WWW #40: Aid and Comfort

This is the sound of Worlds Beyond Number.

Cool forest, tall trees.

Somewhere up above, the stars are shining.

But through the thick clouds that choke the shroud mountains and under all this canopy,

Ursulon,

cool darkness invites you in.

Distant places you can see some fireflies, hear spring peepers, but the darkness is not unfamiliar to you at all.

Halaker is what they call this forest, but what it calls itself can only be pronounced

in the song of frogs,

the cooing of nightingales,

the singing of crickets.

It's a noisy, healthy, old forest.

Still mountainous.

High highs, low lows, but a lot more greenery, a lot more moss, a lot more old stone.

There's a song at the heart of this forest about glaciers that passed through here eons ago,

churning up the deep heartstone of the world and depositing it as boulders covered now in lichen and moss atop the crowns of these ancient mountains.

Every stone here has had inches taken off its skin by a thousand years of wind.

They've been dancing together here for an eternity.

There are so many old spirits in this forest,

and somewhere at the heart of this place,

they worshiped night.

You know

that there are spirits here that are walking down the road by his side.

You know that they call this place haunted,

but you've known people in their superstitions long enough to know that haunted may just mean

untameably.

And looking at the size of the trees, it'd be hard to get a road in here.

It's not a great place to go logging because moving anything out of here would be a huge

trial.

And you see that the trees here are kind of warped, just like the type of trees.

There's a lot of places that sunlight stays hidden by the ridges, so trees have to bend at an angle to get sunlight, which means they're not good for masts.

They're not good for big, you know, there's like straighter trees and taller lines, easier to get to elsewhere in the Shroud Mountains.

So this place has been left a little wild for a long, long time.

I think you also

feel

that this is a place that will be unpopulated by and large,

which means

very little empire,

which means very little Gauthmai.

This is probably a safe place to get to where you need to get to.

If you can navigate through it, then you're not likely to encounter any enemy forces in this place.

The people are afraid of it.

You're not.

Ursulan stands

just kind of at the edge before the real

darkness begins

and

lets go of his glamour,

takes his shield off his back, undoes his sword belt,

and just sits

and listens.

Give me a wisdom check, just as a form of meditation.

23

somewhere deep in the forest,

you hear

a grizzly bear calling out, announcing itself to see if somewhere out in the night there's a mate or some other bear who hunts in this territory.

It's a healthy forest to support a big predator like that.

There's probably a lot of them out here in these woods.

This is the kind of forest that you would have searched through back in a calm,

hoping for a lake or a door, a gate of ivy.

It's a magic forest.

It's beautiful.

You've put the sword and shield down.

You have that

ticket and that watch.

Faraway locomotive, a hand under pressed glass,

shield and sword, knight's pauldron, three gifts from your sister.

True friends, you've come a long, long way.

On a twenty-three,

that bear

has called out into the forest

in question.

Does it have an answer?

Are you allowed to join the chorus of the forest?

You join your voice

and your breath

is perfectly in alignment with your body and the forest.

You announce yourself

with no interruption to the singing of crickets.

You have, at times in your life, and in fact just moments ago, been made to feel

alien.

And

as far as this forest is concerned, you are right at home.

A place has been waiting for you here for as long as you have walked this earth.

And on that 23,

your breath is

much bigger and closer than it used to be.

And I think

you remember the conversation with Orima about being way shadowed and about how she had seen spirits hide their breath in an egg or a chest or somewhere in the world, and that you had hid yours in the reflection of the eyes of the people that had looked at Sir Curran.

You had hidden your breath away in honor itself.

Who knows

when or how you will know if you have honor or what kind of honor has your breath in it, or if in fact you already have honor and maybe all living things have some portion of honor to them.

But you do know that you have something you didn't used to have, which is a quest.

There are spirits in this world that are bound.

There is family that you never knew you had.

Some of them are your sister and her children and children's children, but maybe there's family everywhere.

This forest certainly sings like it considers you family.

And

on a 23 wisdom check, your frustration is that your quest is delayed here, certainly and affirmatively.

With no doubt, your quest has been put on pause to serve one you love and to fulfill a promise that you made to them to protect them.

But

now that you have purpose, you feel

your breath

expand in potential behind and within and around you,

and have that sudden exhilarating thrill and fear

that you may be becoming

something

greater.

It is a magical feeling and it is something that all people feel throughout their lives but you feel it now as an inkling of connection

and you wonder if

sooner rather than later

that

expansive spirit that is waiting to be called to serve you and to become you

will ask you to name it and its purpose.

Urusalon continues to breathe,

inhaling and exhaling the night air,

committing all of himself to this feeling,

and to this moment,

and to not forgetting that this thing is waiting for him.

He's gonna pick up his sword belt,

reattach it,

pick up his shield,

turn around,

and walk back towards the village.

At the base of the staircase, Ahme and the fox

arrive to find you.

You see

Ursulan

returning.

He's dropped his glamour and is walking back.

Give me a perception check.

21.

The forest is alive behind Ursulan.

I mean, it's truly come to life at night.

This is a forest that it seems that its cycle of nocturnal life is like its active, its most active cycle.

And

you just see Ursulan moving

and

you feel

weight

and

mass, as if magical

moving around him.

When you first found Ursula, he was a little magical cub that came out of fairy, and you found and brought him home.

And I think, Ame, for your true friend,

all spirits are worthy of the respect and dedication of witches to form a bridge between the spirit, but some spirits, even being spiritual entities, are so

small,

their stations are so small, that you give them love and respect.

But like when you first saw the ice fairies, you did not feel their sacredness as they tapped on the skylight of a bathroom, right?

And that's just not because they don't have any, it's just they have such a little

small, bright, little divine moat that as they move through the world, it doesn't hit you unless they want it to.

And I think in this moment,

the, for lack of a better word, divinity and sacredness that is

omnipresent in the face of like Naram

and is almost nowhere to be felt unless you look really hard for it in like a little ice fairy,

you feel

for the first time Ursulan move

and feel a weight of that sacredness to him.

Like your friend, who you have always known as a spirit, suddenly commands

some of that

reverence.

Almost instinctively, I incline my head and I bow.

It's an unusual way to greet a friend,

but in this moment, I

really feel like I see Ursulan

and it's

it's so beautiful

brother your song is so beautiful

and I

raise my head from the bow and when I look at you

you can see my eyes shining

just with joy and

adoration and

something that's less patronizing than pride, but a kind of

empathetic swelling of emotion.

I think Ursulan.

Ursulan gives you back like a kind and pleasant smile,

nothing too large,

and kind of nods his head back at you.

You've come to fight me.

I'm sorry I stepped away.

That's alright.

It was quite a lot in there.

A lot going on.

Quite a lot.

It's a lot.

You see, the fox, in this kind of absent-minded moment,

rolls over a bunch, jumps, and runs back and forth throughout, and just has a moment of zoomies.

And he doesn't bother you, Ursulan, but you can tell that he's just celebrating the sacredness of this moment as a fox should, and, you know, rolls around in some moss and twists his back and whips his tail around.

Doesn't address any of it to you because he, on some intuitive level, understands that the thing that is being celebrated is a connection to the wholeness of the world.

So, the way to show respect and honor that is to connect to the wholeness of the world.

What would you like to do?

Are you all right?

I'm fine.

It's uh, well, I'm better than fine.

The forest

is an incredible place.

It seems it's quite impressed with you, too.

I nod my head towards the lively music out in the dark.

Yes, there is.

I feel

more connected and more attached to

the spirit than I have been in some time.

I feel my breath.

I know my breath.

Well, you have conducted yourself quite honorably and are on a path towards maintaining that, it would seem to me.

Even coming all the way out here when I know we very much wanted to have pancakes instead.

Yes.

There will be time for that.

I think that your family

and your night friend would be very, very proud of you.

My night friend?

The the Starl Starling Forge?

Oh,

Sir Kurin.

Sir Kuran, yes, yes.

Yes.

I think you see Ursulan get a little solemn at the mention

of

the thing that brought him here,

we should retire.

I'm hoping to sleep alongside the horses in the stable this evening.

Oh, that would be nice.

I want to kind of at least go say goodnight to them and thank them deeply for what might have been a very dear sacrifice.

Yes.

Have you seen Suvi?

No, but my assumption is that

she is with

Suvie.

Yes, yes.

You can check on her.

Come watch.

Yeah, I'm moving as.

I think as we get closer to the village, I think stealth becomes a real

go ahead and give a stealth check.

Now, do I have advantage?

Yeah, you do.

You have your boots.

That's right.

Natural 20.

Shut up.

Oh, my goodness.

You move in concert with the spirit.

You are as welcomed by the shadows as if by the embrace of a long-lost loved one.

Wherever you wish to go, you will go unseen.

I seek Rohon

and a clean bed of hay.

You nestle down in the stables by the horses, the smell of sweet hay, and the neighing of horses who welcome you as one of their own and know that there is always some good in sleeping together in the herd.

Amay, where do you retire to?

I go and thank the horses and say good evening to Ursulan,

and then

I think I'm just gonna wander the village a little bit on my own.

What are you looking for in the village as you wander it?

Just in the way that Ursulan was listening to the music of the forest,

I

want to hear the tales of this town.

I want to find it in the architecture and the cobblestones, in

the little motifs crafted into the fences.

Who are these people?

You can give me insight or investigation.

Say 18 Insight.

You look at the stones, and I think looking at the architecture here,

you don't feel a profound understanding of this place because I think you realize on an 18 Insight that this place was not built by the people who currently live here.

It was built by an older group of people whose language is gone.

You find a little bit of writing that is not in Imperial.

And so you know that these townsfolk speak Imperial.

They wouldn't be able to...

It's possible that some of these farmers would not be literate necessarily.

So even if it was written in Imperial, they wouldn't necessarily be able to read it.

What language is it in?

Do I know this?

Give me a history check.

Yeah, nerd.

17.

Let's go, nerd.

Yeah, you recognize this alphabet.

This is this is a uh on a 17,

you would bet this language is Teroi, and then you, but you don't know how to read Teroi, which is T-E-R-O-I.

But you, you're like, this is Teroi, or a language that uses that alphabet, which is really the only thing I'm paying attention to.

So you're like, looks like Turoi letters.

Neat, I'm going to make a couple of etchings.

As you're making an etching, you hear the fox go, and what are you looking at?

And you hear a little gasp, and you see up in a shuttered window, a shutter slams, and you see what looks like the children of the town hiding in an upper story of a building.

And you see one of it says, I told you it was a shape changer.

The fox says, I'm not a shape changer.

I'm a familiar.

And you see that one of them is, what?

And he says, a familiar.

Can't you read?

And

Amy, what do you do as the fox roasts these little children?

It's true.

He's a very well-learned, educated familiar, which is kind of like a pet.

Which is kind of like a pet.

You see, the fox looks up and says, Really?

Yeah.

Have you ever looked up the definition of a pet?

Have I ever looked up the definition of a pet?

No.

The only time we've ever been in a library, we were...

Well, you were doing something.

I don't know.

I got distracted.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I was looking for fish slurry.

Yeah, that's that.

I'm going to tell you that that's what it is.

You're like a fancy pet.

The fox looks up and says, I am the fox, and this is my familiar Amet.

You see that the

window opens a little bit.

Go ahead and give me a persuasion roll.

The fox will give you an advantage.

Yes.

23.

The kids open the window, understanding enough about the playful tone of these strangers outside that they are not in danger.

And the window opens, and you see there's about eight little kids in there,

probably in the ages of you get a sense that around like 13 or 12 is where kids would kind of just be like working with their parents and so these are all 11 10 younger than that

mostly in the seven to like nine range and You see they peer out and one of them says she's not a familiar.

She's a wizard.

Look at her hat

I am a bit similar to a wizard in that I

can do magic, but I am what is called a witch.

You see they all gasp and you see one of them says, you can put a curse on people?

Witches burn crops.

And you see that another one says, they don't burn crops.

The crops get sick.

And you see that another one turns over and says, do you do crop magic?

I have done crop magic to help crops grow.

Where I come from, we grow a lot of wheat and vegetables.

You see that the kids sort of lean forward.

They know what what it's like to grow vegetables.

They know what it's like to grow crops.

And you see that leaning forward and peering out, you see they say,

I told you she was a good witch.

And you see the other one says, you said she was a wizard.

And you see the other one says, that's the same thing.

And you see that the fox says, I too can do magic.

And you see the one that says, really?

And you see it says, yes, I can turn a treat into a bird.

And you see that one of the kids throws for something and gets a little piece of like toffee and throws it down and you see the fox goes

and eats it really fast and you see they say they all sort of gasp waiting for a bird to appear and the fox goes

the stars are not in alignment the magic is not possible

give me another treat maybe they're good now

Oh,

well, I would say I'm a pretty okay witch, but also it doesn't really matter if you want to call me anything.

I am simply Ahme.

What may I call some of you?

I'm Tona.

My name's Wierin.

This is my brother.

This is Pop.

And then this is my...

These sorts of chattering excitedly.

And you see that a light appears behind them, and you see that an older woman in clear night clothes sort of steps out

and goes, children, you're all supposed to be in bed.

I don't.

Looks down and says, oh,

I'm so sorry, Your Grace.

Don't bother, Citadel people.

It's all right, ma'am.

I'm from a farming village myself, and we were simply talking about what it's like having a little vegetable patch and how perhaps we shouldn't always trust foxes that ask for treats and promise tricks.

Well, I'll say this.

I don't mind foxes one bit.

We got a big rabbit problem back west, and as far as I'm concerned, the more foxes, the better.

And you see, the fox turns over, turns to you, and says, it's nice to hear some gratitude.

It's, it's, you know, it is nice to be appreciated.

Sometimes I do worry that you're not getting enough of that.

You see, the fox looks up and goes, thank you very much for your kind words, ma'am.

And you see, the old woman goes,

and looks sort of terrified as the fox speaks.

He goes,

No need for alarm, ma'am.

I promise that he won't get up to mischief.

I look at him meaningfully.

You see, the fox looks up and says,

Ma'am, it would be an honor to rid your town of any rabbits.

Are there any specifically nearby?

And you see that the old woman says, Ha!

No, thank you,

no, thank you, and just sort of starts shepherding the kids away from the window.

Thank you very much for everything you do for us, and thank you for ridding the land of the shape changers, and we are very, very grateful.

And if there's anything you need, we are happy to offer it.

Oh, well, we're just here for a little bit reprovisioning, and we'll be on our way soon.

But

if the children would like a story or

something,

perhaps maybe tomorrow.

That sounds lovely.

Thank you.

And you see the children say, Goodbye, goodbye, Amazon.

Goodbye.

And you see that the fox says, Goodbye, children.

And if you've learned nothing else, and he's the window shut,

he turns to you and says, Nice kids.

Oh, yeah, they're very good.

Very good kids.

The next morning,

how's Suvie's night go?

There's something about

getting good sleep

where

all of the things, like, Suvi

is a bit of a fitful and light sleeper and

remembers even across like how quickly she fell asleep in

Silver's arms, like the sound of her back like cracking and like her body untensing.

Like she didn't realize she's been holding herself in that like boxers cramped.

constrict everything in your torso between your ribs and your abs and your back like she's been waiting for a blow for a week straight because it was go and if you cannot weather what's coming ame will die and if you cannot weather what's coming you'll never make it to silver and this is the first time she's like oh

sleep and relax and

safe harbor

in his arms and i think it's like one of those big sleep resets that she's up actually quite early and it's going to be sort of joyful and lighter again.

And in the morning is just, not in a obscene way, but is straddling Silver waiting for him to wake up.

Silver opens his eyes.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, who?

Fumbling around sleepily.

He writes something on a piece of paper.

Protect this with your very life and hands it to you.

You see a name written on a piece of paper that says Aza Fazir.

Aza is spelled E-Z-A, and Fazir is spelled F-E-Z-I-R.

CV looks at the paper,

and it's not even like a spell.

There's something natural in her that like consumes it from her fingertips.

Like it's just the heat of her hands as she remembers his name.

Because she knew it when they were in school.

Asa.

Good morning.

Good morning.

And

just

sort of tackles him.

Uh, uh, hey, your morning begins

marvelously.

I was told the waterfall dampens a lot of sound.

And I will put that to the test.

Good morning.

It dampens sounds

outside of the village.

Well, not within the village.

Good fucking luck, Storm Stone Rail.

The camera pans to the waterfall.

And

on average, you know, 15 to 45 minutes after that,

we

move away.

And

you see that Silver, Aza,

getting ready with you in this room, says,

I just need you to know that

everything

we have,

we owe

to the Citadel.

When I was trapped in that place,

knowing that it was very likely that I wasn't ever going to see anywhere outside that lumber mill again.

I was so ready

to

be a hero.

And there's something that feels

like

scampering away to the Aerith depositories or getting into Grim Hall back when we were at Banners or

having this.

Knowing each other's names like we used to.

Suvi, I.

it would be an honor

to die protecting the citadel.

And

God knows, we might yet still have that honor.

But it is a joy

to live with this.

Something that we have.

I never had an image in my head of what might happen if I survived.

And when I look at you, I feel like I know what that might look like.

I...

I've been walking around

since leaving you and Gavril.

Holding my breath, hoping I could correct the mistake of not telling you.

That the feeling I was

understanding,

but didn't quite have a word for yet.

I should have told you then.

You say everything we have we owe to the Citadel.

I agree.

But

I think there's a...

There's something inside that that makes it feel like it is up to the discretion of a glass tower to take it all away and call it back.

But of the things I know now and the things that I feel,

nothing can take you from me.

Can't take this feeling from me.

I love you.

And

God, if we die here, I'll be so fucking mad.

Because I've never felt like this before.

And I'm just so happy to know you.

I'm happy to know you.

Let's get the hell out of these mountains.

It's so bad here.

The forces gather again back in the gathering hall.

People People are hung the fuck over.

People look

damaged.

But they've rested, they've eaten.

You're loaded up with rations.

Sworn is speaking to one of the other sort of farmers and comes over to you and says,

we can get packed up with enough rations to get out of here.

And I think that we should take them up on the offer.

Yeah.

Great.

Let's do it.

We're leaving two of the horses with them?

Yeah.

I think that's fair and kind.

Yeah.

You see that

one of the Imperial soldiers sort of walks over to the farmers and begins to write them something and seal it with a little wax signet, which is basically about the food that you have taken from them.

Ahme and Ursulan, are you arriving here in the morning as well to rejoin Sufi?

Yes.

Yes.

Wearing my glamour.

Ahmed and Ursulan, give me a perception check.

That's a 19 on the die, which means about

26.

Let's go.

You see the barn doors open and these soldiers being sort of packed up with rations.

A lot

of food is being taken.

And you see that the stores in there are pretty diminished.

None of the farmers seem to, you know.

You don't see any hostility or tension in the conversation, but you just see there's like a lot, a lot of food being packed up on the remaining four horses.

You see, Swarn comes up and says,

All right, uh, if we're still making south, Hallaker is enormous.

It's a hundred miles, so it'll take four days' journey to get across.

Okay.

Uh, Wizard Sky, may I have a word?

Sure.

Hey,

looks like the stores, the provisions that we were given are have severely tapped out this small town.

Huh.

And I'm gonna go like

look in the direction that you're looking in.

Like, it's not a lack of trust, but Subi does like verification.

Yes.

I think you're also looking as you do it, it's like a quick, just like your passive investigation.

That this is, if you're four days away from your lines, this is a crazy amount of food to bring.

Yeah, okay.

Good catch.

I've got it from here.

Thank you.

Good morning, Ursula.

Morning, Suvi.

You see, Silver walks over to you both,

looks over at you, Ursula, and smiles.

See, seeing you and your glamour here, you know, is just like,

still can't believe that whole time at the Citadel.

My goodness.

Well,

hopefully we have an easy time traveling.

And it'll be really exciting.

Don't know if there'll be any inclement weather, but as long as the Subi holds out, we should be fine.

And you see he walks away.

And you see, he winks at you, Ahme.

And

you arrive, and you see Captain Lahoun, sorry, Corporal Lahoun, walk over and you see this Wizard Sky.

Hi, good morning.

Lahown,

how much are we requisitioning?

As much as the horses can carry,

and then a parcel in each pack for the soldiers themselves.

So it should be enough to get through Hallaker.

Okay.

How long do you think?

How many days do you think this will provision us for?

Well, every soldier will be responsible for their own provisions to get through to Lions, but the provisions for the horses, that'll be, you know, probably another 20 or 30 days, I would imagine.

Okay.

That's a bit much.

If I'm being.

You know what?

No.

Suvi, like, reconfigures herself.

Put half it back.

Oh.

Uh,

the wizard,

yes,

turns around and executes.

Um, but you could tell that there was clearly some wizard that ordered her to, like, do it this way.

Yeah.

And half of it is put back.

Um, as you're getting ready to leave, you see that Sworn comes up to you and goes,

Just wanted to double-check we're putting half of it back.

Uh, yeah, we don't need provisions for 30 days.

Understood.

I just...

Just typically, we don't know.

We don't know the state that our companions are going to be in when we get back to our own lines.

Fair, but also this group is tucked away in the middle of nowhere, and we have no idea how long it will take for them to be able to get back to their homes.

Give me an insight check.

19.

Sworn

is sitting on something.

He's just sitting on it.

He's just not saying something.

I have always appreciated.

She almost says relied, relies, and walks it back.

I've always appreciated your counsel.

Is there anything you think I'm not considering?

These villagers and the soldier eat the same amount of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

And a soldier turns that food into victory.

And And there's a moment of like chiding or like a lesson of respect and groups that's like for groups that Suvi feels and swallows.

A fair point.

But if we're walking into a big old forest, I'm going to have a really fun time hunting some fresh fucking meat.

And I don't want to have to be

making choices about old janky provisions to toss out versus the stuff we're gonna get there.

Hey, you're the one who supplied us with a spirit and a witch.

So, if the forest is gonna provide abundance out of the miracles that the wizard sky can rain down, that's fine with me.

I serve, I am here to serve at your leisure, Captain.

Thank you, Swan.

Anything else I need to know about?

No, we're good.

Okay,

and you guys get ready to roll out.

As we are heading out, I would like to.

Ursula will pull up alongside the wizard, Suvi.

Suvi, I

stepped away last night to be with the forest.

And I do believe we can traverse it confidently.

But I would encourage you to impress upon your

men,

your soldiers,

that

this is a

deeply spiritual place.

It is the sort that I sought out

my time in a calm

to return home.

Somewhere where the real is frayed.

I believe you call it the near spirit.

Oh,

yeah, of course.

Thank you.

Is there anything specific?

And there is like a dancing around it that you can see Suvia's bumping on.

Like, I need

clear action words to convey that she doesn't want to put her desire for taxonomy on you in this moment, but you can kind of see her like, ah,

please, more than a vibe.

Respect and restraint.

Respect and restraint.

Okay,

Thank you.

Is there anything you need?

No.

I would like to lead.

That is all.

Of course.

Circle up.

Uh, soldiers.

Okay, I don't know why half of you look more dead than when I found you.

And

the laughter comes up.

You're actually, yeah, absolutely nail the soldierly camaraderie.

Soldiers are happy.

The wizard Scott has led them to food and beverage.

They are a sight.

Cool.

Alright, we're going to be heading into an old, supposedly haunted forest.

What that means is Bear will be taking point.

This man is my brother.

So when you look at him and you follow him, give him the same energy you give me, which is just do.

Just do what he says.

Unless we disagree and then you listen to me.

Beyond that, keep it tight.

Keep it respectful.

This place is old and strange.

Yes, Commander.

Salute.

Heels together.

Forces of the Empire, heed and obey.

CV salutes back and like there is like a rolling of her shoulders that is like

it's like an inhale of like power and command and understanding and exhales confidence that absolutely wasn't there during the tek and me yesterday.

As they kind of finish, like I dismiss them and I want to go find Yule.

Yes.

There we go.

The old farmer speaks up and goes,

Wizard Sky.

And you see that the townsfolk have kind of gathered to send you off.

You see they have some white blossoms and baskets that they're kind of throwing.

Ame has a group of children around her and seems to be animatedly telling them some sort of story accompanied by things like bubbles and little sparkles of light.

Very Gandalf talking to hobbits.

Out on a sort of a balcony looking over the big mossy cavern behind the tall waterfall with just a little bit of light coming through, a large portion of the town is actually gathered around.

You see that they're sort of serving each other breakfast and getting ready for another day of like monitoring on patrols, trying to stay hidden, making sure that there's not enemies around.

But you see that a lot of the adults,

the first time you did a magic trick a couple of adults looked really concerned like they wanted to come in and say something or stop something and but over the course of a story you see that the actual adults around have been

like very taken and don't appear to be that afraid of what's going on

especially as the fox like chimes in every once in a while.

The first couple times that happen, there's big gasps and stuff like that.

What is your story about loosely?

Is there like a

theme theme or a plot to your story, or does there have anything in it?

Is it like a fairy tale?

Is it something about spirits?

What is your story about?

And by that time, the three little pigs were all gathered into the house made of stone.

And this time, when the big bad wolf blew,

he couldn't blow it down.

They'd built it too sturdy.

And so all the three pigs stayed in, cozy and warm, laughing together, and lived happily together.

You see everyone clap, sort of like...

And you see there's a moment of Adore turning over to Dimura, who's the matriarch.

And you see she says, the wizard Ami is beautiful.

I've never seen spells do that for...

And you see that Dimura says, witch, witch, darling, witch.

And you see Adora says,

She's a witch.

She's beautiful.

And you see that Dimura says, darling, some witches are very young and very beautiful.

She says, you don't know anything, Ag says, you gotta learn.

And turns over, and you see she comes up and clasps your hand and says, our children are very, very lucky.

And this is from a couple of different townships nearby, so many people will be able to go home once this war is over, hopefully.

And they'll be able to bring stories of having seen a witch.

When I was a little girl, there were many more witches around.

And it's very lovely to have someone come through.

The young ones don't know a thing.

You've met witches in your time.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, I have.

Not for many long years, but I remember there were stories there was a witch who traveled through my village when I was a very little girl on her way to Leishaver off in Rheimer's Bay to take counsel with an ancient witch who lived there.

Very powerful.

A sea witch,

summoned storms and everything

you know that was a that's the kind of witch that a door knows about the

but i suppose just like people witches also run the gamut of being uh very kind to terrifying but i'm glad that you had a chance to to meet one that others will talk kindly of

Of course, of course it's very important to keep the old ways and, you know, Halaker is a haunted forest and having witches around is always good.

They say witches can sing the spirits to sleep and keep the forest calm, so we're very grateful for you to be here.

Thank you so much for your hospitality.

Anytime, please remember, Stonewill.

We hope you leave with full bellies and we'll be fine.

We are resourceful, you don't have to worry about us.

Oh, I have uh seats from where I come from.

I hand her over little seeds, they're uh white, yellow,

round, almost disc-like.

And

these will grow into something that I'm quite fond of, especially when grilled up.

The little green

as you hand over this little thing of seeds, a couple farmers come over and actually begin to trade some seeds to you as well.

Oh, goodness!

And they do a little swap.

You see, one of them says, well, this is, these are the best tomatoes in the Shroud Mountains, and they come from my family's old farm.

And they say that the south wind kissed the vines back long long ago maybe it's five generations back and so I defy anybody and they start to sort of trade them and

we want to talk about tomatoes sweet tomatoes and toma or

and you see that there is a I think Ame you're just through your presence here you feel a like an openness

a feeling of these people that were very very frightened are a little bit less frightened and as you walk away you see Dumura sort of smile and give you a big hug and say,

Our children are so lucky they got to meet such a good witch.

And your little friend, that's a trick.

Well, now

who's going to be impressed by anything else after they have seen a talking fox?

And you see the fox sort of waggles his head.

Don't know, get him.

Get

my head already too big.

And you see that Ador looks over, and you see another one of her friends comes up and says, You talked to the witch?

She's beautiful.

And you see Adora goes, all witches are beautiful.

And

you guys head out from Stone Rill.

They're throwing the flowers

and make your way down the stone steps.

Marching out in the early morning light through Hallaker Forest, Ursulan, you are powerfully aware that

this forest sleeps in the daytime.

So walking through here during the day should be totally fine.

You think it will be thick, unpopulated.

This is a place with like spring peepers, frogs, lots of crickets.

There are owls nearby.

I think the biggest things you smell that are in the woods that would be like any kind of threat would be bears or panthers.

And those aren't going to bother a group of 30 people marching with horses.

Those are going to stay far away.

You know, this is a totally natural place.

Anything supernal, anything of the spirit, is going to be dormant and asleep during the daylight hours.

And instead, you're just going to have some lovely streams, some moss.

The honest to God, biggest danger is going to be finding sure footing for horses, changing in elevation, going through this place.

Is there anything you do on setting out together?

Moving in the direction that the group needs to be headed to get to Bracken, which I believe is our destination.

But I think kind of skewing around, I think there's something in Ursulan that says maybe the heart of the forest is not somewhere we want to be caught or if something goes wrong and we have to stop.

The heart of the forest is not somewhere we need to be.

So I think Ursulan is headed in and trying to

keep and be aware of as they move deeper.

Kind of probably would have also looked at a map to see if there are any geological landmarks that kind of designate that we're getting closer to the center of the forest.

So if you head by the fastest route available, you'll go straight through the center of the forest.

And you do feel a kind of welling up of like, it would do us well to avoid the center of this forest.

We don't want to go through the center of this forest.

You're probably like 15 miles west of Fort Kieran.

You know that the lines for Fort Kieran are going to start within like six miles of it.

So you're like

way too close for comfort.

This village is right under the nose of the forces that have taken Fort Kieran, right?

But you can

head south.

It's like, you know, you're not going to be able to make a straight beeline anywhere.

So these straight lines are kind of calculated on the measure of days more so than like minutes.

Yes.

Right.

As you begin walking, the main thing you're doing is just following the stream from the waterfall because you've got to drop down an elevation to get sort of out of this little mountainous area down to where it'll be a little flatter.

And then you'll be able to follow ravines more safely and securely.

As you are walking, Sworn pulls up alongside you, Suvi,

Wizard Sky.

At the base of this stream, there is a pond with a family of Greno living there.

They're a group that is separate from the sort of native people of the Shroud Mountains here.

They don't speak Imperial as their first language, but they sort of live in harmony with the farmers and townsfolk here, mostly providing passage on waterways.

Yule communicated to me that by and large, the Granot have been helping Gautamite forces.

Should we

try to avoid them

or incentivize them to ignore our passage?

You're asking me for my advice.

From what Yule has told me,

These

people

have a

cultural affinity and a spiritual connection with shape changers.

And they have been approached as such by some of these Galathamite forces.

And it's possible that this initial incursion was successful because of prolonged planning with

allied interests.

here in the Shroud Mountains.

It sounds like this is a family that's lived here for a very long time.

You will knew their names and they've been here for

a while.

Look,

you know, you're asking me to deliver a report to you based on the ramblings of a man who was covered head to toe in leaves and had been hiding in a field for the better part of two days.

So, you know,

either...

This is a family of people who live off the pond and look after Old Stone Rill and tend to it and have an arrangement worked out with the farmers in the area.

Or

they're spies for Gauthmai living here in the forest.

And I don't know which of those things is true.

But

if we wanted to play it safe, we would ask them to come with us to Bracken.

Copy.

Thank you.

Under advisement.

I will turn then and sidle up to Ahme and Ursula.

I like find Ahme, move up towards Ursula on in the front.

So there is a family of Grineau, which is sort of a native group.

Something close to.

They're friendly with shifters and aligned with Gauthmai.

Can I check to see history to you?

Give me history, yeah.

21.

Yeah, Grandmother Wren had met with Grinot before.

So the, so immediately you disagree, or don't disagree.

There's a bunch of stuff that Suvia said that can't be true.

Yeah.

The Grineau are a wide-ranging group.

There's like four different languages that they speak.

They're all over not only the Shroud Mountains, but like more broadly the entire northwest of the Kemsar as an empire.

You know about a reverence for a spirit called the Great Bullfrog, and there's a lot of them, like the term, like frog or like frog men is used very like affectionately in and amongst themselves as like a like, oh, we like do fairies, because like piloting fairies and like tending to waterways was like a thing that they did that was like a part of how they, as like a group that was living here with other groups at the time that spoke different languages, that was a trade that was like widely practiced by them at this time, and it stuck around for a long, long while.

The language they spoke is very different than Imperial, and it stuck around.

Like, they never adopted Imperial as their language.

And

Grandmother Wren talked about them as having

a lot of heroes from their legends, and like amongst them as a people.

great heroes and tricksters and witches would have and sorcerers would have the ability to change into frogs and like leap great distances and sing and they had a relationship with like the moon and water and different like magic to like raise fog or like walk across water

so in terms of like the granot are working with gauthmai that's like well what is that i mean there's no it's not an institution it's like a group it's like a group of thousands upon thousands of people that speak a couple different languages And,

you know, there's Grinot that live in fucking Haverward.

You know, like, they're not all...

It's like, it is a massively complex thing to describe this language group.

But you know that they are a group that has a shape-changer myth that is really beloved and central to their culture.

I do my best to relay to Suvi

the things that I know without sounding like I'm trying to correct the intel,

but saying this is this is what I remember of my time with Granot, and

I share everything that I remember.

I think halfway through that remembrance, he was like, okay, I'm just going to send a quick halt order.

This is taking longer than I thought it was going to.

And send that bad boy back.

And, you know, just a love of music.

And then there were festivals.

And

you know how you create fog?

They, you know, many heroes of their

myths do such things.

And while they revere the heroes that could turn into frogs or frogmen,

I don't know that they particularly have any allegiance to shapeshifters in general.

Nor do I know that

all shapeshifters have an allegiance to the Gauthmai.

Sure.

Okay.

I appreciate the extra download.

I think my point remains cogent that there is an assumption that here, Grinaud are more aligned with Gauthmai than they are with the Empire.

I think

what I'm asking for is, can we go have a conversation with this family to see if they'll let us pass undisturbed or if we will have to take them with us to Bracken to ensure that they do not pass intel to our enemies,

a conversation seems like a good place to start.

Oh, yes, of course.

Three of us?

Yes.

Okay, I'm gonna let everyone take a little break here, and we'll continue down to the bottom of the stream.

Leaving your soldiers behind, the three of you and the fox.

You see, Sworn says, You're sure to need any other backup, or you're all right.

Ah, we got it.

All right.

It's one family?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like a big family?

Uh, no, about five.

Oh, yeah, we're good.

Arriving at a beautiful pond at the base of this stream where the water collects tall reeds, a couple of blossoming lily pads, deep rich green algae here at the base, you see there is a beautiful little sod

cottage by the waterside here.

And you can smell goats and a couple sheep.

There's a chicken coop.

And you see the fox goes,

don't

think about it.

Come on.

And you see that the sort of sod house is actually built partially out on a platform.

that overhangs the pond that both has a sort of bigger boat that is tied to that pier and also a tiny little coracle, like a little circular round boat underneath the part of the house that is suspended over the water.

So there's like a little trap door that someone could just jump on and plop into a boat from like the front half of the house.

And you see as you approach, you see that there are two like rocking chairs.

out on the porch and there are some just kids swimming in the water.

You see that these little sort of toe-headed babies are swimming around out there.

And one of them looks to be about nine, another one's about seven, and then one is like four or five.

And you see the two parents that are

sort of larger, like delightful looking.

One guy's got

sort of like darker sandy blonde hair, sort of blonde mustache, bigger man,

and then his wife who's also sort of equally plump and looks healthy and got a big apron on.

And you see that the two of them sort of look up and as they do

look sort of shocked to see you approaching you see that this guy

sort of steps up and just grabs an oar off the ground and just holds it kind of just to have something in his hand

CV's by the way disguised staff and no

citadel insignia or like empire insignia is readily visible.

Just want to make sure we can have, begin a conversation.

As you approach, do you say anything to announce yourselves as you sort of appear here?

Do I remember?

Are there any proper greetings?

On that 21, I think you do know some proper greetings in Grinau.

You call out a greeting in Grenot,

and you see that there is sort of a smile,

and you see that the sort of father speaks up and looks at you and says,

Roy, welcome.

welcome to you.

A are you lost then?

Are you looking for the road?

Hello, I am Ame, the uh witch of Toma, and these are my friends Bear and Skye.

We seek passage through your neck of the woods.

Ah,

passage you're are you heading south then into Halaker, farther, farther south?

Yes, yes we are.

Sorry, here you come, come.

Kids, I'm out of the water with you.

Um, and you see that the kids come up and the mom sort of like wraps them up in some blankets or towels to get them.

You see, he turns around and says,

Are you are you looking for

a nearby town or something like that?

Uh, we head through the woods to Bracken

and we come with a company, but we just wish to pass through.

Are you asking me for my permission to pass through the forest?

Uh yes.

That's not mine to give.

Me and my family just live here.

You're all aware of them to do as you will.

I have no say in the matter, one way or the other.

Well, we were we were hoping that you would also uh keep word of our passage quiet

if you take my meaning,

right?

Will do, absolutely.

I have no desire to share your business with anyone.

Can I make it inside, Chuck?

Yeah, give me insight.

17

On the 17,

the man is not saying things.

This thing, it's hard to tell if this is a lie or the truth because he just wants you to leave so much.

You know what I'm saying?

He's just being like, okay.

Sworn informed you about what the farmers of Stone Rill said about this family.

And Sworn was basically saying we should invite them to come with Bracken with us because we can't be sure whether they're spies or not.

So there's a very intense thing that Sworn was saying should happen here.

And Ahme has turned it into a conversation about whether or not you guys have permission to go through the forest.

So this guy is confused because what's being presented to him is a fraction of what's going on on your guy's side of this interaction.

So you can tell that he looks tense because

he feels that there's something being kept away from him.

Among our numbers are Imperial soldiers,

some of them injured.

We seek to get them safely to Bracken

and not to cause any trouble.

Right.

Me and my family will offer you no trouble.

Do you promise that word of our passage won't get back to our enemies?

I swear.

Word of your passage will not get back to your enemies, whoever they might be.

No one's come to speak to me here.

I've had no contact, no word of anything.

Give me another insight to check.

21.

Ursulan, that is a lie.

I'd offer to share with you a meal.

We don't have food to feed 30 people.

No, no.

We do not wish for any of that.

We simply wish to pass through and arrive in Bracken in safety.

I hope that you and your family remain out here

unbothered.

Very well.

Thank you for letting me know.

And

if you need anything at all, you're welcome to it.

And

I appreciate you coming to check, but I'm no master of the waterways.

So the stream, the forest,

that belongs to

you, me, and the spirits three.

That's no one's business but your own soul.

What is the spirits three?

Do I know that?

Give me a Arcana check.

Natural 20.

You, me, and the Spirits Three refers to

three spirits that are revered by the Grenot in this part of the world.

The Queen of Coins, who is a great spirit of

luck luck and chance and

trade, and she is simultaneously a great spirit of trickery and honesty, like a spirit that always keeps her word, but not quite in the way that it was intended.

She's like a trickster spirit, and a lot of people here, Grineau or otherwise, will like use her symbol without even knowing it as a part of like, if you find old scales that are used in marketplaces here, it'll often have her symbol on it without even people knowing that that's what it means.

The great bullfrog is a spirit of music and art and festival and poetry.

Uh,

and suddenly you remember the third spirit, the king of night.

Shut up.

Yes.

Well,

we would also prefer it if it just be between you and me.

Uh, yeah, certainly.

Just an expression.

I, yeah, certainly.

I think we are in agreement.

Um, Suvi and Aame, if you would like to retrieve our friends, I think I would like to have a bite, if that is possible.

Uh, yes,

we have um

honey cakes and some other uh fare inside.

I'll be happy to feed you.

Fantastic.

Thank you.

I'm gonna send a message over to Ursulan.

You good?

Yes.

Does Ame feel like we're good?

Ame nods and says, oh, yes, I understand.

This was just an expression, but

you know, the

spirits three.

Can I do an insight check on these two?

Suvi's looking for an all-clear from the two of you before she goes and gets the soldiers.

Yeah, you absolutely can.

Give me deception or persuasion.

You guys don't have to tell me me which one.

21.

10.

Okay.

Describe to me Suvi's highest priority in this moment.

Suvi's highest priority is

do my friends believe they understand

this man is safe

for like

us to like move past.

So if that is your highest priority, is Ursulan's emotional state of being that Suviana 21 can absolutely raid, read, is Ursulan's bearing communicating that he believes this man is safe?

Yes, or at least that Ursulan believes he can make him safe.

But the thing that is stopping Ursulan's plan is

that three people are standing here and

the fact that we can't all get on the same page without making, I think, this man only feel more uncomfortable.

There is like a,

I think if we just keep making, there's a less damps, more flow.

Gotcha, cool.

And on a 17,

it isn't all clear, but also clearly I am thinking about something.

Perhaps something that I just remembered.

It's that look when you look into the middle distance and go, oh,

oh, hmm.

I think also, Subi, give me an insight check.

Ah, 11.

On an 11, I think that

Ame as a stand-in,

as the communicator.

I think there's a realization here because I think Suvi is smelling something's up.

Aame is an incredible communicator.

Aame may not be the right communicator for what the Empire's needs are.

And I think having walked up here as a group of three true friends and deferring to Ame

to

solve a problem that Sworn had described.

Sworn and Ahme might be the two most different people in Umora.

And I think there's a moment for Suvi as a commander where you're like, Yeah, Ame is great at this, and that still doesn't mean she's the right person for it.

Yeah, getting just enough, like, it's confident, but there's something I'm not getting.

And that's not a lack of trust, but Suvi wants

information and isn't getting it.

And Ahme has had a realization and is not communicating it.

This is

just enough of the thing that pings in the back of her brain that, like, as she allows herself to be swept back to go to the troops with Ahme,

Suvia is going to pour out Vandal.

And she, under the guise of being a little less sure-footed, is going to warg into Vandal and watch whatever's about to happen.

Okay, cool.

You pour out Vandal.

Vandal remains here.

The Fox remains here.

The The two of you go back to get the troops.

Ursuline, you remain with Alin, who looks at you and says,

I'll get some honey cakes.

Do you want to come inside?

Please.

You enter.

The fox and Vandal come in after you.

You can't see the kids anymore, but you see the mom sort of steps out, closes the door to a back room behind her.

And you see that Alin says, Johanna, could you find some cakes or other fare for a friend here?

Just make sure he's fed?

She says,

right away, and thank you for blessing our home, traveller.

Thank you so much for providing me with nourishment.

How long have you lived here?

We've lived here forever and ever.

You see, Johanna smiles and says, this was my father's house.

Oh,

it's a beautiful, beautiful home.

Thank you kindly.

I appreciate it.

It's a lovely place to raise a family.

And

we love the pond and the stream, and you know, it's a fair boat ride down through the forest, but obviously there's not much cause these days to journey farther into Halliker, so mostly we make use of the road.

We have a wagon under some

leaves up above that we make the run from the coast up and down.

But

is everything alright?

Have we done anything wrong?

No, no.

I only asked

for the cake because I wanted to speak to you directly.

And in this moment, I'd like to drop the glamour from around my eyes and mouth.

You drop the glamour.

Give me a persuasion check with advantage.

19.

Both of them look on in awe.

Johanna takes the sort of kerchief that her hair is tied up in and takes it off and holds it to her chest.

And you see that Helen

looks and just goes, I can't believe it.

Thank you for blessing our house, honored friend.

It is a good home.

And one that I'm lucky to stand in.

Honored friend, are you.

Do you travel under the banner of Empire or the forces of Gauthmai?

No.

I only seek to protect those who do.

And

I understand that this is a very difficult and frightening time.

But I need those that you have spoken to in the past to not know that this group travels in this forest.

I have been contacted by cousins of mine who have asked me to

lend a hand and I want you to know for certain that I have not.

Whatever adventurous streak I had in my youth, it's done now.

And I am a father, I have three children.

This is where I live.

The only reason we leave is to run the wagon from Varik to Abyssin and back again.

That's it.

I believe you.

We haven't done anything wrong.

Please don't take them.

Take who?

Just please don't.

You see that Johanna like looks and just just like moves a hand and like almost like hit her husband but just puts it on him and he says nothing just please.

We haven't done anything

Please don't take them We just we're we don't we live here.

We make a run from Farrakh to Abison and that's it

I understand

has someone

taken something from you

not from us

if you don't know already perhaps it's better you don't perhaps it's better you just leave this place

what

has happened

some

number of us have the gift

they have

the spirit the great bullfrog

He's the one who taught us how to swim and sing,

taught us how to laugh and chart the water's courses.

Some chance few in every generation.

My uncle,

Johanna's great-grandfather,

they had the gift.

It started with

a few older folks that would come and if they had it, they would be

taken and

once they were all gone they started coming for the children

It started I don't know the first rumors first disappearances started about

maybe three four years ago

Soon came to be that what was a rumor suddenly everyone knew someone that had vanished

Soldiers would arrive and say have you known any shifters and they use this word Cambians

people that could change people that had some other strange magic to them, but it wasn't a strange magic, it's one we'd known all our lives.

And

by the time we realized

it didn't have anything to do with what we had done, but instead was about who we were.

So many had already been taken that there was no way to stop it.

And that's when they started coming for the children.

I don't know why.

There's nothing we can do.

I'm not that person anymore.

I'm not going to.

I'm not going to help them.

They came and told me that Gauthmai, that the shape changers that had come from across the sea, were the only way to get them back.

And that's not my responsibility anymore.

I'm responsible for my three children.

And they'll be safe here as long as no one comes and

I'm not trying to be a hero please please don't tell anyone

no one will know

he

sort of

sighs holds that ore at his side and as he breathes in you see like his throat swell up a little bit and swell back

and Johanna puts some honey cakes together and

you hear some sort of horseplay in the back room.

And she hands them to you and says, Thank you for blessing our home, honored friend.

We haven't heard the cry of the great bullfrog in some time, but

to have one of his kin here in our home is a great blessing.

The honor is mine.

You have a lovely home, a lovely family.

And you have given me something great.

Thank you.

We will speak not a word of your passing, not to anyone for any reason.

Suvi,

after hearing the father's like

plea,

trips and falls and cuts herself and wargs back out of Vandal

and just takes a minute on the ground and kind of fusses with the cut across her palm.

Amen.

What are you watching too?

Yes.

Yes.

Can you tell the fox

to tell them, pack it in,

act

you left,

that it's abandoned.

Okay,

that's what we're going to tell them.

Okay.

The soldiers will give it a wide berth.

We're going to say that this place is abandoned and trapped, and that Bear is trying to remove any Gauthmai

magical and mundane traps in the area, but we will give it a wide berth.

Okay.

Okay.

Tell them that.

Fox.

Yeah, boss.

Tell them to make it look like they've left.

That this place is abandoned.

We will tell the rest of the group that it's been abandoned, the place has been trapped, that Bear has been

making it safe, but

they have to pretend like they've left.

You got it, boss.

Ursuline, holding the cakes there, the fox looks up with a sudden solemnity that you're not used to seeing from him, and he says,

Everyone here has to hide.

You have to make it look like this is a burrow that's gone cold.

Nothing living.

You've all left.

I'm speaking on behalf not of myself, but my mistress, Witch of the World's Heart.

If you want to be safe, you must do as she says.

And

hearing the fox

speak

and do very much his job,

you see that the family turns, having sort of not even heard the fox talk before this moment, and you see

that appears to be something they know how to do very well.

And you see he gets up and nods and says,

Thank you, honored friend.

And sort of addressing the fox as a spirit,

gets up and goes back to his, goes back to his family's vandal to use her, says,

Anything anything you require, mistress.

I need markings in 500 feet in every direction around this area.

Stuff that looks like you are trying to hide the fact of where you've buried traps.

That only someone that would know to look for it.

So, no words.

Little pictograms.

Go nuts.

Danger, danger, danger.

And you see, it flies off.

The family gathers, and you see the the mom and dad

walk out to the porch.

You see that

they sort of wrap the kids up.

You see that one of the kids, as you open it, another of the kids is just up on the ceiling and clinging to it.

The dad says, get down, get down from there, get down.

And you see that taking him,

the dad goes to the porch.

And you see he unhitches the main boat.

They go in and you see grab a bunch of food and provisions, things like they make a quick escape from this place essentially.

Leaves the front door wide open.

Gets his kids, wraps his wife up in his arm,

breathes in deep.

And you can see sort of neck puffs up, but past that begins to almost glow until there's a scintillating bubble of energy, a little golden gleaming afternoon light rippling off the pond, and he holds his family in this little bubble and hops mightily into the pond with an enormous splash and sinks to the very bottom of the pond, his wife with a basket of food, and they will spend as many days down there at the bottom as they need to in this magical sphere that the dad makes with the gift of the great bullfrog.

Their boat floats aimlessly downstream.

That was Lou Wilson as Ursulan, Erika Ishii as Ahme, Abria Iyengar as Suvi, and Brennan Lee Mulligan as

and Everything Else.

Worlds Beyond Numbered is edited, designed, and scored by Taylor Moore at Fortunate Horse with additional sound design from Michael Gelfie Studios.

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