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This season, Instacart has your back to school. As in, they've got your back to school lunch favorites, like snack packs and fresh fruit. And they've got your back to school supplies, like backpacks, binders, and pencils. And they've got your back when your kid casually tells you they have a huge school project due tomorrow.
Let's face it, we were all that kid. So first call your parents to say I'm sorry, and then download the Instacart app to get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes all school year long. Get a $0 delivery fee for your first three orders while supplies last. Minimum $10 per order. Additional terms apply. Hey Rotators, it's me Jasper William Cartwright. I'm back as your future DM. I say future DM because I take over DMing this show from Arc8.
And if you haven't listened to that, because maybe you're not on the Patreon, because you could listen to that right now if you wanted to, if you so wished to. We have two full arcs of me DMing on the Patreon right now, and we're currently releasing one with Zach back in the helm, DMing for some of the incredible talents from the improv comedy group.
group known as Big Grande. They are absolutely incredible. The first episode made me laugh so hard I thought I was actually going to wet myself. I didn't. I didn't. I want to make that very clear. Don't dare at me saying that I did that because I didn't. Okay?
Anyway, we are here to get on with Arc 5, the Incredible Awakened Wolves Arc. I'm so excited to be sharing this with you all. It's such a beautiful arc, and the storytelling from all four of the tables was just beautiful, and I'm so gutted that I wasn't a part of it, but I'm so amazed and happy that I get to listen to it all over again with you guys through this releasing on the public feed, so...
Without any further ado, why don't we go ahead and get back into the adventures of our three wolves. This is Episode 2, Part 1. Take it away, Past Zach. Welcome back to the Rotating Heroes podcast. We are here in Arc 5, Episode 2, Part 1.
I am Zach Oyama. I am the DM and host of the podcast, and I am joined, as always so far, for the second time by the Rotators of the Fifth Arc. Going around the table, we have, I don't want to say the toughest guy around, but it certainly has tough in his name. We have, and again, the best intro anyone's ever received, Tuffy the Wolf, a.k.a. Matt Cordova. Are we out?
- Ow! A little remix. - You know it. - Beautiful. How are you doing today? - I'm good, I'm nervous. - Yeah, or it's getting real. - I really wanna just speed through these intros and get into it. - Okay, well, I think that-- - Cut the shit. - I'll cut the shit. The next wolf I will introduce is of course the former alpha, the old grizzled warrior Harland.
Izzy Rollin. I guess we have to speed through this. Yep. Hi. Hello. Okay. Moving on. Oh, okay. Thank you for another little remix. Well, I mean, I hope you're well. Thank you for being here. Finally, and again, speeding rapidly around the third base, heading home, we have the wolf that comes from a bit of an inquisitive place, maybe a little naturally intelligent. We have Gray.
A.K.A. Brennan Lee Woman. No remix needed. Every time. Gorgeous. A gorgeous haunting song. He's really going for it, always. Well, we're here for the second episode of the fifth arc. These wolves, just as a little bit of a recap, last time our wolves...
set out on a hunt, trying to track down some food for their much larger pack. This sort of bee team, along with their wolf friend, Miko, immediately Harland caught a deer and basically ended the chase instantly. But there was another deer nearby and they all used their wolf prowess to corner and trap this last deer. But at the same time, they heard a bit of an explosion or some kind of weird noise in the distance.
As they finally caught this second deer, Tuffy reluctantly going in for the kill, they found the aftermath of what seemed to have been some kind of attack on these two-legged creatures there. This band of elves seemingly was betrayed by someone in their party. And after some searching, Arland eventually found a dying druid protecting a sweet little half-elf.
The druid was in a bad place and did not have anywhere else to turn to. I reached out to these three, speaking with animals, and implored for them to help the child get to safety. When they accepted, he cast Awaken on them, changing their minds drastically forever, starting this...
starting this bizarre journey of wolves taking an elf to safety. Upon doing that, he was struck down
by Osgar, the elf ranger who seemingly was trying to finish the job and take the baby to cash out. After Osgar approached, the wolves instinctively protected the young child and in doing so made an enemy out of Osgar. As things were ramping up, Howls in the distance alerted them to the rest of their pack coming to
save the day as this happened oscar and his dog tupelo his blink dog tupelo vanished with a puff of smoke leaving our heroes surrounded by the rest of their pack looking at them inquisitively as if they understand something has changed with our players here so bringing us back to now roan
And the rest of the pack, it's about 25 other wolves. This is a rather large pack of wolves. Roan is also this black wolf who stands really tall. He's really smart for wolves.
wolves. Like he is a leader for a reason. Like he's also like the best of the best in terms of like physical stature. Um, but like he is fiercely intelligent as well. And as these other wolves are like just trying to figure out what's going on with these bodies and, uh, the, the two deer that you have already caught chasing after, like where maybe, uh, Oscar went with, uh, with Tupelo, there's a lot of commotion, but he is focused on you all.
And he looks to you and says, in sort of the wolf speech, like, good job with those deer. Is everything okay? We have a lot to explain, Ron. He looks at you, again, trying to figure out what's going on here. Gray is going to do her best to be invisible, but is going to just...
sort of circle in that lower, like, tail down, head down, low status, but he's going to just move so that her body, she's standing over the basket. Just some feeling of paranoia or caution. She's just, like, standing in front of the basket in such a way that there's no space for any other wolf to come and investigate it.
Yeah, he doesn't really notice, but he noticed the vibe of you three and Miko kind of standing in the background, also quietly looking at the ground, clearly just having been paying less attention, still rapidly increasing their intelligence, just not understanding what to do in this moment. You see Roan look back,
At the rest of the wolves, some of them are starting to notice that something's off here. And they're kind of like floating in the distance. And Roan looks at you all and looks at the rest of the wolves. And he growls at the other wolves. And they like kind of shrink back, low status, get out of there. And he looks to you and he says, please tell me what has happened here. I think that Tuffy, for the first time, feels a little bit more on equal footing for some reason with Roan.
something he's never felt before but i think through the um kind of emboldenedness that he has gained from leading gray in their hunt and then coming back i would kind of equate it to like coming back after college and realizing you might be able to beat your data and you didn't realize that that change happened and it's not like you're going to try but there's an inkling in your brain that
Maybe there is some growth that's happening. And so I feel like I'm going to confidently try to explain what just happened, not really thinking that somebody would question it. So I kind of boldly attempt to start a dialogue with Roan about what's happened. Roan listens and looks at you and sees like a weird newfound confidence and again is like trying to parse what is happening. Roan
I don't know how to explain what happened. You know me, I'm not somebody that is good with words. I don't have a lot of experiences, but we just came across multiple things that none of us have ever seen before. And I don't know what's happening inside my own brain, but... It's like sniffing you. I think you can tell there's something different. Yes, uh...
I think for lack of a better word, like maybe you don't have this word in your culture, but he smells and he's like, is it elf magic? He sees like the staff that you're holding in your teeth. I think, yeah, your guess is as good as mine. Like I said, I don't really know what I ran into. He looks at you, Harlan, like what a...
He looks at you with this reverence and deference of like, he inherited your throne as the leader of this pack. He looks at you and he's like, you are all different. He's going to make a perception check. My God. He's a little distracted. He's like, just, you can trust me. Harland is a very confident wolf.
all things considered, but I feel like he sort of has this, has a relationship with Gray in that he's like, I know she knows things in different way than I do. Like our proficiencies are very different. And so Harland is just sort of overwhelmed with all of the things that there is to consider and looks at Gray and says,
sort of befuddled, looks back at Roan and is like, we may need to leave. It looks like you're confused. I'm just gonna lean, Grey leans her head into Harlan's fur and nuzzles him because she's, I think, too scared to speak in front of the whole pack like this, especially to Roan and is just very afraid, suddenly possessed with a tremendous fear of
someone attacking the infant? In a different moment, if she hadn't just been attacked by this ranger, I think she would know that that would never happen. But there's just a part of her that's just like, her life is just about being afraid for this baby right now. And she nuzzles Harlan because she saw that look back to her. Because she could never say it directly to Roan in front of everybody, but knows that Harlan just said the right thing. Roan...
Looks at you three, and again, there's a little bit of a commotion behind you as the rest of the wolves are exploring this disaster area. And he steps to the side away from them. It seems like he wants to be able to talk to you away from the rest of the wolves. And he kind of growls at anyone nearby to kind of get away, to make a little space for this. Can I...
I noticed this and, you know, with all the reverence I have for Roan, I wonder if he has had any previous experience. I mean, just by the fact that he mentioned elf magic. Tuffy goes to ask Roan, his idol, for the first time, if he's had any experience with elf's magic, humans' magic.
Disappearing dogs. None of this has ever been mentioned in the pack before of any kind. And yet, when we showed up, we expected Roan to be furious with us. Yeah. And he isn't. I want to know why. As you bring up all of this stuff to Roan, he looks at you and he's like, it's not as surprising as you would think to him.
Maybe aspects of that, like he's never seen a blinking dog before. He hasn't seen all magic. He's seen, he relates to you that. When I was young, I was separated from Pac and Day. Druid once spoke to me in my mind, and I haven't seen it since, but I know of it. You have all changed completely. I can see it in your eyes.
um and he like look you know looks to you sees me go staring from out behind a tree uh and just he's gonna make another perception check he's like sniffing around he sniffs over to you gray he's like show me gray gets a protective for a second like just wants some something from roan roan takes a step back and he just says just show me i
calm myself and I nuzzle down and grab a corner of the blanket with my tooth and pull the swaddling away from the little infant. Roan, very still, looks at it and then just kind of hops in a like, kind of like how Harlan was like too excited to do anything earlier. Like does like a like, oh, okay. Okay. Wow. Is that a pup? It's an elf pup. The druid that changed us.
gave this to us the druid was an elf but also a wolf a wolf but an elf could it possibly have been the one that you spoke to he looks over sniffs around he's like i do not i do not think that's the same one but this was many years ago what did he say to you what did you say to you stay still and i will help you the elf that spoke to us said
many things and then gave us clear minds to see what we must do. It matters to the whole forest, to our pack and every pack, I think. And now we've been attacked. Ron, it's like his wolf mind is racing because he's thinking, you can see that he's
Looking back at the bulk of where the pack is, he's looking at you, he's looking at the elf pup. He's trying to figure it out. And he looks at you and he's like, I don't think I understand everything, but I don't think I ever will. I think he looks at you again, trying to parse this very complex situation and says, my duty is to the pack. And you are part of the pack, but I fear that we cannot take care of an elf pup. Whatever disappeared.
I fear may come back, and I don't want to leave the pack. I want to stray, but we may pose a threat. He nods and thinks about it for a second. He's like, I don't want any harm to come to anyone. But I think that for many reasons, it would be complicated if you stayed here. And I wonder, I don't think I could even guarantee the safety of the pup among the others. And for what reasons you say, I think it might be.
Makes sense for you to start your own pack. And he looks kind of sad at this idea, but you can tell that this alpha wolf, you know, understands leadership in a way that is maybe not, like, fearful, of course, of telling someone like this, this situation, but, like, there's a level of understanding here. And, like, though you are different, he sees that not as a bad thing.
Grey looks over to Harland and Tuffy and Miko, I think ready to give comfort because I think she knew the moment. Like we were running from that ranger, but I think the moment that green light went off, Grey knew that was the end of her life. That was the end of that version of her life. I think that Tuffy's kind of realizing that in the moment. It didn't happen to him. And now he's just been told by Tuffy,
his idol that he's no longer going to get to be around him or under his wing. And I think that is very scary. Maybe Tuffy isn't super excited, right? To leave. I think that he's not at peace with the fact that the life that he had is now different and questions it. Ron looks to you and sort of sniffs at you, kind of like nuzzles you and says,
You'll make a good leader one day. And Harlan can show you how. And it looks to you and says, it looks to Gray and again says, take care of the pup. I will. We have to follow the migration of the deer. But no one here will harm you. And he kind of like looks back at you three and Miko. Kind of looks at Miko like, what is Miko doing? And then kind of... Anything to say, Miko? No.
Miko looks up and says, what are we talking about? This wolf is now many times smarter than Ron, but there's just no accounting for taste. There's just no, you can't get around a personality like that. Did I miss something? I was looking at a tree. You haven't missed anything, buddy. What are we doing? Ron looks back at you four, nods, and makes his way
strongly through the pack and off in the other direction. Harland definitely takes a moment to look at the pack. He's old and he's been with this pack for decades, I think. Well, for wolf years, decades, but wolves live for about nine to 12 years. Decade. For decade. And
lingers a bit on a lady wolf who was his lady a while back. And then he just turns around and can't take it. Looks at Tuffy as he's turned ready to go and goes, regardless of what Rowan said, you're our pack leader. You are now. Before Harlan said that, Tuffy was wondering why was Harlan staring at his mother for so long? Oh my god.
intently was brought back to life by the sheer reality of his new situation and kind of forgot about that but then said if this is what you guys need then I'll try my best or you know it could be Grey actually Grey for the first time does a thing that wolves don't do and looks sort of shocked as she does as Harlan says that she goes
A couple of wolves go and just look back like... And Gray looks at you and says, that was funny? Wow. Gray, I haven't heard this kind of talk out of you ever. I mean, this is... How about this? Miko's the leader. Okay, what's the leader? Follow me. Oh, don't do that, Miko.
I'm going to look over it. No, but seriously, I think it could be you. It could be Tuffy. It could be you. You see, Graelix Irwin says, it
I think Harland, you're right. It should be Tuffy. I just don't want to assume it's Tuffy. You know. Roan comes back, spreads back and says, let me be clear. I think anyone can do this. It's definitely, we live in sort of a weird world that is very gendered. But I think like whoever wants to has the potential to do it. I got to go buy it.
all the way back. Tearfully just looks back one more time. I'm going to look over and just say like, I just don't want the girl to be taking care of the baby and then us not consider her that pack leader. Okay. Ron shouts from very far away. Yes. Got it. We're all on the same page here. Got it. Got it. Got it. I'm going to look over the two of you and say, this is a new path for us. I don't think we'll be hunting deer.
I don't know what a leader would do here. I think perhaps in the time to come, there will be moments in which all of us need to lead. I think that the gift that the elf gave to us is that we will be able to know when it is our moment to lead. We will not need the structure of the group. I'm super comfortable with that. I'm so glad you said it like that. I'll do it right now if we need somebody. If somebody comes and checks...
I'll be the leader, but as the leader's first point of interest, I will let you know that I'm also going to help out with the child care. And I'll be the leader whenever we need it. Do you know what's going on, Miko? Not really. I feel different in my...
I think I see more trees than I did. It's more about them. Does that make any sense? They're more complicated than I first thought. I used to just pee on them and now it's like, what's all this? Right, right. It's overwhelming. Yeah. So I'm the leader. What are we doing? I'm going to speak up and say, I think my first act as leader was,
I will say that, Tuffy, you should lead this next portion because you smelled a second path. Yes? That's true. Another path leading away from where all of the two legs died. And I remember finding that and looking to you and knowing that it was important, but not quite knowing what to do. I can help try to track that down. If you can help me with what you smelled there at first, we can work on that together. And Harland...
Would you want to carry the baby? He slips the handle of the basket around his neck. Oh, like a St. Bernard. Beethoven style. I'm going to go with Tuffy. So I have proficiency in survival. And if you want to give me the help action, I can roll that with advantage. Cool. Let's do that. If you want to give him the help action, go for it. Hell yeah.
And this is to just sort of find those other tracks. Yeah, I'm following Tuffy to the head of that trail where something else moved away. Cool. Yeah, yeah. And also roll an insight check, if you don't mind. Sure. Everybody? Yeah, everyone can. 13. Four. Nine. It's definitely worth checking out, but I think on the 13, you would remember that when Oscar showed up, he was tying up a loose end with...
uh like he he was i think that track is osgar's track leaving the thing it was a guardian i think you think it was a different survivor who he had to kill in a different direction and that's why he wasn't there immediately so i'm gonna look to tuffy and harlan and say and again this is all brand new like i think gray is realizing that like
She has always had memories and has always had the ability to refer back to those memories and to learn things, like learn certain howls and stuff. But I don't think she's had the ability before to consciously walk through her own memories. Like she can always access them. They come up, but she hasn't known to like, okay, I want to consciously choose to go and revisit a memory. Like that's new. And so she's like, there's a,
After the green light, immediately after, when the fur, the dead fur man, he spoke. He used the howls. He used the two-legged howls to explain. He said some nonsense words come to tie up loose ends. Tie up loose ends. He meant something out of way. Prey of his, I think. And I think
This track will lead to a two leg that will remember what happened. If we find them, perhaps we will find how to get to. Do I remember the term Fort Cutler? That's where the Druid asked us. Yeah, you would remember that the Druid said that that Fort Cutler was to the east. And it does seem like they were on a trail of sorts.
Would I... On that insight checker, if I should roll something else, would Grey have an understanding of if it's better to follow this survivor or for us just to head east towards Fort? Well... Did they come from Fort Cutler? They were going to Fort Cutler. I think...
per what you learn from the druid uh it sounded like the druid was maybe saying that a place of safety for the baby would be four color that there is a follower of zophine there the the druidic um the sort of the god of the forest the goddess of the forest that uh who's referencing that when when he awakened you i think you would think that that is maybe the the way to go on a 13 um i also think that
You can go this way. It does maybe seem like this is where Oscar came from.
if that makes any sense. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. But yes, definitely explore. Yeah, so we should ignore this other path and go east. It seems a little like he killed someone over here and came back. Gotcha, cool, cool, cool. Okay, so in that case, I don't think we actually need, maybe that would be a survival check or something else, but I'm actually gonna look at you and go east, east. Sun comes up.
What time of day is it right now? I want to say it's like around 1, 1 p.m. Okay. I'm going to look down at the forest. Is there any kind of sunlight coming through the trees? Definitely. Yeah.
Or maybe I think it could be like a little earlier, probably like 11. Okay. I look up and sniff around and I go, it's kind of a cloudy day, but sun is coming through. So yeah, I'm going to look at the two of you. I think gray is a little smile comes to her face as she's like, cause she, now she has more of the things she already had that made her weird. And she's kind of liking it. And I'm going to look at you too and say, okay,
We take the pup and we go away from our shadows until they are just underneath us. And then we walk in the direction of our shadows until it is night. What are shadows? I'm going to stifle a smirk and I go, the wolf that has always kept you company on the ground in bright day. And she gestures to your shadow and
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Get 80% off your impression kit when you use code WONDERY at Byte.com. That's B-Y-T-E dot com. Start your confidence journey today with Byte. Who are you talking about? Tommy. My Tommy? Your Tommy, yes, absolutely, your Tommy. Okay. Shadows are your Tommy. Tommy and Tuffy, yes. Well, that sounds like a great plan. I feel confident in this plan and...
I do remember, didn't he say that it is maybe a day or two's journey? Mm-hmm. So I promise I'll do my best to lead us until nightfall. That's good. Cool. So you all take off away from your shadows and then following your shadows, was that it?
Because it's morning, I said. Away from our shadows until they are underneath us and then towards our shadows. Towards the shadows, yes. We make our own sundial. You are your own sundial.
Staring at the blank page before you. Under this musical montage, you all hop into a convertible and head out. Hear the rain on your fur. Something in the distance. Hear the rain on your fur. No one else can find her, Tommy.
As you all head out, why don't we make... Who's carrying the baby? Harland. Harland. Yeah, why don't we make some survival checks as you head out, covering sort of a longer distance over a little bit. Bad. Bad. That's an eight.
I got a nine. This is survival? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Four. Yeah, it's like, you guys, everything about being in a forest, your mind has changed so much that you have this weird level of awareness to it that things that would kind of come to you more instinctively, you are now like,
thinking about the process of what you're doing more so. So it's like, you're just really in your head about this journey forward. This is like mid-201. You're actually learning what you're supposed to do. Ever since you mentioned my Tommy, I've noticed that everything's got a Tommy now.
stop staring at these tommies there's tommies everywhere in this forest there's trees everywhere they got tommies they got tommies you know what I can't get over you know yeah yeah Miko's like exactly exactly where did everyone else go uh
He goes like, because they all went that way and there's less of us over here. Did you end up paying attention when we all were kicked out of the back? Well, again, the trees. There's more of them to understand now is what I was feeling. And everyone said I was the dumbest one, but now I still, you know, in a different way, I feel like the dumbest one.
So yeah, it's, and then to the additional factor of you're holding a baby in a basket and like having to be that much more careful. Does it like wake up? You notice that it's like getting a little fussy. Yeah. Making it like an investigation or perception check. You guys can all do this as it's like kind of looking kind of fussier. 14.
23? 23. Oh, my God. No, you got a nat 20. Oh, I don't do plus? Well, it's an instant success. Nat 20 is like critical success. So, yeah, Tuffy. You see the baby's kind of waking up. The babysitter. I told you. Your cousin instincts kick in as you see this. Yeah, Harley puts the basket down and walks away. You're like, maybe it's hungry or something, and you sniff around.
You look into the basket that the baby is swaddled in, and off to the side of it, there's this little container. And it looks almost like when a baby in our life has a little container of Cheerios, but it's kind of like little balls of limbus bread kind of stuff. So it's just like a little, there's some kind of food in there. Guys, the baby came packed.
I was thinking maybe we needed to find some food, but there's something in the basket. I think that we can feed... We got to feed this baby, right? Are you guys hungry? The baby's got to be hungry. I have no idea what I am. You need to go down by the river. Should I hunt? Take a dip in the river. Okay. Let's just take a break. Let's feed this baby. I remember when I would be watching all my cousins, the whole cub corral, and...
And I would just have to go get berries and stuff. And I would use my nose and I would rub one of their cheeks. And if they turned towards the cheek that I was rubbing their nose, it meant that they were hungry. I'm going to nudge the little basket of stuff or little special stuff with my nose and see if it does something. I mean, like it's the difference between like, you know, a closed lid and magic is all kind of pretty blurry for gray. I feel like it's like,
like, I'm going to nudge this and see if some kind of spell happens. I think Harland is going to try and just go kill a bird, just like blow off some steam, get a snack. Yeah. Harland runs off to try to find some other like real food for you. Yeah. You nudge it. I think it's like,
It has like a little, it's not as like baby locked as like our world. There's like a little open hole. So you like hit it with your nose and a few of those little things fall out and the baby looks up at you kind of like, okay, like it has this like kind of perturbed look of like, I was napping. What is it? And, and like kind of feels its hand out and kind of grabs one and just like palms it into its mouth and choose it up and then reaches out to your nose. Oh,
And just kind of when, you know, when a toddler pets, like they don't know how to pet yet. Just sort of like hits you in the head a little bit. I'm going to lower my nose to make it easier to pat my head. It like understands that it can go all the way down your nose. Just like kind of sees the direction of it, follows the path of it and smiles. The pup is perfect.
The pipe is perfect. Look at the hair on my back. This is incredible. Standing straight up. Thank you for finding the single little elf secret. This little bag of... Harlan, make a little survival check. Yeah, Harlan's got sort of a dead crow in his mouth. Maybe it was already...
Harlan, the pup is eating. The pup is eating these terrible little, I don't know what they are, but it doesn't smell like fruit or anything. It doesn't really smell like anything. It's like a crackling rock, like a little, like a brittle rock, like clay. Like a dead, dried mushroom, like a mushroom had dried up in the sun. Ew, gross. Harlan just licks the baby. The baby like smiles as you lick its face, like, and then it's like...
Is it happy? Dead crow in your mouth. Is it happy? I think so. It's not buzzing as well. Let's go. Good job. Thank you.
Uh, yeah, you guys keep heading out. Um, it's, it's slow going. And as you let go, the sky gets a little darker as you keep going this way. Not because it's later in the day because clouds are appearing. Um, uh, speaking of rivers, uh, Tuffy, as you said before, uh, you get to a point, a natural stopping point where you feel, uh,
You first hear the flow of this river. You know this area. You've tracked deer often throughout your life. Yeah, this is a river you're familiar with that isn't that long. Maybe if you were by yourself, you would just kind of take a leap or something and kind of bounce up and down through the water and get across. If you were just...
of your own strength, uh, trying to get across, uh, here with this baby you're looking at, and it's like a pretty strong current. Uh, the, the river's like probably about 40 feet wide and there is just one log crossing it. That is sort of like barely, uh, skidding out over the water. Um, that has like, it's sort of just like wet, uh,
It doesn't seem fully out of the water. So there is a point in which you can cross, but there are maybe other options as well. But you're here, and I think you do notice this baby has no fur, and it feels very soft. It can't walk like pups. No. No, it's very soft. It can't swim. It can't move without us.
Maybe we should put the baby in the water and see. I bet the river goes to Fort Cutler. Miko, is that a crow feather in your tooth? I hate the dead bird. It had been dead for a while, and it don't feel good. Miko's going to make a constitution. Do we want to search for a minute, perhaps up and down the river just for a moment, and someone can stay here with the pup?
And see if there's an easier place to cross or a place where a log crossing is not as slick with moss or damp. Yeah. Did you say two people leave? Two wolves? I think so. And then two more stay with the babe. I can go search and see if there's anything nearby, a better place to cross. I'll stay. Thank you, Harlan. I can stay. I don't care. I was going to just say you should stay. Okay, great. My stomach hurts. Tuffy, I'll go upriver and you go downriver.
Okay. Don't go too far. We should, if we can't find someplace soon, it's better for us to move because the horrible man is still following us. Now, what are we looking for? Any type of crossing? Somewhere safer than this, where the current is less strong or there are more stones or more logs to cross. Yeah, make either nature or survival checks. Cool, I'll make a survival check. It's a 14. Eight. On an eight? Eight.
You don't really see anything. You're on your side of the river. It feels like it's just more open than any other part that you've seen so far. On a 14, there's an area that has rocks popping up out of the water. They're big flat stone rocks, but you think you'd have to jump from rock to rock. Do I get a sense if that seems safer?
than the log we saw i think you would think that it's a bit of a trade-off they're probably similarly safe the the leaps might be like hard with the basket um yeah but it seems like the log doesn't necessarily seem unsafe it's just you'd have to go slow kind of uh
- Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha, okay. Can I, if I look around, how wide is the river? - It's like 40 feet. - About 40 feet. - Each of these stones is like about, I wanna say like 12 across. - Right, so it's like, yeah, it's just swimming across would suck. It's not that actually long of a distance. I think Grey's gonna make the call to try their luck with the log instead. I think she's gonna make one last attempt
to see if there's a big, long branch, like the longest tree limb she can find somewhere. Tuffy, are you holding that giant branch in your mouth still? The staff? The staff. You have like a six foot long staff. Yeah, make a luck check to see if there's like a longer one. I'm not sure. Sure, sure, sure.
14 on a luck check. Yeah, there's probably a 12-foot-tall, bigger branch that tapers at the end. It's maybe not as solidly built as a 6-foot pole.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think Drea's just going to grab a big pole or stick that she can find and come back to the log with everybody. And basically, is that the log in the river? That's not big. Is that wide enough for two wolves to walk side by side or not? It doesn't seem that wide. Okay. But let's make a luck check just to see. Maybe. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah. It doesn't feel quite that wide. Um, it, uh, is it felt like maybe like a taller, skinnier tree and that's why it's actually crossing the entire length of the river. Cool. And if you were to look at it from the side, half of it's above water, maybe half of it's below.
Yeah, like the water is still able to travel underneath it, but then also sometimes like crests over top. That's why it's like kind of so slippery. Like it's like a turtle sitting log, if you've ever seen that. Gray's going to come back with a stick just to have something.
And she's going to look at Harland and Tuffy and say, I didn't find anything upriver that seemed safer than the log to cross. Looks again and again smiles this look of like being able to imagine things that might happen.
Yeah. I think like with this awakening, like it's definitely confusing and uncomfortable for a lot of the wolves, but like, I'm sure it feels to me like gray is embracing it more so than everyone else. She, she loves, I think that she has this, it's all these things where her whole life, she knows she's been doing this thing of like, when you are tracking something through the snow, she always had this understanding that like a creature came through here.
these were its prints. There are only so many places it could have gone. And it would go to the place that would make the most sense for it to go. And when it was running, it was afraid. And it made the choices that an afraid thing makes. And she never had the ability to articulate all of that, but is reveling in being able to figure that out now. So she looks over at Harland and goes, I'm going to hold this stick in my mouth.
because this stick can go through the loop of the basket like a wolf's neck if we fall in the water. Harland, when you cross with the baby, I'm going to look at the water. Favor the left-hand side. If you fall in, you should fall in on the water goes underside, because the basket will hit the water underneath.
and will not be swept away downstream because the log will be in the way. And since there's three of us, do you think that it would be smart if one of us waits downstream just in case, and then we'll be the last person to cross once everybody's crossed? And one of us should wait upstream. Miko looks up. We are all figuring it out. Yeah.
I'll go upstream. You go upstream. I think in a way that Grey is like discovering her own intelligence. Harland is like remembering his life. And these two youngsters like discovering things in front of him and his like shitty roles and stuff like that. He is being confronted with his inadequacies and
And is just like the coming to of intelligence is like, I am haunted by my story. You just see Alan staring forward. Every new smart thing these kids say, he's just like, fantastic. Yeah.
Just a, like, Vietnam vet. A wolf. So cool. So Harlan is taking the babe? Cool. Gray's going to look at Miko and say, Miko, cross first and go downriver on the other side as well, across from Tuffy.
Got it. So Miko's going to go across. The way this is going to work for Miko is that 40 feet is, you know, you all have 40 feet of movement. It's going to be difficult terrain, but you can make a dexterity check with disadvantage to cross in one turn, which is easier and safer for a wolf that's by themselves. Like if they fall in, they can just kind of swim out. But it's a little more complicated with the bait.
So Miko's going to try that. Just sprint across. Cool. Natural 20. Oh, with disadvantage. Sorry. Miko gets across safely. You see them kind of lose their balance, like slip somewhere halfway through the log, but gets all the way across. And then he's like, okay, sorry, I forgot the rest. Where am I going? On the other side, stay across from Tuffy because...
Just stand by that rocks, Tommy. Stand by the rocks, Tommy, over there. If you see the basket going into the river, come and get it. Okay, got it. Tell me about it.
After that, Miko's in position. Who's going? I'm going to keep the stick in my mouth. Okay. Should Grey go in front of Harland? I think so. I think Grey's going to go in front of Harland. I would like to give the help action to Harland's
- Ooh. - And I think I look down-- - I think Harlan's gonna try and go slow. Like Harlan doesn't need to get one turn. - But is that still a dexterity save without disadvantage? - I think you can go slow with advantage if you're healthy. - Yes, amazing. Cool, so I'm gonna go slow too. And I think Gray looks down at the thing and he starts to use the stick to scrape some of the moss and slime off. - Ooh. - Disgusting.
miko's like wow why why why would you do that why did you do that um yeah just starts to scrape off and see some of the like presumably still waterlogged but like at least not slimy yeah you see that uh yeah as you're as you're able to scrape it off um that kind of uh
still supple kind of wood at least has like tread to it yes uh and so it's not not only is it not slippery it there is a place to like catch on it so that effectively gives you advantage on these slower steps across okay um
- Yes, let's do that. So are you going halfway across or are you going all the way across having done this? - I'm gonna go, I'm gonna do it thoroughly as we go across and make whatever checks you want me to make. - Okay. - So yeah. - So maybe just go halfway across? - I'll go halfway across and do that, great. So this is just straight without advantage or disadvantage? - For you, if you're only going halfway, it's just straight, yeah. - Okay, cool. Dexterity check up here. That is only a seven. - Okay, make a dexterity saving throw. - Cool.
Six. Okay. Uh,
You all watch as, though it's a good idea, Gray slips off to the current side of the water. Gray, you are tumbling about in the water. This is dangerous for a baby, not necessarily dangerous for you guys. So you have pushed further down the river. As you are watching this, are you just going to wait to hopefully have Gray come back? You know, it's like if you were playing in a river and you try to jump and grab something and you miss, and then you just could get out and get back in. Got it.
So like, uh, this is okay for you to fall. Good. I'm glad that you, yes. Like, like gray's at the very least, like glad that there is, it's, it's this thing of the woods are so fucking dangerous, but it's like, okay, if we do this the right way, we can make it so that even when bad things happen, they're manageable. Yeah. Like who knew how scary it would be if you got in the water? Like, yeah. Like who, like there, there is like such an unknown factor with it. Like you, you now have like a little more information than you do.
So, Gray, yeah, make just like a strength check to just like get back out of the water. Cool. Oh, dirty 20. Okay, yeah, you're able to effectively get back out. And I can say like maybe on the other side or if that makes more sense for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool.
So now that you're on the other side, you can pop back out to the middle to continue your path? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Great. Yeah, I'll come back out and keep scraping. Okay. And maybe if I lost my stick, I'll just use my claws to be like, all right, and try to clear the way on the log as much as I can. Cool. Just make another straight dexterity throw. Okay. You just slip off into the water. You go a lot further down this time. I'm a little bit of a dick.
Just make a luck check for Nat 20. Okay. You find your stick. I found my stick! Swims back up for it. Good day for it. I'm going to say on that one, maybe you... Maybe Gray has lost their chance to do that for that back half of it. You could maybe direct another person to do it, but you are, for whatever reason, been bested by this luck. Yeah, I'm like...
The log, I've done as much of the log as I think one can do. I think that's all. But at the very least, it means that if you go slowly, you'll have advantage on the first leg and can make the second one as a straight roll. Cool. Am I going next? Up to you guys. Because he's in the water. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's further down. But you are next. Okay, cool. And I do advantage? You do with advantage for the first half, but not for the second half. That's dexterity? Mm-hmm.
So 11? 11 doesn't. It is not that high. Oh, great. Yes. Because y'all's stats are so low right now, that's actually... So you are halfway across. Okay. And then I do one. And now this is just straight? 13. Harlan holds his breath, gets ready, and takes that run across to the other side, landing safely, like kind of sprinting off of it.
You see this, Tuffy, and you can make your way across if you'd like. But you are now, the babe is safely across to the other side. And I'm the only one on the other side left. Yeah. Great. I, with glee, swim across. Biting the water. Yes.
Great. And you can do that. I think it's like, this was just like, yeah, first, you know something about the survival of your own species and this species. Like, we got this baby wet. It would have been bad. And to that end, as you get to the other side, the skies continue to darken. And you start to feel a faint need to find shelter. Shouldn't have jumped in the water. You see that the, I'm going to look.
How massive, is this log massive or is it a little bit small? It was like only one person can go across it. So it's actually kind of small. I'm going to look at where it's lodged on our side. Can I, because I'm worried about the man chasing us.
Is it, is there anything solid, like rocky next to it on our side of the river? Is there, or, you know, like, like a bowl, is it, is it lodged in like near a boulder or another tree or something like that? Yeah. I think on this side, there's like logs kind of like falling around. This area is not uncommon. I think like, um, give me a luck check and maybe we can. Hell yeah. 14. Yeah. I'm going to say like, there is like a, a log kind of like, um, teeing off of it on this side. Hell yeah. Um,
Maybe even like underneath it. Yeah. I think Gray looks over at that, has the stick in her mouth and looks over at Tuffy and Harland and says, if we got across this, the horrible man can get across it too. And I'm going to jam my stick in the ground in between our log that we crossed and the log near it.
And start to press my weight down and try to dislodge the log on our side of the river. I love it. Push it out into the water and get rid of it. So make as anyone helping Gray do this. Yes. Okay. So you two are pushing off of it. Make a, I think just you can make a strength check with the advantage because you were being helped by Tuffy. Cool. Who's also, I guess, in practice pushing on it at the same time.
With athletics, that is a 10. Cool. I think you're able to get it going with that. Miko's going to come over. I think Miko's like, why don't we all do it? It just hops on. Harlan just has the baby. It just looks fun to hop on this log. We're just going to do a triple advantage. Here we go. Here's number three coming in hot.
That's a 15. Great. On this one, Miko maybe doesn't know fully the extent of what we're doing here, even though he's smarter than any wolf that's ever lived. Hops on it with the weight of all three of you. Eventually, the log pops out of it and then just slowly begins to drift downstream away, heading off the path.
But with that, the rain begins to come down harder. Like it was sprinkling and now it's becoming just a straight up rainfall as you see this sky just starting to open up. I can't maybe express a little bit of concern about the baby and remembering that it doesn't have fur. Baby looks a little perturbed. Yeah. Like uncomfortable.
- Can I make a survival check to try to find-- - Yeah, everyone can make a survival check. I'll make one for Mika. - 14. - 14. - Five. - Five. - On those twin 14s heading along this side of the river,
you eventually, you come across sort of like a path, sort of a dirt-feeling path that eventually your paws start to hit like stone. It's like a hewn stone. And it looks really old, but it is like, I mean, I don't know that you would know this is a wolf, but it feels like laid in the ground. Gotcha. And shaped to a degree. And you start to see this path, and eventually along this path,
you see that there is among these sort of old feeling kind of runsy of like, like Thailand, like ruins in Thailand or old temples in Thailand. Like there, there are these rocks very overgrown by like, kind of like elephant looking tree trunks, like almost like mangrove, like roots over like a very old kind of pyramid shaped temple.
that you find some ruins in front of you, you first see a little bit of light flickering on the inside, and you hear a little, hehehehe, shh, what are these trees? I see what you mean, Miko. There are more trees than there were before. Yeah, they're like, this one I think is a person. You think? Because it looks like skin instead of bark. Are you sure? I thought that, I thought that.
Tommy's were talking. You think it's a person? I mean, I don't know. I think that came from inside where that light is. But part of me thinks that these trees are people. Gray is totally lost. As you're talking about Tommy's, she looks at you and says, Tommy's are connected to the sun. The sun went away and now there's no Tommy's anymore. Look, where are they? They can't be Tommy's. Can I do a keen hearing check? Yeah. So that's a check with advantage.
And you can all do that if you want. Sure. Oh my god! There's something fucked up happening. A 14. I also got a 14. With advantage, don't we?
Nat 20. Nat 20? You're in this area that's like, you don't fully understand what you're in, but it feels like some sort of ruins of a, like, everything, all the buildings here look really old and maybe not, like, kept up in any sort of way. All these trees have kind of grown over it. There is this little structure in the center. It doesn't quite look like made from the same culture of people that, like, that you were just with. Like, it doesn't seem like they would have made it.
But you hear this like snickering laughter inside this little pyramid. And it feels like they were trying to be quiet and maybe like they're going to get caught is kind of the vibe of it. Does it seem safe to go in? As you say that, it begins to rain hard. It feels like you don't know if it's necessarily safe in there. Mm-hmm.
Can I, uh, I mean, I really got a real good nose full when we found the baby elf. And I want to know if what is snickering at us smells the same. You smell it? It does not feel the same. In fact, it smells a little more like the times you've been around a cold-blooded creature. Dova's touching his head. You guys...
I'm not getting a good feeling about this. I don't know if I'm alone in this feeling, but this doesn't smell elf baby. Remember that was the last time we saw something in the bushes. You went right up to it. Harlan. Remember you just stuck your nose in. Thank God. It was a nice thing, but I guess I'm asking you to do this again.
Here. And Harlan transfers the baby to Tuffy. I'll look over at Harlan and say, I'll go with you. We have to get the baby inside. Nico's like, I will. And? I don't know. What do you want me to do? It seems like everybody knew. Use your body to comfort the baby. Okay. Just kind of.
kind of sits his wolf body over the front of the basket covering it but like it's not working well it's working for the time being he's like do we feel if we were to leave miko with the baby would we feel great about that decision no i don't think uh yeah i mean like maybe you should talk to miko beforehand but uh i don't know that you would feel it's not a babysitter that has the best recommendations right for sure yeah yeah yeah
So Harland is going to stalk in. Okay, so Harland's stealthing in. Yeah. So you, Gray, is going to stealth in. Miko's got the baby, but it's also like, do you want to get the baby or do you want me to go in? Yeah, stop sitting on the basket, Miko. I'll watch the baby and you watch my back.
Down where the trail got more comfortable to walk on. Go down there and make sure nobody's coming on our backside. Okay. He turns around and he looks back that way. Thought I did a pretty good job coming to baby mode. You were just sitting on the basket. It looked more comfortable for you than anything. You want to sit on the basket. I get it. He goes and checks out where you just came from. Yeah, you guys roll me some stealth checks.
Oh, it's going to be a 19. Thank God. 22. You silently are able to creep into this pyramid-like structure. It feels, yeah, kind of a mix between that sort of like aesthetic of like a temple in Thailand or, and it is sort of the shape of like a Central American older structure in that it's like kind of tiered pyramid feeling. As you go in, it seems like there are carvings in the wall.
that look like almost elven, but not. This is the first time you are looking at pictures, probably, as you sneak into this place. It also, the ceilings are lower. It doesn't look like it's made for something, the height of an elf. But as you go in, you continue to hear this snickering. You eventually hear just these hushed tones of a conversation, this flickering firelight. And you hear a guy go, I, uh...
You know, I understand that kobolds and murlocs have been fighting for thousands of years. Does anybody remember why? And another voice is just like, shh, shut up, shut up. Listen, listen, I don't know why either, but we have to, I don't know. It's just what we do. It's just been thousands of years we've been raging in a war against murlocs.
And, you know, that's important or whatever, but also like what we want is important. And so like sometimes you have to just like run away from a war and obviously like the war is important, but also like we found this place has got some cool stuff and what we found is ours and that's important too. So you're hearing this like,
this weird exchange as you come into this more central atrium area where you see the source of the fire and you see five kobolds, these sort of little like dinky dragon-like creatures that are small like, you know, humanoid creatures. They look a little, some of them look like injured, like they have bandages and stuff on, but they are surrounded by
what looks like treasure. So you don't know if maybe it was here before you, but like they're sitting on just the shiniest, yellowest stuff you've ever seen. And they also are looking around a little paranoid, but they also, just something about this seems like they are excited with what they found, but not necessarily aware of your presence as you stopped in a perfect quick way.
I hope that you've enjoyed that episode of Rotating Heroes. This has been Arc 5 with Matt Cordova, Izzy Rowland, and Brennan Lee Mulligan with Zach Oyama as your Dungeon Master. As always, please, if you've enjoyed this episode, take two seconds to drop us a review and help new rotators find the show. And if you're enjoying it and want more Rotating Heroes in your life, then make sure you check out the Rotating Heroes Patreon, which is patreon.com.
forward slash rotating heroes pod or just in the description below you right there. We also have a discord. There's loads of other ways that you can get involved with the show. So make sure you go check out those links. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. And I hope that you have a wonderful time.