Dumbgeons and Dragons will begin in a moment.
There's one squeaky wheel making its way through the forest.
Alistair has woken up. He is in fact pulling the wagon. So I love a love a long trek. How long exactly is it to Lingersville?
Hey, Russ, so is it it's just like a wag. Is it like a wheelbarrow with two handles that we're pulling behind us? Is it a
rickshaw? I was picturing like a donkey pulling a wagon. But now we do have Alistair pulling it. So I don't know if I feel good about making him pull this cart. We're gonna have to pull him way more than he's gonna have to pull the cart while he's awake. Yeah, he'll fall down. You put them back in and carry. I feel okay. It's not like we're all in this. No, I assume.
What if he just can't fit we just make him ride the donkey. But it sounds like there's not a donkey. He's pulling the cart. Cuz I was picturing a donkey. There's just one squeaky wheel rolling through this for one of four. One still a little bit locked. It's not rolling. So we don't have an animal with us. It's just like a cart we pull ourselves. Unless you really want a donkey.
Something bad will happen to it so it's fine. Yeah, this world isn't safe for a donkey. No it's not. We don't deserve donkeys. No we don't. I don't want to have to light a bitch up. Right? Someone hurts it. Again. Again.
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. Can birds be ventriloquists? Carla Maxted as Bonwyn Everbane, she her. My nature roll to see if shit seems weird. Tom Laird as Kavlaran Goldweave, he him. More of a poke. And Kyle Claset as Bizard the Wizard, he him. Wave at the wines.
Dumbgeons and Dragons is a Patreon supported show made possible by listeners like you. Join us today at patreon.com slash dumb dragon cast and get a free seven day trial to try everything out over there. And now fuck it. Let's play.
Okay, so back back to the force. How long exactly is it to Lingersville? I know from when you're on the boat coming down the river, but that goes pretty quick because you're going with the current.
Anybody? It's not that far. I mean, we're not we're not traveling for two weeks or anything. Don't worry. We got the car and we'll pull you if you fall asleep so you won't fall behind. Yeah.
Alydin's in the back of the car laying down feet up book in hand. You got to take advantage of those opportunities to study while we're traveling. It's hard to walk and read. Yeah, I'm doing I'm doing my best here. I'm trying to keep it nice and smooth for you. Is the ride good?
You're doing great. Don't don't even worry about it. I got you and when you need to get got.
So I don't know. What do we think like a couple days? Well, that's that seems that seems reasonable. Yeah, I mean, we do want to kind of keep our heads on a swivel in this forest because I don't know. Is it urban legends?
There always has been talk about this forest. You know, we would tell stories when we were kids about things happening.
Well, I mean, we did lose a whole bunch of children. Yeah, I mean that one time, but like not here, but kind of here, right? Like they went somewhere else, but this was the way they got to the somewhere else. So yeah, just be aware.
I think we should just be aware.
OK, is it is anybody else seeing what I'm what I'm seeing?
And he's looking backwards like he stopped walking and he's looking backwards. We've been walking along this path. Yes. Yes, I assume so.
He looks back and beneath your feet in a couple steps back, you see footprints or wagon tracks and then further back, everybody sees that the footprints have vanished behind them.
Hmm.
Well, that's odd.
I would agree. That seems like a new one.
You hear the sound of a bird song, often to the left.
Alydin, your eyes are drawn up there.
I am looking upwards.
It's true.
And you you see the bird and it calls again and you see its mouth open.
There's no sound.
It flaps its wings and flies away.
And then the bird song comes from where it was.
What's that thing where something sounds close to you, but it's really far away?
But it sounds like it's in one place, but then it's not like ventriloquists.
Hmm.
Can birds be ventriloquists?
Great question.
Hmm. I don't.
What the bird looked like?
Why do you ask?
Looked like a sparrow.
It was a yellow-breasted warbler.
Okay.
And you think it was a ventriloquist?
Well, where the bird was, it was there.
And then it flew away.
And then it sounded like the bird was there.
Hmm.
I sound crazy.
You don't sound crazy.
All of that weird stuff was happening in Vindersmith.
So maybe it's happening here too?
Maybe I'm just going to make a list of weird stuff.
Good call.
Okay. Yeah.
I guess get the disappearing tracks.
And the weird bird.
We're playing D&D.
Russ, can I roll, like, insight, I guess, or...
What are you trying to follow?
My nature to see if shit seems weird.
My nature roll to see if shit seems weird.
Yeah.
But it's a dirty 20.
I think shit seems weird.
Shit definitely seems weird.
You've grown up here.
You've been out this far.
You haven't been out to Lingersville in some time.
But I've certainly been in the woods around the town,
so I would know if, like, the flora and fauna was weird.
Yeah.
You haven't gone far enough out that, you know,
a day trip out to go collect some materials
or just spend some time in the forest.
Like, you haven't gone that far out from the city yet.
But yes, now that you're paying attention to it,
like, sounds are appearing off.
There seems to be some delay happening.
You've also been able to see and notice this bird song echo
like half a second or a few seconds late
as you all begin to walk again.
You're picking up that your footsteps appear to be doubling in sound
or doubling the sound as they hit.
Kind of thing.
And you're more kind of paying attention to your surroundings
as everybody picks up a little bit.
But you hear from somewhere behind you
like creaking, slow creaking wood.
And as you turn around to look where the sound is coming from,
it stops.
You heard that too?
I did.
So we all heard it.
Heard what?
Oh, okay.
And that's not just the delay of our own squeaky wheel, was it?
Mm-hmm.
I moved the cart back and forth a little bit.
How far back do our footprints disappear?
Only like two or three steps.
Oh, that quickly.
They appear to be disappearing, yeah.
Okay, can I pick up a rock and like throw it as far as I can back
to see like, I don't know, if that acts normal,
like does it just go and land and be normal or does something...
Or do I hit a force field, I guess is what I...
Sure.
Ricochet is off of it.
Or does it spin around and then hit me in the forehead?
Like what happens?
No, yeah, you pick up a rock,
hook it, you're just hocking it back down the path
that you're walking on.
It goes and you see it before you hear it,
but you see it skid along the ground
and then you hear the faint sound of it.
Okay.
A bit delayed from what you would expect,
but you hear it skid to a stop.
So it behaves normally aside from the sound thing
that is obviously happening.
So we're all in sync with ourselves,
but anything outside of us is out of sync.
So is the cart in sync with us too?
Like the squeaky wheel or does that have a delay?
It is intermittent,
but it does appear to have a delay as well.
But we don't, we're just extra loud,
like our footfalls are extra loud.
Correct, yeah.
So you're all looking around
and maybe even looking back to where you were walking,
the sound of that creaking wood picks up again.
As you're drawn back towards it,
it's always behind you.
It stops any time somebody turns and looks directly at it.
This time when you look back down the path,
you feel like the path has narrowed slightly.
Do we think we're...
You know, the night that we came,
we came into the woods, like is that woods?
Are we in that place now?
Feels, it feels very...
Fae-y.
Yeah.
The path isn't lined like it was.
You're right.
Different path, good point.
We can do, and I'm going to pull a staff out of the wagon
and I'm going to mark something on the road,
like make a clear marking, just like a T.
Okay.
I'm going to groove into the road and say, let's keep going.
And if we see that again,
maybe that would be a little bit of an indication.
And somebody just keep looking back.
Okay.
I position myself.
I'm like, I got to stop reading though.
Okay.
Take a break.
I'm just like sitting crisscross the back of this wagon,
just like hands on my fists.
Yeah.
As long as you're looking back, Alastair pulling you,
he's been awake for a surprising period of time.
So any minute now we can expect him to go down.
Yeah.
That's right.
You all carry forward and as long as you're looking back,
the sound of that creaking wood doesn't come back.
You carry along the path and you carry along
for another 45 minutes to an hour.
You haven't passed that T marking at all,
but coming up from the sides,
you see roots that begin emerging
from the sides of the path very slowly,
probably about 25, 30 feet ahead of where you are,
making their way slowly towards the center of the path.
Two or three to start,
but then you see there's movement coming from the foliage
and the brush alongside as well.
Um, the tree roots are being weird.
I'll add that to the list.
Are we okay to keep going?
Should we...
Look, I don't know if we're going to be able to.
Are the roots coming, like, because Alydin's facing backwards,
they're coming behind us, closing in,
or they're in front of us?
Or they're just surrounding us.
Yeah, let's make that make sense.
Yeah, you had originally seen them 25 to 30 feet ahead of you,
as previously described.
I didn't hear the 25 to 30 feet.
I'm sorry, I was trying to get my...
I was like, maybe my dagger can do something.
That's okay.
Blacked out.
But yeah, as Alydin calls back,
you realize now that it's more...
They're coming in from the side.
Yeah, it's more obvious from all around you.
You look to the sides,
and there's more of that creaking sound again,
and vines are beginning to weave themselves
across the path further ahead of you.
The roots still binding themselves,
almost trying to...
almost covering the path ahead of you.
Um...
I've never witnessed this on my travels.
How about you?
Well...
Well, it's a new one for me.
Hello?
A bigger cart?
That's not a problem,
and I'm gonna cast Enlarge on the cart
so that we can roll over these roots.
Now we got four-wheel drive, baby!
Yeah!
Okay, you cast Enlarge.
The cart grows in size.
Oh, my God!
Alistair...
Need some help now?
He's struggling a little bit.
As convenient as it is,
I don't know if I'm strong enough
to cast Enlarge on the cart
with Alydin inside of it.
Perhaps someone could give assistance here.
I hop out, too.
Oh, okay.
Alydin, you hop out,
and you feel one of these roots
rolling up over your foot.
Ah! Oh, no! No!
I give it a little, like...
Not a hard kick, but I...
Yeah, I kick it.
You kick it, and it recoils,
and another one moves past,
and you grasp at the wheels of the wagon.
No!
Okay, if you don't want us to come,
we're going somewhere,
so if you could just let us go.
Am I talking to Vines right now?
I don't know.
We've talked to weirder things.
I agree. If you understand me,
give me a sign.
Are the trees alive? Okay, wait.
Extra alive.
Are they extra alive?
Are they sentient?
Do we actually want to wait for Russ to do a middle?
Like, what was...
No, let's do our version
where he has to do inserts.
So we're already doing a middle,
and we don't even know it?
Exactly.
Oh, shit. Y'all caught us.
You caught us. Russ is away,
and the ding-dongs will play.
Ding-dongs will play!
That's right.
We're attempting this.
People in the arts got out of the car
and switched, like, driver and passenger.
Oh, wow.
I wonder if someone's teaching someone how to drive.
There's a real drama unfolding.
Well, they're obviously not listening
to Dumbgeons and Dragons while they drive.
That wouldn't be happening.
They'd be laughing.
They'd be enjoying each other's company more.
Exactly.
They would realize how much they need
to value each other's company.
That's the real takeaway of it all.
You know who we value?
All of our wonderful supporters.
That's true.
Too true.
They're amazing.
We got them over there on Discord,
in Patreon,
and if you are a patron,
you do get an episode dedicated to you.
Like Jay's patron.
Russ,
insert name here.
Alex Martin.
Thanks!
Alex Martin.
You're amazing.
We love you so much.
Alex Martin.
And I'm sure Russ is making a fun
play on your name,
because we're counting on him to do it,
because we love him and you.
He is the Atlas
supporting the world in this situation.
No pressure, Russ. We love you.
No pressure. Look at us
jumping into it, getting the middle out of the way.
We can't do things without you,
or we can't do without you.
Exactly.
Also Amy, I thought for sure when you said
they're on Discord, on Patreon,
and then I thought you were going to be like,
and we have special Discord channels for patrons.
Just landing it all.
You know, we just
love them and cherish
them and we love that they love
us and
there's just so much
loving and
cherishing.
But not outside your house, because those Yaris folks.
Still yelling? Nope, they're gone now.
They just needed to switch who was
driving. They got it figured out.
They got it figured out.
I hope. For their sake.
If you want to be as awesome as
Alex Martin, come join us
on Patreon. Patreon.com
slash dumb dragon cast, where
we have so many cool things.
A lot of cool things, extra episodes of stuff.
I'm sure there's some random one shots.
For sure.
There's a whole other game that Tom runs.
That's true.
That's very true.
Six seasons of that.
Crazy business.
All kinds of good stuff.
So join us like
Alex Martin.
But now let's get you back to the episode.
Heck yeah. Thank you.
Love you, bye.
We nailed that you guys.
Man, fucking money.
Did it.
You don't hear
any response.
The vines still, vines and roots
still continue to like weave
across this path. The vines
themselves up ahead of you have created
almost,
there's still
light that you can see through
to the other side, but they're creating
a wall in front of you.
Um, I wanna
I wanna take, I wanna use
my new present.
Okay.
And I wanna
like, cut at the wall that
it's trying to do.
Okay. Okay.
Make an attack roll.
Uh,
14. Not really
trying to
get it, like, and slash it
down. What are you trying to do with it?
When I hit it, I will
learn its
magical
school influencing it.
So you're stepping over these roots that
have carpeted the path in front of you.
Oh yeah, I'm just
hopscotching my way through this.
You get up to it and you stab
into it, and like there's this
Like, gently, like, gently.
Okay, you pour a poem into it. Yeah.
You gently caress it
with your new
tool. And
uh, there's this
ripple effect
that happens. And like the vines
themselves recoil.
You get
that it's not
a specific school
of magic. Which
triggers your
memory. Something that you
perhaps didn't remember about
your time in the fey.
Um, was actually getting to
the banjo man's house.
Like there was a point of
which you were in the
material plane.
You were taken, and then
you were there. You have
this flashback of you walking
through a
very forested area. And we see
the path that was
more described when Kavlaran
and Bizard
walked down, which was more of a cobblestone
path. You see
ruins all along
the perimeter.
Along the edge of it.
And you remember walking
with this figure beside you. You can't quite
place them. But you remember walking
along with this figure. And there was a very similar
like wall that was
up in front of you. And this figure
like waved this
wall away. And it's like it opened
up. And opened up onto
into this wide
open field where the house
stood in the center.
Oh, then I am.
You see me like
backing my shit up.
Like it's
with this memory, I'm
probably very
panicked
because that was
a horrifically scarring
experience. And so
I like backed my
closer
to Bizard.
I don't think
we should go through there. We shouldn't go through there.
Pause for a second.
And as
horrific as the memory
is, you get this faint
feeling
more than anything.
That the vines ahead of you
are not trying
to trap you
or
they're not hostile towards
you. But you feel like
there is some sort of protective
nature about them.
They're trying to prevent you
from going further.
Do I get the feeling like
they're protecting us or they're protecting
what's
past it?
I would think more the former
is the feeling that you get.
I don't think we're
supposed to go this way.
I think they're keeping us
out for a reason.
Okay.
You all right? You look a little
shaken.
Yeah, I just, when I
went up
to them, I didn't
remember being taken by the banjo man
and that was
nice. But I
just remembered walking
up to a wall of vines
and
them just being waved away
and then the house was there.
So.
Oh.
You don't think the
house is on the other side of where we are
right now though. Do you think that?
Oh, it better not be. I don't know. Didn't you burn
that thing to the ground?
Yeah. Yeah, we did.
But
I mean, is this just, could
the people leaving Lingersville
like put up a ward
or something so that people wouldn't go back
because of whatever happened, which
is what we're trying to find out about?
Is this a turn around and go the other way
situation or
we know we shouldn't go here, but we're going to go
any way situation. What do we think?
Definitely seems like a place we know we
shouldn't go to, but kind of have to
and. Yeah. Yeah.
So.
Well.
If it's not
threatening us and it's trying
to keep us out of there, then
maybe try
letting it know.
Know and command it in the
same way that you saw. Emulate
is what I'm trying to get around to. Yeah.
Because you said they like
shazam.
They like waved it away.
Yeah. Do you want,
do you feel comfortable doing that?
This is going to be like
the cows.
OK, I'll try
and do whatever you like. Amy
and Alydin have a lot of trauma
related. Yeah. And
that's understandable. Just wave
at those wines, those vines.
Yeah.
Wave at the wines.
Wave at the wines, everybody.
Would you would you like somebody to come stand
with you? Would that make you feel more
empowered?
Yeah. Yeah. I
gladly do. I would gladly stand
with you. You have.
He holds out his quill.
You have my quill.
And my sword.
And my hammer.
You know I'm here.
All right.
We got you.
I mean,
you're a champion. You're a fighter.
I'm trying to focus.
We're all in your corner.
And
Alydin just whispers.
We're OK.
Thanks, though. And waves waves
her hand like swoosh.
Thanks, but no.
Yeah. So
just so I get the picture, you're not
holding anything. You're just
gesturing like you saw.
Like I saw in my vision.
My memory.
Everybody else and through squinted eyes, Alydin,
you see like there's
there's a hesitation
that you can sense from
these vines.
And then after a brief moment, they don't
part the same way that
you saw, but they
pull back and create
this doorway for you.
The carpet
of roots that have grabbed hold
of the wagon
slowly release
and make a path that
goes through the wall that
was created in front of you.
OK, thank you.
Good job, Alydin.
Yeah.
That was great.
And no spooky
dream house. So that's a win.
Yeah. What do we see? Just more forest?
More forest.
You actually see that the forest
kind of comes to
a bit of a clearing up ahead.
So you see some light. You don't see
it's not the same house.
It's more of a hill that
wraps up, not wraps
up, a hill that moves
up and then you see some
light parting through some of the trees. But yeah, definitely
not the same clearing
and house situation that you saw before.
That was pretty
exciting. I'm glad we were all there for you, Alydin.
I'm just going to
Alistair passes
out onto the path in
front of him. OK, I can lift him, but I can't
lift him up into this wagon now. It's way too high.
I got you. Oh, sorry.
We don't need to add brake concentration.
No, we throw him over like a rag
doll.
You threw him up as I made it smaller
and just extra falling.
He goes over and
whoops, poor dude.
Oh, bad timing.
You get Alistair back up
into the regularly sized wagon
and carry on and you move up
this hill and you
get to the top of it.
And as you
crest over it, you see
just like this
plume of smoke coming
up from some of the trees up
ahead. Like from a chimney
or like from a forest fire?
Yeah, how concentrated
is this plume? Does it smell like tires?
More like Vancouver Island
garbage fire. Oh, OK, so
like tires. Nailed it.
Yeah, so a burn pile. Got it.
A burn pile up through trees is
what you see. Yeah.
But you see that.
It's tough to tell
exact distance, but
if you had
a straight shot to it, you feel like you could get
there in like 20 to 30 minutes.
And it's coming in the direction that the path
keeps going or a different direction?
Yeah, more or
less. Like you don't know
which way the path kind of winds through this,
but it's directly more or
less in front of you with the way you're facing
right now and in the direction
you continue to walk.
You carry along the path and
everybody make a
person, everybody's head zones. What's
everybody's passive perception?
Ten.
Twelve.
Fourteen.
Oh my God. What? Cav, get out of
here.
He's too busy not working. When he wants to.
He's just looking around. That's right.
If it's something Cav's interested
in, he's all in.
It has to be an organic experience too.
It can't be told by a boss. That's right.
That's right. Cav,
you're, everybody's
focused on the path, checking
things around them. You hear
from off in the trees
and you even catch sight
of what is very clear
to you of a large
animal.
It's tough to tell exactly what it is,
but based on the
cadence of the steps,
you're uncertain if they are in fact
delayed, but it's a very
lumbering cadence that you hear.
Make a nature
roll for me before
you reveal anything.
I can do that.
Ooh, a minus two
to nature. That's an eleven.
He's a city boy.
He is a city boy. Cav's a
city boy. He's traveled. He's
camped. Lord Harrison has taken him out
camping a couple times.
Their idea of camping was not
camping though. No, of course not,
but you've been in the wilderness at least
for a moment. You've seen trees and you've read
at least five books. Exactly. One of them had to be about
nature. I mean, twenty percent chance.
Jack London's Call of the Wild, I think,
is what he was one of them.
But you see this animal
before anybody else does, and
you get the distinct sense
that this could be a bear,
making its way closer
to the path that you're walking on.
Do I get the impression that it's
like coming straight for us?
Or is it like if we
make ourselves quiet
and don't get in its way,
it will just like mosey on around us?
Make an insight roll.
Is this Tom or Cav?
Because that's a bad idea.
We need to be quiet
and sneak up on it. We've got to be loud
or scared away.
It's okay.
That's why we have Bonwyn.
Tom also has not been in the woods.
Free rug.
What do you mean? Come on.
That is a fifteen
on the insight roll. As nature
worthy as you are, you get the
sense that it is, whether it
knows you're there or not, it is
walking towards the path, kind of
intersecting with where your friends are walking.
Tom knows a thing or two about bears.
I didn't mean to call him out. A couple.
Fine.
Yeah, I'll give everyone
well, okay, first off,
I am going to look for like any
kind of like rock
or any surface like that that I can
hit with my hammer and create some
noise with.
And then after I do that,
I'll explain to everyone
what I'm doing.
So everybody else hears
behind you, around you,
this loud sound
of hammer hitting this
this large
stone that is on the side
of the that you find on the side of the path
draws everybody's attention
back to you.
And Cav, as that happens,
you see that this
the figure of this animal
stops moving.
And you can't see
it directly because of all the shadow
that's being cast. But like you get the
sense that it's turning straight towards
you. Cav, you okay?
I know
it is a strong hammer.
You just want to check it out?
You gave me a heart attack.
I just thought everyone should know
that there is a giant bear
coming our way. And I was hoping
to maybe
scare it off. Okay.
Okay. Okay.
Oh, it's coming right for us.
You hear this low rumbling
growl as this
hulking
figure like pushes through
the trees. You see some smaller trees
begin to like snap as it
pushes around it.
What do you do? You realize it's going to get
here quicker than we
than we hear it, right?
That's right.
Was that hammer blow
in right time? Like,
are we still in normal time?
It would have been twice as loud maybe like
our footsteps. It was
quite loud.
And there was like this echoing delay
to it. Okay.
We got to be loud
right and big and scare it.
We're a bigger bear.
Right?
I think so. That's what I heard.
Stand up on the cart. Yeah, stand up on the cart.
Everybody yell real loud.
We're a
big bear.
If this thing doesn't stop, I'm casting
Web like right before it gets to us
to try to trap it down.
It doesn't stop. And then we'll eat well tonight.
And right before
you cast Web,
some light
goes through the trees
and Bizarre, you get
like a pretty
clear picture of this
bear. And it is a bear. And it looks
like twice the size
of the biggest grizzly bear you could picture.
Oh shit.
And you get
a weird feeling because
all along like the joints
and the back of this bear,
you feel like you see
like mushrooms
growing out of it.
Okay.
And is it being aggressive or is it just
like plodding up to us?
So far it's just, it's plodding.
It has picked up pace a little bit
since the loud camera shot. But it hasn't done a like
Yeah, it doesn't look like it's doing
like attack stance. Okay.
Yeah. It's more just like
what are you doing? Yeah.
Why are you guys killing? Guys, I don't want to
kill a bear. Like we're in the woods. I just wanted
to go away. I don't
think that's really, I mean, it was
a bear maybe.
Do you see the mushrooms? The
the fungus
through the light. You now see it
stand up on its back legs
and you see these
wounds that are just
overflowing with these mushrooms
and it lets out this
you can see its face now that like
it steps out into the light
and it lets out this
blood curdling roar
towards you as the trees themselves
shake
and you hear them like parting.
That creaking noise
comes back as they pull themselves
away from this bear now.
And it's standing
probably eight, ten feet
tall.
And it lands down on its four
paws and begins
charging towards you.
Shit!
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
Babyok. 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 Babyok,
Angaron Kierzen, Perry
Matey, Count Waterflame, Jacob
Madden, Old School Gamer D,
Craig Zeiss, and L.A. Branton.
Dumbgeons & Dragons is a Patreon
supported show and because of our Patreon
supporters we get to keep telling
bigger, weirder, more
heartfelt stories in this world
we love. And honestly,
that's something we will never take for granted.
Join us today at Patreon.com
slash Dumb Dragon Cast and help
us tell the stories that you
want to hear. We hope to see you
over there. Have a great week
and we'll talk to you soon. Dumbgeons & Dragons
is a Dumb Dragons production.