Pete/GM: Now you can begin to perceive the curse placed upon me by the door.
Many other gate walkers I've talked to have been able to remember what
it was that lured them into their door and whatever lay beyond.
I was not so lucky.
I don't remember approaching the door at all, only stumbling out of it
naked and howling into a nearby ditch, thrashing like a senseless beast.
All I could think about was the taste that filled my mouth.
My stomach bulged against my skin and my bones creaked against each other as
if all the hidden space within me had been rearranged by what I had eaten.
As my senses returned, I saw my hands covered with the drying remains.
Of something that smelled delicious.
I don't, I
Aubrey/Freya: don't, I hope we never have to
Archedas/Varren: meet this man.
I'm just gonna say it.
That man out here eating people.
Yeah.
You don't talk that creepy about a good meal.
No, you're eating people.
Pete/GM: It's on site with this man.
We'll have to find out.
There's no telling what people have been brought back with.
So, last time on Ash and Snow, you all had begun your search for Kniep'oh the Slim,
taking various routes throughout Seven Arches to try to uncover whether this
is just a myth or indeed something more.
We return to Vine Hall, where you all have gathered around near the end of
the day of the first day of this search.
So, Vin
Chris/Vin: Arrives in, in Vinehall, Mia is probably either next, next to
him, in front of him, or behind him.
Uh, who knows where.
And they wreak a Fadeleaf.
As they come in, I'm certain people are noticing Fadeleaf, and I don't
know how, the legality of it.
But, it's very, very apparent that they're still under the effects
of, or at least Vin is probably under the effects of Fadeleaf.
Because it lasts quite a bit, right?
Misfit/Mia: Mia has has trailed off behind you, just like stopping to talk to people,
like very casual, like, hi, how you doing?
Are you doing good?
Yeah?
Okay, I'm gonna go now, bye!
Like, just putting
Aubrey/Freya: along.
Yeah, you see, um, Freya has been here for a while after the library.
She came back here and mostly has been working on her sword form and Sort
of her gymnastics and stretching and wiping the sweat off with a cloth and
Looking for something to drink and sees all of this and just goes well,
it looks like someone had fun today.
Archedas/Varren: Didn't
Chris/Vin: you?
I have to correct myself before I get com commented on.
It's fla leaf, not fade leaf.
Apparently.
Archedas/Varren: My man out here bringing back World Warcraft knowledge . Yeah, that
Pete/GM: probably happened.
Chris/Vin: So if we ever hit stage four fla leaf, we are fatigued.
Frightened too.
And stupid fight too.
I'm going to choose to fail on my saves.
Misfit/Mia: Yeah.
You know what I, I feel like that is totally fair because Mia has
not like you're enabling her.
She doesn't know any better.
And now she likes it, so she's just like, well,
Aubrey/Freya: fuck.
Chris/Vin: So, as Vin sees Freya, probably in this common area at
Vine Hall, he goes, Ugh, buddy!
She talks so loud!
Aubrey/Freya: Hey, um, well, have either of you been able
to find anything out today?
Misfit/Mia: Before anything, Mia, like, turns into a human and grabs your
face, and she's like, I saw him again!
It was so creepy, we saw him again, he was in the bushes, and he left a little fox,
and she like, digs into a pouch and like, shoves another little fox in your face.
Look, I got a second one!
See?
There's two of them now!
It was out by the, the, where were we?
I forgot.
We went
Pete/GM: somewhere?
Misfit/Mia: We, we, it was really far, I think it was a farm?
Yeah, it was a farm.
Aubrey/Freya: Okay, um Sort of take it and look at it.
Um.
That's, um, I can't tell if that's going to be useful that he seems to
be obsessed with you, um, or not.
Don't
Misfit/Mia: say that.
Can we use another word, please?
Anything but obsessed.
We're infatuated.
He's taking a liking
Pete/GM: to you?
Misfit/Mia: He's smitten with you?
And we just like, her ears just keep going down the more, like, the
more these words continue to happen.
She's just like
Archedas/Varren: Just a call from, like, the next room over.
Targeted would be the word I'd go with.
Targeted?
Misfit/Mia: Laying.
She's just laying face down on the ground like, Why?
Why me?
My eyes don't work very well.
And now this.
This is stupid.
Can I have more of that stuff?
She just like, waves a hand to Vin.
Like, eh,
Chris/Vin: eh.
She's like, sitting there like, Cedarite wrappers starting
Pete/GM: to roll him.
Um.
Let's, let's not
Aubrey/Freya: do this in the middle of the card barracks, okay?
Let's go back into the rooms before we do any
Archedas/Varren: of that.
Well, the barracks are the other side of town.
Where the
Aubrey/Freya: Or, whatever this place is, Fine Hall, where the druids are.
Let's not do this in front of the people who are in
charge
Archedas/Varren: of the town.
Guess that makes sense.
Seems right up the alley, if you ask me.
Why are you
Pete/GM: yelling?
Why don't you come out here?
I'm in the next room over.
I'm Just
Archedas/Varren: a ruffling of
Pete/GM: papers.
Jessica
Misfit/Mia: Mia, like, goes in.
And she, she now has both of the, the little straw foxes again, and she just
like barges in, and she's like, See?
Got another one!
Archedas/Varren: Just a hand comes up quick to stop her from moving too far
forward about three feet into the room.
It's just a scattering of paper.
Hold on!
Checking notes, organizing things.
Kind of looking around for a moment.
Looks up.
Oh good, another one.
That's perfect.
Uh, gives more context.
Context, trying.
Jesse in a moment.
Her face is all twisted
Misfit/Mia: up.
She's just like, why is that good?
And she like, hands you the other
Aubrey/Freya: one.
Archedas/Varren: Takes it.
Chris/Vin: Baron, what, what exactly do, do we see?
How, how massive is this now?
Archedas/Varren: The one in this room isn't that huge.
It's, it's centered between the beds at the moment.
It's probably a spread of like a good five, ten feet of just random pages that
have been torn out of notebooks and like set in places with varying relating notes
sort of labeled on top of each other.
Just sort of spread across the floor here, not even like an ink quill pen or
anything, just a raw stick of charcoal being used to write across here.
And as he gets this new little doll from Mia, he just kind of looks
around a moment, leans over, sets it onto one page, that will go there.
Uh, you went to Finland, yes?
Um, just scrawls quickly, Finland farm on there.
You,
Misfit/Mia: look at that, dude.
She's like, uh uh, I'm not, I'm not doing this.
You're the
Archedas/Varren: first!
Do you still have the first with you?
Uh, that page over there, just points at one of them.
So
Misfit/Mia: like, okay, and like, tries to like, carefully wiggle and go through
all of these paper and string and whatnot.
And like, gingerly places it and then, and then almost in a perfect
reverse does like, just backs out.
Archedas/Varren: And just kind of stands up, pulls himself up as
hard, as high as he can and just sort of backs away a little bit.
Alright, we're starting to get somewhat of a picture here.
Not quite enough details yet.
Aren't
Pete/GM: Freya
Misfit/Mia: and Ben there
Aubrey/Freya: too?
Yeah, I mean Freya is like leaning against like the door frame, but like,
you know, arms crossed and just looks at you and just goes, Yeah, he's been at this
Archedas/Varren: all afternoon.
Uh, only two and a half hours, thank you.
Pete/GM: It's most of the afternoon.
Is this your I don't
Archedas/Varren: know, I didn't even know the guy beforehand.
Look, we're here investigating something, huh?
We, it's perfectly normal to take notes.
I can just connect the
Pete/GM: pieces.
I think I've heard of this
Chris/Vin: before.
I, I think they called us a murder board?
I think he's planning to murder
Aubrey/Freya: someone.
I think we're murdering Kanipo.
Archedas/Varren: That is the plan, yes.
If he doesn't hand over the key, we'll have to kill him.
That's the only solution here.
Uh, besides, with his targeting of Mia, if we don't kill him eventually,
he'll likely come for her and end up like the farmer's donkey.
I don't want to die.
Aubrey/Freya: We're not going to let Kanipo kill you.
Misfit/Mia: That sounds terrible.
How will I spend
Aubrey/Freya: four hours if I'm dead?
We're not going to let
Pete/GM: it get to that.
Here you go, Mia.
Take this.
Just,
Misfit/Mia: just like take, like, opens her mouth and just like, just put it in.
Archedas/Varren: Is that some of the flayleaf?
No.
I'm genuinely asking here.
It will actually be quite useful.
Yes.
Perfect.
Grabs it, just two fingers grabs it out of her mouth before she can even
like, take it off and just full tack, sets it on a page and tacks it off.
All right, from there, that was retrieved from that druid fellow in the woods.
Part of his ritual.
Aubrey/Freya: He just turns back into a fox and like, looks so sad.
Varen has apparently never heard of Puff Puff Pass.
Archedas/Varren: Yeah!
Vin, you've been partaking in this, yes?
Uh, any hallucinogenic sorts?
Who's
Pete/GM: asking?
Me,
Archedas/Varren: Varen.
Pete/GM: Yes.
Archedas/Varren: Uh, descriptions, variety, what, what happens?
Just grabs another page and start, like, gets ready to start writing stuff down.
Chris/Vin: Uh, I, I am hearing voices in my head.
That's about it.
Misfit/Mia: Without, like, thinking about the ramifications of what is
about to come out of Mia's face.
She's just like, You tried to kill me!
I mean, not really, but really.
Archedas/Varren: It's a brief pause.
How serious was the attempt?
Hands or weaponry?
They
Pete/GM: say that I am a weapon.
Archedas/Varren: Well, you are on fire, but that's outside the question.
Misfit/Mia: I mean, it didn't, it didn't seem like it was purposeful.
Is that a word?
Archedas/Varren: That's a word.
It could be tied to the effects still, however.
The gentleman that we got this from was Quite deep into the pile, it would seem.
His attempt to murder us was quite obvious, was it not?
Including everything else around him.
Uh, Vin, I would heavily suggest you lay off the stuff for the time being.
It's
Pete/GM: just what libraries do to you.
Chris/Vin: They take away your fun.
Archedas/Varren: I wasn't at the library.
I haven't been there yet.
That's tomorrow's call.
I don't want to go.
Well, there's plenty of other places to investigate, uh.
You should go.
Aubrey/Freya: You, you two, you said you saw something at the farms, correct?
I did.
Yes.
Archedas/Varren: I was there.
You saw him there,
Pete/GM: you said?
Misfit/Mia: Yeah, creepy face and all.
Can't miss it.
Just staring with the big mouth and the creepy smile and the hair.
It just like stretches
Archedas/Varren: through my mouth again.
Anyone besides you and Vin see this?
Or was it just you, Vin?
Did
Pete/GM: you as well?
Chris/Vin: Uh, no, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't really see anything.
We left.
Misfit/Mia: I, I, I said nope.
I noped right
Archedas/Varren: out of that.
There's been something, I need to look further into it.
There's something, a name, that he's been going by that's stuck with me.
And he just kind of shuffles through a couple of pages.
Ah, here.
Pulls one up.
A list of names we had gotten from Bolin and the legends that he was spouting.
Kanepo's name, so.
Kanepo the Slim, the Skull Face, Smile in the Fog.
He points one in particular and just circles it three
times with the charcoal stick.
The stick thin bogeyman.
There's something about this one that's It sticks out.
There's something more here.
Aubrey/Freya: The library has a lot of information.
Um, I unfortunately were having trouble parsing some of it when I went today,
so maybe you'll have better luck
Archedas/Varren: tomorrow.
So, Faye, uh, did they have anything on much for, uh, Faye?
Um,
Aubrey/Freya: yet again, it was, I, my question wasn't specific enough.
It was gonna take them far too long to look.
They said to come back later.
Mia, if you're up for it.
Maybe I can go with you to the farms tomorrow, and I have some, some
experience with tracking and scouting.
Maybe if you show me where you saw him, we can try and track him back somewhere.
Misfit/Mia: No, she just has her little paws over her snout, and she's
just like, Guys, I guess we could go.
It's not my favorite idea, I'm gonna be honest, but.
Aubrey/Freya: I'll be there to protect you.
Archedas/Varren: Go during the day.
Aubrey/Freya: Yeah, we'll go during the day.
Misfit/Mia: Then she like perks up and she's like, teach me fighting.
Aubrey/Freya: We can also spend part of the day doing that.
I can teach you something.
Yeah,
Misfit/Mia: I figure if things are trying to kill me, it should probably know that.
Seems
Aubrey/Freya: smart.
It's
Chris/Vin: rather helpful.
So, what do I do?
Archedas/Varren: Well, that depends on where you might want to go.
There is the site of the last attack, but we still have to stop by.
Uh, I got a good description of what had happened from the
individual that was attacked.
Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to get much more than I already did out
of him, uh, I've gotten permission from myself and my associates, Jezrus to the
rest of the group, to go to his farm, just, if you're going to be going there
to take a look around, knock on the door, tell the gentleman there that Varan
had requested access earlier and that they're just here to assist in finding
the one that slayed his dear donkey.
Sight of the last attack, donkey.
Uh, that is the, the Finland font.
And he just kinda shifts a couple of pages.
That is said to be where Kadeepa was first sighted.
The origin point of his story.
Oh no, he's definitely there.
Now that's good.
Of course, keep an eye out, uh, Freya, you're more than capable of handling any
more of those dark patches that appear.
Uh, but keep an eye out for them.
If you see even the smallest one, that could be sign of a direction
that we can start looking in.
Pete/GM: I, I,
Chris/Vin: I gotta be honest, if Mia Saw them there.
We should all probably
Archedas/Varren: go.
There's, there's more information to gather.
Things like this, they're too big to handle without knowing
what we're getting into.
Especially a storybook legend like this Kanepo fellow, the more information we can
gather before facing him in the middle.
Chris/Vin: I'm not saying you want to face him, I'm saying that
if there's a possibility there's danger, we should not split
Archedas/Varren: the party.
Well there was a woman there, was there not?
You spent your soul with someone.
Yes,
Chris/Vin: but, that's, we should not split the party when we go there.
Archedas/Varren: It's simple enough.
If you're not wanting to go, I can more than happily go speak to her and see
what information I can gather about the stories, but there's things that need
Aubrey/Freya: gathered.
I mean, if we, yeah, if we want to head to the farmland, you can talk with her, I can
see if I can pick up any kind of trail.
Where Kanipo might have gone.
Oh, don't
Misfit/Mia: mention that name around the lady.
She's a real man.
Aubrey/Freya: Told us to get.
I didn't think it was a big deal.
So these two definitely should not be seen by the lady?
Pete/GM: Still
Chris/Vin: wanna say we should If Kanipo is there and you go
Archedas/Varren: investigating.
Then I I don't mean to tread on your idea here.
Kanipo was in Mia's room from what she said.
I don't think it matters if we go to the farm, if he wanted us dead,
he would appear in the middle of the night and slash our throats.
Pete/GM: There is
Archedas/Varren: that.
This being isn't here to simply kill us.
That may be his end goal, but from my acetations of my meeting with
Papel, the best I can tell is his goal is to instill as much fear as
physically possible upon an individual.
Pete/GM: Mom, it's working!
Before!
Guy,
Misfit/Mia: how do I not be scared?
Archedas/Varren: That's more introspective self evaluation.
I don't know if the Flayleaf helps with that, but I My suggestion is starting
to avoid it, considering, again, the madman who attempted to kill us and
alter the curse to kill everything was in fact high as hell off of it.
It just
Misfit/Mia: kind of like, goes into quiet thought.
It's probably the first time you've actually seen Mia do something
rather grown up and intelligent.
I think we were just lectured.
Chris/Vin: Look, if it helps
Archedas/Varren: you Steal your heart and not feel fear, it's going to be more
than useful in dealing with whatever absconces this man is attempting, so.
But, fey are fey.
Just kinda patch the weapon at his side, hop enough cold iron into
them, they all go down the same.
Aubrey/Freya: I do need to pick up my weapon tomorrow, because
that'll be ready by then, so.
Make sure to do that in the morning.
Yeah,
Chris/Vin: fine.
We'll slip the party.
I'm going to bed then.
Archedas/Varren: Just a moment.
Just kind of starts to, like, carefully stack pages in certain orders with,
like, earmarked flips on the corners.
Uh, there, there, there, there.
I'll have this back up at the end later.
Um, just takes him, like, a full five minutes to get
everything back and organized.
How do
Chris/Vin: you afford all this parchment?
Archedas/Varren: That'll be with had a lot of items from that man, and,
well, turns out that, well, people have more than just issues with bees.
Some people have rat issues.
Kill a few rats for Shop keep and they're more than grateful to pay impotent.
I
Chris/Vin: regret I regret asking.
Good night
Pete/GM: Vermin exterminator you all go to bed at various hours there and
again once you are able to get to sleep after many long hours into the night
you have that all too familiar dream of running through snow with some kind of
kerfuffle happening beyond your sight.
Freya you again have one of those fun daring adventures
with the Pathfinder Society.
It's pretty nice pretty cool.
Very memorable.
Vin, you are back in Tien Sha, back at the location of where you
were taken in The Gate, but not with Iroiri there talking to you.
As they had been with the gate.
Rather, this is just a really nice, peaceful area.
There's birds singing, the sun is going through the dense foliage of the jungle
with little rays that warm your skin.
You're on a hammock and just enjoying your time away from the temple.
And there's a brief glimpse where you see A person in a mask, very
far away, out of the foliage.
It's white and looks almost owl like.
Which is very out of place for this particular location,
full of tropical birds.
Chris/Vin: Do I have control over the stream at
Pete/GM: all?
Yes.
Hello?
The figure doesn't move or acknowledge you.
I
Chris/Vin: will creep up, grabbing like a Twig or
Pete/GM: something.
It's when you go down to grab the twig and look back up that the figure is gone.
And again, you're just left in a peaceful jungle.
Goodbye.
Chris/Vin: Uh, I'll try to go to where I saw it and see if there's
any evidence of it looking where, I don't know, footprints or tracks or
Pete/GM: something.
In fact, there are only footprints of where the creature was standing.
There's nothing leading to, or away from that location.
What kind of prince?
A humanoid.
A boot or a foot or something?
Boots, yeah.
Chris/Vin: Then we'll wait to see if he returns.
Or, whatever the creature is returns.
Pete/GM: Never does.
And eventually you'll wake up in the morning.
Mia, you have a really fun dream.
It's another one of those where you're a fox and chasing other woodland animals
and just having a really good time when your sleep is disturbed by this
sound, this rapping on the window.
Mia
Misfit/Mia: doesn't open her eyes because she now believes that her blindness is
the way that she will be less afraid.
So she's starting to, like, try to embrace that aspect, like, Oh, I'm just
gonna lose my eyesight and I won't see anything and I won't be afraid anymore.
That's how it works, right?
And then, but she doesn't, she doesn't do anything.
She doesn't come out of her covers.
In fact, she kind of, like, slinks into underneath the bed covers a little more
and just tries to silently, like, try to, tries to breathe as silently as possible.
I'm not here, go away.
Pete/GM: You do that, and outside your window, a branch continues to
hit the glass, but then you hear a voice coming from underneath your bed.
Mm mm.
Goodnight, my key.
Misfit/Mia: Like, all of her fur is standing on end,
and she's just like, there I
Pete/GM: ca I can feel your fear, this tiny blanket.
Misfit/Mia: She screams.
Mia screams so freaking loud.
What?
Ah!
Help!
Somebody's gonna eat me!
Pete/GM: enough for all of you to wake up.
The rest of you three, give me secret perception checks.
Vin, you wake up a half second earlier than the other two.
Just in time to see fingertips go into the shadows underneath Mia's bed.
Chris/Vin: I Wait, let's not do the chaotic thing.
I We'll do the semi chaotic thing.
I Try to flip Mia's bed.
Pete/GM: There's something there!
Misfit/Mia: I know!
She's like You at least wait for me to get Flying with the bed.
Mia's like, six I would imagine, like Six ish pounds in her fox forms, she just gets
Pete/GM: beated.
She just gets There was a
Chris/Vin: callback scene where I threw Mia through
Pete/GM: a gate.
You flip over the bed and there's nothing under there.
Aubrey/Freya: I believe both of you.
I mean, we know that Kniepo is doing some strange things.
Okay, um, definitely we need to deal with it.
It feels like it's getting worse.
Misfit/Mia: No, it's for sure getting worse.
Is there any, like, is there any indication that he was there?
Is there, like, uh, another little fox or anything of that
Pete/GM: nature?
There isn't.
In fact, if it wasn't for the rest of your group courageously believing you,
there would be no indication that what you just experienced actually happened.
Oh,
Misfit/Mia: I'm so glad y'all believe me.
This
Aubrey/Freya: keeps happening enough that, yeah, it's gotta be something.
It doesn't seem like the type to lie.
Misfit/Mia: I don't think she actually understands the concept of light.
Pete/GM: It is a difficult rest of the night, as any of you try to get
back to sleep, especially you, Mia.
Yeah, Mia,
Misfit/Mia: uh, like, curls up in one of Freya's bags, and just stays in a bag.
Cause that seems safer.
It's not logical, but it seems safer to her.
Small and cozy.
Pete/GM: Oh sure, if he fits, he sits.
Yep.
But eventually the sun does come up, and it is the next day.
Day two of your search for Kniep'o the Slim.
Where are you all going?
I think
Aubrey/Freya: that I'm going to be going to the Thinland Farms to
try and do any kind of tracking.
And if Mia feels up to it, come along with, so you can point out where we need
Misfit/Mia: to go.
Mia would in fact go along with me.
Not that she wants to.
In fact, she wants to do everything that's not that, but she also
doesn't want to get dead.
So, the smartest option is to go with the safe person for the time being.
Pete/GM: Are any of us the safe
Chris/Vin: person?
Who doesn't meet a view as the safe
Archedas/Varren: person?
Misfit/Mia: Freya is the safe
Archedas/Varren: person.
Of all the adults in the party, Freya is probably the most adult.
Yeah.
Aubrey/Freya: Freya was the middle child in her home.
She had to learn how to, like, grow up.
Yeah.
Archedas/Varren: Vera was planning on heading over to
the library to do some reading.
Chris/Vin: I'm not going to the library.
Vin is going to try to be productive.
I was told to go look at this site with the donkey going
missing or something like that.
And Vin has a headache, is drinking some coffee, very a little uneasy,
is going to try to investigate this.
scene, or this place, to see if there's any clues to pick up, all by himself.
Aubrey/Freya: And as, uh, as we go, I will be like, Would you
like to hold your mingander?
Would that make you feel better?
As I hold out my small snake to you.
Yeah.
Misfit/Mia: Okay.
She just like, takes it in her human form and just kind of like, hugs it.
This
Aubrey/Freya: little hog nosed snake.
She's just like,
Misfit/Mia: hugging me.
Like, this will keep me safe, right?
Pete/GM: It'll do its best.
Varian, your location is the closest.
You head over to the Quaking Stacks, and see the same sight
that Freya saw yesterday.
This building has been completely encapsulated by trees.
But more than that, there is clearly some kind of network going on, as you can see.
Shimmering sap being shared between all of the trees, and every nook
of this library is covered with the same kind of birch tree.
The alcoves are made of tree, the stairs are made of tree, and Not like
Cutwood, but folded, bent, reshapen, and a librarian seeks you out.
What is your inquiry today?
Well,
Archedas/Varren: I've actually come seeking some quite specific information
I was hoping you'd help me with.
Uh, pertaining to Fae, particularly bogeys, uh, but I believe one of my
associates stopped by looking for information on Ganybo of a sort.
Legend around the area, but Trying to narrow things down a
bit from what that legend states.
So any information you have on Fae of the sorts, or particularly bogeys,
Pete/GM: well I'm going to read it.
Very interesting.
A very odd inquiry.
But yes, we have made some progress.
Go ahead and make me either an academia or library lore,
nature, arcana, or occultism.
I'll go with nature, because
Archedas/Varren: that's the highest of any of those, and
I don't have those two floors.
I got the, uh, The end all be all esoteric, and I don't like
that thing to come up here.
Uh, three on the die there, I think, cause I don't wanna create fail.
Uh, we gonna go ahead and burn a hero point on that.
Okay.
Yeah, I don't like it.
I like a 15, a 20 for total seems pretty good to me.
Pete/GM: She reaches her hand into some of the sap and you can see that it surrounds
her hand and her eyes start to glow.
Yes, we were able to sort through more of the catacombs.
It's interesting.
The legends go back before Earthfall.
In an ancient elven tome, there's a short passage that mentions the defeat
of a slender lurking creature of shadow.
They name it Kniepo.
That was over a millennia ago.
But there is also a volume of the Pathfinder Chronicles about the First
World that contains a small footnote about something called the Thinlands.
But it doesn't mention the farmland slightly outside the city.
This is something within the First World.
It describes a colorless forest located in the shadowy realm of Nighthold, someplace
that was once ruled by the Exile.
Count Renelak.
Archedas/Varren: Interesting.
Good place to start.
That does give me more to go off of.
Mind if I spend some time here just looking around?
I don't know if all the This kind of looks at the sap.
Are the books available to scroll through?
Or is it just the kind of gestures of a hand still gloved at
Pete/GM: the sap?
Oh, I assure you, the sap is far more Reliable way of looking
through our vast collection.
Archedas/Varren: I mean, I'm not opposed to trying it.
It's, uh, not exactly, kind of gestures to himself, dressed in
these, like, winter clothing.
Not exactly the druidic sort.
Sort of metal townist.
But I'm more than happy to give it a go.
Just kind of goes to take a hand, one of these thick gloves off, and kind
of looks down at the spot where that first mark had appeared on his arm.
And has since never been seen again to his remembrance.
Pete/GM: I'm looking around.
Stick your hand in, and it's incredible.
It is like there is a sudden influx of information going through your brain.
A little too much for you to handle at one moment.
It's like you're going through a series of tubes of information.
Almost like some kind of net.
I
Archedas/Varren: don't think Varan would be the type to, like, wince back at this.
It would be more, there's something in here I can find eventually, once
I figure out how to parse this.
It just kind of remains there, like, fully stuck in place, not moving, very shallow
breaths, just hands in the sap, staring
Pete/GM: forward.
Okay, you do your best to tame this vast network of knowledge.
Meanwhile, Vin, you head over to the scene of the last Gorga attack.
It's on a lonely dirt road south of the Seven Arches, where several days
ago, Catria Pebblesworth's body was found on an overturned cart, and the
mutilated mule was unfortunately killed.
There's no one else on the road.
People have decided that this is a place to avoid.
You're able to make your investigation completely unhampered.
What
Chris/Vin: is there currently?
I'm assuming that the mo the body of the mule is gone at this point.
Is the card still there?
Pete/GM: Is Indeed, the card is still there, and in fact, the partially eaten
corpse of the donkey is still there too.
What?
Why would they leave
Chris/Vin: that there?
I'm saying this out loud, by the way, to The world . Why
would they leave that there?
That's disgusting.
Where are all these flies here?
Ugh.
I would like to look at the wounds of the meal to start.
Pete/GM: Okay.
You can give me arcana.
First world hunting or scouting.
Survival or Perception.
Go ahead and roll the
Chris/Vin: Perception check for an
Pete/GM: 11.
This is just a really messed up scene.
Yeah, and it looks
Chris/Vin: like it was mutilated.
It looked like it was eaten at all.
Can I even tell that
Pete/GM: much?
It definitely looks eaten, but you're not able to tell by what.
Chris/Vin: Let's go look at the cart next.
The cart's knocked over.
I'm gonna try to put it back onto its wheels.
I'm gonna look for any scratches or any, you know, items of interest, stuff
Pete/GM: like that.
Okay, give me one more perception check for survival.
Chris/Vin: Ugh, I'm on a hero point.
I turned my 8 into a 12.
Archedas/Varren: I mean, that sounds like potentially not crit failing to me, so
Pete/GM: Not crit failing.
It's not a crit failure, but beyond just the initial look, you're
not able to tell a whole lot.
Perhaps someone with better investigatory skills could figure out more from this.
Varan!
Chris/Vin: Why am I here?
Okay, on that, I will look for any interesting tracks.
This is my last attempt to be useful.
Go ahead.
Uh, perception again?
Yep.
Okay, can I fail four rolls in a row?
16!
12 plus 4, 16!
That's not
Pete/GM: awful.
Alright, you are looking around.
In addition to the wounds of the mule, you do find a set of tracks.
There's a pair of large, shoeless, humanoid footprints
further back in the trees.
Beyond that, you're not able to find much more.
I just
Chris/Vin: give a good, I don't know, 600 foot radius to see if
I can find any tracks pickup from where I can no longer find it.
But, presumably, I don't.
Pete/GM: I quit.
Yeah, that was your best effort at doing it.
I
Chris/Vin: will bury the mule to ruin any sort of future investigations on the body.
Because I feel like that's appropriate.
Pete/GM: Alright.
Nearby, in the Thinlands.
Thinland farms, at least.
Mia and Freya again approach these foggy moors.
There are more people here, but they look distrustful of you as you enter.
And you are approached again by Abilene Choi.
And listener, in real life, it has been about four weeks since I
last did this voice, so I'm gonna go with my gut instinct about what
is the continuitous voice for this
Chris/Vin: person.
We don't care about continuity.
We're, uh, have as much continuity as the MCU.
I remember Scarlet Witch's accent.
Do
Pete/GM: you?
Yeah.
She approaches you dourly.
Jürgen!
I thought I told you to head off.
Looking at Mia.
And I
Aubrey/Freya: will, uh, step in front of Mia and just say, I am so
sorry to, uh, take any of your time.
We just wanted to take a look around, because we have been just investigating
the strange happenings in the area around here, and won't take any of your time.
If you have the time, I wouldn't mind sitting down and asking you some
questions, but if anything, we just want to take a look around, see what we
can find, and then we'll be out of your
Pete/GM: hair.
Diplomacy roll.
Aubrey/Freya: decent at
Misfit/Mia: that.
Mia's just like peeking from around
Aubrey/Freya: your shoulder.
That's a 15.
Pete/GM: Whatever will get you out of here faster.
What do you want to know?
Remembering that
Aubrey/Freya: they didn't like the name.
Trying to think of what to call him.
Maybe use his message and, and just, uh,
Misfit/Mia: like You just say, uh, that you're, you're investigating
the claims of somebody else.
She just makes this like face on the outside.
It's very noticeable that she's trying to be slick.
It's not working.
Pete/GM: Give me a diplomacy, nature, or first world lore.
Who, me?
Yeah, you, Mia.
Me, me?
Well, it's gotta be nature.
You might want to hero point that.
Yeah, I'm not As Nat 1.
I am
Misfit/Mia: not going to die on that hill today.
Didn't you Nat 1 here?
I yeah, they do Nat 1 here.
Aubrey/Freya: Much better.
Pete/GM: That's way better.
18 total.
Mia just like
Misfit/Mia: smiles like,
Pete/GM: hey.
I know who you're asking about.
And you need to understand.
The Slim can hear his name.
It doesn't matter where you are.
He'll hear it.
And if he wants to.
Which is
Aubrey/Freya: why I'm trying not to say his name.
But, if you could tell us anything you know or have heard about him,
that would go a long way in helping
Pete/GM: our investigation.
Your investigation is a crime that we have been dealing with
for as long as I can remember.
Before my grandmother and before her grandmother, we have been dealing
with disappearances by the slim.
You see, we folk here in the Thin Wood Farms, you see A forest surrounding us.
We see a second one.
Sometimes it's just a shimmer, and sometimes it's more obvious.
But there are two forests, and that's where he calls home.
The real Thinlands.
Children have reported seeing sightings of a tall, willowy figure for ages now.
But the thing is, is that we don't report it.
We know to leave it alone, because just mentioning his name will make it worse.
Hope
Aubrey/Freya: that we can do something about this
Pete/GM: in the future.
No one who's come back to tell a tale about it.
Misfit/Mia: Like, ears block.
Just the saddest ears.
Pete/GM: Look, if you know what's good for you, you leave this matter alone.
We've learned to live with the slim.
We expect these things to happen from time to time.
What we don't want is for more to die needlessly.
Because of some outsider's curiosity.
Not a
Misfit/Mia: curiosity.
I'm really
Aubrey/Freya: scared.
Yeah, we we worry that he may have targeted our friend.
I mean, just like points to herself.
And if we can figure out how to keep her safe, it would be any stories
about things that may ward him off.
Talismans, rituals.
Is it like the stories of most Fae?
Cold Iron?
Pete/GM: There's only one thing I know of that keeps the slim at bay.
And she points upwards.
Sun?
The sun.
Light.
The absence of shadow.
Aubrey/Freya: Well, Mia, good news.
We're moving to Alkenstar.
She
Misfit/Mia: just like gives a thumbs up.
And then, and then she's like this moment of like, I don't know where that is.
Aubrey/Freya: Sounds great.
There's a lot of sun there.
Far away.
You have to say, and for the information you've given us.
And we will be on our way.
It is a start and puts us in a good direction.
And like, as I'm doing this, I'm looking around and I'm like, kind
of just like, where did Mia see him?
And I'm like, gonna look back at you.
Misfit/Mia: Mia like, kind of like, pulls on your, your shirt.
Trying to be really not obvious, but probably being incredibly obvious.
She just kind of like, points into the direction.
Pete/GM: You go there, and all that you see is farmland.
Incredibly fertile farmland.
Aubrey/Freya: Um, can I look around for any kind of tracks that don't belong?
Pete/GM: Can you give a survival check, for sure?
Uh, do you have scouting lore?
I will grant that to you.
Aubrey/Freya: It's a It's a much better role than, uh, survival.
Chris/Vin: Who needs wisdom when I can use intellect?
Aubrey/Freya: Yeah, for a 24.
Nice.
Misfit/Mia: I'm so glad I
Pete/GM: brought an adult.
Excuse me?
You're looking over this terrain, and you notice something
more than any kind of tracks.
Which is how unseasonably green everything is.
Compared to how foggy and dark these moors are.
It doesn't look like things should be growing here, but they are.
And you have a suspicion about them.
With everything that they have mentioned, you think that there might be some
kind of seepage from the First World.
Something that is causing the farms to bloom.
Interesting,
Aubrey/Freya: interesting.
Maybe there's uh, somewhere where there's a tear between Galerion and
the First World, and that energy is leaking here, causing growth.
Maybe something like that.
I'll have to talk to Varen.
Maybe Varen has learned something.
I'll come back here and see if we can trace it back.
And uh, gonna stand up and Turn to Mia, put my hands on Mia's shoulders,
and say, You were incredibly brave
Misfit/Mia: today.
Just a bunch of like, wagging tails, and her ears like, immediately
pop up, like, I did good?
Aubrey/Freya: Yes, you did good.
This is information we can work with.
So this is just sort of, open farmlands?
Right.
Misfit/Mia: Mia is going to just scoop up some soil.
I don't know why, just some weird gut feeling.
She's just gonna, like, scoop up some soil into a pouch.
Pete/GM: Okay, you have some dirt.
You got a,
Aubrey/Freya: you got a pouch full of dirt.
Shoulda brought a jar.
I shoulda.
Well, I mean, it's something.
Well, I just
Misfit/Mia: thought that maybe Viren would like to have this.
I don't know, he could, like, pin it to something.
Aubrey/Freya: Are there, like, wildflowers around?
Pete/GM: I mean, yeah.
There's always wildflowers around.
Aubrey/Freya: Especially ones that, like, it doesn't look like I'm gonna
pick flowers from a farm or anything.
Take a couple of minutes, some wildflowers, weave them
into a very small crown.
We'll put them on Mia's head, as I've done that before, er, weave flower crowns.
And just being like, one, looks good.
Two, more evidence for Varin.
Pete/GM: Perfect.
It is nearing the end of the day, as you all gather back in Seven Arches.
Aaron, unfortunately, you weren't able to hone your mind enough to any
more specific information out of the deluge of knowledge from this app,
but it was a pretty cool experience.
You think this could be a valuable asset to yourself?
Doesn't
Archedas/Varren: mean he's not going to keep
Pete/GM: trying.
Then, similarly, you were not able to find anything that you
thought looked like footprints.
So that is six more investigation points for a total of eight.
Did I help with that?
Uh, unfortunately, no.
Did I hinder that?
You didn't hinder it, no.
Okay.
And it's like,
Chris/Vin: that was a waste of time.
Right?
There was
Pete/GM: nothing there.
Nothing there, Varan.
Archedas/Varren: Oh.
It was worth a check.
I wanna take a look myself at some point, but Oh, double
checking might work now, huh?
Well, to be fair, the last time we sent you out, you went
and got a massage and smoked
Pete/GM: FLA leaf.
You never sent me anywhere.
Chris/Vin: You were gonna take a day off and you decided to
Archedas/Varren: work precisely.
We well, yes.
As a looming threat and one of our allies is in danger.
You put it like that,
. Aubrey/Freya: We come back with a flower crown and a jar and a bag of dirt.
Archedas/Varren: I've got a jar
Pete/GM: of dirt.
I've got a jar of dirt.
I
Misfit/Mia: don't know why, it just seemed appropriate.
What
Archedas/Varren: did you find at the uh, at the Finland's farm?
Pete/GM: Dirt.
She just
Misfit/Mia: like drops
Pete/GM: the pouch in front of you.
Archedas/Varren: Well yes, that's, that's dirt.
Uh, relevancy?
Aubrey/Freya: Um, well it may have Everything there is growing a little
too well for something that's a more and very foggy and doesn't get a lot of sun.
There's a good chance that there is some sort of rift between that area and
the Feywilds and energy from there is leaking out and causing things to grow.
They also say they've dealt with our friend for a very long time and
they've just kind of gotten used to it and it's better to just ignore
Archedas/Varren: it.
Well, ignoring it's how they
Pete/GM: got the character in the first place, as you can see.
Yeah,
Archedas/Varren: I have to agree with that.
From the library, I don't know if you attempted to do so while
you were there, Freya, but I need to go back and attempt so again.
Did you engage with the sap at all?
Now, this kind of pulls a hand out of his glove and then like sets
a single finger inside of it and scrapes a little bit where there's
a tiny little bit of residue to it.
Their cataloging is unique.
The pages were far too many books to go through in one sitting for an individual.
Attempting to course through it all at once didn't seem to work properly.
There has to be a process that I'm not understanding.
I'll see if I can compute this.
But from what I found of the The legend is far older than we thought,
um, you're familiar with Earthfall?
Yeah, I learned about it at the
Aubrey/Freya: Arcanum Miriam.
Archedas/Varren: This legend goes back from before the media fell.
It's beyond ancient hell.
Much of details within it is a fairly short passage of what can only be
imagined as one of their books.
Of the defeat, supposedly this creature is not insurmountable, of
some lurking creature of shadow.
Pete/GM: More than a
Archedas/Varren: millennia ago.
Some ties to the Chronicles about the First World and the Thin Lands.
That's not the farm outside of the city.
Interesting.
It is, but it's not.
Aubrey/Freya: Yeah, the way they were talking, it's like two
areas kind of exist in one spot.
There are trees where there are trees where there are trees.
Sub
Archedas/Varren: sublimation, sub sublimation, something of the sort.
Pete/GM: So yeah, something like that.
Archedas/Varren: Seems like he's trying to pull I've heard legends
of the Fae attempting to pull part of the Material Plane into
their world for whatever reason.
I don't exactly know how that would function on our plane, what would be
left, or how it would tie together.
I don't know much, all I know is the Thin Lands original,
the source, the start of them.
Sort of colorist forest in the First World section of Nighthole.
An old eldest, Count Ragnolak, uh, had ruled over it.
But I doubted the eldest of sorts would care about one phase ambitions.
If anything, pulling our lands into his would simply gain the favor of the Count.
Expanding his own lands in the First World.
Aubrey/Freya: Yeah.
There's something about those lands that are connected to him and I I
think it deserves more investigation.
We should all
Archedas/Varren: be there, just in case.
Certainly our most likely point of finding anything of interest, uh, at least.
I believe that's where our investigations will tie
Pete/GM: up.
Archedas/Varren: Yeah.
Find ourselves venturing through woods there, rather than just farms.
Aubrey/Freya: Yeah, I think that should be a big, uh, one we do next,
Archedas/Varren: when we're all ready.
Wouldn't mind speaking to this Alder Woman, of sorts,
before we go taking a deeper.
Didn't find much on the bogeys, but Some more digging at the
library before we head out.
Aubrey/Freya: Yeah, I also worry what he might attempt if we dally too long.
Archedas/Varren: Cowardly as he is, he hasn't made a move yet.
He's been tormenting, but not directing
Pete/GM: harm.
Archedas/Varren: If he dares to choose to do so, attacking outside his domain
must be why he sends the Gorgon.
Yeah,
Aubrey/Freya: and I recommend that we probably have a watch going tonight.
We should not.
There should always be somebody awake.
Perfectly
Pete/GM: workable.
Archedas/Varren: Timidly organized.
Plenty, uh, Seems all of us have been having our own variety of strange dreams
as of late, so Probably if that's thin lands, uh, Just seven arches or so.
Perhaps some after effect of the gates.
Things to process and sketch.
Chris/Vin: I'll trade for a sword.
Sounds good.
Gotta be useful for something.
Misfit/Mia: Mia's like, curled up
Aubrey/Freya: asleep.
Archedas/Varren: I'll take second, I don't mind the interruption, we can
have Mia cut a mask, let her rest.
Pete/GM: Yeah, I'll take third.
Alright, you all watch over Mia, over the night.
Varin, while Vin is looking over Mia, you are still pensive at your
room of connected dots and strings.
All of the information is sifting around in your mind when
you start to notice a pattern.
Indeed.
Canepo seems to be behind the Gorge attacks and the disappearances
that have been happening since the missing moment around here.
And you find a mention of a victim named Varna, a skinny man
with a wooden septum piercing.
But then you also connect the dots that the Finlands are a shadowy
extraplanar forest in the first world.
that are somehow bound to the farmlands on the material plane.
And you know that Kniepo has some method of traveling between the two.
You're looking over the disappearances that have happened, the dates, the
locations, and you finally see it.
There is something going on, and there is a pattern.
According to the pattern, whatever is allowing Kniepo To come more
into the material plane, or has caused the disappearances,
is happening on a schedule.
And the next one is going to open tomorrow night, in the middle
of a particular potato patch.
Archedas/Varren: Varen just kind of laying on his back, staring up
at the ceiling, not really moving, making these connections while Vin
is still on watch, just kind of sits himself up after that period of time.
It takes him a while to put all this together.
Kinda, crossing all of the strings and pages together.
This kinda does the full, like, vampire rising up at the hip.
And just kinda turns his head over to Vin.
I think I know
Pete/GM: where we need to go.
What?
Where they'll end up going, and what they'll encounter when they get there,
you'll have to find out next time.
On Ash and Snow.
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