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We are PBOP - a TTRPG actual-play podcast where we pretend to be other People! Join us for, hilarious improv, immersive storytelling, and an original score to set the mood. Subscribe now and adventure along with us - for excitement, for love, and for giggles!
Last time on Cloudfall. The best of all is upon us. The city wide competition where the citizens of compete to find out who's really holding all the talent. Poppy competed against the biggest names in the local food scene with her whole party at her side. Their effort combined with Poppy's incredible natural talent won them a slot in the top ten with Poppy being pronounced as the best baker in Baxi.
Tim / GM:But they didn't get to celebrate even for a second. Because even though Poppy came out on top, the entire island is about to fall down.
John / Doran:Poppy, how does it feel to be the last best baker in the back seat?
Maggie / Poppy:Wow. That's, pretty morbid and kinda put a damper on my win.
Thomas / Guy:Well, you hold the title forever.
John / Doran:That's true.
Maggie / Poppy:That's true. I don't it's still not set in yet.
Tara / Journey:Everybody, I think it's getting real bad. Not only is the I mean, y'all felt the shaking, but, the bright bulbs are doing some just like before on lore.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You all look around to see, indeed, the bright bulbs are swarming telltale signs of an impending cloud fall. They're all still standing in the gardens of back sea. With the Bake Off having just concluded, the island is shaking. And there's a moment of smiling bewilderment from the crowd around you where they're all just kind of jovially not considering the real danger that's going on here.
Tim / GM:But as it continues to rumble, some of that crowd becomes sincerely anxious and starts to disperse a little bit.
Maggie / Poppy:What do we do?
Tara / Journey:I wanna go to the core. I
Maggie / Poppy:think that's a good idea.
Tim / GM:I
John / Doran:think we need to stop with the best of all.
Maggie / Poppy:I can try and talk to the the top ten, because I'm one of them now, but I I don't know if my word will mean anything yet.
Thomas / Guy:Do you think you can buy us time in the corps, or should we start evacuating right away?
Tara / Journey:I don't know. I just wanna go down there and see if there's anything I can do and maybe talk to this sesc creature down there, and I don't know. It's a last ditch effort, but I don't think we have another choice.
John / Doran:Journey to Susque was not exactly approachable. Why is it gonna be different this time?
Tara / Journey:Well, this time, I know what's in there, and I can reach out before I get close. But, last time we were invading the space, and Oscar was doing all sorts of weird stuff down there, so maybe I don't know. Maybe this time is different, and they can probably feel the shaking too.
John / Doran:We don't have a lot of time.
Thomas / Guy:Last time this happened, the giant beast of that island went all crazy too. Do you recall? What's to say Sesk will not be the same way?
Tara / Journey:I'm still not convinced that that second Kree was the real one.
Hannah / Eryn:Maybe we can try to find Phenom and see if we can broadcast something to the crystals and and warn people to get off the island if they can.
Maggie / Poppy:I think that's a good idea. So I I can try and run interference and and and diplomacy, I guess. Great. I can try and buy you guys time and and let them know that that's important if you want me to, or are you gonna try and sneak in?
Tara / Journey:I think that with all the security up here for the best of all, now is our best shot to get down there anyway. Maybe if you try to convince some of the people to start getting onto ships, I think with all the extra people here for the festival, there's also more ships around that could hold them and get them off the island.
Hannah / Eryn:I wouldn't share what they're up to in the core. Okay. We don't know who might try to stop them.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay.
John / Doran:Even if you convince them to start evacuating people, it we're short on time as it is, so I think I'd like to go a journey and ask if anyone else would like to join us and see if we can delay the inevitable here in any way we can.
Hannah / Eryn:Hey. Just don't forget about getting burned to a crisp down there.
Tara / Journey:I'll be careful.
Tim / GM:That's rumbling that you had all felt, tapered off somewhere in the middle of your conversation. You see the crowd is dispersed a little bit. A lot of people are returning back to calm. But at the same time, you hear an echoing announcements play out through all of the Venus crystal canvases that are lined out here, usually playing advertisements and other videos that people have uploaded is now putting out the call for all racers.
Thomas / Guy:Hey. That's me.
Tim / GM:For those of you who would like to attend the best of all race for the month of July? Racers, please bring your vehicles, your beasts, your fastest vessels to the ring light to begin to prepare. Thank you.
Maggie / Poppy:I think we have to go there anyway.
Thomas / Guy:Yes. If it's all the same, even if the race is called off, there is business I must attend to with the ring light. Let's go, puppy.
Tim / GM:Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:I'll go with you guys. I, might be able
Hannah / Eryn:to keep an eye out for any I'm trying to mess with your cart or your anything else.
Maggie / Poppy:Sounds good.
Thomas / Guy:If I am to participate in the race, I wouldn't mind having someone to communicate with.
Tara / Journey:How about I give you my echo bell to Poppy?
Maggie / Poppy:I have a bad feeling about this.
Tara / Journey:Well, good luck to y'all, and I guess we'll head down to the core if you're ready, Doran.
Thomas / Guy:Be safe, Journey. Doran, I'm about to face off with Valor and myself. Exactly what was it that gave you the edge over him?
John / Doran:Sheer luck, Kai. I will say he seems very powerful and skilled with illusions, but he's not a god. He can be hurt, and he can miss. So just be on your best game, I guess.
Thomas / Guy:Got it.
Tara / Journey:I start heading toward where I can find a way down to the core.
Tim / GM:So journey enduring, the first time that you all made it down to the core, you took a path kind of laid out by Oscar. We had you going through this utility room with a now broken spinning pipe that led you down and up and down again and into this blower room and finally into the core. You also escaped through a single vertical column about 500 feet up. How are you planning to get back?
Tara / Journey:Doran, do you know I'm not really a city folk. Do you have any idea of where, I don't know, a simpler entrance might be?
John / Doran:I don't know if I have much that can actually help us get down quickly. It'd be quite a drop. Do you have any way of stopping us from splatting if we were to jump down the straight shot? Ideally, we could take that route.
Tara / Journey:Not really. I can make it so people don't really see us as we're going along. Maybe we just go through the front door, essentially, and I can just shield us from being seen.
John / Doran:K.
Tara / Journey:I guess the room that we first saw Sir Bo in.
Tim / GM:Yeah. That was near the jail cells and the core chamber.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I'm wondering if it would be easy for us to get back there because I remember the tree was also there.
Tim / GM:Yes. Yep. That's all in Hush Town. That's in the, like, lower district. So you just take one elevator, and you're there.
John / Doran:We need to go fast.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Doreen, let's go down to where we first saw our bow and start from there because I think that's the closest link to the core chamber.
John / Doran:How long would it take us to get down there on foot?
Tim / GM:Oh, just a few minutes. Yeah.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:It's all pretty accessible.
John / Doran:Alright. Let's go. Okay.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I mean, before long, you guys follow that same trail that you followed when you first got to back seat. So you actually walk out of the front gates down this, kind of side utility road on the outskirts of the city, out of the brass elevator, down into Hush Town, And that familiar quiet and cold greets you when you're there. It almost looks like a snowy village with all the ash in the street. And journey, as you're crossing through the middle of the cobbles here with this big circular layout, you see that tree in the middle of it, completely leafless, standing in the cold.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I'm gonna cast pass without trace on myself and Doran.
Tim / GM:Yeah. The tree doesn't see you pass by at all.
Hannah / Eryn:I'm gonna You never know in D and D. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:I'm gonna cast it just in case any other random straggler walks up. Yeah. And then what I would like to do yeah. So Journey looks at Doran and just puts up a a hand and one finger to say, like, just a second. And she's gonna jog up to the tree.
Tara / Journey:You can follow if you want, Doran. And reach out and put a hand on the tree.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You had done something before.
Tara / Journey:Mhmm. Speech of beast and leaf. Yeah. So I can communicate in a limited manner with beasts, plants, and vegetation. They can understand my words, but I cannot understand them in return.
Tara / Journey:Oh, interesting.
Maggie / Poppy:What's the point?
Thomas / Guy:You gotta tell a plant to
Tim / GM:be cool.
Maggie / Poppy:To leaf.
Tim / GM:Well, here's the deal. You've got something else going for you. You reach out to connect with this tree like you had before, and whether or not you had done this many times in your life, it does work for you. And it occurs to you that that might be partly in thanks to Ganymede. That feeling might go a little beyond what you even expected it to, but what you feel is not optimistic.
Tim / GM:You had discerned earlier that this tree was feeling like it knew its end was near and that it was in its final winter, so to speak. That feeling has extended to the rest of this island. It's no longer fearing for itself. It is mourning the loss of its ecosystem, of its family. In a lot of ways, it does not respond.
Tara / Journey:Now, I get a feel for how how deep its roots go. Do I get a feeling that this tree is somehow connected to the core in a little bit of a way?
Tim / GM:Doran, you're watching Journey. She's got her hand on the trunk of this tree and she's been standing there for a while kind of furrowing her brows again and again, trying to make it connect with her, trying to really get something out of it, and then you see Journey's eyes kind of flick open, and you see a thoughtless tear rolled on Journey's face and then another. And I'm not sure she even realizes it's happening to her, but, Journey, you feel that it's not just the trees and the plant life here, it is everything on Backsy depends on this magic, depends on the Bismite. You get the feeling that you're stepping on something much bigger here, and it has to do with the connection between Bismite and the people around it. And you feel a sense of dependence.
Tara / Journey:Dorta, I think we're running out of time. I think we gotta go to the court chamber in a hurry. Let's go.
John / Doran:I just help journey up and, head off in a brisk pace. Mhmm.
Tim / GM:It's not far before you find that same door. And, again, you guys pass by this branch where you either go right into this utility corridor that leads you into the core chamber or left down into the dungeons. Make a perception check.
Tara / Journey:Is this related to anything Ganymede related?
Tim / GM:Oh, it is for Dorn. Advantage.
Thomas / Guy:Hey.
Tim / GM:21. Hey. Alright.
Tara / Journey:Mine's not worth mentioning. It was bad. Okay.
Tim / GM:Doran, are you attuned to Ganymede right now? Yeah. Attaboy. Okay.
Thomas / Guy:He's not making that mistake.
Tim / GM:Punished you so bad. Yeah. Doran hears echoing up from the dungeons. Listen. If there's anyone out there, anyone at all, can you just please record Phenom's show tonight?
Tim / GM:I've never missed a single one. God, I
Tara / Journey:love that, guys.
Tim / GM:You hear the unmistakable shtick of Oscar going up the hall. He is imprisoned down in the dungeons after being recently caught by the brass.
John / Doran:Journey, hold up.
Tara / Journey:Yeah.
John / Doran:I think I heard Oscar in the dungeons there.
Tara / Journey:Oh, come on.
John / Doran:He might be able to help us. He does know these paths really well.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. That's true. Let's go get them.
John / Doran:So we're gonna try to stealth them Okay. To the dungeons. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:Pass without traces isn't pass without trace. Pass without trace is an hour. Right? Yeah. So we're good.
Hannah / Eryn:You said it three times in a row Yeah. That summoned something. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:I disappear. Needle juice. Needle juice.
Hannah / Eryn:Needle juice. So, yeah, if
Tara / Journey:we're gonna be doing stealth checks Yep. We each get plus 10.
Tim / GM:Okay. Cool. You guys hit the bottom of those stone steps. You look left and right. You see the path continues down straightforward.
Tim / GM:And, of course, there is a small chest high desk, a single Tabaxi. Okay. They're the only one that seems to be wearing, like, a blue policeman's uniform with the cap that you would expect to see. Mhmm.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I'm gonna try and sneak past by literally crouching so that I'm below the top of the desk and just
Tim / GM:Yeah. It is it is a kind of straight shot that they have with not a lot of cover going there. So it's, you're pretty much hiding in plain sight hoping that they don't notice you.
John / Doran:That's the situation. Reading something, or are they, like, sitting there, like, just
Tim / GM:staring off? This person is not especially committed to their job. They leaned over what looks like a giant kind of, like, cross hatch shape, and they're filling in, like, numbers or letters into little squares. Seems they're paying attention to something else, at least in part.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:And then all of a sudden, he you see him kinda like look up and look around, and he turns around and he goes, shut up. Just yelling about the prisoners again.
Tara / Journey:I was
Thomas / Guy:gonna say he's playing crystal crush.
Tim / GM:Oh, it's perfect.
John / Doran:Okay. I'm picturing these are individually locked cells. Or
Tim / GM:Yeah. So looking down this thing so each cell is actually like a, a half of a tube, you know, like a half pipe, I guess, going vertically up. So they're just little, like, alcoves in the wall. Sure. You can see that the people here are held to different levels of security.
Tim / GM:Some of them have shackles on their hands and knees in addition to being in the cell. You can tell Oscar's in that exact situation. They do not want him flying anywhere.
John / Doran:Okay. Alright. Okay. Great. Do I see keys on the desk or behind the desk as we're approaching?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Behind this person. You can see up on the wall that there's, like, a grid of keys hanging off there.
John / Doran:K. I'm gonna try to talk us through this.
Tara / Journey:Alright. I can back you up. Do you want me to be disguised as anything or should I just
John / Doran:Just look really unsurprised by anything I say.
Tara / Journey:Okay.
John / Doran:Alright. So we're I'm just gonna walk up to the counter. Mhmm.
Tim / GM:So 7 +17. Oh, shit.
John / Doran:It's 24. Oh. You smell nice. Thanks. Who are you?
John / Doran:I am an ambassador of, Poppy Kenmore, the, new best in Baxi. Poppy has business with, one of the prisoners here in
Tim / GM:Austin. Wait a second. He pulls out a crystal from his pocket, and he, kind of, like, clicks it, and he's shining something down on the desk. And, Doran, you see yourself Yeah. At a distance in a gardens of backseat.
Tim / GM:You're holding up the corpse of Mercy, And you're shouting, you can just barely hear in the crystal, and you, like, throw her to the floor and you see, like, blood spatter off to the side. And he goes, oh, wow. Yeah. What can I do for you?
John / Doran:Quite a show. Right? Yeah. No kidding. Say, I do need to escort one of the prisoners.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. God, you work fast. You got another one? Sure.
Tim / GM:Sure. Yeah. We got some open cells.
John / Doran:Oh, no. I need to escort one out, actually, on orders of, Poppy Kenmore. They're needed for questioning, to the 10.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Sure. Can I just see your papers?
John / Doran:Papers? Oh, sorry. On the mainland, we don't what do you mean papers? We we just Yeah.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Wow. 1 of the brass would have given you a a paper for
John / Doran:I know that's a sorcerer ability, but I'm gonna be like, try to this pick.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do give me a stealth check for that as well. Okay.
Tim / GM:Stealth check. Without trace still applies here. Yeah. Okay.
John / Doran:So I got a 30.
Tim / GM:Just barely makes it.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Okay.
John / Doran:So, yeah. So I'm casting minor illusion to create a piece of paper and it it's just, like, not actual words. It's scribbles because I can't discern that much, but you can clearly read Oscar on
Tim / GM:it. Okay. Yeah. He looks at your AI generated script. Okay.
Tim / GM:Fair enough.
Hannah / Eryn:It's cat GP.
Tim / GM:He says Cat GP. Cat GP. That's so good. He kind of like stops you, like, waves his hands out, and he goes, nah. We don't need to get all technical.
Tim / GM:Come on. Come on. Oh, okay. We're friends here. Alright.
Tim / GM:What would you say it was?
John / Doran:It was Oscar that
Tim / GM:ran over. Oh, yeah. Alright. The grouch. Alright.
Tim / GM:Let's get him. Yeah.
John / Doran:Probably save you some trouble. He's been shouting out as we're walking down here. I heard him every time.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Absolutely. I super appreciate it. I was hoping I could at least hear the echoes of Phenom upstairs, but not with this guy sitting
John / Doran:here. Yeah.
Tim / GM:He, walks over to the cell, unlocks it straight away, and he goes, hey, you got lucky. I guess you got friends in high places. And Oscar is looking at the 2 of you in absolute disbelief.
John / Doran:You're still under arrest, Oscar. I'm taking you to some important business. So you sold me out? You son of a bitch. I knew you would do this.
John / Doran:Oscar, not right now. Let's talk about this later.
Tim / GM:You do something nice for somebody, you help them get where they need to go, and this is the thanks they give you.
Tara / Journey:Alright, Oscar. It's time for us to go. Complain all you want on the way.
Tim / GM:I don't know. Maybe I wanna stay here. I feel like these guys are gonna kill me or something.
John / Doran:Oscar, stop fucking around. We gotta go.
Tim / GM:After a little bit of this back and forth, you see Oscar wise up just a little bit, and he kind of leans back and goes, alright. Let's get going. Yeah. Let's go. The, witless attendant just lets you leave with him.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. I I grab Oscar's arm like I'm escorting him out, and I just kinda pull him along.
Tim / GM:Sure. He tries to go kind of, like, arm in arm with you at the same time.
Tara / Journey:No. Oscar, come on.
Tim / GM:What? Just being friendly. Alright.
John / Doran:I I know you're probably wanting a glimpse of freedom here and to go see phenom or whatever. That's not what we're gonna do. Okay? You felt that shaking earlier?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Thought that was you.
Tara / Journey:The
John / Doran:whole fucking Skyland is going to be falling. We need to get down to the core again, and we need your
Tim / GM:help. Oh,
John / Doran:yeah. You wanna impress someone that you love?
John / Doran:Yeah. Well, I did that.
Tim / GM:Now I gotta go see her and kinda see how she felt about it.
John / Doran:Would you rather see her alive or dead?
John / Doran:Oh, yeah. Alive.
John / Doran:Okay. Please help us. We need to stop this cowling from crumbling down to the ground and killing all of us.
Tim / GM:Oh.
Tara / Journey:If
John / Doran:you want a shot at love with someone in a high place, I feel like this is it, and we'll vouch for you. Can you help us?
Tim / GM:He, on your way out, he opens this, like, trunk by the attendant's desk and grabs a couple things out of it that were his. And then you see him grab a pouch that was not his and pockets it. Oh, yeah. And he goes Nice. Alright.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Let's do this. He gets out his crystal to record, and the 3 of you take off.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:Aaron, Poppy, and Guy are all moving towards the ring light. And when you get there, you see this place is more populated than ever. There is a haze of excitement in the air. You see a swarm of tens of 1,000 crowding into the ring light from all over the clouds and the mainland. There's a dark dramatic lighting everywhere and people giggle with excited energy as they brush past you.
Tim / GM:You ought to shout over each other just to hear anything under the music that's thumping as you try to find a place to sit and watch the show before the race. When you settle in, the Backsy Boys are just finishing up their last song. The 4 of them are breathing heavily and holding a dramatic pose with their hands on each other's faces in a giant tableau of will they won't they? They scramble off the stage as the music fades and the crowd erupts into cheering.
Maggie / Poppy:Is there, like, a, like, a VIP box of the top 10?
Tim / GM:Oh, good question.
Maggie / Poppy:There is now, Matthew. Exactly.
Tim / GM:I think, looking around the stadium here, you see, you know, kind of like paid seats that are close to the race floor. You see the main bleachers. And then, yeah, you look up towards the higher stands, and there are these protruding boxes with this, long, like, cantilevered bridge, and you see others from the top ten. You see Mabel Mabey up there.
Maggie / Poppy:Alright. Guy, are you gonna go enter the race?
Thomas / Guy:Yes. I'm not sure. Do I register now or after this phenom event?
Tim / GM:Looking down, you can see there are racers that are kind of getting their positions as phenom is taking the stage. They're getting set up to initiate the race immediately after Phenom's show.
Thomas / Guy:So I need the cart there as well? Yes. Yep.
Maggie / Poppy:Are you are you good if we separate now? Good luck in everything. Please don't destroy her.
Thomas / Guy:I would never dream of it, Poppy. Your cart is in good hands.
Maggie / Poppy:Thank you. If it if it does happen, I I'll get over it.
Thomas / Guy:Don't think like that, Poppy. It it will be fine.
Maggie / Poppy:I'll try and save a piece of her if it does happen. But, good luck, and I I give him, like, a huge hug around one of the legs. One of these legs. And then I pat him on the back, and I say, Aaron, you're good to go?
Hannah / Eryn:Yeah. I might just stick with you for a little bit, if that's okay, Poppy. Sure.
Maggie / Poppy:I don't know if they'll let you into the box.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, you gotta throw your weight around. That's what being top's hand's all about.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, let's try anyway. And as we're going up, I'm going to pull out a bit of pinch and roll it in my hands Yeah. And focus on creating a, a batch of toffee temptations
Tim / GM:Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:Because I feel like I can do it now on the fly. I've gotten enough experience in viewing magic in the moment.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Tonight was a show of force by Poppy. Not only the best in backseat, but your personal best display that you'd ever come up with, and to say that you are on fire right now is an understatement. You are crushing it. Literally on fire right now
Maggie / Poppy:And I stack of 3 cookies because I cast a third level major illusion. Major image spell. Which is an illusion spell Yeah. Which is what I need to cast that, and it creates a cookie per spell level. Gotcha.
Maggie / Poppy:So I have 3 toffee temptations.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You all see Poppy take that little ball of dough, and she kind of, like, lays her hands flat against them. And as she pulls her hands apart, you smell fresh baked goods as if she's literally baking the cookies 1 by 1 as she pulls her hands apart from each other, and you just see 3 fully formed cookies as if she had baked them all over the course of a whole morning.
Hannah / Eryn:Woah. I'm I'm never seen anyone I they smell real.
Maggie / Poppy:They are real. It it worked. I I
Hannah / Eryn:I just made them. Holy crap. That's amazing. If someone could do that in the slums back on Farewell, oh my god. You'd be you'd be good.
Thomas / Guy:Wow, Poppy. See, you don't even need the card at all.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, I mean, I suppose, but I that is my lifeblood. So
John / Doran:Yes. Yes.
Thomas / Guy:I am.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm trying to decide if I should do another batch of those. How many can I make?
Hannah / Eryn:What happens when someone splits a cookie? DM. They have less effect then?
Tim / GM:I I would say if somebody splits a magical treat, it is less magical to the point where it does not have its full effect
Tara / Journey:Okay. Okay.
Tim / GM:Or any real effect. Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:I'll do another one.
Tim / GM:So just 2 in total?
John / Doran:Yes. K.
Maggie / Poppy:So I have 6 cookies.
Tara / Journey:K.
John / Doran:Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:Let's do this. Good luck, Guy.
Thomas / Guy:Thank you, Aaron. Let me know if you spot anything, and he taps his ear where the echo bell is. Mhmm.
Maggie / Poppy:Sounds good. Goodbye, He's, like, still in the cart, I'm pretty sure.
Tim / GM:That's right.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. I wanted to ask about that.
Tim / GM:Yeah. That's why
Thomas / Guy:I was kinda kinda
Tim / GM:Yes. Is still in the cart, and so he, right now, is your only crew to speak of. So he's, he's actually kind of sitting on the back step of the wagon, rises to his full height when you talk to him, and he just kind of transformers into a tall standing humanoid and steps down. And he says, I am ready. Let's do this.
Tim / GM:Guy, you head down to the racetrack while the rest of them move up into the stands to go to that box. And, as you're all moving, the stage begins to dim, and it's harder for you to all find your way. This stadium that seemed so cavernous yesterday afternoon when it was still under construction is now humming with life. The stands are full of folks from all over the clouds, and you hear the roar of 20,000 conversations slide into a hush as the lights begin to dim. And in the center of the stage, you see Phenom alone.
Tim / GM:He begins a quiet, lyrical melody. And all around him, you can see floating illusions, clouds, and thousands of glowing violet lights floating among those clouds. And as his song builds, you notice the lights changing color at random. The lights turn blue and then green, gold, and then a rosy pink, and you see a swarm of illusionary bright bulbs drift into the scene, creating a dazzling hypnotic constellation. And as the song swells, the lights begin to rapidly go out.
Tim / GM:Those dull rosy lights in the space of an instant blacken, except for one, and the music quiets. As Phenom stands before the light in a verse, he reaches out a hand, and when he touches that last pink orb floating in the air, another hand reaches out from the orb, and phenom pulls them out of the light and it's a dazzling pink specter with a silhouette that looks just like phenom. You can tell this is one of a 1000000 illusions that he's upholding at the same time. And they begin to dance together and there's a melodic burst that conjures a 100 more pairs of these dancers on the stage. And in the chorus he says, don't be afraid, don't waste the day, Don't wait until everything's okay.
Tim / GM:Let's go swimming in the winter. Let's eat our cupcakes before dinner. And we know it ends too soon. So take my hand, I'll fly with you. The ring light explodes into vibrant light as the track illuminates.
Tim / GM:Poppy looking down from that box, you see the ring light in full glory all kind of, angled up to shine on to the center stage, and you see Phenom in his full performance mode. And you had seen this before, but it is just breathtaking. The amount of illusions he can uphold, being a wizard, you know what that takes. And looking over Phenom, it hits you. He might be the most powerful wizard you've ever seen.
Tim / GM:You see Mabel standing next to you, and she goes,
John / Doran:oh, hello again. You here to set more records?
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, gosh. No. Probably not. I I did wanna talk to some of you if if you're all here.
John / Doran:Yeah. Some of us are around. You, want a little shrimp?
Tim / GM:She, reaches over and grabs, like, a shrimp on a toothpick off of a silver platter.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, sure. Thank you. Who all is here?
Tim / GM:So up here, you see some of those, lesser mentioned Best and Backsy. Not that you had met any of these people, but you do see Patterson Anderson here. He's the best chef in backseat. Different category altogether by their standards. You see Lyra Lasting, Theo Hoff, and that's it.
Maggie / Poppy:Only 4 of them up here.
Tim / GM:There is Oliver Grun, but he is asleep in the corner. Mhmm.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, it's, it's very nice to meet you all. I I think I'm probably the newest member of the 10.
Tim / GM:Patterson, PANDERSON, probably the biggest thighs you've ever seen on a tobacco, strides over to you and he says, oh, it's so nice to have you here.
Tara / Journey:Oh, thank
Maggie / Poppy:you so much. I'm Poppy Kenmore.
Tim / GM:Poppy, I heard you did fantastic things in the garden.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, thank you. I I brought samples of of my latest bake if anyone is interested.
Tara / Journey:I
Hannah / Eryn:was going to ask just that. I'm too excited. Aaron is just standing behind Poppy like a bodyguard.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, this is, this is Aaron. They're my best friend.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin just has their arms arms crossed and is just shaking their head no behind Poppy.
Tim / GM:Oh, it's good for everyone to have protection. Yes.
Maggie / Poppy:Yes. They take great care of me. Help help yourself. Or one each, though, because I didn't make very money, and I I wanted them to be very special for for, well, the top best of everyone.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Patterson, Lyra, and Theo all take them.
Maggie / Poppy:Maple, you can have one if you'd like.
John / Doran:Oh, thanks. I'm, I've actually gotta get going. I've just gotta introduce a couple things here, and I'm off.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, you don't wanna stay?
John / Doran:Oh, no. It's, this gets old after a while. I'm not too worried about losing out.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, where do you have to go?
John / Doran:I think I'm just gonna call it a day.
Tim / GM:These races, it's too nerve wracking.
Hannah / Eryn:Well, where we're from, it's bad luck to turn down a cookie, so I wouldn't miss out and Erin nods down at the cookie stack she's holding out.
John / Doran:I was in the gardens. I'll take a cookie.
Maggie / Poppy:Is he gonna does he just nap?
Tim / GM:Don't wake him up.
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:Look at me. Don't wake him up.
Maggie / Poppy:I I will I've I've I'll try not to. Right. Thanks. But, yeah, have have a cookie. How wow.
Maggie / Poppy:Did you feel that rumbling earlier? It was crazy.
Tim / GM:Mabel looks away.
Maggie / Poppy:I don't, it's really scary. Something like this happened at the island I I was last at.
Tim / GM:Oh, don't worry. It's probably just, construction noise, I'm sure.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, it it seems awfully like, what happened on Lor.
Tim / GM:Oh, I heard about Lor.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. I think, I think everyone probably did. I was there. It was really scary. We got away just in time.
Hannah / Eryn:The entire island fell.
Tim / GM:Everybody goes silent and looks up at Erin.
Hannah / Eryn:We just barely got out, and the same thing is happening here in Backsy.
Maggie / Poppy:Is everyone eating their cookie yet?
Tim / GM:They're all, like, kinda holding out their mouth, and Patterson's like, well, I I I hope not. Oh,
Hannah / Eryn:you can hope all you want. It's happening.
Maggie / Poppy:Did you did you try it yet? It's really good. They're, they're called toffee temptations. They're just really hard to resist.
Tim / GM:Of of course. Yeah. And they all just kind of shove it in their face. What is the save on those?
Maggie / Poppy:That is a wisdom save
Tim / GM:k.
Maggie / Poppy:With disadvantage
Tim / GM:How's that?
Maggie / Poppy:Against my d c.
Tim / GM:Is that just what I wrote on there? Yep. Fuck me. Okay.
Tara / Journey:Every time one of these new recipes comes out, I'm like, Tim, what are you doing? What is that?
Hannah / Eryn:He's so, like, happy and nice when he writes it. And then
Tara / Journey:when it actually so cool.
Tim / GM:He does a little humor. He might
Thomas / Guy:be in the end.
Tim / GM:Exactly. And then
Hannah / Eryn:when you're actually playing, you're like, what
Maggie / Poppy:the fuck did I
John / Doran:do? Alright.
Tim / GM:Here we go.
Thomas / Guy:Double advantage against top 10
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So here's Mabel. That's actually pretty comically perfect.
Tim / GM:So Mabel got a, 18 total.
Maggie / Poppy:After the disadvantage? Yes.
Tim / GM:She rolled she had the same number.
Maggie / Poppy:Fucking And my DC is 14.
Tim / GM:Okay. So she passed. And then we go to Patterson Patterson. Natural one.
Maggie / Poppy:Hell yes.
Tara / Journey:Classic Kimbo.
Tim / GM:Lyra Lesting is coming in at a 12.
Tara / Journey:That's my girl.
Tim / GM:A 12 for Theo as well?
Maggie / Poppy:Yes. So that's
Thomas / Guy:A 3 failed.
Tim / GM:3 out
Thomas / Guy:of 4. Success.
Tim / GM:Yep. So Mabel finishes her cooking,
John / Doran:and she goes, well, thanks. It was great.
Maggie / Poppy:Thank you. I I just really have been trying to perfect that recipe. It's it's kind of caramelly. Right?
John / Doran:Yeah. No. It was it was really perfect.
Maggie / Poppy:Good. Thank you.
Tara / Journey:Well Well, it
John / Doran:was great meeting you.
Maggie / Poppy:Great meeting you too. Leave the island. I call out to her.
Hannah / Eryn:Wait. Mabel, before you go, what Poppy's trying to say is we need your help to get everyone off the island if they can to any means now as soon as possible.
Maggie / Poppy:Please just listen and believe me. I'm telling the truth, and that'll be my favor to ask.
Tim / GM:K. Cool. Cool.
Hannah / Eryn:There were people on lore that didn't make it, and lore wasn't nearly as populated as this Skyland. What reason would we have to ask everyone to leave? If everyone comes back tomorrow and nothing happened, fine. There's firsthand accounts of lore of what happened. You've heard it before now, and it's happening here too.
Maggie / Poppy:I watched someone drain the bismite of its power, And the island started shaking, and the bright bulbs came in in swarms, and and it's the same thing that's happening here. And and there are so many people here, and we just really need to make sure everyone stays safe. And the island might still fall, and I really don't want that to happen. And we're trying to figure it out, but but we need to make sure people get off the island.
Tim / GM:You see Patterson Anderson has taken his hat off in the middle of your speech and is now kind of wringing it in his hands looking at the others. Patterson says,
Tim / GM:How much time do we have?
Maggie / Poppy:I I I can't really say. We're trying to figure that out right now. Probably less than 6 hours, I would guess. It's gonna fall tonight. I'm fairly certain of it just from previous experience, and and we just wanna save lives.
Maggie / Poppy:And you all have the most influence here. If we can even save a few people, that's better than nothing. Right?
Hannah / Eryn:Can I have used my persuasion, but specifically on Mabel? I was trying to help with just being persuasive.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You can try to persuade Mabel specifically. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Mabel, so many people look up to you here. You could save lives.
Maggie / Poppy:You could save Oscar's life. 26. Wow.
Hannah / Eryn:Erin has very good persuasion.
Tim / GM:Mabel is walking away and stops with her back to you, and she turns around and looks at you, Aaron, and you can tell that her eyes are watering already. She says,
John / Doran:I can't. I I can't leave. I can't help you. I have to stay here.
Maggie / Poppy:You're gonna fall with the island if you stay. I know. Is it your choice?
John / Doran:This was the only way we could do it.
Maggie / Poppy:What do you mean?
Tim / GM:Guy.
Maggie / Poppy:Damn it.
Tim / GM:You're down at the racetrack. You can't hear a damn thing. There are people that notice the rolling pin and Servo and you, and they start to kind of push you towards the lineup for the racetrack in between all of these stalls, and you see a bunch of other racers down there.
Thomas / Guy:This guy is approaching that area. Mhmm. He's he's doing 2 things. He's keeping an eye out for Valorin and Stede as well. Mhmm.
Thomas / Guy:He's also, just inhaling deeply, taking in the the smells because last time he was down here, it kind of reminded him of something about his horseback days. You know?
Tim / GM:Yeah. That triggers right away because sure enough, there are horses stapled down here. You actually don't see any in the lineup that are going to race tonight, but you do smell their presence as they're kind of abundant here. And that means that one of your enemy abilities triggers. As long as you're here, you have a plus 4 to your grapple checks and you grapple as if you're one size category larger.
Tim / GM:Okay. Different kind of beast handling. As you're walking down to the lineup with the cart right behind you, you see the other racers lining up in the stalls here, and you see Timothy Matterfax among the racers. You hear a roar of engines and some bellowing animals and you can barely hear the ring light staff that are speaking to you. They've got you by the shoulder horns, you need to
Thomas / Guy:There's something about horns?
Tim / GM:Right. And in the event that you do crash, you're going to be doing it all.
Thomas / Guy:Just don't crash. Got it.
Tim / GM:They shrug and kind of nod and point you to the stall that you're supposed to be in.
Maggie / Poppy:Super professional.
Tim / GM:Guy, you roll into your stall in position and seated directly next to you is Timothy Matterfax. You see an interviewer walk up with a crystal and start talking to Timothy.
Tim / GM:He says, Timothy, matter of fact, pleasure as always. Please tell us about your new wheels this month.
Tim / GM:Timothy says, thanks. Pleasure's mine. Yeah. This baby just got finished up this morning, and I'm here to take her on her maiden voyage. The concept is simple.
Tim / GM:What's better than 1 motorcycle? 2 motorcycles. So that's exactly what we built. These 2 motorcycles sit up front, and I ride in the wagon back here, kinda like a chariot.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh my god.
Tim / GM:It's got 2 spark engines in the front that pull me along. We call it the buysparkle. And, they continue down to you, Guy, driving the rolling pin. And they say,
Tim / GM:and I believe it's Guy. Is that right? Newcomer to the Skylands. What can you tell us about the rolling pin?
Thomas / Guy:Yes. I am Guy. Thank you for having me. The rolling pin is a, movable kitchen that bakes goods. And,
Tim / GM:Guy, at that moment, you realize you're on this gigantic projected canvas in the middle of center stage. Your face is 40 feet wide.
Thomas / Guy:And oh, my god. And it races?
Tim / GM:And you're from the mainland. Is that right?
Thomas / Guy:Yes. The mainland. I'm very unaccustomed to your ways here on this island, but I intend to win the race with speed and going fast.
Tim / GM:That's a good strategy. Well, good luck to you, and we're gonna continue on with our interviews here. What did you say your day was again? Kesher?
Tim / GM:And, he continues down the line. You see, Timothy Matterfax has his double motorcycle by sparkle device. Kesher has a glider that you saw on the heavenly feather with a jet engine attached to it.
Tara / Journey:Oh, no.
Tim / GM:And that's what she's gonna try here.
Maggie / Poppy:Seems safe. Totally safe. Seems good.
Hannah / Eryn:No problem. Yeah. Really easy to control.
Tara / Journey:Oh, no.
Maggie / Poppy:Have a helmet or anything?
Tim / GM:Yeah. She's got a helmet. Okay. Some, wrist pads. Goggles.
Tim / GM:Right next to them is Demi from Demi's, the breakfast spot. And Demi is a floating skull. They're not actually allowed to just float by themselves. Demi is driving what they call the doom train. It is a giant trackless train engine that takes up about half the track and is by tenfold the largest vessel here.
Tim / GM:Kind of hidden behind that train, you see DeWalter and Makeda. They had slapped together an invention of their own. It's essentially a Bismite Razor scooter that they are sharing with, short Makita in the front driving and tall DeWalter in the back hanging under their shoulders. And last in the line, you see Brody Tatum.
Tara / Journey:Oh, nice.
Tim / GM:Brody has harnessed the power of bright bulbs. He's cast a net over some 10, 15 bright bulbs and is using them like a flying hot air balloon.
Maggie / Poppy:Aw. Wait. Is this the, like, himbo from The Bake Off? Yes. Oh, hell yes.
Tim / GM:Brotatum.
Maggie / Poppy:I love him.
Tara / Journey:He's a brotatum.
Tim / GM:And then you all hear and, Guy, you look up to see Stede, otherwise known as Star Crunch, flying into this arena with a huge armored figure on their back. You look at all those canvases around the ring light, and they're showing old clips of Balorin racing coming in at first place every single time. Every single race in the last year, Balorin flies in at number 1. And it just shows him in the same armor on the same steed every single time. He circles around this place and you see people standing in a giant wave as he passes by their seats in the ring light.
Tim / GM:He does 2 passes around the whole circle and lands the 2 spaces down from you. You see the interviewer sprint up to them cutting off their interview with Demi, running up to Valorant and saying,
Tim / GM:mister Valorant, you've been quite the character lately. Care to comment on the allegations? Is it true that you're a crime boss? Are you the kingpin?
Tim / GM:You see a silent stadium and and cameras focused on Baloran, and he doesn't say anything.
Tim / GM:Oh oh oh, no comment. That's fair. No spoilers. I get it. Okay.
Tim / GM:Okay. How about the
Tim / GM:race tonight? Any of these
Tim / GM:new challengers got you excited? No? Well, I I understand you're a man of great focus.
Tim / GM:Best of luck, mister b. Not that you need it. And he begins to back away. A
Thomas / Guy:guy tries to get the attention of Tomothy next to him. Mister Tomothy, Tomothy. It's me, the guy.
Tim / GM:He pulls up some extremely expensive looking goggles and he says, yeah. What do you need?
Thomas / Guy:They said you race every month. Is that right?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah. Usually come in top 3.
Thomas / Guy:Has anyone ever beat that one, Balorin?
Tim / GM:Oh, no. That, that horse dragon thing is impossible. Impossible? Yeah. It's I I don't know what it is, but you can't beat it.
Tim / GM:Nobody can.
Thomas / Guy:Unfortunate. Sorry.
Tim / GM:Kinda is what it is. Just accept that, you know, 23 is the place to be.
Thomas / Guy:Well, I do appreciate a good rhyme, but I do intend to come out on top this time.
Tim / GM:Alright. Well, don't say I didn't warn you.
Thomas / Guy:I will not say that.
Tim / GM:Alright. We are back in the heart of this island. You guys are standing, staring at this spinning pipe that's just rotating again and again. Nobody has fixed it since you've been in there last time. Yash.
Tim / GM:The the broken pipe that you all used to get down into the ash trap in the first place is still spinning in place.
John / Doran:And, Oscar, before we go any further, I feel the need to remind you that we are in fact flammable as far as we know.
Tim / GM:I did make a note of that last time on the account of yous almost dying. Okay.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. On that note, do you have anything that you can give me to make me less flammable?
Tim / GM:I do, actually. Oh? He reaches into that pouch that he grabbed, and you see a bunch of stolen goods.
Tara / Journey:Yep. Great.
Tim / GM:In addition, he pulls out a little badge. It's a brass badge with 2 filled in pipes, 2 out of 3 pipes. He hands you that badge and he says, yeah. The brass, they use this all the time so they can get around in the ashtrash without getting burned. This should help you.
Tara / Journey:Wow. Gosh. Thanks, Oscar. That's super helpful.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah.
Tara / Journey:Cool. Okay. Yeah. I put the badge on.
Tim / GM:You look back and Oscar has already jumped
Tara / Journey:down the pipe. Okay. Well
John / Doran:Yep. Let's go.
Tara / Journey:Alright. Yeah. I follow.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yeah. Knowing that you've all been through this before, that part of it's not too difficult. You know how to time it out. You know, crawling on your belly through the next chamber, also not that difficult.
Tim / GM:You get to the next one where there is a 30 foot sorry, a 35 foot upward leap to get to this platform. There's a broken ladder you could try to take that you guys opted not to use last time. Oscar floats right up and he says, come on. We gotta set up a rope again.
Tara / Journey:I can try with my vine. As a free action, I may command the vine to move quickly of its own volition and attach to an object or surface with clinging roots and sticking paths. Hell yes. So, yeah, I I take out the vine and I look at it. I haven't used this yet, but I'm willing to try it.
Tara / Journey:And I, kinda concentrate and hold on to it to try and make it grow.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You don't even need to concentrate. It's like this thing is so eager to do as you will Okay. That you're just thinking of what it ought to do when it does it.
Tara / Journey:Dorn, this thing is so cool. It should remind me to thank Bobko when I see him again. And, I kind of, like, wind up and, swirl it like a lasso, but just a loose end Yeah. And then toss it up toward the the platform, hoping that it'll miraculously catch on its own.
Tim / GM:Yeah. You throw it, yeah, kind of up
John / Doran:at the platform, up at
Tim / GM:the wall, it just kind of slaps against the wall, and, like, it loses a couple inches, and then you see it just throw out all these tiny little sucker pods and they slap to the wall. And this thing, you don't even have to wrap it around anything. It is tight enough to hold your weight just by attaching itself like that.
Maggie / Poppy:It's a sticky hand.
Tara / Journey:Alright. You ready, Dorn? Yeah. Let's do it. Okay.
Tara / Journey:The
Tim / GM:vine gives you a little come hither gesture.
Tara / Journey:I frown at it, but then I climb.
Tim / GM:Into the next room, the ash trap is clear enough that you guys can walk straight into that big complex blower chamber. And from there, you can see straight into the core chamber.
Tara / Journey:I think maybe I should go first and try and reach out. Last time I was here, I know I was burning up, but I felt like I was getting somewhere. So maybe if I just try and not get too close.
John / Doran:You take the lead, Journey. I'll pack you up.
Tara / Journey:Journey steps into the room and stays at the edge of it and calls out, Sesc, please. I I'm so sorry to bother. I need your help. The skyline needs your help. I'm sure you can feel it.
Tim / GM:You're staring into this core chamber, hesitant to really go in there yet. You see a blurry wave of heat roll over you as you step through and your lungs fill with hot, smoky air and you see that faded heart of backsy hazy in the distance through the smog. You see a calm river of magma flowing around at all that begins to slow and darken and harden. You see it shake to life as it hardens you can see Ceske address
Tim / GM:you in in that moment and
Tim / GM:you know immediately Sesc is not malevolent. He is terrified. He says,
Tim / GM:You return.
Tara / Journey:I wanna help you. Why? The beings doing this to the Skylands, to the Bismarck. They're doing wrong, deep wrong. I wanna save this place and every being on it.
Tara / Journey:It ain't right.
Tim / GM:No mortals. You will bring me to ruin as she has.
Tara / Journey:Who's she?
Tim / GM:Sesk slithers anxiously between all of the bismite and gets closer to you by a good deal.
Tim / GM:She comes in the moment I allow myself to rest. And so often, I awake to this slow tragedy of my bismite dying before my eyes. And in the times that I catch her, she eludes my every strike with luck beyond measure. But you, you bond with the child of Malice. Why?
Tara / Journey:Do you do you mean Doren?
Tim / GM:Doren, you hear your name, and you're standing in that threshold. Oscar's pointing at himself and then pointing at you.
Thomas / Guy:I shrug.
Tim / GM:He points at you again.
John / Doran:Probably you. Okay.
John / Doran:I'm not sure what you mean, great beast. We believe this island is gonna fall soon. That's why we're here, and I don't think we know how to help, but we want to. What can we do to stop this?
Tim / GM:There is no stopping. There is no slowing. There is no leaving.
Tara / Journey:Well, I I can't accept that. I know you have access to magics that are beyond me and knowledge that's far beyond me, but we can't let everybody here die.
John / Doran:There has to be something we can do.
Tara / Journey:Anything.
John / Doran:This one stealing the bismide, do they take it with them or do they They drain it.
Tim / GM:They drain it. He, slithers around a few more crystals and gestures to this purely silvered out chunk, you know, the size of a bus. And he just taps out lightly with his face and it begins to crumble.
Tim / GM:Melis has sent you?
John / Doran:Sure. Maybe?
Tim / GM:The great badger. The traitor.
John / Doran:Journey, I don't know what's happening.
Tara / Journey:He's saying you're connected to a great beast. I thought you hated the great beast.
John / Doran:I it's complicated.
Tim / GM:In his eyes, I see it plain.
Tim / GM:The blue flame of the traitor. Traitor? Beneath the metropolis of Dawn's Edge, who is this child to you? Who is he to the king of Dawn's Edge?
Tara / Journey:I don't know anything about that. He he's my friend. He's trying to save this place just like I am, and I don't know I don't know what else is going on. It doesn't matter right now.
Tim / GM:We are starving, all of us.
Tara / Journey:What if we could replace the magic? What if we could get everyone to give back?
Tim / GM:Unlikely.
Tara / Journey:We could try.
Tim / GM:Okay. Make a persuasion check.
John / Doran:Do you
John / Doran:say I'm helping or not?
Tim / GM:Let's do that.
Maggie / Poppy:I think you are not helping.
Tim / GM:You know what?
Thomas / Guy:Checking with me.
Tim / GM:Yeah. It's, it may be a cause for alert just based on what he sees in you, but you are you are trying to make the case, Doreen. That counts as healthy.
Tara / Journey:Okay. Okay. Okay. 17.
Tim / GM:How?
Tim / GM:Understand me. How can I trust you now with what I have seen, with what has become of my home? I cannot find
Tara / Journey:hope. I've already given of of myself to try and reverse this harm when it was done to someone else. It was a small thing, but, you have to see in me that this is something I'm willing to do, that maybe I can get others to help as well. And I I guess open my heart to this creature and share that understanding that I had in the moment that I, brought back Harley
John / Doran:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Tara / Journey:With the fey bud
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Tara / Journey:And that willingness to undo the damage that is being done by this process, by these beings.
Tim / GM:Doren, you see the Feybuds begin to drift out from Journey's hair again. Oscar goes, oh, pretty. What's that? And you see Sask begin to almost imperceptibly slide towards Journey. And in a matter of seconds, he is practically face to face and lowering himself.
Tim / GM:And you get the true scale of this, you know, the height of Sesk's head alone matches Journeys standing height. And, Journeys, you can reach out and touch his face at this point. You can see in his eyes that he has given up.
Tim / GM:Do as you wish.
Tara / Journey:You have to be able to fight. You can't do it alone. I can find a way. Will you help us?
Tim / GM:At that, you see him lay his head on the ground. You don't know if he's dying or dejected, but you can see that he has considered this the nail in the coffin. He's got nothing left for this.
Tara / Journey:I I reach out, and I place my hand on his head and knowing that what I can do is so small compared to what he is, I cast cure wounds.
Tim / GM:That's really cool. Regardless of the numerical outcome of this, he sees how little you have to give and how willing you are to give it. He opens his eyes again, staring at you with his big black eyes, you can tell he's looking straight at you, Johnny. And then he just gives a slow nod of his head. But then you see him suddenly jolt upwards.
Tim / GM:And Doran, you hear the worst thing that you could hear right now. A single clacking hoof, followed by another and another.
John / Doran:I immediately tense up. Oscar. Journey. Who is that? The last person we wanna see down here.
Tim / GM:Oscar has turned around, he's pointing. Doreen, you turn to see. Valoran Breeze. His handsome face and light blonde Tabaxi hair begin to shimmer
Tara / Journey:as a
Tim / GM:cloud of sulfurous smoke drifts by the magma and when it passes, you're looking at a fawn. A fey creature easily 8 feet tall with massive hoved feet with enormous curled horns, arching from his head like a ram, glistening like obsidian in the light of the magma, and he's striving towards you. Listen here. I've got no problem with you. You gotta do the smart thing right now, you hear me?
Tim / GM:Staying clear? And Doren, he's not talking to you. He's talking to Journey. We're back in the ring light. Everyone had just agreed to help you.
Tim / GM:Mabel is crying and desperate, and she just confessed to something, something big. She said, this is the only way we could do it.
Hannah / Eryn:What do you mean? The only way you can do what?
John / Doran:I I made a deal with mister b, Balorin. He he's been number 1 for a long time. See, and he's got a lot of sway, and I just wanted to be free with Oscar. That's all I ever wanted. And he said he could give that to me, but I needed to help him.
Maggie / Poppy:What what do you mean free?
Tim / GM:See, we we both
John / Doran:just wanted to get out of here and have our own life together, you know, out in the clouds doing whatever we wanted but we were trapped here. And we were both growing up poor and then I got real lucky, you see, and things kinda worked out for me but not for Oscar and I wanted to bring him with me. Nerian said he'd help, but I I had to go into the corps and just every now and then.
Maggie / Poppy:And do do what? Just say hi to the the snake. Right?
John / Doran:No. A snake couldn't touch me. I'm too lucky for that. I would I would just kinda drink, you know, from the biz mite down there. Take some of the power, just a little bit, you know, just a little bit every day, just for a year
Tim / GM:or 2.
Maggie / Poppy:You you doomed everyone on this island.
John / Doran:But here's the crazy thing.
Tim / GM:The more I did it, the luckier I got.
Maggie / Poppy:You doomed everyone on this island.
John / Doran:I didn't know that though. Nobody told me that. That's not fair. Right?
Maggie / Poppy:Didn't you notice the biz night losing power?
John / Doran:Well, it's changing colors. I didn't know. What choice did I have? It was Oscar.
Maggie / Poppy:You work with Oscar and figure it out together. You don't you don't sacrifice an entire civilization for your own personal gain. You don't do that. That's just not okay.
Tim / GM:She breaks down a little bit.
Hannah / Eryn:Can we tell if she's telling the truth?
Tim / GM:You can make an insight check. Yeah.
Hannah / Eryn:The thing that I'm questioning is, did she know what she was doing? You know, like, draining the island?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Go ahead.
Maggie / Poppy:I always roll bad on insight. 7. Okay.
Tim / GM:You did actually beat her.
Tara / Journey:Oh, wow.
Tim / GM:Yeah. She's pretty raw right now. There's not a lot of deception here. Okay.
Hannah / Eryn:I think she's telling the truth. She didn't know what she was doing. What did Valorant want from you just for you to go down there and drink in power, and that's it?
John / Doran:Yeah. That's all he said. I don't know what he was thinking, but he just wanted me to go down there.
Maggie / Poppy:And he he didn't take it from you then? He didn't want the power you got?
Tim / GM:You see her kind of looking at the ground. He says, no, but he did he did want me to go meet
John / Doran:him just now. That's where I was going. He's in the court chamber. He wanted me to go with him.
Maggie / Poppy:Get on the bell. Okay. I want them about all of this. I've Erin holds
Hannah / Eryn:up the echo bell right in front of their face. It never has used one before, and it just is like hello?
Maggie / Poppy:I just okay. Maybe you didn't know, but this is really not good, and and and you have to help us reverse it. Okay? Like, do some good.
John / Doran:Okay. Yeah. I can do some good. I'm I'm pretty lucky.
Maggie / Poppy:I need you to convince as many people as you can to leave. Leave where? Leave the island, the Skyland.
John / Doran:It's all Where and how?
Maggie / Poppy:Have you seen all the ships? Everyone's here right now. People travel from all over.
John / Doran:Yeah. Okay. The ships. Alright. We can do that.
John / Doran:Yeah. Sure.
Maggie / Poppy:Any any possible way of escaping. Everybody has to help each other.
John / Doran:Yeah. Alright. I'll, I know what to do. There's, there's, like, an announcement system. You see those guys up there?
Tim / GM:She points to 2 announcers that are casting the the race events. It's not too far from you guys, but that's where she wants to get to kinda make this announcement.
Maggie / Poppy:Wait. Wait. Wait. Let's let's, let's record something right here so so you can get the words out and everyone can hear it.
John / Doran:Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay.
Maggie / Poppy:How do I use this?
Tim / GM:She, like, clicks it for you and gives it back to you.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. Go.
John / Doran:Hi, everybody. Mabel Mavy here, and, well, I'll get right to it. It's bad, everybody. And I'm sorry, but we gotta get out of here. And you gotta believe me.
John / Doran:See, Baxi's Baxi's not doing good. Baxi's going down. So
Tim / GM:so everybody get
John / Doran:out to the docks, out to the hangar. Everybody who's got a ship, you gotta be real generous because this is this is it for a lot of folks. You hear me? Everybody's gotta get out of here and and Oscar, wherever you are.
Maggie / Poppy:It says memory full. Yeah.
John / Doran:She looks down, and she goes, okay. That's
Maggie / Poppy:Sorry. We only bought a 12 second crystal. We didn't Yeah. Okay. Do we just bring it to them and they
Tim / GM:She grabs it out of your hand and starts sprinting for that other booth
John / Doran:Okay.
Tim / GM:Down at the track.
Thomas / Guy:Guy surveys the field again, and he he puts his hand up to his, helm of telepathy. Yeah. And well, thanks, Stede. Stede, can you hear me? It's me, Kai.
Tim / GM:Check. Check 1, 2. This is Stede coming in. General, can you hear me?
Thomas / Guy:Loud and clear, Stede. If you didn't notice, I will be participating in this race here with you.
Tim / GM:I couldn't be happier. I'm here to do everything I can to aid in a bit.
Thomas / Guy:That is good to hear. Everyone says Balerion is quite the racer, but for some reason, no one seems to be giving you the credit.
Tim / GM:Somebody notices it finally. But listen, this ain't Balerion.
Thomas / Guy:What what's that now?
Tim / GM:This ain't Valorant on me. This is some other guy.
Thomas / Guy:That's, looks like what I know of him.
Tim / GM:Yeah. I know. They dressed him up to look all like him, but he's not ballerin' somewhere else doing something nasty, probably.
Thomas / Guy:People keep doing that, looking like other people. I don't like it.
Tim / GM:I promise the next island's gonna be a
Tim / GM:lot less illusion, anyway.
Tim / GM:I I can't leave the situation I'm in. It's not as simple as just going home with you. He's got a friend of mine under his thumb.
Thomas / Guy:I understand. I wouldn't want to do anything to put you in a compromised position, Stede.
Tim / GM:I understand. We just if you can beat him, great. Or if we can get out of here and outpace him and get to my friend, that could work too. But but if I just leave him and we leave him alone, he's gonna do something. And I don't know if I'll see her again.
Thomas / Guy:Very well. I will do what I can for your friend and I think we will get out of this together. It's good to hear from you again. You too, Steve. And, Guy, enters the cart for a moment.
Thomas / Guy:Mhmm. Servo. Captain. Now would be a great time to tell me that you are actually an expert accomplished racer back on the mainland.
Tim / GM:I can drive a rickshaw.
Thomas / Guy:That's not bad. This isn't far off.
Tim / GM:Well spotted.
Thomas / Guy:Anyway, I'll need your help to make sure the engine is running hot, but not overheating. Indeed. Can do. At ease, soldier. Well, they're not at ease.
Thomas / Guy:We're starting.
Tim / GM:Everyone in there can see the canvases light up with a giant 3. And guy, you hear all around you. Everything is igniting. You hear 7 spark engines just click on all at once.
Thomas / Guy:Is this a good time to ask how to drive the, it's
Tim / GM:a great time
John / Doran:to ask. A car? Great time to ask how to drive the car. Uh-huh.
Tim / GM:You can go ahead and check your messages. I just gave you the Woah.
John / Doran:Instructions for this.
Thomas / Guy:These aren't like secret.
Tim / GM:Right? No. Okay. Not secret. So here's how this race is gonna work.
Tim / GM:There's gonna be 3 rounds of rolling, and in each round, you're gonna roll for your steering and for your speed. If your steering is too low, you have a chance of crashing. If someone attacks your cart, it can also destabilize you which gives you disadvantage on your steering. You can also attack other carts to give them disadvantage on their steering. You've got a couple abilities with your pilot actions.
Tim / GM:You can speed up. You can drive more defensively, and you've got a couple special tricks up your sleeve. Looking up at that canvas, you see a giant red 3, a giant yellow 2,
Tim / GM:and then a
Tim / GM:giant green 1. And you hear the loudest blast of brass instruments you've ever heard in your life, and you hear the roar of engines all around you. What do you do? Well,
Thomas / Guy:I start the engine. Alligator guy does not know what to expect. Okay. I'm gonna do the defensive driving action to start the first lap.
Tim / GM:Great.
Thomas / Guy:And I do my rolls now?
Tim / GM:Yep.
Thomas / Guy:Great. Steering roll. 29.
Tim / GM:Yep. No penalties there. Highest speed at the end of the next 3 rounds is gonna be the winner of this race.
Thomas / Guy:Oh, 3 rounds. Yes.
Tim / GM:You take off in a sort of defensive position and then everybody takes off around you. I'm just gonna roll really quickly for the rest of everybody's stuff here.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. How many guys we got?
Tim / GM:There are 6 other racers. Balorin, quote unquote, Timothy Matterfax, Kesher, Demi, DeWalter, Makeda on a single scooter, and Rotate them.
Tara / Journey:What about Darlene Filth on her roller skates?
Tim / GM:Oh, she is there. She joined late?
Maggie / Poppy:She actually, sprained her ankle.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Yeah.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. She falls down in
Tim / GM:her rossery. Another racer. She sprained
Hannah / Eryn:her ankle. Yeah.
Thomas / Guy:K. Someone beat her legs with a crowbar.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh. Jesus Christ.
Tim / GM:Guy, you take off steady. You start the race strong, not reckless, and you see Timothy Matterfax fly out ahead of you quite a bit faster than you. And you see Balorin just blasting ahead of you, kind of literally leaving you in a wake of dust. And he's quickly turning into a small dot far ahead of you. But still behind you are Kesher, Demi, and D'Walter Mikita.
Tim / GM:Not having moved at all is Brotato, who cannot seem to convince this cloud of, bright bulbs to move in the direction he wants. He takes up vertically immediately after the race starts and just starts floating upwards. And he goes, oh, dang.
Tara / Journey:Oh, really?
Tim / GM:This is where things start to get real. You see Balor and Breeze up on his mount or somebody up on Steed, look back at you and they throw a object your way. Something glints as it flies back towards your wagon. You hear the unmistakable sound of steel hitting your vest. Blue shot.
Tim / GM:Oh.
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. Well, I'm not in 1st place, so infect me. What yeah. What's, like, the cart DC or AC, I mean?
Tim / GM:So I've got internal stats for cart AC when you're being attacked here.
Thomas / Guy:They do have disadvantage because of my defensive driving techniques.
Tim / GM:Oh, thanks for that.
Tim / GM:Thomas. Alright. Instead of landing into your cart, you see a essentially a shard of steel. What looks like the blade of a sword with no hilt just go flying by your vessel and you see it plink off of the track showing a a brief shower of sparks and kind of clattering off to the side.
Maggie / Poppy:Did he just throw a knife at you?
Thomas / Guy:That's not fair.
Tim / GM:Timothy is not screwing with you from where he is, but he does kind of like turn his head and his fancy expensive goggles and kind of narrows his eyes at you. You see Kesher struggling to catch up with you. You see Demi took a long time to get that train rolling, but once they did, they are catching up to you. DeWalter and Nikita are on a scooter about as much as could be expected.
Tara / Journey:They're there to have fun.
Thomas / Guy:Guy's gonna get on his echo bell?
Tim / GM:Yeah. Poppy. Are you there, Poppy?
Maggie / Poppy:Holy yes. What's up?
Thomas / Guy:Well, the race has begun, and I I haven't crashed yet. That's great. Wait. Hold on. No.
Thomas / Guy:I haven't crashed
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, great. Keep it up.
Thomas / Guy:Listen. I have reason to believe that the Balorin I am racing against may not be the real Balorin.
Tara / Journey:What?
Thomas / Guy:Yeah. I don't know. But, this probably means something. Maybe the others should watch out for him.
Maggie / Poppy:Well, good good idea. I'll I'll check-in with them.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. I'll keep not crashing.
Maggie / Poppy:Do you need help out there?
Thomas / Guy:Sure.
Maggie / Poppy:Okay. I'll see what I can do. I think we took care of it in here.
Tim / GM:Alright. Guy, what do you wanna do for this round? In addition to your pilot and crew actions, what did you wanna do? Did you wanna attack another cart?
Thomas / Guy:I forgot there's crew actions. Not a bad start, Serbo. Why don't you stoke that engine and speed us up a bit?
Tim / GM:Stoking. Stoking. Stoking.
Tim / GM:You see him reach into the engine. He's literally, like, pumping this fan that Walter and Makita had installed to accelerate the decay of the bismite. It looks like, one of those circular blacksmith blower fans if you ever seen one of those, but he is using his whole body to press this giant bellows to keep that fan rolling. And you feel the card start to speed up just a little bit.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. So is this a speed boost on my next round?
Tim / GM:Correct. Yep. And then you have another pilot action here.
Maggie / Poppy:Can I do something from the stands?
Tim / GM:Yeah.
Maggie / Poppy:Can I cast slow on Tomothy?
Tim / GM:What's the range on slow?
Hannah / Eryn:A 120 feet. Jesus Christ.
Tara / Journey:I think
Tim / GM:that could reach you.
Maggie / Poppy:I will do that.
Tim / GM:Okay. I
Maggie / Poppy:thought Poppy was gonna say, can
Hannah / Eryn:I do something from the stands? And then she's like, I'm gonna start the wave.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. Also, like, as a bonus action, I'm gonna start the wave. I don't even know if this will work, but I just wanna try. Wisdom save. Yep.
Tim / GM:Against Timothy?
Maggie / Poppy:Yes.
Thomas / Guy:I thought it was
Tim / GM:a natural one. It's a 7.
Maggie / Poppy:Then his speed is halved and takes a negative 2 penalty to AC index saving throws.
Tim / GM:Alright.
Maggie / Poppy:And can't use reactions.
Tim / GM:Cool. Out the window guy, as you're driving, you're kind of like, you know, watching the front window of this thing, watching everything fly past you. And all of a sudden, you see Tomothy just slow motion. Like literally slow motion. There's this ripple around him as if time is is slowing down and you see him just rapidly drop pace and fall back.
Tim / GM:And as he does, he is slow motion looking over at you and his hair is waving in slow motion in the wind. And then you just see his mouth moving again in slow motion going, what the fuck? As you, from his perspective, are going double speed just right past him.
Maggie / Poppy:Over the bell, I'll go, you're welcome.
Thomas / Guy:Nice job, Bob.
Maggie / Poppy:And then start
Hannah / Eryn:the wave. Faith, can we do the wave around the table, Tim?
Thomas / Guy:Beautiful.
Maggie / Poppy:So stupid.
Thomas / Guy:Alright.
Tara / Journey:Fuck Tomothy.
Maggie / Poppy:Yeah. For revenge.
Thomas / Guy:Guy sees this happen and he pumps his fist a little bit. Then he takes a look out of the back of the cart to see the people, trailing him.
Tim / GM:Yeah. There are good ways behind you, actually. It's, Valoran by a good lead. You, a little farther back, and then everyone else, you know, much closer to the starting line.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. Let's make sure this is down to just me and Valoran. And Guy's gonna get in one of the cupboards and pull out a bag of flour.
Tara / Journey:K.
Thomas / Guy:And he'll cut just a tiny little slit on it and then throw it down on the track to create a cloud of dust.
Tim / GM:Oh my god. Okay. Alright. Give me your pilot crew actions for the next round.
Maggie / Poppy:We play dirty.
Thomas / Guy:Alright. Sir Bo, we're gonna give it all it's got to catch up to Balor. Wait.
Tim / GM:You see his arm reach out, and there's like a little handle coming down from the ceiling. He grabs the handle and he goes, okay.
Thomas / Guy:Safety first. Activate the death cage.
Tim / GM:Are you certain?
Thomas / Guy:I don't know.
Tim / GM:He goes over to a little button protected by a clear glass shield. He lifts it up, holds his finger over the button, and he says, are you certain?
Thomas / Guy:We've gotta catch up to Balorin.
Tim / GM:He reaches down to the button. He begins rotating it, twisting it off, reveals an even tinier button underneath, and he says, are you absolutely sure? Whatever it takes, sir.
Tara / Journey:He presses the button, And
Tim / GM:you feel the effect of the death cage. Immediately, parts of the wagon begin falling off. Oh. The wagon takes one damage in addition, if anybody was near you, you would have damaged them on your way through, but there's nobody to crash into. Wonderful.
Tim / GM:Alright. And you are stroking for this as well, so you're actually gonna add plus 7 to your speed roll this round.
Thomas / Guy:Okay.
Tim / GM:And let's roll it out.
Thomas / Guy:The steering roll is 21.
Tim / GM:Okay. Yep. Perfect steering. Okay. No issues
Thomas / Guy:there. 17.
Tim / GM:Alright.
Maggie / Poppy:What die are you rolling for speed? 10.
Tim / GM:Alright. You see the other racers bear down. Alright. Valorant Breeze rolled a natural
Maggie / Poppy:Woah. Yes, bitch. It's the flower. No. He was ahead.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Didn't plan for that. Alright. Let me roll out the rest of them. The roles after that were 6, 8, and natural one again Wait.
John / Doran:For the remaining races.
Tara / Journey:That's your, like, 3rd one today.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Oh my god. I mean, let's get them out now before you guys fight Liraine.
Thomas / Guy:Timuraine's a lot of ones for
Tim / GM:Yeah. I do not keep planning.
Tara / Journey:I
John / Doran:was thinking we're just gonna talk it out with Liraine.
Tara / Journey:Yeah. Yeah. It was definitely just gonna be a combo.
Tim / GM:You know what? This Valorant Breeze fella on Steed is watching you more than they're watching the track, and you're fast approaching from behind. Now with this death cage, this burst of speed that you got, Valoran looks down at you as you're neck and neck and begin to overtake him. And kind of in response, he bears down on Stede and starts like hitting him digging his spurs and you see blood spatter coming out of Stede as this thing is just beating on him to try to get him to go faster and you see Steve just tank it. He flies into the ground and just smashes himself against the track.
Maggie / Poppy:Steve Biscuit. Oh my god.
Hannah / Eryn:Alright.
Tim / GM:And guy with a natural one on his steering, he crashes. This armored finger just goes sprawling out across the floor on this track, this illuminated track, and the other racers are so far behind you, they're literally out of mind. You can see that Tomothy lost his shit among a cloud of flower and just spun out and destroyed one of his by sparkles. Now he's trying to get onto the other one to ride it by itself. Slowly.
Thomas / Guy:Now it's just a unisparkle.
Tim / GM:Yeah. Who wants that? But here's the other thing, Guy. When Balorin stands up, he's missing a head. You slow down enough in the cart to look down and you see a sallow, sunken face of a friend, A night under your command.
Tim / GM:The last time you saw him, it was winter. The 2 of you were walking down a gravel path in a pine forest at the edge of a frozen river. Danathon looks up at you and he says,
Tim / GM:there's more peaceful out here
Tim / GM:in the winter. Less of those wild dogs. Less brigands. Maybe that's your doing. You've done a lot for this country, general.
Tim / GM:Not that you need my validation. It's hard to do the things you do. Not everyone understands it, but I do. There's a howling breeze between you and he's staring out at the river. And there's just the smallest noise of metal between the 2 of you.
Tim / GM:He says, I know why you've brought me out here. He looks down at your sword. But you can trust me, General. You have my loyalty. There is no need for this procedure.
Tim / GM:I am to serve you until my death. But regardless, Guy, wordlessly, you draw a great blade of Lotem, similar to the one you own now, but this one is carved with spiraling runes and a silvery, flowing metal inlay. Danathans sighs, then looks at the frozen ground, and turns away from you to look over the icy river.
Thomas / Guy:I am glad you understand the weight of what burdens us all, my friend. But soon, you will not have to.
Tim / GM:And a crisp, ringing whoosh pierces the air as you decapitate one of your best men. Jonathan was not the first, not the last. But you did what had to be done to secure the loyalty of your Knights. To secure Lotem. And, Guy, you've hardly realized what's happening here now in the real world.
Tim / GM:It's that Timothy passed you up On his one little motorcycle going about half speed, he passed you up a couple seconds ago because you're stopped in the wagon, and you're staring at the head of as the body comes to retrieve its Dullahan head. This armored figure picks up its head, prefixes it to its body, and the crowd has gone quiet Now that so many of the races are taken out of commission and Timothy is by himself just fist pumping driving away from you thinking he's the best racer in back seat. You're standing illuminated from below on the ring light here, standing before one of your best nights, Danathon Hawk. What do you do?
Thomas / Guy:Guy disembarks from the rolling pin and starts walking toward the figure. You. Is it you? Jonathan?
Tim / GM:You hear the scrape of a sword being gone.
Thomas / Guy:Guy is, just slowly walking forward, and he's very anxious and is taking deep breaths as he is trying to understand what he's saying before him. The deep breaths kind of bring back more memories, and he's trying to remember where he is and remember who this person is in front of him, and he kind of loses himself.
Tim / GM:Danathans looking at you. Now with his sword at his side, he brings it up and points it at you. I'm just 10 feet away. You hear his voice echoing out underneath his helm. He says, we serve Viren.
Tim / GM:We serve Lotem.
Tim / GM:And we're back in the court chamber.
Tara / Journey:Oh. Aaron is one of the 5. Sorry.
Maggie / Poppy:Oh, really?
Tara / Journey:I'm having a moment.
Tim / GM:We're back in the court chamber. It's Doran, Jurney, and Oscar, and Lirion, and Sesk, of course. But the only thing speaking right now is an echo bell. You hear Aaron's voice.
Maggie / Poppy:Hello?
John / Doran:Without breaking, I contact with Lerion. I pulled the echo bell out and put it up next to my ear.
Maggie / Poppy:Hell hello? Is this thing low?
John / Doran:Erin, it's working. This is a really bad time.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay. Dorn, we've just talked to Mabel, and it seems like she was the one drawing the power from Sesk, but she was being blackmailed or something by Lirion. And I think he was calling her down there. Yeah. So just keep an eye out for him.
Hannah / Eryn:Okay?
John / Doran:He's here, Aaron.
Tara / Journey:Oh, no.
Tim / GM:What the heck?
Tara / Journey:What do
Tim / GM:you mean Mabel was working at the door? What the fuck? What the fuck is she talking about?
John / Doran:Aaron, I know I haven't said much, but I do care about you and everyone else. And
Hannah / Eryn:Erin, like, the the the echo bell slips a little in her hand. And she's like, oh, oh, oh, sorry. What?
John / Doran:This might be goodbye. Hopefully not. And I put the elk go away.
Tara / Journey:Don't worry. No. No.
John / Doran:And, so basically with Lirion, I am basically prepping silence just in case he tries to do something. I am not even paying attention to Sesk or Oscar at
Tara / Journey:this point. K.
John / Doran:What are you doing here?
Tim / GM:Lirion takes his eyes off Journey for just a second and flicks them down to you, Doran, and he says, I'll deal with you when it comes time. You get out of my way.
John / Doran:We're not going anywhere. We're all dead anyways. The only thing that would bring me joy is to ensure you die too.
Tim / GM:Fine. Move up the timetable if you want. You see him reach out both of his hands up to his sides. He begins to breathe deeply and the island begins to shake as you see streams of bismite all around the room. These giant crystals begin to melt down and stream towards him.
Tim / GM:This gleaming liquid metal from all over the room begins to unwrap Lerion's body. In an instant, you see he is plated from hoof to horns with immaculately detailed Bismite armor, making divers' outfit look like a joke. The metal cools into a rosy silver. He reaches out a hand to receive a silvery spear, taller than he is. Behind him, 6 more spears just like it, arranging in a floating arc like
John / Doran:We need to stop him. You got it. Journey, if there's anything you can do to get Zesc the help, we might need it.
Tara / Journey:As Doran was kind of talking with Lyrian, journey behind him was slowly, like, growing claws and teeth Mhmm. And looking more primal and vicious, and, was crouching in front of Sesk as if to defend him, and she also went to draw out her bow.
Tim / GM:And that is the tableau with a bow drawn, claws out, Dorn at the ready, and Oscar beginning to ignite and float beside you, Learian with his spear wings outstretched pointing straight at you, the island begins to shake. And we'd end it there.
Tara / Journey:Jesus Christ.
Tim / GM:Thanks everybody for listening. I'm Tim, your GM.
Maggie / Poppy:I'm Erin and or oh my god.
Tara / Journey:Who are you?
Thomas / Guy:Who are you?
Hannah / Eryn:I'm Hannah.
Tim / GM:There you go.
Tara / Journey:And who do
Tim / GM:you play?
Maggie / Poppy:Hi, Erin.
Tim / GM:There you go.
Tara / Journey:I'm tired. I play dream. Dream, I die. Who knows?
Thomas / Guy:Hey. I'm Thomas, and I'm God.
Tara / Journey:And you're not winning the race.
Thomas / Guy:There's still time, baby.
John / Doran:You were ahead. Yeah. Sorry. I am John, and I play Dorn today and next week. Who knows?
Maggie / Poppy:And I'm Maggie, and I play Poppy, and I did not sign up for this.
Tim / GM:Share the show with people you love, and we'll see you next time. Alright.