Chos3n - Rule Two: Always Rule of Threes

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the wonderful island of Ruhn. In this little miniseries where we're playing tunnel goons, it's a rhyme. Last session, our heroes Ant, Tesselly and Finn, each receiving a letter summoning them to the home of the sky reader. They all met each other in a canyon en route. And while they were in that canyon, they found some creatures called stormlings that have been plaguing the land as of late. It's not good. If you want more details, you could go listen to the first episode. Anyway, if you want more information, listen back to the first episode. I think it's pretty good. I haven't edited it yet as I'm recording this, but I'm sure it turns out great. I had a good time and that's what matters. So, yeah, our three heroes have just arrived at the home of the sky reader. And we'll just kind of jump right in. You guys are at the foot of these steep stone stairs looking up to a yellow door. [00:01:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I think Ant is just really taking it all in. It's a big structure. Don't have houses like that out in the dunes of Ruhn. So, yeah, just kind of like impressed. Looking to see if there's a weather vane on top of the roof. [00:01:42] Speaker B: Sure. Is there a weather vein? I think you're kind of like squinting and looking for something like that. You don't see one, oddly enough. But it also makes sense. It is kind of under a pretty big rocky overhang. So it probably is impacted a little differently by the weather than like a freestanding, like prairie home would be or a dune house. A dune home would be dune home. The weather vein is what makes it a dune home. [00:02:10] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:02:16] Speaker B: So, yeah, you don't see one up there. I will also say though, there you see, like, there's a balcony kind of on the one of the upper levels. It's a three story building. You see a couple of telescopes sort of facing out. And as you kind of look and you can peer through a couple of these tall, like, lodge pole pine trees, you can see the ocean through the trees. Have you ever seen the ocean before, Ant? [00:02:43] Speaker C: Notion of sand. [00:02:45] Speaker B: Yeah. So that's crazy. You're like, that's a lot of water there. Finn, have you ever seen the ocean? [00:02:53] Speaker D: Nah, I think he just was looking out and he was like about to like start knocking and then he sees the ocean. He's like, what is that, like blue grass or something? [00:03:10] Speaker B: That. [00:03:11] Speaker A: That's water. That's the ocean. Oh, you never seen that? [00:03:17] Speaker D: Oh, okay. No, no, No, I haven't. [00:03:22] Speaker A: Now you have. [00:03:25] Speaker D: I have. You learn something new every day. [00:03:29] Speaker C: Kind of reminds me of home. It's just like rolling dunes, but blue. [00:03:37] Speaker D: Oh. Oh, wait. Where are you from? [00:03:40] Speaker C: Oh, the. The dunes of Ruhn. [00:03:43] Speaker D: Oh, the dunes. [00:03:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I have. [00:03:46] Speaker D: I have, like, a second cousin out there. That's crazy. [00:03:49] Speaker C: What's their name? [00:03:51] Speaker D: Do you know Zane? [00:03:54] Speaker C: Can't say that I do. [00:03:56] Speaker D: No. [00:03:56] Speaker C: Maybe Al or Al or Tumble. Maybe they hung out with them more. [00:04:00] Speaker D: Maybe. Huh. Small world. Small. [00:04:06] Speaker C: It's actually kind of big, actually. [00:04:08] Speaker D: Oh. [00:04:10] Speaker C: It took me quite a while to get here. Where'd you come from? Where'd you come from? And point over to Tesla. [00:04:15] Speaker A: Oh, I came from the north this time. We were done with our cycle up the river, so I decided to use that to come down here. Probably should have came down here when we were at the bottom of the river, but what's a little journey, you know? [00:04:32] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I get that. It. It wouldn't be fun if you were already here. Yeah. [00:04:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:38] Speaker C: Should we knock. [00:04:41] Speaker B: From. I want to hear where Finn's from. [00:04:43] Speaker C: Finn, you're from north? Up north. [00:04:46] Speaker D: I'm from the wet. I'm from the city to the west, actually. You know, like the big city, the big town to the west. [00:04:53] Speaker C: That's. Oh, I actually don't, but. [00:04:56] Speaker D: Oh, cool. You should join the city. Yeah, there's some bumping parties out there. I think you'd have a good time. Not that you wouldn't. He turns to Tesley. Not that you wouldn't. [00:05:07] Speaker A: I've been to the city, been to the desert. [00:05:09] Speaker D: Oh, you've been up. Oh, you've seen a lot. That's cool. [00:05:15] Speaker A: Y'all know the caravan? [00:05:16] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. We have to dig you guys out every year. [00:05:19] Speaker A: Well, that's. That's what? [00:05:22] Speaker D: That. That's my people. [00:05:23] Speaker A: That's where I'm from. That's who I am. [00:05:28] Speaker D: Nice. It's pretty cool. [00:05:31] Speaker C: We're really taking a all over kind of approach to this. [00:05:36] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:05:38] Speaker C: Invite. [00:05:39] Speaker D: There's the dunes to the east, the canon. Now the forest to the north, the city to the west. And we're all in the south. [00:05:50] Speaker C: Wow. [00:05:51] Speaker D: Who would have thought? [00:05:53] Speaker C: It's crazy. [00:05:53] Speaker D: Rule of threes. And he's gonna knock three times. [00:05:59] Speaker B: Awesome. You hear a bit of, like, a scramble on the other side of the door as the door is thrown open, and you see an older woman. She looks to be in her, like, mid-50s. She has kind of weathered skin. It looks like she spent a lot of time in the sun, perhaps on her balcony. You Reading this guy. Mayhaps she has kind of cinnamon colored hair, like that light kind of warm brown color. There are a couple of streaks of white that run through it. She has really big kind of like googly eye glasses a little bit. She kind of looks at all of you, and you see her eyes are like kind of a weirdly, like deep blue color with flecks of lighter, either blue or maybe even white altogether. It kind of reminds you of the night sky a little bit. And she kind of takes each of you in and she kind of counts on her fingers and she says, okay. [00:07:01] Speaker E: Great, you're all here. [00:07:02] Speaker B: Please come on in. And she opens the door and gestures you all inside of the sky Reader's home. As you kind of step in, the floor is a marvelous blue color. These tiles kind of spanning all over. And you can see like a map of the stars has been like mosaic into this floor. It looks like it charts through the different seasons. And you can see like huge shelves along the sides of this room lined with books and scrolls and tomes and all kinds of trinkets as well. You don't see any kind of staircase, but on the far wall you see a platform that seems to have some kind of pulley system. And it looks like that is how she reaches the upper levels of her home here. She kind of gestures you in. There's a fireplace along one of the walls. [00:07:52] Speaker E: And she says, please come in, sit down. [00:07:54] Speaker B: Can I get any of you some. [00:07:56] Speaker E: Tea or anything before we begin? [00:08:00] Speaker A: Oh, yes, please. Jesse's in awe of this place. [00:08:07] Speaker C: One for you and tea would be great. Yeah, thank you. [00:08:11] Speaker E: Tea, great. And for you? [00:08:14] Speaker D: Just some water, please. [00:08:17] Speaker B: Sure, not a problem. She kind of leaves you to sit and she kind of scuttles off towards a small little kitchen area. It looks like she's had a kettle on the stove, maybe in wait, maybe for herself. But she quickly pours a couple of. [00:08:32] Speaker E: Cups of tea, pours a nice crispy. [00:08:34] Speaker B: Cool glass of water, and brings it over on a tray. Before setting it down on a little coffee table. [00:08:41] Speaker E: She says, so I'm assuming you all know why you're here. [00:08:47] Speaker C: A letter told me to come by. [00:08:50] Speaker E: Yes, yes, wonderful, great. Yes, I did send out those three letters. It seems like everything is all set and ready for the prophecy. How exciting. How are you all feeling? [00:09:06] Speaker A: Grand, right? [00:09:07] Speaker C: Which prophecy? [00:09:10] Speaker E: Oh, the prophecy. [00:09:14] Speaker B: She kind of. [00:09:18] Speaker E: One moment, and she. [00:09:19] Speaker B: Kind of shuffles off to one of these shelves. She's rooting around for scrolls. [00:09:26] Speaker E: Yes, there will be a chosen one that has come to save the day and rid the darkness from our skies. Is that ringing a bell to you? [00:09:35] Speaker C: Oh, that prophecy. Yeah. [00:09:39] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:09:41] Speaker B: She is going to hold the scroll out. [00:09:44] Speaker E: She's gonna say, for the Chosen One. [00:09:49] Speaker D: I go to grab it. [00:09:51] Speaker C: Oh, I go to grab it. [00:09:53] Speaker A: Seeing the other two grab it, I'm like, okay. And I go to grab it. [00:09:59] Speaker B: She kind of, like, looks at all three of you and just kind. Kind of nods. [00:10:03] Speaker E: Great. [00:10:03] Speaker B: Awesome. She'll sit down and kind of look. [00:10:06] Speaker A: At you all, look back, look at the others. [00:10:12] Speaker D: I. I think you guys misheard. She said. She said the Chosen One. So I think you guys gotta let go. [00:10:21] Speaker C: I mean, I'm not gonna fight you. We already. We already did that. But, like. [00:10:25] Speaker D: Oh, no, I'm not gonna fight you. [00:10:26] Speaker C: I think. Okay. [00:10:26] Speaker D: Yeah, we're gonna fight. [00:10:29] Speaker C: Cool. Yeah. No, I just definitely thought I was kind of gearing up for being the Chosen One. [00:10:40] Speaker A: You didn't know the prophecy. [00:10:43] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:10:44] Speaker C: I was thinking there was maybe another one. You know, I wasn't ready for the whole prophecy thing. I'm young, 20. Got a whole lifetime for prophecies, right? You know, hopefully. [00:11:00] Speaker E: I believe you are, Finn. You seem a little confused. [00:11:05] Speaker D: Yeah. There's a Chosen. That's me. You said me, right? [00:11:16] Speaker E: Well, I did say that the chosen prophecies can be quite fickle. [00:11:23] Speaker B: And she's gonna kind of take the scroll from you all. She's gonna spread it open on the. For everyone to see. And in front of you reads the prophecy. Each of you, at some point in your life, have seen some of these lines before. But to each of you, you've never seen this much prophecy before. But as she unfurls this scroll, it. [00:11:49] Speaker E: Says, a hero born of blood will rise and set foot on path unknown. This hero will take up their duty, except change from child to grown, armed with determination and grit. Their destiny was sown. For evil cannot prevail at all against a hero whose light has shone. [00:12:10] Speaker B: She kind of sits back. [00:12:13] Speaker E: Is that not about you all? [00:12:17] Speaker D: You. [00:12:18] Speaker E: As I said that prophecies can be fickle. We're not really sure who the actual Chosen One is, but, I mean, if you all fit the criteria, then one of you is bound to be Chosen One. [00:12:32] Speaker D: I'm not good with two and three, but, like, one is one, right? No offense. [00:12:40] Speaker C: You guys are lovely. [00:12:41] Speaker D: You guys are great. Very capable. [00:12:42] Speaker C: Before, you did say where there's one, there could be two or three. That sounds like something a Chosen One would say, but, like I am going to point out, that was straight from you, my man. Wise words. [00:12:57] Speaker A: That Is true. You did say that. Something along those lines. [00:13:00] Speaker D: Anyway, there's three ones. [00:13:04] Speaker E: Or maybe there is just one. We're not again. I mean, a hero born of blood will rise, set foot on path of known. I believe Finn, that was. That one was you? [00:13:16] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:13:17] Speaker E: Is that not what you've been. [00:13:18] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:13:19] Speaker E: Told and read. [00:13:20] Speaker D: That's why I'm here. [00:13:21] Speaker E: And a hero taking up their duty, accepting change from child to grown. I mean, that should be lines that Tesley found, correct? [00:13:33] Speaker B: That's right. [00:13:34] Speaker E: Armed with determination and grit. I mean, you look quite gritty. Not saying that you're dirty, but I just mean desert. That's hard, you know? Determination. And if the prophecy fits for each of you individually, then surely, like I said, one of you is bound to be the chosen one. [00:13:53] Speaker A: No offense. Do you not have a way to tell which of us is. [00:13:59] Speaker B: No, not. [00:14:01] Speaker E: Not quite. The stars, they move and they change. And the texts move and change too. I suppose I can read them one night and the next they'll be different. Fate seems to be a tumultuous thing, is it not? [00:14:19] Speaker A: Indeed. [00:14:21] Speaker E: That being said, a little more about this grand quest. [00:14:25] Speaker B: She kind of gets up. She seems very flighty. She reminds you of a bird almost, fluttering from place to place around her home here. And she sort of creeps behind a corner for a moment before returning with a large potted. Well, it's not that large a potted plant. The pot is probably the shapes, similar shapes, like a. Like a big grapefruit sized pot. And in it is a single stemmed flower that has yet to bloom. It's got sort of orange, if you've ever seen like a. I think it's. [00:15:06] Speaker E: A lily about to bloom. [00:15:09] Speaker B: It's kind of that like long, narrow, the petals all coming to like a point at the end. She's gonna set this down on the coffee table on top of the prophecy laying before you, and she's just gonna. [00:15:25] Speaker E: Say, so this is also part of the prophecy. It's not written down, but this is a very special kind of flower that in times of old, before Rune was really Rune, our predecessors used this to chase away the darkness. I'm not quite sure how it works, but in the stories it would glow and it could cut through those dark shadows and those dark clouds like nothing else we know can. In my mind, I think it makes sense to try and get it someplace high, to chase away all of the gloom. But I mean, your guess from here on out, I suppose, is as good as mine is. [00:16:10] Speaker B: She takes his seat back. The only sounds in Here are kind of the crackling of the fire in the fireplace and the tiniest hint of pitter patter as rain starts to lightly fall. [00:16:24] Speaker C: I mean, this is great. I mean, I was really stressed about being the chosen one, so the fact that there's three of us, this is fantastic news, in my opinion. And I mean, we just gotta take care of a plant. Not. I will say, like, desert flowers are real finicky. Too much water dead, not enough water dead. So hopefully this one's not that finicky. I don't know anyone got some plant knowledge better than desert plants? [00:17:03] Speaker A: Yeah, a little bit. [00:17:06] Speaker C: Your book say anything about this plant, this flower? [00:17:11] Speaker A: I don't know about this book here, but plenty back in our tree. Sure. [00:17:17] Speaker B: Will you make me an erudite. [00:17:23] Speaker A: 10? [00:17:25] Speaker E: A 10? [00:17:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, this isn't the first time you've heard of this, but it also is like a pretty, pretty niche kind of thing. You don't know a whole lot of information about this kind of flower, but the fact that you also are familiar with the myth and the knowledge of it is a little comforting in this moment. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Should be fine. None we can't handle. [00:17:49] Speaker E: Great. [00:17:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:53] Speaker E: Any other questions? [00:17:55] Speaker C: So just. Just get it somewhere high and then that's it. [00:18:02] Speaker E: Well, I think that makes a lot of sense. You know, like a. Like a big beacon of sorts to kind of reach all of the shadows in the distance, perhaps. I mean, there's the tall mountains kind of in central ruin. That might make a good spot for it. But I mean, if you have a better idea, I mean, you are the one. Is that the prophecy foretold. So I would trust your gut on this. [00:18:32] Speaker D: Trust our gut. [00:18:33] Speaker C: I mean, that makes sense to me. You could see far. You could see storm clouds. [00:18:41] Speaker D: Hey, Meg, is there a roll I could make to try and remember the location of what maybe like the highest peak in those central mountains would be. [00:18:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that would probably be erudite. [00:18:56] Speaker D: Coolio. [00:18:58] Speaker B: I'm gonna say it's a difficulty eight. It is not that difficult. [00:19:01] Speaker A: Cool. [00:19:03] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. I rolled two sixes, so it's a 13 total. [00:19:09] Speaker B: Whoa. Nicely done. [00:19:11] Speaker C: That's like a Nat 20 right there. It's a perfect score. [00:19:17] Speaker B: Yeah. The tallest mountain that you know of is called Winnet Peak. W I n N E T T. [00:19:28] Speaker D: Finn will look at the other two and say, okay, well, I know Winnet Peak is the, like, tallest mountain, so if we need to get it up high, probably like that. [00:19:45] Speaker C: Yeah, that. That sounds great. I'm not super versed in mountains. [00:19:54] Speaker A: I'm not. [00:19:55] Speaker D: I'm not. I'm not really that versed either. I just. I. I spend a lot of time reading in the past few months. [00:20:05] Speaker A: I can get y'all through the mountains as well as I can. [00:20:09] Speaker C: That's great. Do we have to set off right now? Can we, like, not go in the night? I think that would probably. [00:20:18] Speaker E: Oh. If you'd like to rest here for the night, you are more than welcome to. Sure. [00:20:22] Speaker C: Thank you. [00:20:23] Speaker E: Yes. Let me see if I have any extra pillows and such. [00:20:28] Speaker B: She kind of goes over to her little platform elevator thing and starts kind of. Yeah. Pulling up out of sight to the upper floors, leaving the three of you some time to discuss anything, if you'd like. [00:20:46] Speaker C: I think I'm going to gently move the potted plant away from the words so we can see the full, like, words of the. The prophecy and kind of be like. So you all saw some of these words? [00:21:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:09] Speaker A: Come across them before. [00:21:11] Speaker D: Yeah. My parents were pretty psyched to have a chosen one for a son. Oh, gosh, what am I gonna tell them? There's three of us. [00:21:23] Speaker C: Just tell them that you're the chosen one. They don't have to know. [00:21:28] Speaker D: Lie to my parents. [00:21:30] Speaker C: It's not a lie. You are a chosen one. [00:21:33] Speaker D: It's a. It's a fib. It's a. Not whole truth, and that's a lie. [00:21:37] Speaker A: I don't think that's a lie. I mean, if you are the chosen one, that's. [00:21:45] Speaker D: That Finn is like, having. You know when you can see somebody. [00:21:50] Speaker C: Thinking really hard, the gears are going. [00:21:54] Speaker D: Yeah, the gears are turning. And he's like. He's like. I don't know. I mean, I'd be dumb to not listen to the chosen ones. I. I think I need to get some rest, and then we'll set out. [00:22:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:15] Speaker D: Tomorrow. [00:22:15] Speaker C: I mean, I guess the. The sooner the better, right? [00:22:19] Speaker D: Yeah, sooner the better. Yeah. [00:22:24] Speaker B: There's kind of a whomp as, like, a large duvet is dropped from the third story down by the, like, kind of elevator thing. [00:22:33] Speaker E: She can say, oh, sorry. I probably should have warned you. Here come some pillows and such as. [00:22:39] Speaker B: Some, like, A more kind of, like, sleeping paraphernalia makes its way down with the little, like, poof, kind of thump to the ground. As the sky reader kind of cranks her way back down. [00:22:54] Speaker E: She's gonna say, I unfortunately don't have any, like, beds or anything beyond the one that I sleep in, but I'm sure that this nice rug will be comfortable and we can get a couple of Layers of blankets, so it shouldn't be too firm. [00:23:10] Speaker A: Oh, this is correct. [00:23:11] Speaker C: That's what I'm. That's what I'm used to. Yeah. This is great. [00:23:14] Speaker D: Yeah, Wonderful. [00:23:16] Speaker E: I'm so happy that you are here. All of ruin is depending on you. [00:23:23] Speaker C: See, that almost said Finn. Sorry. Ant kind of, you know, scratches his head, like, kind of a bit stressed about that situation. He's like, yeah, yeah, for sure. Is there a way I could maybe sit out on the balcony for a bit? I have my. My weather vane. I like to kind of just take in what might be the weather coming. [00:24:02] Speaker E: Oh, sure. Yes. There's kind of a crank. [00:24:05] Speaker B: She'll kind of like, direct you over to the. The platform that you can kind of like, you know, like your way up to the third floor where the back. The balcony is, and she'll kind of lead you to it. She will retire to her room if. [00:24:21] Speaker E: There are no further questions from anyone else. [00:24:24] Speaker B: But as Ant is out studying his weathervane, what are Tessely and Finn up to? Are you guys just kind of laying out a. Like a pseudo mattress? What's kind of the. What's kind of the vibe here? [00:24:40] Speaker A: Kicking our feet, playing mash. [00:24:47] Speaker D: Finn's a girl's girl. [00:24:52] Speaker B: Slay king. [00:24:54] Speaker D: I think Finn. It's weird because he. He's not like, he's not upset at anyone, but there's sort of this, like, I think where. Where Ant was so, like, apprehensive about this whole prophecy thing. Finn is like the completely opposite direction. Like, he's been training for this. He's been getting ready for this. This has been, like, fulfilling this prophecy has been his life for the past, like, literally 18 years. And I think that to sort of. It's like when you're in. When you're an only child and then you find out that you have, like, a sibling that your parents are adopting, and it's like, oh, like, that's great for the kid. I'm so glad that they're here. But it's that same, like. Like that internal. Like that. This is like my. This is like, my thing. And like, what does it look like when someone else has your thing? So I think that he's setting up the. He's very much in his own head. He's helping set up the mattress. And if Tesselly's helping, he's helping her. And I think he's gonna kind of like, go over to one of the small bookshelves and see if he can find, like, some sort of, like, fiction book. And is Gonna pull it and say, tessly, have you read this one before? [00:26:21] Speaker A: Have I read that one before? [00:26:25] Speaker B: I'll give you the title and you can tell me if you have. It's called the Gargoyle in the Pit. [00:26:31] Speaker A: Oh, that's cute. Yes. A ten says yes. [00:26:37] Speaker B: Okay, great. [00:26:41] Speaker D: Is it good? [00:26:43] Speaker A: Yeah, as good as all the other ones by that author. Not quite my favorite, but it's good. [00:27:00] Speaker D: You got a pretty cool book. What sort of stuff you got in there? Just, like, stuff from your, like, travels? [00:27:07] Speaker A: Yeah, essentially. Yeah. I mean, our whole purpose. My caravan. We travel around the world, gather world knowledge, information, bring it back to Grand Library and said, I'll do it all over again. And I thought that my solo journey be a great opportunity to get a little bit more. So it's everything I've come across and learned that I haven't encountered yet. [00:27:47] Speaker D: Cool. It's gonna be pretty useful on this journey. [00:27:52] Speaker A: Yeah, hopefully. [00:27:58] Speaker D: And then I think Finn's gonna awkwardly sort of like, shuffle under some blankets and. And start reading the book for the rest of the night until he eventually conks out. Unfortunately, he is a snorer. [00:28:13] Speaker A: That's fun. [00:28:19] Speaker B: Awesome. Well, this conversation is happening. Ant on the balcony, feeling a little. Maybe a little lighter than when he first set out. [00:28:28] Speaker E: Tell me what's going through his mind. [00:28:30] Speaker B: And what he's kind of got going. [00:28:32] Speaker E: On with his weather vane. [00:28:34] Speaker C: Yeah. So Ant kind of has taken the. The weather vane, and the little, like, rock stand that it goes in has gone up to the balcony in almost in, like, a prayer fashion. Ant has put the weather vane up on the kind of railing of the balcony and kind of does a few prayers in the direction of each cardinal direction. Taking a moment to figure out which way is, you know, east and west. Does kind of three prayers in each direction, starting, you know, north, east, south, west. And then just looking at the. The weather. Vanessa, and pulls out from his. His kind of poncho cloak situation. Poncho with a hood cloak, a little notepad, and just marks the. The date and what the. The weather vane is doing. Which. What's the weather vane doing? Ref, what's the weather vane doing? [00:29:52] Speaker B: Great question. I love it. I think that as you're kind of sitting there and looking at it and you are saying your prayers, I think that for a moment, you kind of hear a squeaking sound as it starts to kind of turn gently, indicating that the wind is blowing northward toward Winnipeak, which feels pretty indicative. And as you're kind of sitting there thinking about, you know, your journey Here, the day that you've had has this weathervane prayer. I mean, this is a big part of who Ant is. Right. His background is as a weather priest. Priest, right. Yeah. So what kind of are Ant's like, thoughts and beliefs in seeing kind of that come to pass? Like with the stormlings and the clouds in the distance, does that impact his faith at all? [00:30:55] Speaker C: So I think with the weathervane, right, as long as it is kind of swaying gently in one direction, that's a positive. If that it's spinning, then we have issues. That's when it's like all hands on deck. We got a storm's a brewing. They're on us. So I think, yeah, it's like doubly positive because 1. It seems like without that weather vane going crazy, that that was probably just maybe a. A random kind of one off of the attack with the stormlings, not like a big, you know, deluge of them incoming and to that kind of like, northerly wind. Yeah, Seems like. Seems like that's what fates. Fate's saying, so. And I think it's. It's always nice the. The weathervane has like a little lizard on it instead of the usual, like, crow. It's got like a desert lizard as the top. [00:31:59] Speaker B: I love it. [00:32:00] Speaker C: Yeah. And so I. I think it's also in some ways helping him kind of connect back with. With home. This is kind of the first time he's been out of the desert. And it is all very different around here. Very cold. He definitely, definitely shivers after a man. He's like, actually. Which is not me ever. So this is great. I'm playing a character that gets cold. This is wild. [00:32:26] Speaker B: Wow. [00:32:26] Speaker C: It's truly. This is RP right here. [00:32:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:30] Speaker C: And yeah, so no method acting. [00:32:32] Speaker B: Raw talent. [00:32:35] Speaker C: So, yeah, I think he's. But liking being able to look out. Does the balcony that looks out back where like we had come in, not out over the ocean? Right. Or is it a wraparound balcony? [00:32:50] Speaker B: So it currently is facing out towards, like, the direction that you came. It does wrap around and it looks like it does go around toward the ocean side as well. You can see all these, like, kind of telescopes, and some of them seem to like, go up and like, to the top of the rest of the thing. And if you were to, like, peek in through the eyepiece, you could see like, from the top of the. Like, if you were laying on the top of this hill up to the night sky, there are telescopes that kind of go all directions. But you can also just walk around the Balcony as well. [00:33:25] Speaker C: Yeah. I think after Ant kind of finishes his little nightly ritual with the weather vane, definitely takes a moment to look out over the. The ocean and kind of reflects how with the darkness of the ocean and kind of the. The flatness, it does actually have a. A pretty large resemblance to a flat, open plane of. Of sand. If you're really not realizing where you are. And he kind of just is trying to figure out, like, what does that mean? You know, it's deep. I feel like there's something there. It's gotta mean something. Yeah, but it's been a long day, and so after a little bit, I think he's gonna kind of head back inside and. And get ready to take a snooze. [00:34:21] Speaker B: Yeah. I think as you're kind of packing up your weathervane back into your bag, you know, very orderly to make sure it doesn't get bent or damaged in any way. There's gotta watch out for the mirror. [00:34:31] Speaker C: That'S in there as well. Can't ding the mirror with my metal weather vane. [00:34:38] Speaker B: You're kind of alerted out toward the ocean side as you see kind of a flash of lightning in the distance. That gentle rain that was happening while you were inside is still going on. It's a little. Little damp, a little rainy. But in the distance, you see kind of those dark storm clouds. And though you had a nice moment out, it does remind you that there are stakes here. And it is. It is closer than expected, maybe, as you kind of gear up and head in for the night. Tesley, while Ant is up on the roof and Finn is snoring away, I'm assuming the journal is coming out at some point in time, but beyond that. [00:35:32] Speaker E: What is she up to and having. [00:35:34] Speaker B: This kind of quiet time with herself? [00:35:36] Speaker A: Yeah, definitely pondering all that she's learned in one way or another. Thinking about this part prophecy, which learning she's only ever read part of, and what all of that can mean coming here and finding two chosen ones, which is very strange. Not what she anticipated. And I think that while Finn was getting the book from the shelf and curling up with it was probably while she was, like, journaling all of, like, things that, like, updates things that I missed, and then tucks it under a pillow and lays down and tries to get to sleep. The snoring's not bothering her, really. She's a communal sleeping, so no big deal, really. He's trying to fall asleep. [00:36:44] Speaker B: Does Tesley feel, with regards to finding out that there are other chosen ones involved? Like, is that a relief like it is for Ant, or is it a bit disappointing, like, for Finn? Or is it somewhere in the middle, like, how is she. How's she kind of feeling about that? [00:37:04] Speaker A: I think maybe kind of both. There's confusion because her. Her grandfather would have been the one to find out that it was her, apparently, and bring her up knowing that, and now it's. It's just different. You think you know something and knowing things is, like, your thing, I guess, pretty much what Finn was saying, and find out that there's a huge gap in your knowledge. You don't really know how to. And don't really know where to go from there. The world is always changing, and there's always something new to learn. And I guess this is just another start of that, and we're gonna figure it out as we go. But also, there might be a little bit of, like, uncertainty, because how do I know that these people are also the chosen ones? Or if they're just saying it? There's no real way to tell yet. Yeah. [00:38:17] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:38:19] Speaker B: Amazing. Thank you for that little insight. [00:38:21] Speaker E: I am always fascinated to know what's. [00:38:24] Speaker B: Going on in their brains. And as Ant kind of cranks his way down from the balcony back inside, the three of you kind of make your own little beds on the floor. The fire in the fireplace is beginning to go out. That kind of cozy warmness, the heaviness of the large duvet that was earlier thrown down. [00:38:48] Speaker E: You begin to kind of settle into a nice. A nice sleep. [00:38:55] Speaker B: You are all awoken by a thunderous tapping of feet on the ground. And you hear the sky reader's voice kind of muttering to herself. [00:39:09] Speaker E: Oh, man, it is looking a bit. [00:39:13] Speaker B: Close, as she's kind of, like, sort of running around, peeking out through windows. And as you are kind of like, in that kind of groggy, half awake, half asleep, kind of feeling, the thumping of her feet against the ground kind of gives way to a deep rumbling of thunder. It sounds like it's coming from just outside of the. The Skykeeper's home. I think that kind of loud, startling noise, paired with the earlier encounters with the Stormlings, I'm assuming, is gonna kind of rouse you maybe a little more than you were earlier. [00:39:56] Speaker C: Yeah. How deep of a sleeper is Finn? Is he snoring away, oblivious? [00:40:01] Speaker D: He's a deep sleeper sleeper, but he has been trained to know the sound of thunder. He's been training his whole life for this. And so as soon as it starts rumbling and the ground starts shaking, his. Very cinematically, his eyes, like, dart awake, and he Immediately reaches over towards his bag and grabs. Grabs silver lining in his little PJ pants that he has on because it's not in his inventory, but he brought PJ pants. He is. [00:40:32] Speaker B: I'm all for it. [00:40:33] Speaker D: Yeah. They're like plaid and stuff. Yeah. And he's gonna go up to the. To where the sky reader is, and it's gonna be like, what's going on? What's going on? What's going on? [00:40:45] Speaker B: She kind of opens the, like, the curtains to the window. And you can just see this wave, this massive, like, wall of clouds that seem to be just kind of like right on the doorstep, so to speak, of the house. You can see there's kind of a flash of lightning from within this cloud. And you see these silhouetted against these flashes. Stormlings, kind of some on fours, some on two feet. You hear them kind of muttering to each other through these thunderous rumbles. [00:41:21] Speaker E: And she says, I. I wasn't expecting the storm to blow in so fast. I thought we had another day, but seems the winds have changed. [00:41:29] Speaker D: Yes, exactly. The ant Tesla. We're getting up now. We are waking up. [00:41:37] Speaker C: Yeah. And kind of jumps up and he's gonna, like, look around and the. The plant. He's gonna run over to the plant and be like, hey, little guy, now would be a great time to do that light thing we were told about and, like, pick the plan up and just, like, hold it towards the shadow. It's like, come on, man. [00:42:06] Speaker B: The, like, two leaves on this thing kind of, like bob a little bit as you've kind of, like, picked it up and disrupted it. But nothing seems to happen with the. [00:42:16] Speaker C: Plant, so plant's not ready, guys. What are we doing? Because there's, like, a lot of these stormlings, right? And we. We got our butt kicks by two or butt kicked by two butt kicks. [00:42:35] Speaker B: We gotta go get one more in there. [00:42:39] Speaker C: By three. How many were there? [00:42:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:42] Speaker A: Have we been asleep enough hours to, like, heal? [00:42:46] Speaker B: Yeah. You guys can. Can heal back normal. [00:42:49] Speaker C: Ace fantastic aunt fixes his messy hair. [00:42:53] Speaker B: Yeah. His. His bed head restored. I think the sky reader kind of looks at you all. She looks to you, Finn, and says. [00:43:01] Speaker E: Yes, I think you had better go. I. I don't want anything to happen to you or the. To the plant. [00:43:06] Speaker D: You should. [00:43:06] Speaker E: And you probably get going. [00:43:08] Speaker D: You should go. [00:43:10] Speaker E: I don't know where I would go away. [00:43:13] Speaker C: Where we're going. [00:43:14] Speaker E: I have a storm shelter in the basement. [00:43:17] Speaker D: Go there. [00:43:18] Speaker C: So, like, can we go in the storm shelter? [00:43:20] Speaker B: You have a quest to go on. [00:43:22] Speaker D: We have to go we're the chosen ones. And he sort of grabs your shoulder. We're the chosen ones. We gotta go. [00:43:29] Speaker C: Right? Yeah. No, Right. [00:43:30] Speaker E: Okay. [00:43:30] Speaker C: To win at peak, I'm gonna tuck the plant football style under my arm and be like, all right. [00:43:37] Speaker D: Or egg. [00:43:38] Speaker B: Or eyeball style. [00:43:40] Speaker C: Eyeball style under my arm and scoop up my bag with the other. The other hand. [00:43:47] Speaker A: What is the name of the thing? Like, the glass dome thing that goes over flowers? Like, Beauty and the Beast style? [00:43:55] Speaker B: Oh, I don't know. Oh, let's see. [00:43:58] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. [00:44:00] Speaker A: It starts with an S. A cloche. [00:44:04] Speaker B: Like, glass dome. A what? [00:44:06] Speaker D: A cloche. [00:44:07] Speaker A: Cloche. [00:44:08] Speaker D: C L O C H E. Cloche. [00:44:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:12] Speaker B: I learned something new today. [00:44:14] Speaker A: Is there anything around that could, like, act as that to, like, protect plants? [00:44:18] Speaker B: Baby, that's a great question. Yeah. I think you're kind of looking around and you're able to find, like, really big cake display thing that has, like, a lid that you can kind of like, pop on onto the. Under the thing. [00:44:33] Speaker E: A cake. [00:44:35] Speaker B: It'll work for the flower. [00:44:36] Speaker A: All right. I'm gonna grab that and protect the baby, please. [00:44:43] Speaker B: You see, the sky reader, she's, like, pulling up a trap door beneath the rug. [00:44:47] Speaker E: She's gonna say, feel free to take any food that you need with you. I probably won't be out of here for a few days, so do what. [00:44:56] Speaker B: You need to do. And she promptly, like, slams the trapdoor shut behind her. [00:45:02] Speaker C: Thanks. Okay. Is Finn just. You made. You made gestures. Is Finn just grabbing rations? [00:45:13] Speaker D: Finn is. Finn is. She said, get whatever you want. So Finn is, like, grabbing. He. He grabs the most important thing, the gargoyle in the pit, and he shoves it into his Runesport. Is there anything around here, like, maybe a. A. Like a tabletop I could quickly break or something that could be, like, larger, that I could carry more as, like, a shield effect? Because I saw your sandboard, and I was like, that's a great idea. So is there or, like, a trash can lid or, like, something that I can use? [00:45:46] Speaker B: I think there's, like, a cookie tray. [00:45:48] Speaker D: A cookie tray? I'll take it. [00:45:50] Speaker B: Yeah. Like a sheet pan kind of thing. Yeah. [00:45:52] Speaker D: I grab the sheet pan and I awkwardly try to put it in my Runesport, and it doesn't fit, so I just tuck it under my arm. Do we. What do we need to plant flowers? What do we need to plant flowers? [00:46:06] Speaker B: Soil. [00:46:07] Speaker C: And there's soil. [00:46:09] Speaker A: Sunlight. And water. And soil. [00:46:12] Speaker C: Water might be good. [00:46:13] Speaker D: Water. [00:46:14] Speaker C: Can't have enough water. [00:46:16] Speaker D: Water bottle. Water bottle. Water bottle. [00:46:19] Speaker B: There is the Shattering of glass as this dark shadow flies into the room and slams into the floor. You see these same bright, perfectly circular eyeballs staring at you, lighting up the room, and kind of like. Like, bright in your eyes as you're kind of stumbling back as you see this thing kind of looking at you. And it looks to Ant, who is currently holding the flower, and it kind of lets out a thunderous growl low in its throat. [00:46:48] Speaker C: No, mine. [00:46:53] Speaker A: Since the cake stand has no cloche no more. Can I take it? I'm imagining one of the ones that look like a pet ministry table, I guess, where it's, like, one leg. [00:47:03] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly what I have. [00:47:05] Speaker A: Can I, like, scoop it up and hurl it at the guy? [00:47:10] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:47:10] Speaker A: The clarification storm guy. Not friend guy. [00:47:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:14] Speaker C: Like, whoa. [00:47:15] Speaker B: Hey, good clarification. [00:47:16] Speaker A: Is there cake on it? [00:47:18] Speaker B: I want to hold the flower. Yeah. [00:47:21] Speaker C: There'll only be one chosen after this. [00:47:25] Speaker B: Go ahead. And to roll that I would say you can do, brute. But if you feel so inclined, I'd let you roll. Erudite for being resourceful. [00:47:34] Speaker A: And is this a plus one from the stand or no plus one for. [00:47:39] Speaker B: Using a cake stand? Absolutely. [00:47:42] Speaker A: Five and a four is nine. Plus two is eleven. Eleven. [00:47:46] Speaker D: Awesome. [00:47:46] Speaker B: Yeah. That's a wild, raging success. I know a consistent legend over here. You throw this cake stand, and it kind of, like, smashes into this quadrupedal stormling. Its arm kind of, like, buckles against the impact, and it kind of, like, turns its head to look at you. Those big, unblinking eyes kind of locking onto you as it kind of opens its lightning mouth very widely. And you see kind of this crackle of energy in the back of its throat as it kind of growls at you. [00:48:20] Speaker A: Growl back. [00:48:24] Speaker B: Give me your best growl, Morgan. Yeah. That's exquisite. Amazing. Yeah. Tesla growls back at this thing, and you kind of see the glow of more orb eyes from beyond the shattered window. And you get the sense that it's probably time to speed up. [00:48:48] Speaker A: There is water on the way. We can go. We go. [00:48:53] Speaker C: Yep. Nope. Running sounds good. Got it. [00:48:56] Speaker D: I found the water bottle. Start heading out. [00:49:00] Speaker B: Awesome. Okay. You throw open the door, and you run down these slick stone steps. They're very steep, and there is water kind of coursing down them. You have to be quite careful not to lose your footing as you are running down toward these. Toward the sort of path that you all came on. Tesla, you would know as part of the caravan, who has traveled and seen a lot of the world. The slot canyon that you guys took earlier to get Here with this much rain that's coming down, you probably do not want to get in the canyon because the amount of water is probably filling it up. It would be like a huge funnel. It would be very, very dangerous to be in the slot canyon right now. So it seems like you guys might have to off road it a little bit. [00:49:44] Speaker A: Yeah, direct boys, in a safer direction. [00:49:52] Speaker B: You're kind of hurtling past trees until you kind of the sort of soft crunch of old discarded needles running through this forest. Can I have Tesley, since you're in the lead? Would you make me a. Yeah, I think skulker to kind of lead them in an appropriate direction as slip free and flood free as possible. [00:50:21] Speaker A: The 13 double 13. [00:50:23] Speaker B: Exquisite. [00:50:25] Speaker D: Incredible. [00:50:26] Speaker B: Yeah. You're able to very carefully kind of navigate toward the. The direction you came in. There was a huge lake that you passed by. And you know that that past beyond the lake is where you want to be to get to win it's peak. There is a way to go around the lake. That's the way that you came in. You kind of look behind you and you can see kind of the distant like glowing eyes of the stormlings. And off to the side you see more. There just seem to be tons and tons right now as they're chasing off and after you. Finn, what are you doing as you're running? Obviously having trained for Chosen One ship for a long time, I imagine you're in pristine physical form. But what kind of, you know, what's the, what's the vibe here? Are you. Yeah, what's your goal? [00:51:16] Speaker D: So I think that because Tessly is taking the lead and we need to get this flower to wherever. Wait, does Tesley have the flower or does Ant still have the flower? [00:51:25] Speaker B: I think Ant has the flower. [00:51:26] Speaker D: That's perfect. That's what I said. [00:51:27] Speaker B: Tessley's leading the way. [00:51:28] Speaker D: Perfect. So Tesley is leading the way. I think that Finn keeps Ant in between the two of them just from a strategy standpoint of like gotta get through one of us before you get to the flower. And he has taken the. The sheet pan and has strapped it onto his runesport so that way it's something hard covering him from the back and he's going full, full run. However, he's also still checking, I think that he's. He's running forward and then when he feels his body getting tired, he'll start running backwards a little bit. A little too well. And as he's running backwards he's keeping an eye out for the. Whatever is happening in the Clouds once again, silver lining in hand, making sure that none of these little buggers get. [00:52:14] Speaker C: Too close to us. [00:52:16] Speaker B: Yeah, go ahead and make me a brute check just to kind of see like, you know, how successful your just kind of run and surveillance and, you know, whacking and everything is. [00:52:29] Speaker D: Yeah. That's going to be an eight total. [00:52:33] Speaker B: Eight total. Yeah. I think that as you're going, there are a couple of stormlings that kind of like lunge at you from the side, but you're able to notice ahead of time and kind of call out and direct ant when needed. Call out to Tassily to let her know as well. And you're for the most part avoiding a lot of these stormlings. So way to go, an ant. Kind of bolstered in the middle of your two companions. The two other ones, I guess you could call them, as you are sort of running through the dark holding the flower. What is your top priority? I have a guess, but I want to hear from you. [00:53:13] Speaker C: Top priority is flour, I think, keeping the cake lid. What is it? Yeah, the makeshift cloche on top. Have it tucked under my arm and just following Teslie because this is not the way that I game and I do not know where we're going in the dark. I'm like, this is way easier. If we were running in sand, I'd be set. But this is mud and I hate it. [00:53:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:53:49] Speaker C: When it's muddy in the desert, things have. Have gone wrong. And you know what? Things have gone wrong. [00:53:55] Speaker B: Mud equals bad. Time is kind of the ant way of life. It is. As you're running, I imagine it's almost like a trust exercise of sorts. Like these people that you've barely known, you know, not even a full day, blindly leading you in the dark with, you know, a storm raging above and creatures off to the side behind you. Freaky. I don't know. Would you also make me a skulker check, please, to make sure you are coming along next. [00:54:28] Speaker C: Okay, that is going to be 10. [00:54:31] Speaker E: 10. [00:54:32] Speaker B: Awesome. Perfect. Yeah. You're able to like, carefully, like it's slick, but you haven't turned an ankle or anything. You're easily able to kind of jump over these low logs and stones and. [00:54:43] Speaker E: All that kind of thing. [00:54:45] Speaker B: And eventually you guys get to kind of the edge of the lake. Tessly. The goal in your mind is to just kind of circumvent it and get straight onto the path from where you came in the dark. And in this torrential downpour that is coming down around you, it's very hard to find any kind of path, but you know where you came from, and you know that eventually the lathe will come to the trail, so you kind of take off. Do you go counterclockwise or clockwise? [00:55:17] Speaker A: Right. I also have compass in my inventory. Does that help at all? [00:55:24] Speaker B: Perfect. Yeah. Go ahead and make an erudite plus one roll. [00:55:31] Speaker A: That is six plus two. [00:55:34] Speaker B: Awesome. An eight. Yeah. You know that going counterclockwise is a little quicker based on, like, the. The lake doesn't kind of, like, bulge out quite as much in that direction. So great gut instinct, Great confirmation with the compass. You're able to kind of move past really easily. As you're running, there's another huge flash of lightning. And you can see it lights up. Not just the sky near where you are, but you see this rippling bolt of lightning. Travel far across the sky, farther inland, farther toward the rest of Rhun. You get the sense that these storm clouds are advancing, they are covering more of the land. And you're not quite sure what that means, but you know that it can't be good. You are briefly distracted by this arcing lightning that the blast of thunder that follows, louder than any you have heard yet, followed by the chittering of these stormlings, catches you off guard. And, Tesla, your foot slips on a rock, and you go down, and you try to stop yourself from, like, bulldozing your newfound friend, and you also slip and lose your footing. Finn, in a desperate attempt, you reach toward these new companions of yours, but your hand kind of whiffs in the empty air as ant and Tesley are falling and plummeting, sliding across slick rock toward the lake. And as you're kind of sitting there watching them fade into the darkness, you feel a pounce on your back as a stormling tumbling you forward. And you also go sliding and tumbling into this deep dark. That is where we will end our session for today. What will happen to our characters? [00:57:27] Speaker A: We're gonna do another one right now. [00:57:29] Speaker B: Right again. [00:57:30] Speaker C: Ant can't swim. This is a problem. [00:57:32] Speaker D: Oh, ant can't swim. [00:57:34] Speaker B: We will see the desert, will we not? [00:57:37] Speaker D: Dunes. [00:57:38] Speaker B: Next week. [00:57:39] Speaker E: Dune. [00:57:39] Speaker C: Dunes. [00:57:41] Speaker B: Dune. [00:57:42] Speaker A: Dune. [00:57:43] Speaker B: In good news, you guys hit your head on a rock and are knocked unconscious and get to level up. Wow. Crazy. But how is the plant baby? How is the plant baby tucked? We'll have to find out. Also leveling up, maybe. [00:58:01] Speaker D: Also leveling up. [00:58:03] Speaker A: The plant baby is also a chosen one. [00:58:06] Speaker B: I'm gonna let you guys kind of think on your character level up stuff, and I'm gonna vamp a little bit about the game, I wanna do this every other session. So anyone listen, if they want to play this game, they can too. The game we're playing is called Tunnel Goons. It's made by Nate Trim or Treem. I'm not quite sure how to pronounce it, but it's a very fun system. All you need are two D6 and. [00:58:30] Speaker E: A very easy print off character sheet. [00:58:33] Speaker B: You can buy it on itch for only I already have it bought so I don't remember how much it costs. [00:58:39] Speaker E: But it's not a very expensive game. [00:58:41] Speaker B: I think it's a pay what you want, don't quote me on that. But very fun game. Highly would recommend. I also want to give a huge shout out and thank you to our special guests, Lucas and Morgan. Thank you for joining us. If either of you have like socials you want to plug or any projects or anything like that, you are welcome to at this time. [00:59:06] Speaker A: So Megan, Lucas and I are in a very fun Homebrew campaign on YouTube called. What's it called? What are we calling it? [00:59:19] Speaker B: Volunteers planner. [00:59:20] Speaker A: Volunteers Planner guide. Yes. And the channel name is Party of Gremlins. [00:59:28] Speaker B: Lucas is a great dm. [00:59:30] Speaker A: Incredible. [00:59:31] Speaker B: It is so fun. [00:59:32] Speaker A: Yes, thank you. There's also our big fan Descend into Avernus game that he's also writing on there. [00:59:38] Speaker E: This game. [00:59:39] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So if you're looking for more Lucas and Morgan content and sometimes I'm there, head on over, subscribe and all that. [00:59:48] Speaker A: Good stuff, you gotta get Megan to Avernus. [00:59:51] Speaker B: Oh, perhaps someday. Thanks for dragging me into hell. Why don't you? Yeah, exactly. But thank you guys both so much. All right, well, in that case, everyone listening at home, thank you so much for listening at home and we'll continue. Catch you next week. Bye. [01:00:06] Speaker D: Bye. [01:00:07] Speaker C: See y'all.