[0.0s] Dumbgeons and Dragons will begin in just a moment.
[6.0s] Alydin, you're seated at the table and you've been picking at your food, the soup before you rolls and your parents across the table from you.
[20.0s] Look over at you again and say, Alydin, you look, you look tired. Do you need to go lie down and have a nap?
[28.0s] No, I just think I've maybe been inside for a really long time, like just, just in my room.
[37.0s] I just thought like maybe I'd walk around the house a little bit, you know, just kind of stretch my legs.
[43.0s] Oh, oh, yes, of course, of course, you can stretch your legs all you want.
[48.0s] But we'll clean up here. If you get tired, though, give us a call. We'll help you back up to your room.
[53.0s] Okay, we don't want you taking those stairs too, too quickly.
[56.0s] Okay.
[57.0s] Both Tom and Carla.
[60.0s] I don't like that. I'm really making a face.
[62.0s] She's fine.
[64.0s] I don't, I don't want to be put to bed. I don't think I'll wake up.
[68.0s] I don't like that.
[69.0s] So, I would like to go exploring.
[73.0s] Okay.
[75.0s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a D&D actual play podcast and I'm your dungeon master Russ More, he, him.
[81.0s] Also with me today is Amy More as Alydin, she, her.
[84.0s] I walk over to the desk and I'm trying to be nonchAlydint.
[88.0s] Carla Macstead as Bonwyn Eberbane, she, her.
[91.0s] Like I made some feedback and they, and they listened.
[93.0s] Tom Laird as Kavlaran Goldweave, he, him.
[96.0s] Where did all the ghost kids go?
[98.0s] And Kyle Clasett as Bizard the Wizard, he, him.
[101.0s] Oh, yeah, this is, this is freaking my bean.
[103.0s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon-supported podcast and we love and appreciate all of the support that we get from our community.
[111.0s] You can join us today at patreon.com slash Dumb Dragon Cast.
[115.0s] Not only do you get amazing bonus episodes of shows like The Adventures of,
[119.0s] but you could also join us backstage at our regular recordings.
[122.0s] Check it out today and now, fuck it, let's play.
[129.0s] Chair scoots out and you stand up and they start collecting dishes and you see them taking them into the kitchen and start cleaning up after dinner.
[140.0s] You exit through the gift shop, the gift shop, the hallway behind you.
[148.0s] And you've, you've come and gone from this specific room a couple of times.
[155.0s] Off to the right as you exit this dining room area, you see a hallway that leads to the front door where there's a set of stairs that will take you back upstairs where your bedroom is.
[167.0s] To the left, there is a hallway that takes you down, or you haven't been down this way.
[175.0s] So there is a hallway with a door down at the far end and off to the right, just before that door, there is another door.
[184.0s] The door down at the end of the hallway is cracked open.
[188.0s] Well, I'm going to peek into that one since it's already open.
[191.0s] I don't want to get, I don't know, like raise suspicions like I'm like trying to be like sneaky or anything.
[198.0s] So I walk, I walk into the room fairly like this is my home.
[204.0s] You enter into this room and it appears to be a study.
[211.0s] There's a wooden desk inside.
[215.0s] There are several bookshelves on the wooden desk.
[219.0s] There's a single journal.
[223.0s] Looks like an old worn leather bound journal.
[227.0s] I walk over to the desk and I'm trying to be nonchAlydint, like just like looking at some of the book titles along along the book cases.
[237.0s] Any book titles jump out to me at all, like make an investigation.
[243.0s] How to convince your fake child they're really your child for dummies.
[247.0s] Something like that.
[249.0s] Anything like that.
[250.0s] So obvious.
[251.0s] Oh my God, it's a 23.
[256.0s] Nice.
[257.0s] You're scanning them quickly and yet thoroughly, apparently yet very thoroughly.
[263.0s] But what you notice very quickly is that the names on the spines of these books.
[272.0s] You can't make them out.
[274.0s] It's like they're the the letters on them are ever shifting and changing.
[279.0s] And even as you focus on them, the colors of the books themselves begin to change and shift.
[289.0s] No one name sticks long enough to really register in your in your brain.
[295.0s] God, this place is so weird.
[299.0s] I turn to the desk and take a look at the take a look glance at the journal.
[307.0s] The journals closed on the desk and it's an old leather journal.
[313.0s] It's got these like blue inlay on it.
[318.0s] There's no no title to it.
[320.0s] No, no name.
[323.0s] Is it bound or anything or is it just a book?
[326.0s] It appears like a shoe and like flip it open a little.
[331.0s] It's like a it's like a it's like a heavy leather bound book.
[334.0s] Yeah.
[335.0s] Yeah.
[336.0s] But there's nothing that I need to like untie or there's no lock on it.
[339.0s] No, nothing.
[340.0s] Does it appear to be bound in human skin?
[343.0s] Oh, no.
[345.0s] Carrying forward that investigation role that was very good.
[349.0s] It does not appear to you that it is skin.
[353.0s] I don't even know if I would know if it was fine Corinthian leather.
[359.0s] Oh, I want to when I opened the door, did it squeak or creak?
[367.0s] No.
[368.0s] OK, I continue walking.
[370.0s] I just slowly shut it a little more so that I can't be seen from anyone walking in the hallway.
[378.0s] And I want to open this journal.
[381.0s] Just take a little peek.
[383.0s] You slowly and quietly walk back to the desk and you flip open the front cover.
[389.0s] And on the inside is a page very much like a lot of journals that you've seen.
[395.0s] This book belongs to and in scrawled writing, it says The Banjo Man.
[403.0s] Her brother doesn't even have a name.
[405.0s] He just calls himself The Banjo Man.
[409.0s] It's sort of sad, isn't it?
[411.0s] Yeah, a little bit.
[413.0s] I am like, oh my gosh.
[417.0s] And I start to like quickly flip through and see if I can't like being as fast and as quiet as I can look for anything that might help me either find Cedric or get out of here.
[438.0s] Get out of here.
[439.0s] Preferably both.
[442.0s] You're quickly flipping through.
[444.0s] Roll investigation again.
[448.0s] Oh, it's missing the one in front of the nine this time.
[451.0s] Thirteen.
[452.0s] You're quickly flipping through the book and you as you get partway through, you're trying to find anything that'll give you clues or hints.
[459.0s] There's a lot of there's a lot of music notes like notation off the top of the book.
[466.0s] There's looks like song ideas all the way through.
[471.0s] But then you get to a final page as you begin to hear your father's footsteps coming down the hallway towards the study and one page you land on describes a need to find the right song, the right child and the right resonance.
[492.0s] And as you look up and you see the door slowly opening, the last entry of this page reads, she is almost perfect.
[503.0s] Almost.
[504.0s] But she clings to what was.
[507.0s] That will change soon.
[511.0s] Do I have time to rip this page?
[517.0s] Roll a stealth.
[518.0s] Oh, God damn it.
[521.0s] Yes.
[523.0s] Fuck yeah.
[524.0s] It is a 21.
[529.0s] Quickly out of the book and as silently as you can.
[532.0s] I like cough or something while I'm doing it.
[536.0s] The page rips from the book and you confidently quietly slam the book shut and look to the shelves behind you as if.
[545.0s] Yes, the journal as your father enters and says, is everything okay in here?
[552.0s] Oh, yeah, I was just maybe looking for a book to read.
[559.0s] He looks you over.
[564.0s] Says, I think I have one for you.
[567.0s] Come with me.
[568.0s] Come with me.
[570.0s] I follow him.
[575.0s] The three of you are making your way down a winding path through the forest after having just.
[589.0s] No, nothing.
[590.0s] Nothing's happening.
[591.0s] We're listening to your cinematic description.
[594.0s] I'm not mouthing the words.
[598.0s] Oh, it was in my head as soon as you said making your way.
[601.0s] I was holding it together but Amy was mouthing it and I was like.
[607.0s] I caught a glimpse of Carla.
[609.0s] We're back.
[610.0s] Miss Rowling, you're all dead.
[612.0s] New season.
[613.0s] Okay, bye everybody.
[614.0s] I think part of our business meeting was getting back to the silly a little bit.
[619.0s] But I've got to be the stick in the mud.
[621.0s] That's my role in this.
[623.0s] Roll for stick in the mud.
[625.0s] Did y'all see that stick in the mud?
[627.0s] Look at that.
[630.0s] I won't see anything anymore.
[631.0s] I don't know.
[632.0s] You're down.
[633.0s] You're walking down a path.
[634.0s] You just defeated a monster and release some children from a spirit prison.
[636.0s] The sound of banjo echoing around you.
[640.0s] This path continues to wind.
[642.0s] You don't see a clear end to it at this point.
[645.0s] I've got a question, maybe a bizarre.
[648.0s] Maybe you might know.
[649.0s] To fucking shoot, buddy.
[650.0s] Where did all the ghost kids go?
[653.0s] I mean, honestly, I really don't know at this point.
[658.0s] They're probably exactly that.
[662.0s] Ghosts of children past.
[664.0s] I hope not the children that we're seeking.
[666.0s] They didn't look familiar.
[668.0s] No, no one looked familiar.
[670.0s] Especially not Alydin.
[671.0s] Alydin wasn't in there.
[672.0s] Yeah.
[673.0s] But you know, I guess we figured out whatever we were supposed to figure out there.
[681.0s] So I think maybe we freed them.
[684.0s] I'm going to go with we freed them.
[686.0s] I think we freed them.
[687.0s] I love that.
[688.0s] Yes.
[689.0s] I also believe we freed them and they are happier and probably back home.
[694.0s] Happy, loving life.
[695.0s] Love it.
[696.0s] That's it.
[697.0s] Now we just have a couple more children to free.
[699.0s] Exactly.
[700.0s] We're on a streak.
[701.0s] This sounds doable when you bring it down into bits like this.
[704.0s] It's just saving a couple kids.
[706.0s] It's just going to a hollow and maybe like just getting them to turn down the
[710.0s] banjo like just just a scope.
[713.0s] Sure.
[714.0s] Yeah.
[715.0s] Much.
[716.0s] Yeah.
[717.0s] Constantly.
[718.0s] Yeah.
[719.0s] So so far through a portal following a path save some kids through a hole.
[724.0s] Do you know an opening portal?
[726.0s] I mean, yeah.
[727.0s] Follow a path.
[728.0s] We'll save some kids.
[730.0s] Yeah.
[731.0s] It's all there.
[732.0s] Yeah.
[733.0s] We're just going to.
[734.0s] Yeah.
[735.0s] We're going to do it.
[736.0s] Wash, rinse, repeat.
[737.0s] Right.
[739.0s] I'm.
[742.0s] Yeah.
[743.0s] Like technically, I think we've done some traveling.
[747.0s] Cool.
[748.0s] We're definitely you could charitably say having adventures.
[752.0s] It's sort of scary and I don't like them, but they're adventures.
[757.0s] Oh, yeah.
[758.0s] This is this is freaking my bean.
[760.0s] So, you know, like and I'm used to the weird shit kind of.
[765.0s] Yeah.
[766.0s] That's why I went immediately to you with the question about the ghost kids.
[769.0s] I understand.
[770.0s] And I'm really worried that I'm not, you know, not able to stand up to the expectation.
[777.0s] But this is it's a creepy shit.
[780.0s] You'll.
[781.0s] Yeah.
[782.0s] Yeah.
[783.0s] Hundred percent.
[784.0s] And it just right now is making me so motivated to find the kids.
[787.0s] We got it.
[788.0s] Like, this is terrifying me.
[790.0s] An adult.
[792.0s] So, yeah, we got to find those kids.
[795.0s] So we're just going to like path.
[798.0s] Right.
[799.0s] Because it led us to the ghost children.
[801.0s] It's probably going to lead us to our next terrifying adventure.
[804.0s] So let's keep going double time.
[808.0s] Yeah.
[809.0s] And according to those lyrics, you know, we've we're at the last part of it.
[813.0s] So we just got to head to that hollow to those newly freed children we're talking about.
[818.0s] Great.
[819.0s] Awesome.
[821.0s] You're not sure at what point in the talk of becoming adventurers, but the sound of banjo has all but disappeared.
[831.0s] Oh, oh, they're listening.
[832.0s] That's nice.
[833.0s] Like, I made some feedback and they and they listened.
[835.0s] All you had to do was ask.
[836.0s] Who knew?
[837.0s] There's an eerie silence about the path that you're walking down.
[844.0s] The kind of silence where you don't hear the crunching of your own feet.
[847.0s] Yeah.
[848.0s] Oh, it's not a good silence.
[850.0s] That's still worse than banjo.
[853.0s] Can I roll like, I don't even have my character sheet.
[858.0s] Before you ask what can you roll?
[860.0s] What are you trying to find out?
[862.0s] I think I am just I guess looking around and trying to see if so things have gotten very quiet, which I thought I wanted 30 seconds ago.
[876.0s] But now I don't.
[877.0s] Turns out it's worse.
[878.0s] Turns out it's actually scarier.
[880.0s] Could you turn it up to like three or four maybe?
[882.0s] But last time, so far we've been like coming upon things and I feel like I'm probably surprised every time.
[890.0s] So I want to like head on a swivel.
[892.0s] Like, what what's going to happen next?
[895.0s] Because we know we're approaching the hollow and probably the banjo man.
[900.0s] I would assume.
[901.0s] Well, can't you just ready in action?
[903.0s] I could ready in action.
[905.0s] Look at you D&D and everything.
[907.0s] Right?
[908.0s] Yeah.
[909.0s] If you want something combat related, you could ready in action.
[912.0s] I'm a level two character.
[914.0s] What am I even going to do?
[915.0s] Slap a bitch.
[916.0s] I'm going to clench my fist.
[918.0s] I'm going to clench my fist like Franklin, like Arthur, like whatever that fist.
[924.0s] Arthur, I believe.
[926.0s] Don't fuck with his plan.
[927.0s] Franklin never fought anybody.
[929.0s] No, Franklin definitely never fought anybody.
[934.0s] That's right.
[935.0s] I think Franklin was a beautiful, non-toxic masculinity that he was showing.
[943.0s] Anyway, like investigation, I guess.
[945.0s] Sure, sure.
[946.0s] Investigation or perception, whichever you prefer.
[949.0s] I'm better at investigating than perceiving.
[952.0s] Oh, and I'm bad at both.
[954.0s] Bad at both.
[955.0s] That's an eight.
[956.0s] Welcome to the middle, everybody.
[958.0s] Thanks for being here.
[959.0s] We love that you've joined us.
[961.0s] Just a surprise middle lunch.
[963.0s] Yeah, it's coming out of a real tense moment in this episode, too.
[967.0s] So that's going to scare everybody.
[969.0s] Okay, good.
[970.0s] That's what we're going for, jump scares.
[972.0s] The tense moment of this episode.
[974.0s] Radical tonal shifts.
[976.0s] I was like, this episode we just recorded?
[979.0s] No, the episode that comes out to the whole Indomstance where you're still stuck in a house.
[983.0s] Fuck.
[984.0s] I mean, you're always stuck in something this season.
[986.0s] You're always stuck somewhere.
[987.0s] It's true.
[988.0s] I've got a Tuesday tattoo.
[992.0s] It's just going to be a little cardboard box and it's just going to have chains and a padlock on it.
[999.0s] And it is just where I live.
[1002.0s] Yeah.
[1003.0s] Okay, and then should I get one of a pamphlet or something?
[1006.0s] What can I get?
[1008.0s] Oh, that's really fun.
[1010.0s] Just a little bitty one.
[1012.0s] We could go to the tattoo show.
[1014.0s] It's coming up in a month.
[1015.0s] And we could go get little character kind of specifics.
[1021.0s] Okay.
[1022.0s] I've totally derailed this.
[1023.0s] I'm sorry.
[1024.0s] Okay, but we're in the middle.
[1025.0s] So if you are with us on Discord, which we know that you are because Discord is an amazing place filled with amazing people.
[1034.0s] You should drop little pieces of our different adventures because Carla and I will literally almost get anything tattooed on our bodies.
[1042.0s] We have various.
[1044.0s] It's true.
[1045.0s] We're addicted.
[1046.0s] It's fine.
[1047.0s] We're moosey goosey when it comes to that.
[1048.0s] I am like a water bottle.
[1049.0s] I'll slap a sticker on there.
[1051.0s] Hundred percent.
[1052.0s] Yeah.
[1053.0s] So that.
[1056.0s] What else happens on Patreon?
[1058.0s] Oh, but also Patreon.
[1061.0s] Patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast.
[1064.0s] You get to hear a whole other show.
[1066.0s] And we just recorded some bomb episodes for it.
[1069.0s] It's so funny.
[1071.0s] But you also turn it around.
[1073.0s] Is it going to be a fight?
[1074.0s] Are we going to make new friends?
[1075.0s] Who knows?
[1076.0s] We never know.
[1077.0s] Hopefully you'd be able to see us doing this middle bit recording right now.
[1081.0s] The different tiers.
[1083.0s] Yeah.
[1084.0s] If you're a producer tier or above, you can actually watch these shenanigans happen live.
[1089.0s] And I can speak for everyone who is watching.
[1094.0s] When I say smooth.
[1098.0s] Smooth.
[1099.0s] Always smooth.
[1100.0s] That's a quotation.
[1101.0s] That's a quote.
[1102.0s] Well, but there is one thing that's super guaranteed if you join our Patreon.
[1106.0s] And that is having an episode dedicated to you.
[1108.0s] Which I believe Russ has that person.
[1110.0s] Russ is about to announce.
[1111.0s] Like today's patron.
[1113.0s] Yum.
[1114.0s] Like today's patron, Les Winsell.
[1117.0s] Thank you, Les.
[1119.0s] Thank you so much.
[1121.0s] Russ sounded so alarmed.
[1123.0s] But he was ready.
[1124.0s] I don't know why.
[1125.0s] They do that to us all the time.
[1127.0s] Again, we're going for dramatic tonal shifts.
[1131.0s] Thank you, Les.
[1133.0s] You are more than we deserve.
[1136.0s] I was just going to say that, Amy.
[1140.0s] Because you're the same person.
[1142.0s] I know we are.
[1144.0s] We are.
[1146.0s] But you are more than just a pun to us, Les.
[1148.0s] Thank you for being our patron.
[1150.0s] Absolutely.
[1152.0s] Okay.
[1153.0s] Thanks, everybody.
[1154.0s] We'll get you back to the episode.
[1155.0s] Can we jump scare out of something?
[1159.0s] What do you mean?
[1160.0s] Got us.
[1161.0s] I got you.
[1162.0s] We did it.
[1163.0s] Done.
[1164.0s] I was going to go with a look over there.
[1166.0s] That was much better.
[1167.0s] Bye.
[1170.0s] The sound of your feet crunching has disappeared.
[1174.0s] The sound of the banjo is gone.
[1177.0s] There is light coming from above.
[1181.0s] You presume from the moonlight coming through the canopy.
[1184.0s] You've noticed that the mists have started to roll back in through the trees, slowly covering the path.
[1190.0s] And as you round a bend, the three of you see up ahead another clearing.
[1199.0s] The air is still.
[1202.0s] You can't hear anything from up ahead.
[1206.0s] Do you continue forward?
[1208.0s] I mean, maybe I will pull out my bow and ready that.
[1215.0s] Yeah, I'll have my sword ready as well.
[1217.0s] Tentatively walking forward into the clearing.
[1220.0s] I'm just daydreaming and looking at the trees.
[1224.0s] So I haven't really clued into the fact that there's like...
[1227.0s] Sweet.
[1228.0s] Just sweet silence at this point.
[1232.0s] Like, yeah, I'm an adventurer now.
[1234.0s] Sound of overload running.
[1236.0s] There's too much that's new.
[1238.0s] Do I need like a cool nickname?
[1240.0s] Kavlaran the Terrible.
[1241.0s] No, that's no good.
[1246.0s] Well, two of you paying attention and the third following behind Kavlaran the Terrible.
[1251.0s] No, that's not right.
[1253.0s] You all step into this silent clearing.
[1258.0s] And as you make your first few steps into it, the music slowly, softly and deliberately starts up again.
[1270.0s] Plucks on a banjo string.
[1274.0s] Across the way, you see a white wooden house with a lovely porch.
[1283.0s] I swear to God, if there's a bucket on the lawn in front of the house, like...
[1287.0s] The bucket came back in.
[1289.0s] Ah, I forgot about that.
[1293.0s] Seated on the porch, rocking in a chair that creaks in time with the tune that you're listening to,
[1301.0s] is a man dressed in very earthen attire, very browns and greens.
[1313.0s] He's got a cloak over top of him, a hood that kind of comes down.
[1317.0s] So you can see a beard beneath it, but you can't quite make out his facial features.
[1323.0s] His voice is warm and slow and inviting, yet something beneath it is deeply and fundamentally wrong.
[1336.0s] Well now, you all been busy, ain't ya?
[1340.0s] Diggin' where you shouldn't.
[1343.0s] Runnin' from things best left unchaste.
[1347.0s] But you came all this way, so I reckon you oughta hear my song proper.
[1354.0s] Guys, I think this is the banjo man.
[1356.0s] I think we found him.
[1357.0s] I don't know, I don't see a banjo yet.
[1361.0s] Turn to look back at him, waiting to see if a banjo appears.
[1364.0s] Turn to talk to each other, and he's just about to break into song.
[1368.0s] I was like, the fuck, guys?
[1370.0s] Come on, little respect.
[1372.0s] You could have a soft whisper conversation without interrupting.
[1378.0s] You see him reach down, and he lifts a banjo.
[1381.0s] His fingers begin dancing across the strings.
[1385.0s] The melody is hauntingly familiar, much like the lullaby, half remembered from childhood.
[1393.0s] He hums a few notes, then chuckles, as if at an inside joke only he understands.
[1403.0s] Children get lost all the time, don't they?
[1406.0s] Slip between cracks.
[1408.0s] Wander...
[1409.0s] Is that what you're laughing about?
[1410.0s] Too far.
[1412.0s] Yeah.
[1413.0s] Yeah, it is, sir.
[1415.0s] The terrible, was it?
[1418.0s] Wander too far past the fence, and forget where home is.
[1422.0s] And when that happens, when nobody's left to tuck them in, to hush their cries,
[1428.0s] to soothe that little lonesome ache, well, that's where I come in.
[1434.0s] He plucks a discordant note, and the clearing shudders.
[1440.0s] Standing up from the tall grass are wooden mannequins.
[1446.0s] They come forward like a silent audience, and their heads creak around towards you in unison.
[1456.0s] You see the man up on the porch, he grins wider.
[1461.0s] I take the strays, the forgotten, the ones the world had no use for.
[1467.0s] Give them a song to hold onto, a home where they ain't gotta worry no more.
[1472.0s] Cause, what's childhood really, but a tune that gets played over and over, till someone up and stops the music.
[1483.0s] At that perfect moment.
[1485.0s] Sorry, Russ, I want to let you keep going.
[1487.0s] No, go for it.
[1488.0s] Because you clearly have prepared this, and I love it, but I also do have a readied action,
[1492.0s] and I would like to try to shoot his banjo, cause fuck this guy.
[1496.0s] Go for it.
[1500.0s] Okay, it's...
[1502.0s] Telling up.
[1503.0s] Oh, this is a bad 20!
[1505.0s] Oh, shut up. Oh my god. Are you about to save all of us just right now?
[1511.0s] No, I'm probably not about to do anything but die, but I will at least go out in a good blaze of glory.
[1517.0s] Yeah, you fucking did.
[1518.0s] Absolutely.
[1519.0s] Okay.
[1520.0s] As he sighs, shaking his head, as though disappointed, you loosen arrow towards him and the banjo.
[1529.0s] Roll damage.
[1533.0s] 15 plus cause of the sneak attack.
[1537.0s] 21.
[1539.0s] 21 damage. I rolled almost on pex die, you guys.
[1543.0s] Did you explode that banjo?
[1545.0s] I'm sweating.
[1547.0s] So excited.
[1549.0s] Is it the roll? Is it the wine?
[1550.0s] Probably not the wine you're drinking.
[1551.0s] We have no idea.
[1555.0s] Everyone, as if in slow motion, sees this arrow cut through the mist, moving towards the banjo,
[1562.0s] and cut like parting the sea of mannequins before.
[1567.0s] And, Bonwyn, you've got your eyes set on this man.
[1571.0s] Everybody else is kind of following the arrow as it's moving through the space.
[1576.0s] And you see his smile does not waver as this arrow's flying towards him.
[1583.0s] It strikes the banjo, and you see wood fracture off the corner of it.
[1590.0s] Let's out this discordant tone, and as the creaking heads of the children turn towards you,
[1598.0s] their bodies shift quickly towards you.
[1601.0s] Are they children or are they mannequins?
[1603.0s] Yes.
[1604.0s] They are child mannequins.
[1606.0s] Okay.
[1607.0s] So much worse.
[1608.0s] Yep.
[1609.0s] It's the worst combination.
[1610.0s] It's the worst combination.
[1611.0s] I thought it was an either-or situation, but nope.
[1614.0s] No.
[1615.0s] Both.
[1616.0s] They are children mannequins.
[1617.0s] Okay, great.
[1618.0s] A piece of the banjo breaks off and falls to the porch, and he looks down, his grin not fading.
[1627.0s] Oh, God.
[1628.0s] Does it turn to liquid metal, and then it back up, and he's actually a T-1000?
[1634.0s] Or it becomes a new child mannequin.
[1637.0s] Oh, no.
[1638.0s] One or the other.
[1639.0s] What have I done?
[1640.0s] I've only been an adventurer for five minutes.
[1643.0s] What have I done?
[1644.0s] I think it's going great.
[1646.0s] I think so, too.
[1647.0s] The mannequins begin to slowly step towards you, some of them breaking off and going towards the trees.
[1657.0s] And he laughs and gives a little tisk towards you.
[1666.0s] But y'all, you just had to go and spoil it, and it shifts his tone.
[1674.0s] That warmth is now gone, pulling at threads, making trouble, trying to take what's mine.
[1682.0s] And that's something I just can't allow.
[1687.0s] And he lets out this chord from the banjo, and you hear a vibration start within this clearing,
[1696.0s] and the ground begins to shake beneath you.
[1699.0s] And coming up from the ground in front of you are these much similar,
[1707.0s] but different to what you saw in the last clearing, these homunculus-like creatures.
[1716.0s] There's a large, stitched together, stuffed teddy bear with too many button eyes.
[1725.0s] There's dozens of dangling marionettes that begin to come from the trees.
[1731.0s] You hear horse hooves coming from behind the house, and riding atop of this rocking horse is this porcelain doll knight.
[1743.0s] And then with one explosion right in front of you, this jack-in-the-box shoots up from the ground,
[1753.0s] and its warped, twisted face begins bobbing and laughing in front of you.
[1759.0s] Who reflexively punches it in the face?
[1761.0s] The banjo man up on the porch now stands, rolling his shoulders, the banjo slung against his chest.
[1768.0s] The melody turns sharp and piercing like a music box suddenly wound too tight.
[1774.0s] And he says, So I got a choice for you, sweet things, as everything around you stops for a moment.
[1782.0s] Y'all can sit right here like good little ones.
[1786.0s] Let me play you a song till you don't remember what you came for, or...
[1792.0s] His grin stretches unnaturally wide and a deep resonant twang rings out,
[1798.0s] and the first of these twisted toys starts moving again.
[1804.0s] Stuff bears groaning, the jack-in-the-box screeching as it lurches forward and backward towards you.
[1813.0s] Or...
[1816.0s] We can dance.
[1819.0s] Ugh.
[1821.0s] I don't know about y'all, I'm kind of tired of the dances, but real quick question for you.
[1826.0s] Is Alydin in that house?
[1828.0s] Yeah, you banjo man, I'm talking to you.
[1831.0s] As the jack-in-the-box kind of bounces in front of him.
[1834.0s] You're like, Did I fucking stutter?
[1836.0s] I have some issues with your logic here.
[1839.0s] Like you said, you take things and people that have been forgotten.
[1844.0s] Well, Alydin wasn't forgotten.
[1846.0s] None of those kids were. We were taking care of them.
[1849.0s] They're not lost or forgotten.
[1851.0s] Your friend isn't too far.
[1853.0s] Alydin! I had to start yelling for Alydin again.
[1856.0s] You hear the creaks of those mannequins one more time.
[1860.0s] As they continue to disperse towards the trees, make an investigation roll, all of you can.
[1865.0s] Perfect. I definitely am used to being around a lot of loud distracting things.
[1871.0s] I was born and raised in a blacksmith shop.
[1876.0s] Let's see. That was terrible. That was a nine.
[1878.0s] Got an 18. I got 14.
[1881.0s] I only got a six. I'm not even in this scene.
[1884.0s] Or are you? We don't know yet.
[1886.0s] We don't know.
[1887.0s] Bonwyn, you're calling out for Alydin, seeing if perhaps she's in the house behind the banjo man.
[1893.0s] Kavlarne and Bazaar, you quickly scan the entire scene around you,
[1900.0s] but you land on some of these mannequins.
[1903.0s] And you start to recognize some of the features of these mannequins.
[1910.0s] You see the eye that works too hard of Cedric.
[1918.0s] You see Tali.
[1920.0s] And then disappearing into the trees, you see Alydin with a wooden bucket attached at her hip.
[1931.0s] And we cut back to the house, Alydin.
[1934.0s] You're following behind your father, and he said he was going to take you to find a book.
[1941.0s] He said, I've got something for you.
[1943.0s] And he leads you back down the hallway.
[1945.0s] You pass by the dining room.
[1947.0s] You see your mother in there watching dishes.
[1952.0s] And he leads you by a front sitting room.
[1958.0s] And up on the wall of this sitting room,
[1962.0s] as you enter, is this family portrait.
[1967.0s] It's a large painting that depicts the three of you.
[1973.0s] Do you want to make an investigation roll as you enter this room?
[1977.0s] Yeah, but not with the fucking computer.
[1979.0s] I guess.
[1980.0s] No, don't do it with the computer first.
[1983.0s] Were you going to change your mind?
[1985.0s] Yeah, roll.
[1987.0s] You can do insight or perception rather than investigation,
[1990.0s] because you're not really looking for anything at this moment.
[1993.0s] Well, that's a plus zero, so fuck.
[1996.0s] How about a two?
[1999.0s] Twenty?
[2001.0s] Two and a zero is 20.
[2003.0s] Yep.
[2005.0s] Yeah, you see this large painting, and you enter the room,
[2010.0s] and your father goes off, and there's a small bookshelf,
[2014.0s] and he comes back with his book of nursery rhymes.
[2019.0s] And unlike all the other books in the study,
[2022.0s] this one appears to be holding its shape and form.
[2027.0s] It's like a book you've read before,
[2032.0s] with the children, lent to you by June.
[2035.0s] Like, this isn't anything new.
[2037.0s] And he says, I think you'd really like this one.
[2040.0s] He hands it to you.
[2045.0s] I take it carefully, and I say, thanks.
[2055.0s] I'll read it later.
[2057.0s] Of course, of course, of course.
[2059.0s] You have a seat in the chair if you'd like.
[2061.0s] You can take it up to your room wherever you'd like.
[2064.0s] I'm going to make one more roll as you're kind of quickly...
[2070.0s] You can roll investigation at this point if you're...
[2073.0s] Anyone!
[2074.0s] Now that you're in the room, okay?
[2077.0s] Your eyes quickly dart around the space.
[2080.0s] There's a front window that you look out,
[2083.0s] and you still see the picket fence out front.
[2085.0s] It's still nighttime.
[2087.0s] And your eyes shift back to that painting.
[2090.0s] And as you lock onto it,
[2094.0s] the faces, including yours, in this painting shift.
[2101.0s] The figures flicker between unfamiliar and ghostly reflections
[2105.0s] of yourself at different ages.
[2110.0s] You begin to feel weak.
[2114.0s] The book in your hands feels very heavy,
[2117.0s] and you have a hard time gripping it as it falls to the floor.
[2122.0s] Your vision begins to narrow.
[2126.0s] Last thing you see is your father
[2129.0s] rushing towards you to catch you before you hit the ground.
[2133.0s] No, damn it! I rolled a 21!
[2144.0s] Dumbgeons and Dragons Season 4 Episode 19
[2147.0s] Starring Amy More as Alydin,
[2150.0s] Carla Maxted as Bonwyn Everbane,
[2152.0s] Tom Laird as Kavlaran Goldweave,
[2155.0s] Kyle Claset as Bizard the Wizard,
[2157.0s] and Russ More as your dungeon master.
[2159.0s] Dialogue, editing, and sound design of today's episode is by Russ More.
[2163.0s] Our community manager is Jessica Babiak.
[2165.0s] Music is from Epidemic Sound,
[2167.0s] and sound effects are from Epidemic Sound and Boom Library.
[2170.0s] Our amazing cover art is by Matt Garbutt.
[2173.0s] And we'd like to say a huge thank you to our supporting producers,
[2177.0s] including Gabriel Lynch, Jessica Babiak,
[2179.0s] Cat Waterflame, Jacob Madden,
[2181.0s] Angaron Kierzen, Perry Matey,
[2183.0s] Old School Gamer D,
[2185.0s] Craig Zeiss, and L.A. Branton.
[2187.0s] We'd love for you to join us over on Patreon.com slash Dumb Dragoncast
[2192.0s] where there's so many amazing bonus episodes,
[2194.0s] and now we're opening up the backstage of our actual records.
[2198.0s] Join us today.
[2199.0s] Hey, you have a great week. We'll talk to you soon.
[2202.0s] Hope to see you over there.
[2204.0s] We come to Kavlaran and Bizarre and Bonwyn.
[2209.0s] In the hallway? That's madness!
[2211.0s] How did you guys get here?
[2213.0s] Look at him just trying to...
[2215.0s] So happy to see you.
[2217.0s] He's like, I'm just going to talk through you, Amy.
[2219.0s] Fuck you, we're changing scenes.
[2221.0s] If I don't start setting the scene, it doesn't count.
[2225.0s] Sorry, what was that?
[2227.0s] Uh, well, I don't know.
[2229.0s] It was impactful and cinematic at the time,
[2232.0s] but that's okay.
[2233.0s] We're lost to the ether now.
[2235.0s] Alydin!
[2237.0s] I'm going to start yelling for Alydin again.
[2239.0s] Yeah?
[2242.0s] I'm sorry, I'm just coughing in here.
[2245.0s] Dumbgeons & Dragons is a Dumb Dragons production.