Session 5 Helen

Serafina and her friends are trapped in a room filling with water. They see Spore, Tor, and an unnamed person on the other side of the room. Serafina tries to pull up Hope, but Hope doesn't squeeze back. Serafina is shocked and drops her hand. They all manage to escape through a hidden escape route as the mountain crumbles. Tor asks Serafina to retrieve a finger that gives her memories and promises to help her in return. Serafina wants to know what the finger does before agreeing. Tor explains that it gives her memories from a different perspective and she wants to remember who she was. Serafina is amazed by this revelation. Okay, we're going to clap in three, two, one. Perfect. Okay. Let's see. You got that? All right. Perfect. Okay. Let's see. You got that? All right. We resume with Serafina. You have one arm on hope. One arm, sorry, both. One arm on the throne. And you're like, you're still there. The water is flooding in, rushing around you. Your friends just went down the drain. There was a big crack in the center of the room. And you see at the other end of the room, behind the throne, at pretty much the door out, is Spore, Tor, and that unnamed guy. All are there, also just, like, clamoring out. But they've also stayed hot and dry. And as you're reaching down, what's going through your mind right now? I'm just trying to pull soap up, and I'm shouting, Tor, wait, you can't leave us. And I attempt to pull soap up onto this dry spot that I'm standing on. Okay. You shout that out as you're pulling hope. You're doing, like, the Captain America, like, helicopter roll. Oh, yeah. I'm the strongest character in this campaign, obviously. Clearly. You must have the highest strength. Okay. With that, can you give me an insight check with disadvantage? With all this stuff going on around you? Okay. So that's going to be a 9 plus 1, 10. And my second roll is a 5 plus 1, 6. Okay. So with a 6, you shout that out, and as you're shouting out, you're also focusing on pulling her up. Tor, who's, like, waterlogged a little bit, gets up. She's panting. Serafina. Yeah? Please tell me your friends didn't just go down the hole with the finger. I'm pretty sure, actually, all of my friends went down the hole with the finger, and it's just you, Spore, whoever that guy is, and Hope, I don't know, and I. So, yeah, they're actually all gone. You have the person that you keep calling Hope with you? Yeah. I'm actually still holding a hand, yeah, right now. Okay. And as you guys are talking, the water does start to. As you guys are talking, the jet streams of water that were shooting out do start to subside, and it's now just basically like somebody had the hose on rather than somebody had the fire hose on. And you two are here on the throne, and the path, basically, is cleared. And you see Tor looks at her people, and, like, she looks at you. Like, I'm assuming she can see you above the throne. And she's unsure of what to do in this moment. I turn to Hope. Are you okay? Yeah, they nod wordlessly about panting. You see they took in a fair amount of water, and so they're also spitting that out. But a lot of it gets stuck in the mask. It's not comfortable looking. Still holding their hand, give it a tight, second-long squeeze, something Seraphine has done to Hope many a time before. Okay. Successful. Giving a tight, second-long squeeze. I'm assuming Hope would always squeeze back. That was, like, the... So a long, two-second squeeze back was an I'm okay, and a rapid, two-squeeze would mean it's okay. And that was kind of, like, their secret communication when they're... Okay. Then... You... Give me a light-up hand. Okay. I'm hoping that some form of, if this is Hope, muscle memory kicks in. Okay. That's a plus three, so that's a 19 plus three. That's a 22. 22. You do this the perfect way you could do it, and Hope does not squeeze back. Do you know for a fact that if there was some sort of muscle memory, this should be enough to kick in? Either muscle memory's gone, or something else is. I immediately drop the hand. Step back. You drop the hand. You cannot pick step back. You're standing on the throne. Metaphorically, emotionally, I can't step back. I'm taking it back. I'm taking it back. Okay, you're taking it back. You're not... Do you hear Tor behind you? Sorry, go ahead, Ashley. You're... Hope, are you? They look at you. No, my name is Hope. I am the faintest who you're talking to. I really thought you could have been my sister. I have her horns and everything. But that squeeze. Listen, woman, thanks for saving my life, but no, I'm not. Good luck, I guess. I was trying to kill you a moment ago. And as she says that, you feel it. This mountain is not done from splitting in half and crumbling and having water shoot out of it, and you hear Tor go, all right, Seraphina, if you bring her over here safely, if you bring us Hope, we can make a deal of some sorts, but just get her over here, okay? Okay, all right. Hope? She's going to stick out a hand. You ready? Hope looks at you, fear in her eyes, and says, yes, now I'm safe, yeah? You might not be my sister, but I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay? We're getting out of this. I don't know how to respond to this. Sure, I'm terrified. Jump! And you both jump. Do either of you take Tor's hand, or are you just jumping across? I think I would probably take Tor's hand, yeah. Yeah, she grabs your hand. There's a moment of look in your eyes. She's got your hand. Do you have Hope's hand, her Hope's hand? Probably still. Or no, no, I let go of it, I let go of it. I think Hope is jumping by herself. She also grabs Hope with the other hand, and she's, like, pulling you two up, and you see Big Spore behind her, got her, like, her back, and is helping her. And you guys pull yourselves up, and also the other guys there. Yeah, that other unnamed person. The other unnamed person is still present. And, yeah, you guys pull up, and you see rocks start to fall. And Tor goes, let's get the fuck out of here. Go, go, let's go. And you guys all pull. Yeah, she takes you through, like, this back road route, which in the few seconds that you're going through, you can see there's – in the few seconds you're going through, you can see just a glimpse of where it seems they live, a glimpse of where it seems they eat. And then you run right literally through a painting. You see Spore charges a cannonball through it. It's weird that there's a painting here. There were no other paintings. It was not the best hidden escape route. But into a more narrow tunnel. And as all this is going on, the earth is still shaking. You see cracks are forming in the rocks. Spiders you see coming out of holes from the ground from deep below. But you guys are bolting it. And you get out the other side of the mountain, slide out as the rocks crumble behind you, and you hear the sound of an avalanche. But from where you are, you look around, and you are in a forest on the other side of the mountain. And behind you is most of a mountain. You can't see too much damage, but you hear the sound of an avalanche. And Spore goes, We're not going to be safe until we get a ways away from this place. I don't know what the fuck you're trying to do. Do you think they're alive? Was that any way out? I don't know. Serafina, I don't know. So many people are dead. If they're alive, it's a miracle. I never wanted any of this. I guess I have answers now. I know this isn't my sister, but all I wanted was answers and to talk with someone. I'm proud of you guys too. Ana, I... Can you make me a deal? As two people who are in shitty situations. That we are, yeah. What is it, Tor? If you can get me back that thing. I... I guess this isn't your time. Let's just say the horns are hers. They are. We'll figure something out. Oh, sorry. Yeah, just, there's going to be... Noise. Yeah, there's going to be noise, I get it. Yeah. I have a dog, yeah. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Yeah. Dad, I'm just recording right now. So far, since we're just a little interlude, everything is great. I think the... Dropped the ball a bit when it was initially really loud and water running. I was very quiet. That doesn't make any sense. I would have been like yelling over running water. But I... We can either re-record that part or we can make that work. I think the dial-up's good. Yeah. Yeah, let me know when you're good. We can keep talking, that's fine. Yeah, so... What was she talking about? What was I... And then, oh yeah. Just... Oh, I know exactly what she... Okay. What was the question? You probably have this prepped and know what the finger does, even though you haven't really told us exactly. But I think Serafina's going to just ask about... I'll try, but what is it really? Explain that, if I'm going to retrieve it for you. Cool. Yeah, just to... Because I do have the answer to that question. Okay. I do have the answer to that question, but... Are we ready to hop back in? Yeah. That's just me. You don't need to do that. Yeah, just make me a deal, Sera. You can get me that finger back, too, and I'll... I might be able to help you. Please figure out where we got this. That's a very tempting... And I... Well, you've been nothing but kind to me, but I need to know what that finger does before I say yes to this deal. You can understand that, right? No. Actually, give me a persuasion check. The final one. I'm relatively good at persuasions, though. We will see. Actually, no, I'm very good at persuasion. It's one of my expert things. Okay. 15 plus 8? That is going to be a 23. To 23s! Oh, yeah. I don't know what that is. Roleplay? This is my realm. Fighting? Not so much. She looks you dead in the eyes, and she goes... You have 23. Yes. She goes... I'm just trying... Okay. I'm just trying to make sure that I'm saying what she knows about it... Yeah, totally. ...as opposed to what I know about it, and just making sure those two things are aligned, and she doesn't... Okay. She looks at you and she goes... For the brief couple seconds I had that on my finger, and she points to her bloody stump of a finger that she's missing, and she goes, For the brief few seconds I had that, I remembered things from our perspective. She had knowledge we hadn't. The Empress, or whatever we were supposed to call her. And that finger, I think, is where that helps. If you can get that back, then I can... I can remember who we were. In those moments, did you remember anything about yourself? So exciting! That's incredible, Tor! Tor just has, like, a... With the fact that you've just rolled a 23 as to what it does, I'm going to count that as partial insight check, and basically you get a sense that she's a little overloaded from the thought of the memory from that time. Ready to know. She... goes... It was... It was... Or was what? Yeah. Take that in. Take on it. Go ahead. I'm sorry, you go ahead. Is this the wounded hand? Oh, absolutely. Good. And... I... Healing word. Okay. It won't bring back the pain? No. But it's a bloody stump, and I'm sure she's in a lot of pain. Oh. You see that she's... Your moment of kindness. That's also a 3 plus 4 healing system. Oh, wow. Your moment of kindness. Take a moment to go... Thank you. And... The four of them kind of like line up. The other side. Basically a creek. You point and go, that's the direction you're going to have to head. Follow that up the mountain. You're going to want to walk down once you hit the saddle. I... I wasn't fully truthful with you about what the finger does. It also lets you command people, as you guys saw. Yeah. I... I don't... I don't want to... I don't want to be... I want to be that. One. And with that, just kind of... Okay. Walking... Up the direction. Paul, before you go... Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah? If I get the finger... How am I to find you? Not that big of a... And, um... I know a thing or two when it comes to trying to be better. And protecting people around you. Seems like stepping up... Is already a step in the right direction. Okay. Turn around, you walk away. Her, with her big four... Ope, and... Or I guess Ope, I can just tell them by their name. Ope, yeah. And the other, walk away. And... Walk... Forward. Hope to find your friend. But as you're walking away... Walk away. Here's the sound... Birds... Breathe. Seeing... Little patch of... Fairy. Fairybugs. And in the pattern... Drinking a nice little cup of tea... Is a cute little badger. A badger that you recognize... And know the name of. And know the name of. And that's where we're going to end this mini-session. Okay. And that's, for reference, that's just basically going to be the device we use to connect you back to the rest of the party. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. May I get this badger's name? Or is that... I don't know what that's on me. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Hm. Got it. I... I think I've remembered more than most, but... Yeah, okay. I can end my recording now, yeah?