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Dumbgeons and Dragons will begin in a moment.
Bonwyn, you place this third book down onto the lectern.
You hear that same voice in your head that whispers this new phrase to you.
Knowledge is incidental.
The book begins to crack.
Fractures move across the cover of the book and it feels cold to your touch.
The walls everybody hears and sees now begin to grind closer to your position and then stop.
Can I move the book? Because it didn't like lock in?
Okay, so I'm gonna I'm gonna pick up the book and move it.
Okay, obviously that was the wrong one.
Knowledge is incidental.
So knowledge, not the same as truth.
Fair? Okay.
This is, like, I get it. I get it.
Fair. So what's the real books? Did the walls stop?
Uh, the walls have stopped.
Oh, okay.
Moved in like five feet.
Five feet!
Oh my god, I thought like an inch.
Yeah, I thought inches.
Uh, sorry. Yes, this room was not explicitly said.
It's fucking huge.
It's ten feet, guys.
Ten feet is seven feet.
Dumbgeons and Dragons is a D&D actual play podcast and I'm your dungeon master Russ More, he, him.
Also with me today is Amy More as Alydin, she, her.
Gross, like it pooped it out.
Carla Maxstead as Bonwyn Everbane, she, her.
I'm holding fire, running at a paper creature.
Tom Laird as Kavlaran Goldweave, he, him.
Oh boy, oh boy.
And Kyle Claset as Bizard the Wizard, he, him.
That's how you get to the end of the book.
Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon-supported podcast and we'd love for you to join us today
at Patreon.com slash DumbDragonCast.
You'll get a seven-day free trial to check things out.
And now let's get right to it.
Fuck it, let's play!
Say the room is 20 feet.
So not unlimited future options.
No.
So it moved in five feet from every side?
Yes, like the room itself got smaller.
Okay, we need a surefire bet.
That's a big problem, we do not have this many options.
No.
Which means, Kav, Alydin, you need to be honest with yourselves.
Okay.
Well, that's harsh.
That is a little real.
Okay, though.
Truth is sometimes harsh, but also surviving and is better than dying?
Yes, she walks over and she picks up the book that says Alydin,
changed by what touched her.
This, there, there, there.
And I-
Is that true?
Obviously, and I point to my eye.
Alydin, you throw the book down onto the lectern.
Alteration, irreversible.
And you hear a voice as it was described by Bizard and Bonwyn in your head.
And similarly, you feel a warmth emanating off of the book and you hear that soft click.
And then-
As I'm listening to this voice, I'm getting a little teary.
Wouldn't, you know, wouldn't admit it to anybody, but-
You hear, after that voice ends, like the warmth from the lectern begins to like
radiate out towards you.
And you hear the door on the opposite side of the room with the inscription on it,
which again said, only what is true may pass unrevised.
You hear like a lock click.
And then the door slowly grinds open.
Wait, did we do it?
Alydin, it's okay to be changed by what touches you.
We're all changed all the time by the things we experience.
That's normal.
I'm sorry, this is the first time that this place is bullshit.
That book, I don't believe it because you're the same Alydin that I met.
And while you may have been touched and you have that eye,
I think you're still the same person.
You just know a little bit more.
But is more knowledge change?
Oh my God, you guys, let's get out of this.
The semantics of the Weeping Archive are honestly exhausting.
No one changes you, but you, Alydin.
Okay.
So many, so many feelings.
You begin to move towards the door.
Get out of this fucking shrinketing room.
Alistair is one of the first ones there.
He was still looking at books as everybody was deciding what to place down.
And he steps away and begins to move towards the door and like puts his hand on it and it
shoves back against him.
Is it because you're so small again?
I, I don't, I don't think so.
You hear the shelves around you begin to move.
Stone grinding against stone as the carved books slide back into the walls,
sinking until the titles vanish entirely.
The whispering stops, not fading, but cut off like a quill snapped in half.
And from the far wall, something begins to unfold.
The wall that you, where there was a door when you came in.
Something begins to unfold.
It is tall and wrong.
A humanoid frame stitched together from layered parchment, cracked stone, and iron bindings.
Words crawl across its body, constantly rewriting themselves.
You recognize some of them.
Your names appear across the pages.
Its head turns with a grinding click where a face should be.
There's only a blank page until ink bleeds across it, forming a single phrase.
Entry conflict detected.
One arm ends in a blade of fused quills and sharpened paper.
The other drags a slab of stone etched with citations,
footnotes, and dates long scrubbed from history.
As it steps forward, the floor beneath it is rewritten, cracks,
sealing, dust reversing its fall.
Does not threaten you.
Does not warn you.
It raises its blade across the parchment, across its face.
It says, source required.
Roll for initiative.
Shit, yeah.
Paper golems.
Scribe golems.
22.
20.
I just rolled a 19 accidentally into like the well of my dice holder,
and then I rolled it again in the middle.
Perfect.
19 plus one.
It's like, I want to reroll that because I don't know what to do.
Rerolled it.
It was the same fucking number.
That's what you got.
Rolling high is a curse.
I got a 19.
Bonwyn, this creature, this being, has just come out of the wall,
and while not clearly threatening,
does have an ominous tone about it,
as it has this giant blade and stone slab,
and has its eye, presumed eyes,
where its eyes should be locked on all of you.
I'm going to use a bonus action and use Insightful Fighting,
so I can make an insight check against that creature
and test it by its deception check.
Okay.
If I succeed, then I can use Sneak Attack even if I don't have advantage.
Okay.
Deception is going to be...
That's a 10.
Okay.
My insight was 12.
Also, I'll probably have one of my friends within five feet of it,
but just in case.
It's good to know.
Absolutely.
Good to know.
As previously mentioned, this room is 15 feet across.
Exactly.
It's close quarters in here.
Indeed.
And how tall is this thing?
Real tall, right?
Real tall.
The ceiling of this space is quite large.
The skylight, as described, is way up there.
You don't even know...
Based on how you came in, in a straight hallway,
there's nowhere...
You're in a different space.
It's the fey.
Or at least somewhere adjacent to it.
But yes, it is quite tall.
Probably considered a large being, so it's not quite a large being.
Somewhere between a medium and a large being.
Because large is going to take up two-thirds of this room.
Okay.
Then I guess the only thing I can do is try and...
Hit it with my short sword, because everything else
is not going to work in such an enclosed space.
Does your short sword contain any of the benefits
that you've obtained since bonding with the forge?
I don't think so.
I don't even see anywhere where that happens.
Well, you'd have to just declare that you've reforged your weapons.
Oh, I see.
But if you haven't done that...
I haven't.
I'm still just like a little level three ding-dong.
Next time we...
To make kick-ass weapons, but not for myself.
Exactly.
Late to the adventuring game.
Yes, indeed, indeed.
Okay.
Oh, but that's a nat 20.
Hell yeah.
And then I'll also sneak attack on it.
Oh, yeah.
So that is 23 damage.
You rush up to this being and slice into it,
and it's like your blade grabs purchase
into the pages that begin to like roil around it.
You feel them tear through, but then where a wound should occur,
pages begin to fill back in over top of it.
Neat.
Alydin.
Yeah.
I think instinct's going to take over.
She's going to take her sling out and she's going to slingshot.
Sure.
She's going to slingshot this bitch.
Love it.
Would a 21 hit?
21 is going to hit, yeah.
Hell yeah.
Nice.
Five.
Five bludgeoning damage.
Not yes.
So it shoots off, and you hear it like thud into the pages,
and then it gets absorbed into, and you hear it drop behind it.
Gross.
Like it pooped it out.
Bizarre.
So I'm going to pull out my sword and start up a blade dance
while at the same time casting Bane on this creature.
And so I'll need a charisma saving throw DC 13.
That's a nat 1.
And the charisma is not high, so I will tell you that's a minus 1.
Oh, wow.
Fantastic.
So until I lose concentration or in the spell,
the target must roll a d4 and subtract the number
from their attack rolls or saving throws.
OK.
That's my turn.
OK, Kav.
I mean, things are going great for our team so far,
so I think I'm just going to like ready an action
to kind of see what this thing does and respond to it then.
OK.
Somebody light this bitch up.
It is this creature's turn.
It looks to Bonwyn.
It's the phrase that was across its face wipes away,
and you see your name come up across.
And you, for the purposes of mechanics
and this creature, are now considered indexed.
There is no saving throw.
You have disadvantage on your first attack roll
or saving throw each round
and are always the creature's preferred target
unless somebody takes that that lovely privilege from you.
So it is going to do an attack called forced citation.
You must make a charisma saving throw, please.
Well, that's a six.
Shit.
It points its sword in your direction,
which you're not far away,
so like this is like right close to you.
You feel as if you are being restrained.
You feel something sharp,
like digging around the edge of your clothes,
like kind of cuts into your skin.
And you look down,
you see these like ghostly spectral quills
that are pinning you in location.
You see this carving glowing text,
words that are smudged and blurred.
You can't make out anything around you.
Nobody else sees this effect.
Bonwyn just freezes in place.
And that is its turn for the moment.
Alistair.
What's this guy got?
Not much, of course.
He does have some things.
He pulls from his hilt.
He pulls a dagger and he rushes towards screaming.
That's a 14 to hit, which will not hit.
This creature, so he rushes towards
and like gets folded up in the paper
and shot out to the side thrown against the wall
and crumples to the ground.
And you hear him like, oh God,
I'll try again.
And he's trying to scramble up.
Bonwyn, you can make at this point
another charisma saving throw
at the end of your turn to try and break free.
Okay, but I can't do anything anyway,
so I guess it's the end of my turn.
I ain't got no magic.
Yeah, so I guess what did you roll
for your charisma saving throw?
18, 18.
You are locked in this position.
You feel these narrowly cutting into your skin
as it's holding you there.
And then you manage to steal yourself.
Everybody else sees you now.
Your hair begins to smoke,
your eyes glow a little bright,
and you break free from whatever
this being has cast upon you,
has done to you.
You regain your movement and snap free,
but you can't, of course,
do anything until your next turn.
We're here.
We're doing it.
And it is.
It's the middle, you fool.
That's what I was waiting for.
You fool.
When we said I was ready,
which I didn't say.
You didn't.
But you sort of implied it
because you said, okay.
Didn't you say, okay, it's like time to go?
Everybody knows when I say, okay,
it's like, all right, we're done.
We're doing the thing.
Then I launched into it.
I insulted you,
and now you're not even ready.
Come on, you fool.
I'm sorry, Russ.
I can't believe it.
I'm sorry I called you a fool twice.
I take it back.
It's okay.
Okay, honey.
I wasn't calling you a fool.
I was just repeating Carla.
Yeah.
Hey, remember when two minutes
before I hit the camera on,
I spilled my full glass of water everywhere.
Oh, I didn't know.
Then picked it up.
Picked it up.
Put it on the floor.
Proceeded to kick it over
onto the rest of the stuff.
Just took off the desk.
That's correct.
Yeah.
But the desk is pretty clean now, though.
It's impressive.
I got a mister for my plant,
and I misted it,
and then I realized it was dripping
all over my books that I have back here,
and I was like, well, that was bad.
Oh, no.
Oops.
My hanging plants are all fake
just because I know that that'll forget
that there's things underneath, so.
Sure.
Only the non-waterables get suspended.
Yeah.
We're here now spilling water on everything.
I hope you have a dryer time.
Is this going to be relative to the fountain?
Maybe it's fountain related because it's water.
Could be.
I don't know.
I mean, the fountain is no longer a fountain.
It's, well.
I don't know.
I'm just like, we should write this upon people.
Yeah.
Are we going to have to bleep out
most of this conversation
because maybe it's not being put out.
No, because it's definitely happened
in the regular episodes.
We are there now.
I know we're like 12,000 episodes ahead,
so it feels weird
because we don't know what we can talk about.
We're future, man.
Hey, you could also be 12,000 episodes ahead
if you joined us on Patreon.
Patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast
where you can get backstage.
You could be here right now.
Well, not here right now,
but like the equivalent to here in the future right now.
Yeah.
Yeah, that could be you.
While we make this magic.
This, you know what?
If this hasn't hooked you, this.
You want to see how this sausage is made.
We record the conversation.
We actually record three times as long
and this is the cut tight version.
I mean, we could.
We could.
We absolutely could.
Hey, Patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast.
All that thing, all the things we just said,
the spilled water, the backstage,
spilling water backstage,
but you also get an episode dedicated to you.
Did you know that?
We might've mentioned it once or twice.
I knew.
I don't know much, but I know that.
I thought it was a rumor,
but I'm glad you're confirming it.
And that episode dedication today goes to Angaron Kiersen.
Angaron.
Angaron, all right.
Oh, I know him.
My guy.
Thank you.
Thanks, Angaron.
But you too can be like Angaron
and that's saying a lot because Angaron, he's great.
He's a cool guy.
We know him.
We play D&D with that guy.
D&D with that guy.
He's cool in French.
He's cool, guys.
Yeah, he's so punny.
He's a little joke assassin.
And it's so impressive.
Bilingually, so like such clever wordplay.
How dare you, Angaron?
Some of us aren't good in our own language,
let alone two.
You're very much a murder hobo, yes.
That's what we appreciate about him.
Yeah.
About you.
But you too could be like Angaron.
And join us today at patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast.
And we hope to see you over there.
And now I was going to say, fuck it, let's play.
Let's get you back to the episode.
I mean, we are doing that, but that's not what this is.
This is getting back to the episode.
Okay, I love you.
Bye.
Love you.
Bye.
Love you.
Bye.
Russ, does it look like this creature or whatever it is,
like, is surprised that Bonwyn was able to break free?
Can you tell surprise on it if it doesn't have eyebrows?
Yeah.
Well, it writes surprise on its face.
Yeah.
Surprise.
I can see that all over his face.
Surprise, surprise, surprise.
The question mark.
Surprise.
I'll take that as a no.
Mike, well, roll an investigation roll.
All right.
Famously, very smart.
Insight.
Insight would probably be better.
Insight.
Oh, yeah.
Insight is much better.
That's a 15.
No.
Okay.
You don't get any sense of, well, you can glean things,
but you don't get any sense of specific emotion.
Like, it feels autonomous.
It feels like it is doing its job right now.
Okay.
That's the sense you get from this creature.
All right.
Who's got the torch?
What happened?
I got it.
I assume we're fairly close in this teeny tiny room.
I'm going to grab the torch out of his hand.
Yes.
Just going to, for a sec, and I want to run
and I want to light this thing on fire.
Okay.
So you're running up to it with the torch.
Yeah.
Right.
Once again, our solution is burn it.
Burn it to the ground.
Yes.
It seems like a good idea for paper.
Paper?
Yeah.
Make me an attack role, please.
Oh, fuck.
Here.
We're back, guys.
We're back.
Four.
How do I not light it on fire?
How do I even trip getting from where I am to where it is
and not even accidentally light it on fire?
I don't think you trip.
This isn't like a-
Oh, no.
Is it a mental situation?
No.
I don't think that.
Like, you grab it, but it turns and looks at you.
And everybody sees that it turns and looks at you,
and you turn and run towards it,
and it creates this tunneling effect of paper around you,
and you run through it.
This is bullshit.
While it's busy doing that tunneling thing, Russ,
I want to hit it with some magic of my own.
I'd like to hit it with Guiding Bolt.
Okay.
Love it.
Do I got a saving throw?
Yes.
You have-
Oh, wait.
No.
I make a ranged spell attack against you.
Please do.
That is a 22 to hit.
22 will hit, sir.
Okay, perfect.
That is 12 damage on the 4d6.
12 damage.
Fuck yes.
So this thing disperses around Alydin
as she runs through to the other side,
closer near where Alistair is,
and as it's reforming,
your Guiding Bolt comes in and strikes this thing hard.
Pages explode out back towards Alydin.
You're not to take any damage from it,
but it engulfs you.
You feel like you're still running through the tunnel that it created.
There's no sound or roar like a normal creature would,
but you hear it creak.
The sound of an old book opening.
As it takes that damage,
it will use its reaction to force you
to make an intelligence saving throw, sir.
Right in this diary.
He's our smartest guy.
He's read five books.
He's read at least five books.
That is an 11.
As it turns and looks at you as it takes this damage,
you see your name, like a Bonwyn's name,
a race in your name appear,
and you feel this sharp pain in your head
as you take seven psychic damage.
As you feel the action you have just made
like reversing in your mind.
Interpret that how you will.
It's Bazaar's turn.
I don't really know how.
The next person to have an attack roll against this thing
has advantage on their attack roll, by the way,
because of the guiding bolt effect.
All right.
Fantastic.
Now then that would be Bazaar.
Cool.
Well, I'm not going to do an attack roll,
and this may seem counter, but I have my strategy.
I'm going to cast Frostbite on it,
so I need a constitution save DC 14.
That is only a six, sir.
All right.
So they will take nine cold damage
and their next attack
they had disadvantage on their next weapon attack
before the end of its next turn.
So if it does a weapon attack, you know.
Okay.
So stacking effects minus a D4 from their attack rolls
and they have disadvantage.
Yeah.
At least until the end of their next turn
for the disadvantage.
Okay.
Sounds good.
Love it.
That's my action.
Not doing anything with my bonus action
and staying where I am.
So yeah, that's my turn.
Okay.
We're back to Cav.
All right.
Some psychic damage was not really what he's loving,
but not so much grabs his war hammer
and like make some rush at this thing to attack it.
Gitchipull.
All right.
That is a 14 to hit.
At his advantage.
Advantage.
Yeah, I was going to say he didn't make an attack roll.
Oh, so I guess it's me then.
Okay.
Let's go again.
How often do you get your own?
I mean, that was a nat one.
So it was really good that that was wasted
on a not important situation.
14 unfortunately misses.
So similar effects like the pages
envelop around you as you find yourself
on the other side of this creature now.
What's up?
Welcome to the other side of the creature.
We're on this side of the room now.
Do you come here often?
Just right now.
Can stab it in the butt.
Oh my God.
We got to get there somehow.
That's how you get to the end of the book.
It turns around and faces Kavlaran.
Its name is across its face.
It tried to recharge an effect,
but that did not happen.
So it will take the blade that it was dragging
that was made of quills and swing at you
for a multi attack.
Two hits with it.
First one is a 12.
At disadvantage.
Oh, so sorry then.
But I rolled two.
So we will say.
Were you rolling them
with the intention of those being two attacks?
I was going to do attacks.
So we'll turn that into one attack.
So the first one is a 12 minus a D4.
So that's an 11 for the first attack, Kav.
No, won't hit.
Okay.
Second attack.
Also at disadvantage.
Just the first attack.
Then I will reroll just one.
That's less good.
That's an 11.
So that probably still also won't do it.
So this blade you turn just in time
to see this blade in like matrix style
like it cuts over top of you
as these pages are swirling all around you.
Alydin makes a quick one liner joke
as this blade swings by the both of you
leaving you a little stunned as that occurs.
Alistair picks himself off the ground.
He loses half of his movement
but then because things are like right up in him
reaches to stab with the dagger
which is just enough.
And we'll do five piercing damage.
And then we're back to the top with Bonwyn.
You are now free of whatever restraint was placed upon you.
Get him, B.
Is there like paper scattered around
or is it all like reforming back to it
when it like makes its tunnels and things?
The more hits it takes
the more papers are dispersed among the room.
So there definitely are papers all around the room.
Okay.
I really liked Alydin's fire idea.
So I'm just gonna-
I thought you might.
I'm gonna do it the old-fashioned way
because I have like a flint and tinderbox
so I'm just gonna try and light some paper.
Could light an arrow on fire.
It's very close quarters but that's okay maybe.
Do I get disadvantage if I use a further range weapon?
You're in- yeah usually if you're on the underside
of the ranged weapons range
then it is at disadvantage
because there's so many things happening.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, on either side of it, yeah.
How about this?
You might not know this but Bonwyn is a blacksmith.
Oh shit.
Part of her outfit is like gloves and tongs
that she always has with her.
Sure.
So I'm gonna light some paper on fire
and like go at it with fire within my tongs.
Yeah.
Love it.
Yeah, yeah.
Amazing, go for it.
So similarly make a melee attack.
Roll as you run towards this creature.
Not running fire but yeah.
Room filled with nothing but paper.
Why can't we light it on fire?
Why can we not light it on fire?
That was a bad roll.
That was a 12.
So I'm just gonna see if I have anything that I can do.
No, nothing I can do as a bonus action to help that.
So again, I'm holding fire, running at a paper creature.
Okay, love it.
The creature does not take any damage from this
but what does happen as you run through
is it creates this vortex around you of other papers
and you connect with some of those other pages.
So there are pages now in the room that are alight
and it is beginning to move among that.
Yeah, so if something doesn't put it out
by the time this creature's next turn happens,
it will likely take damage from that.
Okay, thanks Russ.
Thanks for rewarding my fun idea with something.
Alydin.
So enthused.
Just like, this fucking thing.
Instead of running at it with my fire
because I see now, it can be lit on fire.
It's not like magically.
Elements in the space have lit.
Yes.
I'm going to try to focus really hard
and I'm gonna try to cast Mage Hand
to just instead of me running at it,
I'm gonna just Mage Hand it
into the middle of the paper tornado.
Okay, so you're just gonna hold it there.
Yeah, as the pages are flipping by
and just kind of like, it's less of an attack,
more of a, I'm doing this
and if you're running into me then that's your fault.
Why are you lighting yourself on fire?
Yes, exactly.
Okay, perfect.
That's what I wanna do.
So placement effect rather than trying to attack.
Yeah.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, that's what I wanna do.
Yeah, I don't think an attack roll is necessary.
Needed for that, you're placing it
in the center of this being,
trying to just light it on fire.
So roll me a D6 for fire damage.
Yeah, two.
Okay, your Mage Hand takes some of this bundled up.
Sorry, you took the torch or the pages?
The torch.
Your Mage Hand grabs the torch and just holds it in.
So it sees it coming and begins
to do the same swirling cyclonic effect around it
which you see the flame kind of flickering in and out
but then reforms over top of it.
You see burning embers begin to form
in the center of it and it,
the face of this creature wipes clean of Kavlaran
and your name appears on it, Alydin.
I give it the finger.
I'm gonna let the listeners decide which one.
It's this one.
The pinky finger.
Pinkies up, yep.
So threatening.
Bizarre, back to you.
So there's fire happening in the space.
It looks like there's like a now burning core
because of the torch placed in the middle of it.
But it's still alive.
It's now just a zombie.
It's a fire zombie.
That we've made in this.
I've made everything deanfo much worse.
The one time fire wasn't helpful for us.
God damn.
Who could have thought?
At the risk of those attacks coming back around.
You know what?
I'm gonna do a cantrip.
I'm gonna cast control flame
and I'm gonna instantaneously expand the flame
five feet in one direction.
So the flame from its core straight up through its face.
Yes.
Love it.
Okay.
Provided that wood or other fuel is present
in the new location and I assume paper.
Yeah, paper counts.
Amazing.
Roll me two D6.
Fire damage, please.
That's gonna be five fire damage.
Which is actually going to be 10 fire damage.
And please tell me how this destroys this creature.
Oh yeah.
So as it assembles the flame core around the torch
that is being held by Alydin's mage hand.
I flick my hand out just ever so slightly
just to like give it that little extra oomph
splits the core open and just kind of like
peels back in like layers of paper
burning embers floating off
and then that slowly engulfs the entire creature
bringing it to just like a dusty ashy outline
that's swirling around in circles
and then ends into a spiraling pattern of ash on the floor.
Oh, let's get some good audio of the clank of steel and stone
that ended up hitting the ground
after all the pages are burnt away.
Yeah, love it.
Yeah, production.
I'm the page master, bitch.
Oh yeah.
The creature before you engulfs in flame
and as described the room is now clear.
All the pages have lit on fire
and are burning up in the corners
as everything is blowing around the space.
You see some of the pages as they're burning
the words crawling across its body slow
and then freeze mid-letter
and ink bleeds backwards
into the seams of parchment and stone
as if pulled by an unseen hand.
The quill blade that fell to the ground
softens and collapses into loose pages
that scatter and also light on fire
fade into dust
and for a moment there's nothing.
Then the room itself seemingly exhales.
The shelves grind once more,
not in threat this time,
but in retreat.
Stone books slide back into the walls
and titles erasing themselves as they vanish
until the chamber is bare
save for that far wall.
Where a door should be
there is now only stone, unbroken, unmarked.
A pause stretches almost too long
and the floor shivers.
Fine lines etch themselves outward
from a single point at the chamber center
not cracks but deliberate marks.
A diagram emerges.
Circles, angles, intersecting paths
carved with impossible precision.
It's a map.
Vintersmouth sits at its heart
not centered but pierced through
as if something passes through the city
rather than rests within it.
Three lines extend outward.
Two are still.
The third flickers
its edges blurring, shifting by the second
sliding across the stone
like a shadow that can't decide where to settle.
As you watch, the line drifts slowly
away from the city, away from here.
The air grows heavy.
Pressure builds behind your eyes
like a thought trying to finish itself.
You understand.
This was never an entrance.
It was a marker.
A false index.
A test.
A way to see who would come looking
and how they would read the record.
Behind you, faint and distant,
the sound of quills resume
not here but elsewhere.
The ink hesitates before writing
as if considering you.
The words appear uneven
pressure changing mid-stroke.
Seeker accepted.
Then, after a pause, entry requires contribution.
One final mark bleeds through the stone.
Not words, but a name-shaped blur
half-formed and familiar.
The ground begins to shake and tremble
and you look behind you
at a path where again there wasn't one
with light down at the end of the tunnel begins to form.
Stone begins to fall from the walls
as Alistair grabs you and says,
he runs over to the wall
and begins sketching the map that he sees
and the room is collapsing down around you.
Dumbgeons and Dragons, season four,
season four, episode 51, starring Amy More as Alydin,
Carla Maxted as Bonwyn Everbane,
Tom Laird as Kavlaran Goldweave,
Kyle Claset as Bizard the Wizard,
and Russ More as your Dungeon Master.
Dialogue, editing, and sound design of today's episode
is by Russ More.
Our community manager is Jessica Babiak.
Music is from Epidemic Sound,
and sound effects are from Epidemic Sound,
Boom Library, and Sound Ideas.
Our amazing cover art is by Matt Garbutt.
A huge thank you to our supporting producers,
Gabriel Lynch, Jessica Babiak,
Angaron Kierzen, Perry Matey,
Cat Waterflame, Jacob Madden,
Old School Gamer D, Craig Zeiss,
L.A. Branton, Chibs1012, and Kudzu828.
Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon-supported podcast,
and all of our amazing community help make sure
that we have adventures for you every single week.
Come join us today, patreon.com slash dumbdragoncast.
We hope to see you over there,
and you have yourself, right now, a great week.
Yes, and we'll talk to you very, very soon.
Well, there's no lap option,
because I stopped it because we paused.
So now I'm gonna start and then lap.
I did it.
Well, fuck it, let's play.
Welcome to D&D Dungeons.
Fuck it.
That's Dumbgeons and Dragons.
Play, yeah.
Fuck it, Dragon Books.
Dragon Books, Dragon Books.
And that's where we'll end it.
No, you're not here next week.
I have to have a description to get you out of here.
I know, but he ended on such a good line.
I know, that was so good.
Dumbgeons and Dragons is a D&D production.