county oz county well you said where is this where is the road we're in a field
Oh, yeah. I was trying to find a shortcut, but the road's just... I can show you guys. Do you need to get to the road? Yeah, I think we... Yes, we definitely need to get to the road. Also, Mildred, you might be your worst... You might be your own problem. Sure. You just... You gotta go a little more gently. Well, I mean...
I was hoping for that bonus. You know, if you deliver before the expected time, Munchkin Munchies gives you, you know, a 5% bonus on that, which is nice with a tip. Did you deliver? No. Yeah, no. Don't shortcuts, Milgrid. It's not working out for you. Milgrid's not worth it. She's in a bad mood. Just leave her be. Have you shifted out of your panther form? What is this panther saying? I'm sorry. Is this panther speaking? All these lines are saying you can't speak while you're a panther.
Adam, can you just keep cutting in like panther noises as he likes to look under him talking? So it's hard to understand. That's a great idea. That'll teach me. Oh, man. Damn. Anyway. Yeah, guys, let's get this stuff. Yeah, Mildred, I would love it if you would show us the road. Okay. Just want to warn you, it's... The main road can be there's a lot more forces out and they're having more checkpoints You guys don't seem like the type who would want to have checkpoints Unless well
Unless you, where are you trying to go? Not to checkpoints. One moment, Mildred, and Penny pulls over Awin and Bertram and says, okay, team meeting. Leader, I, all right. What's going on over there? Is it safe to walk over there? Didn't I just make a team meeting? No, I'm so far away. I don't know what's happening over there. Oh, I said I pulled up.
Okay, so I started walking over now. I think I've been hanging back. I don't know what's happening over there. Oh, got it. Team meeting, guys. Team meeting. One sec, Mildred. One sec. I turned back into a druid. Oh, good. As soon as she sees you, Mildred's like, oh, the naked guy. Oh, oh. And she, like, drops the bagels again and, like, covers her eyes. Does she blush?
She's definitely blushing. And it's beautiful because she's, as a blue dragonborn, you see like it's kind of like a purplish hue that goes across the top of her cheekbones. I feel like that's your type, Aewyn. I feel like that's your type. Penny Muir. Penny pulls the other two over and says, okay, so there's a road and we're in Oz, but the road has checkpoints. There's sounds like there's soldier activity again. There's big pappies running around. Rest in peace.
How should we proceed? Should we be near the road? Should we take the road and try to disguise ourselves? I mean, it sounds like the shortcuts are more treacherous with vines and who knows what's out there. Everything's going to be dangerous. But Penelope, I told you to put on your shoes. I don't even know what direction, like the road. It might be guiding us completely away from the road. I don't know. All right. But let me put the shoes on.
Penny runs and grabs them. Let's bring her back to the camp with us. We can say our goodbyes to... Robin, RIP, and then we can gather our things and we can go. We're going to bring this random back to say goodbye. Saying RIP for Robin is different than saying it for Big Papage. Rip, rip Robin. Rest in pieces. Oh boy. Oh, boy. Woof. So, yeah, I think we go back to the camp and we kind of gather our things before we go. Mildred, come with us. Oh, okay. Mildred, Milly. Milly, Mildred. Oh, hi.
Hi. I'll just say they shake claw and paw. Mildred kind of eyes you around, eyes around the group of you. Penny puts on the red slippers and eyes Bertram and says, all right, no funny remarks about the shoes. All right, I know you're a shoe guy. I mean, they're absolutely garish, but besides that, I won't say a word.
All right. Well, they're the last thing a beloved person gave me before they died. So watch yourself. All right. Penny puts them on and then, you know, tries them like stands sort of. sees how they feel how do they feel oh man they are comfier than they have any right to be penny intriguing all right not a lot i won't be able to sneak around in these but man these are pretty nice um and then Penny is going to click her heels three times. One, two, three.
Don't hit the mic while you say it. Do that clean. You want me to say one, two, three again? Oh, did you already say one, two, three? That's all I said was one, two, three. While you're hitting the microphone. Do you need me to say that? I didn't think you actually needed that. I was just doing a bit. One, two, three. As you're clicking them, what are you picturing in your mind?
She's picturing King's College. She's also picturing Crusoe there. Uh-oh. Where are we going? Not on purpose. It is just happening. Penelope, you need to be thinking about the university. We cannot go to Crusoe right now. Where are you leading us to? Penny just, like, shoots daggers visually at Bertram and says... Just leave me alone. I hope I give the same stare back and I say, well, I love you and I'm not going anywhere.
We're not running from each other anymore, Penelope. Me neither. So you can stare daggers at me all you want. We're on a mission here. I know. God, do you want to put him on? Those garish things? They weren't made by the featherfoots. Wait, were they made by the featherfoots? No, they wouldn't make something that awful. Never mind. In the midst of your squabbling.
as soon as the third click of the heels finishes a yellow just bright yellow line that all of you can see shoots out from the ground below Penny and heads off in a northeasterly direction. And you can see it's not changing the ground. It's not forming anything new or changing the material. It's almost like an illusion of bricks. Shootout. All right. In a straight line. Did you say that we all see it or is it just Penelope or? All of you see it. Okay. All of you see it.
And yeah, as soon as it happens, you hear Millie like just kind of go, what the fuck? Oh, where did you get those? Robin. Robin gave them to me. They were a gift. She gives a low whistle. Man, Penny, I... That's huge. Thank you for putting them on. Where is this going? Where is this headed? Where are we going? I think, I mean, it says, it'll take me, Robin said, it'll take me where I want to go.
I guess that's King's College, so I guess it's that way. Mildred perks up. Oh, you're going to King's College? That's kind of on the way for me. Yeah, that's the direction of it. It's in the Emerald City. It's the main area in this place. In Oz County, really. But that wave is going to take you to a lot of checkpoints. Have you guys ever heard of Emerald City? It seems like a lot of you guys are pretty lost around here. We don't know any of this stuff. It's pretty new.
Well, look, um... Okay. I have... After I drop this off, I have... a way that i'd be happy to give you guys like a little bit of a lift while i go to my next spot after my my next pickup from there um it's it's a weird way to do it but it kind of would allow us to bypass some of the roads Do any of you have a fear of heights? Not me. She kind of looks around. Great. Okay. And I would say all of you, roll insight real quick. 12. 14. Sorry. Nat 20. Dang. 27. All of you are able to register.
a flicker of fear in Millie's face when she is asked if she's afraid of heights. But you see her smooth it away really quickly and kind of laugh to herself. Of course.
We're adventurers. So what do you have in mind? Well, Munchkin Munchies has some fun ways to get around. That's also how we advertise. So it is... pretty um bertram you said garish it is going to be uh is very garish um but it's a hot air balloon uh so the balloon is an advertisement but they expect those around here it's so it's actually Hiding in plain sight. It sounds like that that that's what you want to do. So um Anyways, let me drop this off and then we can get to my hot air balloon
Where are you dropping this off to? Where are these bagels going? Oh, there's a cottage not too far from here. It says, and she holds up the bag of bagels, and you can see it's labeled on the side, like, catch her in the rye bread. And she looks at the note on it. Uncle Henry and Toto. So we drop these off and then I'll get you in the hot air balloon. And she gives a really weak thumbs up. All right. Does that sound good to everybody? What other options do we have? I mean, no offense, but...
Going on the main road where the checkpoints are, or, and she gestures back towards the field where she had been caught, or trying to traverse that. Nah, that doesn't sound good. Mildred, can you see this gold path, this brick road that has appeared? Can you not see this?
No, I was just basing the space off of where you guys were pointing. No, the thing that's right underneath Penelope's feet. See how it moves with her whenever she steps? No. How is she not seeing it, Penelope? How do we see it and she does not? Okay, let's just... I'm not going to ask too many questions. You guys have something I can't see. Wait, let me try something out here. And I try and say... Okay. I try and say...
Green hoods. I say green hoods. Yeah? Green hoods. I thought it might be that magical NDA. Why can't you not see this? Okay, anyways, okay, go do your delivery, and we will... gather all things can you meet us here like in 10 minutes great okay okay yeah i'll be back oh god and you just see you're starting to like mumble to yourself like
They're going to kill me. I hope they're not crushed. And just, like, so many, like, worries you see jumbling her mind. And she is off. Why do you think she cannot see the brick road? I don't understand. Maybe it's out of this world. Why can we see it?
I don't know. I'm not in the mood to question it. Let's just go with it. We know where we want to go. Well, I wanted to see if that was going the same direction, like in this hotel balloon, if that's going the same way the path that we need to go to is. But I guess maybe from up there we can see. You know, we knock her over the head, take her balloon.
That's worse comes to worse. Well, that is absolutely worse. That is the worst. I mean, listen, I'm trying to get better at this, guys. I mean, she hits me. It's pretty docile. I don't think we need to hit her over the head. I think we need to say, give me your balloon and she'll do it. Just give me. her that same look you gave me a few moments ago. Oh, the one I'm giving you right now? The one I'm giving you right now? I would have given you my balloon. Alright. Stop trying so hard.
You guys, and you look over and Ishmael is just like having his little forked hands in the sky, like just in the air in front of him. You guys need to calm it down. Maybe think of life like this. What do you have? You and you and you and any gestures to Millie and you have that maybe she doesn't. I thought it was that magical NDA. Maybe it's that. All right. And he perks up. He's like, and here she is. But it can't be that because I was able to say green hoods. Yeah.
She's not one of the dot people. Oh, that's right. You're good. You're good. I'm so confused about how this magical NDA works. It's all right. You know what? Hey, hey. Uncle-ish is here. I got you taken care of. Is this? What's this? ish has always been this is it this energy is interesting um penny is going to take a sec before now that um mildred is back look around and try to remember this place
Because she knows at some point she will want to come back. She takes in her surroundings, looks around, notes all the landmarks. And then looks at the grave one more time. Robin is, feels a swell of emotion as she breathes down and then looks at Mildred and said, take us to your balloon. The Fable and Folly Network, where fiction producers flourish.
If you love actual plays D&D, Hades, or Greek mythology and improv, be sure to check out Rogue Runners Volume 1 in the Blood to follow the adventures of Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, and Drunk Paladin. Oh. Sorry, I guess now I'm Alexander the Grump. Is it a sex thing? It was a sex thing! Arete, stealthy rogue and even thirstier mobster. Have you bathed and brought to my tent? And Annie, legendary bard and chocolate milk fanatic.
Together, these four wretched shades will battle their way out of hell for another chance at life, with a little help and hindrance from gods and monsters alike. Word of advice when you're opening up these things, you're supposed to say, Olympus, I accept this message, in some really serious voice. Take your place among the living again. Your tactics are adept, if too elegant for my tastes.
My dear, saying no is never a crime. You hit like a philistine. You're not getting out of here alive, wretches. A pinky promise? A double pinky promise. When you die, you'll have to tell me all about it. Rogue Runners, an actual play audio drama made during the pandemic, all while maintaining proper social distancing. And I'll follow at a six foot distance. How about a five foot distance for D&D purposes? Sure. Okay.