[0.0s] Dumbgeons and Dragons will begin in a moment.
[4.0s] Bizard, you've been walking through the streets of Kingstown now for four or five hours.
[14.6s] You've stopped by all the old hangouts, you know, you've gotten some good street
[19.9s] meat on a stick.
[21.5s] You swung by just to kind of scope out the chest of drawers before you and Kav
[26.9s] hit it up in earnest before you go.
[29.2s] Right.
[30.2s] And you are aimlessly wandering through the streets at this point.
[36.2s] And just out of muscle memory, you find yourself on your childhood street and you
[43.6s] look up and you're right in front of your mother and father's house.
[48.6s] I look around, look down at my feet.
[50.7s] I'm like, damn you.
[52.8s] I look back up and I'm like, OK, OK, I go up and I look through the window.
[60.0s] And the place is quite unkempt.
[64.2s] Blankets are folded and tucked over the over the backs of chairs.
[68.6s] There's newspapers kind of scattered all over the tables.
[72.0s] There's bits of food left on plate in the middle of one of the coffee tables.
[78.2s] As you're looking through, you hear a hearty cough coming from inside and upstairs,
[85.0s] like a big just guttural.
[90.7s] She's got a glimpse into my future.
[95.4s] I want to stop for a moment and just rub my brow like I am actually in real
[100.4s] life thinking about this.
[103.4s] Fuck it. I pull out my old key, put it in the door, unlock it.
[108.6s] Open the door and walk through.
[111.0s] Set my stuff down where I had so many times for so many years, instinctually.
[118.4s] And I'm walking quietly again, like walking on eggshells.
[124.4s] And I stop myself for a moment and say, nope, nope, we don't we don't do that
[129.0s] anymore. And I start walking normally.
[132.7s] All the creaks of the floorboards that I remember from so long ago still acting
[138.0s] up, still making even a lot more noise.
[141.0s] Some of them kind of plunge through as I'm I'm taking a step in.
[144.4s] I'm like, that's that's very dangerous.
[147.2s] It looks around just like they could do itself.
[149.9s] I don't I don't want my mom living like this.
[152.6s] And she's the first person I call out for.
[155.3s] Like, I'm going to call it for her for anything into the house and say,
[159.5s] Mom, are you are you home?
[161.3s] It's a very brief pause.
[164.1s] You hear from upstairs says, who's there?
[168.5s] I begin making my way upstairs and make my way to their room and open the door.
[180.1s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a D&D actual play podcast, and I'm your dungeon
[184.6s] master, Russ More, he him.
[186.6s] Also joining me today is Amy More as Alydin, she her.
[190.6s] No, I think that eye's working really hard.
[192.8s] Carla Maxted as Bonwyn Everbane, she her.
[196.1s] So I like, are you a detective?
[198.3s] And Kyle Claset as Bizard the Wizard, he him.
[201.5s] I hope you can call on those favors as you need and do what you need to
[206.8s] take care of the rest of your life.
[208.1s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon supported podcast,
[211.2s] and you can join us today at Patreon dot com slash dumb dragon cast.
[214.7s] There's a seven day free trial and a whole bunch of episodes
[217.8s] for you to listen to.
[219.0s] We hope to see you over there.
[220.4s] And now fuck it. Let's play.
[226.0s] Bonwyn and Alydin, you've secured the kids in the school.
[232.1s] Everybody's there.
[233.3s] Tally has a weapon.
[236.0s] You could call it a rusty butter knife at best.
[240.2s] You make your way over the bridge and you're heading towards the city
[244.4s] guards office.
[245.4s] Are they actually going to do anything?
[247.2s] Well, do they actually care?
[248.8s] We have to try.
[250.2s] And honestly, they were very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very
[255.9s] pretty good on the Night of the Monsters.
[259.2s] Yeah, but they were protecting everyone.
[261.0s] No one cares about us.
[262.6s] Well, that's not true.
[264.6s] I care about you as Kavlaran that's lots of people.
[270.3s] Thane and everybody, you know, you got a lot of people
[275.1s] rooting for you now.
[276.6s] But honestly, I don't know.
[278.2s] I don't know what they'll do.
[279.7s] Feel like we have to at least try and get help.
[282.6s] And maybe if they know, then can stop other kids from getting taken.
[288.2s] Because, of course, you guys aren't the only kids in town.
[291.4s] No, some kids actually live in here and have beds.
[293.8s] Yeah, like parents and stuff.
[295.6s] Live with them. Wild.
[297.9s] You arrive at the city guards office and you open the door
[301.1s] and there are a few guards in there.
[302.8s] One unnamed citizen is there.
[305.5s] They're finishing up and Dace, who's at the back,
[308.2s] is just kind of entering the main pit area.
[311.3s] He sees you and says, oh, hey, Bonwyn, how you doing?
[314.0s] Hey, I'm I'm OK.
[316.1s] Could you do you have a second?
[318.1s] Yeah, yeah, yeah, just a sec.
[319.4s] And he sets a few things down on a desk and picks up a coffee
[323.8s] and comes out to the other side and says, what can I do for you?
[327.0s] So there's a kid missing.
[329.3s] Which which which kid?
[330.8s] Cedric pulls out a notebook.
[332.8s] Cedric has one.
[334.3s] He looks to Alydin's one of your group.
[336.3s] Mm hmm. And I mean, no, he comes from a rich family.
[340.9s] I'm going to help you out.
[342.1s] OK, yeah, no, he's he's one of us.
[344.6s] And this all sounds a little woo woo.
[347.5s] OK, but he was singing a really creepy song.
[350.5s] All the kids learned it from some random person down by the docks.
[355.2s] Right. Yeah, the bards have been coming back through.
[357.0s] So that's yeah.
[358.7s] So about a creepy banjo man.
[361.7s] And then he drew a picture.
[363.7s] Alydin, maybe show him the picture.
[366.3s] Yeah. And then we found this thing kind of like burnt
[368.9s] into the floor of the room where he left and also these leaves.
[374.2s] So like, are you a detective?
[376.7s] Is there detectives in this branch of the city guard?
[380.5s] Yeah, magical detectives, I think is what we're looking for.
[384.6s] I'm working towards my detective badge as we speak, actually.
[387.9s] So like this is this is perfect.
[389.8s] He looks around and says, there's no detectives here.
[392.2s] I mean, we could go down to the military and get somebody higher up,
[395.1s] but they're not going to help you.
[396.1s] Like, they're not going to help me specifically.
[398.0s] I remember when I threatened all of them with the monsters and what have you.
[401.7s] Yeah, that was really great.
[402.1s] Yeah, that was badass.
[403.2s] That was meant to I know we haven't had like a few moments since then.
[407.0s] It's been a lot of that was really cool.
[408.7s] No regrets.
[409.6s] Just maybe I'm not like, hey, friends, can you help me solve this weird mystery?
[413.7s] Yeah, fair.
[415.0s] But you'll help us.
[416.3s] Of course, I'm going to help.
[417.3s] Of course, I'm going to help.
[418.2s] Looks around.
[420.2s] Let's go check it out.
[421.3s] If we need more people, we'll come grab them.
[423.7s] Let's get everything we need.
[425.9s] Can you give me a description of Cedric?
[428.3s] OK, yeah, he is about this tall and and he has his he's really pasty.
[437.7s] A lot of you are kind of pasty, but OK, not all of us.
[442.5s] He one of his eyes points in this way
[446.0s] and then the other one points forward and he doesn't have any eyebrows.
[450.2s] He doesn't have any eyebrows.
[451.4s] No. OK, I know the one you're talking about.
[453.6s] OK, yeah, no eyebrows, lazy eye, pasty.
[457.6s] No, I think that eyes working really hard.
[461.8s] OK, sorry, my mistake.
[465.7s] Hard working eye.
[468.7s] Working eye.
[471.7s] So offended right now.
[476.3s] Like, how dare you?
[477.3s] I'm sure that eye has worked twice as hard.
[479.5s] That eye takes night classes, OK?
[482.3s] That eye is going to be a detective soon.
[484.7s] Geez, we say this all in good, honest fun.
[488.2s] If you have a lazy eye.
[489.8s] Oh, yeah, like I said in the last downtime,
[491.7s] I don't care which way your eyes point at all.
[493.9s] But Cedric is a dick and that has nothing to do with his eyes.
[497.2s] So Cedric's not well liked among the group.
[501.6s] Oh, he's not hated.
[503.6s] He was in charge of a whole group of kids and then just disappeared
[508.5s] in a room filled with them in the middle of the night.
[511.6s] And he was the only one who disappeared.
[513.8s] Everybody else, as far as you know, accounted for.
[516.2s] We counted them.
[517.8s] Yeah, they're all together in the old school.
[521.4s] Oh, my God, should they even be in the school?
[523.9s] You know, I thought about moving them somewhere else,
[526.2s] but we don't know.
[527.0s] I mean, does the banjo man move around?
[529.3s] We really have no way of knowing if it's, you know.
[532.5s] Well, did we create a fish in a barrel type of situation?
[535.6s] Do we just put all his like, what does he do with them?
[538.1s] Eat them?
[539.5s] I don't know a lot about the banjo man.
[543.7s] Well, there's a whole song.
[545.0s] Alydin can explain it to you.
[548.4s] So there's supposed to be this guy down and he was the one
[551.6s] singing the song and then all the kids were singing it.
[554.8s] And it was really pretty creepy.
[557.7s] And I told them to stop.
[560.3s] So we thought we would go speak to that man.
[562.6s] That sounds like a great, great next step.
[565.0s] So let's do that.
[566.7s] Can I have that picture?
[569.6s] Can I take that?
[571.6s] Great, thank you.
[572.6s] Don't lose it.
[573.5s] I won't lose it.
[574.6s] Putting it very safe in my book here.
[578.1s] Keep everything together so that we have,
[579.9s] and then you said the leaves.
[581.5s] Yeah, have you ever seen leaves like this?
[583.2s] They don't look like anything from around here.
[585.8s] Holds the bag up.
[587.9s] They were inside the room in front of the window,
[592.0s] but I've never seen anything like this.
[594.2s] And there are no trees around the school.
[596.2s] And there's no trees around the school.
[599.3s] Banjo man leaves.
[601.6s] And then this symbol.
[603.4s] Yeah, that was on the floor.
[605.0s] On the floor.
[608.2s] OK, well, let's go see if we can find your bard.
[611.5s] I assume that's what he is, if he's singing songs down
[614.4s] by the dock and see what he knows about the banjo man.
[617.8s] Maybe he's got a lead we can go off of to try and figure
[620.3s] out where Cedric's gone.
[621.9s] Yeah, maybe he'll just admit the whole thing.
[623.8s] Maybe he's the banjo man.
[625.9s] Maybe he teaches songs to children
[628.0s] and then that calls the banjo man.
[629.8s] And he's working for the banjo man.
[632.6s] That is also a possibility.
[634.4s] Perhaps we go talk to this gentleman,
[637.0s] see what he knows and judge whether it's just a song
[641.5s] he's picked up or if he's working for the banjo man.
[645.2s] That is a more reasonable way to approach this.
[648.1s] I'm getting kind of caught up in the spookiness
[650.7s] of all of it.
[651.8s] Yeah, well, it sounds like it, yeah.
[654.3s] Let's go ahead down to the docks
[655.7s] and see what we can find.
[659.0s] It's footsteps down the hallway of your parents' house
[664.0s] and the door creaks open, another, who's there?
[671.0s] Bizarre?
[673.0s] Hello, Terry?
[676.8s] What are you doing here?
[678.0s] You left.
[679.6s] I did, I did.
[680.9s] And I came back from business and saw a mom
[686.0s] and against, well, she let me know
[692.5s] that you've not been doing well.
[696.7s] No, he looks around and you have a chance
[699.7s] to survey the room and it looks like he doesn't leave
[704.0s] for very many, very many reasons.
[708.2s] There's an aroma, I guess you could say,
[712.6s] an odor, probably more descriptive,
[715.1s] coming from the room.
[716.6s] He's got the blankets loosely tossed over him.
[720.8s] He has a chair beside his bed.
[723.7s] It looks like there's some crutches
[724.8s] down at the end of the bed.
[727.2s] No, no, I don't get out very often.
[730.1s] I'm not doing so great.
[731.3s] Your mom's been taking care of a lot of things
[732.9s] around here, God bless her heart.
[734.8s] Sure don't have any kids come around.
[738.3s] No, well, I'm glad to see at least
[742.2s] you two have a roof over your head.
[744.8s] I'd expect mom to have reached out
[748.8s] if things had gotten truly dire,
[750.2s] but somehow you managed to keep it together.
[754.4s] Yeah, I've done enough favors for people
[756.1s] that they turn an eye every now and again
[758.3s] when we're short on bills.
[760.5s] It's all in the day's work.
[762.1s] Are you still working?
[763.9s] The shop looks very unkempt and not ready for customers.
[769.7s] No, no, haven't been down there in quite some time.
[774.6s] I've been down there just to look,
[775.9s] make sure that nobody's walked away with anything.
[778.6s] You haven't walked away with anything, have you?
[780.5s] Not in a long time.
[781.9s] Not like the last time.
[786.6s] I wasn't fooling you, was I?
[790.0s] At first, yeah, you fooled me a little bit.
[793.6s] It was the drink that really just kept it from me.
[798.4s] Of course, dulls your senses.
[801.5s] You've done well for yourself though.
[803.1s] You've, on my back, made it through school and.
[807.4s] Oof, you would not have parted with that coin
[812.6s] to send me to that school.
[814.4s] No, I wouldn't have.
[816.8s] It's better things to do
[817.6s] than waving your magic wands around.
[821.3s] You, you don't, you never got it.
[826.9s] You never tried to get it.
[829.2s] All you worried about was your hats
[833.8s] and trying to climb a social ladder,
[837.8s] which actually, thinking about it that way,
[841.5s] maybe there's a good reason
[842.8s] for me to come see you after all.
[845.2s] Great, what you got?
[847.7s] You gonna pay back?
[849.4s] Did you have any dealings with a Cressida Thorne?
[854.5s] Lady Thorne, yeah, of course.
[856.6s] We've had dealings with all the nobles in town.
[859.8s] They all come here for their hats.
[860.9s] They all need something fancy.
[862.8s] Okay, I don't know what I think you can do
[866.7s] for me in this regard.
[868.0s] Do you, if I needed,
[870.7s] would you be able to make an introduction?
[874.3s] Wait.
[876.0s] Don't.
[877.4s] You've come here.
[879.6s] No, I've not come here for this.
[880.9s] I just happened to think about it while I'm here.
[883.4s] Okay, you want an introduction to Lady Thorne?
[887.3s] If I needed, would you be able to do it?
[889.3s] For what reason?
[891.1s] I can introduce you to anybody in town.
[892.9s] Of course I can.
[894.4s] How bad are your financial problems?
[896.6s] He turns his head to the side and things are fine.
[904.3s] Your mom's picked up a few extra shifts.
[907.0s] And like I said, I haven't been down
[908.4s] to make things in a while.
[911.9s] But we've got enough favors to pull in
[913.5s] that things are gonna be okay.
[916.3s] So I can get back up on my feet, that is.
[918.5s] You expect to get back up on your feet?
[921.0s] Mom made it sound as if any moment
[924.0s] you were going to keel over.
[925.7s] Yeah, well, that's one person's opinion, I guess.
[929.7s] But I'm really just got a positive outlook
[932.9s] on life these days.
[934.0s] So I'm really just pushing that I'll be in here.
[938.2s] I'm gonna get up right now.
[939.9s] He starts scooting himself over to the edge of the bed
[943.3s] and reaches, pass me that?
[946.1s] Pass me pointing to the crutches?
[948.0s] Do it yourself.
[949.4s] No, fine, I got it.
[951.0s] Scoots down to the end of the bed, grabs the crutches
[955.0s] and starts trying to stand up
[957.4s] and like buckles under his own weight.
[959.9s] He's down on one knee now.
[962.7s] Just, I'm getting better.
[965.3s] This is better than it was last week.
[967.4s] I step forward and I help him up back onto the bed.
[971.0s] Lie back down.
[971.8s] What'd you come for, Bazaar?
[973.4s] I didn't come for this.
[976.0s] I just, again, I happened to be here
[978.0s] and I don't know.
[980.2s] I stopped by and saw Mom at the cured pig.
[983.9s] Was surprised to see and hear how much she was working
[986.6s] in your state.
[988.1s] And honestly, I don't know why Mom stays with you.
[994.9s] I've offered to have her come
[996.8s] and stay with me in Vintersmouth
[998.0s] and whatever happens to you, happens to you.
[1000.2s] I don't think she'll do it.
[1002.3s] And I don't understand why.
[1003.6s] The only thing, you cared so much for your status,
[1010.5s] the people you made hats for
[1012.9s] and those relationships that you ignored
[1017.2s] the relationships in your own home.
[1019.6s] Did you provide for us?
[1020.6s] Yeah, sure.
[1021.4s] I'll give you that.
[1022.4s] You provided for us.
[1025.4s] You made sure that we had food and house.
[1028.9s] But you weren't there in many ways.
[1032.4s] And I don't know if I can afford you the same grace
[1041.4s] of just not being there, but helping out financially.
[1046.3s] But if Mom doesn't go with me,
[1048.3s] well, you maybe already know
[1049.2s] that I've been sending her money.
[1052.1s] But I don't want her working anymore.
[1057.2s] And if it means having to give her money
[1060.1s] to help take care of you, I will do it for her.
[1063.7s] Do you have any medications I need to give you?
[1065.5s] Like, you know, I can.
[1067.0s] No, no, I don't want to put you out, I'm fine.
[1072.0s] No, you sound like you were coughing here.
[1075.0s] I get you a glass of water
[1077.1s] and I grab a glass, go over to fill it up.
[1082.1s] And I'm just kind of like, you know,
[1084.6s] trying to capture myself.
[1085.5s] I'm like at the counter with the water filling up.
[1089.3s] And I'm just kind of staring into the water
[1090.8s] as it fills the glass.
[1092.6s] And for a moment, I reach into my like breast pocket
[1097.0s] and reaching for like a handkerchief.
[1100.3s] But then I feel a small vial
[1103.1s] and I stop and like thumb the lid of it for a second
[1108.1s] and just kind of like mile long stare.
[1114.2s] Pull my hand out of my pocket, shake it off,
[1116.3s] turn the water off and bring him the glass of water back.
[1119.7s] And I set it down.
[1120.5s] I say, one thing that you taught me
[1125.5s] that I am so, so grateful for.
[1128.7s] One thing that makes me semi-okay
[1133.2s] with you being my dad is that you taught me
[1135.9s] the kind of person I don't want to be.
[1139.1s] So thank you so, so much.
[1141.4s] And I will pay you back.
[1143.2s] In fact, I don't want to owe you anything.
[1146.9s] And I pull out a cashier's check.
[1150.1s] And over the last 10 years,
[1152.8s] not having to pay taxes out in Vintersmouth,
[1155.4s] I've managed to scrape and save aside 800 gold per year.
[1160.0s] Over 10 years is 8,000 gold,
[1162.5s] which is four years tuition at Barnhart's.
[1165.7s] I write it down and I say,
[1168.0s] I'm gonna give this to mom to take care of both of you.
[1173.5s] That is if she doesn't leave with me.
[1175.6s] And if she does,
[1176.8s] I hope you can call on those favors as you need
[1180.2s] and do what you need to take care of the rest of your life.
[1185.0s] Are you done?
[1187.2s] Are we done?
[1189.4s] Yeah.
[1191.8s] You got everything off your chest that you need?
[1195.5s] Yeah.
[1197.5s] Do you have anything you wanna get off your chest with me?
[1200.6s] Anything you wanna say that you never said?
[1204.5s] Stares at you for a long, uncomfortable moment.
[1210.7s] I wish I would have called you out.
[1214.0s] Taking my money, going off to your wizard school.
[1218.8s] Maybe you would have came to make a hat.
[1220.8s] Maybe you would have done something valuable.
[1225.5s] I don't have anything to say, kid.
[1228.7s] I'll talk to your mother tonight.
[1231.2s] Sounds like she has a decision to make.
[1234.2s] I would say so.
[1236.1s] Thank you.
[1237.5s] Odd as it is to say it.
[1239.6s] I guess mom was right.
[1240.4s] It was good that I came here
[1241.8s] cause I'm proud of what I'm doing
[1245.2s] and I don't need validation from you.
[1248.8s] Good.
[1249.6s] And I've realized that.
[1250.5s] Well, another thing I taught you then.
[1253.5s] I just kind of like sigh and turn and walk out the door,
[1258.3s] hand in my breast pocket again, thumb in that vial.
[1262.0s] I walk downstairs.
[1263.5s] I pick up my pack.
[1265.2s] I take my key.
[1266.7s] I put it on the counter, lock the door behind me.
[1270.0s] I'm gonna go sit in a park
[1272.0s] and think back on what the divining teacher told me
[1276.3s] and try to piece together the parts of it.
[1278.9s] We'll be right back.
[1282.8s] It's the middle.
[1285.1s] I mean, nothing against making a golem for yourself,
[1288.1s] like a holiday golem.
[1289.2s] Sure, yeah.
[1290.9s] We're basically seeing like,
[1293.3s] what is that?
[1294.2s] Conjuration, transmutation, magic at work.
[1297.0s] But you may as well do it all
[1300.3s] so he can give you the hot frosty.
[1302.6s] Yeah.
[1304.0s] Yeah.
[1304.8s] It's really what it comes down to.
[1306.1s] What's the point of even having a snowman come to life?
[1309.8s] Welcome to the middle, everybody.
[1311.6s] Oh shit, we started recording.
[1313.4s] I know, we're well into it.
[1314.9s] I was too busy looking at all the pictures
[1316.7s] of hot frosty.
[1318.2s] Yeah, no, that's the big movie
[1320.5s] that we're talking about this year
[1321.8s] is Hot Frosty, not a sponsor.
[1324.2s] We just talk about it
[1325.1s] because we love it so gosh darn much.
[1327.4s] Or maybe we will.
[1328.7s] Maybe we will.
[1329.5s] I mean, two of the five have seen it,
[1331.4s] three have not.
[1333.0s] Yeah.
[1333.8s] Of course, it's only on Netflix, right.
[1335.4s] Okay, that makes a lot more sense.
[1337.5s] Maybe better than Hot Frosty.
[1339.6s] Almost certainly.
[1340.5s] I don't even know what you're gonna say, but.
[1342.2s] Yeah.
[1343.0s] Is our Christmas special, which comes out next week.
[1347.0s] Oh, that's right.
[1348.6s] Yeah.
[1349.4s] Very true.
[1350.2s] Folks, I can't even explain.
[1352.5s] Like is it just us laughing?
[1354.8s] Yes, that is the entire special.
[1355.7s] With no other words coming out,
[1357.2s] I feel like it might be wonderful.
[1358.5s] Yeah.
[1359.8s] Of just like one liner and then laughing
[1362.4s] and followed by another zinger and then laughing.
[1365.2s] Yeah. Perfect.
[1366.2s] Just the way we do.
[1367.1s] It was a delight.
[1368.4s] Yeah. It was a great time.
[1369.2s] Really, really fun.
[1370.1s] It was a lot of fun to get to run
[1371.9s] and it was everything I could never expect it to be.
[1375.5s] I don't know how much I wanna tell you.
[1378.8s] Like we should tease it in the middle.
[1379.6s] I said nothing.
[1380.5s] Don't say anything.
[1381.3s] I mean, you already gave a teaser
[1382.4s] with something you said a moment ago.
[1384.6s] That's true.
[1385.4s] You gotta really pay attention to words
[1387.7s] and then look back on things, but you know.
[1389.4s] Yeah, well, nobody else.
[1390.3s] Well, there's no way people can hit rewind
[1392.0s] and listen again, so.
[1393.3s] Nope.
[1394.1s] You won't know which words Kyle's talking about.
[1397.7s] So, I mean, who knows.
[1399.4s] Who knows anything.
[1400.9s] But what we can tell you is
[1402.3s] we have a wonderful guest, Abdul Aziz,
[1404.9s] who's come to join us again
[1406.1s] to help us ring in the new year and holiday season.
[1410.2s] Nothing to do with the new year,
[1411.6s] but definitely to do with the holiday season.
[1413.5s] We all made a face.
[1414.6s] I was so thrown off.
[1415.5s] Do we?
[1416.3s] I was like, did I black out?
[1417.2s] We didn't do anything about the new year.
[1418.8s] Yeah, in fact, the whole episode is a new year special.
[1421.8s] Yeah.
[1422.7s] Oh my gosh.
[1423.5s] Was I there?
[1424.4s] We subvert your expectations
[1425.2s] by delivering a different holiday.
[1427.0s] Yeah.
[1427.8s] That's right.
[1428.6s] It's Easter.
[1429.5s] Who knew?
[1430.3s] Yeah.
[1431.1s] Yeah.
[1432.0s] It's a good time.
[1432.8s] And we think you're really gonna love it.
[1433.9s] So, stay on this channel.
[1437.8s] Stay frosty.
[1439.6s] Stay frosty.
[1440.5s] Stay on frosty.
[1442.6s] You know, you don't have to stay locked
[1444.2s] because it's a podcast.
[1445.4s] You know how those work.
[1447.6s] Please check it out.
[1448.5s] Yeah, please check it out.
[1450.4s] Yeah.
[1451.2s] What else should people check out?
[1452.8s] Yeah, especially one person,
[1454.8s] particularly who we love this episode the most.
[1459.8s] We would like it.
[1460.7s] The most.
[1461.5s] Dedicated to them, maybe?
[1462.4s] If they would come
[1463.9s] and listen to the Christmas special.
[1464.7s] I mean, we could probably dedicate it to them.
[1467.3s] Yup.
[1468.1s] Like, right now, they know who they are.
[1469.7s] They know who they are.
[1470.5s] They can feel it in their hearts.
[1471.4s] Yeah.
[1472.2s] But we should probably say it.
[1473.0s] Because they hit that 15 seconds back button
[1474.9s] that we were talking about a moment ago.
[1475.7s] That's right.
[1476.6s] So, they're not here yet.
[1477.5s] So, they'll catch up in just a moment
[1479.1s] and everybody else is listening.
[1481.8s] But that person is Eric Valdez.
[1485.2s] Thanks, Eric.
[1486.0s] Thank you, Eric.
[1486.9s] Eric.
[1487.7s] Too cool of you.
[1488.5s] Thank you so much.
[1489.4s] You're amazing.
[1490.2s] Thanks so much for being here.
[1491.7s] And you too can have an episode dedicated to you
[1495.6s] if you join us on patreon.com slash dumbdraggingcast
[1498.8s] where you can get a seven day free trial
[1501.5s] which is like the best deal you can get for seven days.
[1504.7s] Just mainline some of that bonus content
[1507.7s] while you're there.
[1508.6s] Ooh, there we go.
[1509.4s] That's right.
[1510.2s] There's so much.
[1511.1s] See how much you can get into your system
[1512.6s] in seven solid days.
[1514.0s] I don't think you could do it all.
[1515.5s] I don't think so.
[1516.8s] I don't think so.
[1517.7s] See, you're underestimating our Patreon members.
[1521.2s] You'd have to listen at a higher speed than one time.
[1524.8s] So you could do it and probably not sleep
[1527.0s] for at least a couple days.
[1528.6s] Okay.
[1529.6s] So don't do that.
[1530.4s] It would be quite bad for your health.
[1531.8s] You have to have two going at one time.
[1533.4s] So you do like one season and then something else
[1535.5s] and you have two different earbuds
[1537.5s] connected to two different devices.
[1539.2s] He's stressing me out.
[1540.0s] He's just saying that.
[1541.6s] There's a reason you have like a hemispherical brain
[1544.4s] it's so you can listen to two different versions
[1546.3s] of our podcast at the same time.
[1549.2s] I see nothing going wrong with this.
[1550.8s] Not a doctor.
[1551.7s] Nine out of 10 doctors would agree.
[1553.4s] Join us today at patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast
[1556.3s] where hopefully your brain won't explode.
[1559.7s] It's gonna be a great time.
[1561.0s] Or it will because of how awesome
[1563.2s] what you're listening to is.
[1564.6s] There we go.
[1565.4s] There it is.
[1566.2s] Brought it back.
[1567.1s] Thanks, Kyle.
[1567.9s] Okay.
[1569.4s] That's it for now.
[1570.2s] We'll talk to you next week
[1572.0s] in the lovely, lovely holiday special
[1575.3s] which I'm not telling you about.
[1577.4s] You can't make me.
[1578.3s] Don't do it.
[1579.2s] I was gonna.
[1580.1s] Don't do it.
[1580.9s] I was so close.
[1581.8s] Somebody cut the middle.
[1583.0s] Love you, bye.
[1583.9s] Okay, bye.
[1584.7s] Thank you.
[1585.6s] Love you, bye.
[1586.4s] Somebody stop him.
[1588.6s] We cut back to Vintersmouth.
[1591.6s] We're happier things are happening.
[1593.1s] Yeah, yeah, totally.
[1594.8s] Down at the docks,
[1596.6s] Dase is with you, Bonwyn and Alladin
[1598.8s] and you're weaving through
[1603.2s] the reconstructed artisan district,
[1608.7s] question mark,
[1610.1s] and you hear some commotion
[1612.4s] down at the end of the street.
[1613.4s] And I say commotion,
[1614.2s] you hear some music being played
[1616.0s] down at the end of the street.
[1617.3s] You make your way down there
[1618.1s] and there's a crowd huddled around a man
[1620.8s] who's playing a lute
[1621.9s] and you hear a stompbox going
[1623.7s] and you're gonna push your way
[1625.1s] through the crowd a little bit
[1626.3s] and you see someone who,
[1628.8s] for the description that was given.
[1633.0s] Which was very thorough.
[1633.8s] Which was very thorough.
[1634.6s] Can I see his feet?
[1635.8s] Are they hairy?
[1636.7s] Is he wearing a long knit, colorful,
[1638.9s] stylish dress thing?
[1640.5s] Does he have shortish hair
[1641.6s] with some gray on top?
[1643.0s] Yes.
[1643.8s] Apache beard, a cape?
[1645.7s] Yep, he does have a cape.
[1647.1s] You have the difference between
[1648.0s] a cloak versus a cape.
[1649.3s] It does look more cape-ish and yes,
[1651.4s] open-toed sandals,
[1653.6s] looks like hairier feet.
[1655.8s] This, for what you've been described,
[1659.0s] should be the person.
[1660.9s] He finishes up his song that he's singing,
[1663.2s] which isn't the banjo man,
[1665.2s] and everybody claps and tosses
[1667.2s] a few coins into his hat
[1668.7s] and then disperse
[1670.2s] as he's counting out the silver
[1672.5s] and copper that have been tossed
[1673.8s] into his hat.
[1674.6s] Dasa, Dasa, that's the guy.
[1676.4s] That's him.
[1677.5s] Yeah, the kids described him.
[1679.6s] So how do you wanna play this?
[1680.6s] Like, I'm bad cop, you're good cop?
[1682.2s] Or should I go in really tough
[1684.2s] and threatening?
[1685.1s] Or how do you normally do this?
[1686.4s] Let's maybe introduce ourselves first.
[1690.0s] That's probably a good first step, yeah?
[1692.7s] It's not the way I've seen the police operate
[1694.4s] in this town, really, usually, but okay.
[1696.8s] We are working on ourselves
[1698.8s] and trying to be better
[1700.8s] one person at a time.
[1703.8s] But in this moment,
[1705.6s] let's try and just be good.
[1708.8s] Because if we're good,
[1709.8s] we might get more information out of him,
[1712.3s] good or bad.
[1713.5s] You're right, you know what?
[1715.1s] Innocent until proven guilty.
[1716.4s] I don't know this guy.
[1717.4s] He could've just been singing a song.
[1719.0s] Or he's still Cedric.
[1720.4s] Let's ask a few questions first.
[1723.6s] Excuse me, sir, if you don't mind.
[1726.4s] Captain Dasa of the city guard here.
[1729.1s] Just have a few questions for you
[1730.6s] if you'd have a moment.
[1732.2s] Yeah, yeah, what's going on?
[1733.9s] Well, there were some children here yesterday
[1737.1s] who came and saw one of your shows.
[1740.1s] Do you remember what would've been
[1742.9s] pretty large group of kids?
[1744.6s] Yeah, yeah, I remember playing for a bunch of kids.
[1746.8s] They really liked the songs that I was singing.
[1749.6s] So I played a few for them.
[1751.4s] And there was one in particular
[1753.9s] that seemed to have stuck with them.
[1756.0s] Sorry, your name and where you came in from?
[1759.7s] My name's Liriel.
[1762.2s] Liriel, I travel around.
[1764.6s] In Kingston, down here, further down the river.
[1770.3s] No real home, just kind of wandering,
[1772.8s] singing my tunes.
[1774.1s] Fair enough.
[1775.0s] Well, it's nice to meet you, Liriel.
[1776.9s] I'm Bonwyn.
[1777.9s] I'm Bonwyn.
[1778.8s] I work with the business association down here.
[1781.1s] Really super nice to meet you.
[1783.2s] There was a specific song.
[1785.2s] It was about Banjo Man.
[1788.0s] Is that one of your tunes?
[1790.7s] Yeah, kids loved that one.
[1792.1s] They wanted me to play that a few times.
[1794.1s] They were singing it as they walked away.
[1796.4s] So yeah, you wanna hear it?
[1799.0s] Is that an original or did you write that?
[1803.1s] Well, it's kind of, I kind of rewrote it in my own way.
[1807.9s] Kind of just came to me a little bit.
[1809.8s] It's one of those songs where like,
[1811.2s] when you, I don't know if you've written much music,
[1813.4s] but you write it and it comes so easily
[1817.1s] that you feel like maybe it's been there all along.
[1820.4s] So like, yes, I wrote it,
[1823.0s] but I don't feel like I did.
[1824.8s] You know what I mean?
[1826.3s] It's like it was just given to me out of the ether.
[1828.6s] Yeah, weirdly I do.
[1830.0s] I design weapons and sometimes when I think of something,
[1832.4s] it's just like, oh, this is it.
[1833.8s] And I can perfectly imagine how it will piece together,
[1837.3s] how I will weld it, how everything will work.
[1839.5s] And it's just, it's so easy.
[1841.3s] Awesome, so you get it.
[1842.6s] But yeah, what's going on?
[1845.7s] Have you been singing that for a long time?
[1848.6s] You know, I've been singing it,
[1850.2s] God, how long have I been singing it?
[1854.6s] You know, I really don't know the answer to that
[1856.0s] question, but just one day I think I started playing it
[1859.2s] and I can't remember how long ago that was now.
[1861.3s] So the banjo man isn't about a specific person.
[1865.7s] It's just-
[1866.5s] Oh, no, it is.
[1868.7s] It's about a bard that's been out there.
[1873.2s] His name's Calder Bramble.
[1875.0s] He used to go around the Vorboten Forest
[1878.4s] and search for inspiration.
[1880.0s] So yeah, it's kind of one of those tales we hear about
[1884.1s] from other bards kind of filters through.
[1886.1s] So maybe it was one of those kind of inception things
[1888.7s] where like, you know, we heard about Calder
[1890.4s] and something with an archfey and some banjo capabilities.
[1896.1s] Almost one of those like, you know, tall tales.
[1899.0s] Make a deal with the devil to get good at music
[1901.3s] kind of thing.
[1902.1s] Deist looks to Bonwyn and Alice and Lyriel.
[1905.7s] Archfey?
[1907.0s] What's an archfey?
[1908.5s] From what I know, I know they're pretty powerful beings
[1913.0s] from the fey realm.
[1915.2s] So I mean, they exist as far as I know.
[1919.2s] Okay, great.
[1920.7s] But yeah, you know, so I guess it's possible
[1924.6s] that it's a real thing.
[1927.0s] But not something you've heard about actively happening,
[1930.0s] just sort of like a folk tale that you've heard
[1932.1s] as you've traveled around.
[1934.3s] Yeah, yeah, it's kind of that like, you know,
[1936.6s] the archfey gave Calder this gift
[1939.4s] and you know, it's those who listen too long
[1942.2s] are kind of like pulled into the Feywild.
[1944.7s] It's one of those storytelling tropes
[1946.4s] kind of like, you know, scare children a little bit,
[1948.8s] but also let them know like, you know, just behave.
[1952.5s] Yeah, don't follow strangers.
[1954.8s] Yeah, it's probably a good lesson.
[1957.2s] Yeah, the heart of the song is to help them.
[1960.9s] Why, what's going on?
[1963.3s] Why are y'all asking me these questions?
[1965.3s] Well, one of the children went missing last night.
[1969.8s] One of the children who heard you sing the song.
[1971.6s] Who heard you sing the song and then was singing it.
[1974.8s] Sang the song a lot, as far as we understand.
[1978.6s] They're singing a lot.
[1980.3s] And then disappeared in the night from his bed.
[1985.1s] I mean, I sing the song a lot
[1986.6s] and I've never gone disappearing from my bed.
[1989.7s] Nobody wants to kidnap big people.
[1993.3s] That hurts.
[1994.1s] It has a point here, yes.
[1995.9s] I mean, kid is right in the name, I guess, so.
[1998.3s] You don't sing the song for grownups?
[2000.8s] Where did you sing it last time?
[2004.8s] Well, I mean, last time I sang it right here.
[2007.5s] No, before you got to Vintersmouth.
[2009.4s] Well, you know, like, kids are really easy to entertain.
[2012.2s] So like, you know, the last time I played,
[2014.4s] it was probably at a playground a couple towns over,
[2017.8s] or, you know, some of the other towns
[2019.4s] actually have a school and they let musicians come in.
[2021.6s] So like, I was surprised that wasn't the case here.
[2024.3s] You guys should ask them if they have any missing kids.
[2027.0s] Of course.
[2028.0s] You don't remember the name of the town
[2029.5s] that you were in?
[2030.6s] How convenient.
[2032.4s] No, I go to a lot of towns.
[2034.8s] So, but the last one I can think of is like Ronlet.
[2037.9s] You know, it's like southwest of here.
[2039.7s] Yeah, no, I know it.
[2040.8s] Yeah, well, we can, when he looks to Bonwyn and Alladin,
[2044.8s] we can send a couple scouts over
[2047.0s] and see if they had any similar occurrences
[2050.4s] happening there after Lyriel.
[2053.3s] Not a person of interest.
[2056.2s] Are you planning on staying in town for very long?
[2059.9s] I don't feel comfortable answering that question, officer.
[2062.9s] All I'm saying is, you know,
[2064.3s] we're trying to find this kid.
[2066.4s] Cedric is his name and we're hoping
[2069.2s] that he's just playing hide and seek somewhere.
[2071.4s] You know, sometimes the kids do,
[2073.0s] but on the off chance he's not,
[2074.8s] we might have some more questions for you.
[2076.3s] So if you don't mind, we can put you up.
[2078.2s] We can put you up at the hotel.
[2079.9s] Make sure you're taken care of
[2081.2s] just if you have any other...
[2082.3s] Bonwyn, show them the music note.
[2085.5s] Yeah, I want to just ask you a couple more questions
[2088.4s] if you don't mind.
[2089.7s] Have you ever seen anything like this before?
[2092.6s] And I pull out that etching I made of that symbol.
[2096.8s] Have you ever seen this, anything like this before?
[2099.2s] You can kind of see it was also,
[2100.6s] there's a little bit of charcoal kind of on here.
[2102.4s] It was like kind of burnt and scratched into the floor
[2105.6s] and it was like a bit shimmery.
[2108.2s] It was pretty unsettling.
[2110.6s] And I just thought, I mean, you've been
[2112.8s] all over the place maybe,
[2114.0s] you've seen something like this before.
[2115.6s] Oh, oh, and also,
[2117.2s] have you ever seen this kind of leaf before?
[2119.6s] We don't have anything like this here.
[2122.0s] Well, hold on, let me see that etching.
[2124.0s] You said it was burned onto the floor.
[2125.8s] I sniffed the back of the paper.
[2128.0s] Your etching smells like cinnamon,
[2129.7s] so maybe that's something to go off.
[2131.9s] If you know anybody that knows about magic,
[2135.9s] that's not normally what burnt things smell like
[2139.7s] unless you're burning cinnamon, I guess.
[2141.1s] But, you know, kind of seems weird to do that
[2143.4s] just to put an etching into the floor.
[2145.8s] As far as this leaf here,
[2147.5s] I don't know, what does that look like, holly?
[2149.9s] I can't tell.
[2150.9s] It was worth a shot.
[2152.0s] Yeah.
[2152.9s] I'd say it looks like a winter plant.
[2154.4s] I don't know.
[2155.2s] But I don't know shit about nature,
[2156.1s] so, you know, take that with a grain of salt.
[2158.1s] I appreciate your honesty about that.
[2160.0s] I mean, honestly, I was hoping
[2161.3s] you'd just act real shady and suspicious
[2163.4s] and we just think you snatched a kid,
[2165.3s] but you seem like a nice guy, so.
[2167.2s] That's what they always say.
[2168.4s] It was a quiet, nice guy.
[2169.9s] Don't leave town.
[2172.3s] Oh, yeah, as far as the hotel goes,
[2174.3s] it's not gonna be like the sad one
[2176.4s] with like the divorced dads, is it?
[2178.6s] Not anymore.
[2180.1s] I tried to play there and it was just depressing.
[2182.9s] It's a sad state of affairs over there, yeah.
[2185.8s] We'll put you up down the road,
[2187.8s] a little bed and breakfast,
[2189.2s] hopefully just a night, you know,
[2190.9s] but we'll make sure you're taken care of.
[2192.6s] If we have any questions in the morning,
[2194.7s] we'll come find you.
[2195.8s] Appreciate your help today.
[2197.8s] And if you could, I'm so sorry,
[2200.1s] I don't mean to get in the way
[2201.2s] of like your artistic expression,
[2203.3s] but if you could not sing that specific song anymore,
[2207.5s] right now.
[2209.1s] Yeah, I.
[2210.0s] That would be great,
[2210.8s] because a bunch of the kids are naturally
[2212.4s] like pretty freaked out.
[2215.6s] Because their friend's missing and it just.
[2217.4s] I think that can be arranged
[2218.8s] as he kicks his loot case
[2220.6s] with like a couple of jingling coins
[2222.1s] and he's like, you know what I mean,
[2223.0s] like we can make that work, wink, wink.
[2226.0s] Are you trying to shake us down?
[2228.6s] No, you're asking me not to play
[2230.5s] one of my biggest hits.
[2232.2s] You've already played for all the children in the town.
[2235.2s] Dase tosses a couple of silver into the hat.
[2239.8s] Alydin's pissed.
[2241.5s] Thank you for your time today.
[2244.1s] Puts a hand on Alydin's shoulders.
[2247.8s] We'll come find you if we have any other questions.
[2250.9s] I'm sure everyone is just gonna enjoy everything
[2254.0s] that you have to play from here on out.
[2256.0s] Usher's Bonwyn and Alydin away.
[2259.4s] Wow, I didn't know that a kid
[2261.0s] costs a free night in one of our bed and breakfasts
[2264.4s] and two silvers.
[2265.8s] We're gonna find Cedric.
[2268.1s] We are, and I mean, he's kind of the banjo man expert
[2271.9s] as far as it goes.
[2273.4s] He's the only one who has any information
[2275.8s] on what sounds like a folk tale.
[2279.1s] Yeah.
[2279.9s] The fay's not real though, right?
[2282.5s] It's in stories.
[2284.1s] It's all I've ever heard of it.
[2285.4s] Let's get the kids somewhere safe for tonight
[2288.0s] and then continue our investigation.
[2291.5s] Alydin, you wanna have a giant sleepover at Everbane's?
[2296.4s] Gotta put away the really pointy stuff.
[2298.4s] Yeah, most of the sharp things are in my office
[2301.2s] so they just maybe won't go in there
[2302.8s] but we could make a bunch of food and it'd be fun.
[2306.7s] Thanks Bonwyn, I think that'd be nice.
[2309.2s] Do you have enough room for them all?
[2311.2s] Well, sure.
[2314.0s] Great. Yeah.
[2315.1s] A lot of them are real small.
[2316.9s] Okay, if you need help, let me know.
[2319.0s] Well, if you wanna come make food
[2321.2s] and hang out with a bunch of wild children,
[2324.0s] you're more than welcome to join us.
[2326.1s] Sounds like a party.
[2334.2s] Dumbgeons and Dragons, season four, episode 12
[2337.3s] starring Amy More as Alydin.
[2339.2s] Carla Maxted as Bonwyn Everbane.
[2341.3s] Kyle Claset as Bizard the Wizard.
[2343.5s] You heard all of us plus Tom Laird
[2345.6s] and Abdul Aziz as the singing creepy children
[2349.3s] and Russ More as your dungeon master.
[2351.6s] Dialogue editing by Carla Maxted
[2353.6s] and sound design by Russ More.
[2355.7s] This episode featured music
[2356.9s] from Epidemic Sound and Slipstream
[2359.4s] and sound effects from Epidemic Sound,
[2361.5s] Boom Library and Sound Ideas.
[2363.8s] Our amazing cover art and character designs
[2366.2s] are by Matt Garbutt
[2367.4s] and a huge thank you to our supporting producers,
[2370.0s] Gabriel Lynch, Jessica Babiak, Cat Waterflame,
[2372.8s] Jacob Madden, Christian Brown,
[2374.7s] Angaron Kierzen, Perry Matey,
[2376.8s] Old School Gamer D, Craig Zeiss,
[2379.1s] L.A. Branton, Barbara Sanderzeit and Sarah Murphy.
[2382.4s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon supported podcast
[2385.2s] and you can find us at patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast
[2388.2s] where you get an episode dedication,
[2390.2s] a whole bunch of exclusive content,
[2392.2s] access to exclusive community channels in our Discord,
[2395.8s] hangouts and so much more.
[2397.5s] We can't wait to see you over there.
[2399.4s] Oh, and merch, merch is over there too.
[2402.6s] After three months, we'll send you some.
[2405.4s] Just like that.
[2408.6s] Open the door.
[2409.9s] We'll cut over to Vintersmouth.
[2413.3s] That's our hilarious cold open.
[2418.8s] I was trying to find something and I was like,
[2421.5s] nope, this is just a,
[2423.3s] this is the episode. It's just what it is.
[2425.2s] I wanted to start a, making my way.
[2427.9s] I can't, I do it charge.
[2429.3s] Every time, in my head always.
[2431.7s] And it's said so frequently.
[2438.4s] Russ, is there any specific smell
[2440.1s] that would be coming from that etching?
[2445.4s] Yes.
[2446.3s] Cinnamon.
[2447.1s] Cinnamon.
[2449.6s] Sure.
[2450.5s] Cove, nutmeg.
[2451.7s] Damn it.
[2452.5s] This is how you conjure a pumpkin spice latte.
[2456.4s] It's basic bitches on the other side, all right?
[2458.4s] Basic bitches, god damn it.
[2460.5s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Dumb Dragons production.