Welcome back to Legend Lunchbox. Last time, the crew explored Timber Camp Number 12, survived one very large sleeping bear, and gathered enough old Willowcraft supplies to give the S.S. Distress its first real patch job. But a few planks and a new cooking stove are not enough to get them flying again. To fix the ship properly, they'll need help, answers, and maybe someone who knows what to do with a pile of untreated Weepingwood lumber, which means it's finally time to head toward the buildings they hope are the town of Willowfoot Stands.
Guide (Chris):By the time you make it back to the S.S. Distress, the light above the forest has begun to fade. Shadows stretch between the Weepingwood trunks, and the air turns cold enough that the campfire you manage to coax from the deadfall and sap draws you close to its warmth and comfort. Nearby, your floating sled hangs just above the ground, piled high. It sags under the weight of everything you hauled back from the trek to the Willowcraft Timber Camp. The Distress is still tilted and riddled with issues, but for the first time since your escape from Rumia Outpost, you have a fire, supplies, and enough quiet time to think.
Guide (Chris):So as you guys all settle in for some rest, what's the plan?
CAM (Tito):Should we patch up this hole before we go to sleep?
Lysander (Jay):Might be a good idea.
Rolo (Phil):100%.
CAM (Tito):It's a little drafty.
Squawk (Madeleine):Did we decide where we're sleeping? Are we sleeping I I think we said that. Are we sleeping in the ship? Do we have a little tenty situation? As long as we're all together.
CAM (Tito):I think as long as we can patch this hole, that's probably the safest place to sleep.
Lysander (Jay):I would think so. Yes.
CAM (Tito):Otherwise, one of those crazy squirrel things will drag us out into the forest.
Squawk (Madeleine):Also very cozy. I'm into it. Let's have a little hole patching party.
Guide (Chris):Okay. So you guys do have a bunch of the dry planks that you pulled from the camp. You have a whole bunch of, like, adhesive and some tools and...
CAM (Tito):Nails.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. Nails and fasteners and that sort of stuff. So you can do some real basic repairs. I mean, you're not going to make it completely weatherproof, but it probably enough to keep the critters and a little bit of the rain out. So it takes about an hour.
Guide (Chris):Just say you guys patch it up and clean it up and which allows you to probably sleep in the ship and feel a little bit more comfortable. Gotta make sure, Rolo, when you lock the door that you keep the key.
Squawk (Madeleine):Rolo.
Rolo (Phil):It's around my neck.
CAM (Tito):And and lock it after we're in.
Squawk (Madeleine):After.
Rolo (Phil):Is it one of those locks where you can stick the key in from the front and and the back?
Guide (Chris):Sure.
Rolo (Phil):Like a like a skeleton key lock.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):Sure.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. So while you guys are patching up the ship, Rolo, you do notice that the nameplate, the S.S. Distress nameplate is missing. There's, like, the backing plate that it used to be on is still bolted to the wall, but the plate itself is missing.
Rolo (Phil):And it was there when we crashed?
Guide (Chris):Well, it was there when you were ripping the ship apart initially. You haven't really noticed it since then, but it's not there now.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, man. Did the squirrels take the nameplate?
Squawk (Madeleine):Why do squirrels... I guess it's shi, was it shiny?
Guide (Chris):It was. It was kinda a little bronze nameplate.
Rolo (Phil):Well, how attached are we to the S.S. Distress as a name?
Squawk (Madeleine):I thought it was kind of a bummer.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah.
CAM (Tito):It's a little sad.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):May I suggest the Perspicacity?
Lysander (Jay):You could suggest it. Sure.
Rolo (Phil):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):I always like that word. I don't know what it means.
CAM (Tito):Sure. As long as you can spell it.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah. I won't be able to read it, but you could spell it.
Rolo (Phil):How about Beans? The S.S. Beans.
Squawk (Madeleine):You are not good at naming. I'm so sorry.
CAM (Tito):Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah. No.
CAM (Tito):No. How how about we rebuild it? And then once we see it in all of its glory, a name will come to us.
Squawk (Madeleine):It will come to us.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, I like it.
Guide (Chris):That's a good idea.
Squawk (Madeleine):Bean could be its middle name.
Lysander (Jay):Its middle name? Sure.
CAM (Tito):In the meantime, anybody wanna help me get this stove in there so we have some warmth for tonight?
Squawk (Madeleine):You guys go. You guys do that. Get that stove in.
Rolo (Phil):I'm gonna unload the planks.
Guide (Chris):Alright.
CAM (Tito):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):I'm gonna stoke the fire for some marshmallow time.
Guide (Chris):Alright.
Squawk (Madeleine):I know it's coming. Do we all know what those are from our various lands?
CAM (Tito):Do we have marshmallows?
Lysander (Jay):I don't. I don't know what a marshmallow is.
Guide (Chris):So as you guys unload, you tally up, like, what you've collected. So you've got 10 remaining pairs of long johns.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh.
Guide (Chris):You've got a couple of days of emergency food. You've got 16 of those Weepingwood planks.
Guide (Chris):You probably used about half of them to patch up the hole right now. I mean, there's definitely still more holes, and you'll need the rest of them to do. But, like, the basic repairs, you've used about half. You got some tools, some saws. You've got, like I said, the adhesive and oil and some repair supplies.
Guide (Chris):The stove, you guys are are moving back into the ship. You did find those two healing potions. Don't forget.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, yeah. Oh.
Guide (Chris):Squawk, you've got a warm sweater that you found.
Squawk (Madeleine):I forgot. I wondered why I felt so cozy. Wait. Am I wearing it?
Guide (Chris):Sure.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, I must be wearing it.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. It's really long on you. So it's like...
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes.
Guide (Chris):Down around, like, your ankles.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh my gosh. Such fashions.
Guide (Chris):It does keep you super warm.
Squawk (Madeleine):My bird friends would be so jealous. If they could see me now.
Guide (Chris):And you have that big old kiln heart that's like your pet rock. So.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes. I have a pet. I am cozy. Things are looking up. Okay.
Guide (Chris):And then you've got a couple of those books that you guys found. So anything else you wanna do for the evening?
Rolo (Phil):I know what I wanna do. I I wanna take how wide are these planks that float in the air?
Guide (Chris):So the ones you guys have, the smaller ones that you made the sled out of, they're about eight feet long, and they're about a foot and a half to two feet wide.
Rolo (Phil):Perfect.
CAM (Tito):Uh-oh.
Squawk (Madeleine):For what?
CAM (Tito):I think he's about to go air surfing.
Rolo (Phil):That's exactly what I was thinking! Dude! I could get right on this, and I totally practice standing up on it and doing a cool surf pose.
Guide (Chris):Alright.
Lysander (Jay):Alright.
CAM (Tito):I think we need a roll for that.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. Give me a roll. I'll I'll say you can get advantage just since you're a surfer.
Rolo (Phil):How how high off the ground do they...
Guide (Chris):Well, once you've unloaded everything, I mean, they're probably five, six inches off the ground. I mean, it's not crazy high.
Rolo (Phil):It's like a hoverboard.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. Basically.
Squawk (Madeleine):So lucky.
Rolo (Phil):It's a hover surfboard.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):I'm so down.
CAM (Tito):You you might be down depending on your roll.
Squawk (Madeleine):Wait. Are you doing it right now?
Rolo (Phil):I'm doing it right now. Wait. Do I have to roll?
Squawk (Madeleine):I have never been so impressed in my life.
Guide (Chris):You got advantage so you can roll two dice.
Rolo (Phil):I roll a 16 and a 13. I will take the 16.
Guide (Chris):That's alright. No. They're both good.
Squawk (Madeleine):So cool.
Guide (Chris):So you basically, while you guys are are getting the ship back in order and counting through stuff, Rolo is zipping around the ship on the outside on his little little sled surfboard.
Rolo (Phil):Oh. Oh. Can I do a bank turn?
Guide (Chris):Sure.
Rolo (Phil):Nice!
Guide (Chris):You tell us what you do.
CAM (Tito):Right off the side of the ship.
Lysander (Jay):Yep.
Rolo (Phil):I figure out how to do a bank turn. Guys, guys, check it out.
Lysander (Jay):Woo hoo!
Squawk (Madeleine):Woo! I am enthralled. You guys are the best. I can't do anything cool.
CAM (Tito):I I didn't bring any casts with me, so be careful.
Squawk (Madeleine):I am, I'm just flying him more flying around him now. I'm so excited. I'm just flying around this surfboard.
Guide (Chris):Nice.
Lysander (Jay):You should pull him. Get him really going fast.
Squawk (Madeleine):I should totally pull you.
Guide (Chris):Oh my...
Squawk (Madeleine):I'm holding on to the end, and he's pulling me. He doesn't know. But I'm like, my eyes closed. I'm like, whoo! I'm not good at flying. I don't wanna pull anyone.
Guide (Chris):Okay. So the sun's pretty much down or the the light's pretty much gone, and and you guys can settle in for the night unless there's anything else you wanna do.
Squawk (Madeleine):Rain check marshmallows?
CAM (Tito):Yeah. We'll rain check the marshmallows.
Squawk (Madeleine):Until we all understand what they are. We'll talk first.
Guide (Chris):Until you get some.
CAM (Tito):Or until we have any.
Rolo (Phil):We've gotta go to a marsh to get them.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes. You're right. Yes. The marsh with the mellows. Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):Do they come in a tree? Or?
Squawk (Madeleine):Look. I'll tell you later.
Lysander (Jay):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):Uncultured.
Guide (Chris):Uncultured. Because the don't know what marshmallows are?
Squawk (Madeleine):Where were you raised?
Guide (Chris):Ok, so you guys sleep through the night, and it's actually relatively comfortable, you know, as comfortable as it can be on a a crooked ship.
Guide (Chris):But you're out of the elements and you stay warm. And every once in a while, you hear, like, some scratching on the hull and you see, like, a little paw with some fur stick through one of the holes, but they can't seem to get in.
Lysander (Jay):I tap on them when they stick through the holes, you know.
Guide (Chris):They they shoot off in the distance. Alright. So the next morning rolls around. What do you guys want to do?
Squawk (Madeleine):I wanna go see some stuff.
CAM (Tito):Well, with the logbook, I guess we gotta bring some of these planks with us to that town to get them treated so we could actually get the ship to lift up out of the ground here.
Squawk (Madeleine):I can't believe we have to have adventures while we're hauling all these planks around. Can't we make the plank magic come to us?
CAM (Tito):Well, maybe we could just leave it here and go check out the town.
Squawk (Madeleine):They're just so big.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. I mean, they're pretty big. They're, like, 10 feet long. So, I mean, you can put them on a sled and drag them. So it's not that big of a deal, but still you're dragging a sled with 10 foot long timbers.
Lysander (Jay):Through the woods.
Guide (Chris):Through the woods.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah.
CAM (Tito):Well, I mean, we don't know what's at the town yet anyway. So.
Lysander (Jay):True.
CAM (Tito):Maybe we should just leave everything here, go check out the town first, and then...
Squawk (Madeleine):They might steal our wood.
CAM (Tito):Well, there might not be anybody there.
Lysander (Jay):Right.
CAM (Tito):We don't know how old this journal is.
Squawk (Madeleine):I feel like there'll be some people there. I just have a feeling.
Lysander (Jay):Well, Tobin said that they're the Standers, so there must be somebody standing there.
Squawk (Madeleine):I love when people stand.
Lysander (Jay):I mean.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay. Let's go. Let's go. I can't wait.
Lysander (Jay):I guess they'd be the Sitters, or maybe they're lying down. Like, they're maybe dead now. So.
Squawk (Madeleine):Listen. Who votes we go right now?
Rolo (Phil):I vote now.
Lysander (Jay):Sure. Yeah, let's go.
Rolo (Phil):I wanna, can I ride my surfboard there?
Guide (Chris):Sure. I mean, again, they're pretty big.
Rolo (Phil):You can't tell me I can't.
Guide (Chris):No. I mean, it it's so, again, figure it's about five, six feet wide by about eight feet long.
Lysander (Jay):Five or six feet wide?
Rolo (Phil):I thought it was a foot and a half wide.
CAM (Tito):That's a whole different...
Guide (Chris):Well, you originally made it out of three planks. I mean, if you wanna pull it apart, you can make it.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, yeah. No. I I just want one plank.
Guide (Chris):Oh, okay. Yeah. So, I mean, that's gonna be narrow. That's gonna be more snowboardish than surfboardish.
Rolo (Phil):The other two planks are still unless you guys wanna make your own surfboards. Here, I'll show you how to do it. First, you lie down on your stomach like this, and then you push the ground with your arms until you get going fast enough. And then you pop up, and you you balance on the board. And then watch this big turn.
CAM (Tito):Watch out for that tree.
Squawk (Madeleine):With your arms. Thanks. Thanks. With your arms. I just feel like it's like I'm not even here.
Guide (Chris):Anybody else gonna try it?
CAM (Tito):Nope.
Squawk (Madeleine):No. Because I can fly.
Guide (Chris):That's true. You can fly.
Squawk (Madeleine):Not very well. But nobody else can do that.
Lysander (Jay):And I can shapeshift. So I don't...
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah. You're right.
CAM (Tito):I like my feet on solid ground.
Squawk (Madeleine):But I will hold on to the end of Rolo's the whole way there.
Rolo (Phil):But you're slowing me down!
Squawk (Madeleine):I'm what are you I'm very light.
Rolo (Phil):You should flap and make me go faster.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay. That's what I'll kick in the air like like I'm doing front stroke. Front I don't know what that is. I'm a bird, but I I kick.
Rolo (Phil):Why are you kicking? Why not use your wings?
Squawk (Madeleine):My wings are holding on. Oh, wait. I can hold on with my beak. I can hold... Teamwork!
Guide (Chris):You can hold on with your feet.
Squawk (Madeleine):This is good. I'm holding on with my beak, and I'm flapping because I can't talk when my beak's full on.
Lysander (Jay):So so she's holding on with her beak. She's flapping her wings and kicking her legs.
Guide (Chris):That's awesome.
CAM (Tito):I'm sure you guys got total control over that board.
Guide (Chris):Alright. So you leave the ship and you head in the direction of the buildings you believe are Willowfoot Stands. At first, the path is little more than an overgrown track. It's easy to lose among the roots, fallen needles, and patches of moss. But as the hours pass, the forest begins to show signs that people used to come this way often.
Guide (Chris):You pass half buried road markers, old drainage cuts, and cable posts leaning at odd angles between trees. Here and there are faded Willowcraft signs still cling to trunks or posts marked with a broad W worked from the shape of a tall tree and its roots. The forest is still thick, but it no longer feels like you're in the remote wilderness. It feels like a place that used to be busy and then was slowly forgotten.
Guide (Chris):So as you guys travel, do you talk about anything? The ship, bear, Willowfoot, Squawk's pet rock?
Squawk (Madeleine):I can't talk because I'm clinging with my beak.
Rolo (Phil):And I can't talk because I'm going, Woo!!!
Squawk (Madeleine):Actually, I wanna talk, so I'm gonna let go of my beak.
Rolo (Phil):Whaaahh!!
Squawk (Madeleine):It was getting embarrassing. I wanna I wanna chat with my friends, so I'm gonna walk down with them.
Guide (Chris):Alright. Go ahead.
Squawk (Madeleine):What are we gonna talk about, guys? Should we tell secrets?
Lysander (Jay):You got secrets to tell? If you tell a secret, it's no longer a secret.
Squawk (Madeleine):Is that science? I mean, we could sing. Oh.
Guide (Chris):Talk about the time Squawk got attacked by her microphone?
Squawk (Madeleine):Sorry. It was a tree I walked into.
Squawk (Madeleine):I feel like I'm being bossy. What should you what do you guys think we should do?
Guide (Chris):I think Squawk did should tell everybody about the flamingo school.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):My flamingo school I was at. I don't usually talk about it.
Lysander (Jay):Where was the flamingo school?
Squawk (Madeleine):It's on my lagoon. My lagoon. You know, you wouldn't have heard of it. It's very exclusive. I was there for a while.
Squawk (Madeleine):I got kicked out. But we don't need to worry about why. Basically, they're all jerks, and I'm not going back there. And I don't care. I don't care what they think of me.
Squawk (Madeleine):And and, you know, there's probably better schools. Who cares? Who really cares? Right? Yeah. Flamingo school.
Lysander (Jay):And what did you learn in Flamingo school?
Squawk (Madeleine):Well, you're supposed to learn how to be tough. I'm I mean, who needs it? I'm already tough. Right? I didn't I didn't really fit in.
Squawk (Madeleine):But, I mean, flamingos are snobs. You guys know that. Right? I'm the nicest flamingo you've ever met. Have you guys even met other flamingos?
CAM (Tito):No. Can't say I have.
Lysander (Jay):I can turn into a flamingo.
Squawk (Madeleine):They are not nice. Let's just say. I don't wanna talk about it anymore!
Squawk (Madeleine):Well, I've shared the requisite amount of feelings, and I would like someone else to do the same now. Share some feelings, Lysander.
Lysander (Jay):Sure. I have some feelings.
Squawk (Madeleine):Tell me about when you were us when you were about, like, really rejected, so I feel some sympathy.
Lysander (Jay):No. Well, okay. So the the the pirates, you know, that that that came to my my home and took all the sap and and enslaved all the people.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah?
Lysander (Jay):It was well, I invited them.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, man.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah. So yeah. So I feel kinda bad about that. And then they kidnapped me because of my shapeshifting abilities.
Squawk (Madeleine):Rude!
Lysander (Jay):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):Must be hard to kidnap a shape shifter. Like, what do you how do you tie him up? Like...
Squawk (Madeleine):You can turn into a gnat.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah. They put me in a cage.
Squawk (Madeleine):A mosquito. Oh.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah. So I feel real bad about that. But I escaped, and I got this, and I pull out this piece of paper that I wanna get the tattoos with. So I show this piece of paper.
Lysander (Jay):It's got all, like, lines on it on the sides of the paper or two like. There's an animal that looks like a it's actually a hippogriff, but it's a it's like a lion and a eagle mixed together, and then the other side is a dragon. I'm gonna get those tattooed on my body.
Squawk (Madeleine):Let's all get them. Let's all get friendship tattoos. Matching!
Lysander (Jay):So, anyway, so that's when the I ran into you guys when I was escaping the the the pirates.
Squawk (Madeleine):But how did you feel?
Lysander (Jay):How did I feel?
Squawk (Madeleine):Did you feel so sad?
Lysander (Jay):When I escaped? No. I was excited when I escaped.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, okay.
Guide (Chris):So, Rolo, while while Lysander's holding up that map, you notice that it real quickly, you just catch the word treasure on it.
Rolo (Phil):Woah! You guys see this word over here? It's written in the old Elvish script, which says, Laufalfah-Lahdah which means it means treasure... or canned food, depending on how you say it.
Squawk (Madeleine):Both good things!
Lysander (Jay):Wow.
Rolo (Phil):I suppose that's true.
Squawk (Madeleine):Most canned food is fish.
Lysander (Jay):So what is this piece of paper then?
Guide (Chris):Rolo and and, CAM, you start looking at it now too. Like, you can actually tell, like, this is actually some sort of treasure map. You don't know, it doesn't really describe where it is, but you see, like, a land mass and you can read, like, some directions on, you know, how to get to it. But, like, if you were at the right place on the right land, you would probably be able to find this treasure, but you just don't know where that land is.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, man.
CAM (Tito):You got this from the pirates?
Lysander (Jay):Well, yeah, I was I was leave I I I ripped it out of a another spell book, but I just got it because I like the pictures of the animals. I didn't know what it was. I just ripped it out as I was escaping. So that might not have been a good thing then.
CAM (Tito):No. No. That's fine. I mean, they're pirates. So take stuff from them. It's it's okay.
Lysander (Jay):But yeah, but...
Squawk (Madeleine):And a map to somewhere we don't know how to get to or where it even is. It's better than no map at all. We didn't have a map before.
Rolo (Phil):A treasure map is always a good thing.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):But they may want it, though.
CAM (Tito):Just too bad it wasn't a map of this island.
Lysander (Jay):Maybe it is.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):We don't know.
Squawk (Madeleine):And there's nice animal pictures. Win win.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah, so.
CAM (Tito):Well, keep that safe for now.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):I roll it back up and put it in one of my pouches.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah. Maybe you don't show people.
Lysander (Jay):I didn't know it was a treasure map until now.
Squawk (Madeleine):Or a canned food map.
Lysander (Jay):Or a canned food map.
Squawk (Madeleine):Very valuable.
Guide (Chris):That's treasure.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah. Either way.
CAM (Tito):Either find a lot of money or a lot of food.
Guide (Chris):Yep.
Rolo (Phil):You don't want Elvish canned food, though. It's it's it's pretty bland. It's all ambrosia.
Squawk (Madeleine):Granola.
Rolo (Phil):Granola.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah. Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, well. Alright. So we're just walking.
Guide (Chris):Yep. So as you guys walk, the scent of rusty pine needles mingles with a hint of sweet sap around you as you continue to follow the path through the tall trees. You near a bend in the road and you come across a large damaged Weepingwood tree growing besides an old cable post. The post appears to have been stripped of anything useful, and the road surface around it is cracked and uneven. But the tree, on the other hand, has been carefully tended to.
Guide (Chris):The wounded section of the bark has been bound in place with a long thin branch and is sealed over with a dark resin patch that completely seals the broken section of the bark from the elements. So what do you guys do? Do you check out the tree? Or?
Lysander (Jay):Sure.
Squawk (Madeleine):We check out the tree.
Rolo (Phil):I think we should just sail on past it.
Squawk (Madeleine):Wait. Okay.
Rolo (Phil):No. I think we should check out this cool tree.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):Briefly.
Guide (Chris):So it looks like it is definitely a carefully patched and practical repair to the tree. It's definitely meant to help the tree, but you also notice that, like, the road and the post and everything are just a wreck. And it doesn't seem like they, whoever repaired the tree did anything to the other stuff.
Lysander (Jay):Is it a very tall tree?
Guide (Chris):Yeah. I mean, all these Weepingwood trees are are pretty tall. I mean, they're anywhere from 50 to a 100'ish feet, some a little bit taller.
Squawk (Madeleine):I'm not clear on when you say they didn't do anything to the other stuff. You just mean, like, the rest of the tree.
Guide (Chris):Well, there's other damage in the area. So for example, like, the road is all cracked and so but it doesn't look like anybody spent any time repairing anything other than a tree.
Squawk (Madeleine):They must love this tree.
Guide (Chris):And so, CAM, you looked down and you actually noticed that there's some marks on the ground in the general area.
CAM (Tito):Like claw marks or, like, footprints or?
Guide (Chris):So you spend some time looking and it looks like they're little boot marks. And then occasionally, you'll see, like, a three toed webbed footprint also.
CAM (Tito):Like a frog?
Guide (Chris):I mean, it's a lot bigger than a frog.
CAM (Tito):Oh.
Guide (Chris):It looks almost like toddler sized, if that makes sense.
Squawk (Madeleine):Toddler flamingo? Toddler shape shifter?
CAM (Tito):Would I recognize these prints or it's foreign to me?
Guide (Chris):I mean, you recognize that there's definitely small boots, and the boot marks look to be about the same size as the webbed footprint. So as in maybe some were wearing boots and some were not.
CAM (Tito):Might be some kind of native species or some people here, but, apparently, they love trees, and they're not too happy about civilization being here, I guess, since they maybe destroyed the road and the sign over here.
Squawk (Madeleine):Do we feel like from the direction of the footprints, does it look like they could be are they of a size that they could be in the tree? Is there, a secret tree door?
Guide (Chris):I mean, they could be. You you look around and you don't see anything up in the trees near you. And it does seem like most of the prints you see are around this tree in this general area. You don't really see them like I I mean, it's not like if you follow them a little bit, they peter off and you kinda lose them.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay.
Lysander (Jay):Okay.
Rolo (Phil):Well, I can tell you that this is not done by elves. Elven tree fixing is different from that.
CAM (Tito):And and your feet are a little bigger.
Rolo (Phil):Well, that is also true. Not, you know, not too much bigger. Come on.
Squawk (Madeleine):But we still don't know why they should we try and figure out why they fixed this tree? What if we hug it?
Rolo (Phil):Was it broken?
Guide (Chris):Well, it was. So, I mean, it does look like the tree had, like, a big gash on it, and they seem to have taken the bark... pieces of the bark, put it up against where it was damaged, wrapped it around with some branch, and then, like I said, sealed it up with, like, a a some sort of resin. It looks almost like the sap a little bit, but just very hardened.
CAM (Tito):So I'm I'm kinda interested in how they did this, you know, being this is like a patch job on, like, a person, like stitches and all that. So I'm gonna take a really close look at the seam and see how well everything reintegrated.
Guide (Chris):It's done very well. So if if you were to compare it to, like, a surgeon fixing a person, it was like a top notch surgeon.
Guide (Chris):Tree surgeon, as a matter of fact.
Lysander (Jay):Now is this tree can we tell is this tree the same as our planks type of wood?
Guide (Chris):Well yeah. So the Weepingwood planks, these these trees are...
Lysander (Jay):These are them.
Guide (Chris):Like, 90% of the trees in the forest are this Weepingwood. I mean, there are some other evergreen trees like firs and and and stuff like that. But for the most part, it's these tall Weepingwood trees.
CAM (Tito):I'm just gonna poke at the patch a little bit just to see if it's pretty sturdy or how well the sap is holding.
Guide (Chris):It's super solid. It it feels almost harder than the the bark itself.
CAM (Tito):And is this the same sap that was been coming out of the trees?
Guide (Chris):It seems to have a darker color to it. You can tell that it does seem to have some sap. Like, maybe the sap was a component of it.
CAM (Tito):Mixed with something?
Guide (Chris):Maybe something else. Yeah. Mixed within it.
Squawk (Madeleine):Something else.
CAM (Tito):I'm gonna try to take a small sample to to hold on to for later.
Guide (Chris):Okay. So you can scrape a little little tiny piece off the edge, and it's just like a hard sliver. It it almost feels solid like rock like because it's so hardened.
CAM (Tito):Gotta figure out how to make this stuff.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah, this is could be totally handy, although I want it nowhere near my feathers. Again.
Lysander (Jay):Maybe maybe we could seal up some of the holes with the ship.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):Okay. Alright.
Guide (Chris):Alright. So as you continue toward the town, you begin to catch the scent of wood smoke in the air. The road begins to descend through the trees towards a swift river cut into a wide channel. A pair of stone pillars are driven into the shore on both banks, but only a few broken pieces of the old wooden bridge remain, Most of it having been carried away or swallowed up by the muddy riverbed. The river is only about 30 feet across, but it's moving very fast.
Guide (Chris):So what do you guys try to do to get across the river?
Squawk (Madeleine):I once again forget that we're not all birds, and I'm like, come on. Let's go. And I take off.
Guide (Chris):Squawk just flies over to the other bank.
Rolo (Phil):I'm just gonna take my surfboard across. I'm assuming it floats on water.
Guide (Chris):It will float.
Rolo (Phil):Or does it not work on water unless you have power?
Guide (Chris):No. I mean, it will float. It's just the river's moving really fast, so it's very hard to control.
CAM (Tito):So it doesn't hover above water then?
Guide (Chris):I mean, barely. But the water, when it's hitting it, is kinda knocking it sideways and, you know, it's it's making it very difficult for you to stand on.
Squawk (Madeleine):And now I feel really bad.
Rolo (Phil):You mean it's like I'm having a hard time surfing while in the water?
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):Come on, dude. Check it out!
Guide (Chris):Well, it's not really a wave per se. It's just a river rushing.
Rolo (Phil):I start like, jumping around and, like, you know, leaning into where the current is and then realize I'm a lot further down the river than where they were.
Guide (Chris):You'll be able to get across, but you're gonna be a couple 100 feet down the river.
Rolo (Phil):Well, that's happening.
Guide (Chris):Okay. So Squawk flies kinda haphazardly across the river, almost crashes a few times.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Guide (Chris):Rolo jumps on a surfboard and and ends up on the other side about a 100 feet down the river. So Lysander and CAM, what are you guys doing?
Lysander (Jay):Just I just look at CAM, and I just shake my head, like, slap my forehead. How deep is this again?
Guide (Chris):Pretty deep. It's probably fifteen, twenty feet, but it's just the water's moving really fast. So.
CAM (Tito):I guess I'm gonna try to grab a rope or something that maybe we brought with us.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. I would assume you guys have some.
CAM (Tito):I'm gonna try to flag Squawk over I'm like, Squawk, can you bring this rope into the other side and tie it onto a tree?
Squawk (Madeleine):And I'm like, anything for my friends. And it takes me about eight to eleven tries to get back over properly. There's some crashes, but I get there and I take the rope. And then do I fly back?
Guide (Chris):Sure.
CAM (Tito):Yep.
Squawk (Madeleine):I do it. It hurts. There's some bruises. I whack a few things. I'm very wet by the end, but I persevere bravely.
Squawk (Madeleine):And I get back with the rope.
Guide (Chris):Nice. So, Rolo, you're on the other side, but just a little bit downriver. What do you do?
Rolo (Phil):I work very hard to grab my board under my arm and and try to take it back up the river. I guess I could try to go through the trees.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. Well, I mean, could walk along the bank. I mean, it's it's clear enough that you could.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, okay. I wasn't sure if it was, like, rocky or something.
Guide (Chris):No. I mean, there are some spots that are a little little hairy, but you're able to to get back to so, basically, you can walk back to where Squawk is.
Rolo (Phil):Yeah. That's what I'm doing.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Lysander (Jay):Do we have a board with us, CAM?
CAM (Tito):No.
Lysander (Jay):We didn't bring any?
CAM (Tito):We left it at the camp. But she's tying the rope on the other tree, and then we could tie the rope on this end and kinda use it to help us cross so we don't get swept away by the water.
Lysander (Jay):Okay. I I hand you a little vial of water. I look at you and I say, can you breathe? Do you breathe air?
CAM (Tito):Kind of.
Lysander (Jay):Okay. Well, drink this, and it'll allow you for an hour to to give you gills so you could breathe underwater.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh!
CAM (Tito):Well, I'm not too worried about going underwater.
Lysander (Jay):Okay.
CAM (Tito):That's what the rope is for.
Lysander (Jay):Oh, alright. Well, go ahead. I'm just gonna stand on the other shore and wait.
Guide (Chris):Alright, CAM. So you're gonna try and basically handhold, like, use your hands and kinda cross?
CAM (Tito):Yeah. Pretty much.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
CAM (Tito):Go across with the rope.
Guide (Chris):Give me a roll. And then again, I'll say you have advantage since you have the rope.
CAM (Tito):That would be 10.
Guide (Chris):Okay. So you're able to get across, but you have to make a tough choice. So either you're going to drop something or you're going to lose your grip and start being swept downstream. I'll let you pick.
CAM (Tito):I guess I'll drop something.
Guide (Chris):Okay. Pick something randomly off, off your character sheet, and we'll say it starts floating downstream.
CAM (Tito):The the only stuff I really have is my my stethoscope, some tongue depressors, a can of oil. I guess the oil can go.
Guide (Chris):Okay. So you lose your oil.
Lysander (Jay):No!
CAM (Tito):Bye bye oil.
Rolo (Phil):That is so environmentally unfriendly.
CAM (Tito):It's an oil spill.
Rolo (Phil):Sorry. I'm on the other side. That is so environmentally unfriendly!
CAM (Tito):It's it's sealed in a in a container, so it's just gonna float down. It's not gonna, you know, spill everywhere.
Squawk (Madeleine):Hazardous, very hazardous. That's all you have? You don't have any fun stuff with you this whole time?
CAM (Tito):I I I wasn't planning on a trip. I was working in a clinic healing people.
Squawk (Madeleine):Gotta always have some fun stuff.
Guide (Chris):Alright. Lysander, what are you gonna do?
Lysander (Jay):I'm gonna walk into the water and then turn into a dolphin, swim down, grab his oil can, and then swim back to the other shore and just hand it to him as he gets out of the water. You dropped this.
CAM (Tito):Oh, thank you.
Guide (Chris):Squawk, you see this really big tasty looking fish swimming upstream.
Squawk (Madeleine):I eat it!
Guide (Chris):It's probably about twice the size of you.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay. I think about eating it.
CAM (Tito):And it's holding the can in its mouth.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, you mean you mean, Lysander? I... I've already forgotten. But okay. So I freak out because it looks like it could probably eat me, actually. And I run and hide.
CAM (Tito):I mean, they would have saw him turning into the dolphin. Right?
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):I was doing some grooming. My feathers were wet. I didn't but then I remember I'm a fighter, and I come out from hiding, And I attempt a brave posture while I wait to find out whether this is a dolphin or a or a murderer murderer dolphin.
Lysander (Jay):Could be both.
Squawk (Madeleine):Friendly one.
Guide (Chris):I I assume you turned back into Lysander.
Lysander (Jay):Yes. I...
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh my god. So relieved!
Guide (Chris):You probably should start warning people when you're gonna shapeshift so they know.
Lysander (Jay):Well, they all took off without me. I just stayed at the shore, and all of a sudden...
Squawk (Madeleine):I'm super embarrassed.
Lysander (Jay):Couldn't, everybody just left.
CAM (Tito):Gonna use a little bit of that oil in my joints after being submerged in the water.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. That's probably a good idea so you don't get any rust. Okay. So a good job. You guys gotta cross the river.
Guide (Chris):So the road climbs away from the river and leads through more forest over and around some small hills. The light begins to wane and you crest a small rise. And as the trees pull back in uneven patches laid out in front of you, you see Willowfoot Stands.
Guide (Chris):The first buildings are quiet and deserted. Old houses and shops line the road, some shuttered, some leaning, and some half swallowed by roots and undergrowth. A few still have signs above the doors, but most of the paint has faded into pale streaks.
Guide (Chris):But further in, past the darkened buildings, warm windows begin to glow. Chimney smoke drifts above rooftops, and somewhere ahead, a hammer knocks steadily against something metal. Muffled voices carry down through the streets. Willowfoot Stands doesn't seem to be abandoned. It just seems much too large for the number of people you think are living here.
Guide (Chris):So how do you guys enter town?
Squawk (Madeleine):With style!
Rolo (Phil):On a surfboard!
Squawk (Madeleine):Flying and running into everything.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):Bang. Lopsided.
Lysander (Jay):Playing the drums.
Guide (Chris):So you're a marching band coming in?
Lysander (Jay):Yep.
CAM (Tito):Where did we get drums from?
Lysander (Jay):I don't know.
Rolo (Phil):We're like a parade.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. That's what Phil, or Rolo's the float.
Rolo (Phil):Yep. Oh, man.
Squawk (Madeleine):CAM can, CAM can do the robot.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):Do we see anybody?
Guide (Chris):So the quiet blocks slowly give way to streets with patched roofs, lit windows, and stacked cargo. A small square opens up ahead of you, full of people finishing evening chores among the few stores and market stalls that appear to be closing up for the day.
Guide (Chris):Beyond the square, an old airship port is spread across a broad paved plaza. Landing circles, signal posts, crane towers, cargo sheds, and empty berths stand in careful rows. Most of them are quiet, but lamps are lit, ropes are coiled, and painted markers look fresh. It's as if somebody is still keeping the place ready.
Guide (Chris):Past the line of old fencing and warning posts on one side of the port, you see a darker stretch of town full of wide metal buildings with heavy doors and rusted frames. Tall shapes like cranes, steam stacks, and old treatment tanks rise above the roofs. Some of the buildings are boarded up, some are chained shut, and some look like they were closed up in a hurry.
Guide (Chris):As you take all of this in, a small voice pops up nearby. Mama, look. New peoples! You turn to see a small child with a lopsided grin pointing your direction, and the conversations closest to you fade first. Then more heads turn, and within a moment, a ripple of surprised whispers moves through the square.
Guide (Chris):Visitors?
Guide (Chris):We've had no ships come in.
Guide (Chris):Did they come out of the forest?