Welcome back to Legend Lunchbox. Last time, the crew left the Weeping Mother, shared a few secrets around the campfire, escaped another sap runner nest, and finally reached the abandoned resinstone mine. Four small armored Uhbokt working near the entrance spotted them, left behind a wrapped bundle, and walked away. Now with Aziron somewhere below, the crew heads down to see what was left for them and what still might be moving inside.
Chris:Hey, everyone. Before we jump into our adventure, there's another show I think you might enjoy called The Kids Table D&D. It's a family friendly dungeons and dragons actual play with kids, teens, and adults all at the same table. It's fun to listen to and might also give you a few ideas for adventures around your own table. They're already in their third season, so there's plenty to go back and explore. So if you're looking for another tabletop adventure, you can find The Kids Table D&D wherever you listen to podcasts.
Guide (Chris):You watch the Uhbokt disappear into the distance as you make your way down into the open field. Nix leads Ferd in the cart around spots where the road is cracked, lifted, or caved in from below. Now that you are closer, you can see the stumps more clearly. Around many of them, the ground has been dug away. Thick roots are missing, leaving deep holes and broken channels in the dirt. Some of the trees appear to have died before their trunks were cut, and the road leads to the remains of an old mine entrance. The remnants of three wooden buildings have collapsed into piles of rotten boards. Rusted barrels and old carts sit near the entrance, and a bent lifting frame leans near the center of the yard. The cloth wrapped bundle left by the small armored figure sits on the ground next to the dark mine opening.
Guide (Chris):So do you guys examine the buildings, the mine equipment, the bundle?
Rolo (Phil):Well, I wanna see what's in that bundle.
Squawk (Madeleine):I wanna know if there are snacks. Yeah. I want some snacks. What else would they have left us?
Rolo (Phil):I... Squawk and I start racing each other...
Squawk (Madeleine):Me first! Me!
Rolo (Phil):...to the bundle.
Squawk (Madeleine):I want the snacks. I shove him
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):To the side and he goes flying.
Guide (Chris):So you run up, and it's just like a cloth wrapped bundle, maybe about the size of a book. And as you unwrap it, you see inside it, there's a coil of rope about 30 feet, but it's like a very thin rope. And it's got this strange, like, amber color fiber running through the whole thing. It's not very flashy, and it's clearly handmade, but it seems pretty strong. And then in the center of it, there's this little lantern cage, and it's holding a small pale candle in it. And the wax has, like, these dark lines on it, and there's a little striker tied to the handle with a cord.
Squawk (Madeleine):It's a weird snack.
Rolo (Phil):Is the rope and the candle... Are they two separate items, or are they attached?
Guide (Chris):No. They're separate items.
Rolo (Phil):Okay. So you don't have to wear the candle around your neck or anything?
Guide (Chris):No. You do not.
Rolo (Phil):I take the rope, and then I hand the candle to Squawk.
Squawk (Madeleine):It's not lit. Right? I don't do fire.
Guide (Chris):No. It is not lit. Okay. So as you're looking at it, Nixley looks over, and he's like, oh, that's an air candle.
Lysander (Jay):Oh, what's that?
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):Explain, Nixley.
Rolo (Phil):As opposed to a water candle?
Guide (Chris):It did... No. It's an it's an air candle. It... It's like something you can take into the mine.
Guide (Chris):And, like, if it burns steady, it's like the air should be safe. If it starts flickering, you know, we kind of we should probably be careful. And then if it goes out, we probably should back up, you know? Well, at least that's what Trevor told me. I mean, I've I've seen one, but I've never actually seen it working.
Rolo (Phil):So it uses oxygen.
Guide (Chris):Sure. I guess so.
Rolo (Phil):I think this is a normal candle. They just found a good use for it in a mine.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay.
Guide (Chris):Maybe.
Lysander (Jay):And maybe it provides light.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. It does that.
Squawk (Madeleine):Light is good in mines.
Rolo (Phil):Also helpful.
Lysander (Jay):Yes. In a dark mine.
Squawk (Madeleine):I would like to take a a vote on who thinks I should maybe not take the candle because of feathers. We've talked about this before. Who will take the candle?
Lysander (Jay):I will, I guess.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay. Take it. Thank you.
Guide (Chris):I mean, it is in a little lantern container that you can hold.
Squawk (Madeleine):I forgot about the container. Do we think I should hold it? Maybe there's a reason I should hold it. Alright. Give me back my candle!
Squawk (Madeleine):Thank you. I want my candle. I just wanted to make sure my hands were free...
Lysander (Jay):There you go.
Squawk (Madeleine):For valiant heroics in case of bad guys. You never know in mines.
Lysander (Jay):Okay.
Rolo (Phil):Well, now they can be candle themed heroics.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay.
Lysander (Jay):That's right.
Squawk (Madeleine):They can be well lit.
Guide (Chris):True.
CAM (Tito):You could just stick the candle on the spike in your helmet.
Lysander (Jay):That's it.
Rolo (Phil):Stick the candle on the spiky helmet. That's a good idea.
Squawk (Madeleine):Candle hack!
Lysander (Jay):There you go.
Squawk (Madeleine):Alright. And I do it. Spike it right on my helmet, which magically does not destroy its casing at all. It's just perfectly fits. I feel so smart.
Guide (Chris):I will say there's, like, a little...
CAM (Tito):It's a cage.
Guide (Chris):In the bottom side Yeah. Yeah. Where people would hold it on, like, a a staff or something.
Squawk (Madeleine):Well, I didn't know that.
CAM (Tito):I wanna go check out the, crane. You said it's, like, in the middle of the field, there's just, like, a big crane?
Guide (Chris):Yeah. So it's like a small A-frame metal crane that looks like it could pick bundles of metal or wood or whatever up. It's in really bad shape. It's very rusted, and it's kinda bent.
CAM (Tito):Does it go down into, like, a shaft or anything, or is it just sitting there?
Guide (Chris):Yeah. It's just sitting there by the entrance.
CAM (Tito):Gotcha.
Lysander (Jay):I'm gonna wander around the dilapidated buildings.
Guide (Chris):So you notice there's some small booted footprints kind of all over the place. There's a bunch of, like, bits of small metal and hinges and wood, and it looks like some of the stuff might have just been recently removed. So, like, you see spots on the wood where it's like, there was a hinge here, and you could tell, like, it was just recently removed.
Rolo (Phil):They were stripping all the metal?
Guide (Chris):It seemed like they were pulling some stuff off here is your guess.
Rolo (Phil):And all of these hinges and things there, are they the size of the Uhbokt, or are they normal human...
Guide (Chris):They're normal.
Rolo (Phil):Elven size?
Guide (Chris):Yeah. Yeah. Normal hinges.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Guide (Chris):I mean, Uhbokt aren't tiny. I mean, they're probably Squawk size.
Squawk (Madeleine):Which is a very good size.
Rolo (Phil):Is it okay? I thought for a minute that maybe everything they were making, like, small, like, miniature hinges, and I was gonna start squeeing, in joy that they're making miniature stuff.
Guide (Chris):Maybe they take them and cut them in half or something?
Rolo (Phil):Yeah. Well, then it probably defeats the purpose of having a hinge.
Guide (Chris):Well, not that way.
Rolo (Phil):Oh. Yeah. No. The other way. That's fine.
Guide (Chris):You now have two metal plates.
Rolo (Phil):Yes, now it's just a flat piece of metal.
Guide (Chris):CAM, you do find a pry bar laying on the ground kinda half buried in the dirt. And it actually... I mean, it's still a mess, but it looks useful. Or it looks like you could still use it. It's not bent or too bad.
CAM (Tito):Cool. I'll pick that up, carry it up with us.
Guide (Chris):Mhmm.
CAM (Tito):Might have to bonk something in the head with it.
Rolo (Phil):I'm I'm examining this rope to see if it has any magical properties.
Guide (Chris):So it doesn't appear to be magic, but you can... Again, it looks like a regular rope, but there's this one strand of, like, this amber twine wrapped around the entire thing, and and it feels like that piece of it is very strong.
Rolo (Phil):Okay. I tried tying it in a knot and then flicking it to see if the knot magically comes undone.
Guide (Chris):Okay. Are you flicking it at anybody?
Rolo (Phil):No. No. Like, you know, like a magical rope because sometimes... I know this because, like, elven rope, you can tie it, like, on the branch of a tree in a really good knot, rappel all the way down. And when you get to the bottom, you just give it a flick, and the knot magically unties at the top.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Rolo (Phil):It's very handy stuff.
Lysander (Jay):Wow. That's really good, yeah.
Rolo (Phil):So you don't lose your rope.
Guide (Chris):K. So you tie a knot in this and you flick it, and there's still a knot.
Rolo (Phil):Okay. Not as handy as I was hoping. How much rope do we have?
Guide (Chris):About 30 feet.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):30 feet.
Rolo (Phil):That is about 10 meters.
Guide (Chris):Yes. Alright.
Rolo (Phil):In my elven units.
CAM (Tito):Is that amberish strand or anything look like metallic? Like, it's maybe infused with copper or something? Or...
Guide (Chris):It does have, like, a sheen to it. It doesn't appear to be metallic. But as you study it, it almost feels like it's got a resinous... Like, has that same color as some of the resin you've seen in the house.
CAM (Tito):Oh, okay.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, what what does it taste like?
Squawk (Madeleine):That... I can tell you I've already been licking it this whole time.
Guide (Chris):It tastes tastes very sweet.
Rolo (Phil):I lick, like, very carefully one end of the rope, and I look over and Squawk is... With the rope right in her beak.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, you're...
Guide (Chris):This is now only 29 feet of rope.
Rolo (Phil):Like, you're totally... Then we...
Squawk (Madeleine):It takes an hour.
Rolo (Phil):And then we both barf out the rope.
Guide (Chris):It does taste a little sweet.
Squawk (Madeleine):He said it looks like it's amber, it's sticky. We did not get our snacks in this bag, so holding out hope. But I have to spit out rope fragments from my beak. Not a snack.
CAM (Tito):Rolo, haven't you learned about putting things in your mouth?
Rolo (Phil):Apparently not. Apparently, still riding that train, my friend.
CAM (Tito):You get end up tied up again under the cart.
Lysander (Jay):Under the cart this time!
Rolo (Phil):Well, don't use this rope because it's too delicious.
Squawk (Madeleine):We're not gonna talk about the cart and the tying up. He's sensitive about it. Well, remember?
Rolo (Phil):I'm not sensitive about it. I loved it. I don't remember any of it, actually.
Squawk (Madeleine):Still, things might come back to you later. I don't want you to feel self conscious. Just don't even worry. We accept you.
Guide (Chris):You guys wanna explore anymore around here? You wanna go into the mine? What do you wanna do?
CAM (Tito):I think we just go into the mine. Just doesn't seem like there's much out here.
Squawk (Madeleine):Mine. Mine.
Rolo (Phil):I think we should sing a mining song. As we go into the mine.
Guide (Chris):What would that be?
Rolo (Phil):Mining, we will go. I should have practiced something.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):Do we need it? I mean, I still have my, like, portable little blaster situation here. So maybe I pull it out. Maybe we'll get some beats, a little bit like a...
Lysander (Jay):We need some good rock tunes.
Rolo (Phil):You're carrying that around all the time?
Squawk (Madeleine):It's very small.
Rolo (Phil):Isn't it like heavy?
Squawk (Madeleine):But for moments like this.
CAM (Tito):We we probably wanna make sure this cave is stable before we start blasting music and everything in here.
Squawk (Madeleine):Well, that's the one...
Lysander (Jay):I mean, it's...
Rolo (Phil):Look. If this thing is falling down because of sound, we're in trouble.
CAM (Tito):Wow.
Squawk (Madeleine):Maybe just not too much sound.
CAM (Tito):This is true.
Lysander (Jay):I mean, it would have fallen down by now, I would have thought.
Guide (Chris):Maybe.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
CAM (Tito):Take your chances.
Guide (Chris):So as you step through the mine entrance, you see thick wood timbers holding up the roof and the walls.
Lysander (Jay):See? Supported.
Guide (Chris):They're old, but they have been coated in a dark hardened resinstone and look sturdy. You see two sets of metal rails that run further into the tunnel, half buried under dirt and rust. And one of the tracks is an old mine cart that's rusted to the rails.
CAM (Tito):Oh boy.
Guide (Chris):For a few seconds, the mine is quiet. And then from somewhere further inside, you hear a low scrape followed by a dull thump. And then the sound stops, and the tunnel's quiet again.
Lysander (Jay):I I go to Nixley. Is this mine still active?
Guide (Chris):It shouldn't be. I I mean, there's still materials here, but there shouldn't be anybody mining here anymore.
Lysander (Jay):And the Uhbokt, they didn't go in the tunnel, right, into the mine?
Guide (Chris):Well, I don't know. I mean, they might have been in here, but they look... I I didn't see them. When I came up over the hill, they were outside.
Rolo (Phil):And it's fairly dark in there, I assume.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. Good thing we got that candle on on Squawk's head.
Rolo (Phil):We we should light it. Do want me to light that for you, Squawk?
Guide (Chris):Oh, this ought to go well.
Squawk (Madeleine):I did. I forgot it was not lit. I thought, yes. Yes. Now the time.
Rolo (Phil):No. There's a little thing. You press this button, and the... Looks... I was waiting to find out if I had to roll for it, but it looks like it worked.
Guide (Chris):If you wanna light it while it's still on Squawk's helmet, I may say yes, but I assume you would take it off her helmet and then try and light it.
Rolo (Phil):Nope. That's not what I was doing. I am virtually grabbing her helmet and just flicking it like that.
CAM (Tito):Oh boy.
Squawk (Madeleine):That's what I want.
Guide (Chris):So there's like a like a little striker thing on the end of a little chain that you can scrape it up against the side.
CAM (Tito):Just like a fire starter type of thing?
Guide (Chris):Yep.
Rolo (Phil):Alright. Might be too high to actually reach usefully on Squawk's helmet.
Squawk (Madeleine):I can crouch.
CAM (Tito):Squawk is pretty short and you're pretty tall, so.
Guide (Chris):Actually, she's probably right... About right size.
Rolo (Phil):Alright. I light it on her head.
Squawk (Madeleine):Put it down.
Lysander (Jay):Here we go.
Squawk (Madeleine):Whoo!
Rolo (Phil):Okay. Here we go. Rolling...
CAM (Tito):Let the spark's fly.
Rolo (Phil):So I got a high roll. Is that more fire?
Guide (Chris):No. High roll's good.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Guide (Chris):Low roll's bad.
CAM (Tito):High roll means a spark doesn't land on her head.
Rolo (Phil):Where does three get me?
CAM (Tito):Oh boy.
Rolo (Phil):This dice really likes to roll threes. I don't understand.
Guide (Chris):So that's a failure, so it does not light. And one setback. So Squawk. You're sitting there, and you hear, and then Rolo goes, uh-oh.
Lysander (Jay):Why does it smell like chicken all of a sudden?
Squawk (Madeleine):How dare you!
Guide (Chris):You feel a little bit of heat on the top of your... Like, a couple of your feathers around the edge of your helmet are singed.
Squawk (Madeleine):I resign from candle duty. Lysander, you're up.
Rolo (Phil):It'll work the second time. Don't worry.
Squawk (Madeleine):No.
Rolo (Phil):You're fine.
Squawk (Madeleine):Nope.
Rolo (Phil):Just let me try this one more time.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes.
Lysander (Jay):Give it one more try.
Rolo (Phil):I'm sure it will be fine.
Lysander (Jay):If you don't succeed.
Rolo (Phil):Here we go.
Squawk (Madeleine):Dude.
Rolo (Phil):Here we go. Next roll. Here here we go. I rolled a one! I rolled a one. Oh my I can't believe it.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh.
Rolo (Phil):I am not doing that again after whatever happens this time.
Guide (Chris):Okay, so.
CAM (Tito):I mean Squawk's gonna have a nice little bald spot at this point.
Guide (Chris):Squawk, you're now on fire. Oh, yeah. Just What do you do?
Squawk (Madeleine):So I do not keep my cool. I do not stop, drop, and roll. I just panic, and I race back and forth banging into the walls. And it's like a narrow mine. Right? So there's a lot of wall banging happening.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):Screaming, help!!! I mean...
Rolo (Phil):I conjure a bucket of water.
CAM (Tito):Uh-oh.
Rolo (Phil):Guess what? I have to I have to roll for that too.
CAM (Tito):Now it's gonna turn into a bucket of oil.
Squawk (Madeleine):Meanwhile, I'm burning.
Rolo (Phil):Here we go. I rolled a seven. This is not my day.
Squawk (Madeleine):Or mine!
Guide (Chris):Hold on a... Yeah. I think Squawk....
CAM (Tito):You're about to be literally tarred, feathered, and burning.
Squawk (Madeleine):You're... How come your rolls are impacting me?
Guide (Chris):So... A seven on our rules for your conjuring. So you do get a bucket. Unfortunately, it's full of ice cubes.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, no.
Rolo (Phil):I throw the ice cubes at the bird.
Squawk (Madeleine):Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!Â
Guide (Chris):Squawk, a whole bunch of ice cubes come flying at you.
Squawk (Madeleine):Ow. Ow.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, wait. I used my long johns, the extra ones, to try to flap out the flames.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Rolo (Phil):Or smother the flames, not flap them. That will make them worse. Yeah.
CAM (Tito):Did we ever figure out if those were flammable or not?
Rolo (Phil):They were inflammable.
Lysander (Jay):They were inflammable. Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):Now is the moment of truth.
Guide (Chris):Alright. So, Squawk, Rolo throws a bunch of ice cubes at you, and then he comes running at you with a pair of long johns.
Squawk (Madeleine):Well, I continue freaking out, and then I freeze in fear with my eyes squeezed shut. I just want it to be over. I mean, there's not a lot I can do. I'm on fire. Right?
Guide (Chris):Your feathers that are around the bottom of your helmet are smoldering and flickering on fire. And...
Squawk (Madeleine):Alright.
Guide (Chris):They've started to burn a little bit.
Squawk (Madeleine):I mean, I flap my wings as a bird would in... While panicking, which only serves to fan the flames. So...
Guide (Chris):Yes. It does.
Squawk (Madeleine):I'm crying a little bit now. Oh.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):And I still sing my happy song.
Guide (Chris):Rolo, I'll let you roll again. Just see how you do putting the fire out.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, no. Alright. Here we go. It's a four. I just... I don't understand why I'm not succeeding in anything.
Guide (Chris):You need new dice.
Rolo (Phil):This entire adventure was just to light... Just to get some light.
CAM (Tito):Lysander, do you have any kind of water spells?
Lysander (Jay):I'm thinking. Thinking.
Rolo (Phil):I will... While the chicken lady is burning, I will recite my spells. I have magic strike. That's not gonna help. Speak. No. Pegasus Cloak for floating. A familiar, which could join us while we watch the Squawk burn. Force field, blink, and gate.
Lysander (Jay):Well...
Rolo (Phil):These are all very useless.
Lysander (Jay):I could turn her to stone for a minute. Maybe that'll put the fire out.
Squawk (Madeleine):I don't care what happens as long as someone does something.
Guide (Chris):So there is one one positive thing out of this. You have now determined whether or not these are flammable or not. Inflammable means they are flammable. So the long johns are now on fire.
Rolo (Phil):No.
Squawk (Madeleine):No.
Rolo (Phil):My precious, precious long johns.
Squawk (Madeleine):That's all we have to barter with.
Rolo (Phil):I run around carrying the flaming long johns in a circle on the other side of the tunnel.
Guide (Chris):Okay. Ferd starts to panic, and he starts backing out of the tunnel.
CAM (Tito):Was there any water or anything outside?
Guide (Chris):You didn't see any...
CAM (Tito):Because we have a bucket now. Right? We... We had the bucket of ice cubes. We just need water.
Squawk (Madeleine):I've dumped my head into the bucket.
CAM (Tito):I'll take... I'll grab the bucket real quick and run outside, see if I could find any water.
Guide (Chris):Okay. I will say that you do see a small puddle nearby.
CAM (Tito):Alright. Scooping up the puddle, mud and all.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):Wow.
CAM (Tito):Running back inside and and trying to dump it on Squawk.
Squawk (Madeleine):Uhm...
Guide (Chris):Ok, Squawk, you are no longer on fire. But you have this very interesting ring of missing feathers around the brim of your helmet. Now Rolo's running around the front entrance of the mine with a flaming pair of long johns.
CAM (Tito):Just drop the johns.
Lysander (Jay):Yeah. Just throw them away.
Rolo (Phil):No! They're worth too much!
Lysander (Jay):Wrap wrap them around a stick, and we could use it for a torch.
CAM (Tito):There is a puddle out there. Go go toss them in there.
Rolo (Phil):I go and throw them in the puddle and stomp on them.
Guide (Chris):Alright. They go out. They're now covered in mud, but they go out, and they got holes in them.
CAM (Tito):But it was just one, though. Right?
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
CAM (Tito):You just took one out.
Squawk (Madeleine):Now we know.
Rolo (Phil):Yeah. That is long johns number four of 12.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):That that is now... Well, one is the satchel, the long john satchel that stores the other long johns. But, boy.
Lysander (Jay):It's eating into our profits.
Rolo (Phil):It is eating. We only have, by my calculations, 30 left. Wait. Woah. That's not right.
Rolo (Phil):Eight left.
Squawk (Madeleine):We just believe.
Guide (Chris):I think you missed the decimal point.
Rolo (Phil):Not... I don't... I'm a... Not the math wizard. Whatever the opposite of math wizard is, that's me.
Guide (Chris):Oh, Squawk. I'm sorry. You have an interesting burn mark around the bottom of your helmet.
Squawk (Madeleine):Nobody look at me for the rest of our journey. I'm so embarrassed.
Rolo (Phil):I think it looks kinda metal.
CAM (Tito):We can't really see you much anyway because the candle's still not lit.
Squawk (Madeleine):I know. I don't feel like myself. And it's just like back at the lagoon when everyone was... No one would let me sit at their lunch rock.
Lysander (Jay):It's a battle scar!
Squawk (Madeleine):It is a battle scar! Thank you for that perspective. I mean, having never been in a fight, I did just sort of fight for my life. So...
Guide (Chris):That's true.
Lysander (Jay):That's right.
Squawk (Madeleine):I do feel confident. Yes.
Lysander (Jay):And you fought fire.
CAM (Tito):You tell this story, you were you were battling with a magma monster.
Lysander (Jay):That's right.
Squawk (Madeleine):I was. I was. And I have scars... Thank you for this experience. I feel seasoned. I feel like a seasoned warrior. Okay.
CAM (Tito):Well, I mean, you're barbecued. I don't know about seasoned.
Rolo (Phil):That's what that smell is. I try not to notice how how good that smell is.
Squawk (Madeleine):I would appreciate some support at this moment, besties. Okay.
Rolo (Phil):So what are we doing? Are we gonna light this candle again?
Squawk (Madeleine):Can I please remove it now from my spike?
Rolo (Phil):Yep, that's probably a good idea.
Squawk (Madeleine):Alright.
Rolo (Phil):And I I suggest somebody else should roll to light the thing. I am not having a good day.
Guide (Chris):If you're just gonna light on the ground, I'll let you just light it. It was the fact that you're trying to light it on Squawks head.
Rolo (Phil):Nope. I hand it to Lysander. Like, no. I'm out.
Lysander (Jay):Well, I try to light it.
Guide (Chris):Okay. And it lights.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, sure. Of course, of course.
Lysander (Jay):See how easy that was?
Rolo (Phil):Nobody's on fire. We don't lose any articles of clothing.
Squawk (Madeleine):I don't like that I'm the only singed one here. It doesn't feel right. Okay.
CAM (Tito):Oh, it's okay. By the end of this...
Lysander (Jay):Yes.
CAM (Tito):I'm sure there'll be more.
Guide (Chris):That's right.
Squawk (Madeleine):I want it to be shared.
CAM (Tito):We haven't even made it in the entrance yet. We already got casualties.
Guide (Chris):You can still see daylight.
Squawk (Madeleine):Are we...
Rolo (Phil):Yeah. If there's a monster down there and have been watching this whole thing, I bet you it thinks its chances are pretty good.
Squawk (Madeleine):Alright. Well, I'll get my knives out.
Guide (Chris):Napkin tied around its neck, getting its fork and knife ready.
Lysander (Jay):Calling his friends, come watch.
CAM (Tito):Alright now that the commotion is done.
Lysander (Jay):You gotta go see these guys.
CAM (Tito):I'm gonna take a look at that cart. Is it... Does it look usable, or is it just completely rusted over?
Guide (Chris):It's rusted in place on the tracks. Inside it, you see a broken shovel head. That's also rusted, but the handle is broken off.
Rolo (Phil):New band name called it... Broken shovel head.
Guide (Chris):Broken shovel head. That's a good one.
Squawk (Madeleine):I mean, I feel like that could be a useful weapon.
CAM (Tito):So we're not we're not gonna be able to use this. You have sharp knives, and you want a broken shovel as a weapon.
Squawk (Madeleine):For you guys. I... Just so you guys don't feel insufficient. Like, while I am battling valiantly, I just suggest we take it with us. You never know. Fighters think of these things. Okay. I've heard. I read in the fighter manual.
Lysander (Jay):We'll put it in the cart
Squawk (Madeleine):Thank you.
Lysander (Jay):With Ferd.
CAM (Tito):Are we taking the cart into the cave?
Guide (Chris):So so far, you're able to bring the cart in.
CAM (Tito):Oh, okay.
Lysander (Jay):We need the cradle to put the Aziron in.
Rolo (Phil):Yeah.
CAM (Tito):Well, that's what I was checking. I wasn't sure if the cart would fit, then we would have to carry the cradle.
Rolo (Phil):Nice thinking, Lysander.
Lysander (Jay):See?
Rolo (Phil):Totally would have been we would have been in a pretty pickle once we finally got that Aziron. We had nowhere to put it.
Lysander (Jay):That's right. Especially if it was dancing.
Rolo (Phil):We would have had to play some real hot potato.
Guide (Chris):Alright. You guys gonna check out anything else or keep going further inside?
CAM (Tito):So, well, we got our light.
Squawk (Madeleine):Let's go.
CAM (Tito):This other cart is useless. So, yeah, let's keep strolling on in.
Squawk (Madeleine):Keep that rusty shovel handy.
Guide (Chris):So you walk along the rails as you go deeper into the mine, and you leave the daylight behind you. After a short distance, the tunnel widens out to reveal rows of metal lockers bolted to both walls. Old wooden benches are half rotten and tipped over in front of them, and faded safety signs hang above the lockers with dry bits of resin covering the floor. So you can check the lockers, look over the signs, keep going further into the mine. What do you wanna do?
Lysander (Jay):Check the lockers for more candles, I guess.
Squawk (Madeleine):Or more snacks.
Lysander (Jay):Or whatever. Or snacks. Broken shovels.
Guide (Chris):You look through the lockers and you find a couple of broken hard hats. You find some dirty work gloves, old pair of coveralls, and some empty food tins. Squawk, you find a set of carved initials in one of them, and it says DB + EM.
Lysander (Jay):Oh.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, romance. Mine romance. It's my favorite kind. DB plus... What was it?
Guide (Chris):DB plus EM.
Squawk (Madeleine):Uh-huh. DB plus... Okay. Alright. I'll remember that.
Rolo (Phil):Gonna need more information. We could just be making anything up there.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Guide (Chris):So Nix goes, did you say DB?
Lysander (Jay):Yes.
Squawk (Madeleine):I did. I did.
Guide (Chris):Plus wait... what what was the other one? Let me see.
Squawk (Madeleine):EM.
Guide (Chris):EM. Oh, man. I think that's Trevor's dad. That... That's Davis. His dad's name was Davis Bainwright. And I know Trevor's mom's name was Elise something. I wonder... Again, I know he worked here.
Rolo (Phil):Mainwright?
Guide (Chris):Bainwright.
Rolo (Phil):No. Her name was at least Mainwright.
Guide (Chris):Maybe. I don't know.
Rolo (Phil):I'm just riffing.
Lysander (Jay):Well, we should take it back to him. It's nostalgia.
Guide (Chris):You gonna take the whole little door from the locker?
Lysander (Jay):Why not? We got a broken shovel.
Rolo (Phil):Do you remember this door? I do. I shall hang it up in my in my living room.
Guide (Chris):I have a locker missing a door. Why thank you.
Rolo (Phil):I shall frame this framed door.
Lysander (Jay):See?
Rolo (Phil):Are none of the other lockers have anything in them?
Guide (Chris):No. They do not. Not that you haven't found. Rolo, you do see some of the signs. One of them says candle first, cart second.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Guide (Chris):Then another one that says, this mine has been accident free since... And then someone wrote underneath it, Marcus quit.
Rolo (Phil):Since... That Marcus.
Squawk (Madeleine):Everyone knows a Marcus.
Rolo (Phil):Alright. So according to the sign, the person with the candle has to go first. Lysander?
Squawk (Madeleine):We believe in you.
Lysander (Jay):Great. Thanks a lot.
Squawk (Madeleine):Go forth.
CAM (Tito):It's been nice knowing you.
Guide (Chris):Thanks, ancient sign.
Lysander (Jay):Alright. Well, I'll go first. Holding the candle out way ahead of me. Wait a minute. I don't need a candle. I could see in the dark.
Rolo (Phil):Well, we can't.
Lysander (Jay):Well, we all could if I cast a spell. Do we need the candle?
Lysander (Jay):Oh, well...
Rolo (Phil):Information we could've used before I set someone on fire.
Squawk (Madeleine):Ah! With the tardy spells.
Rolo (Phil):No. Wait. The candle's for air, not for dark. Well, it's also for dark.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, yeah. But... Oh, yeah. Because of point... Creepy air.
Rolo (Phil):Creepy air.
Lysander (Jay):Okay.
Rolo (Phil):Warning system.
Squawk (Madeleine):Creepy air that gives me the creeps.
Lysander (Jay):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay. So you have to hold it still.
Lysander (Jay):Okay. I'm still holding it way out in front of me.
CAM (Tito):But you don't have to go first if we have night vision.
Lysander (Jay):Well, that's true.
Rolo (Phil):It's said candle first.
CAM (Tito):Yeah. I guess you wanna know whoever's in front wants to know if the air is bad.
Rolo (Phil):It could be a wall of creepy air we walk into.
CAM (Tito):Yeah. Fair enough.
Guide (Chris):And, Lysander, most of your clothes are made out of grass. Right?
Lysander (Jay):Yep.
Guide (Chris):Alright. Just just reminding you.
Lysander (Jay):Thanks. Dry grass at that too.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, yeah. Oh, I've been complaining about my feathers in this whole time. I feel so selfish.
Lysander (Jay):That's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I'll take the lead.
Squawk (Madeleine):You're so brave.
CAM (Tito):What is it... What's wrong with you people and all this flammable stuff?
Squawk (Madeleine):I know. I don't... Can we just have a no candle in there?
CAM (Tito):Am I the only one that's not flammable?
Rolo (Phil):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Guide (Chris):Probably.
Rolo (Phil):Yeah. I take I take the candle from Lysander, and I give it to CAM.
Squawk (Madeleine):Come on, CAM!
Rolo (Phil):What are we doing?
Squawk (Madeleine):Step up.
Rolo (Phil):He's inflammable. No. No. Wait. Flam... Wait a minute. In...
Guide (Chris):We can find out.
Rolo (Phil):Flammable can't be the same as flammable.
Squawk (Madeleine):It can't... It it
Rolo (Phil):Because then it's flammable!
Squawk (Madeleine):It isn't really.
Rolo (Phil):Why would you put in 'in' front of flammable if you still mean flammable?
Squawk (Madeleine):Look it up, kids. Just believe.
Lysander (Jay):That's it.
Squawk (Madeleine):Stop arguing.
Guide (Chris):So as you move past the lockers, the tunnel opens up into an old work checkpoint. There's a broken desk leaning up against a wooden cabinet, and behind it, a cracked bulletin board hangs on the wall beside several empty tool hooks. You see pieces of an old mine map still pinned up to the bulletin board. So what do you examine?
Lysander (Jay):I go to the time clock and punch in. Cha ching.
Guide (Chris):Cha ching.
Rolo (Phil):I'm gonna check out this tool hook.
Guide (Chris):Okay. It's an... It's empty.
Rolo (Phil):What does it taste like?
Guide (Chris):Strangely, it has this metallic taste.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):I've already taken the map off the wall, and I've tried to wrap around my head like a scarf to conceal my damaged feathers. I turned it into fashion. So I have a fashiony map headscarf now.
Guide (Chris):The map is kinda faded and crinkly, but you can pull it off, the map and wrap it around your head if you want.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes.
Rolo (Phil):Should we examine it first before you do that?
Squawk (Madeleine):No. It's stylish. My neck looks great. Oh, I mean, do we need to? Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I take it. I unwrap it. Here. Who wants to read the map? I do... I I don't do maps.
Rolo (Phil):As the only literate person or, you know, overly... CAM's literate. What am I talking about? He's got the candle. You know what?
Guide (Chris):Illiterate.
CAM (Tito):Yeah. I don't wanna burn the map. So you you can read it.
Rolo (Phil):I'm gonna stand way over here.
Guide (Chris):Okay.
Rolo (Phil):Okay. That's too far away. I can't read anything. I'm gonna come a little closer. Okay.
Guide (Chris):You can see there's a couple of areas that says, like, you see the entrance and the lockers and the checkpoint where you've come in. You see some faded lines going off from it. Far on the other side, you see this word that says byproducts, and it's at the end of this faded line. And then you see another note kinda scribbled on the bottom.
Rolo (Phil):That's where they throw stuff out because they go, bye products!
Lysander (Jay):Yep.
Squawk (Madeleine):That's so nice.
Rolo (Phil):I'm... I am easily transcribing this map into my brain. Yes.
Guide (Chris):There's another note on the bottom. It says lower lift and mine sealed due to environmental dangers.
Lysander (Jay):Oh, we shouldn't go there.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):Dangerous.
Rolo (Phil):But it's okay. It's only environmental dangers like climate change.
Squawk (Madeleine):We don't talk about climate change.
CAM (Tito):Or lack of oxygen.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, fair enough. Okay. Good.
Squawk (Madeleine):But better than monster dangers. Right?
Rolo (Phil):I stand corrected.
Lysander (Jay):Is there anything on the map that says, Aziron is here?
Guide (Chris):It does not.
Lysander (Jay):No?
Guide (Chris):It does not.
Rolo (Phil):So there's only... There's two ways to go.
Squawk (Madeleine):And they're both bad.
Guide (Chris):At least from what you can tell. I mean, some of the areas are faded enough that you can't really see the sections.
Rolo (Phil):Byproducts or environmental dangers. Those are our choices.
Guide (Chris):So the environmental dangers piece is just scribbled on the bottom of the map. It's not near any specific section.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, it's just sorta, like, everywhere.
CAM (Tito):The whole cave. Great.
Rolo (Phil):Copy that. Alright.
Guide (Chris):If you guys are in the lower lift and mine, possibly, because it does say they're sealed.
Rolo (Phil):There's the byproducts line.
Lysander (Jay):Mhmm.
Rolo (Phil):Which is over that way.
Guide (Chris):Yep.
Rolo (Phil):And then there's another fork that goes that way. Where does that go?
Guide (Chris):You can't really see because the ink has faded away.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh, that's fun! Let's do that! Let's do that.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, yes. Because it's... You... We fade away because of all the use.
Lysander (Jay):That's right.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes. Because it's so well loved.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes.
Guide (Chris):They've worn the trail out so much that the maps gone.
Lysander (Jay):Yep.
Squawk (Madeleine):A mystery.
Rolo (Phil):That makes sense. That's the way we go.
Guide (Chris):Alright. You guys gonna look at anything else while you're here?
Lysander (Jay):There was a desk. Right?
Guide (Chris):Yep. There's a desk and a cabinet.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oh.
Lysander (Jay):Well, see what's on the desk.
Guide (Chris):There's nothing on the desk. Inside the desk... In one of the drawers, you find, like, an old logbook.
Lysander (Jay):Mmm. Look at this. I open the logbook and I look at it.
Guide (Chris):It's got a bunch of scribbles on it.
Lysander (Jay):Like, look. It's a spellbook.
Rolo (Phil):Yay. Let me look at it.
Lysander (Jay):Here you go.
Guide (Chris):It's not a spellbook.
Rolo (Phil):It's not a spellbook.
Guide (Chris):No.
Rolo (Phil):It's drawing drawings of logs. Oh, that's just the front cover.
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Rolo (Phil):Okay. What's it?
Guide (Chris):It's a log of all the mining activities. So it shows resinstone, like, and a bunch of numbers and total tonnage. And then then another line says copper, iron and Aziron and other ores as byproducts.
Rolo (Phil):Oh, wait. Aziron. Okay. Okay.
Guide (Chris):Listed as byproducts under the section.
Rolo (Phil):Aziron is a byproduct?
Guide (Chris):Uh-huh.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Guide (Chris):Oh. And then some of the final entries, it shows, like, the resinstone production keeps rising. But then it says, byproduct storage emptied, production target increased, replacement timbers delayed, increased inspections, and continue mining in approved sections.
CAM (Tito):So they're not mining iron here. They're mining resin.
Guide (Chris):Yeah. This is a resinstone mine. That was the main thing they were getting.
CAM (Tito):And you guys are just throwing out the Aziron?
Guide (Chris):Well, they they used it. It would go in the byproducts room. I don't think they were... I don't know if there's big deposits of that other stuff here, but they find it when they're digging. But it was really the the resinstone that they were after.
Lysander (Jay):And why were they after the resinstone?
Guide (Chris):Well, the the resinstone that is underground from the trees is, like, super duper hard. And if it's if it's shaped right, you can use it for, like, armor and all sorts of building materials and stuff like that. It's super strong, stronger than metal.
Squawk (Madeleine):But it's sticky. Right?
Rolo (Phil):Is it still sticky?
Guide (Chris):No. It... It's... When they pull it out of the ground, it's, like, hard, and it's it's, like, rock hard.
CAM (Tito):Do do you guys use that for ship hulls?
Squawk (Madeleine):Yes. For our ship, we need hard stuff.
Guide (Chris):So they did used to sell it as, like, armor plating for ships.
CAM (Tito):So we might need to get some of that while we're here too.
Squawk (Madeleine):Yeah.
Guide (Chris):If we find any... I mean, Trevor did tell me if we found any extra, bring it. There's not a whole lot that... The last couple times we came here, he didn't find that much.
Rolo (Phil):But it sounds like it might even be more valuable than long underwear.
Guide (Chris):Maybe.
Lysander (Jay):Oh.
Guide (Chris):And it's it's inflammable.
Rolo (Phil):Great.
Guide (Chris):Unflammable, maybe.
Rolo (Phil):It's uninflammable.
Guide (Chris):Onflammable? I don't know.
Rolo (Phil):In inflammable.
Squawk (Madeleine):It's the right kind of flammable.
CAM (Tito):Not flammable. How about that?
Rolo (Phil):I think we just need to test it.
Lysander (Jay):That's... Let's hope we find something.
CAM (Tito):Yeah. Let's set the whole mine on fire.
Squawk (Madeleine):I would like to not be involved in this test!
Rolo (Phil):Okay. So it's okay. We don't have any yet.
CAM (Tito):So they sent everything to the byproducts area, but that sounds like it's been emptied.
Squawk (Madeleine):Byproducts area! Yes.
Guide (Chris):Well, that was in the logbook, but that was... You don't know how long ago that was.
Rolo (Phil):But we also have a map to the byproducts area. It makes perfect sense.
CAM (Tito):Okay.
Squawk (Madeleine):And every other area is faded and creepy, so that's obviously where sh- go. We should go.
Rolo (Phil):Never have I wanted byproducts more than now.
Squawk (Madeleine):Should we hold hands while we go in case of creepy air? I'm so excited.
CAM (Tito):I have a candle in my hand.
Squawk (Madeleine):You have two hands. You go first. Oh, wait. Lysander's going first. Oh, this is confusing. You go at the end.
Lysander (Jay):Wait. No. Who's going at the end?
CAM (Tito):No. I I have the candle, so I have to go first.
Squawk (Madeleine):Okay. Fine.
Lysander (Jay):Candle goes first, then the cart.
Rolo (Phil):Yep. Yeah. Is Ferd coming with us?
Guide (Chris):See, he is so far. I I mean, the the tunnel's been wide enough.
Rolo (Phil):Good donkey, Ferd.
Rolo (Phil):Okay.
Rolo (Phil):Good for you.
Guide (Chris):Yeah, he's pretty good.
Squawk (Madeleine):Oww.
Guide (Chris):He may not be able to go much further. Usually... This is usually where we stop when Trevor would go in further.
Rolo (Phil):Not much Ferd-er?
Guide (Chris):Yeah.
Squawk (Madeleine):Mmm.
Rolo (Phil):That's... Is that why he's... Never mind.
Lysander (Jay):Alright.
CAM (Tito):As they're talking, I'm just gonna start walking down the the lane to the byproducts.
Lysander (Jay):Suddenly, we're cloaked in darkness.
Squawk (Madeleine):No. But we have to hold hands. So I catch... I run and catch up, but I'm hold... We hold hands.
Guide (Chris):Okay. So the tunnel opens up into a wide chamber where the rails split. Each of them goes down a separate branching tunnel. The left hand tunnel appears clear as far as you can see, but the walls seem damp and the air feels warm and still. The right hand tunnel has visible piles of fallen stone and broken timber. That way it looks rough, but there's a hint of a cool breeze blowing down from it.
Guide (Chris):Both tunnels continue beyond the reach of the light and narrow significantly as they continue out on from the chamber. Somewhere further inside the mine, you hear a low scrape again followed by a dull thump.