Tapir Tending | Blood of the Wild S1 E5 | Pathfinder 2E Quest for the Frozen Flame

Hey what's going on guys it's your good buddy Joe O'Brien and I want to thank you for listening to the Glass Cannon Network. Because you are here, because you're listening, you know that we're committed to making high quality entertainment. We want you to feel like you're here at the table laughing with us, crying with us, celebrating with us because you are. Becoming an official member of the NAICS by joining our subscription service is by far the best way that you can support all of the creators here at the GCN. And not only that, you'll also unlock hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of exclusive podcasts, videos, campaigns, side quests, and behind the scenes high jinks that you just can't get on the public feed. And it's all ad-free. If you're ready for even more laughs, for more danger and more GCN, head to jointhenace.com and subscribe. That's jointhenaish.com There will be live streamed from Dynasty Typewriter in LA. Doesn't matter where you are in the world, just visit glasscannonnetwork.com slash tour, click buy tickets, and then you can see a link to purchase live streamed tickets. These shows are going to be mind blowing with a spectacular lineup of GCN players, including Troy and I and Matthew and Skid, of course, Jared Logan, Ross Bryant, Mary Lou, Sydney Emmanuel, Jason Charles Miller, Paula Deming, and the incredible Becca Scott. On stage, two nights, all live streamed straight to you. Lock in your spot right now. Get a live streamed pass today at glasscannonnetwork.com slash tour. I feel a cold wind blowing off the tundra, and that means it's time for more Blood of the Wild, the show on GCN where we play Paiso's quest for the frozen flame adventure path. And today, we're going to find that flame, y'all. I'd like to introduce our talent. And then the show will be over. Yes. Five big episodes. Let me introduce our talent, and they are talented. There is no more appropriate term from the GCN. Joe O'Brien. Hey, buddy, how are you? From a storied acting career of two decades, Mary Lou. What's up? From all of your favorite podcasts from three years ago, Paula Deming. Hi, and hi, Mom, who is listening to this three years from now. Yes. And you may have seen him on television. Mr. Skidmauer. What's up, Paula's Mom? Here we are, ready to play more Pathfinder 2e. I'm really stoked. My nipples are hard as diamonds. Oh, boy. Cheapers. I didn't take the sexual harassment seminar that I showed you. We were talking about the sexual harassment seminar I had to take for my other job. And I think, Jared, that's what they call strike one. Strike one? Oh, we get strikes? You get one right? I'm going to do more. I'm just making that accessible. Well, you don't really get strikes because we'll probably report it, and then HR will act like they care, and then nothing will happen. Yeah, yeah. Technically, we have to inform you that that was unwelcome. And then if you continue to do it, then you can be prosecuted under the law unless it's especially egregious. They kept saying that term, which really reminded me of law and order SVU. Especially egregious. This was especially egregious. Especially heinous. That's what they say in law and order SVU. These are the officers who work in the especially heinous crimes of sexy stuff. And you know, my wife has a podcast that is all about law and order SVU. So shout out to that stuff, a law and order SVU podcast. I got Olivia Benson. Olivia Benson was my first hero. I wanted to be her. And I briefly considered becoming a cop just so I could be Olivia Benson. Really? And then I realized like- You have so much cop energy, Miriam Lewis. I don't. I know. I know. I am deeply unhinged. And you know, if you're a cop, you have to tell us. See, I would know that if I was actually a cop, but I decided to just try and play one on TV instead. Actually more accurate to the Olivia Benson art. Yeah. See, that's more like it. That's where we are now. Glad I did not become a cop just for the record. You know, I just want- Sorry, Jared. Go ahead, Joe. Your wife has a podcast that's just about law and order SVU. That's right. I just want to make it clear for the listeners that that wasn't a bit. That's a real thing. No, that's real. No, it's real. Do you have like an intimate knowledge of law and order SVU? Like is that a show that you were into or liked? Do I? Yeah. Yeah. Have you like had to sit down and watch a lot of SVU with the Mrs? Well, I've been with my wife for over 10 years. And what's funny is when we would get ready in the morning, she would just turn it on. So every morning you'd just be hearing like, we found Seaman in the chest cavity. Comforting. Comforting morning stuff. So you'd be like, ready to start my day. Okay, look, it's a reminder that it could always be worse. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. I always watched it with my mom on vacation. Yeah. That was like our ritual. Sure. Yeah. Now my wife, if you turn an episode on and you know that it's been on for over, I think 13 years. Yeah. If you turn it, I mean, way more than that actually. Way more. So, I mean, if I turn an episode on, my wife can usually tell you what it's about within the first three, four minutes. She can be like, oh, this is the one where such and such is on it and this happens. Wow. Have you ever been on her podcast? No, I've not been on her podcast. Their guests are only people that were on Law and Order SVU. Really? They have standards. They have standards. They have standards. So as soon as I book that. As a possible guest. Yes. I almost, I almost moved to New York instead of LA because I was like, well, at least I can get work on Law and Order if I go to New York. Yeah. So many of my friends have been dead bodies. Instead, I ended up just being a girl having an asthma attack on Grey's Anatomy. Yeah. Oh, wow. That's pretty good though. That's pretty good. I still get residuals from it. Occasionally I get a $15 check. That's awesome. Occasionally. That's pretty amazing. So my 20 year acting career, that also was not a joke because I was a child actor. And one of my first jobs was one of those, what should you do shows on Lifetime where my dad got hooked on a peg and we had to give him a tracheotomy. Oh my, what? Anyway, sometimes I get a stack of checks for like one cent. Yeah. One time I got a stack of nine checks that added up to 11 cents. Nice, rolling in it. Now of course you have to take out the commission and send that to your agent who booked that for you. Yeah, so they get a little hay penny. They get some decimals. You have to break it off like a Victorian urchin, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I gently. Sailing you your pittance. Gently rip my check into thirds. Distribute them like strange life. What a weird, weird. Sure is. Weird, weird life that we love. Oh yeah, we love. I wasn't just having an existential career crisis the other day that I have, you know, every three or four months. Sure. I have a rock bottom kind of moment. I love that. It's totally fine. One of the beautiful gifts about finding like being a child actor and for the record, like I became a child actor because I wanted to and like my parents did not force me. I like forced my parents. And one of the blessings of that is that I have like have known what I wanted to do from very, very young. So I'll be poor, but I'll be happy forever. Unfortunately I cannot change. So no existential crises for me, just like health insurance crisis. It is a psychosis. It is fundamentally fucked. Yeah, you, you are sick. And much, much like an addiction to tabletop role playing games, which is one of the mini psychoses that I carry. Speaking of that, shall we play some of the wild? Yeah, probably. The other Lord say our days are numbered, our following dwindles, enemies dog our footsteps and we have failed in our sacred charge. They say we will soon pass away into the endless arctic night. They are mistaken. We are strong, broken, but strong. The snow blinds our eyes and yet we see true. The wind freezes our skin and yet we endure. Their weapons break our bones and yet we stand tall. Our hearts beat and it is like the sound of a herd of mammoths stampeding across the tundra and in each heart flows the blood of the wild. When, when Paula was doing the repeat, part of me wanted to add like a really complicated sentence like the ice that forms underneath the granite of structures that we climb on each day, create skin desensitivity. And yet we still climb. I like the word obstructures. Maybe you need to use that more often. That's a real word. Don't look it up right now. Okay, yeah, we'll look it up later. Yeah, look it up later after you've forgotten about it. Okay, I know Jared's always like, this is an overwritten intro, but man, nothing gets me in the mood for the this game more than listening to that intro. I'm glad. Freaking love it. I'm glad. So thank you. Poetry is really my first love. Okay. Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there, integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time from startups to scale ups online, in person and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. Hi, I'm pianist Maniacs on my new podcast Classical Music Happy Hour. My guests and I talk about life and music and we also like to play games. Is it a composer or is it cheese? Oh, I know this game. Knowing Mozart, it's probably all of the above. It's all of the above. Is this a fake or was this a flop? Flop. That's more mistakes than I made in my last recital. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. Of the Regency Era, you might know it as the time when Bridgeton takes place, or as the time when Jane Austen wrote her books. The Regency Era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history. Volcker history's new season is all about the Regency Era, the balls, the gowns, and all the scandal. Listen to Volcker history, Regency Era, wherever you get podcasts. Here we are. We are back in the realm of the mammoth lords. Our group of four young scouts of the banner of the broken tusk have been completing their training as scouts for this large following of hunter-gatherers that follow a migratory pattern across the realm of the mammoth lords. Very soon, in just a couple of nights, a ceremony, a celebration, a ritual is coming up called the Night of the Green Moon, and our four scouts have been tasked by one of the following's leaders, grandfather Ewa, to complete a couple of, they're really kind of chores, to get the entire area and the following ready for the Night of the Green Moon. Our characters already visited Rockloom, the site where the ceremony is going to take place, and fixed one of the rocks, one of the kind of ceremonial stones that had been broken off by a fey named Shaggy Shemven, whom they met and recruited to the following. They next to work. He keeps always saying, it wasn't me. And I was like, Shaggy, did you break that? It wasn't me. It wasn't me. And I was like, that's a good joke. They even got me on the camera. Did you know this is so unrelated? I'm so sorry. But I have to say this, I just found out that Shaggy has an album that's like an entire, it's all covers of like Frank Sinatra songs. What? Yeah. So anyway. So you're welcome. It's called like come fly with me. Anyway, I'll be checking it out on Spotify later. And we want to let our listeners know that as a Patreon extra, I'll be singing as Shaggy Shemven, an entire album of Frank Sinatra covers. So keep an ear out for that. I'm sorry. I'm focused now. No, no problem at all. After learning some basic snare building from two of the characters you've come in contact with in the following, Weepa, the head scout who is very pregnant right now and unable to fulfill scout duties. That's why they've kind of, they've accelerated your training and Grona, the adoptive father of Olog and the biological father of Yelka, two of our scouts here portrayed by Skid and Paula respectively. After learning those skills, you also talked to Imec, a young girl who has some facility with empathically talking to animals just like our friend Raga portrayed by Mary Lou. You talked to her and she took you to a grove where there are some giant tapers that the following would like to add to their herds. And that is where we find you all right now along with AWOL, the scout, the ranger portrayed by Joe. So we're all in this grove. I've brought it up on roll 20. Everybody can see it. You're looking into the grove and you see giant tapers. And let me explain the grove and the giant tapers a little bit. The grove is a small kind of opening, flat opening, earthy opening in the midst of very heavy bushes and trees. There's a small pond on the east side of it. And on the other side, you see two giant tapers, which are like enormous anteater things. They have big furry bodies reminiscent of like a hippo or maybe a rhinoceros. But their faces come into a little floppy snouts like an anteater. And right now they are calling out in what can only be a cry of pain. And you can see them kind of. It's your heart. It's just it's such a good taper. It's such a good. Thank you. Really accurate taper. They are extinct. So I had to recreate that sound from paleontological research. Okay. You you are entering the grove. You see the tapers. There are two. They are very large, as you can see, to the western end of the grove. And I would like to know what you do. Hey, while you succeeded in kind of an attempt to kind of track them up into here, and you're kind of at the head of the party and everybody else is following behind. Raga, your bear, Baba, is kind of back in the bushes. So you can call Baba to join you if you wanted. But you're looking. I left him. I left him behind because I didn't want him to scare the tapers. Right. And it's Raga's opinion that if you just ask the taper to join your herd, like why would it say no? So she's she's going for diplomacy first. That's that's at the top of her mind. Right. I guess I leave it. But they're in pain and that has that has changed maybe things. Maybe. Yeah, I leave it to you guys. I mean, now's the time to decide how you will approach because they definitely aren't in a good mood. Awal is going to. Careful. Yeah, he's going to approach as stealthily as possible within the brush. Like he's going to dip into the brush and hope that that gives him some cover from them seeing him. And he wants to move stealthily through it. He wants to get closer to see if he can identify what is causing them pain before he starts making any decisions. Raga wants to do the exact same thing. The brush is very thick here. So of course it is difficult terrain. And I'll also say, you know, I think it gives you. I think it gives you full cover unless you get really close to the edge. OK. If you're right on the edge, then it would be just kind of partial cover. All right, I can see him just like kind of creeping through the underbrush trying to silently avoid, you know, dry sticks or that kind of stuff and, you know, landing on stone and just like moving quietly through. So yeah, I'm going to start off rolling stealth if that works. That works for me. Here's a question, too. Are we approaching from upwind or downwind? Oh, yeah. A great question. Let me determine that randomly. He sticks a finger in his mouth. It does not specifically give the windedness of the area in the book. We'll assume, given our expertise in this area that we are approaching from the proper wind direction. Yeah, yeah, I like that assumption. I like that assumption. Yes. I love that assumption. That assumption is correct. As we're going, Yelka is going to follow along with Raga pretty closely and very quietly say to Raga, if you can maybe figure out, do you think you can figure out what's causing them pain? Maybe by talking to them and together, maybe the two of us, if we know that, maybe we can ease their pain somewhat and maybe that will help them trust us and come with us. Yelka, what a wonderful idea you have just had. Yes, they will feel friendly towards us if we if we heal them and make them feel better. The tapers are very loyal creatures. First, I want to just just see if I can see what's wrong with them first because they are also they have quite the temper of these tapers. And so I do not want to startle them, perhaps while they are in pain. They can be not to stampede. Oh, yeah, we don't we don't want that. Okay, let me ask how did the avoid notice roll go AWOL? Well, for me, that was a 24. But it looks like everybody's moving through the book. Right. I'm also following along. So I guess we all need to. I did a 21. I need to just like do it at all. So hold on. And it looks like Olog Crowborne is hanging back. Is that hanging back a little bit? I like mass is so great that I could not possibly approach this creature unseen. Olog, the full work is fully seven feet four inches tall, I believe is what we said, right? So that is correct. Yes. Okay. Probably very, very prudent of you. So Sean Bradley was like Charles Barkley. Yelka, how'd you do? I have 24. Everybody has done. Everybody has done very well here. Everybody has done very well. I mean, let me check it against their perception. Stay behind. Just JIC, but I believe everybody's done great. Okay. Yeah, you're all great. So in fact, you've some of you wait, is anybody did anybody roll like a 26? No, nobody got quite. Okay, but everybody succeeded. So they are unaware that you're there and you are now close enough that I think if you'd like to kind of try to suss out visually what is wrong with them, you could. Would that be perception or? I'll allow just a perception. Okay. Nature works as well. If you, a number of skills would work here. Survival also. I'm going to start with perception. Oh, 10. This is something we should all you want this to be one person trying to do it, Jared, or should we all be giving this a whirl? There's no reason everybody can't do it. You're all just kind of trying to look and see what's wrong with them. I rolled nature and I got a 26. There it is. I rolled nature and I got 20. I rolled a 20. Both Paula, I'm sorry, both Yelka and Raga are successful in seeing sharp. One of them just for a second lifts up its front splayed toes and you can see that there is a sharp kind of read, very green read. That is like sticking out of it's like a spike. Does it look like the poison barb snares that we just learned? It looks exactly like that. Oh no. Wait, who did this? Okay. Oh, oh, oh team. Oh no, I'm afraid there is a complication. They have stepped on the poison barb snares and so if they might know that humans have done this and perhaps it was one of us, they might be upset with us right now and so I want to try diplomacy. Is that okay? Do we think this is a good idea, my friends? I think that's a great idea, Raga. Okay, then I'm going to ask you a favor. Perhaps, do not join me right now. I do not want them to feel threatened and I'm going to go out alone. Can I, as she goes to do this, am I able to cast guidance on Raga? I don't see why not. Let's double check. Can you read the spell off to me? It's not just an encounter mode thing, right? It's one action. It's a cantrip. What's the duration? Duration until the start of my next turn. Yeah, so it's more of an encounter based. Okay, yeah, it's an encounter thing. So the answer is no. Never mind then. Very good, but you can give her verbal guidance, verbal encouragement. Good luck. You are really good at talking to animals. Okay, A-wall is just going to like flash because these things are big. Let's remind people as well. Like big. This is like four squares. This is the animal they were hunting in Apocalypse though. Oh yeah. Just in case it was a forest, that was a taper. Yes. So A-wall is just going to give Raga a look and just say, be careful. And his eyes are kind of wide just with the size of it. And you know, just thinking because he's flashing back to the moose. And when he slipped and alerted the moose to his presence, it didn't take a second for that thing to just charge at him full bore. And so he's just a little nervous about Raga just walking out there alone, which he's fine with her doing, but he is going to, as Raga like steps away, he is going to quietly draw his short bow and an arrow and just like knock it and have it ready, just in case. Oh, okay. I will only, as your GM remind you, you're trying to add them to the herd. So hopefully A-wall, who is a bit of a reckless sort we've established, doesn't hit one with an arrow in the jugular. Okay. Here we go. Raga, you're going to walk out and the thing that allows you to even attempt a sort of diplomacy check with animals is that you have a special feature as a druid. Is that right? That's right. I am a druid of the animal order and I have wild empathy, which means I have a connection to the creatures of the natural world that allows me to communicate with them. And I can use diplomacy to make an impression. Very good. Perfect. So when you are ready, go ahead and move out into the grove and make your diplomacy role. Oh, actually, I'd like to hear kind of how what you're saying first. So, so Raga, Raga takes the deep breath. And you see her body sort of change. Her shoulders kind of hunch and her steps become a little more plodding as she sort of slowly and quietly emerges from the brush at a safe distance of about like 10 or 15 feet from the first taper and she goes, which is the traditional taper greeting. And then yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's it's cultural. And then she continues in in common because they can understand her anyway. But it you know, it shows good. It shows good. It's polite. It's polite to speak to the natives in their own language or at least say hello what you know. And so Raga goes, hello, my friends. My name is Raga and I see you are in pain. I do not mean to scare you. Pain. Pain. The ground bites us. Yes, the ground. She bites. I understand. My name is Raga and I would like to help. Can I help you? You may roll your diplomacy. Sure. Oh, come on, Raga. Fuck. Oh, no, I don't like that. I don't like 14. You're literally the only one that can do this. Let me check here. All right. If that doesn't work, Olog slowly come around the corner with your 15 foot great acts. And let them know you're there to help. Yeah, that'll work. I have good news. Oh, good. It's successful. Oh, yeah. That was good. I thought because she started strong and then it sort of tapered off at the end. It tapered. And that's the kind of content you get from us ladies and gentlemen. Ten dollars. Chiching. So they kind of carefully move a little closer to you. And they rear up a little bit to show you the shafts that have kind of punctured their front paws, their front toes. And they go, Yes, my friends. Yes, my friends, I will help you. Yes, I will. May I ask there are two of you and only one of Raga. May I invite my friend. She is a healer. She can heal your feet that the ground has bitten. May I invite her? They kind of are like shaking their bodies. This doesn't mean no. It means they don't quite understand what you mean by more than one person. They're sort of that's sort of like counting as a little bit outside. Yeah, Raga is going to take a chance because she knows that sometimes when you talk with animals and the language doesn't quite sink in all the way, but the tone and the feeling behind it usually does. So she's going to beckon to Yelka and say, this is my friend. This is my friend Yelka. She is a quiet and loving human being and she is going to fix the feet that the ground has bitten for you, my taper friend. And I'm going to help you, my other taper friend. Very good. Slowly kind of come out and bury just slowly, calmly, as quietly as I can to not startle, come out of the trees and approach the, I guess the taper that Raga has indicated that I should try and help. When you walk out Yelka, the one that you approach kind of gets tense and it's trying to back up, but of course as it backs up, it's hoof suddenly acts up again because it pushes that spike in farther. So you can see that. Here's what I'm telling you with that. Right. Whatever you attempt, hopefully it succeeds because this is still a tense situation and these animals are still in a defensive, backed against the foliage. They feel a little cornered. So go ahead. As I'm coming out, you know, the way like a horse whisperer might approach a horse who is nervous. Maybe I could be making some of the, trying to make some of the sounds that like a mother taper makes to their baby tapers when they are young and like that calming kind of sound. Perhaps try and help settle their spirit a little. Very good. Okay. Because you know what to really, it's almost like a pigeon-like thing, but it's that kind of calming like a purr. Very much is. Raga goes, oh my, I didn't know you spoke taper. It's really good. You have an accent, but it's quite good. That might be helping. That might be helping. You're not sure. You're not positive. We're not sure. Great. Okay. So then I will. I would like to, while Yelka is calming the taper that she's with, I'd like to, I don't want to try medicine because I know that Yelka is so much better at that, but can I at least like disarm this trap? Right. So you haven't quite found the snare itself, but you definitely see the effects of the snare in the tapers kind of paw here. So you could attempt to remove the barbs from the paw if you want, or you could look around somewhere to find the snare itself. Yeah. As an act of goodwill, I think I'm going to look around for the snare to see if I can disarm it as a show that like, look, now no one else will be hurt by these snares. So yeah. Okay. I think that that would be a perception rule or thievery because thievery usually helps you find traps and hazards. Oh, well, I have a plus zero in thievery and a plus six in perception. So I think you're going to go perception with that. That's a 17. Thievery it is. Um, because Raga is not good at math. She was taught by bears. Yeah. A-wall is going to move through the brush a little closer and a little more toward the edge, but still try to stay hidden. That's a 17. Restow his bow now that it looks like it's under control, but then be ready just in case anything happens. 17 shows you a snare right there where it was standing. Mm. My friends, I have found the ground that bit you and with my human hands and fingers, I will defeat this biting ground. Yes, I will not require any kind of skill roll because you are already, you've been trained in this type of snare, so I will allow you to dismantle it. Would you like to do that? I would. Okay. And I'd like to like take the components if I can stash them. Oh, uh, You may. And when you're doing this, you may make a society roll or something of that nature to sort of identify some things about the snare. What about survival? Um, yes, I will allow a survival. Yeah. Uh, 10. 10 is not enough to know anything about it. Okay. All right. As this is happening, I suppose I should be doing some kind of aid here to the taper. I'm not entirely sure what the right thing is. There is of course an action where I could treat poison, but I also have, I'm being somewhat new to the Pathfinder system. I also have a heal spell, but I don't know if that can be done outside of encounter mode. Or if I need to do this, like treat poison or like a first aid action. As opposed to a back heal spell. Yeah, you need to do some sort of first aid action. And because they have these, uh, these thorns currently in their paw, any kind of healing or medicine you do will be dependent on removing these things from their paw, which is, as you can imagine, sort of a tense activity because this thing is rearing up. It's very large. I want to remind you. I mean, it's elephantine and it's proportions. And you see it kind of snap for a second and you see big blunt teeth inside that look like they could grind your hand into paste. So, uh, you're going to need to be careful. What action would you like to use if that's in fact what you'd like to do now to remove the barbs? Oh, what a good question. Well, I suppose that could be treat wounds. Yeah, to pull out, um, to pull out the barb. And if it works with the one, hopefully I can get the other one as well. And will this allow me, though, this is a medicine check and with my, I'm usually able to use nature, I believe, instead of medicine for that. Will that apply here as well? I will allow that to apply. Absolutely. So this gets a plus five. So let's see what happens. Oh, baby. So, um, the total is... Well, let me tell you first of all, you've had snare training, right? Yeah, that's true. That's a plus two circumstance bonus. Okay. Okay. And, um, and that's it. What about the sounds I'm making or the sounds we're making? The sounds we're making, like that we've been speaking to them in their own language. I want to be honest with you, Yelka. It was really Raga's diplomacy that was doing all the heavy work there. Right, right, right, right, right, yeah. Your sounds weren't necessarily doing much. Fair enough. As long as they weren't hurting, you know, it was the accent, they weren't hurting. It was the accent because of... My total is 14. Guess what? That's a success. Oh, yes! I had it all right. I had it all right. I don't even want a natural one. Yeah, I'm really scared. I'm all to seven. So... That's not great. Luckily, I have a five and then the plus two. So... That circumstance bonus was important. That was. It was. Thank you, Weepa and Dad. Yeah. Thank you, Weepa and Dad. Yeah, and Gronam, your father. Okay, so you deftly quickly, when it rears back, pull, yeah, pull the little shafts of hard like bamboo type reed out of its paw, and it lands on its foot again once you've done that, and then you see it go... And then it kind of snuffles your face. Up on its like face, is it snuffles mine? Just as a little gentle like pat, like a... We're friends now. Yes, it allows the pat and snuffles you some more, and its very viscous saliva is covering your hand and cheek. Gross. Okay, that starts to gross me out. So I'm gonna just very gently try to extricate myself from this without being like rude. Oh, there's that. Yeah, I have... Gently pushing it away. Yay, we're friends. I am gonna try and help the other taper now. Raga, I don't think... I know you can't understand what I'm saying, but hopefully you get it, she's saying to the... Yes, to the taper. Oh no, oh this taper definitely thinks that you are a friend now. He likes you very much if you could not tell from the saliva. Yeah, it's some. I'm just like one wiping off all the saliva on my... It's like gotten into like my feathers on my collar a little bit, and I'm just like, I'll have to wash that later, but it's fine. I have a plus three in medicine. I could try it myself, but you know what, I'll just wait for Yelka. You have a plus five. That sounds... too better. But also bad dice luck. So I'll go over to the other taper now and hope to do the same thing. Okay, let's have... I'm holding his hand, so that gives you another circumstance bonus, right? Well, you can only have one circumstance bonus at a time, and the highest is the one that applies. But I will say that, yeah, I think that definitely Raga, this taper allows you to hold up its paw, and Yelka can make her attempt with still using that plus two circumstance bonus. Great. Oh, that's better. So that's 18. Very good. Because I've got confidence now, because I've done this before. The other one loved me. I'm less like nervous because I'm like, okay, I did this. I'm projecting calm energy. You know, the dogs attack you because they can feel your like nervous energy. So I'm projecting calm energy and I go, I just like reach up and I pull out the the the barbs. I did it. Is that much better, my friends? Oh, it's just... Oh, please, you are being too kind. You are being too kind. It was our pleasure to help you. Yes. I have a suggestion, my friends. If it looks like they are in a mood to receive... They seem they seem they seem very like a much better mood. They're not like bucking or becoming defensive anymore. My friends, the wild can be dangerous. The forest can be full of traps and predators. You have often felt scared here in the forest. Have you not? Yes, I know this could be true. I know this to be true. I have also lived in the forest. One of them flatulates. I am same girlfriend. I have also known fear in the forest because I too lived here for many years. And then I found the tribe and the tribe takes care of me. They have thumbs and hands. They have medicine and food for me. They give it to me. And all I have to do is travel with the tribe. And I have friends. I have family. My friends, would you like to be part of the tribe as well? The ground is soft where you walk. It is. It is very soft and the grain is sweet. The grass is plentiful. The water clear and cool. The company, quite lovely. Please join us, my friends. I just smile. And she says that because she's saying in common, right? The company, quite lovely. I just smile, trying to be like, look how nice we all are. Just really put a bow on it. It looks like they are kind of, you know, walking along at your heels, Raga. So it looks like you're successful in sort of recruiting these tapers. Nice. To the follow. Hi. Raga, hi. Hi, Nii Rai. Can we name them? Raga, I name them snuffles and this one is sniffles. Snuffles and sniffles, that is a wonderful name. Those are not their taper names, but those can be their human names, of course. I'm feeling very good about what we did. Snuffles and sniffles have joined the following. Awesome. Put that on a t-shirt. Yeah, they begin to walk along behind you out of the grove. I am going to warn them, okay, do not be scared. We have some more friends, humans. They are part of the tribe, which means we are family, part of the herd. They will not hurt you. Thank you. So as they follow, they kind of crush the foliage around them, just moving through like the places where it's thick. And I will only ask if there is anything else the party would like to do here before they lead the two tapers back to the following. A-Wall would like to search. Could I search the area real quick because if our hunters didn't lay these things, you'd be curious to find out who did. So... Rob, I'm going to show the snare to my teammates because I didn't get anything from it, but maybe they will. Yeah, so he's going to look at it and be... Well, could I examine the snare itself to see if it's made in the same fashion as we make them? One of the snares has been removed and that's the one Raga's holding up. There might be more out there, or there may have just been the one. You can certainly examine the one Raga has, or you can go back to the grove and kind of scout around. Just wait a moment. Give me a moment. Let me look. Of course. And he's going to go back up into the open area where the tapers were and do a scan. Looking for any more traps. I'm going to roll... I am actually going to roll Thievery for that and that is a 24. Very good. So by rolling Thievery, you, with a 24, you immediately spot the other... There's another snare there. Oh, whoa. I almost stepped right up. Yeah, she almost did. So yeah, you see him kneel down and just like rush some of the dirt away around it and you can see that it's hidden there. And what is this typically used for? Is it typically used to poison small games so that it slows it down and then a hunter can come and get it? Or is it used as protection against other humans? Slowing down game is really the main thing you use the Barb snare for because they walk it very slow speed once it's in their paws, right? And then the poison will maybe have like a soporific effect even and make them kind of slow and ponderous in addition to that. So it'd be very easy to kill a large animal for meat. Smaller animals have less trouble with the poison Barb's because of course they're little. So it's less chance that they'll step on it. Can he tell by its construction, its makeup, if it's made in the style of the broken tusk? Or if maybe it's just been there a very long time and was forgotten about or... You can make some sort of roll to recall knowledge. How about nature or... Great. Okay. Nature... Oh 21. Nice, nice. So this poison Barb's snare is not from... The plants that are used are not from part of the broken tusk's migratory route. The poison comes from a plant that grows higher in the mountains than the broken tusk normally does. Interesting. Very interesting. All right, can I... I'm going to roll a thievery to dismantle it and bring its parts with us. 21 again. Nice. Back to back 21s. Characteristically high rolls from Joe. Ridiculous. That was double digits. What's going on here? It's completely disarmed. Okay. You have... And basically you've pulled out all the little shoots that... You know... Okay. And he will bring it back and share this with the group that this snare was laid by another tribe or another following I guess you can say. Yes. We don't know who. Do we know of any mountain clans or mountain followings that we have good relationships with? In particular, you can make a recall knowledge roll using society if you'd like to think about it. I don't have that so maybe it's just not something A-Wall ever thinks about or focuses on. Yeah, I have it either. Oh yeah, I do. Yeah, I can roll it anyway. But we all... Let's see. I'm going to roll it anyway. And I got an 18. An 18, really? Perhaps I was listening. I listen when my leaders tell me stories. Raga, you would know that there are a lot of followings. Some of which have a purely business-like relationship with the broken tusk. Some of which have a very friendly relationship with the broken tusk. But generally they are larger than the broken tusk and do not give the broken tusk the time of day. Generally, that's very stereotypically. And many of them would know how to create a poison barb snare. Yes, this makes sense because when I joined the tribe, I wanted to study everything I know about the humans. Because you guys are just so interesting. I guess we are just so interesting and fun. So this really could be any tribe, but I don't know why they would come so far down here. Hey, Wall, did it look recently set? Could you tell when you found it? That was part of that nature roll. I don't know what you think, Jared. Can I know if it was... Was it 24? A forgotten trap? Or are these traps generally speaking... Do they lose their poison relatively quickly? So if it worked... Here's the thing, when Raga brings that up, or I'm sorry, maybe it was Yelka, you pull out the shaft from the trap again, a wall, and you realize, oh, this would have been set recently. Yeah. Like, no, a poison trap like this can't be. It's completely ineffective after a short amount of time, so it must have been set recently. Okay, I guess this is another thing we need to go back and report. Yes. This is what scouts do! We are good scouts! We are very good scouts. They will surely be so proud of us. We're basically ready to be full-fledged scouts all on our own, everyone. Yeah. We did a good job with this. Now all that's left is we have to carry water. That's right. We can do that, right? The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not-so-dark, not-so-stormy, hard-boiled detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the Intrepid Chaotix Detective Agency as they take on their biggest case yet. This high-flying, action-packed adventure will take them across the world. Fighting for every clue they can find. It's one heck of a tale, which is good, because this story might be the only thing that can save their lives. Well, if that's all I can just dispose of you. Wait, what? All will be revealed in Sonic the Hedgehog Presents, The Chaotix Case Files. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, please, not that music. That music gives me nightmares from my childhood. Could we get something a little bit lighter, some lighter music here? Are you a fan of true crime TV shows? And what about Unsolved Mysteries, the show that jump-started all of our love of true crime? I'm Ellen Marsh. And I'm Joey Taranto. And we host, I Think Not, a true crime comedy podcast covering some of the wildest stories from your favorite true crime campy TV shows all the way to Unsolved Mysteries. Baby, you will laugh, you will cry, you'll think about true crime in a whole new way, and you'll also ask yourself, who gave these people mics? New episodes of I Think Not are released every Wednesday with bonus episodes out every Thursday on Patreon. And every Monday you can listen to our True Crime Run Down, where we go over the top true crime headlines of the week. So come and join us wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm Mandi. And I'm Melissa. And this is Moms and Mysteries. We're two Florida moms obsessed with true crime, from infamous cases like Ellen Greenberg to shocking Florida stories like the Dan Markell Killing. With 55 million downloads, we bring you new deep dives every Tuesday and Thursday. Listen to Moms and Mysteries on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Of the three tasks, carrying water from the Gornok River and ceremonial vessels is the one that's left. But for now, let's set a new scene. We see our four scouts leading two huge tapers back to the following. And the air is cold, but if you're walking alongside the tapers, they sort of radiate heat because they're such big animals and they're flanks. You can feel the heat coming off of their flanks alongside of you. And up ahead, you've moved into the various tents that make up the following's temporary quarters when they stop for a bit on the plane. And they're stopping here several nights because the night of the green moon is coming up. You can see that it's the middle of the day now. So a lot of the following is off out in the wilderness doing tasks like you were up to just now. But there are a few people left, you know, tending some cooking fires and doing a couple things in camp to get the following ready. And of course, not far away, but far away enough that they won't trample the tents. You see the herd of mammoths that the following leads across the plane. You can see them moving out there and you can see various members of the following kind of tending to the mammoths out there. Yelka is like walking with a sense of pride like you don't usually see her with. She is so exceedingly like proud of pulling these barbs out of these tapers and naming them. She's like, yeah, I did this. So she's feeling really good about herself. She should be and everybody earned 30 XP for that. Very nice. Yeah. So I will allow you to decide what you'd like to do here back at the camp. Or you can move on whenever you're ready to the third and final task that grandfather Awa has given. I think Awa wants to and he'll show this to everybody that he wants to report the snares to grandfather Awa like right away. Yes, I think you're right. I think you're right, Awa. I think we should do that. Because I think this is what scouts do. They report what they've seen in the field and it's up to grandfather Awa to decide what to do about it or he may know this plant a lot better than I do and who uses it. So yeah, can Awa go to grandfather Awa with the dismantled trap components? Absolutely. You head to the big tent and you see out of the top of it a line of thick smoke. Grandfather Awa has the fires burning inside of his large tent and you enter and he is actually alone right now. Normally he has a lot of people around him giving them their tasks or coordinating everybody. Grandfather Awa is indeed quite aged. There he is. He wears his face paint and his thick furs. He's got like bare claws wrapped around his shoulders. But he might be 100 years old and he looks up and he says, Awa, welcome. Sit by the fire. Thank you, grandfather. I wanted to show you something that we found when we were up getting the tapers. And he's kind of like nervous and brings over these pieces. We found a snare. It was set and the animals accidentally stepped on it. I don't know if we set these but I don't think we did. And he shows him the plant that is not from our migratory root. He grabs the like very green bamboo type shoot that was planted in the ground there to create the snare. And he looks at it carefully and he says, Yes, this would come from higher up in the mountains. Set by another following. Yes. Who? Do you know what following might have done it? And why were they so close to us without without talking to us? I do not know. In all probability, it is nothing to fear or worry about. We share the land with the other followings. And we set snares like this ourselves. The tapers were they injured. They were, but Yelka, she managed to pull the barbs and they are feeling they're on the mend. Then I am happy. I knew you were up to the tasks I set for you. And Rockloom is ready. Rockloom is ready. Yes, we have only left to bring the water to the river. Is that what it is down to the river or something? From the river. From the river. From the river. In ceremonial vessels. That's right. Yes. Pocano will help you. In fact, I think I saw him heading toward the river a little while ago. Okay, we'll get that done and thank you, grandfather. And he just like sees himself out quickly. So as to not to disturb grandfather Awa anymore. Very good. And you're enjoying your friends. Oh. Grandfather Awa hears you say wait outside the tent. What? What do you need? I wanted to know if I'm sorry, I don't mean somebody, but... And he goes into like this little leather pouch. And he pulls out the compass. And he's like, Have you ever seen anything like this before? And he holds it out and opens it up and the needle like, you know, moves toward the north. And his hands are like shaking as he's showing it to Awa. He's nervous that Hulk just taken away from him. He doesn't want him to. But he also is trying to like do right by the following and report this stuff. And be a good scout. You know, this is a southern tool. I've seen the Mendevian crusaders carry things like this. Do you know what? Do you know what it points to? It's it's pointing in one direction up there north. Well, that's useful isn't it Awa? You'll always know which direction north is. He hands it back to you. Keep it. Use it. We use everything that's useful on the banner of the broken task, don't we? We do. But you don't know really what it points to. It's it's not a place. It's just a direction. You'll always know which direction you're moving. It's a tool. Are you afraid of the tool? Awa? No, I guess I I just don't know. I just thought that it might point to something like a great pyramid or obelisk or something of some powerful spirit. That's all. I didn't know that it just pointed north for the sake of pointing north. Keep your feet on the ground, Awa. Seems disappointed. Keep your keep your feet on the ground, Awa. Keep your eyes in front of you, looking at what's ahead. There will be time for great spirits and magical kingdoms in our tails at the night of the green room. Thank you, grandfather. And he'll close it and pocket it and again slip out. Very good. And then return to everybody and tell him what he said. He didn't care. Where did he say the needle pointed? He said it just pointed north and that it's just so you know where you are. It's a southern tool, he said, a southern tool. That is very silly. Who would not know what direction north is? I just I always know what direction everything is. But that'll be good for you, Awa, in case we're ever not together at some point. Or perhaps if you are underground and you cannot see the stars or the moss on the trees. Maybe. Maybe Southerners don't know how to read the sun or the stars. I don't know. Of course they don't. It's just the kind of silly tool a Southerner would need these lads. But it is very pretty. It is very pretty, Awa. And you should keep it. You know, Awa, maybe to them pointing north toward us is a magical place to them. So in that sense, it did point somewhere magical and special. It's just we're already here. I wonder, I wonder who it belonged to. Wonder how they lost it. Some southern fool lost, probably lost worst because they lost that device. And if they can't, if they don't know how to watch the stars and how would they find their way home? Southerners are so stupid. Amazing. Everybody laughs heartily at this. Well, grandfather said that Pocano was already going to get the water, so maybe we should go help. Oh, yes. Let's go. Let's not waste any more time. Yelka is very ready to find Pocano. Whoa, that's right. Very good. Yelka sprints off in the direction of the river. Very good. So you find yourselves at the Gornok River and you are on the south eastern bank of it. And standing there is Pocano strapping, mostly shirtless. Beautiful flowing black hair. Yes. And when he sees you, he nods perfunctorily, like, yes, a brusque greeting. And then he throws some baskets on the ground and is like, you know, Pocano, we've established grunts a lot like an anime character. That's right. I'll go right over to Pocano and say, hi, Pocano. Have you done anything exciting today? I have dedicated myself to becoming a warrior of the broken tusk. Me too. I helped bring back some giant taper stat to our herd. And he moves past you toward the water. That's okay. We can talk later. And I'll take a look at the whatever he's thrown on the ground. He's thrown some ceremonial vessels. In fact, they are supposed to be vessels that are important, you know, like carefully crafted. And he's just kind of tossed them on the ground. When I realize what he actually tossed on the ground, I'll just give them all a good check to make sure nothing like broke or chipped or that they're all in okay shape. Okay, great. You do that. They are all in okay shape. And you have done that. Great. All right, well then let's each take a vessel and we'll go to the river. Very good. Okay, you are all kind of filling the water from the river. It's swift flowing. It's very cold. And as you do so, just making a couple checks here. Oh, no, I don't like that. Just putting water and jugs, Jared. Surely we can just do this and head back. So, Raga and Olog, perhaps you are closest to this, but you see something kind of jammed into a thatch of reeds near where you're filling your vessels. It looks like a piece of hide kind of hanging off a stick, but it's definitely not another reed. I'm going to set down my vessel. I'm going to walk carefully and I'm going to walk over. Yeah, you're looking at a finely crafted spear and the spear is made of ash wood and there is a deer skin banner with a symbol on the banner. It's kind of torn off and it's sticking into the mud in this clump of reeds. I'm just going to yank it up out of the ground. When you do that, you see that it has a serrated steel head and you also see that something is hanging off of it and you quickly realize, Olog, that it is a charred human hand. Oh! Hey, what's that? What do you have there, Ork? Uh, I found this. And his name is Olog. Oh, yeah, I've got a name, you know. What have you found, Olog? This is sort of like sheepishly presents it with this hand like hanging off of it. Pecano takes the spear from you. There is fighting up river. Beautiful. Yes, I claim this spear. Well, why do you claim the spear? That is... Olog found it. Yes, but my house is the greater house and I am the leader of this expedition to the river. Who said that you are the leader? Grandfather Ewa. No, he did not. It was implied. You are lying. Quick question, out of character question. Are there greater houses or are the houses all considered to be equal? They're all equal. Okay, back to you, Raga. You are lying. Or even worse, you are telling the only truth that you want to hear. Do you object to my right to this spear? Absolutely, I object. Little bear girl? Yes, I object. It sounded like you were trying to say bear girl as an insult, similar to the way you said arc. But I consider neither of those things to be an insult. I grew up with the bears. I am a girl. And like the bears, I will fight you if I have to. Okay, okay everyone, this is fine. This doesn't need to... Pocano, you don't understand what you're saying and how it's... Quiet, which... quiet. Oh, you're not close. If someone challenges me to this spear, let us wrestle for it. In tradition of the broken tusk, a stronger fighter can claim the spear. Yelka is, meanwhile, bright red. Eyes go very watery and his just like shut up, like is done, like talking is like... It's facing an ugly truth that she has been trying to not. So that's what's happening with her right now. For like a decade. It all comes crashing down. And this is like, this is the last straw for Ola. Just insult, like he's always been cowed by this person, but this, this, this, he's insulting his friends and now his sister this way. And he's already been silently fuming because like, why does she like him? And all this way. And it's, so now this is the last straw. Like as, as scared as he's always been of this guy, he sets his giant hand on Yelka's shoulder. And he's just like, I will take up the challenge. You have acted the fool long enough and you have bullied us for far too long. Come, let us see who is the stronger. I am afraid of no green-blooded orc. I believe that my pure blood will show you. What a true member of the broken tusk is. And so he puts his, he intertwines his fingers with yours and both hands, his muscles tense and you push against each other. And that's where we'll end for today. No, no, no, no, no. Fuck you, no. Fuck you, no. Oh, no. That is an awful time for, oh no. I hate it. I want Olog to win so bad. Oh my God, I want this in my bones. But I'm like, there's also a fear because it's a die roll that like this, this dude is the worst and he might beat Olog. I know. No, not a chance. Not a chance when he's got his buddies behind him. I believe. Come on. I believe. I believe. You saw the edit, but that's not the full story. Devonte Anderson from Love is Blind is finally speaking out. From his relationship with Brittany to production's role behind the scenes to the moment everyone's been debating. The people of color comment. And yes, we asked him everything, including what Netflix didn't show. Like Brittany meeting his family. A lot was cut. And now it's all coming out. No filters. No safe questions. Just the truth. Listen now to the Roxanne and Chantel podcast. Available where you get your podcasts. The first ever behind the scenes look at the iconic TV shows. We're talking Chicago fire, Chicago PD and Chicago med. Join me each week for an exclusive conversation with the writers, the crew members and the stars. Void's doing the right thing for Void. Check out the one Chicago podcast from Wolf Entertainment and USG audio. Available now wherever you get your podcast.