Michael [00:00:00]
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Michael [00:01:06]
Welcome to Red dirt, dad. I'm Michael Cross, and I play Blackjack. A Jackalopefolk Warlock.
Connor [00:01:12]
I'm Connor Shenold, and I play Jaska, a Coyote Ranger.
Johnnie [00:01:15]
I'm Johnny, and I play Twitch, a Ratfolk Wizard.
Kim [00:01:19]
I'm Kimberly Cross, and I play Beatrix a Tabaxi. Rogue.
Kyri [00:01:23]
I'm Kyri Hester, and I play Billy, a possum fighter.
Brook [00:01:28]
I'm Brooke Bullock and I play Ziansi, a Spiderkin Cleric.
Aidyn [00:01:31]
And I'm Aidyn Cross as your dungeon master. Join us now for tales from the wilds.
Aidyn [00:01:45]
Through trials and tribulations, dealings with Mama Moth, Seos and Orebos and Camp Glimmerwood. You have finally made it to the city of Athenus? Great stone walls stand between you and the city as you see tons of people lined up at the gate. You appear to only see one thing over the wall and it is an interesting sight.
Kim [00:02:04]
Wow, look at that.
Aidyn [00:02:06]
Standing in what seems to be the middle of the city is a large tree that seems to glimmer with these yellow and orange hues. You can't quite tell what why? It's glimmering that color. It's quite large. It takes up the whole airspace around and you're not too sure why it glimmers that color, but it's a strange color that you normally don't see.
Kyri [00:02:24]
I just wish for regular trees again.
Connor [00:02:27]
I know Billy.
Kyri [00:02:28]
All these magical trees.
Connor [00:02:30]
I guess when in the fey and all that. Yeah, but hey, at least we made it to Athenus.
Kyri [00:02:38]
Good because my feets are tired.
Aidyn [00:02:40]
So as you all approach, you see the line is long, as I've said before, and it might take you actually a number of hours to get into the city itself. Guards appear to be conversing with people, jotting down notes and letting most people in.
Kyri [00:02:53]
Can I poke the person in front of us?
Aidyn [00:02:55]
Yes Roll me a D-4.
Kyri [00:02:56]
A four.
Aidyn [00:02:57]
In front of you appears to be a human bent down, almost digging in the dirt, and you poke him and he goes, oh yes.
Kyri [00:03:05]
Number one, do you need help? I'm kind of a digger sometimes. Are you trying to dig under the wall? I think that might take a while.
Aidyn [00:03:13]
I'm well, no, I mean, he's like in the line. He's nowhere near the wall. He says I'm trying to look for bugs.
Kyri [00:03:19]
Oh, I love bugs. I haven't had any good bugs in a long time. I was at those place with those really cool fireflies, but it seemed like I probably shouldn't eat them.
Aidyn [00:03:29]
No, not eating bugs and just collecting them.
Kyri [00:03:31]
Why would you collect them? Wouldn't you and I? Okay, okay, okay. Moving on. Is the line to get in unusually this long?
Aidyn [00:03:40]
No, usually it's not that long. I mean, I haven't been to Athenus in a long time. People are coming from all across the realms, all across the different worlds. For the carnival of luck and fortune.
Kyri [00:03:51]
Oh, yeah. Hey, guys, if we meet our camper counselor counterparts, can I beat them up? Of course. Again, excellent. Because they abandoned poor Mr. Tinkertop. Thank you, sir, about your diggings. Good luck with the bugs.
Aidyn [00:04:04]
All right. And he'll go back to digging.
Kyri [00:04:05]
And can I see if I see a bug?
Aidyn [00:04:07]
Get your perception check.
Kyri [00:04:08]
A 12.
Aidyn [00:04:08]
Well, you know, obviously that spotty bugs around.
Kyri [00:04:11]
They like rocks. So if you see a rock, like, just pick up a rock and there's probably a bug under there. Oh.
Aidyn [00:04:15]
All right.
Kyri [00:04:16]
Wait, wait. Whoa. If you're not eating the bugs, what are you using? The bugs. What are you doing to these poor bugs?
Aidyn [00:04:21]
Well, I'm not doing anything to them. I mean, I just like watching them inside jars and watch how the environment makes its own sort of.
Kyri [00:04:27]
You know, while he's talking, Billie turns around to the rest of the group. Well, this guy's a little looney.
Michael [00:04:33]
Yeah, you'll see a lot of that here.
Aidyn [00:04:34]
I mean, you put you put natural stuff in it, and.
Kyri [00:04:37]
Thank you sir we're not talking to you anymore.
Aidyn [00:04:39]
All right.
Michael [00:04:41]
I'll walk away.
Kyri [00:04:43]
Billy has zero Charisma. Like he's a negative Charisma, so.
Aidyn [00:04:45]
So you guys want to talk to anyone else? There's other people.
Michael [00:04:48]
So you said it was. The carnival's luck is going on. What do I remember? Was the carnival luck going on when I used to live here?
Aidyn [00:04:54]
Give me a history check at advantage
Michael [00:04:57]
18.
Aidyn [00:04:58]
You recognize the name Carnival of Fortune, and it appears that luck has been added to the name as well, from a certain Hareongon named lucky. If you remember the SoonerCon special. But, you know, lucky you helped him out. Maybe he could help you guys out for whatever you're wanting to do in town.
Michael [00:05:14]
But did I feel like the Carnival of Luck fortune lasted for a very long time.
Aidyn [00:05:20]
You weren't there when it was open.
Michael [00:05:22]
Okay, so this is new.
Aidyn [00:05:23]
This is new. You're not too sure where you were in the world when you helped out, but it had not opened yet due to him not having this one to wonder on him.
Michael [00:05:30]
Right. So the front of the festival is new?
Aidyn [00:05:32]
Yes it is. As far as you're concerned, it's never been to Athenus before.
Michael [00:05:34]
So this is the inaugural Carnival of Fortune and Luck in Athenus. Okay. But, so I go to somebody, I say.
Aidyn [00:05:42]
Roll me a D4.
Michael [00:05:42]
Two.
Aidyn [00:05:42]
You approach a Spiderkin. Naping and dozing off a little bit.
Michael [00:05:47]
Hello? Sorry to bother you. My name is Blackjack.
Aidyn [00:05:51]
Oh, nice to meet you.
Michael [00:05:52]
And I was wondering, just out of curiosity, are you here for the carnival of Luck and Fortune?
Aidyn [00:05:58]
I'm thinking about going and seeing it. I mean, that's kind of the main reason I came here. Is that why you're here?
Michael [00:06:02]
Apparently. How long has it been going on?
Aidyn [00:06:05]
Well, supposedly there's been problems with it. I'm not too sure exactly what, but it's supposed to start in two days. It's been kind of pushed back and pushed back a little bit over the past week or so.
Michael [00:06:14]
So why did the counselors feel like they had to leave? It wasn't going to start in about by the time they would have gotten here. By the time it ended.
Aidyn [00:06:21]
I mean, it has been pushed back quite a bit.
Kyri [00:06:23] They thought it was going to be. Yeah.
Aidyn [00:06:25]
So I think and supposedly the rumor going around, at least it like in this line and other places that they're trying to get everyone in so that everyone can experience it.
Michael [00:06:33]
You know what? I bet Lucky might need our help.
Aidyn [00:06:36]
But also, I heard it might be because of some sort of special guest that they have.
Michael [00:06:41]
I wonder if that might be me.
Kyri [00:06:42]
I was about to say the same thing. But for me, the prince of mud. Pebbles?
Johnnie [00:06:46]
Yeah. Of course. Let's just all go.
Aidyn [00:06:48]
But I've also heard Lord Oberon is apparently going to be probably about next week, throwing some sort of big celebration, and he's gonna have a party in his own abode. And the civilians will also be celebrating. It's gonna be a fun two weeks shindig.
Johnnie [00:07:01]
Oberon. Oh, I don't know.
Aidyn [00:07:03]
And he's been throwing tons of parties, so, I mean, it's been apparently just a fun time with Athenus, so. I mean, I decided to come here.
Michael [00:07:08]
And he's a fay lord. He tends to throw a lot of parties.
Aidyn [00:07:11]
Yeah.
Michael [00:07:12]
Well, thank you very much for your time. And, by a very dear Spiderkin friend myself as well, you can see there's Ziansi right over there.
Kyri [00:07:19]
Ziansi. Are you guys cousins?
Brook [00:07:21]
Possibly.
Aidyn [00:07:22]
I mean, we're all kind of related by grandmother Spider.
Kyri [00:07:27]
Wait, so Grandmother Spider is your, like, literal grandma.
Brook [00:07:29]
The grandma of everybody. Yeah.
Kyri [00:07:31]
Oh. But then, like, what if, like, you fall in love? Is that person kind of your cousin, too?
Brook [00:07:38]
Well, it's as far enough away. Have you ever heard of the origin story that, some, you wouldn't know. You wouldn't know about them.
Kyri [00:07:50]
And we zoom out on this conversation.
Johnnie [00:07:52]
Before we go to this, walks up to the other. What was your name?
Aidyn [00:07:55]
Zessad.
Johnnie [00:07:55]
To Zessad and says, come on, Ziansi let's go. Yeah.
Aidyn [00:08:00]
And Zessad kind of nods off and goes back to sleep in the line.
Connor [00:08:04]
Imma, go up to another person.
Aidyn [00:08:07]
You go up to a Wood Elf.
Connor [00:08:08]
Hello? Excuse me.
Aidyn [00:08:10]
Oh, hi.
Connor [00:08:10]
I've heard the this is going to be the line that we stay in for the festival of luck.
Aidyn [00:08:17]
Oh, yes. Let's say just getting to the city of AtheAthenus. They've been running lots of background checks to make sure you are not, I don't know, bringing any sort of dangers to the city. Does that make sense? Oh, there's really people they've kind of blacklisted. I've heard, from entering the city.
Connor [00:08:33]
Oh, interesting. Do you know what sorts of people are getting blacklisted?
Aidyn [00:08:38]
I'm not sure myself. I haven't seen that people leave the line, and I don't think I really I don't think I've actually seen anyone leave the line today. So I think it's mostly just to check and make sure that they know supplies, all that sort of stuff that you have. No, that you're not carrying anything dangerous. Dangerous with you.
Brook [00:08:52]
Blacklisted as in like they get to have a conversation with the guards or they're just not allowed in.
Aidyn [00:08:58]
I've heard it can go either way. It's just it depends.
Brook [00:09:02]
Do any of the guards seem to be connected to Lord Oberon?
Aidyn [00:09:05]
Oh, they're all connected. The lovely.
Brook [00:09:07]
That's what I thought.
Brook [00:09:07]
I give a meaningful look toward Blackjack.
Michael [00:09:10]
I'm sorry. I was in my own little world. What was going.
Kyri [00:09:12]
On? The guards are looking for suspicious characters that are on a list. And if you're on the list, they don't let you in. And maybe they rough you up a little bit. And these people are the Lord Oberon. Less than I'm thinking. Maybe you might be on that list because he doesn't like you right now.
Michael [00:09:25]
Oh, I had done about that.
Aidyn [00:09:26]
And anyone talking to the wood elf or near the Wood Elf can make me a perception check.
Kyri [00:09:33]
21.
Michael [00:09:34]
No eight.
Connor [00:09:35]
26.
Brook [00:09:36]
18.
Aidyn [00:09:36]
Anybody who got a I'll say ten or higher. You recognize some of this garb as some garb you've actually seen pretty common on Bleekburn. This person appears to be from Bleekburn.
Connor [00:09:45]
Oh, I see you're from Bleekburn.
Aidyn [00:09:48]
Yeah. I decided to come here because, I mean, supposedly, the nobles from Bleekburn, Orabos and all of them are were invited to the party that's being thrown by Oberon. So I, I'm not too sure what's going on, but I've heard about this party, and I'm really interested, and I haven't really gotten out of the city, so.
Kyri [00:10:05]
Well, good for you getting out there trying new things.
Aidyn [00:10:09]
Thank you.
Brook [00:10:10]
And it's been, what, about three weeks?
Kyri [00:10:12]
About two weeks to walk from Blackburn to the forest. And then we walked in the forest for a week. So three weeks.
Aidyn [00:10:19]
Ish. But you do know you were in the camp for quite a bit.
Kyri [00:10:21]
Three days.
Michael [00:10:22]
That's probably bit about those. We'll say. So plus three and a half weeks.
Aidyn [00:10:26]
Yeah. And you're assuming this person might might have been on the path somewhere. Maybe you took a different way here as well.
Michael [00:10:32]
All right. So should we try to move up on the line and see if we can get in. Yeah. Is the line moving at all.
Aidyn [00:10:38]
It's moving. Yes, at a decent pace. Like I said, it's a very long line though. So we'll take you a few hours to get through.
Kyri [00:10:44]
Okay. Maybe we can use this time. Mr. blackjack, you can give us the do's and don'ts of interacting with Lord Oberon.
Michael [00:10:51]
Of course I can
Connor [00:10:51]
Mostly the don'ts.
Brook [00:10:53]
He mostly knows the don'ts.
Kim [00:10:54]
Don't do What he does, and we're fine.
Michael [00:10:56]
All right. Well, I'm very glad you just did. I would show him deference, and he likes you to be a little bit forward, but not going against his own strength, if you know what I mean.
Kyri [00:11:05]
Let me ask you this, Mr. Blackjack. Have you had any more dreams recently about parties? Because the bug guy said Oberon has been throwing lots of parties and you've been having dreams about Lord Oberon parties. Remember? He looked at you, but he didn't see you.
Michael [00:11:18]
I remember that. I think it might have been that just one time, but it was kind of freaky at the time. But I'd like to know if we get on once we get up there, or if we could even get in, or if we even try to get in that way. We'll try to get in a different way.
Kyri [00:11:29]
I think we should try to do things, at least at first. But the rules, yeah, maybe they'll kick us out and then we can try something else later.
Michael [00:11:38]
That is true. What is it like? Give it a try. It wouldn't hurt. Just the.
Brook [00:11:41]
That'd be different.
Kyri [00:11:42]
What if they let us see? But like, maybe you don't tell them your actual name.
Kyri [00:11:47]
Yeah. So we'll just wait in line and see what happens.
Aidyn [00:11:51]
So quickly hopping over to you appears to be a younger Haregon. Appears to be hopping from the city towards you. He appears to have a large satchel on his side and looks over to you all. And he says would one of you happened to be? And you see him quickly ruffles through the satchel as he pulls out a letter and looks over it. Beatrix?
Kim [00:12:09]
Oh yes. One of us would in fact happen to be Beatrix.
Kyri [00:12:12]
Oh, we're not telling you which one.
Aidyn [00:12:14]
Oh, well, that's quite unfortunate. You see.
Kyri [00:12:17]
Fine, it's that one. And he points at Beatrix.
Aidyn [00:12:20]
Here you go. And it appears to be from Absol lazuli.
Kyri [00:12:24]
Oh, yeah. Because he likes.
Kim [00:12:26]
You. And what does this say?
Aidyn [00:12:28]
So you open it up. It says Dear Beatrix as well as the others. I hope this letter is not found you at a bad time. But I have news that could be helpful for you. I have procured invites to the Fey Ball that Oberon is putting on pretty soon, and would like to give them to you as a token of my gratitude. But also, I believe they could probably be useful for you all as well. Meet me at my abode whenever you find a chance, and you all see that an address is attached to the letter.
Michael [00:12:51]
Which we know we've been in. We just never actually been on the outside of it.
Kyri [00:12:56]
Beatrix, do you think this means I can get another fancy outfit?
Kim [00:12:59]
I think we're all going to get another fancy outfit.
Kyri [00:13:02]
Oh my God,.
Kim [00:13:03]
At least I hope.
Kyri [00:13:04]
Listen, those guys with Lord Ironthorn. They were bad guys, but their suits were so nice.
Kim [00:13:09]
You would look so good.
Kyri [00:13:10] I wonder if we could find their tailor.
Michael [00:13:12]
And if we're actually going to the party. Maybe I should change my name.
Aidyn [00:13:15]
And you'll see the Harengon look at you guys and say. I'm assuming you guys are new to the city.
Brook [00:13:19]
I've never been ever at all.
Kyri [00:13:21]
I honestly, I've never been told. Are they right?
Michael [00:13:24]
I have no idea. I'm a visiting. We're all visiting.
Aidyn [00:13:28]
If you need any sort of letters sent in the city. I'm from the Bunny Boys Postal Service. My name is Bunny Boy Tolan. If you need anything, we're the fastest in town.
Kyri [00:13:37]
Thank you for your service. And Billy is going to rummage around in his bag, and he's going to give Bunny Boy Tolan a silver.
Aidyn [00:13:43]
Oh, thank you. And he'll stash that away and says, anyways, you all have a great day and you see him hop off very fast. Are you asking anyone else in line questions or you guys? Mostly I think we're.
Michael [00:13:53]
Just going to go on in.
Michael [00:13:54]
But I got it in 18 that time. Can I find a bug for bug Man? Hey, mister. Bug man, I found you a bug. This is, rhinoceros beetle. If you get if you find another one, you can make them fight each other. They're highly territorial.
Aidyn [00:14:07]
I don't think I want them to fight each other.
Kyri [00:14:09]
It's kind of cool, though.
Aidyn [00:14:10]
And you see him pull out a jar and sort of stick it in there. It's a jar of leaves and various foliage inside of it.
Kyri [00:14:16]
Have a good day.
Aidyn [00:14:18]
Eventually, after a few hours, you are now standing in front of the front guard. He gets his clipboard and quill ready as he looks each of you up and down. State your name and purpose.
Michael [00:14:28]
This is Beatrix and we all her friends.
Aidyn [00:14:30]
Okay, I need all of your names and he'll jot down Beatrix.
Kim [00:14:33]
These are my friends.
Aidyn [00:14:34]
Okay? But I need your names and your purpose.
Michael [00:14:36]
I am Thistlethorn Shadowpaw.
Aidyn [00:14:38]
Thistlethorn Shadowpaw. Give me a deception check.
Michael [00:14:42]
Can I give myself guidance on it.
Aidyn [00:14:43]
You May.
Michael [00:14:45]
15.
Aidyn [00:14:45]
Listen, sir, that sounds made up, but can you be honest with us? We're just. We're just doing some checking.
Michael [00:14:51]
Actually, that's not made up.
Kyri [00:14:52]
What?!
Kyri [00:14:55]
Blackjack is an alias.
Aidyn [00:14:56]
He'll sort of look to the Guardian next time. Do we have that person on? Is there a person like that on record? Is it seems like you're kind of lying. You're still lying.
Michael [00:15:03]
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Yes.
Aidyn [00:15:05]
And you see the other guard sort of look and says, I'll be right back and you see them head off for a second. The rest of you, names.
Kyri [00:15:12]
I am Billy, Prince of Mudmen, this is Mud Man.
Brook [00:15:17]
Ziansi rolled a two on his deception check. My name is Zeedelion Whisperspider.
Aidyn [00:15:24]
Is it?
Brook [00:15:24]
Some days? Yes.
Aidyn [00:15:26]
So what is it?
Brook [00:15:27]
The other days, they just call me Ziansi.
Aidyn [00:15:29]
Ziansi.
Connor [00:15:30]
My name is Jaska, and this is mistletoe, raspberry and blueberry.
Aidyn [00:15:36]
You as it points to twitch.
Johnnie [00:15:38]
Twitch Blackfoot, justicar.
Aidyn [00:15:41]
Eventually, the other guard comes back. What'd you say your name was again?
Brook [00:15:43]
Thistlethorn Shadowpaw. Also Thistle for short.
Aidyn [00:15:47]
The other guard comes back and sort of whispers in this one's ear kind of looks you up and down and he sort of bows a little bit. Welcome. Blackjack as he'll. Right down. Thistlethorn. Lord Oberon was expecting you.
Michael [00:15:59]
I was afraid of this. Yes. Of course. Oh, fantastic. Well.
Aidyn [00:16:03]
Oh, sorry. I do have to ask what all of your purposes are or what? Just what your purposes.
Kim [00:16:07]
We have a party to attend.
Aidyn [00:16:09]
All right. I can get down for that. All right, you all come on in.
Johnnie [00:16:13]
Well, as we're walking in, I want to look over Jasca and say, did you catch all that?
Connor [00:16:17]
Yeah. Blackjack got a bow from him.
Johnnie [00:16:20]
I don't I don't know if I should bow or curtsy.
Connor [00:16:23]
I think you should just ignore that urge.
Connor [00:16:25]
As you enter the city. The streets smell of a refreshing smell of pine and leather. Many buildings appear to be built from smaller spruce trees, clearly being some of the newer buildings. Other buildings can be seen in various places which appear to be homes, similar to what most of you would have saw in the material plane, but most have been taken over by nature. Various vines growing on the foliage, and these appear to be much older buildings. However, the tree that you saw earlier is very plainly in view, and the orange and yellow hues start to make sense to you. This large spruce tree, standing well over what looks like 300 to 500ft tall, is covered in what appears to be amber fossils all over the entire tree.
Michael [00:18:30]
(Midshow Break) .
Aidyn [00:20:04]
This large tree that stands in the middle of the city is quite a spectacle, especially in the afternoon sky, the sun bearing down on it as some of the lights come from it, almost giving an orange glow to the area. It's very strange seeing this entire tree just fossilized in amber, but it is quite a mesmerizing sight.
Kim [00:20:23]
Okay, that's beautiful, but it makes me nervous.
Johnnie [00:20:27]
The scientist in me wants to approach the tree and just take a closer look at some of the amber.
Aidyn [00:20:33]
So you are actually no where near the tree. Is quite large. Is in the center of the city. You guys are still probably on. I'd say the southern end, but you can still make me a nature check.
Johnnie [00:20:42]
16.
Aidyn [00:20:43]
This is from all your scientific reasoning. Not possible. Although you are in the fey wild. So whatever's possible sort of is thrown out the window.
Johnnie [00:20:52]
Sometimes you get a closer look at that mumble out loud.
Aidyn [00:20:55]
You can assume maybe magic's involved, but you're not sure.
Michael [00:20:58]
Ziansi wonders if it has any religious.
Aidyn [00:21:01]
Give me a religion check.
Brook [00:21:01]
And 18.
Aidyn [00:21:03]
Blackjack make me a history check advantage.
Michael [00:21:05]
Also 18.
Aidyn [00:21:06]
So all of a sudden all this information is coming back to you. I'm going to say Blackjack. You probably didn't live in the city, but you lived near the city, probably out in the farm with your family and Ziansi probably probably the same, probably out in the forest. But you know that this great tree was once a Treant a large, large Treant. It supposedly had fossilized and in some sort of great war to deal with an enemy, to trap it forever.
Brook [00:21:31]
Yeah. Blackjack. Do you think that's the great Treant of the Nature Wars? Eons ago?
Michael [00:21:39]
I don't remember much.
Kim [00:21:41]
Was he a good guy or.
Michael [00:21:42]
Oh, no, he was. He was a great.
Brook [00:21:44]
He was a defender, right?
Michael [00:21:45]
Yes. And he actually trapped an evil entity inside of him.
Kim [00:21:49]
Can we fix him?
Michael [00:21:50]
Oh, no. I mean, if we if we do anything that's going to let the evil.
Kim [00:21:53]
Oh, that's the evil guy out.
Kyri [00:21:55]
Oh, well, and it sounds like it's been this way for, a few thousand years.
Johnnie [00:22:01]
Yeah, but now we're here.
Aidyn [00:22:03]
So you do actually have various figures sort of walking around the city. If you want to ask questions of them, they might know more. More? Some of them appear to be people that actually live in the city. You also see some various shops as you walk in. You see a little booth called the Athenus Daily. You see a Harengon boy appears to be working it. Another appears to be Athenus souvenirs, another booth outside, and finally Athenus travels, which appears to be a guide to Athenus.
Kyri [00:22:30]
Billy would definitely walk up to this newsstand because he can read now. Yeah.
Johnnie [00:22:35]
The Athenus Daily?
Aidyn [00:22:35]
Yeah So as you walk over right before you get there, he says newspaper, newspaper. Get your newspaper.
Kyri [00:22:41]
Hello. Kind sir, I would like a newspaper please.
Aidyn [00:22:45]
You see is very much talking with his hands. He says, oh, you you want a newspaper?
Kyri [00:22:49]
Yeah, I can recently read.
Aidyn [00:22:51]
Now that'll be five copper.
Kyri [00:22:52]
Okay. And he rummages around in his backpack and finds five coppers.
Aidyn [00:22:57]
There you go. Five copper. Copper? Only five copper.
Kyri [00:23:00]
Billy is going to try to read it and Mr. Twitch is there for the hard words.
Johnnie [00:23:05]
Billy, can you flip through and give me the funny pages.
Kyri [00:23:07]
Oh, I don't know what those are. The ones with pictures. Yeah, okay. He slips through and he finds the comics and gives them to Twitch.
Aidyn [00:23:14]
Do you want to look in newspapers?
Kyri [00:23:15]
I do want to look at that.
Aidyn [00:23:16]
So first thing of note, you pick up some information. It is a local newspaper, part FPN Feywild Public Newspaper. At the top of it there appears to be almost like a drawing of a mouth.
Kyri [00:23:27]
I tap it.
Aidyn [00:23:30]
As it starts reading the head story. Lucky's carnival of Luck and Fortune is coming to town. Lucky's Carnival is making a glorious start, and Athenus having some problems in another city involving the theft of his Wand of Wonder and his death. He decided to rebrand and forget about that. Maybe. Perhaps the Celestial God Seos is involved in the rebranding, but that is just theory.
Kyri [00:23:49]
I can't remember, was he the bad guy in our thing?
Brook [00:23:51]
Bad intentions? Yeah.
Aidyn [00:23:53]
He wasn't a bad guy.
Kyri [00:23:54]
Did we find.
Aidyn [00:23:55]
Him? No. He did not fight. Selfish. He died and then came back because he's like.
Kyri [00:23:59]
Okay.
Aidyn [00:24:00]
A smaller story appears to be minors.
Kyri [00:24:02]
Specifically people who work in mines or children.
Aidyn [00:24:06]
Minors. Not to be confused with miners have been trapped inside of the minds. After a cave in yesterday, apparently going swimming without permission. They have not yet been identified, but apparently should have enough food water left by other miners to last quite a while. The other miners, not specifically that minors miners unfortunately Oberon has seem to ignore it, and some other fey lords and ladies have been taking care of the problem.
Kyri [00:24:25]
Mr. Twitch, we gotta save them kids. I'm very pro children. Now that I've worked at a summer camp.
Johnnie [00:24:30]
So there's minors stuck in mines, the miners are minors.
Kyri [00:24:33]
Oh, I doesn't say if the miners are minors. It seems to, insinuate that the children were playing in the mines where they should not. And then they got trapped. But the previously previous miners who are adults but who work in the mines, I guess, left their lunch behind. And so they've gotten food and water, so they're not like dying right now.
Johnnie [00:24:51]
How do you completely comprehend this? And I'm lost.
Kyri [00:24:54] I'm real smart now. And he pushes his glasses up his nose.
Aidyn [00:24:57]
And then one final smaller story. Local Fey Noble Denying Oberon's Invite. According to reports, many local nobles have already denied the invite to Oberon's ball next week. One states his parties are quite fun, yes, but they have been far too excessive. There are no local problems that need to be talked about in this formal fashion. However, recent problems have been arising as far as cities other than just locally. In the quotations and after, says fashion news has come that both Bleakburn and Mama Moth's island have had problems as of late. Both Lord Blackburn and Monmouth are supposedly meeting with over the party to discuss solutions to the problems.
Kyri [00:25:30]
I guess I'm representing the mud peoples.
Michael [00:25:33]
Could tell who was it, who was the Lord. It was that turned it down.
Aidyn [00:25:36]
It does not say. It says anonymous.
Michael [00:25:38]
Anonymous yeah.
Aidyn [00:25:39]
But apparently it's not just one noble. This appears to just be the opinion of one. It appears that these parties have been so excessive to local nobles, and you can kind of assume that these parties are also time for them to talk about problems, to solve solutions. And Athenus hasn't been plagued with problems, at least as far as you can tell. So there's no reason to have this much excess of parties.
Michael [00:25:58]
Okay, let's tell Blackjack.
Johnnie [00:26:00]
Yeah.
Kyri [00:26:01]
And then I run over, swinging my newspaper above my head. Mister. Thistles.
Michael [00:26:11]
You can call me blackjack?
Kyri [00:26:13]
Okay, I'm just shouting, and I wasn't sure. Mr. Blackjack! Mr. Blackjack! Mr. Blackjack! There's children trapped in a cave we gotta save them.
Michael [00:26:21]
All right. Do we know where those children are or that mine is?
Kyri [00:26:25]
No.
Michael [00:26:25]
All right.
Kyri [00:26:26]
But, hey, like, I bet we can ask that tour guide guy.
Brook [00:26:29]
And Ziansi has wandered over toward the Athenus Guides' booth.
Aidyn [00:26:35]
Athenus Travels. Yes. Human creature, he says. Hi.
Brook [00:26:38]
How are you?
Aidyn [00:26:39]
I'm good.
Brook [00:26:40]
That's great. I see by your display signs that you have information about the city.
Aidyn [00:26:46]
Yeah, I do, I.
Brook [00:26:47]
Was interested in the giant amber tree. Are there any tours or guides or details about that?
Aidyn [00:26:53]
Oh, yeah. You can have our, our guide. It's about, only five copper.
Brook [00:26:58]
Yeah, I'd love to have that.
Aidyn [00:26:59]
Yeah. You see him pull out one of these guys is he hands it over to you. That five copper.
Brook [00:27:03]
Okay, there we go. I'll trade you. All right. Thank you. Can I ask what's one of your favorite things to look at? Like, you know, what do you suggest?
Aidyn [00:27:11]
I've lived in the city a long time. There used to be this place called the Lazy Ladle. It closed down a few years ago due to health concerns.
Brook [00:27:19]
I love it, I love getting light places to eat.
Michael [00:27:22]
The Lazy Ladle's closed.
Aidyn [00:27:23]
Yeah, It closed down like a few years ago because of health concerns.
Kyri [00:27:26]
That was high on our list.
Aidyn [00:27:28]
Well, supposedly there was a chef there and he kind of kept everything together. He wasn't really the head chef, the head chef there was not a great person.
Brook [00:27:35]
Oh, yeah. Whitaker I mean, oh, what's the. Oh, yeah.
Aidyn [00:27:38]
Oh, you see met Whitaker. Yeah, he he left to go do something better with his life. Okay, good for him.
Kyri [00:27:42]
I've got bad news for you, buddy.
Aidyn [00:27:45]
What's that?
Kyri [00:27:46]
And I'm sure Jasca just, like, covers his mouth. Well.
Aidyn [00:27:52]
Yeah, I heard you just went out there to make a better name for himself. And I'm really proud of, like, a for the Duke of Bleakburn. And I'm sure his mom's proud.
Kyri [00:27:59]
Can you tell me where this cave where these children are trapped in this?
Johnnie [00:28:03]
Could you tell us where the mine is?
Aidyn [00:28:06]
I'm not sure.
Kyri [00:28:08]
What do you mean it's headline news?
Aidyn [00:28:09]
You actually do realize this is not even like a full heading? This is a sidebar. I haven't heard about that.
Kyri [00:28:15]
Okay. Do you have a map of Athenus?
Aidyn [00:28:17]
It's on the back of the pamphlet.
Kyri [00:28:18]
What pamphlet?
Brook [00:28:19]
The one I have in my hand. I paid five copper for it.
Kyri [00:28:21]
Excellent. Let me see.
Aidyn [00:28:23]
Also, there's a little snippet about how Athenus became a thing and all that sort of stuff. So if you ever get a chance, read that.
Kyri [00:28:28]
Oh yeah. For sure.
Aidyn [00:28:29]
Are you taking it?
Kyri [00:28:30]
I'm going to look at the map and see if I can figure out where I think mines would be.
Brook [00:28:34]
While Ziansi's reading the thing about the history of Athena's back? Yes. Yeah.
Aidyn [00:28:39]
So I'll start with Billy. You don't know? It's not on the map. The only thing that's like landmarked is the tree in the center. The streets are names, but no significant, like building names. Doesn't look like.
Kyri [00:28:52]
I wonder if they're mining the tree.
Johnnie [00:28:55]
Billy. Today's not the day to be a hero.
Kyri [00:28:58]
I have to save the children. They could be campers, you know.
Michael [00:29:01]
And also, I was thinking if we could save the children, maybe we start to make a name for ourselves. Are you.
Aidyn [00:29:05]
Are you reading the thing?
Brook [00:29:05]
Yeah. All right. I'll read it aloud.
Aidyn [00:29:08]
Athenus. It began as a city led by fey nobles that was to escape the greater fey wild and establish a new home away from some of their fellow nobles. Unbeknownst to them, there were already a number of people here, specifically two major groups, the Bleakburns and the Blue Dragons that ravage these lands. But their war. For a time, the city of Athenus thrived and stayed neutral in the conflict. That was until the Blue Dragon Dread Hunter, the Grimm, began attacking the city and took it with little to no flight back. For a time, he and his mate, Ivnalia lived in the city and supposedly had children. However, tyranny could not last forever. As an ancient tree, known as Tree the Spruce and a brass dragon by the name of Rumble Forager, the eternal became good friends and promise to take down the Blue Dragons. The fight was long and hard, and Tree the Spruce sacrificed himself to defeat Dread Hunter, causing treant to turn into the tree in the center of town. The rest of Dread Hunter's family has not been seen since the defeat, but are rumored mostly in children folktales to stalk the city and fly over it, waiting for the revenge. Rumble Forger stuck around Athenus for a while, but eventually went away after the loss of his treant friend. Eventually, Athenus grew outward from the amber covered tree the spruce. His seeds, allowing for more common people to have housing. However, Duke Ulysses Bleakburn had spent his whole life fighting wars throughout the domain, and he would not stop with the fey nobles of Athenus. Many times, he would attempt to take the city by force, creating an uneasy alliance between Athenus and Bleakburn that did not ease until the demise of Ulysses and his son Orobaus becoming the new Duke of Bleakburn. It took many years, but the city of Athenus as a mostly happy city, away from the strife and grief of other realms.
Michael [00:30:38]
This ties in that blue dragon we saw fly over.
Brook [00:30:40]
And we've heard Ivnalia before.
Michael [00:30:42]
Ivnalia is the blue dragon. That's.
Kyri [00:30:44]
Yeah, that's the mommy.
Brook [00:30:45]
Yeah, that's the wife.
Michael [00:30:46]
Yeah, that's the mom of the girl. Of the child that we killed back with the wolf that.
Kyri [00:30:51]
That Jaska killed.
Michael [00:30:51]
After killing. It was.
Connor [00:30:53]
It was a collective killing.
Aidyn [00:30:56]
So as you guys were sitting there talking the High Elf of Athenus souvenir says, come on, come over here. Well, I have plenty of souvenirs and may even be able to share a rumor with you.
Kyri [00:31:04]
Well, when you put it that way.
Kim [00:31:06]
So, Beatrix's. Already, while all of this was going on, Beatrice already been poking around looking for a souvenir.
Aidyn [00:31:12]
Yeah.
Kim [00:31:13]
The slogan is your one stop shop for all things Athenus related. Yes. So here's what he has for sale. Some sort of Oberon figure. This figure depicts Oberon, king of the fairies. He has beautiful long hair and antlers that jut out from his head. Normally, Oberon is very attractive. However, this figure appears to make his head grotesquely big and almost even funny.
Aidyn [00:31:31]
And he's a bobble head.
Kim [00:31:33]
I love it.
Aidyn [00:31:34]
You also have the amber covered tree keychain. This keychain obviously depicts the tree that stands the middle of the city. It seems very cheaply made. And finally a blue scaled koozie. This strange contraption appears to be made from Blue dragon scales. Tola tells you that it goes around a mug and proceeds to pull out a mug and slip the contraption around it. If it's pretty snug, but seems a bit macabre that it's made out of dragon scales. So in a sort of purchase you make, I'll provide a rumor that's kind of related to it.
Kim [00:32:00]
I see you have a keychain. Do you have a key? Like an actual key?
Aidyn [00:32:04]
I mean, I have my keys. This is the house. I don't think I want to give these.
Kim [00:32:08]
I'm sad.
Michael [00:32:09]
But you have a keychain.
Aidyn [00:32:10]
Yes, we have key chains.
Michael [00:32:11]
And you have this Oberon with the large head.
Aidyn [00:32:14]
Yeah. So watch this. And you see it smack down on us. His head shakes. Is that cool?
Michael [00:32:18]
Yeah, it's very disturbing.
Aidyn [00:32:21]
Yes. I will take one of those.
Aidyn [00:32:23]
Okay. He says oh, that'll cost you five gold pieces.
Michael [00:32:26]
I will give you five gold pieces for it.
Aidyn [00:32:27]
And he will tell you Oberon was the fey that slayed that blue dragon all those years ago.
Kyri [00:32:32]
That's not the story.
Aidyn [00:32:34]
Just a rumor. I'm giving you rumors.
Johnnie [00:32:36]
Yes, I'm buying a koozie.
Aidyn [00:32:37]
The koozie will cost you, one gold.
Aidyn [00:32:39]
This one and gold come with a full mug.
Aidyn [00:32:42]
That'll be another gold piece if you want a mug, I mean.
Aidyn [00:32:44]
Okay. Yeah, sure. Here's two gold pieces.
Aidyn [00:32:45]
It is believed that the dragons serve an eternal punishment beneath the grand tree in the center of the city.
Kim [00:32:52]
Okay, I'll get a keychain.
Aidyn [00:32:53]
Three gold pieces.
Kim [00:32:54]
There you go.
Aidyn [00:32:55]
All right. The rumor he gives you is the tree was created and raised by the fey of Athenus long ago to make a palace for the ruler of the city. And I will say Blackjack and Beatrix you can tell your rumors are obviously fake. Yes. It says. Well, thank you for your business. Anyone? Anybody else want to buy anything?
Aidyn [00:33:09]
You only have three things.
Aidyn [00:33:10]
Also, I will say who got the koozie? It was you. This is obviously fake dragon scales. In fact, everything you have here is cheap. Except for the Oberon bobblehead, which is actually fairly well made.
Michael [00:33:19]
Can you put that in your bag of holding?
Aidyn [00:33:21]
Yeah. As you all are planning where to go, you remember that Lazuli has, in fact, invited you to his abode.
Kyri [00:33:27]
And it sounds like he's there. And maybe. He knows where these children...
Michael [00:33:31]
Right, and I think we should probably head over there right now.
Kim [00:33:35]
Right now.
Michael [00:33:44]
Red Dirt DnD. Tales from the Wilds is Aidyn Cross as our dungeon master, Kyri Hester as Billy, Connor Shenold as Jaska, Johnnie Payne as Twitch, Kim Cross as Beatrix, Brooke Bullock as Ziansi and I'm Michael Cross as Blackjack. Our theme music was created by the cinemagician PJ Castillo. Our incidental music comes from Jeffrey McBride. Our sound effects and additional music courtesy of Monument Studios, Ovani Sound and Tabletopaudio.com. Dice for the Red dirt DnD cast provided by Esty Way Gaming. You can find us at Reddirtdnd.com. If you're enjoying Red dirt DnD, make sure to subscribe, rate us, and leave a comment. Also, tell your friends about Red Dirt DnD. You can also support the show at Patreon.com/ReddirtDnD at whatever giving level works best for you. Join us next time as we travel farther into the wilds.
(Outtakes)