Chapter Four: Across the Desert | Sagas of Sundry: Madness

Summary

Podcast Summary: Chapter Four: Across the Desert | Sagas of Sundry: Madness

Podcast: Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry
Episode: Chapter Four: Across the Desert | Sagas of Sundry: Madness
Date: April 20, 2026
Host: Geek & Sundry
Game Master: Ivan Van Norman
Main Cast: Selina, Jude, Abigail, Emmett, and additional unnamed players

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Episode Overview

In this chilling and emotionally charged episode of Sagas of Sundry: Madness, the group is thrust out of their crumbling reality and into an otherworldly desert, confronting personal traumas, supernatural threats, and the encroaching grasp of madness. The party navigates both physical and psychological dangers, battling inner demons, surviving monstrous attacks, and uncovering the sinister machinations of mystical cults. Themes of trust, trauma, and unity come to the fore as each character is pushed to the edge of sanity.

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Key Discussion Points & Segment Guide

1. From Investigation to Unreality

Timestamps: 01:36–04:23

• The episode picks up with the group being interrogated after a landlord’s violent death.
• Suspicion lingers about the genuine identity of the police. (“I don't think these are cops.” – Emmett, 03:05)
• The players discover a collection of deeply personal—and traumatic—items, linking them to someone observing or manipulating their lives.
  • Selina’s past abuse surfaces; Jude admits guilt over her ex, Jordan’s, death.

2. The Door to the Desert Opens

Timestamps: 04:23–09:15

• A surreal event: sand begins pouring into the apartment as a new reality replaces the old.
• The party steps out “through the door,” finding themselves on the threshold of an endless, windswept wasteland.
• A purple, twilight sky casts doubt on what is real.
  • “We're just going to leave the door—like the only link back to the real world?” – Selina, 10:06

3. Peril and Trust—The Handcuffs Challenge

Timestamps: 10:41–14:12

• Selina remains in handcuffs, a symbol of distrust and vulnerability.
• Emmett attempts to break them, resulting in a tense, physical and emotional sequence.
  • “Your hands are bleeding… you take the rock up and place it” – Game Master, 12:20
• Within the process, Emmett finds a cryptic letter warning of “Watchers” and shadowy opposition; references to a mysterious machine and past collaborations with names like Tesla.
  • “With this forthcoming endless spiral of insanity… But I prevented it. The machine works. Even the mad Telsa [Tesla] said the machine couldn't produce the amount of wattage I required. But he was wrong.” – Letter read by Emmett, 14:12

4. Desert Dangers and Encroaching Madness

Timestamps: 15:40–18:29

• The party leaves breadcrumbs (stones and rubble) as they trek across the shifting sands to mark their path.
  • “Maybe as we move along, we can move some of the rubble... in case we get lost.” – Selina, 16:03
• Selina experiences a psychic assault: an ancient, dark voice claims, “this is my sky… I am your personal darkness.” (17:41)
  • “Now the existence of infinity starts to break your sanity apart.” – Game Master, 17:51

5. Discovery of the Castle, Chased by a Sand Monster

Timestamps: 19:29–30:15

• Abigail scouts ahead and spots a ruined castle in the wasteland; also, a sand dune moves ominously toward the party.
• The group is forced to flee from a colossal armored serpent emerging from the sand.
  • “Don’t fucking look back!” – Emmett, 28:18
• Upon reaching safety, the monster leaves behind a massive tooth—a “warrior’s trophy.”
  • “This is a baby tooth. Can you imagine if that thing would've caught us?” – Jude, 29:56

6. Oasis and Mystical Symbols

Timestamps: 31:01–36:08

• They find a lush oasis brimming with plant life, and a stream—all anomalous in the desert’s heart.

• The group rests, boils water, and discusses the strange amulet, testing its influence on each member.

  • “It feels warm… inviting, comforting tone… It wants me to put it on.” – Selina, 35:38

• When Abigail holds it: “Feels like a crappy, cheap piece of jewelry to me.” – Abigail, 36:41

7. The Cultist Ritual and the Five-Eyed Book

Timestamps: 37:14–45:07

• Entering the ruined castle courtyard, they find the aftermath of a massacre—bodies and robed cultists chanting, wearing green masks with tendrils.

• The chanting and the amulet’s pull nearly consume Selina’s sanity, but she is grounded by her friends.

  • “You are amongst friends, Selina. You are with people who not only didn't abandon you, but helped you.” – Game Master, 18:30

• In the castle, they discover a book with five eyes and journal entries implicating Malik Abdallah Mohsin (their landlord) in the construction of a mysterious machine, opposed by the cult.

  • “The last entry says the thief has built a device or a machine… Now all that’s left is finding out what this nephew knows and ensuring he doesn’t share it.” – Unknown Female Player reading the journal, 44:14

• Realization dawns: the group—and their apartment—are deeply connected to this arcane plot.

8. Daring Escape – “Tower of Dread”

Timestamps: 45:13–52:00

• The party must physically climb to the safety of the second floor to escape the cultists below.

• Emmett acts as a living ladder; failure means the group’s doom.

• The team’s skill check (represented by block stacking) becomes a tense cooperative challenge, mirroring the game’s dread mechanic.

  • “It’s your own personal tower of dread.” – Game Master, 47:09

• With teamwork, and some falls and near-failures, they all reach the safety of a familiar door—one they recognize from their own apartment.

9. Return & Aftermath

Timestamps: 52:00–53:35

• They emerge through the door, back into the “real” world, their apartment lobby, shaken but alive.
  • “That, my friends, calls for a smoke.” – Jude, 52:53
• Quiet reflection as the group processes the surreal ordeal, still uncertain what’s reality.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the nature of madness:

  • “What is it that makes someone insane?... Are they crazy? For I assure you, my friends, they are looking at you and wondering the very same thing.” – Mr. Ren, 01:36

• Selina’s trauma surfaces:

  • “He gave me cigarette burns and made it look like I was a junkie so I couldn't tell anybody.” – Selina, 03:45

• On trust and survival:

  • “We trust you.” – Selina, after suggesting to remove the cuffs, 10:31
  • “You’re worth it.” – Abigail, to Selina, 18:15

• On reality:

  • “You all feel real and this all feels real, but things have felt real before.” – Unknown Female Player, 31:50

• Abigail expresses existential doubt:

  • “Hey, what if we were all dead?” – Abigail, 31:40

• Cultist language and ritual:

  • “Terus verus perus teru nictus… Open your mind, and I will open the void of endless infinity.” – Game Master, 39:50

• On escape:

  • “We got it. We got it. Done. You are climbing. All five of you lift yourself up to the second floor.” – Game Master, 49:20

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Emotional High Points

• Selina’s psychic struggle, nearly succumbing to the darkness of the sky, only to be rescued emotionally by her friends.
• The frantic escape from the sand serpent, emphasizing the fragility of life and sanity in this world.
• Discovery of the book and the revelation of the landlord’s role, connecting all threads together.
• The team's physical and psychological collaboration in the block-stacking/climbing escape, directly channeling the dread and tension at the game’s core.

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Character Development and Themes

• Trauma & Healing: Characters reveal personal traumas, especially Selina, deepening the party’s bond.
• Madness: Insanity is treated as both literal and metaphorical—something lurking in the desert, in the stars, and within.
• Unity Through Strife: Trust is earned through mutual trials (“this block represents the glue that now binds you all together,” – GM, 07:00).

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Next Episode Tease

The group escaped a nightmare realm, but the mysteries surrounding the machine, the landlord’s death, and the cultists remain unresolved. What is reality now, and what price has each paid to rage against the dying of the light?

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This episode was a masterclass in horror-driven actual play, combining collaborative improvisation, tense challenges, and the deep bonds forged under supernatural duress. For listeners, it’s equal parts emotional drama and psychological thriller—an unforgettable desert crossing into madness.

Transcript

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[Mr. Ren]

What is it that makes someone insane? It makes them deranged. Irrational. Crazy. Can you ever really tell? Find someone.

[Jude]

Anyone.

[Mr. Ren]

Do it. Look deeply in their eyes and try to see. Are they crazy? For I assure you, my friends, they are looking at you and wondering the very same thing. Our tenants are certainly trying to make that discovery of each other. Who? Which one of them will find the pathway to sanity? And who will find a dead end? These are the sagas of Sundry. I am Mr. Ren. And there will be madness.

[Game Master (GM)]

Sir, may we please come inside? We had a report that there was gunshots coming from this building.

[Selina]

Yes. There's been a horrible accident.

[Game Master (GM)]

Selina, you see something? From the body of the landlord. A pair of keys. All right. I'm gonna need each one of you to give a statement on what happened. What is this?

[Abigail]

It's just a flask.

[Game Master (GM)]

You said this is an accident. Are you sure that he wasn't shoved over Selena Tsukiyama. It's a very unique name.

[Unknown Female Player]

Thank you.

[Game Master (GM)]

Feel like I've heard that before. He watches. He web's out a pair of handcuffs. Put out your hands.

[Jude]

Holy shit.

[Game Master (GM)]

Have A nice day, everybody.

[Emmett]

I don't think these are cops. What?

[Selina]

What if they're not cops, then who are they?

[Game Master (GM)]

Everyone, there is a place that you could find answers at, and I think it'll be in the landlord's room.

[Unknown Female Player]

Wait a minute. This is all of us. There's Tom's Diner. There's the Institution. All of the highlighted items are us. That's your boyfriend.

[Selina]

This is my ex.

[Game Master (GM)]

Ex.

[Selina]

Boyfriend, Jordan.

[Jude]

Holy fucking shit.

[Abigail]

Who's Jordan?

[Jude]

I killed Jordan. He died because of me.

[Unknown Female Player]

It seems like it was an accident. That's not you killing somebody.

[Jude]

Cause I didn't tell anybody.

[Selina]

This is a mixtape that my ex made me. I left this behind. I left all of that behind. That's what I'm getting away from.

[Game Master (GM)]

What did he do to you?

[Selina]

Constantly beat me. He gave me cigarette burns and made it look like I was a junkie so I couldn't tell anybody.

[Jude]

Why does he have all this shit? Why does he have this?

[Selina]

To get us to do something.

[Jude]

As long as power consistently flows through the machine, the rift should remain too small for physical encroachment. However, all the mechanisms in the walls of the building are very sensitive. If a fuse were to break, you'd have time to fix it, but not much.

[Game Master (GM)]

And you watch as sand.

[Unknown Female Player]

You're all seeing that, right?

[Selina]

Yes. It's real, or we're all seeing it.

[Jude]

I suggest we get the fuck out of this.

[Selina]

That's the only way out.

[Game Master (GM)]

As you open the door, a hot blast of wind gushes into the room. And just over the horizon. Maybe it's a mirage, but it feels like something is punctuating this vast wasteland.

[Unknown Female Player]

You know what the dumbest thing about

[Selina]

all of this is?

[Unknown Female Player]

Is this is the first time I haven't felt al.

[Game Master (GM)]

It. It's. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to madness. Well, when we last left you, and before you realized it, sand was pouring inside of the landlord's apartment, and you opened the door to see a vast wasteland before you. I would like to acknowledge how amazingly you all managed to put that room together and unlock its untold secrets, many of which were your own. And for that, I believe that deserves a reward. So very rarely will I do this. But, yes, I will give you a block in which to replace the tower, knowing that this block represents the glue that now binds you all together through the strife that you all suffered in that room. Who's going to put it in?

[Emmett]

I'll do it.

[Jude]

Taking one for the team.

[Abigail]

Haven't made a pull yet either.

[Game Master (GM)]

Emmett, where do you Want to put it. I'll help you place it. What do you think?

[Abigail]

I mean, that, that middle crosshair.

[Emmett]

Yeah, that's the dead zone here.

[Unknown Female Player]

It's that middle bit that we need to brace, I think.

[Abigail]

And it gets wobblier at the top.

[Emmett]

How about here? I think it's a good choice on this side.

[Game Master (GM)]

You'd like to place it on this side?

[Emmett]

Yeah.

[Game Master (GM)]

Okay.

[Abigail]

Do it, do it, do it, do it. Oh, sneeze Louise.

[Game Master (GM)]

No, you can push it in all the way I have will not be shifting.

[Abigail]

Right. Yeah, that was a good choice.

[Emmett]

It is still really teetery.

[Selina]

Ivan. You're gonna die.

[Game Master (GM)]

Oh my goodness.

[Unknown Female Player]

Oh, no.

[Emmett]

That doesn't feel like it did.

[Ellen Marsh]

Shit.

[Selina]

No.

[Game Master (GM)]

The choice has been made though. Emmett, take a seat.

[Selina]

Hey, you did your best, you know.

[Abigail]

It was good. It was good.

[Unknown Female Player]

Thank you.

[Game Master (GM)]

As the blinding light of the burning sun pierces into the guardian's room, you gaze out into an endless desert. Rolling, windswept dunes lay before you as a hot gust of wind encompasses around you. You can hear a low, ominous moan in the far distance. Now as you all exit through the door, you can feel the sand packed tightly underneath you with small bits of broken stone, concrete that seem to be scattered around you. And you also see that the door that you walked out of is simply the door frame. There's no building, there's no room. There's only the door with the guardian's room on the other side of the frame. In the distance, you can see hardly anything except for one far off, distant shape. But there is a lot of desert in between you and that shapeless form. What would you like to do?

[Selina]

I'm going to examine the sky. It's still that purple.

[Game Master (GM)]

It's purple. It's relatively cloudless. It's also very twilighty.

[Selina]

Is there a sun?

[Game Master (GM)]

There is a sun that you can see that the sun that has been blaring down upon you so brightly it is setting and nighttime is coming. You can wait to travel the deserts at night when it might be cooler. Or you can get a head start now and start trekking across the desert.

[Jude]

Well, we have no idea what's going to be out here at night and we're not going to be able to see anything.

[Unknown Female Player]

I say we go now.

[Selina]

Yeah, we're just going to leave the door like the only link back to the real world.

[Unknown Female Player]

What's real?

[Jude]

Are you even sure if that's real? I mean, where are we supposed to go if we go through the doorway?

[Emmett]

I'm also worried about your cuffs.

[Unknown Female Player]

It's okay. I think I've been okay so far. And maybe they're right. Maybe I can't be trusted if my hands are free.

[Selina]

We trust you.

[Abigail]

I don't think that matters here anymore.

[Emmett]

Yeah. And whatever's between here and there, probably better that you have your hands free.

[Game Master (GM)]

Emmett, would you like to make a pull to remove Selina's handcuffs from her hand? Yeah. Go.

[Selina]

You got this.

[Game Master (GM)]

Come on.

[Abigail]

It's too early today. It's too early to die.

[Emmett]

I am shaking like a leaf.

[Unknown Female Player]

You can do this.

[Game Master (GM)]

Your hands are bleeding from the digging that you're doing as you try to find a rock big enough to pull Selina's hands free from the handcuffs.

[Emmett]

It is solidly in there.

[Abigail]

Can you try another one?

[Selina]

Can you give up? Give up. Leave her in the handcuffs.

[Game Master (GM)]

Emmett, if you want to not make the pull, you don't have to think. Bad will happen.

[Unknown Female Player]

I can stay in the handcuffs. It's fine. It's fine.

[Abigail]

Holy sh.

[Emmett]

Please, there's something in it.

[Abigail]

There's something in it.

[Jude]

What is this?

[Abigail]

He said no. I'm so stressed out right now.

[Selina]

You got it. You got it, you got it, you got it.

[Abigail]

Take your time. Take your time. Take your time. You're good.

[Selina]

Deep breaths.

[Abigail]

Centimeters. We got all day.

[Emmett]

Don't fucking move.

[Game Master (GM)]

As you lift your hands up with the rock above you, you take the rock and you lift it, holding Selina's hands right in front. And you're shaking hands as something inside of you, your hands bleeding from them. You lift the rock up and place it.

[Emmett]

I don't want to put the weight of this on.

[Game Master (GM)]

Replace it.

[Abigail]

I am sweating so much.

[Selina]

It's a desert, man.

[Game Master (GM)]

You lift your hand and you take the rock down.

[Abigail]

Careful, careful. It's still a thing. It's still a thing.

[Game Master (GM)]

And you smash the rock down onto Selina's handcuffs over and over and over again. And you feel as the links slowly start to fall apart, as the handcuffs themselves crack. And, Emmett, while you were digging in the sand, something very interesting came to you. You peered across, and part of the rock that you're holding had something attached to it. It seemed to have been a small envelope, weathered, torn and taken apart by this desert wasteland, just simply swept onto there. And inside of that envelope, there was a single torn fragment. The rock that you hold at the same time seems to have some writing on it. Not anything that you can determine because the wind and the sand has almost grinded it down to nothing. But why don't you tell us all what was in the Letter.

[Emmett]

With this forthcoming endless spiral of insanity. It's broken. That's coming in midst. With this forthcoming endless spiral of insanity. But I prevented it. The machine works. Even the mad Telsa Tesla said the machine couldn't possibly produce the amount of wattage I required. But he was wrong. Don't worry though, dear nephew. I didn't dare tell him the purpose or reason for fear that his men might throw me to streets. Our work must be done quietly, lest we attract any of the Watchers acolytes. Which brings me to the subject of our opposition. I have successfully eluded them all my life. But they are more powerful than ever. Their order is many hundreds of years old, managing to exist like us, out of sight. Beware of their influence, especially amongst local. It breaks off there, but I'm gonna guess law enforcement Watchers.

[Abigail]

I wonder if this has to do with the amulet. With the Eye.

[Selina]

It must.

[Unknown Female Player]

Thank you. No one's ever thought I'd been worth it before.

[Emmett]

Can't write that shit.

[Unknown Female Player]

I'll earn it.

[Game Master (GM)]

You feel the ground begin to rumble? Never so slightly.

[Selina]

The rubble. Is it only around the door, or does it seem like there's rubble that goes into the door?

[Game Master (GM)]

There's rubble scattered all over this endless wasteland land.

[Selina]

Okay.

[Game Master (GM)]

Spires of great stone that pierce out all throughout this broken, sandy frontier.

[Selina]

I think, yes, we should move forward. But maybe as we move along, we can move some of the rubble that we find to make a pathway in case we get lost in the desert. We could get back to this spot.

[Emmett]

Bread drums.

[Selina]

It's the only way. Yeah. Only way back.

[Game Master (GM)]

And as you walk amongst the. Amongst the desert, laying these breadcrumbs, Selina, you find yourself gazing at the Amulet as you continue your walk. And then you look up and realize that the stars are coming out. And something's odd about them. They don't feel correct. That's when something decides to come inside of your mind. And you can hear it. Selina. It is a different voice than what you're used to. It is something much older, much meaner. Much darker. And you can hear it. It speaks to you. It says, ah, Selina, this is my sky. I am with you. I will always be with you. Come, my child. Come. Be with me. I am your personal darkness. Make a pull. Make a pull. Pull it out from your mind. Pull it from your madness. Make the madness pull. The stars. They are not part of this world. You are somewhere else. And now. Now the existence of infinity starts to break your sanity apart. And what little was inside of there Selina, the fact that you're already holding onto this world that you live in with such a small thread is now being pulled. And it's being taught. I am your personal darkness.

[Abigail]

No.

[Game Master (GM)]

I am with you. You I can't. Am. Control me watching you, Israel.

[Abigail]

I will.

[Selina]

Come back to us. Come back to us.

[Abigail]

You're worth it. You're worth it.

[Game Master (GM)]

And the voices stop. And you realize that while the stars are not the same, you are amongst friends, Selina.

[Unknown Female Player]

They trust me.

[Game Master (GM)]

You are with people who not only didn't abandon you, but helped you. And that is small comfort as you walk through the desert wasteland. Hey.

[Emmett]

Are you all right?

[Game Master (GM)]

It takes hours to get closer to this distant object that is so far away. But you walk it. And though time passes slowly, it does pass uneventfully. Thank you, nora.

[Emmett]

Yeah.

[Abigail]

How long have we been walking?

[Selina]

It's been a couple of hours, but you can't tell with the sun here.

[Abigail]

I'm exhausted.

[Game Master (GM)]

Do you all want to stop to rest for a while before pushing on?

[Jude]

I need to rest.

[Game Master (GM)]

There are several rocks that do appear to be jutting everywhere. Some of them could be inviting shelter if there's nothing already using it as shelter.

[Abigail]

Is there any type of vantage points that I can climb up and see if I can see anything along the way?

[Game Master (GM)]

Absolutely.

[Abigail]

Okay. I want to try and climb on top of one of the boulders, see if I can find a shelter.

[Game Master (GM)]

As you climb up to one of the small boulders, you lift yourself up and you peer over the horizon, and you can see broken pieces of wood and stone that seemed to be in various places, but sand. Always sand, Abigail. As far as the eye can see, but not too far from where you're looking, where you were walking to this distant, amorphous shape that I described earlier seems much clearer. And you can actually see a stone castle in the middle of the wasteland, broken in ruins. And across it is a mountain. Small, probably the size of a large hillock, but stone. And you can faintly hear the trickling of water.

[Selina]

Do you see anything up there?

[Abigail]

Yes. Damn it.

[Jude]

What is it?

[Abigail]

A castle. It's a fucking castle.

[Unknown Female Player]

That sounds promising.

[Jude]

Okay, let's go. What are we doing here?

[Abigail]

I don't know.

[Selina]

We were resting, but.

[Jude]

Well, I mean, I'm gonna get up and go get in a castle and just lay on the fucking sand.

[Abigail]

Why would anything be that inviting out here? What if it's a trap?

[Selina]

Where else are we going to go?

[Game Master (GM)]

You also see something else, Abigail. In the corner of your vision, you see one of the sand Dunes is moving. And though far off, you can see that it's moving at quite a distance towards you.

[Emmett]

What's wrong?

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Abigail]

I lied. That castle looks real fucking nice. Maybe we should make a run for it.

[Selina]

Sounds good.

[Game Master (GM)]

And you can all start to see the sand dune in its stage. Now the first thing you notice is one of the great spires of stone that I talked about was piercing in through the wasteland. You actually see it jut up out into the middle of the horizon as it leans with dust flying everywhere. And you watch as smaller boulders fly up. Run.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Go.

[Game Master (GM)]

All of you, run. And you, you go towards this castle, this great monument of safety. As you can see something inside of the dune split out from the sand and four wide piercing bits of smoldering ashen gray mouth just as it purses through it. And you watch as a giant snake like form with plates of armor just crash onto the barren horizon. As you are running. Somebody make a pull to get to the castle. Make it over there as this giant earthen form is pulling its earth. And where you have to be falling forward. Are you kidding me right?

[Abigail]

This isn't real.

[Unknown Female Player]

This is.

[Selina]

This can't be real.

[Emmett]

Don't fucking look back.

[Unknown Female Player]

Just go.

[Abigail]

Run.

[Game Master (GM)]

And you can hear the sound again as its mouth opens wide. A long slit of jagged teeth come across each end of its face as it slides across the wasteland. And you can see as rocks and piles of rubble are falling off of its tumbling form. It is.

[Unknown Female Player]

We can make it.

[Game Master (GM)]

We're almost there.

[Abigail]

Come on, Jude.

[Game Master (GM)]

It is moving so fast. Botch. You run and you fall onto the concrete and the stonework of this oasis. And you fall into it. And you can hear the hissing of the sand as it continues to move across the desert past you. It's gone. You can't hear it anymore. And you see something when it fell. The great creature in its lust to come after you and consume the meager amount of nourishment that you five provide. It hit the ground and left you with something. A tooth. Wow. Who would like to pick it up?

[Selina]

Is it gone?

[Game Master (GM)]

Oh, it's gone. But it left that. That's one of its baby teeth.

[Jude]

This is a baby tooth. Can you imagine if that thing would have caught us?

[Abigail]

Yeah, that's instant death.

[Unknown Female Player]

You have a warrior's trophy now.

[Abigail]

You do. I mean it might be a little gaudy as like a necklace, but I mean it's kind of cool.

[Jude]

You don't think it works?

[Emmett]

I think it works.

[Unknown Female Player]

It suits you.

[Game Master (GM)]

Now I'm.

[Jude]

I guess we can laugh after all that.

[Game Master (GM)]

Wow. Still has a. As you can see, it still has a little bit of its gum. Oh, and when you smell it, oh, it actually has this burning sage and juniper with just a hint of cinnamon. Not bad. What?

[Jude]

Well, I'm going to use this in case we encounter another and we have

[Selina]

a couple of weapons.

[Abigail]

That's a good idea.

[Jude]

I mean, seems pretty sharp.

[Abigail]

I mean, I've always wanted to stay in a castle, but where the fuck are we?

[Game Master (GM)]

Well, as you look ahead of you, you can see that you aren't at the castle yet. In fact, you came to a large stone outcropping that is the foundation of which this oasis currently is. And on the oasis is the ruins of the castle. But before you even see the forest front line, you're actually surprised to see a exotic array of fauna that is ahead of you, making a small but modest tree line that leads into an undergrowth of vegetation.

[Jude]

There's gotta be water there. Yeah, there's gotta be.

[Abigail]

Hey, what if we were all dead?

[Emmett]

I was thinking the same thing.

[Jude]

Or what if we're just hallucinating and none of that's real?

[Unknown Female Player]

You all feel real and this all feels real, but things have felt real before. I suppose that even if we are all in one mass hallucination, we still have to stick together and try and get through it so it can come out the other end.

[Game Master (GM)]

You walk through the low vegetation as this foreign sound of greenery continues to boggle your mind. And after some time, you do come across a small earthen stream, its rocks cradling the water in a soothing basking embrace. The now bright starlight beaming itself meager rays onto its glass and form.

[Abigail]

It's beautiful.

[Selina]

Does anybody have a light? Any sort of fire? Cigarettes? Of course.

[Abigail]

I pull up a stick. Is there a down branch?

[Game Master (GM)]

Actually, most of the trees are around you are palms. Long fronds do scatter across the ferns that kind of lay across the form. But no burnable wood that I think you're looking for.

[Abigail]

How about like, is there like even just a green piece of frond? Frond or bamboo even.

[Unknown Female Player]

We can strip the leaves.

[Game Master (GM)]

Absolutely.

[Abigail]

I take a piece of my sweater and I rip it off the bottom, wrap it around to make a crappy makeshift torch.

[Emmett]

What about stones?

[Game Master (GM)]

There is plenty of stone chuckling in on the water. You throw one of the stones into the water and it makes a satisfying.

[Unknown Female Player]

Well, it's not acid.

[Selina]

We need some kind of container, something that can withstand heat. We need to boil the Water. And you have your flask.

[Abigail]

I do, but, I mean, it's small.

[Unknown Female Player]

We'll take turns.

[Jude]

There's still booze in it.

[Abigail]

Yeah, there's still booze in it.

[Selina]

Don't. It'll dehydrate you.

[Abigail]

But it's booze.

[Unknown Female Player]

Use it on the torch.

[Selina]

We could light it.

[Jude]

That's right.

[Abigail]

Take a little bit of the alcohol,

[Game Master (GM)]

maybe as you wrap it onto one of the green fronds, you take your starting material of your journal and you douse it in the sweet alcohol.

[Abigail]

Not all of it, though. Just a little.

[Selina]

Okay. All right. And you need it for medicinal purposes.

[Abigail]

I agree with that wholeheartedly.

[Game Master (GM)]

Between the starter fluid, the starting material, and the accelerant, you are able to put together a makeshift torch that helps punctuate the coming darkness as you continue to hear the babbling of this stone brook in front of you. And you can hear something in the background. Talos. Telos. Kalos. Telos. Telos. Telos.

[Jude]

You're in hell.

[Selina]

Does everybody hear that?

[Abigail]

Belos.

[Game Master (GM)]

Telos. Belos.

[Unknown Female Player]

Nictus letter talks about an order. An ancient order.

[Selina]

Maybe there are other people. They can help us.

[Abigail]

Selina, what is the amulet doing? Is it doing anything?

[Game Master (GM)]

It feels warm. It has an inviting, comforting tone to it that would feel, oh, so pleasant around your neck.

[Unknown Female Player]

It wants me to put it on.

[Selina]

Don't do that.

[Abigail]

Selina, do you mind if I see if the amulet talks to me? It's not that I don't trust you. I just want. You might see if it works the same on the rest of us.

[Unknown Female Player]

Be careful. Okay.

[Abigail]

Hey. If I look like I'm about to do anything stupid, will you promise to stop me? Yeah. Yeah, I've done some stupid shit.

[Unknown Female Player]

Me, too.

[Game Master (GM)]

Abigail, you hold the amulet, and it feels just like a beautiful, sterling, old piece of jewelry. And while it is beautiful, it is not pushing you into any particular direction.

[Abigail]

I don't know. Feels like a crappy, cheap piece of jewelry to me.

[Jude]

Looks like a crappy piece of jewelry to me.

[Unknown Female Player]

Maybe it. Maybe I'm more susceptible to it.

[Abigail]

Emmett, why don't you hold it?

[Emmett]

Maybe it's better you don't have this.

[Game Master (GM)]

Okay.

[Unknown Female Player]

Thank you.

[Emmett]

Yeah, I'll just. I'll. Yeah.

[Jude]

I say we get into the castle.

[Unknown Female Player]

Okay.

[Selina]

Let's go.

[Abigail]

All right.

[Emmett]

Let's go.

[Game Master (GM)]

As you move through the underbrush back into the treeline again, leaving the babbling brook behind you, you find. You find yourself going upstream, following the same pattern as the brook itself. And just as suddenly as the treeline began on the stone, outcropping you feel it begin to end as you slowly come across a courtyard. And the first thing that you sense is the smell. It is the smell of death. As you come closer, you. You begin to see bodies. Oh, God. Lined across this stone courtyard with several hooded robed men gathering in a circle in front of you. You can see they're all wearing large glassy green masks. And you can see a single tendril, mind you, dangling from the bottom as it sways in a snake like form, back and forth like a snake's tail as you can hear the chanting bellowing. All of them have their heads and their gazes towards the heaven, as you can see the rolling purple clouds above them. Gelus, Nerus, Fenley. You hear something coming into your brain. The chanting is coming in line with you. You can hear it start to permeate into your mind.

[Selina]

I'm gonna try to understand it.

[Game Master (GM)]

You feel like for a moment you could comprehend, you could grasp this language. If you tried. If you just had something to hold onto, if you just had something to touch, maybe it would happen. It could come to you.

[Selina]

I never had a chance to hold the amulet. Maybe I should see if it's reacting to what's happening.

[Abigail]

Why? Why? Why do you want to?

[Selina]

I feel like I've heard this before, like I. I feel like I could understand it, but.

[Emmett]

Yeah.

[Jude]

What, the chain?

[Selina]

Yeah.

[Abigail]

I mean.

[Unknown Female Player]

All right, be careful.

[Abigail]

Wait, wait. Here's the deal. You have to hold my hand while you hold this. In case anything bad happens.

[Game Master (GM)]

Okay?

[Selina]

Okay.

[Unknown Female Player]

Yeah.

[Game Master (GM)]

You watch as the endless void comes across into you. Blackness envelops your mind as something purses deep into your brain. You can hear it. Terus verus perus teru nictus. Terus perus perus. Terus litus. Open your mind, and I will open the void of endless infinity. Make a pulse. Fight the madness. Take it away. Pull it out of your brain as it comes and purses deeply inside side of your psyche.

[Jude]

Come on, family.

[Game Master (GM)]

I am with you. Look at me and I will awaken the void of your mind into endless infinity. Look at me and I will waken the void of your mind with endless infinity. Galush, belush balus delos schnictus.

[Unknown Female Player]

Wait a minute.

[Game Master (GM)]

Galush, balush belush delu schnictus. A limitless eye opens into the sky and it peers down upon you. Friendly. Look at me.

[Selina]

Okay, I let go.

[Jude]

I let go.

[Abigail]

I let go.

[Selina]

I let go.

[Game Master (GM)]

You drop it. And Nothing. Nothing. The chanting is still there. The people are still there. But the eye is gone. The voices are gone and the chanting has come down to a very low hum.

[Emmett]

What happened?

[Joey Taranto]

Bentley?

[Selina]

Open your eye and I will Open the void. 10 infinity.

[Game Master (GM)]

Look at me and I will waken the void of your mind and into endless infinity.

[Abigail]

Look at me and I will. I will awaken the void.

[Selina]

The void of your mind into endless infinity.

[Abigail]

Into the void of your mind into Benli.

[Game Master (GM)]

You look in front of you, you can see on a stone dais, a book with five eyes gazing out in front of it. And you can see it has been left there waiting for you. Okay, I have Emmett. You see on the second floor of the castle, a door. An archway with a door that seems strikingly familiar. A brass handle on an old 1930s style door frame.

[Emmett]

Look at that.

[Unknown Female Player]

It's an apartment door.

[Abigail]

It's our apartment door.

[Selina]

It's the end. Maybe we did it.

[Abigail]

I have a feeling we're just getting started.

[Selina]

I found this. It's a book with five eyes. Should I open it? Should I look?

[Unknown Female Player]

I'll open it.

[Selina]

Are you sure you should be the one to do it?

[Unknown Female Player]

I'm already this far gone.

[Abigail]

That might be all the more reason to not just throwing that out there

[Selina]

if you feel comfortable. I just.

[Unknown Female Player]

I have to be worth it. It's in different languages. I can only get snatches of English, Arabic, Cyrillic. Only parts of it are becoming legible.

[Selina]

Anything that is legible. Any keys or words or.

[Unknown Female Player]

This is a journal. It talks about Malik Abdallah Mohsin. It's the name on the invoice. It's the name of the landlord.

[Abigail]

Mm.

[Selina]

Malik Mohsim.

[Abigail]

At the top, Malik Abadallah Nursim.

[Unknown Female Player]

The thief has built a device. The last entry says the thief has built a device or a machine. We haven't found it yet, but it's somewhere in the old granary. Now operated by his nephew. The nephew. In the letter. The fool turned it into a hostel of some sort and has living something in a different language inside our eyes. And the police and courts have already secured the rights to purchase the property. Those fake police. But he continues to. To impede our progress. Now all that's left is finding out what this nephew knows and ensuring he doesn't share it.

[Abigail]

The nephew was our landlord. The nephew.

[Jude]

And that's why they killed him.

[Abigail]

That is exactly why they killed him. And this invoice, this is for extender tubes and bulbs. And round this. It's all hardware to build the machine. It's in our basement. We've been fucking living over it.

[Selina]

They haven't noticed Us yet. But I don't know how long we can stay out here.

[Jude]

We need to get to the door.

[Selina]

Yeah.

[Emmett]

Is there stairs, anything up?

[Game Master (GM)]

Emmett, you can easily boost every person in this room up to the second floor to the doorway, but you will have to act like a human ladder to have people climb on you to get to that second floor. The cultists seem completely engrossed in their ritual at the moment.

[Emmett]

We're getting the hell out of here.

[Game Master (GM)]

No, Emmett, you will not be making a pull for this. This is actually a skill challenge. So how this is going to work is this represents the. The second floor in which you need to hang from in order to get all of your friends up to safety. Now, in the meantime, your four compatriots will have to physically climb up your body. But we can't have them do that. Instead, they will be taking this pile of wood.

[Jude]

It doesn't stop.

[Abigail]

Kept going.

[Emmett]

Yeah.

[Jude]

Oh, of course.

[Game Master (GM)]

And have to stack every piece of wood along this guiding frame. Now, it can go off the borders once it's raised up, but every piece of wood must make its way onto this block. Emmett, should you fall, you'll have to make a pull after this challenge is done. If you don't. If you don't want to go back up after you have fallen, one of your compatriots can jump up and take your place instead. But if they fall, they'll have to make a pull, and so on and so forth until all of the wood has been stacked.

[Abigail]

So it's fucked up Tetris.

[Game Master (GM)]

It's your own personal tower of dread. All right, Emmett.

[Emmett]

See, all that time on the typewriter will pay off.

[Abigail]

Hope you don't have carpet tunnel.

[Emmett]

Uh oh.

[Game Master (GM)]

When you're in place, tell me and I will tell them to begin.

[Emmett]

All right,

[Abigail]

you got this.

[Game Master (GM)]

Okay, go, go, go, go.

[Abigail]

Big flat pieces first.

[Game Master (GM)]

Yeah, this is way too big.

[Selina]

Selena, why don't you take the lead and tell us what you're thinking? Okay, we'll do it.

[Unknown Female Player]

That's pretty good.

[Game Master (GM)]

That's pretty good.

[Unknown Female Player]

Sort somebody sort into.

[Abigail]

We want to try and get the same thickness.

[Unknown Female Player]

Yeah, sort sort thickness pieces.

[Abigail]

So there's weird ones on the side. Thicker pieces.

[Game Master (GM)]

You can hear the cultists speaking and chanting as thin, thin.

[Abigail]

Any more thicker ones.

[Game Master (GM)]

The first person climbs onto Emmett strong shoulders and pushes himself.

[Selina]

These can hang already starting to hurt.

[Abigail]

Hurry.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Come on, Elliot. We got.

[Selina]

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry.

[Mr. Ren]

Ow.

[Selina]

Okay, okay, okay.

[Abigail]

I'm gonna make a hang off.

[Game Master (GM)]

He's down. Stop. Oh, no, Jack, stop. Emmett, do you want to Keep going. Or do you want someone to come in place?

[Emmett]

It's what?

[Game Master (GM)]

Who's gonna take his place?

[Jude]

I got this.

[Game Master (GM)]

Yes, Jude.

[Abigail]

You sure?

[Game Master (GM)]

Emmett, you may join the build team.

[Selina]

We can do this.

[Abigail]

I'm sorry.

[Unknown Female Player]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[Jude]

All right.

[Game Master (GM)]

As soon as you're up, I will declare. Go.

[Selina]

Okay.

[Game Master (GM)]

As Emmett falls down from the second floor of this building, he collapses under his own weight. And Jude, up on deck to climb next, instead lifts his hands up and grasps ahold of the tight, wet stone. Daisy, you can hear as it's starting to rain.

[Emmett]

We got it. We got it. We got it. We got it.

[Game Master (GM)]

We got it.

[Abigail]

We got it.

[Game Master (GM)]

Done. You are climbing. All five of you lift yourself up to the second floor. As Jude takes the last of your meager weights and pushes you up, pulling his own weight up onto the second floor and tasking himself to roll onto it and bring forward. All right, everyone sit. It's not done yet.

[Jude]

Camaraderie.

[Game Master (GM)]

Emmett has to make a pull. Thank you. He has one pull for his time holding everyone up. And when Emmett fell from the second floor.

[Jude]

Come on, Emmett.

[Game Master (GM)]

He hit both of his feet in a way that it fell across. And for a moment. Gerus, verus, baros nictus. It stops. Emmet, you try to find somewhere to hide anywhere. God knows. You've seen these bodies. You've looked at all of the gore around you. Can you just imagine how they might dismember you?

[Emmett]

I'm not gonna make it.

[Game Master (GM)]

How they might cut your body.

[Emmett]

I'm not gonna make it.

[Game Master (GM)]

Small pieces.

[Jude]

You can do this.

[Emmett]

It's loose.

[Game Master (GM)]

It's loose.

[Emmett]

No, it's weighted wrong. I'm not gonna make it.

[Selina]

You can do this, Emmett.

[Game Master (GM)]

You got this hiding somewhere in the hopes that the cultists will find him.

[Abigail]

Take it slow.

[Game Master (GM)]

They're somewhere close. They stopped. They've begun looking for him. They've broken the circle and they've broken the ritual. And they begin to look, checking all the different places around them.

[Emmett]

We've come too far, Emmett.

[Game Master (GM)]

You begin to go across various parts of the castle. Chasms, small nooks and crannies that are around you. And you can just see the bodies around you. Holy shit. Holy shit. You gotta be fucking kidding me. Holy shit.

[Abigail]

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

[Game Master (GM)]

But they don't find you, Emmett. In fact, you find a small staircase. It's just big enough to hold you. Just wide enough that if you could crawl sideways along it, you can make yourself up to the second floor. Sit down, Emmett. Phew I can't believe that happens.

[Emmett]

That was gonna go.

[Abigail]

You were like Indiana Jones with the

[Game Master (GM)]

bag in the eye. Gravity wizard pushed it up. And as the face of the cultist is right here looking at each side of the angle as he comes around, he lifts his head up just to ever so peek over over words Gerus varos nyctus as he walks right by and you climb up with your four friends up to the second floor and you open the door to the lobby of your apartment building.

[Jude]

That my friends, calls for a smoke.

[Abigail]

I managed to get back to our apartment before my flask ran out. I call that a good fucking night.

[Game Master (GM)]

As Jude, he's gonna write one poem, is enjoying his smoke and Selena and Emmett share a tender embrace. You all reflect on what just happened on the other side of this door. When the lights go out, The war

[Joey Taranto]

is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders and armies scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors claw to what's left of a broken world, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight. But in the shadow dark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring at its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time and when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job. This is a brutal rules light nightmare with a storm that emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play RPGs in the 80s and man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the shadowdark every Thursday night at 8pm Eastern on YouTube.com theglasscanon with the podcast version dropping the next day. See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark.

[Ellen Marsh]

Oh please, not that music. That music gives me nightmares from my childhood.

[Joey Taranto]

Could we get something a little bit lighter? Some lighter music here?

[Ellen Marsh]

Are you a fan of true crime TV shows?

[Joey Taranto]

And what about Unsolved Mysteries, the show that jump started all of our love of true crime?

[Ellen Marsh]

I'm Ellen Marsh.

[Joey Taranto]

And I'm Joey Taranto and we host

[Ellen Marsh]

I Think Not, a true crime comedy podcast covering some of the wildest stories from your favorite true crime campy TV shows all the way to Unsolved Mysteries, baby.

[Joey Taranto]

You will laugh, you will cry. You'll think about true crime in a whole new way. And you'll also ask yourself, who gave these people mics?

[Ellen Marsh]

New episodes of I Think not are released every Wednesday, with bonus episodes out every Thursday on Patreon.

[Joey Taranto]

And every Monday, you can listen to our True Crime rundown where we go over the top true crime headlines of the week.

[Ellen Marsh]

So come and join us wherever you listen to your podcasts.

[Josh Horowitz]

Look, we all know there are a lot of celebrity interview podcasts out there, but there's only one Happy Sad Confused. I'm Josh Horowitz, and yeah, I'm the host of the show, so I'm a little biased. But truly, Happy Sad Confused is the place for nerdy and intimate conversations with all your favorite actors and filmmakers, from Andrew Garfield and Scarlett Johansson to Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino. For over 10 years and over 700 episodes, Happy Sad Confused has broken movie and TV news every single week. That's because I ask all the questions I want to know. And more importantly, you want to know casting, what ifs, backstage stories, acting, pet peeves, and much more. So whether you're into superheroes, prestige tv, or just the coolest actors and directors alive, you're going to learn something in every episode. Listen to Happy Sad Confused on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.