Chapter Four: Message in a Bottle | Ten Candles: Eclipse

Summary

Podcast Summary: Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry - Chapter Four: Message in a Bottle | Ten Candles: Eclipse

Introduction In "Chapter Four: Message in a Bottle," part of the Ten Candles: Eclipse series under Geek & Sundry’s Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry umbrella, a group of players embark on a harrowing journey through a world plunged into tragic horror. Guided by storyteller Ivan Van Norman, the session delves deep into themes of survival, desperation, and the human spirit in the face of apocalyptic events.

Character Introductions and Setup The episode begins with the players introducing themselves and their characters, establishing each character’s virtues, vices, moments, and brinks. This initial setup is crucial for understanding the motivations and potential conflicts that will unfold during the game.

• Alex Frew portrays Thomas Rhodes, a nondescript Swiss watchmaker haunted by the loss of his wife. “My moment is to do what I could not do for my wife: save somebody else,” he declares at [18:58].

• Steph Woodburn takes on the role of Virginia, a pastor’s daughter seeking divine signs amidst chaos. “I want to meet God,” she states at [19:34].

• Amy Vorpal plays Maria Ogden, a stoic QA customer relations director yearning for love before her imminent demise. “She wants to feel love one more time before she dies,” she shares at [20:04].

• Aki embodies Corin Jones, a university student frantically searching for her missing twin sister after being stranded in a Europe ravaged by mysterious monoliths.

Game Environment and Initial Challenges Ivan sets the stage at [13:33], detailing that the game takes place 12 days after monoliths have risen, disrupting natural cycles and causing severe tidal surges. The players find themselves navigating through the desolate landscapes of Central Europe, grappling with hunger and dwindling resources.

At [01:32], the group is already experiencing chronic hunger, having run out of food and with water reserves nearly depleted. The distress is palpable as Thomas humorously mentions being "super hung" before diving into character-driven actions.

Survival Tactics and Early Conflicts The players decide to scavenge for insects to survive, highlighting their desperate circumstances. Maria suggests forcefully feeding insects to Virginia despite her vegetarian morals, reflecting the group's dire situation.

• Maria Ogden remarks at [32:02], “I’m going to have to shove some insects down your throat,” showcasing the tension between survival and personal ethics.

As they attempt to catch grasshoppers, the initial attempts meet with mixed success, leading to the first of many conflicts:

• At [33:52], Corrin opts to burn her virtue to reroll dice, demonstrating the strategic sacrifices players must make to advance in the game.

Escalation of Danger and Team Dynamics The tension heightens as the group encounters physical injuries and moral dilemmas. Corrin falls and breaks her arm, prompting a tense moment where the group must decide how to assist her. Maria steps up to set Corrin’s bone, showcasing her nurturing side despite the chaotic environment.

• At [44:10], Maria performs medical aid, “It’s okay. We’re gonna get through this together,” emphasizing teamwork and the human connection amidst adversity.

Introduction of the Pastor and Increasing Threats The narrative takes a darker turn with the introduction of a mysterious pastor inhabiting a dilapidated church. The pastor, depicted as both a figure of authority and menace, warns the players about impending calamities linked to the monoliths.

• At [148:04], the pastor aggressively confronts the group, escalating the stakes as players realize the true extent of the threats they face: “What do you think happens here? This is the great calamity, and we are all a part of it.”

Climactic Struggles and Sacrifices The players venture deeper into the church, uncovering grim evidence of previous victims and confronting the pastor’s fanaticism. The environment becomes increasingly unstable with aftershocks and monstrous creatures emerging from the earth, symbolizing the relentless horror engulfing their world.

• At [165:17], Corrin shares a poignant backstory: “I was on the phone with her, and then the phone went dead. And I’ve been doing everything I can to try and contact her.” This personal loss fuels her determination to uncover the mysteries behind the monoliths.

Final Moments and Character Departures As the ground continues to crumble, the players face insurmountable odds. Virginia sacrifices her compassion in a desperate attempt to save Corin, ultimately succumbing to the earth’s relentless forces. The episode concludes with Maria and Corrin surviving on an isolated rock island, reflecting on their losses and the bleakness of their situation.

• Virginia, in her final moments, poignantly states at [188:22], “I believe that our belief is strong enough and that we can survive any obstacle that comes our way.”

Character Epilogues and Emotional Closure The session ends with heartfelt messages from the characters, providing emotional closure and highlighting the personal struggles each character endured throughout the game.

• Thomas Rhodes shares his regret over losing his wife and questions whether she will ever forgive him.
• Maria Ogden expresses her relentless pursuit of answers to reunite with her lost child.
• Corrin Jones reflects on the abrupt loss of her sister and the overwhelming sense of responsibility to uncover the truth.

Notable Quotes

• “Do we not look at it?” – Thomas [09:12]
• “I'm super smart.” – Maria [09:27]
• “We have to believe we can get out of here.” – Corrin [185:40]
• “I believe that our belief is strong enough and that we can survive any obstacle that comes our way.” – Virginia [188:22]

Conclusion "Chapter Four: Message in a Bottle" offers a gripping and emotionally charged exploration of survival in a world turned upside-down by enigmatic monoliths. Through intense character interactions, strategic sacrifices, and escalating threats, the episode encapsulates the essence of Ten Candles: Eclipse, drawing listeners into a narrative that is as tragic as it is compelling.

Listen More For those captivated by this episode, additional content from Critical Role’s Campaigns and other Sagas of Sundry series can be found on geekandsundry.com.

Transcript

[Virginia]

I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times.

[Thomas]

And I'm Paul Scheer, an actor, writer and director. You might know me from the League, Veep, or my non eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters.

[Virginia]

We come together to host Unspooled, a.

[Thomas]

Podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits, fan favorites, must sees, and in case you missed ems, we're talking the Home Alone from Grease to the Dark Knight.

[Maria]

So if you love movies like we.

[Virginia]

Do, come along on our cinematic adventure.

[Thomas]

Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your.

[Maria]

Podcasts, and don't forget to hit the follow button.

[Thomas]

Realms of peril and glory. Explore the mechanically magical vistas of Vale, the paranormal mysteries of liminal London, and the cyberpunk chaos of cyborg. Search realms of peril and glory to find out more. Warning. The program you're about to listen to contains explicit language and descriptions of adult themes and graphic violence that some people may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. Hi, everybody.

[Maria]

Hello.

[Thomas]

It's good to have you back. Vorpal.

[Maria]

Yeah, good to, you know, interesting to be here, I'll say that. At one of your tables.

[Thomas]

I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry in advance. In advance. I'm sorry for having you here. I'm. Don't get me wrong, I am incredibly happy that I get this table to be able to play with. I'm just. I'm just really sorry.

[Corrin]

You do realize we signed on for this, right?

[Thomas]

I know. Aki.

[Starchy]

I was gonna say, is it weird that I'm looking forward to this?

[Corrin]

I'm so excited.

[Thomas]

Well, good. I'm glad to hear it.

[Maria]

I'm still waiting for my Jenga apology.

[Thomas]

You will never get it.

[Maria]

Oh, I mean, my wooden block apology. My wooden block tower apology.

[Thomas]

Yeah, well, you will. Like I said, you will never get it. So. You knew. You knew what you got. We had that talk. You knew what was up, and now you're here again. So I am stoked because there are some people I have not played with before, which I'm totally happy to have at my table. So, Alex and Aki, thank you so much for joining us. And then I got some vets over here. Bam. And Steph. It's been a long minute.

[Virginia]

It's been a minute, but I don't get a high five on. Thank you.

[Thomas]

How about this? Do you want a sandwich high five?

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Virginia]

There we go. Sandwich high five.

[Thomas]

So I thought I would give you serious cross. So.

[Virginia]

Yeah, this is good.

[Thomas]

This is. I'm not here, but. No, it's. I I mean, I think it hasn't really been since the early days.

[Virginia]

It's been since the early days.

[Thomas]

Yeah. Yeah. Maybe no survivors or something else, but.

[Virginia]

When was the last time we played game?

[Thomas]

The game. Game. The game for sure. For board games.

[Virginia]

They made me a sandworm.

[Thomas]

Ah, the bread. Yes.

[Virginia]

Which I will never forget. He said, ivan's having a game. Do you want to play? I said, yes. He made me sandworm bread. Yeah.

[Thomas]

It was a cinnamon cinnamon raisin bread.

[Virginia]

Oh, so delicious.

[Thomas]

That was wrapped up like Shai Hulud had. Little tiny gummy bear Fremen.

[Virginia]

It was delicious.

[Thomas]

That were writing the worm.

[Maria]

You made that?

[Corrin]

So I remember this with a recipe.

[Thomas]

Whoa.

[Maria]

I've heard of that.

[Thomas]

And it was from an amazing website, which I'm failing to remember right now, but it's a nerdy cookbook.

[Virginia]

Geekrecipes.com.

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

And it was great. It was very tasty. And it even came with, like, they called it the spice glaze that you poured onto it. Nice spice. Yeah.

[Maria]

All right. Unfortunately, way to get us all hungry before you go real hard gaming for three hours.

[Thomas]

Yeah. You haven't had food in three days. So we're gonna start with that. I'm hungry. Super hung. But before we get into characters, before we get into everything, for those who may not know who you are, I think it is just appropriate that we learn who the player is before we dive directly into character creation. So, Alex, would you start us off, please?

[Starchy]

I absolutely would. I'm Alex Frew. I am a content operations nerd here at the company of Geek and Sundry. The company and the company. Yes. And I do some voice acting on the site.

[Thomas]

Yeah. Great man. So thank you. Glad to be here, Steph.

[Virginia]

I'm Steph Woodburn. We're not looking at the camera, so I'm just gonna.

[Thomas]

You can look at me. I'm here.

[Virginia]

I'm gonna look at you. I am a Twitch host and a writer performer, and I'm so excited for this game.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Virginia]

We're gonna win the game of Life.

[Thomas]

No.

[Virginia]

Something like that.

[Thomas]

No.

[Virginia]

I thought it was a game of hope, so.

[Maria]

Yeah, it is.

[Thomas]

It is a game of hope, but also misplaced optimism.

[Maria]

Go for it, Ms. Vorpal. I am going to look right at camera because you can't stop me, I guess. But I'm Amy Vorpal and I am a actor, writer, host for a lot of digital companies like Nerdist, Geek and Sundry, Caffeine, buzzfeed, and college humor.

[Thomas]

Yeah, that's good. It's like you have them in your brain or something?

[Maria]

Yeah, I've written a lot of bios.

[Thomas]

Cool.

[Maria]

Only recently was I like, can I add college humor to my bio? And it's like one of those questions where you're like, yeah, I think they wouldn't have a problem.

[Thomas]

The proverbial they.

[Maria]

Yes, exactly. Cool.

[Thomas]

Cool.

[Corrin]

And Aki, from the proverbial they to the literal they. I'm Aki and I do some hosting stuff here at Geek and Sundry and I am also one of your moderators.

[Thomas]

Yay.

[Corrin]

And I'm really happy to be here because I finally get to play with these people.

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

And super secret project. Yes, super secret.

[Virginia]

Father.

[Maria]

What does literal day mean, though?

[Corrin]

Literal they.

[Maria]

Literal they. Got it. Oh, okay.

[Thomas]

Yes. Great. Okay, well then as we. I think we will begin. So as you'll see, you don't have note cards in front of you, but you have pictures of you. I'll just briefly say that the reason you have note cards is because we are going to be writing your virtues, your vices, your moments and your brinks on these and we're going to hand them to our neighbors. So when they are burnt or used in the game, rather than having to toss them into the fire to get that wonderful effect, I will inst. Rip them apart emotional just to give a little something. A little something. Because spoiler alert. Live fire on sets is something that we have to deal with.

[Virginia]

We know.

[Thomas]

You know. So let's start by first taking one of your cards and I would like you to pass them to the neighbor on your right. Passing me.

[Corrin]

Will you please pass that to step?

[Thomas]

Okay. Here you are.

[Virginia]

Thank you.

[Thomas]

Oh, wait. To your right.

[Corrin]

So that would be Amy to step.

[Virginia]

Is that Amy? This is Amy.

[Thomas]

Oh, this is Amy. Yes. I thought you were handing me adoris. My apologies.

[Virginia]

Adorable.

[Maria]

Yeah, I'm nearly as adorable as Aki, but quite a little different.

[Thomas]

And on this card, I would like you to turn it over and I would like you to write a virtue on this. Something that you aspire and hope someone to be. Something that you maybe see in yourself, but you are viewed upon others. What is a virtue that you would like to impose?

[Virginia]

And is this an internal thing or an external? Like laughs a lot?

[Thomas]

It is a descriptive one word. Word. Yes, a descriptive word. So if you want to be someone who laughs a lot, you can be someone who's amicable or someone who's joyful. Something like that.

[Corrin]

This is a great picture of you, Alex.

[Starchy]

Thank you. I wear a lot of blue. I figured out spread of your Life.

[Thomas]

Spread of Alex's life is he's. He's blue. Yeah.

[Maria]

It has been written.

[Starchy]

It has been written.

[Thomas]

That's why it's Sharpies. Where's mine?

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

That lovely smell.

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

I have to tell, I will say that in a game earlier today, everyone has commented on the abrasive texture.

[Corrin]

I kind of don't mind it.

[Virginia]

Ooh. Of this. Is it because there's no label?

[Thomas]

Yeah, I think so.

[Starchy]

I didn't even notice.

[Thomas]

There you go. That shows something. How detailed.

[Starchy]

I'm not gonna last long.

[Corrin]

That perception check is real low zero.

[Virginia]

Or it does feel a bit unflappable.

[Maria]

Yeah. Or that it feels a little alive.

[Thomas]

Well, let's pass it back to the left.

[Maria]

All right.

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

I like it to where it goes.

[Maria]

Furry peach.

[Thomas]

I'll take it back to you.

[Starchy]

I'm hoping that's my virtue.

[Virginia]

Do we not look at it?

[Thomas]

No, we're gonna read it off right now. Would you start for us, Steph?

[Virginia]

Yes. I am compassionate.

[Thomas]

Compassionate. Great. Alex.

[Starchy]

I am protective.

[Thomas]

Protective. Okay, great. Aki.

[Corrin]

I'm empathetic.

[Thomas]

Empathetic.

[Starchy]

All right.

[Thomas]

And Morpal. Ooh.

[Maria]

I'm super smart.

[Thomas]

Okay. Did Steph write that one?

[Maria]

Yeah, Steph did.

[Thomas]

So super smart's fine. Smart is a virtue. But I would probably lean more on the intellectual or something like that. Just for future reference. I'm keeping into it because super smart's technically two words.

[Maria]

Oh.

[Virginia]

But not the way I wrote it.

[Thomas]

You put another capital S in there, though.

[Maria]

Yeah, but you know, with websites and the way they are, capitals don't necessarily get a pass.

[Thomas]

Barely.

[Maria]

Right? It's the best hashtag ever.

[Virginia]

Super smart in your head.

[Thomas]

Super smart.

[Virginia]

Intelligent in your heart.

[Maria]

I do like doing virtues and vices as hashtags. Hashtags. Super smart.

[Thomas]

Okay, duly noted. Now let's take another one of your cards and let's pass it to the left, please.

[Corrin]

Pass that to you.

[Maria]

Treat her gently.

[Corrin]

I shall.

[Thomas]

And then here, I'll give it. Now, on the back of this one, I would like you to write a vice. Something that causes more problems than it starts. And something that you would never wish upon anybody except where you are now.

[Starchy]

I may be 0 for 2 in spelling.

[Virginia]

You know what?

[Thomas]

I think you're gonna be okay, Alex. Yeah. No one's gonna know. But whoever you're handing it to and.

[Virginia]

Maybe me, you don't need to know how to spell at the end of the world.

[Thomas]

Let's pass it back to the left.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Back to their owners.

[Starchy]

Here we go.

[Thomas]

Vorpal. Would you Start us off. What is your vice?

[Maria]

Ooh. I am stubborn.

[Thomas]

Stubborn. Great. Naki.

[Corrin]

I'm vindictive.

[Thomas]

Vindictive. Excellent.

[Starchy]

I am vengeful.

[Thomas]

Vengeful. All right. Vindictive. Vengeful. See a lot of hatred in this group. Stubborn. Awesome.

[Virginia]

And I'm reckless.

[Thomas]

And reckless. I love it.

[Maria]

Excellent.

[Thomas]

Okay, perfect. Then now is about the time in which I kind of tell you a little bit about what you're dealing with, where we are now. In full disclosure, we did have an opportunity to talk about this a little bit before coming to the table. But just to refresh everyone's memory, you will be playing 12 days after the monoliths have risen from the ground. And at this point, 12 days is fairly subjective because the sun doesn't seem to be rising or setting in any kind of regularity at this point. Now, much like a popular television show, the nights are long and the days are long, and that doesn't seem to have any kind of normality to it whatsoever. So when I say 12 days, it feels like it may have been 12 days at this point, but it is night, and the night currently is long. So I think we talked a little bit about you dealing with the tidal surges that are a part of what has occurred as a result of these monoliths coming out into the ground and having some foresight on these tidal surges. Perhaps in the light of the day, you were able to make an excursion as far away from the oceans as you possibly could, watching as fresh lakes are basically being engulfed by these wide swath of water as it is literally tearing down everything, buildings, foliage, and animals, as it's just making its entire crest upon the European landscape, and seeing that, you wisely chose to go the other way, right?

[Starchy]

Mm.

[Thomas]

Yes. So. So we're gonna basically start our situation with the post tidal surges of day 12 leading into the night. The night has set a while ago, and you have long since run out of food. And I know I was jokingly saying that it has been days without food, but now I'm literally saying it has been days without food since you've all eaten and you are feeling not only you've gone past the pains of hunger, and I don't know if any of you have fasted or anything like that in the past, but there is a point in which you no longer have hunger, and you simply have just a chronic pain that exists with you until you're able to A, mentally push that past, or B, able to internalize it until the next stage comes, which is the Muscle fatigue. Not quite there yet. Now, let's talk about your moments at this point. And moments are something that you will not give to anyone else, but it is your own. It is a moment that you hope to create while in this story. And should you create that moment and live through it, you will be awarded a hope dice, which now will become part of your greater conflict dice as you roll. This is a much, much better dice than the regular ones, but it does have to be something that has the option of failing at the same time. Too cool.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

All right, let's take a card, turn it around, and I'd like you to write that moment down. Now.

[Virginia]

Does this have to be something that can really happen in real life?

[Thomas]

In this world or in the real world?

[Corrin]

Both.

[Thomas]

Yes. It should be something that is possible, but also has the option.

[Maria]

Can it be other player dependent? Like.

[Thomas]

Absolutely. It could be other player dependent. Yes. And to be fair, this is something that you will hold onto, and we will talk about it here. It's not secret, but we will be sharing it with everyone at the table. Okay. It is everyone. Good. I stopped hearing scritching. So we'll take this opportunity to not only learn about your moment, but also learn about the character that you'll be playing today. So, Aki, would you start?

[Corrin]

My moment is I find proof.

[Thomas]

May I learn who your character is first?

[Corrin]

Oh, my character is first. Sorry. I'm going to be playing Corin Jones.

[Thomas]

Corin Jones.

[Corrin]

That's spelled Q O R I N. Corin Jones.

[Thomas]

Excellent.

[Corrin]

Corrin Jones is a university student who has been backpacking through Europe when all of this started and now basically stuck.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Corrin]

Can't go home. And they came on this trip with their twin sister, and their sister has since gone missing. They have no idea where she is. Where they. Yeah.

[Thomas]

Or where they are.

[Corrin]

Where she is. So, Corin, do you want me to tell you what Corin looks like, too? Is that part of this or just a general idea of.

[Thomas]

If you feel it's important to distinguish it, then by all means, take it.

[Corrin]

Eh. It's.

[Thomas]

It's your twin sister.

[Corrin]

Yeah, Corin is my twin sister. And basically my moment is I find proof that she's still alive.

[Thomas]

Okay. That was the moment that you hope to create.

[Maria]

The names are you.

[Corrin]

I'm Corinne. My twin sister is Cora.

[Maria]

Cora.

[Thomas]

Got it. Okay. Okay.

[Corrin]

Cora is also spelled with a Q.

[Thomas]

Got it. Corrin versus Cora. Great. Alex, who will you be playing today?

[Starchy]

Today I will be playing Thomas Rhodes.

[Thomas]

Thomas Rhodes. Great.

[Starchy]

I am a Swiss watchmaker.

[Thomas]

Cool.

[Starchy]

Nondescript Swiss watchmaker.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

I decided to leave my hometown when my wife passed away at the beginning.

[Thomas]

Of everything, all of this. Did she go missing or did something happen?

[Starchy]

Something happened.

[Thomas]

Okay. All right.

[Starchy]

And I watched it and wanted to get far away from it.

[Thomas]

Understood.

[Starchy]

So I took it on the land and met up with some fine people.

[Thomas]

And you're with them now?

[Starchy]

I'm with them now.

[Thomas]

All right. Stands. Oh, sorry. The moment that you hope to generate. Yes, please.

[Starchy]

My moment is to do what I could not do for my wife.

[Thomas]

Save somebody else.

[Starchy]

And save someone else.

[Thomas]

All right, Duly noted. Steph, who will you be playing today?

[Virginia]

I will be playing Virginia.

[Thomas]

Virginia.

[Virginia]

And I am a pastor's daughter.

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Corrin]

I'm 18.

[Virginia]

So reckless and compassionate. Go. Great for my character.

[Thomas]

Perfect.

[Virginia]

And I grew up in what's the equivalent of the Orange county of Croatia, and I just want to meet God.

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Virginia]

And. Or a literal thing is to feel.

[Thomas]

That's the moment.

[Virginia]

That's the moment.

[Thomas]

You want to feel God.

[Virginia]

Yeah, and I want to. So the moment can be to feel a sign from above that things are gonna be okay.

[Thomas]

Okay. Duly noted. All right, Ms. Vorpel.

[Maria]

God can be a dick. So maybe you might meet God, and it's real bad in the Bible.

[Virginia]

Well, is this Old Testament or New Testament?

[Thomas]

I don't know. Why don't you have the title? Why don't you have the title? Floods? Tell you something.

[Maria]

You might already have been chosen. I'm playing Maria Ogden. Maria. And she's a QA customer, client relations director for a tech hardware company. Okay. Came up through the ranks, you know, building computers as a child, and at this point, can now, like, put anything in, say, what's a good wire and what's a bad wire and what. You know. Yeah, all the knows stuff about cards and wires and data. She, as far as any of you know, I mean, she's lost a lot already. She's basically virtually alone in a pretty impenetrable wall as far as emotions go. And that leads me to my moment, which is she wants to feel love one more time before she dies.

[Thomas]

Okay. Feel love one more time. That's wonderful. Finally, the last thing we'll do before we dive into our story is we will take one more card, and we are going to write a brink. Now, a brink is something that you will write for your neighbor, that you have seen them commit. The lowest moment they've been some kind of dark secret that you have observed. It's often described in the book as I have seen you and it is anything and everything that they would come to when being at a brink, which is why it is titled as such. Now, for Alex and Aki, you are both in a unique situation at this point because I will be participating in this exercise with you. What this means is that while everyone else will be sharing a brink for their neighbor Aki, you will be writing a brink for them. You will basically say something. I have seen them. It can be about the monolith. It can be about these proposed things that you have heard are in the ground. It can be about the circumstance in general, but it cannot be a weakness. And it is something that you will share with me in order to help continue to build our world. At the same time, Alex, I will be writing a brink for you.

[Starchy]

Oh, good.

[Thomas]

Of which they have seen you. And it will be something that you will be aware of, but is something that is also aware of them. Savvy? Cool. Cool. Then let's do that.

[Maria]

Now, do I take one? Do I take.

[Thomas]

Sorry. We're gonna take our things and pass. So we're gonna take them to the right.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

So I'm gonna write. There. You get this one. Here you are.

[Virginia]

And so what I write is what you have seen.

[Thomas]

I've seen her character, do or feel or frankly, anything.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Yeah. Great. So a quick reminder on Just Rules. You will roll should a conflict come up. You will roll dice equal to the number of candles that are currently in the game. If you roll any sixes, conflict is considered a success. If I have any dice from dice being removed from previous actions, I will roll against you for narrative control. Otherwise, you may take liberties on whatever happens. At the same time, should a conflict flail, I will immediately snuff out a candle. The conflict will fail, and we will begin to speak truths about how the story unfolds ahead. Let's pass it back. We will not be sharing these with everybody.

[Virginia]

Do we read them?

[Thomas]

You should absolutely read them. Cool. So before we begin, I would like you to basically stack your deck. So the way that's going to work is you can put your virtues and your vices or your moments in any order you want. The brink must go on the bottom. Okay. And this is important because you. You will not be able to burn any one of the three cards that I'm talking about. I'm sorry. You won't be able to burn any of the two cards or fulfill the moment unless that card is on top. So you cannot fulfill your moment if your virtue and vice is atop it until you have burnt Both of those cards. Likewise, you cannot burn your virtue and your vice if you put your moment on top until that moment has been fulfilled. Cool.

[Starchy]

Okay, great.

[Thomas]

So make your stacks.

[Starchy]

We should have one that is blank.

[Thomas]

The one that is blank is simply for your concept, your person, your name.

[Maria]

Oh, can we put this in the pile as well?

[Thomas]

It doesn't operate as part of the pile. It's kind of left off to the side just to kind of be your name and who you are.

[Starchy]

All right.

[Thomas]

Cool.

[Maria]

And do we want to burn these cards or no?

[Thomas]

It's really up to you. If you don't mind me telling you a little bit of previous experience, there's absolutely nothing wrong with burning virtues and vices. Even early on in the game, when you burn a virtue in the vice, it is only to reroll one. So. Cause if you leave those ones to be, I will claim them and your dice pool is reduced.

[Maria]

All right, what about burning a moment?

[Thomas]

The moment will not be burnt. It will only be fulfilled once the moment is on top and the moment happens.

[Maria]

Got it.

[Thomas]

A brink, should you get down to your brink, can be used to reroll all the dice, sixes and ones included. But you'll be acting upon that brink. If it succeeds, then it goes off and you get to keep your brink. It does not go away. But if it fails, you lose your hope. Dice, a candle is snuffed out immediately, and you must activate upon that brink. Right, Right. Questions, comments, concerns? Then let's begin. Your story starts in the rolling vineyards of Central Europe as you are traversing along a broken ground in front of you. Night has fallen, I don't know, 12 hours ago @ this point. And you have been walking since you have seen the water recede at this stage. So you are amazed at just how many insects are currently just chirping in your ear, because the eerie quiet is otherwise completely just absorbing. There's no talking, there's no people. And this is not uncommon. It has been a long time since you ventured out from whatever stronghold you were holding onto as you go into it. But just going into what you thought would be a highly populated area with many people, you are just surprised at just how ghostly and silent it is. That being said, the sounds of nature are still prevalent in what you're doing. And really, the only things that you're feeling now is that chronic pain that sits in your stomach, as you know that you haven't eaten anything in days. You have some water, and you've been able to last on that for a while. But even that's slowly starting to run out as well, too. So my question is, what do you do?

[Maria]

Two birds, one stone. Let's get some of these insects.

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Virginia]

I'm vegetarian, but I thought about switching.

[Corrin]

Right now, I don't think we have much of a choice. I mean, they taste as good as.

[Thomas]

They sound at this point. With so many days of hunger under your belt, probably anything would sound pretty good right now. Yeah.

[Maria]

Virginia, I think we've all changed a little bit. And I think to help you survive, I'm gonna. I'm gonna have to shove some insects down your throat.

[Virginia]

I feel like I'll be judged. Like, it's going against my morals, but I'm really, really hungry, so I think.

[Starchy]

They'Ll give you a pass here.

[Maria]

There's no one left to judge you. By the way.

[Virginia]

Did we talk about religion yet? Cause, you know, I'm a pastor.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, we got that.

[Thomas]

Are we making, like, a large net at this point?

[Maria]

Oh, I see.

[Thomas]

What are we collecting? Are we hopping like 4 year olds on a creek trying to catch insects?

[Virginia]

Do we have a net or a gun?

[Corrin]

We don't have any way to light our way. All of our. Like, do we have any, like, flashlight or.

[Thomas]

You would have. What is in your pockets?

[Maria]

Are any of these bugs, like, glomming onto us or, like, flying around or like.

[Thomas]

That's a good point. So let's answer several of your questions at one point. Normally, in ten candles, it explicitly says you start with what is onto your pockets at this circumstances for your journey. I think it is fair and safe to say that you are basically working with a rag torch at this stage. And you've been walking with essentially a table chair wrapped in cloth dipped into fluid, and it's been carried with you. So that kerosene smell is also just with you as you're walking around holding this oily piece of wood. And yes, 100%, that would attract insects. That would bring them to the point of where you could at least see them in their clumsy movements, just hopping around as they stupidly slap into you and fall down and roll back up on their little legs and then hop again.

[Corrin]

And yeah, there are grasshoppers. I'm definitely trying to catch me some grasshoppers.

[Maria]

Oh, nice.

[Starchy]

I can use my shirt to.

[Thomas]

Let's catch some grasshoppers. Corn. Oh, okay. Well, that.

[Corrin]

Yeah, that started.

[Thomas]

We have two ones and zero successes.

[Corrin]

That's great.

[Thomas]

Good start.

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

First roll. How you feeling?

[Corrin]

You know what? I'm gonna go ahead and burn my virtue, which is which is empathetic. I can see how hungry everyone is and how desperate we're starting to get. And the last thing that I want to is for us to start losing hope, because it could get really bad if that happens.

[Thomas]

Persistence through empathy. So take those ones and re. Roll them for me, please.

[Corrin]

Oh, great.

[Thomas]

No successes? No, just no ones. Thus.

[Maria]

All we did was try to.

[Starchy]

Here we go.

[Corrin]

Getting off to a great start.

[Thomas]

Corrin, as you are trying so hard just to catch these insects, were you handing the torch originally? You hand this torch over to Maria, who, as you just start to clasp and you get farther in, you slowly start to get farther and stray farther and farther away from the light as you begin to just grasp and hold onto these things as much as you possibly can. And then out of nowhere, you feel the ground fall out from underneath you as you tumble forward. And you feel as the wind is knocked out of you, as you just feel like you're tumbling and tumbling down somewhere. We have nine truths to speak now as part of how this story moves forward. And, Corrin, you have the pleasure of offering the first truth. Sorry, the first truth is the world is dark. But what truth would you like to speak?

[Corrin]

I've broken a bone in the fall.

[Thomas]

All right. You are currently in a set of dried brambles, by the way. For people who are new to it, I should say. Truths can be both circumstantial and they can be like scenario round. It can also do things like fast forward in time as well, too. So however you wish to play out your truth, just know that it is a truth. That's all. Okay, Sorry. Continue.

[Starchy]

As I watch my friend tumble away, I do nothing to help you do nothing.

[Thomas]

That is your truth. All right, we're at three right now. Four.

[Virginia]

I run over to see if Corin is okay and secretly wondering if we're gonna eat each other if we die. Is that a truth?

[Thomas]

So if I'm interpreting your truth, it's okay. The way I interpret your truth, what might be interesting to say is that I'm considering eating my friends.

[Virginia]

Yes.

[Thomas]

Okay. Cause that can absolutely be a truth. Or you can.

[Maria]

If sex were a problem. Ms. Vegetarian.

[Starchy]

That escalated fast.

[Thomas]

Also, a truth could be, too, that if a friend dies, you will eat them.

[Virginia]

Well, that's more of what I was thinking.

[Thomas]

That's fair.

[Virginia]

I can't kill anyone. But, like, oh, no, Corrin.

[Thomas]

But like, five. Maria, you're next. What is the truth?

[Maria]

And this has to be personal to me of, like, what my character does.

[Thomas]

It can be Anything that's happening. I mean, if you don't mind me saying, you could even say we get Corrin out of the bush.

[Maria]

That would be a truth I'd rather. I want to say, luckily the bramble she. The briar patch they fell into is rife with, like, grubby insects.

[Thomas]

Ah. You could have also said berries, but grubby insects are excellent, so.

[Maria]

Yeah, I could have been anything.

[Thomas]

Right?

[Maria]

I wanted to do something good, and.

[Virginia]

That'S what we all wanted, is to eat some insects.

[Maria]

And what's better than a slug on a hot day?

[Thomas]

Yeah. Nothing better. Nothing better.

[Maria]

Oh, the grubby kind. It can't really hurt you.

[Starchy]

Foreign.

[Corrin]

I can still walk.

[Thomas]

It's a good truth. You had the water.

[Starchy]

Did you say they had the water?

[Thomas]

They had the water. They had the water. Yeah. Yeah.

[Starchy]

But thankfully, none of it was spilled.

[Thomas]

Ah, okay. Yes. Good, good, good. I made you use it. You did, which is fair. And I believe, Virginia, you get the last one, which is because we're at nine, and I believe yours was the eighth, so.

[Virginia]

Virginia, that's so crazy, but the bramble that they fell on top of is oddly on top of a large house that has a stocked pantry.

[Thomas]

I would probably. The house. Yeah. So you're on top of a house.

[Virginia]

You're on top of a house.

[Thomas]

That's great. That has a stock pantry. Sure. Absolutely.

[Maria]

Shoot, that was too easy.

[Virginia]

But it might not, you know, that's all right.

[Thomas]

We are now moving forward with nine dice, such as we have refreshed, and we will open the scene with Corrin currently just ensnared inside of brambles. There are small nicks and cuts all over you. And you. What do you do?

[Starchy]

Help someone. Wanna.

[Maria]

We're all going. We're all going. Maybe we didn't do anything to stop you, but I for sure was yelling, Corin, what the hell were you thinking?

[Corrin]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I think I broke something.

[Thomas]

What?

[Starchy]

Oh, gosh.

[Thomas]

So you all run down the hillside using the torch to carry you down?

[Virginia]

I think I had already run down, yes. Can I reach out for her for that?

[Thomas]

You can absolutely take an opportunity to try to fish them out of the brambles. Yep. By all means, come on.

[Virginia]

Reaching to fish them out.

[Corrin]

Ooh.

[Thomas]

Okay. Okay, great. 16 and 11 for me. All right. I don't have any kind of dice that have been awarded to me yet, so. So, Virginia, you are able to tell everyone how this went down?

[Virginia]

Great. I reach out and I feel your hand, but this is the one that has a broken bone.

[Corrin]

Ah, not that one.

[Virginia]

Ari.

[Corrin]

It's okay. It's okay. Oh, I landed on something.

[Thomas]

And you looked out, and you landed on what looks like a sheet metal roof with just some kind of obstruction that you put all of your pressure on and landed upon. In fact, you heard the distinctive metal slam as if a grate had hit on you and maybe, I don't know, some kind of handle or something that you just pressed down upon.

[Maria]

At this point, have we arrived?

[Thomas]

You're all down there. And to be clear, you did succeed in getting them out. So even though you had this narrative ability to be able to rom in, how did you effectively get them out?

[Virginia]

I pulled out their legs. They still work.

[Thomas]

That was true. So Virginia pulls you out by your legs.

[Corrin]

Okay.

[Virginia]

All right, we got you.

[Starchy]

Oh, gross.

[Thomas]

And like tiny, tiny cats that are covered across you. You feel scratches just rake across your entire body as small pits of cloth and skin are just being pulled as Virginia undelicately just rips you straight out.

[Corrin]

Thanks. Yes, Virginia, thanks. That's.

[Maria]

Oh, my gosh.

[Thomas]

And you get down to see this.

[Maria]

Now you are covered in scratches.

[Corrin]

Yeah, I think I broke something. I couldn't get out on my own. Virginia had to get me out the only way she could, which is, you.

[Maria]

Know, dragging you by your legs.

[Corrin]

Yeah, of course I'm fine, but there's. I landed on something. There's a roof or something here.

[Starchy]

Okay, should we help you first?

[Corrin]

I mean, do any of you know how to set a bone?

[Maria]

I'd like to try.

[Thomas]

Do you want to look at it with the torch light right now to go through it?

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

I'll hold the torch.

[Thomas]

All right, hold the torch. Now, Thomas holds the torch, and, Corin, as you slowly, gingerly take off the coat. Do you have an undershirt underneath it?

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

Is it what you're wearing now?

[Corrin]

That's basically what I'm wearing, yeah.

[Thomas]

So you take this denim jacket, and you take the vest or the vest that's actually just a vest. Vest. So you pull it off, and you can already immediately see the blood spot that is currently just inside of where your. Is it. Do you want to do upper arm or do you want to do lower? Okay. And you kind of look at it, and you can tell that not only. There is no. You see nothing has jutted through, but it is swelling.

[Maria]

Yeah. Okay.

[Corrin]

It hurts like a bitch.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. It's gonna hurt even before it gets better.

[Corrin]

Great. Wonderful.

[Maria]

Can I just do it?

[Thomas]

You wanna set the bone? Yeah, set the Bone. Do the bone. You need nine. Okay, I get one. Oh, no, I'm sorry. We lost one in the last one, so.

[Maria]

Oh, I see. Okay. All right. I'm good at this.

[Thomas]

Yeah, you are great.

[Maria]

Two successes, two vibes. Two ones for me. Two of those go to you?

[Thomas]

Yes.

[Maria]

They just go.

[Thomas]

All ones go to me. Unless you want to use virtues and vices.

[Maria]

But I have succeeded.

[Thomas]

You absolutely have succeeded. And I get one dice to see if I seize narrative control. There's no way. Because you have two. Maria, would you please tell me how you set this bone?

[Maria]

Yes. There's a certain nurturing, motherly. I'm older than both of these students and there's. Yeah. Nurturing way about me. Everything's very delicate and friendly and cajoling up until it can't be anymore. And that's right when I. It's okay. It's okay. We're gonna get through this together. Oh, is that where that hurts? Okay, well, that's okay. Let's take a look. And I just have to do it on a surprise basis. Otherwise they would pull away from me.

[Thomas]

So you nearly bite your tongue, but you go through it at the summer.

[Maria]

That's the right way to do it. There's no other way they would have pulled away from me.

[Corrin]

Thank you. Holy crap, that hurts.

[Maria]

You're going to be okay, at least for now. And I'm going to. One of the brambles, you know, is probably a little straight. And I'll make a splint as we'll see.

[Thomas]

That's cool.

[Maria]

Is that okay? As part of the.

[Thomas]

Part of it. So you basically. You take a little bit of their coat as well as the bramble, which you now, after stripping it.

[Maria]

Yeah. Yes.

[Thomas]

Basically make a small kind of string and using that, you make a very makeshift kind of arm sling made up of both their coat and the bramble, which is now kind of tied over so it keeps close to your chest. So it's up to keep the swelling down. And it's pretty much up against your chest like this, so. Oh, shit.

[Starchy]

Does it hurt?

[Thomas]

But it is at least sad.

[Corrin]

Thanks, Maria. I'm really, really sorry. I just wanted to help. I shouldn't have wandered away. I'm really sorry.

[Starchy]

We're glad you're okay.

[Maria]

Yeah. You will be fine. We will need to get someone to look at it at some point. I'm no doctor, but don't say I never did anything for you.

[Virginia]

You should drink some water.

[Starchy]

Yeah, fluids will help.

[Maria]

That's the first good idea you've had, Virginia.

[Starchy]

Listen, let's take it easy.

[Thomas]

Yeah. The bag is gone.

[Maria]

The bag, the bag.

[Corrin]

I don't.

[Starchy]

Did you lose it on the hill?

[Corrin]

Must have.

[Starchy]

Oh, I take the torch and just extend it back and see if I.

[Thomas]

Can split it back.

[Starchy]

Yeah, just.

[Thomas]

It's not in the immediate vicinity from where you hold it back.

[Corrin]

Well, if we're going to go look for it, we better do it together. No more splitting up.

[Maria]

Before we do that, there are these grubs here and we know we're all hungry. And your chase for grasshoppers. We wound up finding some things that we could actually eat that aren't harmful to us.

[Starchy]

Yeah, let's quick snack.

[Virginia]

They're not harmful.

[Corrin]

No, Just pop them into the fire really fast and give them the.

[Virginia]

We could use a bramble and roast it.

[Corrin]

That's not a bad idea.

[Starchy]

I don't have time for that. I just grabbed some and.

[Thomas]

All right, Thomas. So you basically pluck the floor. First big one that you can see, which is almost like a June bug kind of grub, and you just pop it in and it. I mean, it's odd because it doesn't taste bad, but the fact that it's still moving when you're biting into it gives you that initial gag reflex that kind of forces it back. And its tiny little crawlers do kind of give you a little bit of a. Of an odd moment. But once you get that first one down, it's slimy, yet satisfying.

[Corrin]

I think the moment Corrin sees Thomas Stewart, they just. They go for it, too.

[Thomas]

They go for it, too.

[Maria]

And I suggested it. So I for sure will not be left behind in this on the grubs feast.

[Virginia]

Absolutely trying not to throw up. Watching the Wriggles go down.

[Thomas]

It's more just the fact that they just are literally. They didn't even bother cleaning the dirt off of them. They just threw it right in. And you can.

[Corrin]

An interesting texture.

[Virginia]

I'm so hungry.

[Thomas]

I want to see you conflict to see if you throw it up instead.

[Maria]

Oh, she touched. Totally.

[Virginia]

Could I take one? And I think I am so, so sorry. And I put it. I put it and chew it and we'll see if it goes down, right?

[Thomas]

Yeah, if it goes down. Yeah, it goes down. Yeah, I get that one. One.

[Virginia]

So question.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Virginia]

Would we be aiming to hold. This is all the dice we get ever.

[Thomas]

No. When you fail, the. The candle will go out and the dice will refresh. Based on how many candles are lit. It is a decaying dice pool.

[Virginia]

Dice pool, yes.

[Thomas]

There we go.

[Maria]

I can do this Virginia. Try not to think about it. Wow.

[Corrin]

He did it.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

Not so bad, huh?

[Thomas]

I don't know.

[Corrin]

Good job. Good job, princess. All right.

[Thomas]

Pretty bad. It's bad. But at the same time, just the knowledge and understanding that something is in your stomach, it's holding it together at this point. Because, you know, at this point, if you threw up, you would lose more water that you've been drinking more than anything else. And it's kind of that weird grit that kind of keeps you there less than it is the knowledge of eating a bug.

[Virginia]

Guess it's like 4 grams of protein.

[Maria]

I wish you could see. You could have seen the contortions your face made as that bug went down. It's the funniest you've ever been. Ready for another one?

[Starchy]

I am.

[Thomas]

Okay, so you. Basically, all of you, gingerly, some more aggressively. Others, you clean through as much of the grubs as you possibly can, all the ones that are visible and all the ones that are at least in as much of the topsoil that you can find around.

[Corrin]

I want to kind of keep close to that sheet of metal that I'm falling on, because while I'm eating, I was just sort of exploring that and trying to figure out what it is.

[Thomas]

Having the light be a little closer, it distinctly looks like some kind of hatch.

[Corrin]

You guys, I think there's something down here.

[Starchy]

Water first.

[Corrin]

Sure. Yeah. Let's try and find the water thing first. But, yeah, this looks like some kind of hatch. Might lead down to something.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Starchy]

Come back for it.

[Virginia]

We can maybe. We've been walking for 12 hours, right?

[Thomas]

Yeah, probably longer than that.

[Virginia]

Maybe we can get the water and then hole up.

[Maria]

Yeah, that would be a good. This seems like a good place to rest. Good find.

[Virginia]

Are we all decently full on bugs now?

[Thomas]

I mean, it's enough at this point, but I do want to see if you can find that water. So, Thomas, I do want you to make a conflict. Roll, please.

[Starchy]

Okay. Let's do this.

[Thomas]

All right. As you basically double back where Quarren has moved, you lose track of where you are going, and you find yourself wandering aimlessly up and down this hillside as you lose your bearings. And I can't even give you. There's no one here in which.

[Starchy]

So, okay.

[Thomas]

Let'S speak some truths. We have eight. You now have eight dice to work with. Thomas, let's start with you.

[Starchy]

I lost myself for a moment, but I found the water.

[Thomas]

You found the water? Okay, that's fine. 2.

[Virginia]

I think I'm going to hell. Cause I ate these bugs.

[Thomas]

Okay. You're going to hell.

[Virginia]

Well, I think I'm going to hell. I'm actually. But that's how I'm feeling.

[Thomas]

That's your perspective on it? Yeah, sure. Yeah.

[Maria]

So we got the water there. There's a friendly. A friendly voice in the hatch.

[Thomas]

There's a friendly voice in the hatch. Okay. 2, 3, 4, 5.

[Corrin]

We won't find any more food after this. Aside from the fully stocked thing that we already spoke.

[Maria]

Are you on.

[Thomas]

That's part of this game. It's about telling the best story. You can't win 10 candles. And it's not a.

[Corrin]

You just might as well lean in.

[Thomas]

Lean in. Lean in. Five and so six. Um.

[Starchy]

Be gentle.

[Corrin]

Who are you talking to?

[Starchy]

I realized that as soon as I said it.

[Thomas]

Friendly voice inside. They sound friendly. Friendly voice in the voice sounds friendly, but it isn't. It's not a denial. What I'm trying to say.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]

Is that the voice sounds friendly in where?

[Maria]

In the hatch. The hatch, yes.

[Starchy]

Uh, okay, I'll go with it. Since. Since I found the water.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

I lost the torch.

[Thomas]

Cool. We started one. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

[Virginia]

I saw a big shadow move over there.

[Thomas]

Big shadow? Yeah.

[Virginia]

I mean, it's over there is probably about 5, 8 of a mile away, but it's there. I saw something.

[Maria]

DarkVision 5, 8 of a mile away.

[Thomas]

I don't think your darkvision would quite cover five eighths of a mile, but I think.

[Virginia]

Is there a moon? I just. I thought I saw something move. Not sure if it's worth bringing up.

[Thomas]

You saw something move. It's perfect. And for the record. Yes, the moon. The moon is incredibly bright and very, very big. Yes, and very big. We're actually talking about. It fills up a large portion of the night sky. And last one.

[Maria]

Last one. Okay, so the hatch seems to be a little bit underground and there's a bit of water at our feet, probably from the incoming tide, even though we've escaped the brunt of it. And it's leaking into the.

[Thomas]

The water is leaking into the hatch?

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

From above?

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Maria]

It's below ground. Yes, from what we can tell. Okay, cool.

[Thomas]

Okay, so the water is leaking into the hatch. Okay, great. Well, the world is dark. And now we start. That's always the truth. Normally that's the first truth is the world is dark. But at least it's been said. So now we're going to start.

[Maria]

I have a question.

[Thomas]

Yes?

[Maria]

Didn't you said the other group had a truth for us?

[Thomas]

I did. Yes. And that is coming up.

[Maria]

Oh, it's coming up.

[Virginia]

At this point, let's live in ignorance as long as possible.

[Thomas]

Yeah, great. So you. We start this scene back up. You guys have lost the torch, but you've managed to find this water. And losing this torch to me looks a lot more like the torch has completely burnt out and there is no more accelerant to basically light it back to where it is again. So it's worthless basically at this point. But you did find the water and at some point you do hear a loud hey, anyone up there?

[Virginia]

Unless the monoliths speak English, I'm pretty sure that that voice.

[Maria]

No, this is amazing.

[Virginia]

Is human.

[Maria]

This is amazing. We found another. Another survivor. Yes. Yes. There are four of us. Can you help us?

[Thomas]

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[Maria]

Of course not.

[Thomas]

All right, do me a favor. Walk over to where you see the brambles. Do you see the brambles?

[Maria]

We fell right in them. Oh, my gosh. This is amazing.

[Thomas]

Stand right in front of the brambles and don't move.

[Corrin]

This doesn't feel right.

[Maria]

Why doesn't it feel right? Of course it is.

[Virginia]

The hatch is not next to the brambles.

[Thomas]

The hatch is at the brambles.

[Starchy]

Oh, it is.

[Virginia]

So stand at the brambles.

[Thomas]

They want you to stand in front of the brambles.

[Maria]

Yes. Yes, of course. They're suspicious.

[Virginia]

I don't think we should stand at the brambles.

[Maria]

Virginia, what else are we going to do? They have cover. We wanted to spend the night here.

[Virginia]

What if they want to eat us?

[Maria]

All right, Virginia.

[Virginia]

I'm just saying some people might be crazy.

[Starchy]

Maria's right. This is a chance for help here.

[Virginia]

I think half of us should not stand at the brambles.

[Maria]

Virginia, you can do whatever you want to do. I'm not going to fight you. But I also think you're being a little bit dramatic.

[Virginia]

I'm just saying there's some crazy people here.

[Maria]

Yes. Everything's gone crazy. We have to take the chances that we're given.

[Thomas]

Come on.

[Starchy]

We don't get.

[Virginia]

Can you just ask them why they want us to stand at the brambles?

[Maria]

Yes.

[Virginia]

Thanks.

[Maria]

Before we stand right where you want us to. How can we be sure we can trust you?

[Thomas]

I could say the same of you.

[Maria]

What's at the brambles? Sorry?

[Thomas]

The cameras.

[Corrin]

I think they just want to check how many of us there are, I guess.

[Maria]

Oh, my gosh. Cameras are my bag. I mean, I don't say that out loud. I might say this to these guys. Okay. Cameras are my bag. Can I identify with.

[Thomas]

It's so dark. You're dealing with the moonlight, and they are. Whoever's down there is basically telling you to go to the brambles. If you would like I'm perfectly happy to have you see if you can look and identify these cameras without getting too deep into it.

[Starchy]

I don't mean to sharpshoot the integrity of this voice, but are we certain that electronic cameras even work now?

[Corrin]

That's true.

[Maria]

You're right. You're right. All of my electronics. It'd be interesting to find out. Oh, it'd be such a cool experiment. I'm gonna say that because it's my truth, that it's a friendly voice, that I'm going to stand at the brambles then.

[Thomas]

So you walk over to the brambles and you hear what appears to be a very light mechanical whirling. Just for a second, you look, try to identify where it might be.

[Corrin]

How are their electronics still working?

[Maria]

It's working.

[Thomas]

I know. And you look down and you see nothing. You can't see anything. But then you can go. You hear the voice go, I see one of you, but I heard other voices.

[Maria]

I'm going to identify the camera from here then.

[Thomas]

Okay, yeah. No, from where you are. You can. Yeah, go for it. I love conflict rolls. So let's do it.

[Maria]

All right. I'm good at these.

[Starchy]

Oh, boy.

[Corrin]

Wow.

[Thomas]

Four ones. No sixes. Wow.

[Virginia]

I like the intention, though. Going in. I thought that was very positive.

[Maria]

It worked last.

[Thomas]

Would you. This would be one of those circles circumstances when I would recommend.

[Maria]

Okay, great.

[Thomas]

A burn.

[Maria]

So this is number one. Is super smart.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Maria]

All right. Very appropriate, Very appropriate.

[Thomas]

Take those four ones.

[Maria]

Okay.

[Thomas]

And let's see how smarty paints. Super smart.

[Corrin]

Nice.

[Maria]

I converted two ones into two sixes. And the other ones are four.

[Thomas]

Okay, great.

[Virginia]

Very good.

[Thomas]

You useful. Looking down as you kind of hear this voice, and in that split second when you see it, you do notice something. It is a tiny. It is a very well concealed dome that is part of like a home security system. And you can see it's been covered really articulately with the brambles that are right where you are. But you can distinctly see, even with the moonlight coming down, the hint of a lens that just seems to be covered in this bramble.

[Maria]

It's below or above?

[Thomas]

It's below. It's like on the floor.

[Maria]

Then can my success. I definitely notice it. Can I Also, strategically, I'm not gonna show any of my friends. I'll just nod to them and I'll be near it so that as soon as the hatch opens, I'm gonna stomp on it.

[Thomas]

Oh, okay, Fair enough. Great. So you kind of seeing where the field of the camera is? I would definitely allow you to kind of get into a position where you can kind of block it. And you hear the voice call out again, basically saying, I see one of you, but I heard more voices.

[Starchy]

Good.

[Virginia]

Is it a male or female voice?

[Thomas]

Hard to tell between the steel grate.

[Virginia]

Okay.

[Corrin]

I'm probably sticking sort of close. Ish to Maria just on a basis of feeling a little bit of a.

[Thomas]

Yeah, she set your bone. Yeah.

[Corrin]

Connection. And I'm really craving family connection right now. So I.

[Thomas]

So you get close to Maria.

[Corrin]

I do kind of get close. So that they can see more than one of us.

[Starchy]

Yeah. Feeling that I will also join the group knowing that most of them are headed in that direction. I'll stand in plain sight of.

[Thomas]

Okay, so I see three of you. Show me your hands. I just want to make sure there's nothing on you. Oh, God. I haven't seen people in so long.

[Maria]

I know.

[Thomas]

I can't believe it. Okay, here's the deal. I'm gonna open the hatch real slow. I need you all to take two steps back so I can take a look at you.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Take two steps back.

[Maria]

That's fair.

[Starchy]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

Okay. See you both take two steps back. I know. We'll see how it is.

[Maria]

Okay. Okay.

[Thomas]

But if you want to go for it, I'm not gonna stop you at all. And you kind of hear a. Like some kind of big. Just mechanism, just. And you hear basically a mechanical lock just kind of unload. I'm sorry, when. I mean mechanical. I mean, it's a manual kind of like a. When you hear an airlock door being unhinged and you just watch as it pops. It just goes, just for a second, as if a pressure seal just came out. And you see a hand, stark white, undirtied, and just kind of press up on top of the hatch. And you see just hair. Chest muzzled, frazzled hair. And two pupils, fully dilated. Beady eyes. Lift their head up and kind of look at you and. Okay.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Opens the hatch. Still can't tell at this point if it's male or female or what it is. It's just dusty, frazzled hair everywhere. He kind of goes. Okay.

[Starchy]

Wow.

[Thomas]

You're alive.

[Starchy]

Yes. So are you.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

Hi.

[Corrin]

How long have you been down there?

[Thomas]

Three months.

[Starchy]

Three months?

[Thomas]

Three years maybe. I'm not too sure. Honestly. I don't really tell time too much down here. You wanna.

[Starchy]

Whoa.

[Maria]

How many of you are there down there?

[Thomas]

Me.

[Maria]

Just you?

[Starchy]

Just you.

[Thomas]

This me. This me. This me. Yep.

[Starchy]

You got a name?

[Thomas]

You can call me Starchy for now, Starchy's fine.

[Maria]

Starchy.

[Thomas]

Holy shit. And you see, Starchy is like now at this moment, looking at the giant fucking moon that is in the star and just covering the horizon almost goes. Yep.

[Starchy]

Mm.

[Thomas]

That makes sense. So. Yeah.

[Starchy]

All right.

[Maria]

You wanna come in? Yeah.

[Starchy]

Does Starchy look well nourished?

[Thomas]

Yeah. I mean beyond just the frazzled hair and kind of this beaded look that. And I can already see the question in all of your eyes. It's like, how can 12 days turn a person like this? But they don't look malnourished. They don't look. Look like they've been, you know, abused in any. Except for maybe self abuse at this stage as far as hygiene might go. Okay, but that's what you got. Okay.

[Maria]

On the way in, I want to make sure that I at least surreptitiously make eye contact with Virginia, because she hasn't been seen yet necessarily. So I just want to like question. Yeah, you don't know. Okay. But as we move towards there, I do want to step on the camera.

[Thomas]

Oh, just step on it. Just like try to cover it with your foot. Right?

[Maria]

Try to. No, try to get rid of it.

[Thomas]

Oh, break it. Oh, like full blown break it. Yeah, I'd call that. That's worth a roll. Cause that's whether or not. And we'll see how that resolves. Okay.

[Corrin]

Make money, no whimmies.

[Maria]

But one success.

[Thomas]

But one success. So Starchy does not hear the loud crunch as you basically step on what it is. And I mean, to be fair, you probably aren't breaking the camera so much as you're taking all of the mud and goo that you have accumulated on your shoes at this point and just smeared the crap out of it at this point. So that at least as far as outward visibility goes, it's compromised. Yeah. So you watch as kind of like Starchy just has this hatch up and starts crawling down and. And again, tell me if this is not your intent, but as you all are coming down the hatch, except for.

[Virginia]

Virginia, I just wonder, are they leaving the hatch open?

[Thomas]

You hear Starchy as he's coming up and they yells to whoever's last and goes, shut the door behind you.

[Corrin]

I'm like, I think because of my arm, I'm probably in between the two of you.

[Thomas]

So do you not shut the door?

[Starchy]

I shut the door.

[Maria]

Okay, you do?

[Starchy]

I shut it.

[Virginia]

But not like gently. You actually like full blown shut it.

[Starchy]

Do not see her making the motion to not so you.

[Thomas]

Virginia, hear this just as Thomas is. Oh my God.

[Corrin]

Okay, here are things out there. Don't you see? She's not with us.

[Virginia]

I could have saved you. I yell at the hatch.

[Thomas]

I could have come in there just.

[Virginia]

In case anything happened. But no.

[Thomas]

So you climb down and you see a well lit hallway. It is the first time you have seen anything this well lit ever. In two weeks, it has been a world of darkness, but this fluorescent light is just feeding straight into you. And it is sterile. And it is exactly. Incredibly unsettling in its contrast to the above world. And Starchy, kind of just.

[Corrin]

How did you find this place?

[Thomas]

I made it. It's mine. It's mine. I made it.

[Starchy]

You made it?

[Thomas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Maria]

Starchy. If you haven't been above the surface in months or years, a lot has happened in two weeks. And you said it makes sense to you.

[Thomas]

Yeah, no, I know. Yeah. So two weeks is when everything bad happened, right?

[Corrin]

Well, how do you know that?

[Thomas]

Did you see I had cameras up there?

[Corrin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]

I saw the water. That's all the riots.

[Maria]

But why does this make sense to you?

[Thomas]

You see that honker up there, that big old Wangadong sitting in the sky? What's the moon do?

[Maria]

Yes. It makes the tides shine.

[Thomas]

Yeah, it makes the tides.

[Maria]

So it's messing up by its distance to Earth.

[Thomas]

Yeah. By like a factor of 10,000. Do you see how close that thing is? Yeah.

[Corrin]

How we've been living it the last two weeks?

[Thomas]

That sucks.

[Maria]

Did you predict this? How did you know that you needed a bunker?

[Thomas]

No, no, no. I just. It's just like bunker life. I guess.

[Starchy]

You just did it for fun.

[Thomas]

No, no, I just. I knew something would happen. You know, something's gonna happen. Whether it's, you know, the world falling apart or the riots, or the government failing, or the moon just decides to come and pay Earth a little visit. I don't know. It's. Something was going to happen.

[Starchy]

I'm gonna casually glance around and see if I can locate the monitors that attach those cameras.

[Thomas]

Even though Starchy has a pretty well encompassed thing here, it's very difficult and expensive to build anything with any kind of lessing. We're not talking. It's not like a compound underneath. You're basically looking at a one bedroom apartment down here. So the monitors are extensively. As soon as you come through, it looks like maybe what Starchie had done in this circumstance had taken two containers from a container ship and basically buried it under the ground. Because you can see the ridged walls with spot welding done everywhere. As Far as stuff had done. And at this point you can actually see that Starchy has started taking buckets and has put wires on top of a lot of the bucketry there. Because one of the things you noticed when you started, you know, stepping down into this place was the small amount of water that seems to be accumulating now at the bottom of this crazy compound.

[Corrin]

Is this how you've been collecting drinking water for?

[Thomas]

No, that's new. That's new. Don't like it and I should probably pump it out. Yeah, that's probably the next thing to do next.

[Corrin]

There's no way for you to make it like potable so you can drink it.

[Thomas]

It's groundwater. I mean, you can drink it. I mean, it's probably gonna have whatever's in the ground that you can have there. But I drink dirt water when you've got carbon water.

[Maria]

You're so kind to allow us into your abode. We're really looking for just a short. A place to rest for a short time. We've got to be making our way further inland. If you don't mind. We just need some hours to. As you can see, my friend here has broken their arm.

[Thomas]

Oh, yeah, no, I can. I can help you take care of that for sure. Yeah. Come on over here. And Starchy leads you into the bedroom, the one bedroom that's in this whole place and kind of sets you down. And you can see there's several cabinetry that's kind of laid out where it is. And I mean, it's a fully stocked medical supply. I mean, we're talking morphine, we're talking, you know, you know, splints, like a real splint that you could actually set the bone with at this point. And it's. I mean, this is a prepper's dream, what you're in right now. Wow.

[Corrin]

Wow.

[Starchy]

Starch. Are you a doctor?

[Thomas]

No, no, no. More of a. More of a self learned doctor really. I've set a few animal bones over the years just, you know, trying it out.

[Maria]

I have a friend who would like you very much.

[Thomas]

So here it looks like you've already tried to do that a little bit, right?

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Corrin]

But I don't think this will hold up once we leave.

[Thomas]

Before as you're talking, she kind of grabs your other arm, not the broken one, but grabs this one and has already taken some iodine and has sterilized this part of your arm and has just shoved an IV needle straight into your. So goes okay. And takes a saline bag.

[Maria]

Are those antibiotics?

[Thomas]

No, no, this is the morphine. You'll like this.

[Corrin]

Excuse me.

[Thomas]

And you basically watch as, like, a drip starts going right into it as the morphine starts entering into your system.

[Starchy]

Hold on, John. Maybe we're being a little hasty with the painkillers here.

[Corrin]

I'm sorry, what?

[Thomas]

Yeah, no, it's gonna hurt otherwise, like, big time. I mean, you did this, right?

[Maria]

That's right.

[Thomas]

Yeah. It's not a bad job, but we're gonna need to go in there.

[Maria]

I say we let it happen, look at everything they've got.

[Thomas]

And at this point, while you two are talking, Starchy is just kind of settled in here and is taking the arm now and taking your makeshift branch with the coat splint, and brings one of those metal surgical tables and puts your arm right up on there and starts looking at it. Okay, well, it's not broken through the skin. That's good. Oh, but you got swelling. Swelling. All right, well, we're gonna bleed that real quick to make sure you don't get any internal stuff. And they're doing this action while they're talking about it. It's almost like they're just talking to themselves and using Quarren as a little bit of, like, an experiment at this point. So, you know, they bleed whatever's left in there because you can see that it's starting to puff up a little more. So they get all the excess blood out of it, and they basically reset the bone. Well, you don't feel a damn thing at this point.

[Corrin]

I was laughing at the funny way that she talks.

[Thomas]

And after a few short minutes, treated minutes, basically resets the bone, stops the internal bleeding, and then puts a real splint onto the board there. So. All right, cool. Well, that's done. What's next? Oh, yes.

[Starchy]

Thank you.

[Maria]

Yes, thank you.

[Thomas]

Draining the container ship. That's right. That's what's next.

[Corrin]

Do you have any food?

[Thomas]

Yeah, go ahead, Go ahead. And she kind of like motions behind where they are and kind of like looks at. You can see it's three or four floor to ceiling cabinets that are kind of laid out, and they start basically bailing water, like, putting into buckets, and just starts filling it up and seems to be pouring it into some kind of, like, potable toilet.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

Corin, are you okay?

[Corrin]

I feel great.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Maria]

Do you think you can get some rest?

[Corrin]

Hmm.

[Maria]

Can you close your eyes and sleep?

[Corrin]

Sleep sounds good.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Corrin]

But I really want something to eat that's not bugs.

[Maria]

Okay. I can handle that.

[Starchy]

Okay. I'm gonna help our friend.

[Maria]

Okay. And then maybe our other friend.

[Starchy]

Right, right. Maybe in reverse order. Maybe we should. I'll go do that.

[Maria]

Okay.

[Starchy]

I'm gonna kind of make my way back down the hallway back to where the ladder is, and I'm going to check on our friend and just climb up and pop open the.

[Thomas]

All right, so we'll get to the food real quick. That's a little quicker to resolve. So, Maria, as you walk over to the cabinets, you pull open the first one. It's empty, completely bare. Nothing there whatsoever at all. And you move over to the second wardrobe and pull it open. That one definitely has food inside of it. It's actually quite a bit of food. Maybe about half of it is gone at this point. But it's between powdered protein, canned goods, MREs, or the European equivalent of MREs, which would you probably not have the acronym MRE. And a lot of other.

[Maria]

Yeah, everything from any canned peaches or fruit that have that delicious syrup.

[Thomas]

There is not many of them, but there is a few. Yes. It seems to be one of the starchy delicacies that they don't seem to touch too often.

[Maria]

Okay, well, I'm no bitch, so I'll leave those there.

[Thomas]

But I'm assuming you probably grab some of the ones that are really easy to just rip and then dive into.

[Maria]

Yeah, beans.

[Thomas]

Yeah. Okay, so you make a meal for the three Thomases. You start hearing your feet clung up the rungs of the ladder. You hear starts to go, wait, wait, wait, wait, where are you going? And you hear as they kind of come around and the splashing of the water just kind of comes and goes. What are you doing?

[Starchy]

I figured I need to check on our friend real quick. Real quick. And then we can help you, friend.

[Thomas]

There's more than one, two, three of you?

[Starchy]

Well, yeah, we said there was. There was. We said there was more.

[Thomas]

I remember 1, 2, 3, not 4. Get down.

[Starchy]

Okay, okay, I'll climb back down the ladder and just kind of approach her slowly and just be like, so truth time. Kinda lied a little bit. And I really wanna check on our friend who's outside. And this is my fault. I forgot. I forgot. And I closed the hatch too quickly. I'd like to make up for that.

[Maria]

Oh, no, he can't leave and just check. Oh, but she said they're bone.

[Virginia]

Oh.

[Thomas]

One success. No ones.

[Virginia]

Oh, yeah.

[Maria]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Starchy kind of looks. And you can see that they've got that ticket in their eye that you're just starting to notice now. Amazing looks to you and goes. Okay, yeah, go get them, bring them back down.

[Starchy]

Will do. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. And I'll just.

[Thomas]

And as you're walking, they kind of stay surreptitiously, maybe awkwardly behind you a little bit as you climb up.

[Starchy]

Okay. Very, very. Just look. I'm see no foul point.

[Thomas]

Super transparency.

[Starchy]

Going to open the.

[Thomas]

Virginia, you hear as the hatch opens up.

[Virginia]

Well, can I have looked around to see if there's other entrances?

[Thomas]

Oh, absolutely.

[Virginia]

Just because there has to be air. Unless there must be. In my head, there must be some type of air or water. Something is going in or out. Unless it's just a vacuum. But I was looking around.

[Thomas]

That's great. So around the brambles, you can definitely see that the brambles are ostensibly like cover for here. Without a doubt. And since it has been raining a lot. Otherwise there wouldn't be any reason for the groundwater to start swelling the way that it was. There's air holes. You can see them now. They're covered. They're just basically tiny little spouts about this big that have a clear bug grate on it so that nothing can get in. And you can see they only stick up out of the ground about that far.

[Virginia]

I see.

[Thomas]

And it takes a while, but you do kind of notice them with the limited darkvision you have as you do a perimeter around it.

[Virginia]

Okay.

[Thomas]

And as you're doing this perimeter check and looking for these items, you do hear the loud of the distinct sound of the hatch opening up. And you do hear the hinge just.

[Starchy]

Hey, Virginia.

[Virginia]

Oh, hello there.

[Thomas]

Hi.

[Starchy]

So I apologize. That was my bad. I got flustered. I was very excited to get in someplace clean and get some food. Food. So come on down. We've. We've got food.

[Virginia]

I'm like whispering like, is it okay?

[Thomas]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Starchy]

Very helpful.

[Thomas]

Morphine.

[Starchy]

Treating the wound like it's okay. Come on down.

[Virginia]

Can I grab just a mini. I had a mini bramble that I can just have like a tiny little. It doesn't Won't help anything, but just my own feeling of feeling protected. You can literally bring tiny bramble branch of my hand.

[Thomas]

Just a little bramble branch. As you hold onto this bramble branch coming down, you kind of go down and Starchy is right at the bottom waiting for both of you right there to the point of where you can't really turn around without brushing into him. And Starchy takes one dramatic step back and sticks his hand and goes Starchy.

[Starchy]

Wow, Thomas.

[Thomas]

Good. Thomas. And watch as kinda like as you do the shake hand, they pull you kind of lop sides of them and puts you back the other way and watches you come down. Virginia. And goes Starchy.

[Virginia]

I do the same thing. I put the bramble in my other hand and I shake the hand, grab.

[Thomas]

The hands and starts pulling you in and sees. Oh, nope, that goes back outside. No contaminants in Starchy's basement.

[Virginia]

What's that? That my good luck charm?

[Thomas]

That? It's bad luck here, not good luck.

[Virginia]

You don't want any piece of the earth in here.

[Thomas]

Mm.

[Virginia]

Mm.

[Thomas]

I worked hard to make sure no earth gets in here. And I don't want any blackberries in here. I've got them in the back already, plenty of them.

[Virginia]

I kind of look at you and I'm thinking, yeah, is this person okay?

[Maria]

Do what they say. Do what they say.

[Thomas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Virginia]

And then I look over and check out Corin.

[Corrin]

Corin's passed out.

[Thomas]

Well, and you wouldn't be able to see him down the hallway as well.

[Virginia]

Too, since I just try to see around.

[Thomas]

Yeah, no, no, I'm here. I'm here. Right here. Right here.

[Virginia]

Hi, Ash.

[Thomas]

Yeah, Eye contact is very polite.

[Virginia]

That's true.

[Thomas]

Mm.

[Virginia]

Okay, I'll just go put this right back up stairs.

[Thomas]

Great. Okay. I'll stay here.

[Virginia]

So I climb up, I put it upstairs, take one last breath of fresh air, think, what have we got ourselves into?

[Thomas]

Close the hatch on your way down.

[Virginia]

I say goodbye, moon in my head.

[Maria]

And I'm like, having heard these. This neurotic, like these neurosis neurotic conversations about, like, what Starchy allows and what they don't allow. I'm. I'm going to search the med bay for things like scalpels and sharp objects.

[Thomas]

Oh, cool.

[Maria]

Maybe poison slash, you know, sleeping reagents or some, you know, just like what I. I'm getting. I'm getting a sense of claustrophobia already.

[Thomas]

Sure. Absolutely.

[Maria]

So I want. I am looking for something that they also might try to experiment with.

[Thomas]

Right. So as far as medical equipment goes in this time, you would definitely see things like scalpels, scissors, things that can be used to cut, treat people that could potentially be used inappropriately, lethally. Starchy has kind of everything laid out in front. There's not a lot of hidden items in here.

[Maria]

Okay. Because if I only got what I'm wearing right now, I'm going to slide a suit scalpel in my boot.

[Thomas]

Oh, okay. All right.

[Maria]

And maybe take one of those. Like, I don't know if there's a morphine filled syringe or like something there wouldn't be there's.

[Thomas]

Just the vials that they use to kind of, you know, pop in. If you wanted to take the time, I would let the scalpel happen while this all occurrence is going down. Then the scalpel happens and the scalpel happens. But you do definitely see needles for sure to, you know, be able to put stuff inside of it. They're not in the same area where the med bay is. You do absolutely notice there is things like bleach, lye, rat poison, things like that that are absolutely in here as well, too. They're on the bottom shelf, you know, And I mean, there is not an inch of this place that doesn't have some purpose or some kind of COVID in this area for sure. Yeah.

[Maria]

Bleach, huh? Jeez.

[Thomas]

So you come down and Starchy again, as you close the hatch, walk down, Starchy goes. Starts walking back and makes sure that you check the hatch and goes, okay. And then comes back down and sits down and goes back to their central station. You know, they kind of like grab a piece of hair and kind of like tuck it back into there and pull their hair back a little bit and then just gets right into typing something.

[Maria]

Okay.

[Starchy]

Okay. Yeah, I'm gonna make for the food.

[Thomas]

All right.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

Repeat that conversation with you. Do you go for the peaches, though?

[Starchy]

I don't. I do not go for the peaches. No, no, those are. Those are on a. On a pedestal. I go for. What are you having?

[Maria]

I've got baked beans.

[Thomas]

Ooh, yeah, great.

[Starchy]

I could go for some baked beans.

[Maria]

Yeah, there's plenty. Yeah, maybe I have made plates for people.

[Thomas]

Right. You're starting to dish out the first decent meal you've had in maybe a week.

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Maria]

Wash the taste out.

[Thomas]

Yeah. And you sit with this, you know, with, if you can believe it, paper plates.

[Virginia]

We were really prepared for the apocalypse, Weren't we, Starchy?

[Starchy]

Starchy's on it.

[Maria]

Single use items.

[Thomas]

Single use items. As you prepare the food in front of you. And you kind of just watch as Starchy just seems to be in some kind of closed loop. Just like typing furiously. Like 80 words per minute typing kind of a situation.

[Starchy]

So, you know, yeah, I'll just eat the beans and just kind of. Hey, Starchy. Whatcha? What you working on?

[Thomas]

Keeping a log. Keeping a log. Gotta keep a log if you're gonna.

[Starchy]

Go to a bog.

[Thomas]

Yep, that's just my diary. Everything I need to do. Want to talk about who you are. Which reminds me, Swing around and look at you. Who all are you?

[Maria]

My name's Maria. And I start Cheating. Yeah.

[Thomas]

Shakes the hand.

[Maria]

Yes. Thank you so much for your hospitality. Again, nothing really to note here. Just trying to. We're really trying. We're trying to survey what really is happening. So far we have figured out as much as you told us. The moon is responsible its vicinity to the Earth.

[Thomas]

I'm thinking about that too now. Yeah. Actually I was running some numbers just looking about the giant radius of the moon right there. I'd say probably the whole thing is about. It's about 115,000 miles from the Earth now.

[Maria]

That's too close.

[Thomas]

Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah. That's way too close. Definitely explains why you're talking about tidal surges. I'm assuming most of the west coast is probably gone, right? Or did you. Where'd you come from?

[Maria]

We are from thankfully inland. No, we don't really have much information about any of the coasts at this point.

[Thomas]

All right.

[Maria]

But you're probably right. I. I assume, I assume that's fine.

[Thomas]

You haven't seen it. It's still worth noting. And she kind of turns around again and starts taking notes while you're trying to talk to them. They're just kind of now writing down this, this new information and kind of just typing it back into the system. So you know.

[Virginia]

Can I ask about your. The. The power?

[Thomas]

Huh? Power?

[Virginia]

Yeah. Just curious how your machines run.

[Thomas]

Oh yeah.

[Virginia]

I was studying. One of the subjects at school I was studying was computer programming language. But we always needed power for our computers.

[Thomas]

Yeah, no, power and computers are really important. They need to go together to work.

[Virginia]

That's what I learned too.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

Cool.

[Thomas]

Okay. She. Alright?

[Maria]

She's. She's. Yes.

[Thomas]

Okay, cool. Yes, power is necessary to make the computers work. I had an outage about two weeks ago but I just popped in a new battery on top of the self generating machines over there and everything butted back up pretty good.

[Virginia]

Oh, interesting. Self machines.

[Thomas]

Yeah, no, it's a. Actually don't mind. I'm running a little low right now. You get a pass. But would you mind what kind of. They're motioning over and you can see that there is a pedal bike that's just like motioned off into the corner and it seems to be bolted into the ground.

[Virginia]

Yeah, sure. I haven't had a workout in a while except for walking for 12 hours.

[Thomas]

Okay, great. Thank you. I appreciate that.

[Maria]

Again, we're looking for a time to just short quickly rest and then move on our way.

[Virginia]

We don't want to take your power away or anything.

[Starchy]

Yeah, certainly don't want to impose but.

[Virginia]

We'Re happy to pedal.

[Maria]

And I was thinking before I even took a rest, maybe Jonathan and I might be able to pump out some water for you. Maybe fix that situation.

[Starchy]

Yeah, I'm not sure who Jonathan is, but I would love to do that.

[Maria]

Yes, Thomathan. Like I said.

[Thomas]

No, that's not.

[Maria]

No, that's no one. I'm sorry, I.

[Thomas]

That's not gonna work. No, no, no. Sorry.

[Maria]

What's not gonna work?

[Starchy]

It's not gonna work.

[Thomas]

No, you can't go. You can't leave. You just got here.

[Maria]

And we won't leave for a little while.

[Thomas]

But you're going to.

[Corrin]

We have.

[Maria]

We have to.

[Thomas]

No. Why? Why leave? Why go up there?

[Corrin]

We almost are looking for people.

[Thomas]

Yeah, you have Starchy.

[Maria]

We volunteered to find information and deliver it back to the other survivors.

[Thomas]

No, no, no, no. You go.

[Virginia]

Just got with us.

[Thomas]

No, no, I can't. No, of course not. I can't go outside. No, no, no, no. Have you seen that thing?

[Starchy]

And plus, you have to keep the log.

[Thomas]

Yes, and I have to keep the log. I have to keep. Keep everything so that when it all goes, someone has something. But you can't go. You can't leave.

[Maria]

Starchy. Look at us. We have to. And I don't know what on earth you think you could do to stop us.

[Virginia]

I walk by, I give Maria a very meaningful look, and I start to pedal just to do something that Starchy wants us to do. But I say Starchy.

[Thomas]

And Starchy is now taking deep calming breaths to the point of where they're kind of getting to a point of hyperventilating at this stage. And you gotta chill.

[Corrin]

Like, do you do yoga down here or anything like that? It's great for that kind of stuff.

[Thomas]

No, I pedal bike. The pedal bike gives me all of the energy burning I need. No, you know. You know where Starchy's basement is. If I give you out, if I let you out, I let you in because I thought you could stay and you could be with me. But if you go out, you could bring other people here. I don't want other people here. I want you here.

[Corrin]

Understand? We can't be in big groups. It's bad.

[Thomas]

What about big groups?

[Starchy]

We've heard rumors. Rumors that big groups don't stand near as good of a chance as smaller ones.

[Virginia]

And we want to give you the best opportunity to survive.

[Thomas]

That doesn't make sense. You're making that up. You're telling stars Starchy lies.

[Starchy]

No, no, no. Starchy. And I'll just gingerly lay my hand okay.

[Corrin]

On the shoulder.

[Thomas]

Let's do one of these. Because now we're. Now we're getting into touchy zones on Starchy. So.

[Maria]

Starchy's got boundaries we don't know about.

[Thomas]

So I get one. But you do get a success here. Let me where we at? And then we have eight. So I only. I get one. Okay. No, you can kind of narratively take control of the situation and how you. This touch is actually helping calm down, at least to the point where they're not yelling anymore at it.

[Starchy]

Sure. I'll just kind of get into a rhythmic rapport with Starchy and just be like, listen, Starchy, what Maria is trying to say, we're all trying to say here is that we all have our own logs. You have your log here that you are keeping, and we have our log that we need to finish.

[Thomas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Starchy]

And that destination isn't here. That destination's out there. And we have to go fulfill the log. You know how it is.

[Thomas]

I don't like that, though. I didn't see how long I've been down here. I finally made a decision to let somebody in here.

[Starchy]

And Starchy, we appreciate. We really, really do. But how cool is it that we're in each other's logs?

[Thomas]

That is pretty cool.

[Virginia]

Can I ask Starchy.

[Thomas]

Oh, Starchy's here.

[Virginia]

Do you believe in God?

[Thomas]

Kind of. She's a real dumb one, isn't she? Doesn't know about power and computers and now going on about God.

[Maria]

She's just different. Starchy, you know what?

[Thomas]

But you can go. You can go. I'm all right with that.

[Virginia]

I step off the bike and I'm saying, well, if you're sure, I send you. And I kind of, like, put my hands out and I'm trying to send you positive energy, but I don't know. I mean, if you don't like religious.

[Maria]

People, they're all kind of religious that you really.

[Thomas]

I don't know. Yeah, no. Yeah.

[Corrin]

I don't know.

[Virginia]

No, you're not. You want to stay down here.

[Starchy]

I would go that far. I don't want to stay down here.

[Thomas]

But you don't want to stay down here.

[Starchy]

Well, we have our.

[Maria]

Yeah, we need. We need to. We need to give them some time to rest.

[Corrin]

I, I. Fine. I can go anytime you need to.

[Maria]

Your facilities.

[Thomas]

So kind of as you're kind of talking, Starchy kind of goes up and kind of climbs up the peg to where the ladder is and just kind of like takes the big wheel and just kind of like, clips it to A certain place. And you watch as Starchy kind of like, reaches into one of the pockets that they have inside of their coat. And they kind of like. It looks like a little, like an Allen wrench almost. And they just start twisting it and turning it, turning it.

[Maria]

Oh, no. I need to stop.

[Starchy]

Starchy, what are you.

[Thomas]

What are you doing here?

[Starchy]

Starchy, what's going on here?

[Corrin]

Locking us inside.

[Virginia]

I thought you said I could go.

[Maria]

All right. Two successes, one failure.

[Thomas]

Okay. You know.

[Maria]

No. So she, like, is actually trying.

[Thomas]

So they're clearly taking the wheel off.

[Maria]

Like, strip the bolts.

[Thomas]

Not stripping. You can kind of see that they're kind of just taking it to. I mean, for all you know, it could be. They could be stripping the bolts coming out on it. But it looks like they just jammed an Allen wrench and are kind of, like, taking the turn wheel off at the moment when you get to Starchy's foot.

[Maria]

Okay.

[Thomas]

And you have narrative control over circumferences.

[Maria]

All I see is, like, some version of making the hatch not work. And so I. Yeah, for our safety, I grab her legs and just pull her on top of me.

[Thomas]

Okay. So as you pull Starchy's legs kind of in front of you, you kind of, like. You grab the legs and pull forward. Starchy's feet falling back from underneath them, kind of comes out underneath. And you hear a wham as, like, a large, like, ting. Like bone on metal as Starchy basically hits their jaw on the first rung of the ladder as it just comes. And you watch as their head just flies back and you both tumble backwards straight into the splashed water that's right below you.

[Corrin]

Maria.

[Maria]

It's okay. It's okay. I had to do this. Starchy, you do not get to tell us what we can and can't do.

[Thomas]

Starchy's out cold.

[Maria]

And so there.

[Starchy]

I think that's our welcome. I think it's time to go.

[Maria]

We can.

[Corrin]

I'll be fine. It's okay.

[Virginia]

This.

[Corrin]

It's gonna be fine. Let's get out of here. Let's get food. Let's get whatever we need. Let's get. Let's go.

[Starchy]

Let's go.

[Maria]

Okay.

[Virginia]

Do we want to take things from here, or is that bad?

[Maria]

No, Take. Take it. No, no, no, no. Take. Take whatever you need. Yeah. On our way.

[Thomas]

Start filling bags.

[Maria]

Yeah, start filling. If we've got a ruck sack, something we can carry, food and medical supplies especially.

[Thomas]

Let's make that for Maria. Let's see how much you grab. Take and see how long Starchie's out.

[Maria]

Okay. One success, one failure.

[Thomas]

All right, so you start grabbing as much as you possibly can and just stuff it with everything you can get. Food. What else?

[Starchy]

Medical supplies.

[Thomas]

No torches. Surfie doesn't need torches. There would probably be one hand light like kind of one of those bulky D battery flashlights.

[Maria]

And they're all set up with a sling. Yeah, you're all set up. Okay. Yeah. Great.

[Virginia]

Water.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

Fresh bandages.

[Thomas]

Great.

[Maria]

Awesome.

[Thomas]

So you. You grab.

[Maria]

But. But before we leave, I want to make sure that Starchy is like not going to drown in the water as it's rising. So I'll lay her.

[Thomas]

Yeah. Now that you're grabbing a hold of them, you can. It's a her for sure. Like now that you're feeling. It's. It's. Even though I said they didn't look malnutrition, like, she's definitely like. We're talking like stick thin like whey fish. As you kind of lay them down onto the bed.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]

And you can hear her start to kind of like mumble.

[Maria]

Let's go. Let's get out of here.

[Corrin]

Thanks for.

[Maria]

Can I glance at the log before we leave?

[Starchy]

Same.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]

Yes, you can. As you kind of glance at the log, you go and see that Starchy has been doing like. Has written about the moon and has typed in. And you can see that they've been doing some calculations and some string of math. But the last. Last thing that you see before it comes in is eight days until impact. And you walk up the stairs.

[Maria]

What's the point? I crack open a bottle of whiskey. Next. No, no. Let's get out of here. Let's get out of here. I don't want to die with her.

[Thomas]

So you start climbing up the stairs and you, you know.

[Maria]

Are you doing all right?

[Corrin]

I'm fine. I'm fine.

[Maria]

One handed. Yeah, I bet you do. One handed.

[Thomas]

You kind of have to troop. You kind of have to be underneath them to kind of give them the boost.

[Virginia]

Corin's legs again.

[Corrin]

I'm doing great. This is what an adventure. I really wish that Cora could be here for this.

[Maria]

Me too, honey.

[Starchy]

While they're helping Corinne out, I'll just quickly type on the log. Thanks for everything. Sorry about the bump.

[Thomas]

Okay. Woo.

[Virginia]

I got that, Thomas.

[Thomas]

And you shut the hatch. It doesn't seal because you can't seal it from the outside. But you kind of lay the hatch down and what do you do now?

[Corrin]

You gotta get really far away from this place.

[Virginia]

Yeah. I cover the hatch with some brambles to give it some protection.

[Starchy]

Cool.

[Maria]

We didn't. We still haven't rested, though.

[Thomas]

No.

[Starchy]

We should rest away from this hatch, though.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

To light up this flashlight. And right away from the bramble. Yeah.

[Thomas]

Okay. So you begin walking. And you begin walking.

[Maria]

What are the monoliths like? When you say the monoliths have risen, what are we? Are they. How viewable are they?

[Thomas]

You can see them. I mean, in this just intense moonlight that you're dealing with right now. I mean, you're basically looking at what is like a full moon times 10. Right. And so these monoliths that are in and around you, you can see one on every horizon, so to speak. Some are obviously much closer than others. At this point, you are pretty far away from any one particular monolith. That you can look at in any particular direction.

[Maria]

Okay. But they're obviously massive if they're viewable from the horizon.

[Thomas]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Also, I neglected to give you one last thing. That was inside of Starchy's basement. And this is your tell from the last game. But I'm finding the best way to give it to you. There was a list. There was a special list that was taped and laid out literally along the side of Starchy's monitor. And it had very specific things that was laid out onto it. These things are true. They are afraid of the light. They swim through the earth. There is a light in the monolith. Don't go into the light. Okay.

[Starchy]

So let's stay the heck away from those if we can.

[Virginia]

But they're afraid of the light. Right.

[Starchy]

We got this bad boy.

[Thomas]

So as you walk, you enjoy making as much distance from where Starchy's basement was to where you want to be. It is a long and arduous walk. Every once in a while, you hope that maybe you could find some place to settle down and sleep in.

[Maria]

Or trees. Like an oak tree with branches that could hold people.

[Thomas]

Yeah, yeah. And you can. You know, there are a couple places where that might work, but just. It's so ruinous. The area around it just seems like no matter what, there's not any flat dirt. It just seems like the earth had been churned and tumbled everywhere you go. And it's just been lifted and torn about. So trees have fallen, buildings have been completely destroyed. There is an occasional rare building that still seems to be standing. Which you could theoretically go and investigate if you wanted to go inside and find someplace to sleep.

[Starchy]

Let's check it out.

[Thomas]

You know, you are in vineyard territory. Ish. So you might occasionally Find, like an escape that still has some structural stability to it. Bottle of wine.

[Virginia]

Yeah. In that case.

[Thomas]

Okay, great. Let's see if you can.

[Corrin]

Here's Brundridge.

[Thomas]

Now, Virginia, it's been a while since we've seen you roll anything. Why don't you look for an estate?

[Maria]

Oh, yes. Lucky roll. Lucky roll. Virginia.

[Virginia]

Look at her eye.

[Starchy]

Come on, Virginia.

[Virginia]

And we almost at. We almost.

[Thomas]

So no successes.

[Virginia]

No success.

[Thomas]

And no ones.

[Virginia]

And no ones. So I look very, very.

[Maria]

Wait, that's a fail.

[Corrin]

That means that we're on no fails and no sixes mean we blow out another candle.

[Thomas]

Yep. And the scene ends. So we'll basically end the scene with you walking in through the darkness, attempting to find some kind of sanctuary in which to rest your weary bones, which is going on four days now at this point.

[Maria]

No rest.

[Thomas]

So we have seven candles to now work with, seven dice, and also seven truths of which to speak of. The first truth is the world is dark. Next is Virginia. What's the first truth of this story?

[Virginia]

The food is half gone.

[Thomas]

Maria.

[Maria]

Because of the moon, there is now a bog like fog covering everything. Yeah. Six, eight, ten feet tall.

[Thomas]

Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Quarren.

[Corrin]

They are closer than we think.

[Thomas]

The fog is caustic.

[Starchy]

Thankfully, we have plenty of healthy batteries for this flashlight.

[Maria]

Hmm.

[Thomas]

Six.

[Virginia]

And we can make. We could just make things that we see.

[Thomas]

What would you like to be a truth of this story?

[Virginia]

I would like to. To see a bridge.

[Thomas]

So you come across a bridge.

[Virginia]

Come across a bridge.

[Maria]

It was. Yeah.

[Thomas]

You're the last one.

[Maria]

Okay. Last one. Okay. The things they who have been swimming in the earth are closer than we think. In fact, we have seen the back of one surface as.

[Thomas]

Yep, sounds good. Okay, so we will pick up this scene as a very acrid and dense fog now swells upon you as you step in and is not so much as you walk into it as it just kind of almost as if like a bad guy was coming into the room. It's just kind of whoops around. And it's not so much that you can't breathe, it's just. It just. It's not like putting hydrochloric acid on your skin or anything, but it does tingle.

[Maria]

It does feel like the way that cold. Or like when it's cold outside and you try to go running and it just affects you a little.

[Thomas]

Yeah, it just gets you a little bit. And it just is. It just is not comfortable. It's nothing deadly by any stretch, but it is uncomfortable. And as you begin walking through the fog. You come across what appears to be a lone, you know, eastern countryside bridge at this point. For what little you've seen. You can assume at this point you've probably been walking through farmland, vineyards at this point. Like rolling hills on the inner city or the outer countryside of where you are. And that's why it's been so hard to see really anything. And the moon is making this fog so bright. It's almost like if you chucked high beams straight into something. And it just is so opaque to the point of where you can barely see a few feet in front of you.

[Corrin]

I want to try and. Because I think the morphine is starting to wear off quite a lot. I'm in a bit of pain. I want to sort of see if I can tell if, like, there's any water running beneath the bridge.

[Thomas]

Right, right, right, right, right. You kind of go towards where the bridge is and you listen more than anything just to hear if you can hear it trickling. And there is a small kind of piddle of what appears to be a light creak that just is running through this. To be fair, not very steep. Little dip leading towards where the bridge is. No.

[Corrin]

Could maybe try and sleep under this or rest.

[Starchy]

It's probably the best thing we've found.

[Maria]

So far under the bridge. When we saw the monsters come from.

[Thomas]

The earth, they almost like if you were to see a whale that would lift its tail before diving deeper, that's kind of what you saw was basically a crest of something come up before it just dived back deeper.

[Maria]

I feel like we're safer on the bridge.

[Starchy]

Yeah. Maybe in the middle.

[Maria]

In the middle of the bridge.

[Thomas]

All right.

[Corrin]

For a moment, just really wanted something soft. Sorry, wasn't thinking clearly.

[Starchy]

It's okay.

[Thomas]

So you go to the center of the bridge, and it's an open bridge, you know, not one of, like, a covered bridge or anything. So it's not really affording a whole lot of protection from the elements. But you do feel a sense of safety as you lay down and kind of enjoy a small amount of food, which is hard to eat, simply because of just how irritating the fog is around you. It's abrasive, and you want to enjoy the food, but it's just so uncomfortable. The pain is starting to come on and fall now. But you take the moderate amount of coverings, blankets, aluminum blankets that you have, and you try to find some sleep on the middle of this wooden bridge.

[Corrin]

I don't think I can sleep.

[Thomas]

No. So you stay up.

[Corrin]

Yeah. I'm just too Painful to sleep. So I'm kind of just propped up on the bridge.

[Starchy]

You want to lean against my back?

[Corrin]

No, it's okay. The bridge will help keep me awake.

[Thomas]

So as you lean on the bridge, you three manage to catch an hour, maybe an hour and a half of real rest. Just unconsciousness takes you. Just. The adrenaline of the situation just led to straight. Just hitting it hard. And you are. And Quarin, you're sitting kind of watching, and you can't see much. With the fog being as opaque as it is and you being awake, what is going through your mind right now?

[Corrin]

I'm thinking about my sister, and I'm replaying the last moments that I spoke to her, because we came on this trip together, but we weren't together when the monoliths came out of the ground. And I was on the phone with her, and then the phone went dead. And I've been doing everything I can to try and contact her, like, find her, trying desperately to get to where I think she might have been. And then that's when I was intercepted by this group of people.

[Thomas]

Where were they when you last talked to them?

[Corrin]

So she. She was in the same city as I was, but she. She was still back at our hotel room, and I had gone out to grab us some breakfast.

[Thomas]

Got it. So you were on the cell phone is what you were before it cut out.

[Corrin]

And I went back to the hotel room, and she wasn't there.

[Thomas]

Got it. All right. Well, as you're mulling through these last vital moments of precious connection between you and your sister, replaying this moment in your head over and over again as it is something to do when you have to hold on to either two things, the present or the past. And you've chosen the past to latch onto. This is clouding your mind as well as the pain. So it doesn't really strike you what happens until you basically hear the rumbling and the displacement of Earth as you hear. And you don't see because of the opaque fog, but just Earth flown up out of nowhere, just column after column. And you actually hear small screeches.

[Corrin]

Everybody, it's time to wake up.

[Thomas]

And everyone wakes up, not just from Corrin's cries, but also from. From the screeches of these things that are just.

[Corrin]

We have to run.

[Starchy]

What is it?

[Corrin]

They're here.

[Thomas]

And you hear as basically just this terrifying sound, as something, just anything. And if you get up and start. Are you staying on the bridge or are you running off the bridge?

[Corrin]

No, we're running.

[Thomas]

Yeah, we're Running. As you run and you kept just going off the bridge, you continue to see as more just columns of dirt just lift up. And every once in a while you will pass and you'll see a shadow inside of this opaque fog. Just something, a long, articulated, almost segmented thing that just is skiddling and it is long and like if you were watching a centipede, but a centipede the size of a minivan that just is lifting up and it just seems to be scuttling everywhere. And as you're running, you are trying to watch as each one of these creatures just seem to be moving around you. And you almost run into the back of one as one of them whips and attempts to slap Maria inadvertently to the ground with the back of its body.

[Maria]

Okay, I have two successes and one failure.

[Thomas]

Great. Tell me how you avoid this imminent slap.

[Maria]

Well, I think. I think I'm running with my arms out. And I also think that because of their movement, they adjust the fog or the fogginess with their bodies. So there's this sense of blowing air as like something towards me. And I just kind of. I kind of do a baseball slide and duck and it just misses me.

[Thomas]

You just kind of watch as spines just. And you can't just exactly if they're sharp or if they're collagenous or anything like that, but you just watch spines just kind of flick by your face for a moment. As you see, forearm sized legs just kind of go right by you as it skittles off.

[Maria]

Are they after us or they're not affected by us at all. Yeah, just random.

[Thomas]

They just seem to. They seem more startled than anything else.

[Starchy]

Should we stand still or keep running?

[Maria]

Stand still, I think.

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Corrin]

As long as we stay together, it's gonna be okay.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

So you all stop.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]

Where you are.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]

And you kind of continue to see the occasional flits of movement. And even after a while, another column just erupts again as you watch this time the full length of this thing. Have you ever seen a magician pull the endless amount of tissue out of their sleeve? Just imagine that, but with the centipede creature just unfolding out of the dirt, just over and over again. And eventually you see as it comes out and it starts skiddling off and away. What the hell?

[Maria]

The moon didn't cause that?

[Starchy]

No, no. That's much worse. What do we do about it?

[Corrin]

I.

[Starchy]

What do you do about it?

[Corrin]

There's nothing we have that could possibly kill one of those things. I think we just have to stick together.

[Thomas]

And that's when the ground begins to shake.

[Starchy]

Stay or run. Stay or run.

[Corrin]

Do we recognize that rumbling?

[Thomas]

This is a familiar rumbling more than it is familiar in the sense that if you've ever been in the beginnings of an earthquake, you would start to first feel the nausea in your stomach as you feel like your body is slowly being displaced and moving around.

[Maria]

The only thing I know about earthquakes is, is, well, very few people get hurt when trying to change locations. That's when they mostly get hurt.

[Starchy]

I grab Virginia and Cord's hands.

[Thomas]

Okay. And you stay and you stand still.

[Virginia]

Make a sure, sure, sure. Where are we? Are we still on the bridge or are we now out?

[Thomas]

You've run far from the bridge, and.

[Virginia]

Are there trees or anything that can fall on us?

[Thomas]

Around the thickness of the fog around you, you don't see anything in the immediate vicinity, certainly not within the two arms reach that you could reach through to see through the fog.

[Corrin]

We just need to make ourselves as small as possible.

[Starchy]

Okay, good plan.

[Thomas]

So you all huddle together in a small group. As you get as close to the ground as possible, and you feel the tremors, which were not moving. And since you're so close to the dirt, you can see a little bit of things kind of swapping around and coming in. And in the back, in just the back of your consciousness, you can still hear the faraway screeches of whatever these things were that were.

[Starchy]

It just starts snapping. 1, 2, 3.

[Thomas]

And you just start to feel as that small tremor now becomes a big jumble, as now you have to stay close because if you were standing, you would have absolutely fallen at this point. And you can hear cracking as just grating. On earth. On earth, just. And it just seems to be. And you can actually even feel the snapping of just the area around you coming across you. And even for a moment, you start to see the ground beneath you begin to spiderweb and split at your feet.

[Corrin]

It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay.

[Starchy]

Five, six.

[Corrin]

Gonna be okay.

[Starchy]

Seven, eight.

[Virginia]

I start to pry. For now.

[Thomas]

Tell me just for a moment. I know you're counting, but reality check me here for a moment. Does that help with magnitude, or is that just something you're doing to help yourself?

[Starchy]

It's just to help me stay.

[Thomas]

Okay. All right. So you continue to count through, and 30 seconds pass. 45 seconds pass. And the shaking is still the same level of which you felt it. And at some point, you actually feel the ground adjust. And at that moment, you throw Up. It just shifts suddenly, as if you just dropped a foot and a half, like if you were in an airplane and you suddenly reached turbulence and you just dropped for a moment, and you just feel that stomach lurch as you all fall briefly down into the ground. And about a minute before, a minute after the whole shaking had started, it stops and the rumbling ceases.

[Maria]

Oh, my gosh. Let it out. Get it out of there.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

Well, that was something.

[Corrin]

Sorry. I'm sorry.

[Thomas]

Fuck.

[Virginia]

Don't apologize.

[Maria]

Don't apologize.

[Corrin]

I just wasted all of that food.

[Maria]

Better to feel better. We've got it. Can we do a quick search around to see what is still ground around us?

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Maria]

And is the fog any version of cleared or is like, what's the fog situation.

[Thomas]

The earthquake like that? How much would it displace the fog? It is less opaque. You know, at this point, it seems it just basically. It's shifted. And the air pressure has basically pushed and displaced this enough to where it's not nearly the density you have. In fact, you can see. See a lot farther than you could have previously after kind of sitting up. And now that you can see farther, you definitely see that the whole, like, the fact that you're in this big open field not far from where the bridge is is probably pretty fortuitous because as you look around, you can actually see jagged spires of rock that have now lifted directly up from where they were previously. But as far as what you can tell minus these jagged spires, you don't see a whole lot more around you.

[Starchy]

Are we in a hole or.

[Thomas]

That is true. So you. Because of the displacement, as you look around, you do see that you have sunk at least two feet into the earth, at least. And the area that was above you is definitely to a point where you would have to boost yourself up in order to crawl over.

[Virginia]

So right now we're in a tiny bit of a hole or like a shielding, then.

[Thomas]

Yeah, it's this tiny crater. Yeah.

[Corrin]

But we're in the ground.

[Thomas]

You're in the ground. Yes.

[Starchy]

Make a break for it or rest here.

[Virginia]

This is actually a decent resting position.

[Maria]

You want to just go back to sleep.

[Virginia]

You know, it just gets worse and worse as we keep going, so we might as well rest. I know. I know that Corin didn't get any sleep.

[Starchy]

That's what I'm concerned about.

[Virginia]

So we might just.

[Corrin]

I'm fine. I'm really. I'm okay.

[Maria]

If we're all going to survive this, we've got to keep in mind that we're Frigging human.

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Maria]

And our bodies do need rest.

[Virginia]

And right now it looks like we're in a field. An open field.

[Maria]

Perhaps the worst has passed.

[Starchy]

Let's hope.

[Maria]

The good news is those monsters, those enormous insectoids, weren't attacking us. Yeah, they were.

[Starchy]

Nice dodge, by the way.

[Maria]

Thanks.

[Thomas]

So if you guys all sit to rest, and that's what it sounds like, you curl back up into.

[Maria]

I'm gonna cocoon. Corrin.

[Thomas]

To maybe help and cocoon just to kind of keep. Because I'm assuming when you got up and ran those blankets that you had long gone back on the bridge.

[Starchy]

Yeah, I probably did take out.

[Maria]

Oh, yeah.

[Thomas]

So you. What's also good news, too, since you have moved down a little bit, the fog is not nearly, because it has settled above, does not come into the place of which you are for a moment. So, yeah, you curl up and you find blissful, restful sleep.

[Corrin]

Great.

[Maria]

Oh, sweet.

[Virginia]

This is great.

[Starchy]

Nice.

[Maria]

Does Corin finally sleep?

[Thomas]

Corin, do you find, like, sleep?

[Corrin]

Sleep is a stretch, okay? It's fitful. It is a semblance of rest.

[Thomas]

Yeah. It's a habit.

[Corrin]

Definitely not sleep. Sleep.

[Thomas]

It's a painful rest. Yes. Okay, so you have a wonderful, blissful eight hours of sleep. Eight hours, four hours, six hours. It's hard to tell. It's enough, though, that you've all definitely fallen into a deep sleep. And, Thomas, you are the first one to wake up. You get up and you can see the three companions around you are still in some kind of state of either restful and fitful or otherwise peaceful sleep, using whatever they have around you to kind of cushion into it. Fog is not nearly as caustic as what it was earlier. Or maybe you're just used to it at this point. But what's going on in your mind as you wake up in this wonderland?

[Starchy]

I just finished up a dream about my wife, and I look amongst my companions and just kind of let the first moment of peace rush over me.

[Thomas]

You don't wish that you were somewhere else in that dream, that lovely dream about your wife, where you were?

[Starchy]

Oh, of course. I wish I was in a nice warm bed and her next to me.

[Thomas]

Right. But you do find some peace just seeing where you are, knowing that it has been madness leading up to this point?

[Starchy]

Yeah, I'll take it where I can get it.

[Thomas]

You meditate upon that piece as you look down and you hear something behind you. Small sound, just.

[Starchy]

I turn to see what it is.

[Thomas]

You look behind you and you can see a long, curving creature is Coming down slowly. The crater.

[Starchy]

Hey, hey, hey. Everybody just tap shoulders.

[Thomas]

Kind of tap shoulders. And this thing is. You wake up and you see this thing is slowly. And now that you've both awoken, you see it rear up, and you watch as two almost pray mantis like scythes just come right up, and you watch as it just goes straight for you.

[Maria]

Virginia, are these the same creatures? Are these the centipedes that weren't attacking earlier, or do they look like different creatures?

[Thomas]

They look very much like the creatures that were scuttling around trying to escape earlier, but now have come back.

[Virginia]

Can I. Am I.

[Thomas]

You're avoiding.

[Virginia]

Avoiding it, or am I reaching for a flashlight?

[Thomas]

I don't know. We'll see how the roll goes.

[Virginia]

Right now, it's. Don't die.

[Starchy]

Come on, Virginia.

[Virginia]

Oh, look.

[Starchy]

Oh, no.

[Thomas]

One. One.

[Virginia]

We're gonna sacrifice my compassion.

[Thomas]

All right.

[Virginia]

My compassionate virtue. And I can reroll that.

[Thomas]

Reroll that one.

[Maria]

So this has to be a six, or else.

[Virginia]

Yeah, yeah.

[Thomas]

Or the conflict.

[Virginia]

That's pretty good odds. Oh, no. Is it a 2?

[Thomas]

So I do need to hear an act of compassion as still part of this failure from what it. Is it.

[Virginia]

I. So the scythe arm is coming at me.

[Thomas]

Yes.

[Virginia]

So I can't move. I can't move enough out of the way. But as I roll, I roll. But instead of hitting me straight on, it hits my side and still hits me. But I push sleeping Corrin out of the way, further from the other scythe, because I think there's two.

[Thomas]

Was it safe to say that maybe the scythe was more going towards Corrin than it was you, and you had to push them out of the way in order to get into it? And I'm going to do you a favor, Virginia. I think this thing goes actually through your shoulder as you watch as this barbed, this, whatever, this mantis appendage is, just exit out through your body as you start to feel your warm blood start to cover your top. And that will end our scene. We are now at six candles, six dice, and six truths. First, the world is dark. But, Virginia, you have the first truth.

[Virginia]

We escape from the attack from the creature. From the creature.

[Thomas]

Okay. All right. Next truth.

[Maria]

Next truth. The monoliths are clearly. The monoliths have summoned them. And we also feel a slight pull.

[Thomas]

Great.

[Corrin]

The creature managed to tear away the last of our supplies.

[Thomas]

Great. 3. That summoning, that feeling that you have when the monoliths are close becomes louder and stronger the closer you get to it.

[Starchy]

The flashlight was successful in Staving. Off whatever that thing was that attacked us.

[Thomas]

Right? And you get the final one. Virginia.

[Virginia]

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[Thomas]

Dilapidated church. All right, so we pick up our scene six candles in as you are all hunching, some bleeding injured as you're running from these creatures who Thomas you just occasionally just swing the light back and you'll sometimes occasionally hear a screech. But more often than not, you seem to be making pace. Whatever is behind you is not aggressively following you. But no matter where you are, you can hear. And since the fog has dissipated more in this travel, you can see them scuttling what appears to be everywhere. Not a minute goes by before you see at least one of them at some distance, somewhere that appears to be moving around as if they're just wandering Aimlessly amongst the countryside. You make it to this old church in front of you.

[Starchy]

I wonder what stirred them up so bad. Let's head for that church.

[Corrin]

We just got to get out of the open and maybe up somewhere high.

[Starchy]

Yeah, someplace we can get some safety.

[Maria]

What are we going to do about Virginia, though? You have to stay alive. You're losing far too much blood.

[Starchy]

Do we have any bandages left?

[Corrin]

The backpack got ripped off when we got attacked.

[Thomas]

Nuts.

[Corrin]

But I think maybe we could maybe take off some of my bandages and use them for her. I only need a little bit to keep the split on. I don't mind sharing.

[Thomas]

Is that what you like to do?

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

So you start unwrapping the little bit of bandage that is covering your arm, and before it gets to where your actual break is, you rip off a piece and you hand her part of what your bandage is.

[Maria]

But if we're in the church, I mean, they might have something. Yeah, they might have.

[Corrin]

Like, you could at least use Bibles.

[Maria]

In the Bible pages. Bible pages, priest robes, pastor robes, whatever.

[Thomas]

Find some supplies.

[Maria]

I'm really good at this.

[Thomas]

No successes. One. One.

[Maria]

Oh, I burned this. Cause I'm stubborn.

[Thomas]

Stubborn.

[Maria]

I'm stubborn. And I will not take no for an answer. There is not something helpful.

[Thomas]

Go feverishly start just ripping through this place. Just knocking things off of shelves.

[Maria]

Oh, yeah.

[Thomas]

Ripping things out.

[Maria]

Yes. Highly, highly immoral. Destroying probably sacred tapestries and stuff.

[Virginia]

Look, I watch you, and I think, maybe she shouldn't destroy. Destroy the sacred tapestries. And then I think, no, I have blood pressure.

[Maria]

I definitely. Yeah, like, I'm definitely, like, ripping Bible pages to see how. How, like, the soakability of them. Like, squeezing it like Charmin, baby.

[Virginia]

Yeah, just.

[Maria]

Nope.

[Thomas]

All right, well, that was quick.

[Starchy]

Wow.

[Thomas]

As you pour, all I was doing.

[Maria]

Was searching for supply.

[Thomas]

No, no, it's not. It's not you. It's not me.

[Corrin]

It's just the dice.

[Thomas]

It's just the dice.

[Corrin]

Why you do this? Why are you.

[Thomas]

As you pour through this place and just tear it apart, with every gumption of stubbornness that you have upon you, your mind is racing. You're grabbing pieces of parchment, you're just holding on to Bibles, looking at it, just crumpling them. Everything is so waterlogged from either the fog at this point, or it's just been raided, and it's terrible. And you are just pouring through this place, and you kick back into where the pastor's office is, and you see eight bodies piled on top of each other, laid out just in A pyramid right in front of you, just stacked. And they've been wrapped in all of the material that you would have used to help treat her wound. Sheets, robes, all of the cloth that you would have done. But they are meditation, meticulously laid out, stacked like kindling in front of you. And that ends our scene. Let's go to five dice and let's establish some truths. Maria, you do get to start with the first truth. First of all, the world is dark.

[Maria]

The world is dark. The human who did this is the pastor of the church.

[Thomas]

And he, for you, can just stave it there. You can just leave it with the pastor of the church. Unless there's more. Is there something really important you want to add on to that?

[Maria]

I mean. Yeah, he's hovering in midair.

[Thomas]

Is the pastor still in the church?

[Maria]

Yeah, but he's hovering. He's like.

[Thomas]

He's alive.

[Maria]

Okay, he's alive.

[Thomas]

Or is he alive or is he dead?

[Maria]

He's alive. He's alive.

[Thomas]

He's alive.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

So the pastor is alive. So there's a few things here. We can do this because you have an opportunity for the other players to be able to establish truths with this and lay off it as well, too. We can say, and this can be a truth. The pastor is alive and he did this.

[Maria]

Pastor is alive and he did this.

[Thomas]

How's that feel? Cool, cool, cool.

[Corrin]

If we stay here, we'll die.

[Thomas]

The pastor wants to appease them.

[Starchy]

The fog rolls in and becomes even thicker.

[Virginia]

I call to the pastor, father, is this the truth?

[Corrin]

Yes.

[Thomas]

You have one last truth.

[Virginia]

This is the truth.

[Maria]

This is my truth.

[Thomas]

You just call to him, Father. Right.

[Virginia]

I mean, I'm pleading and there's nothing. Right.

[Thomas]

Oh, you're bleeding. Yes.

[Virginia]

Because I have my shoulder.

[Thomas]

Yes, you are.

[Virginia]

I mean, like, I'm kind of.

[Thomas]

No, I get it. I just. If you don't mind me saying that sounds like something you could do in game to call out to him. Unless there's. You have an opportunity to give a truth in this, if you wish.

[Virginia]

Okay, hold on.

[Thomas]

Let me take it for good or ill.

[Virginia]

Okay.

[Thomas]

Yes.

[Virginia]

There's a lake behind the church, right?

[Thomas]

There's a lake behind the church, right? We start our scene now with five dice, five candles, and five truths established. Maria, as you are just again, having stumbled upon this scene in front of you, you are doing it purely for the sense of just. You cannot let her bleed out. You need to find something in order to help her. Stumbling into this room, there's a shock, and there is something that Is bugging you before you even notice the pastor is there and alive. What is it.

[Maria]

There? None of them have wounds on them.

[Thomas]

None of them. None of the rags are bloody.

[Maria]

None of the rags are bloody.

[Thomas]

They're just wrapped. Okay, great. So you stumble in and you kind of come into this place and you can see that the pastor actually was sleeping on a cot as you burst into this room. And you watch as he just kind of sits up. I'm sorry, Actually, you established in your truth. You said that he was hanging, right?

[Maria]

Well, I overstepped my bounds, but that's right, I did. I had him hovering like.

[Thomas]

A supernatural creature.

[Maria]

Yeah. But right then we changed it to, he's just alive. And he definitely stacked the people and wrapped them up.

[Thomas]

Thank you. So you kind of watch as this pastor just sits up and just looks at you and goes, what? And. Yeah, who are you? And you kind of see as he gets up and he seems to grab something.

[Maria]

Guys, we gotta go. Guys. Sorry, Father.

[Thomas]

And he rushes straight towards you and goes. And just kind of automatically motions like, get out. Get out of here.

[Starchy]

Okay, okay, okay, we're gone. Let's go.

[Thomas]

He kind of runs towards you and.

[Corrin]

Kind of backing up immediately towards the entrance of the church. Trying to put as much distance between myself and the pastor as possible.

[Thomas]

All right, at least you three are all making your way out from where the church is. As you see this angry pastor who's in a nightgown at this point, not even in his frock coat, but just in his nightgown. Coming up, he seems to be holding some kind of wrap in his hand.

[Virginia]

He's holding a rag.

[Thomas]

Yeah.

[Virginia]

I say, hello, Father. My dad's a pastor too.

[Corrin]

Virginia, not now.

[Maria]

Virginia, what are you doing?

[Virginia]

I'm a little light headed as well because I don't have much blood. Like, there's a.

[Thomas]

All of you out.

[Virginia]

He has a rag.

[Thomas]

Ah, this is a house of God. And don't you know, they are coming and it is time for them to accept. It's time for all of us to accept. How are you even alive?

[Maria]

It doesn't matter. Get away from us.

[Thomas]

All right. He makes more steps towards you, and he's kind of walking towards the one who isn't around.

[Corrin]

What happened? What did you see?

[Maria]

Stacks of bodies wrapped in rags. I pull out my scalpel from my boot.

[Thomas]

Oh, okay. You pull it on and goes, oh, fine, fine. Very well. Just leave this place. Leave this place immediately before they find you.

[Starchy]

Yeah, let's. Virginia, let's go.

[Virginia]

Who's they?

[Thomas]

The Ones who are becoming the cleansing ones, the ones that we have to appease, the ones of the monolith, the true beacons of God.

[Virginia]

I don't know that we're of the same cloth or faith anymore, but I see you have a rag in your.

[Thomas]

Hand, and he takes a few steps closer towards you.

[Maria]

No, I don't.

[Thomas]

Okay. You want to do this? Yeah, go for it. Go for it. Put your. Put that hand up and stop him as he's coming up.

[Corrin]

Hey.

[Maria]

Awesome.

[Thomas]

All right.

[Corrin]

So I just interpose myself between you, kind of.

[Thomas]

If you don't mind me giving it to you a little bit. Actually, I could theoretically roll for narrative control on this, but I kind of imagine you doing him a little bit of, like, a body check.

[Corrin]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Thomas]

You know, with your good shoulder.

[Corrin]

My good shoulder. I just kind of like. Like, shove him out of the way and get right in between him.

[Thomas]

Everything.

[Corrin]

And I just stare him down.

[Thomas]

Don't you see? Don't you realize? We've all been chosen. The ones who haven't been taken directly from this Earth. This planet is dying. This is the great calamity, and we are all a part of it.

[Corrin]

The only worm food I see here is you. You're gonna let us go?

[Thomas]

Yeah, well, I. I don't seem to have the means of stopping you at the moment. And he keeps looking at that scalpel there.

[Corrin]

Just back away.

[Thomas]

Just.

[Virginia]

Are you using the rag? Cause my shoulder is bleeding, Father, and I think it would be.

[Corrin]

I stick out my hand.

[Virginia]

A bit of a rag. Benevolent thing.

[Starchy]

Nothing funny.

[Thomas]

Kind of is. Gauging the odds right now for four against one at this moment, he lazily drops the cloth, turns around and walks straight back into his office and slams the door.

[Maria]

Fine.

[Thomas]

As you hold the cloth, Corrin, you get close to it, and you catch a woof of something. It's strong.

[Starchy]

What is it?

[Thomas]

Do you think Corin would. Do you think.

[Corrin]

Probably do I feel lightheaded when I. Yeah. That's chloroform.

[Virginia]

Oh.

[Corrin]

He was gonna try and knock us out with this.

[Maria]

I can't let you. We can't. That's too close to your. To where you breathe. But we'll find another way.

[Starchy]

Maybe we can find some clean water, maybe wash it out.

[Corrin]

Yeah, that would work.

[Starchy]

Okay.

[Thomas]

You start to hear shouting coming from the pastor's office at this point. Loud prayers, as if he is just shouting to the loud of his being. And you can hear him. He's just making as much noise as possible, stomping on the earth, banging against the walls calling out for his vessels to come and cleanse this land and take his offerings. At this moment.

[Maria]

Let's go to the lake.

[Starchy]

So we'll take it on the road? Yeah, let's go.

[Maria]

Let's jump in.

[Thomas]

So you go around to the back and jump in the lake? Is that what I heard?

[Maria]

Or we could keep going.

[Corrin]

We can at least rinse out the rag.

[Starchy]

At least.

[Thomas]

Yeah, Rinse out the rag.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

So you dip the rag.

[Maria]

I put the scalpel back in my boot.

[Thomas]

Boot. Cool. So you dip that rag and you clean and wash it off as much as you possibly can and shove it back into whatever. Whatever packages you still have left of supplies at this stage.

[Starchy]

Before we open.

[Thomas]

At this point, you can hear.

[Corrin]

You still have the bandage that I lent you?

[Virginia]

Yeah, I still have the half of the thing.

[Thomas]

As you continue to run around, you can still hear the screaming and the wailing of this pastor. And at this point, you can absolutely see the scuttling movement of whatever these creatures are as they seem to be moved and at least circling to the point of where this building is. And in fact, one of them you actually see start to crawl up to the side of this church, and you watch as it just lifts its body and just pries open one of the sides of the door. Just looking at to it, and it just feels it's pulling with its little pincers, just pulling pieces of wood off, and it screams inside of it. And then you watch as. You watch as something is flung into the air, and you see as this thing snatches and you watch it slip back out with a white body inside of its mouth as it kind of skittles out and starts moving.

[Maria]

It's kind of crazy.

[Starchy]

Let's get out of here.

[Maria]

Let's go.

[Thomas]

And I would like at least at this point, because it's moving around. Oh, that's right. Because one dice was gone.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

Yeah. If you want to get out of here, then you can go.

[Starchy]

Yeah, Yeah. I used the flashlight to cover our.

[Thomas]

That's right. You have that. So you kind of shine it as it kind of looks at you with its body. It's as it just sucks it in a single movement. It just screeches as it scuttles back away and you go.

[Starchy]

That's right, asshole.

[Thomas]

Keep going.

[Starchy]

All right, let's go.

[Thomas]

You run for a short time, 10, 15 minutes or so as you continue to get as much distance behind the church as you possibly can. When, Thomas, you're still in front, right?

[Starchy]

Mm.

[Thomas]

You start to feel as you Run forward. And out of nowhere, you feel your foot just fall, just steep out of nothing. You just kind of almost like you missed a step while going down a long staircase. And you just feel. As your momentum just drops down for a moment. Roll. There we go.

[Starchy]

1 6.

[Thomas]

So the heck 1 6. Sometimes, and I haven't been executing it as much as I should have, the conflict succeeds. But you can sometimes the GM can take narrative control by taking whatever dice has been taken away from the scene at this moment and then apply it. So. And I'm only doing this so that I can say as your foot stumbles and you. And you start to feel your body topple over, you feel Maria just grab you by the back of your collar and then just pull you back as hard as you can as you both tumble down onto the ground. A lot of people falling on you. This circumstance bring it.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Virginia]

I look at Maria and I think she's such a savior. She saved so many people. And look back to the church and I think I'm really disheartened about that Pastor. And about church.

[Corrin]

Right.

[Thomas]

Makes sense.

[Maria]

You all right there?

[Starchy]

Oops. Maybe you better hold onto this for a second. I hindered the flashlight.

[Thomas]

Virginia, as you seeing that happen, you take a few steps forward to look at just exactly what occurred here. And you look down and you can see that there is a crack. There is a crevasse that is just laid out in front of you in which the earth has split and it has caused a small chasm that is between where you are on your side and the other side.

[Maria]

How wide?

[Thomas]

Wide enough that he would have fallen inside of it for sure.

[Virginia]

Can we leap across it?

[Thomas]

Absolutely.

[Virginia]

Okay.

[Corrin]

Does there appear to be any way around?

[Thomas]

Could go around for a while if you wanted to take the time.

[Corrin]

So we can't see the ends of the crevasse from our.

[Thomas]

From our current perspective, you can see the end of the crevasse. It is a jumpable distance, but we are talking about 5ft, 6ft at this moment as well too. So it's a running leap distance, not so much a bunny hop across the crevasse kind of an attitude, but it.

[Corrin]

Appears to go horizontally from as far.

[Thomas]

As I'm going to. It is cutting a current. It is. Okay. Current blockade in front of you.

[Starchy]

How do we feel about track and field.

[Virginia]

Normally? Good. I think I'm running on a little low, low fuel right now, but we can. I think you all should go for it first and then bring up the rear. No, no, I'm still gonna go for it too just.

[Corrin]

But if there are more of us on that side than if she near. If she misses, we can maybe grab her.

[Starchy]

Okay. Okay.

[Corrin]

I mean, you two can. I obviously am worth nothing right now.

[Maria]

No, don't say that.

[Starchy]

I'll go first.

[Maria]

Great.

[Starchy]

I step back from the crevasse and run and jump.

[Thomas]

So, Thomas, as you steady yourself and you plant your feet in the dirt, you look back to the three people who are with you. And you dig your heel and you run for all your worth. This is a deadly circumstance.

[Maria]

What does that mean?

[Thomas]

It means that if this fails, there is a good chance that he will die.

[Maria]

Is that determined by cards or by you?

[Thomas]

That is determined by the dice.

[Maria]

Okay.

[Thomas]

What game do you think we were playing?

[Starchy]

I'll be fine.

[Virginia]

The game of life.

[Corrin]

Oh, one.

[Thomas]

One.

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

I'll take the hit and go first.

[Thomas]

That's very protective of you to try this before everything else. So. Thomas, what the. You run for all that you're worth. You come across and you jump and you sail through the air. And for a moment, it looks like you would have absolutely made it. In fact, had your foot not just slipped on its original purchase, you would have absolutely made it to the other side. But that one foot tumble, just instead of landing you on the other side, flattens you against the side of the crevasse. And from there, we end our scene. We have four truths in which to establish here. I'm giving you an opportunity to be able to take this conflict and establish the first truth. Thomas, this is not an immediate death for you. But I'm not letting anybody take him off right now. Okay? So I'm letting you have the first truth.

[Starchy]

I'm able to grab hold of the opposite side of the ledge, but my ankle is shattered.

[Thomas]

Shit. All right.

[Maria]

God, y'all.

[Thomas]

Second truth.

[Virginia]

There's a crack going towards you from the other side that you can grab hold of that leads straight to where you are.

[Thomas]

So there is a crack that is forming, leading to where he is.

[Virginia]

A grabbable one. Like something that you can use.

[Starchy]

Like a handhold?

[Virginia]

Yeah, a handhold.

[Maria]

The creature has finish its meal and turns his attention to us.

[Thomas]

Right.

[Corrin]

There is a shadow looming over the moon.

[Thomas]

Okay, great. We have four candles, four truths. The world is dark. Now we begin. Thomas, you are literally holding on with your nails at this point as you are grasping a hold of cross crumbling dirt with every ounce of strength you have. Your shattered foot is dangling underneath you at the moment as you keep one foot. And it is the one that's basically hanging onto A root at this stage. And that is what you have purchased on. What do you do?

[Starchy]

Help. Someone help. Please. Please help me.

[Maria]

Yeah. Can I make it across or do I have. I have to roll for that?

[Thomas]

Absolutely. Make it.

[Maria]

Well, I would rather help him.

[Thomas]

He's on the other side.

[Maria]

He's on the other side.

[Virginia]

So we can only help him if we make it across.

[Corrin]

Basically, there's gotta.

[Virginia]

I'll go.

[Maria]

Okay. Okay. Yeah, I got a little cold feet. I got a little cold feet there.

[Virginia]

I have a.

[Thomas]

As you all kind of stare at each other, wondering, what do we do? As he is crying, help. Help. Virginia speaking out from nothing says, what do I say? I heard you say. I'll go.

[Maria]

Oh, yeah, I'll go.

[Virginia]

My reckless nature hits over. Sure, I'm bleeding here, but I think I've got better odds. Cause I believe I'm gonna make it. And if I don't, at least the two healthy people will be left.

[Thomas]

All right.

[Virginia]

To help him.

[Thomas]

Okay. Ah.

[Virginia]

I'm really good at this.

[Thomas]

One. Success. No. Failure.

[Maria]

Nice.

[Virginia]

God. You against all odds.

[Thomas]

Right? You run, Virginia, and tell me how you get across.

[Virginia]

Well, I use the weight of my not great shoulder, and I kind of leave running with it. And then I force the other one forward really hard, and I leap, slam, get there. And can I grab his hand?

[Thomas]

You slam on the other side. I'd like to feel like that. When you get over there, you kind of get hit in the midsection as you kind of just lose a little bit of breath. But you use the one good shoulder to pull yourself up as you get over to the other side. And you are able to grab Thomas hand as you hold. Hold onto him. And is at that moment you start to feel the ground shaking once again.

[Corrin]

Can I pull?

[Starchy]

I'm just going to try and assist.

[Thomas]

And pull up. You pull him up from the top of his moment to where he is. You two on the other side of this crevasse. Corrin and Maria on the other side as everything starts to shake again.

[Corrin]

We gotta jump.

[Maria]

We have to. Okay. Yeah, we do.

[Corrin]

To get to the other side of the skrevaska before it gets worse.

[Maria]

Okay. All right. You go first.

[Corrin]

Yep. Here we go.

[Virginia]

Yes.

[Corrin]

But two ones. Oh, Corrin, tell me how you get across so I.

[Maria]

That means she succeeds. Sorry. They succeed.

[Thomas]

Oh, my God.

[Corrin]

But now we only have two dice.

[Thomas]

To roll.

[Corrin]

For the rest of this.

[Thomas]

Ooh, boy.

[Corrin]

So Corin takes a cue from watching Virginia and uses the weight of their useless arm to kind of, like, propel them forward. And then pushes as hard as they can off the edge and reaches forward with their good hand, knowing that this is actually probably going to re. Break their arm if they land wrong.

[Thomas]

Yeah. And at this point, you land, but you have two arms waiting for you as they basically grasp ahold of you and lift you up. As you feel your hips and your legs impact against the side of it for a moment, but you fall forward, and they're able to pick you up and lift you up. Maria, you are the last one on the other side of the crevasse. And you can hear the screeching behind you. You can hear the scuttling. Another creature is coming.

[Maria]

All right. I flip around, shine my light to give me some. At least some time sometime before I can back up and run forward and jump. I have to roll.

[Virginia]

Yes, shout. Just believe.

[Corrin]

You got this, Maria.

[Starchy]

You can do it.

[Maria]

Can I burn?

[Thomas]

Is it a moment?

[Maria]

Yeah, it's a moment.

[Thomas]

You cannot burn a moment.

[Maria]

Oh, okay.

[Virginia]

Can someone else burn a moment? Burn something?

[Thomas]

No, it's a failure. Which means that this scene is over. Before I end this, I'd like to say, Maria, as you are running for all your worth, you feel for a moment as you run and leap, you feel the stinging pain in your foot for a moment as you look behind and see the pincer of one of these awful creatures that had come to stalk you, just go right through your thigh, which made you lose all of the momentum that you had as you were coming into it. And you felt as your hands grasp and fall down. And while Thomas hit the side and was near the top and left his foot on the root, you reach out and grab for the root. We'll leave it there.

[Maria]

So I don't know if I grabbed it or not.

[Thomas]

You get the first truth. Okay, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. Good one.

[Maria]

I mean, so I can make the first truth that I do grab the root.

[Thomas]

Do you? Yeah, the first truth is you grab the root.

[Maria]

I grab the root for sure.

[Thomas]

Corrin.

[Corrin]

The creatures are big enough that they can reach the other side of the Kuross very easily.

[Thomas]

That is the truth. The earthquake is intensifying, and that's all we can have. That is the three truths that we speak. As we go into this next scene with three dice, I will be very upfront with you now. Every check at this point is deadly. You are in a deadly terrible circumstance, and everything at this point is. We are nearing the end. We have three candles left.

[Maria]

Oh, it got me.

[Thomas]

It got me.

[Starchy]

I got you. I got you. I reach over this Side and try to help her up.

[Corrin]

I'm gonna try to brace Thomas legs so that he doesn't.

[Virginia]

I try to grab her other hand too.

[Thomas]

You grab ahold and Thomas, you reach down. This is it. This is what you can do. This is your moment. You can take her, you can bring her back up. You can save her. You can do it. And as you feel the roots starting to slide as it bits of bits of dirt are now mixing with the sweat of your hand. You have a chance to grasp ahold of him, but he has to reach for you. He has to grab you. One failure.

[Starchy]

I will eventually. Not relentless. You were not dying today.

[Thomas]

Roll that one. Wow.

[Starchy]

Not today.

[Thomas]

Wow.

[Virginia]

That vengefulness quite offensive.

[Starchy]

And I just look into her eyes as I pull her wrist and just yank her out of the crevasse.

[Thomas]

Just pull her up with all of your strength. As the shaking and the crumbling of the earthquake begins to pull forward. Is the top one your moment? Is that your hope?

[Starchy]

Yes.

[Thomas]

Okay. All right. As you are pulling, you feel her lift up as she just rolls onto this now. Shaking, pulling, movement. Caviar.

[Maria]

Thank you so much.

[Corrin]

Can you guys, can you run?

[Starchy]

I could try.

[Maria]

I also can try.

[Corrin]

Just lean on me. I can still run, so I can help. I will carry you all if I have to, but let's just go.

[Starchy]

Let's get out of here.

[Thomas]

Let's go.

[Starchy]

And I just try to hop.

[Corrin]

Yeah. I offer him also as much support as I can.

[Thomas]

So the two walkers support the two non walkers.

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

There's two shattered legs and two shattered arms.

[Virginia]

So they're leaning on our non hurt arm.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

This is so doing great. This is so hard, everyone. This is so hard. The ground is moving, moving underneath you violently. It's pulling apart as just this quake is already looking to be infinitely worse than the last one is. And you can hear the scuttling and the screeching as you watch as the creature starting to move and give itself a bridge as it's coming over. But then out of nowhere, the area you just were, that part of land it was just drops again as it falls down. And you watch as the creature just grasps its little legs as it starts to skittle back up again, pulling itself back up for all that it's worth. And you all shift again as the earth begins to move and crack around you, as you are now tumbling, as the ground is cracking around you, you can feel the dirt start to move and the ground underneath you. Every once in a while, it will press up right up against you, cracking against your shattered ankle as you scream in pain. And you are moving while the earth is shaking and moving. And you run.

[Starchy]

3, 4.

[Thomas]

And you run for everything you're worth. You run. As you move forward, Virginia, you're losing blood. You've had this pressure placed against you, but your wound hasn't been treated the way that Coryn's is. There's a muddled thought going through your mind. What is it? What are you feeling right now?

[Virginia]

I think if we've made it this far in the Rapture, then we're probably going to make it. I think that there's a reason we've come this far and escaped all these things.

[Thomas]

So you think if you've made it this far, it's going to drop and you're going to be all right. Great. So you continue to run. These are the fleeting thoughts that are happening in your brain when suddenly a crack just opens up in front of you. And you step a foot in as you lurch in front of you. And this wistful eyed thought of, we're going to make it happen before the earth shifts again and it cracks and it splits your leg as you feel the bone crunch underneath you, as the earth has basically grinded you like a small pedestal beneath you.

[Corrin]

Virginia.

[Thomas]

Oh, my God, Am I dead? No, no, you are not dead.

[Virginia]

No. I wish it was painful.

[Thomas]

But you almost wish you were with what this is. Okay, and you want to pull your leg free.

[Virginia]

Yes, I would like to pull my leg free.

[Corrin]

We have three people who can't walk. Great. I'm trying to pull Virginia from you.

[Thomas]

It's helping.

[Starchy]

Using the last good leg.

[Maria]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Virginia]

We need more limbs, y'all.

[Thomas]

Virginia, roll three dice.

[Virginia]

Three dice. I'm rolling to get pulled my leg out.

[Thomas]

Just get your leg out, otherwise you're stuck. You can also obviously be on the screen dreaming. Talk to your people right now.

[Virginia]

I just want to say thanks.

[Corrin]

Don't talk that way.

[Virginia]

I think we're meant to make it. I do, I do. I just.

[Corrin]

I believe.

[Virginia]

Okay? And that belief you all, with all your able limbs and my other good life, managed to pry out.

[Thomas]

So the moment happens in which, as you're pulling, the earth shifts yet again as you feel it crunch and move. Actually, I'm so sorry, this is technically your success. You get to do your narration.

[Virginia]

Oh, yeah. Well, the earth crunches and moves, but we're so fortunate that it moves to release the leg again a little bit more apart. So on top of your very strong lifting, we also get a help push from the earth, it lets go of myself.

[Thomas]

And as you lift your leg up, you can clearly see that it is shattering. You actually are looking down it and there's compound fractures everywhere. You can actually see as pieces of bone are jutting at various parts across your calf and you can't put shit in. Moving on.

[Starchy]

Can we move?

[Corrin]

We have to get out of the open or something. Do we hear. Do we still hear them?

[Thomas]

The screeching. It's being drowned now by just this breaking and moving of earth.

[Corrin]

Do we see anything through the fog?

[Thomas]

Through the fog, you can see the earth kind of moving and crumbling in front of you. And you do see a small bailey of trees that are kind of in front of you from where it is, but you can see they're just shaking and moving with just such ferocity as things are moving around. There was the lake that was behind you, but this field that you're in, do you feel like you're maybe in an area where both the field is ending and maybe forest begins and you know, there could be something, but you don't. You're not here, not where you are now.

[Starchy]

Avoid the trees.

[Maria]

We want to avoid the trees until the shaking stops.

[Starchy]

Yeah, right, sure, sure.

[Corrin]

But I think the only thing we can do right now is try and keep as still as possible and away from big things.

[Maria]

Yeah. Maybe there's some roots of something that we can all hold on to. Hold on to something that's connected to.

[Corrin]

The ground close enough to the trees where they won't get bonus. But if they're any roots sticking up that we can just sort of hold onto or shelter under something like that.

[Thomas]

Yes. So you begin to look around and you come and find that not getting into the trees, but being close enough, since they are large trees with the earth being pulled apart, you do see a small tangle of root as kind of being pulled out. And there is just one of them, enough to where you could probably have one person grab it and then all of you could be holding onto each other at one point or another and you grasp ahold of it. And then that is when the ground shifts with you again. As you feel the ground that you are in start to slant as it pivots itself up, in fact, throwing, tumbling, some of you up into the air ever so slightly as earth begins to pull itself away from where you are, the. The floor falls out from underneath you as you drop yet again holding onto the root, all three of you together. Whoever is on the bottom. Who is on the bottom?

[Starchy]

I'm not sure.

[Corrin]

Whoever of us would probably be the smallest. It's either you or me.

[Virginia]

Probably me, because my leg, I probably got there last.

[Corrin]

Yeah. Virginia, I have two functioning arms.

[Thomas]

Hold on to for all it's worth. And you're grasping this root. And Virginia, as you're grasping a hold of it, the bottom of your feet can just barely touch the ground beneath you, just as it's tippy toe. Oh.

[Virginia]

I think I might stand on one leg here. Maybe if we drop. Maybe.

[Thomas]

What would you like to do?

[Corrin]

We can't climb out of here. We don't have a rope.

[Starchy]

We're stuck.

[Virginia]

The ground is always moving.

[Maria]

Now I say we commit a little bit more to the roots and.

[Thomas]

Sure.

[Starchy]

Maybe try and pull ourselves up.

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Corrin]

Can you climb up from the top, from the bottom up?

[Virginia]

I don't know.

[Starchy]

How's your shoulder? Can you.

[Virginia]

My shoulder is bleeding, but I could try my other arm.

[Thomas]

You want to power through it?

[Virginia]

Yeah, I can power through. So I'm climbing with everyone instead of having.

[Thomas]

You're climbing up them.

[Virginia]

Okay.

[Thomas]

You're using them as a human ladder. As you're attempting to take your one arm and you grasp a hold of cloth and you pull yourself up with your one arm and your shattered leg, using your knee for purchase whenever you can. Get it.

[Virginia]

Roll two.

[Corrin]

Yep.

[Thomas]

Come on, Virginia.

[Virginia]

Okay, we got this, I believe.

[Corrin]

Oh.

[Thomas]

Oh.

[Virginia]

Two, one.

[Maria]

O.

[Virginia]

Well, good thing. I can sacrifice my recklessness.

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Maria]

Oh, my God.

[Virginia]

So even as I feel as I'm about to slip and not make it, I say go for it. And I go. And I keep trying with my one arm to just keep going.

[Thomas]

You're putting some real weight. In fact, you're making your friends more uncomfortable.

[Virginia]

Oh, no.

[Thomas]

Lifting them up.

[Virginia]

Oh, no.

[Thomas]

As you're digging what little amount of strength you have into them and pressing your weight upon them.

[Corrin]

Oh, those.

[Virginia]

What is the moment you can't sacrifice?

[Thomas]

The moment you can't sacrifice?

[Virginia]

Oh, no.

[Starchy]

Can I use mine?

[Thomas]

No, you cannot use yours. With this, we end this scene and Virginia, your recklessness as you just grasp and you pull and you hold onto each one as you're lifting yourself up, everything you can, you get up to the point of where you might be close to where Thomas is, when all of a sudden you feel the arm that you've been using, that you've been powering through the pain through in order to place this in, you put your arm onto it, but it just goes limp out of nowhere. And you feel yourself slip as you tumble and you tumble down. And as you are falling through this Crevasse, looking to your three friends in front of you. There is a moment. There is something you're thinking of. What is it?

[Virginia]

I don't know that I believe anymore.

[Thomas]

That is the last fleeting thought you have before the back of your head hits a piece of stone and you three hear a loud crack.

[Maria]

No.

[Thomas]

Virginia, your body tumbles into the earth below. No. Steph, thank you so much for playing. I appreciate it. I really do.

[Virginia]

It's a real pleasure.

[Thomas]

Thank you. Are you okay?

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

Okay. All right.

[Virginia]

My head hurts.

[Thomas]

Yes, your head probably does hurt. But thankfully, it's not you. It's a character. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave my table.

[Virginia]

Okay?

[Thomas]

Okay.

[Virginia]

I try to send good vibes from my deadness.

[Thomas]

Okay. Goodbye. The scene ends.

[Virginia]

Good luck, guys.

[Thomas]

They don't have a whole lot of time left. We have two candles, two truths and two dice left. Normally, Virginia would offer the first truth, but since she is not here. I will first begin by saying the world is dark. And then I will say that you all climbed out of the crevasse with effort to find stable ground. Thomas, you have the second one.

[Starchy]

It took everything that I had to climb out of the crevasse. And scraping against the sides of the rock, just pulling and scraping. I make it out, but I am bloodied.

[Thomas]

You're bloodied. Got it. As you all find purchase, first Coryn, Thomas, then Maria, you find yourself on this slanted piece of earth that has been bending towards the chasm in which Virginia has fallen down into. You find that the earth is still violently moving. Not as abrasive or as intense as it was, but enough that you could not stand even if you tried at this point, shattered leg notwithstanding, what do you do?

[Corrin]

Corrin is staring over the edge into the darkness, just completely stunned and not sure what to do next.

[Thomas]

Right.

[Corrin]

Yeah.

[Starchy]

I think Hope just. I think it just ran out.

[Maria]

No, don't say that.

[Corrin]

It can't. It can't. We can't let it. We have to find a way. They'll get us if we don't.

[Starchy]

What do we do?

[Corrin]

What she would have done. We have to believe we can get out of here.

[Starchy]

Lead the way.

[Thomas]

Do you feel that you can hear it? In fact, you are impressed at this moment just how loud the buzzing is. It's taken over the cacophony of the earth moving, even at this point. And you can feel more than you can really see because the fog's still obscuring the vision. Just the presence of the monoliths. And even though the Creatures aren't around because the earth is shaking so violently. You can tell that they are all near there. Somewhere around where you are just listening.

[Maria]

The monolith might have the answers.

[Corrin]

What do you mean?

[Maria]

Hey? I don't know. But they. They seem to know if. Hey. It's. Hey. The worst that happens is death. That's the worst. And we've seen it.

[Starchy]

I don't know how much more I can take.

[Corrin]

We have a responsibility to write these things down. Somebody else might find us. Somebody else might know what to do.

[Maria]

That's good. That's good.

[Corrin]

But if we're here, we have the chance to find out what's going on.

[Starchy]

To the monolith.

[Maria]

Yeah. All right, let's keep going, guys.

[Thomas]

Thomas, as you are holding onto the people who still have good legs at this stage, you.

[Maria]

One good leg.

[Thomas]

One good leg. You are aggressive. You are a battered, shattered group. You came from this. You walked miles.

[Maria]

Before we go, I want to write our names on one of the trees.

[Thomas]

With a knife or with your scalpel?

[Maria]

Yeah, with my scalpel.

[Thomas]

What do you write? Do you just put your names on there?

[Maria]

I just put our names. I draw a monolith below us.

[Thomas]

And.

[Maria]

Then, yeah, I draw four people holding hands.

[Thomas]

Okay. As you leave this effigy encased on this tree, you begin to hobble what you can. And it is more crawling than it is any kind of serious walking because the earth is still just making its movement. And at this point, you still occasionally feel the earth just adjust and shift around you as you just pull yourself up and you look towards what you feel where the monolith is. And I said this earlier, but you traveled so far, miles to make it past the tidal waves to get to here, knowing that the monoliths were maybe not something you wanted to get close to, but now you are here. And as you see the earth begin to break and pull, you lift yourself up a piece of broken incline as you come over to literally see as the monolith is above you and the earth is laid out in front of you. And you can see almost as if someone took a scalpel and cut this land straight in half. You see just black onyx rock going straight into the earth. And you see a perfect cut of the earth's crust right in front of you. Just laid out in front. And it is 50, 60ft high in front of you as this wide breadth of expanse is laid out before you. And it is you and this tree of which you've marked upon. And you. You realize it as the fog Dissipates around you. You are on an island. An island of rock. The monolith in front of you and this sheer rock laid out in front. And the tree. The tree that is there. There is what appears to be a craggy pathway that could lead back towards the area that you once came from. Leading up. But it is a long climb indeed to get back up to the ground level.

[Corrin]

Is there a way to get closer to the monolith?

[Thomas]

Yeah. Straight in.

[Maria]

Jumping in.

[Thomas]

Yeah. From what you see, the incline is unknown.

[Maria]

So we could slide in.

[Thomas]

Yeah. You have no idea though, if the ground breaks out from underneath you there or if it leads all the way into the monolith. Though.

[Corrin]

We shine the light down.

[Thomas]

Do we see there's so much breakage and there's so much rock that it's a reasonable thing. But there's such a narrow window and it's so steep and there are loose rocks everywhere. All it would take is a small adjustment to fall off to the side. And the rocking has stopped. The earth is there and steady. But. Aftershocks.

[Corrin]

I think I'm the only one who can go down there safely.

[Starchy]

I'm with you. I don't know about you guys, but I've spent the last couple of days more than that knowing that we know what's that way. Let's find out what's this way.

[Corrin]

Can you make it down all right? I will try to help you if I can.

[Starchy]

I'll give it my best shot.

[Corrin]

What do you think, Maria? Something.

[Maria]

It does seem so dangerous to do this.

[Corrin]

Something. You hear it though, right?

[Maria]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

It's there. So close to the monolith. It is this iridescent and hum. And you can feel it.

[Maria]

But it wants me. And part of me wants. If this is the end. I want to go out on my own terms and not on some rock's terms. I don't.

[Corrin]

Saul. But I'd rather go in there than be eaten when I want of those things out there.

[Maria]

There's something about answering to this thing that makes me hate it.

[Corrin]

You know, I know I'm just a kid to you people. But we just watched one of our friends die. Are we really not gonna go down there and figure out what the hell is going on? We owe her that much.

[Thomas]

But it's. They're right.

[Maria]

What? No. It's clearly evil. If.

[Corrin]

Of course it's evil.

[Starchy]

So is the giant trench.

[Thomas]

So are the things that have been.

[Starchy]

Trying to eat us.

[Maria]

I'm just saying.

[Starchy]

What are you afraid of?

[Maria]

I would rather. I would Rather my friend have died for a reason other than me walking into the maw of a monster.

[Corrin]

Well, then you can go. But I'm going down there for answers.

[Thomas]

Is that your choice? Do you wish to go down there for answers? Corrin places herself almost like a child ready to go down a slide.

[Corrin]

I will burn Vindictive.

[Thomas]

If there was a one, I would let you burn.

[Corrin]

Vindictive.

[Thomas]

But there's no one. And you place yourself at the bottom as you look at this sliding ramp below you. And almost like a petulance in your heart, you just slide down with your one arm as you hold onto it. And the rocks are so loose as it's coming across you. You have reasonable control as you dive into it and you hold onto it. And you feel, in a weird way, this is the longest, most intense slide you've ever had in your life. And then you feel it start to air to the left. And you know that if this arm was working, you could put your hand down and you could use the momentum to steer back to the other right. But as you attempt to put your hand and put your shoulder down to get that momentum, instead, it just tumbles and it falls and it rolls you off onto the other side and you fall through the darkness. There's. There's a reason you wanted to do this. You knew what could happen. You knew that this was possible. And I know you hoped for it to happen. But why did you go down this slide? Why did you really want answers so bad? Quarryn.

[Corrin]

This is where my sister went. That hotel full of people. They all had to have gone somewhere.

[Thomas]

And you were hoping maybe they were inside the monolith. Part of it encapsulated in it. Well, the darkness comes around you, and you two see as Corrin silently, softly drifts off the ramp and into the night. Aki, thank you so much for playing. I appreciate it. I really do.

[Corrin]

Thank you so much for having me at your table.

[Thomas]

Absolutely. This is the end of our scene. There is one candle left, but there is no truth to be spoken other than the world is dark. You two sit as you stand upon this island of rock, staring at this monument laid out in front of you in this cut earth that stands before you. And you watched Quarren with such drive and determination and desire to find what the monolith was unceremoniously flicked off into the night. And the wasteful tragedy of it is the first thing that just lays into your head, if this was a movie, she would have made it. It would have been landed into it, she could have gleaned whatever touched it. And maybe it would have lit up and turned into something, and the whole world would have been right again. But instead, she just flipped into the earth. Both of you stand and stare and look at this late earth in front of you. Maria, what's going through your mind?

[Maria]

Well, I think this has happened. I didn't realize that I would have.

[Thomas]

To feel love one more time.

[Maria]

Feel love one more time. Thomas, I've lost. There's so much no one will know about me. And I. Before this, years before this even happened, I began building walls not to feel things anymore. And I thought there was a chance that I might. Just a small chance, but that I might love something, someone. I just didn't realize it would have to be at the expense of losing them again. But I lost a child all over again. That's all she was. Was just a child.

[Starchy]

Yeah.

[Maria]

Children just think they know what's right. They just think they know everything.

[Thomas]

Is that her fault?

[Maria]

Yes, it is her fault. Why can't they just all grow up?

[Starchy]

Not enough time. I mean, I'm sure they would have any other circumstance, any other slide. Can you fault him for trying?

[Maria]

Yeah, I can.

[Thomas]

Both of you sit and are next to this tree, this tree that you've carved, this effigy of the monolith, with four people holding hands together. A small aftershock hits the area around you, and it startles you, but you. It's not even like it really does anything at this point.

[Maria]

I want to throw. There are rocks, right? I'm just going to throw rocks at the monolith.

[Thomas]

Just start throwing rocks at the monolith.

[Starchy]

I'll join in.

[Thomas]

As you feel this aftershock hit you notice that rock, that little pathway that was on the back, just cascades and crumbles down into nothing as it just falls on the earth beneath you. But neither of you really pay attention. You're here on this island with no food, no water, both of you are bleeding, and you just throw rocks at the monolith, chalking dirt.

[Maria]

There were eight days left. With any luck, we'll be down to one soon.

[Starchy]

Yes. Do we take our chance with the narrow escape? Try and climb out of here? You got one more in you. Oh, come on, Maria. I know you do.

[Maria]

You know, it's. What's weird is I still just don't want to die.

[Starchy]

I don't want you to die.

[Thomas]

So why don't you two live for however long it takes to stay here on this rock together? Unless, Thomas, you are dedicated to leaving Maria behind to go and face that monolith. No. I leave this moment, this picture for both of you of two people who have found each other on this lost island under the Earth. With this carving of friendship behind you and this pure cut of earth in front of you. At this point, you truly do notice that above you, the moon is so large that you don't see much else up in the sky other than it. Whatever purview you have is covered with the craterous expanse that is our closest celestial body. And you both know that by. By the time that comes to this planet, you will not be there to witness it.

[Maria]

I think we start talking about trivial things as people do.

[Thomas]

As people do. Right?

[Maria]

Our favorite cereals.

[Thomas]

And that's where we end our story. That's where we end. Right there. Just two people talking about nothing. Thank you both so much for joining us. I'm going to have to ask you both to leave the table, please.

[Starchy]

You got it.

[Thomas]

Thanks, buddy.

[Starchy]

Thank you, Ivan.

[Maria]

Thank you.

[Thomas]

See you on the other side. There is only one last thing to do, and that is to listen to the final messages of our dearly departed characters.

[Starchy]

Hello. My name is Thomas Rhodes. And unless my name is on your wrist, I doubt very much that you've heard of me. I never could must up the courage to stand up for anything. To man up, as my wife called it. Much of my life was spent tucked away at work, crafting and caring for devices that kept the world on time. And when you spend as much time as I did, surrounded by the rhythmic ticking of the future becoming the past, you'll learn to love the scarcity of life. I was in love. But times change the world perspective. And that broke us. And when the dark came to take her, I cracked. She needed a shield. But all I could do was watch. Do you think she will ever forgive me?

[Maria]

All right. Whoever finds this, this is Maria Ogden. And look, the universe, or God or whatever you believe in, it's been. It's not been nice to me so far. Took my kid away from me. I've spent five years trying to just be okay with that and try to forgive and all of that stuff. But finally I found a way to make things right. I might get to be with my baby girl again. But before I do, I'm going to find some answers. I'm going to get to the bottom of all this. I've learned a lot. And I'm going to put it to use. Because I think I've always thought my baby girl wants to see One more. One more smile from me while I'm still here. So going out there and. And I'm gonna. I'm gonna bring some people hope for Caroline.

[Corrin]

It doesn't make sense, you know, one minute you can be walking down the street enjoying hot dog or ice cream, and then the next, you're really realizing it's possible to lose everything in an instant. Watch your whole world disappear in an instant. Didn't know I cared about that until it was too late. Just always thought you'd be there. You're gone now and I can't find you. And all I can think sometimes is I wasn't at me. Yet here I am trying to stay alive. But still I wonder what's the point if you're not here? I guess you can't hear this wherever you are. And when I'm gone, too. It's probably too much to expect that I would be with you again. I wish I knew what they wanted. I'd give them anything at all if it meant that I'd be with you again.

[Virginia]

Hey, mom and dad, this is Virginia. I just wanted to tell you because, you know, who knows how these things work out? But I believe I have hope. And I hope that you do, too. I think that we're gonna make it, and I know that not everybody does. But I know that our belief is strong enough and that we can survive any obstacle that comes our way. So I'm going to do my best. And I hope that I make you really proud. And should anything happen, I hope that we all continue to believe. Bye.

[Thomas]

Foreign comic books are more fun with friends. And Ifanboy is the best place for a great weekly comic book conversation. With your new comic book friends, Josh and Connor. We're celebrating our 20th year, discussing weekly comic releases, doing in depth interviews with top creators, and diving deep into what makes comic books great. Whether you're a lifelong comic book stalwart or new convert to the art form, Ifanboy is your regular weekly destination. 4 in depth reviews of the best comics released every week. Industry insights breaking down Marvel, DC Image and all the indie publishers. Thorough interviews with the best artists and writers in comics. Debate discussion about what matters in the comic book culture. Join thousands of fellow comic book fans who've made Ifanboy their trusted source for comic book commentary and community since 2005. Subscribe to the Ifanboy podcast now on Spotify, Pocket Casts, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every week. A fanboy celebrating the best storytelling art form in the world. Comic books. Nothing is as it seems in liminal London. Hidden amongst everyday people are werewolves.

[Starchy]

You'll be the werewolf, then.

[Maria]

Yeah. Mags.

[Thomas]

Wizards. Montgomery Archibald Barker at your bloody service. And those cursed by the the fae monarchs of the city.

[Starchy]

Declan Buchanan, PI he has quite a.

[Thomas]

Large pair of antlers growing out of his forehead. Join the unlikely misfits of liminal London as they work to take down the powers that claim to rule the city. I think the Queen doesn't like you very much. With incredible guest players like Johnny Chiadini.

[Maria]

You say there's sludge?

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

Sludge.

[Virginia]

Yeah.

[Thomas]

And the sludge boy. Love Sludge boy. No, again, I'm not that sludge boy. Grant Howard. Isaac Newton didn't study in F. Putney, did he?

[Starchy]

Who's Isaac?

[Thomas]

Oh, my God. And Sharmini Bundell. There's a magic community.

[Virginia]

There is.

[Maria]

Yay.

[Virginia]

I'm in a magic community.

[Thomas]

Go to realmspod.com or search realms of peril and glory wherever you listen to podcasts to find this mysteriously magical actual play series. Welcome to the ultimate social deduction game, Blood on the Clock Tower.

[Virginia]

The evil team must stalk the streets at night, hunting down members of the good team one by one. Meanwhile, the good team must outmaneuver the.

[Thomas]

Evil team using their unique abilities. I'd like to kick things off by telling you all that I'm possibly the demon.

[Virginia]

Our players can mislead and manipulate others with apps.

[Corrin]

Absolute freedom.

[Thomas]

I didn't like hearing my name in the same sentence as demon. That was very upsetting for me. Emily and I will be your storytellers, guiding you through every labyrinthian twist and turn.

[Virginia]

How are there so many evil players in this game?

[Thomas]

What's happening with guests from no Rolls, Bard, the Pandemonium Institute, and Oxventure? You won't be able to stop listening. Go. Go to realmspod.com clocktower to find out more.