[0.0s] Dumbgeons and Dragons will begin in a moment.
[3.5s] You're all gathered in the Brewed Awakening and Bench is getting some cold
[7.3s] clots for Alistair who's asleep in one of the booths and you're all just kind
[13.5s] of piling in around him, waiting for him to wake up, waiting for Bench to
[19.4s] come back with a big bucket of cold water to wake him up, any of the above.
[23.7s] I was just thinking about like, what if I accidentally like, tipped a glass
[27.4s] of water into his lap?
[29.7s] No, that's not how you do it.
[31.0s] Warm water, hand in it.
[34.2s] Bra in freezer.
[37.5s] Yeah.
[37.8s] Let's just prank this guy now that we've decided he might be evil.
[41.2s] Right.
[41.6s] Just sleep over antics.
[45.8s] He's going to wake up and he's going to be on the floor.
[48.5s] You know, I could cast floating disc and we could basically simulate that.
[53.7s] It's a good use of the first level spell slot.
[56.0s] Oh, he wakes up in the bathroom as one of us whispers Bloody Mary for the third
[61.4s] time, just dips.
[64.2s] Let's see what happens to us.
[65.2s] I have disguised self so I could make my sleepovers.
[72.3s] We are ready.
[73.5s] Absolutely.
[74.4s] We should have just a sleepover episode.
[76.4s] I know it would be fun.
[77.9s] Slumber party.
[78.8s] Oh no, they stole my kidneys.
[80.9s] After we stop, whatever this is, I think it's really extreme as a night
[85.6s] goes on, the pranks get more and more serious.
[88.7s] That's why you always have a bathtub of ice.
[90.4s] Just in case.
[91.0s] Just in case.
[92.7s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a D and D actual play podcast, and I'm your
[96.6s] dungeon master, Russ More, he, him.
[99.0s] Also with me today is Amy More as Alydin, she, her.
[102.6s] Rude.
[103.8s] Carla Maxstead is Bonwyn Everbane, she, her.
[106.7s] This is how Russ calls us all out.
[108.6s] And Kyle Claset is Bazaar the Wizard, he, him.
[111.5s] I don't think I'm ready to be read yet.
[113.0s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon supported podcast, and we'd love for
[116.6s] you to join us today at patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast.
[120.8s] You'll get a seven day free trial to check things out.
[123.4s] And now let's get right to it.
[125.4s] Fuck it.
[126.0s] Let's play.
[129.7s] So this is Alistair.
[131.9s] Asleep right now.
[133.2s] Yeah, but when he's sleeping, you can look through his stuff.
[137.9s] I just take out like a fistful of papers from his.
[141.4s] Messenger bag.
[143.7s] That's kind of what I was picturing, right?
[145.8s] Like an overflowing.
[147.7s] Satchel kind of thing, accordion portfolio.
[151.0s] This guy wearing any like jewelry that signifies like religious following.
[155.4s] Great question, Kyle.
[156.8s] Great question.
[157.4s] Make a religion check.
[158.6s] Literally.
[159.4s] Did we like.
[160.5s] Nope.
[161.9s] Nope.
[162.6s] We didn't girl.
[163.7s] That's going to be a 12.
[164.5s] But neither did Tom.
[165.2s] It's not just on us.
[166.7s] No.
[167.4s] So you see before you, because I haven't described Alistair really
[170.8s] very well to you at all.
[172.9s] You, he is a, what you could describe as a youngish man, probably early
[179.6s] twenties, um, in his robes that he is in are like way too big for him.
[186.1s] Um, he does as described to have a satchel that is bulging with papers
[190.4s] and journals that Alydin is now pulling out and the loose scrolls
[194.2s] that are just tied haphazardly.
[196.2s] Um, he does have a set of round spectacles, um, that just kind of
[201.5s] perch on the end of his nose.
[203.5s] His hair is disheveled.
[206.0s] He has no, um, to your religion question, he has no prominent jewelry
[212.0s] with any sort of religious symbols or insignia or anything that you can see.
[218.4s] He does have like a very, nothing too noticeable about it.
[221.5s] Like chain necklace.
[222.9s] Would you call it mundane?
[225.0s] It's a mundane necklace.
[226.3s] Thank you.
[226.8s] Is he wearing a turtleneck?
[228.2s] Uh, he's not at this time.
[229.8s] Somebody get this man a light beer.
[231.5s] I'm going to pop his eye open and look at his, look at the color of his eye.
[235.0s] See if he has any of the, uh, magical graying that occurs.
[238.9s] He does not.
[240.5s] And as you kind of prop his eyes open, he wakes up quickly and he's
[245.0s] like, oh, oh, oh, oh, thanks.
[248.1s] Okay.
[248.3s] Thanks guys.
[249.4s] Sorry.
[250.0s] Uh, something in my eye.
[251.7s] Uh, it was his finger.
[254.4s] Oh, why?
[256.5s] Hi.
[257.8s] Who are you?
[258.5s] I'm Alastair Greaves.
[259.7s] Nice to meet you, sir.
[261.0s] Alastair Greaves.
[262.0s] I'm Bazaar'd.
[263.0s] What brings you to town?
[264.6s] I shake his hand.
[266.2s] Oh, well, uh, I came to town, uh, is he with you and he looks
[271.3s] to you, Alydin and Bonwyn?
[273.2s] Oh yeah.
[273.5s] Yes, he is.
[275.4s] He is the most important part.
[276.8s] This is your friend that you needed to talk to.
[278.7s] Yes.
[279.7s] Okay.
[279.9s] So clearly we have not completely caught up.
[282.4s] Um, I, well, I've, how would I position this?
[288.6s] What you tell me better match what they told me.
[291.6s] Yeah.
[291.8s] So you can get right to it and say the thing.
[295.0s] If you know what that is.
[296.6s] I do know what that is.
[297.8s] I'm looking for, and he looks around in the room, say it's just us.
[302.1s] It's quiet night at the, at the, at the bar.
[304.5s] I'm looking for the weeping archive.
[306.8s] Uh, and I believe that I've found it or at least a possible entry to it.
[312.4s] Um, uh, are you, are you familiar?
[315.4s] Are you familiar?
[316.0s] They said you're very magical in nature's end.
[318.3s] You may be studied in Kingstown.
[320.0s] Uh, is there, uh, are you familiar with it in your own right?
[326.0s] Am I?
[326.9s] Would I remember anything from history or my arconic studies?
[330.2s] Uh, you want to roll history or arcana your call, which
[334.5s] yeah, is this like one of those things where it's not taught in
[337.2s] school, but it's like a myth, you know, like the Holy Grail.
[341.9s] Yeah.
[342.4s] Right.
[343.0s] Yeah.
[344.0s] I want to go with history.
[345.6s] I like that.
[346.0s] The idea that this is that it is magical in nature, but an archive.
[353.2s] Isn't that what it's called?
[353.9s] The weeping archive.
[355.2s] Yeah.
[356.4s] I'm going to go with history on this one.
[358.5s] All right.
[358.8s] That's a 20 fucking four.
[360.8s] 24.
[361.6s] Damn.
[362.4s] You've been there.
[363.6s] You built that place.
[364.9s] That's why his spell book is there.
[366.6s] Let me take you there.
[368.0s] Your knowledge of it is through rumors that you heard.
[371.8s] From faculty and like people several years ahead of you at the school.
[377.1s] Right.
[377.8s] Um, there were no books that you could find on it.
[383.8s] Um, what you heard from them is the archive was a library or the
[390.3s] weeping archive was a library that you heard was built against the fe.
[398.2s] So built somewhere between the worlds, um, and only accessible through thin veils.
[407.0s] The archive itself was never, um, kind of the bedtime stories that you may
[412.6s] have heard was never meant for mortals of the material plane.
[417.8s] Um, it was against them or rather against the fe and it was a defense.
[425.4s] It was said to contain contracts, bargains, memories, and forbidden
[431.5s] knowledge, anything dangerous that the fe might twist.
[437.5s] It sounds really important.
[438.7s] This entire time, the first moment you said rumor has it.
[442.4s] I've been making a parody.
[446.9s] Kyle's back.
[447.6s] So he's got your notes.
[448.7s] Yeah.
[450.9s] Thank God.
[451.9s] Cause I'm just over here like,
[455.0s] it ain't real.
[457.8s] Don't worry.
[458.5s] I'll finish it.
[459.9s] Anything else I can give you with that?
[461.6s] That's a really good role.
[463.6s] I can work with that.
[465.0s] So, uh, I can give you this because this was this kind of, this makes sense.
[469.1s] Um, so you would have also heard that it was called the weeping archives
[473.5s] because the ink, uh, like physically weeps from the shelves, um, and
[479.7s] spirits bound in the books were said to be weeping or crying forever.
[487.6s] That sounds familiar.
[488.4s] I think Alistair told us that, uh, he asked me that.
[491.3s] I say a few hours ago, I would have told you that it's a
[494.0s] fairy tale meant to scare kids.
[496.6s] Cause think about it.
[497.3s] If something as powerful as a being from the fe actually had that,
[500.9s] why wouldn't they have already used it?
[503.2s] I think they do use it though.
[504.4s] Sorry.
[505.0s] Uh, you had a thought you were at a string.
[507.4s] No, no, go ahead.
[508.3s] And you, they do use it.
[509.3s] What are we going to say?
[510.4s] I think they do use it.
[511.7s] I think they've been using it.
[512.9s] And I think that there's something happening here in this town that
[518.2s] is, that is, that is why people are coming here to try and find
[524.7s] it, to try and tap into it, to, to, to, to use its power, to
[529.3s] use whatever, whatever contracts or binding elements are in it.
[535.8s] That, oh, it just,
[542.8s] I, I, I found more information about it.
[545.6s] That leads to possible openings where we could get into that.
[552.4s] Uh, Russ real quick, that exasperation and that does desire and drive.
[557.7s] What is the vibe I'm getting from him on that in that moment?
[561.6s] I was also, I was also wondering too now about his, now that I see
[566.6s] like Bazaar being skeptical and like, yes, it must be more like Bazaar.
[570.1s] Is it fanatical?
[571.2s] Like, does it seem?
[572.2s] Yeah, I got an 11.
[574.5s] Oh shit guys.
[576.0s] I rolled good.
[577.2s] Oh damn, I didn't.
[578.5s] I got a nine.
[579.7s] Oh man, I got a plus zero on it.
[581.3s] 17.
[582.6s] Damn.
[583.5s] Proud of me.
[584.2s] I mean, definitely with 17, uh, you with 11 or anything below a 15,
[590.9s] like you're passionate, like it's passionate.
[595.1s] That's what you're getting from it with a 17.
[597.9s] You, Alydin maybe have felt this feeling that you are seeing in him now.
[604.8s] And that's that he has been talking to people who don't understand,
[609.7s] don't believe, don't trust.
[612.3s] And now he's talking to people who register that this could be a thing.
[617.4s] Not only that this could be a thing, but I've heard of this thing
[620.6s] and are willing to at least entertain the idea of finding this thing.
[625.4s] So it's like a relief, like a passionate release of like,
[630.6s] he's not talking to a wall.
[632.6s] But does it feel like good intentions behind that wanting to find it?
[640.5s] Cause while he's passionately talking about it, I'm more wondering
[642.9s] if I'm seeing that glint of greed behind his eyes.
[646.8s] I don't think you see any of that.
[649.5s] Like, I think you see somebody who's been, uh, researching this been told
[655.0s] these crazy, been told its stories and fairy tales, um, and has seen
[659.8s] like the reports coming out of Vintersmouth of all these strange and
[662.9s] unusual events have heard of people like going on their own expedition
[667.1s] to see the, the, the dream world or whatever they might call it.
[672.4s] Um, the weeping archive.
[674.4s] Um, and he's like, this is his chance, but he doesn't seem
[680.3s] like it doesn't seem like he is ill intent with this.
[685.6s] I'm looking and say, okay, say it does exist.
[690.6s] Say you do find it.
[692.6s] What then?
[694.2s] Well, uh, what then is, um, we burn it to the ground and I want to
[703.7s] look and see how he reacts to that.
[706.1s] I was thinking the exact same thing, Amy.
[707.7s] I was like, we burn it.
[709.0s] He, he looks at you with a little confusion.
[712.4s] He's like, no, no, no, no, no.
[715.3s] I mean, somebody, somebody may try to control it, but I don't think
[722.0s] it's something that can be controlled.
[723.6s] Like I think the, the power that is coming through into this town and
[728.8s] will eventually bleed into the greater world is something that needs to be stopped.
[737.4s] I don't know how to do that.
[738.7s] The books that I found in the archives back in Kingstown, they didn't,
[747.2s] they're all redacted.
[748.3s] They don't have the information on who controls it, who actually
[752.4s] created it and, and what they want to do with it.
[756.6s] So I feel like if I were to find it, that I have enough knowledge that
[762.5s] I would know what I'm looking for in order to shut, to shut it down,
[766.9s] to release people from it.
[770.1s] People are trapped in it.
[772.7s] Well, the, the, the spirits in the books, the, the, yeah, the, the, the
[778.8s] faith that like the entire thing is, is contracts and binding agreements.
[785.0s] And like, and this kind of like sparks a recent event for you,
[790.0s] particularly Bonwyn is you went through a very recent ritual where
[795.7s] there was a binding of sorts with some sort of extra planar being.
[800.6s] Like people make arrangements for power, for, for their own greed,
[807.0s] for, for good, like to save somebody they love, but they
[811.7s] sell their soul to this archive.
[815.8s] And I feel like I could save some of those people.
[820.4s] Okay.
[821.1s] Um, it's a noble pursuit.
[823.8s] Uh, I think, uh, again, I wouldn't have really put much thought to this 24 hours ago.
[832.8s] I haven't even thought about the weeping archives since school.
[837.2s] Um, cause yeah.
[841.0s] Um, but after seeing stuff like this and I flip open the thin journal and
[850.0s] like write it and, and show him the effects of the ink itself written
[855.5s] with the, uh, written with the elk ink.
[858.1s] It's like, after seeing this, does that disappear after he's done writing it?
[863.1s] Our previous entries still in the journal.
[866.0s] When you open it, it is blank again.
[868.2s] Yeah.
[868.4s] Sorry, Kyle.
[869.2s] No, you're good.
[870.0s] It's a good call out.
[871.1s] Good call out.
[871.9s] I didn't want, didn't think about it, but yeah, I'm going to just
[875.3s] write a note and I'm gonna put like, hello world.
[880.7s] He watches the ink smear across the page and, and he, he looks at it in like
[887.1s] equally delighted and also horrified.
[891.0s] And he says, yes, yes, this is it.
[894.3s] Uh, it's, it's a fragment of the weeping archives influence
[898.8s] right here in Vintersmouth.
[900.9s] Like you, you see it.
[902.2s] Everybody sees what it does, right?
[903.7s] Like the archive doesn't preserve words.
[906.2s] It couldn't, it consumes them and it writes them back.
[909.9s] This, this, this, and he puts his hands on his paper.
[913.6s] This is glorious.
[914.4s] So this is a person trapped in the book.
[917.4s] Well, I think so.
[920.8s] Like it's, it's glorious, but it's also terrifying because if it is, then
[924.0s] somebody is in here, somebody, somebody's, I don't, I don't know how it works.
[931.0s] I cast remove curse on the book.
[933.6s] I touch all curses affecting one creature object end.
[937.2s] If the object is a cursed magic item, its curse remains, but the spell breaks
[941.2s] its owner's attunement to the object.
[943.0s] So I guess I would, I would know that that's not going to.
[946.9s] Well, I mean, what's the point then at your touch, all curses affecting
[953.2s] one creature or object one creature object end.
[956.5s] So I guess the shot and what Bazaar would do, right?
[959.1s] He'd be like, here's the thing I can do.
[960.6s] Let's give it a shot.
[961.7s] Yeah.
[962.4s] Yeah.
[963.0s] So is this object cursed or is it a cursed magic item is the question.
[969.2s] So up to you, sir.
[971.2s] Yeah.
[972.2s] I would not know at this point because I haven't identified it, but my initial
[976.4s] reaction, knowing that there's a person trapped in this would think
[979.8s] that there's a curse on this book.
[981.7s] Yeah.
[982.5s] And I tried it instantly.
[986.7s] Welcome to the middle, everybody.
[989.4s] The middle.
[990.2s] You're in the middle.
[993.2s] A 2026 middle.
[995.2s] This is Carla's first 2026 middle.
[998.6s] Oh yeah.
[1000.2s] Thanks for having me back after all that kerfuffle.
[1002.6s] I'm glad I'm still here.
[1004.3s] It's water under the bridge at this point.
[1006.2s] Perfect.
[1006.6s] That's really big of you guys.
[1007.8s] The bruise is healing though.
[1009.3s] You can barely see it now.
[1010.5s] So good.
[1012.9s] That's a joke everyone.
[1014.3s] That's just a joke.
[1015.0s] We didn't buy a joke.
[1016.0s] We're all, we all love each other so much.
[1018.2s] 2025, we had various middle themes and now it's beating each other up.
[1022.7s] It's brawl.
[1023.6s] It's fight club.
[1024.3s] Yeah.
[1024.8s] Well, we're not supposed to talk about fight club.
[1026.2s] Oh right, we're not supposed to talk about fight club.
[1027.4s] It's a terrible middle.
[1028.3s] Okay, so we've started the year off poorly.
[1030.4s] I'm sorry, Brad Pitt.
[1033.0s] What about Edward Norton?
[1035.0s] I mean, it was really horrible though.
[1036.9s] What about Edward Norton?
[1037.8s] Was he there?
[1038.6s] What about meatloaf?
[1040.3s] Thank you Carla.
[1041.4s] What about meatloaf?
[1045.7s] We're bad guys.
[1046.6s] No one asked about Jared Leto.
[1048.1s] That's right, no one asked about that.
[1049.1s] Jared Leto was in that?
[1050.5s] Who?
[1051.8s] Oh boy.
[1053.8s] So the middle, this is obviously where we talk nonsense.
[1057.8s] And here we are doing it and also selecting one very special
[1064.0s] patron to dedicate the episode to.
[1066.0s] Because that's something you get when you're a patron.
[1068.8s] Absolutely.
[1069.8s] Yeah.
[1070.1s] When you join at patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast, you get that episode
[1073.8s] dedication like today's patron, Theodrax.
[1078.1s] Theodrax, that's a stunt name.
[1080.5s] That is a dope name.
[1082.6s] The dragon's name.
[1085.2s] I believe now it's a dragon.
[1087.6s] Absolutely.
[1088.8s] Thank you for listening.
[1090.4s] Thank you for listening.
[1091.8s] Awesome dragon listener.
[1093.0s] That whole long dragon life that you're taking this, I mean, nine years.
[1099.2s] We're echoing through a hoard right now.
[1101.3s] Like it's where our voices are resounding off piles of gold.
[1106.4s] You know how to select your treasure.
[1108.4s] So thank you.
[1109.3s] Oh, guys, guys, come on.
[1110.9s] This is dragon.
[1112.2s] Yeah.
[1115.0s] All right.
[1115.4s] Well, thank you, Theodrax.
[1116.4s] And thank you for joining us here today.
[1119.3s] patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast.
[1120.8s] We hope to see you over there and now we'll get you back to the episode.
[1124.1s] Okay.
[1124.2s] Love you.
[1124.4s] Bye.
[1125.1s] Love you.
[1125.4s] Bye.
[1127.0s] As he's describing this, you, you cast that and as you're casting it, he
[1132.9s] like breaks for a second and he goes, Oh, look, a brass button.
[1137.9s] And he goes, uh, I just down beside the table and like picks it up
[1141.4s] and he's looking at it.
[1142.2s] He's like, what are you doing?
[1143.2s] And as you're casting it, you see the ink begin to swirl on the
[1149.0s] page and similar, similar to an Alydin drew on it, um, you see
[1156.2s] it form that same, what appears to you to be the same circle, um, that
[1161.8s] then evolves into that same door.
[1164.9s] And it's like the, it's, it gives the perspective that you're moving
[1168.6s] through the door and you see the ink bleed and spill out onto the
[1172.6s] pages and across the table.
[1174.7s] How, how big is it?
[1176.3s] Journal book size.
[1177.4s] Yeah, no, that's a good, good point.
[1179.0s] Uh, so yeah, I wasn't sure.
[1181.0s] Yeah.
[1181.4s] Um, what did you do?
[1184.2s] I tried to see if perhaps there was a curse on the book, holding
[1189.2s] the spirit within to try and release it.
[1191.6s] Um, what if the spirit within is bad?
[1194.6s] What if it's trapped for a reason?
[1197.2s] Like the, the perspective movement on the pages, uh, continues to evolve.
[1202.0s] And it's like, the ink is like drying up in the center and the
[1205.5s] white page is coming back and the ink is rolling out, uh, continuously
[1209.8s] onto the table and like off the edge.
[1212.3s] It is like actual liquid ink, not like ephemeral looks like ink.
[1217.0s] It's like a liquid.
[1219.6s] Yeah.
[1219.8s] Yeah.
[1220.0s] It's the same.
[1220.8s] It's the same ink blood from the elk.
[1223.3s] I'm going to try to stick my hand into the book.
[1226.7s] Okay.
[1230.4s] We're not doing a rescue mission.
[1232.4s] You need to stay here.
[1234.9s] Bazaar.
[1235.3s] It's so curious to swat it.
[1238.6s] Uh, you're just putting your hand on the book.
[1241.1s] Oh, no, I'm going to try to put my hand into the book.
[1244.9s] Oh, like into the spine.
[1246.5s] Like, yeah, like this looks like a hole.
[1248.4s] So I'm going to put my hand in the hole.
[1250.5s] Yeah.
[1250.8s] You, you do that.
[1251.7s] Nothing happens.
[1253.0s] Uh, your, your, your, your hand goes into the book.
[1255.1s] It like heaves up and closes onto your hand, but ink hand.
[1259.5s] It seems like whatever was happening has passed.
[1264.0s] That was super dangerous.
[1265.8s] Remember the, what if it sucked you right in or something?
[1267.8s] The book's bite.
[1268.6s] The book's bite.
[1270.0s] The book, remember that, the book's bite.
[1273.8s] Yeah.
[1275.3s] You need to be more careful.
[1276.2s] We need you here.
[1277.0s] Sorry.
[1277.5s] That was some major curiosity.
[1280.1s] And, um, but the book seems like it went back to normal.
[1286.9s] Uh, yeah, it is completely blank pages.
[1289.6s] Whatever ink that was there is now like pooled on the table and down on the ground.
[1294.3s] Gotcha.
[1295.1s] What about this other book that we took from the podium in the center of town?
[1298.3s] That's just writing shit willy nilly.
[1300.5s] That's a bigger book.
[1301.8s] Both books have stuff writing themselves.
[1303.8s] Yeah.
[1304.1s] Which, which, uh, another book.
[1306.8s] Didn't you see the book?
[1307.6s] It was on like, uh, like a platform in the center of town and it was revealing secrets.
[1313.7s] Well, I wasn't here.
[1315.8s] I was, I was having a nap in a street.
[1319.7s] It's not really a nap if you just fall asleep.
[1322.1s] That's okay.
[1322.7s] You don't need to pretend for us.
[1324.4s] Yeah.
[1324.7s] Um, yeah, we, we came back from our adventure and, um, there was a book on
[1330.4s] a podium in the middle of town and it was just talking shit.
[1334.1s] I opened it up on the counter.
[1336.3s] Do you open it so that it's like facing him or like, how do you, how do you
[1340.4s] put it?
[1340.7s] Yeah, I mean, I'm just opening it so you can see that it's writing.
[1343.3s] It's not facing him.
[1344.1s] It's facing us.
[1345.2s] Okay.
[1346.0s] I don't know this guy.
[1346.8s] I want to just take a quill and write on the book that has spilled all of
[1355.6s] its ink out just to see if it does anything or is it like used up now?
[1360.0s] Did it like spit out all of its inky stuff and now it's just a book book.
[1363.0s] Yes.
[1363.9s] Okay.
[1364.2s] So a couple of things.
[1365.5s] I write bizarre smells.
[1368.9s] LOL.
[1370.2s] So two things happen at once.
[1371.8s] You turn the book, uh, to him.
[1375.0s] You open it to the last entry, which was Alydin's.
[1378.7s] So if you're reading the book, I could give you Alydin's as well, but
[1384.5s] first you see that it begins to write out in front of Alastair.
[1388.8s] He falls asleep, not from illness, but from fear.
[1393.3s] He cannot face the silence when awake.
[1396.9s] He said, Oh, this one, this one tells hard truths.
[1402.4s] And then Alydin's, which you would be able to see bizarre, uh, says the
[1408.6s] maker still dreams of the Faye who touched her and sometimes she wishes
[1414.6s] the dream would never end.
[1418.9s] Rude.
[1422.9s] Yeah.
[1425.8s] Damn.
[1428.1s] Fuck book.
[1431.1s] This is how Russ calls us all out.
[1433.3s] Jesus.
[1435.0s] Von Nguyen, take a look at this.
[1436.8s] I don't want to be alone.
[1438.5s] I don't think I'm ready to be read yet.
[1440.2s] So I don't think so either.
[1442.1s] Oh boy.
[1443.0s] Shit.
[1443.7s] Alastair just kind of closes it after you see that.
[1447.4s] Um, uh, I don't, I don't, I don't know.
[1451.1s] It's definitely seems like a similar, um, similar type of enchanted magic
[1458.6s] or like coming from the, the, the archive, but that.
[1461.9s] This one feels malicious for no reason.
[1464.2s] No, no, you're right.
[1466.0s] And who's to say it's even true.
[1468.9s] Well, we all just exchange looks.
[1474.2s] Bench who comes over with some beers.
[1476.5s] He's like, that's not watered down.
[1478.6s] I promise.
[1483.3s] I mean, Alydin is there truth to that?
[1487.8s] Was there something that you, that you're still holding onto from your
[1493.3s] experience in the Fae that you want or need?
[1498.4s] I don't know.
[1498.9s] She's like clutching her.
[1502.0s] The antlers.
[1502.5s] The shiny antlers.
[1504.0s] Like, I don't know.
[1505.2s] I don't know.
[1506.0s] No, you can tell us nobody remembers their dreams and dreams are just your
[1512.9s] mind playing you a play so that you're not bored when you're sleeping.
[1520.8s] Yeah.
[1521.9s] You know, I'm trying to think, have we even talked about what happened
[1526.0s] with you before we took you out of that home?
[1529.1s] Cause I, I don't remember us covering what was going on.
[1534.2s] No, no.
[1535.1s] Um, I mean, I almost just said, Flint asked me, I mean, like when Cav like
[1542.6s] came up, he was like, are you okay?
[1544.6s] And I was like, yeah.
[1545.6s] And that doesn't seem like an in-depth kind of discussion about,
[1551.3s] about what you experienced and your thoughts and feelings about that.
[1554.8s] I mean, we kind of came back and just things started happening right away,
[1558.6s] you know, and maybe, maybe we need to talk about what was happening.
[1564.5s] She's like sitting there uncomfortable, like shifty eye looking towards Alistair.
[1568.5s] Like, guys, yeah, we don't need to do that now.
[1571.7s] No, not now.
[1573.0s] You, you maybe, I can, I can go.
[1575.4s] No Alistair, it's fine.
[1577.0s] We should have, I feel terrible.
[1578.4s] Yeah, we don't, we're not trying to spring this on you.
[1581.0s] And also, you know, like, just think about it when you're ready.
[1584.7s] I want to lead with, I'm sorry.
[1586.4s] I didn't ask sooner.
[1587.7s] Me too.
[1588.4s] Yeah.
[1588.9s] I really agree with that.
[1590.0s] We, we really should have prioritized that.
[1592.5s] I'm like, I'm, I'm so fine.
[1595.9s] You're always fine, Alydin.
[1597.2s] You're a survivor.
[1597.9s] You're always going to be fine.
[1599.2s] But that doesn't mean that, you know, it isn't helpful to kind of talk about
[1604.4s] things you've been through.
[1605.3s] Cause it is.
[1606.2s] Did you talk about all the things that happened at the Forge?
[1611.7s] I mean, most.
[1612.2s] Boom!
[1615.8s] Listen, we all may be fine, but if we're helping each other out and we're
[1620.4s] friends, I want to make sure my friends do better than fine.
[1625.0s] Yeah.
[1625.8s] Agreed.
[1627.9s] Okay.
[1628.2s] But maybe later.
[1629.2s] Yeah.
[1629.4s] Yeah.
[1630.4s] Anytime.
[1631.2s] Uh, so Alistair, what do you, you don't want to burn it down.
[1635.6s] You want to.
[1636.9s] Well, then.
[1638.0s] Seal it off.
[1640.6s] Yeah.
[1641.7s] Seal it off.
[1643.5s] But then are we trapping the people?
[1646.0s] Like the spirits in there?
[1648.5s] I don't know if what's in there can be, I don't know.
[1651.0s] I, I, I hope I can find something like not only to like.
[1656.1s] So you're saying that you think they've already found it.
[1660.9s] The people who would use it for malicious intent.
[1663.3s] Well, I think they, I think they found, I think they found some of the
[1667.4s] same information that I have.
[1670.6s] And I think if they want to release whatever is in there to, to, to
[1674.8s] bind more people to gain their own power, to tap into something that
[1678.8s] would give them something that would, would give them an edge here as this,
[1684.0s] as whatever this is.
[1687.3s] And he just kind of gestures to this, to the city.
[1690.3s] That's like, that's the vibe you're getting.
[1693.4s] Like that gives them a higher status when whichever Faye comes
[1698.8s] through and takes over.
[1701.4s] What do we, what do you know about the Faye?
[1706.0s] Are there certain, are there certain symbols represented by, by beings?
[1712.0s] Like I'm trying to think about power and how it's been, you know,
[1716.7s] visited here, the, you know, the power over greed with Mayor Knapp's.
[1722.9s] Yeah.
[1724.1s] Power over knowledge by eliminating the schools.
[1729.2s] You know, maybe there is validity to what you're saying here.
[1732.2s] And it's been a slow creep.
[1734.6s] Alydin has helped herself to one of the beers.
[1737.2s] I'm not noticing.
[1739.2s] I'm too caught up.
[1739.9s] Honestly, she's, she's giving eyes above that glass, like say something.
[1745.8s] Like he's listening to you, but his eyes are drawn back to the, to the,
[1751.4s] the, the book that you found in the center of town.
[1754.6s] Yeah.
[1755.0s] Like, and he's like, you can tell that he like wants to open it again,
[1760.0s] but like there's hesitation and he's like flip, like lifting the cover
[1765.1s] and I open it for him.
[1767.0s] His eyes are transfixed on the page and another passage begins to come
[1774.9s] across the page and it says the ink first stained his hands years ago.
[1782.2s] It has never washed clean.
[1785.6s] And he's, he closes it.
[1787.6s] Sorry.
[1790.1s] Can I see that?
[1791.0s] And I want to pull the book towards me and open it.
[1794.9s] Yeah.
[1795.0s] He lets you, he lets you, you're going to open it to yourself.
[1798.5s] Yeah.
[1799.3s] I guess I'll have to look and see what the book says about me too.
[1802.5s] Curiosity.
[1803.8s] Me too.
[1804.4s] I'm not up for it tonight though.
[1806.0s] No, that's fair.
[1807.6s] Alydin, you opened the book again and beneath Alistair's two
[1812.6s] entries in your one, it writes, she wonders if the Faye curse is not a
[1818.5s] burden, but a gift, and she does not wish to give it up.
[1823.6s] Reading that over your shoulder.
[1826.8s] Right.
[1832.5s] All right.
[1832.9s] So you're looking at the book too.
[1834.0s] Got it.
[1834.7s] Oh, no, no, no.
[1835.6s] I was like, I was kind of knowingly nudging back to what we were just
[1840.0s] talking about.
[1841.0s] Yeah, no, I'm not waiting.
[1842.5s] On my turn.
[1845.3s] I got you all primed and ready, sir.
[1847.6s] Oh yeah.
[1848.0s] Yeah.
[1849.8s] Oh no, I did.
[1851.1s] Come on guys.
[1852.3s] It would be so hard to resist.
[1855.6s] No, yeah, I definitely do it.
[1857.0s] I just want to make sure my, my clearing my throat wasn't mistaken for
[1860.4s] like, get the fuck out of the way.
[1862.4s] Right.
[1863.3s] My turn.
[1864.3s] Got it.
[1865.3s] Not me going around opening it in front of people.
[1868.4s] Look at yourself.
[1869.6s] Look at the mirror.
[1871.0s] Shane.
[1872.8s] Oh my goodness.
[1874.4s] That's pretty hilarious.
[1877.0s] I mean, I think that is what a teenager would do.
[1879.4s] Bizarre.
[1880.4s] I mean, Alladin had pulled out a bunch of pages from, from his, from
[1884.1s] Alistair's bag and they're kind of just strewn across the table and
[1888.6s] like falling, regardless of whether she was pulling them out.
[1891.7s] Are they ink soaked now?
[1893.2s] Yeah.
[1893.5s] Some of them have a slight ink stain to them that rolled up across it.
[1898.5s] Rolled up across it.
[1900.0s] Um, but make a perception roll.
[1907.2s] 21.
[1908.0s] As you're looking over Alladin's shoulder at the end of the table,
[1913.0s] two things catch your eye.
[1915.0s] On one page, which Bonwyn had already previously seen, you see a
[1920.4s] symbol of Ashutra, scrawled onto it, which was the, which
[1927.7s] was the deity who Bonwyn communed, or did the ritual with, um, and
[1933.0s] you helped set up all of that.
[1935.2s] So you would have seen that symbol.
[1937.3s] Um, the other piece you see is off the corner of a page.
[1943.5s] You see your last name.
[1947.2s] Man.
[1948.5s] The wizard.
[1949.5s] Yeah.
[1949.8s] I'm like, isn't that, that's, that's the mystery.
[1955.2s] No, it's the mystery.
[1957.2s] We wouldn't even realize that like, wouldn't even.
[1960.6s] Yeah, actually, I would have never said my last name around y'all for reals.
[1966.4s] Not for reals.
[1967.2s] You have, I think you have, I don't know.
[1969.0s] I know what it is.
[1970.6s] Okay.
[1970.9s] Yeah.
[1971.1s] Yeah.
[1971.3s] I know what it is, but yeah.
[1973.8s] Yeah.
[1974.0s] I don't think I've actually said it.
[1975.8s] I don't think so.
[1977.3s] I was going to say, I know everybody's last name, but bizarre.
[1981.4s] It's like, it's not the man I live with and call magic daddy.
[1984.8s] And I don't have a last name.
[1988.0s] I'm sure I do.
[1988.7s] Bizarre T whiz, huh?
[1990.1s] T whiz guys.
[1991.6s] Cool.
[1992.0s] I'm not saying anything about that.
[1994.5s] Okay.
[1995.4s] Got it.
[1996.0s] That's what you see.
[1996.8s] Yeah.
[1999.0s] Well, this got awkward.
[2003.0s] I set my glass down to empty.
[2006.7s] Dumbgeons and Dragons season four, episode 45, starring Amy More as Alydin, Carla
[2013.0s] Maxted as Bonwyn Everbane, Tom Laird as Kavlaran Goldweave, Kyle Claset as Bizarre
[2019.0s] the Wizard, and Russ More as your dungeon master.
[2022.2s] Dialogue editing and sound design of today's episode is by Russ More.
[2026.0s] Our community manager is Jessica Babiuk.
[2028.4s] Music is from Epidemic Sound and sound effects are from Epidemic Sound,
[2032.4s] Boom Library and Sound Ideas.
[2034.5s] Our amazing cover art is by Matt Garbutt.
[2037.3s] A huge thank you to our supporting producers, Gabriel Lynch, Jessica
[2041.1s] Babiuk, Angaron Kierzen, Perry Matey, Cat Waterflame, Jacob Madden, Old School
[2046.9s] Gamer D, Craig Zeiss, L.A.
[2049.2s] Branton, Chibs1012, and Kudzu828.
[2053.1s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon supported podcast and all of our amazing
[2057.5s] community help make sure that we have adventures for you every single week.
[2062.4s] Come join us today, patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast.
[2065.4s] We hope to see you over there and you have yourself right now a great week.
[2070.9s] Yes, and we'll talk to you very, very soon.
[2074.3s] And let's say I need to find in the book where I put more than one for each of you.
[2080.8s] Russ just has a Google doc called like mean things to say to characters.
[2084.6s] Private shames, private shames, reporting for duty.
[2091.1s] Dumbgeons and Dragons is a dumb dragons production.