A Nod To Mother

an adventure starring Mervon, Nugh, and Bartholomew.
==Setting==
The Tower Of Nod, a shining white wizard's tower in Siesta, a small village outside of Niqamui.
==Blurb (Short Episode Description)==
Bartholomew, Nugh, and Mervon receive a late-night cry for help. A gleaming wizard's tower and family issues? Don’t sleep on this episode! A Nod To Mother is an actual play podcast of Roll For Shoes.
==Non Player Characters==
*Nell Of Nod
*Edward Of Nod
*Dug the Goblin Pouch
*Nightshade Lobo
*Sarah Chimere
*Blanche the Svelte
*Marvin the Brave
*Judy the Stout
*Marvin Jr. the Braver
*Marcus the Bold
*Zachary Xalvador
*Anina Xalvador
*Sam Harper
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==Plot Summary==
It was a dark and stormy night in Niqamui, and in the Firebreathing Kittens Guildhall, Mervon, Nugh, and Bartholomew are drowsily enjoying late night socializing when a letter is slipped under the door of the guildhall. It contains a poem, and a plea from someone named "Nell of Nod," who begs them to rescue her from her son who has gone "quite mad."
The poem reads:
A journey through the realm unseen
Where hope and fearfulness convene
Through the night find your way
To where the light holds endless sway.
The party decides to help this Nell, and leave the guildhall. Before they know it, they are standing before a gleaming white tower, blazing in the sunlight, with a dark, recessed door. At first they are confused by the sudden day and weather shift, but then Nugh points out the first line of the poem-- a journey through the realm unseen. Perhaps they have traveled through fae lands to get here? They enter the tower.
Inside, they are met with a long corridor of doors, and Bartholomew immediately sparks with recognition. He's been in this kind of thing before! These are memory doors, he says, and there's a risk of losing your memory inside them. The party cautiously picks a door that has bright light seeping out from the doorframe and enters.
They face a series of fantasies that start out benign-- a peaceful childhood, an anxious school test, reconnecting with family and friends. As they proceed through the tower's rooms, they become aware of a blue-robed older man who tries to convince them to merely stay within the tower, accept the gifts of their dreams. We hear Nugh's natural voice for the first time as he recites poetry and shares his inner thoughts. 
Each Firebreathing Kitten resists in their own way, or helps each other resist this lotus-eater lure, and when Mervon gets violent with the man, Edward, the dreams turn to nightmares of zombie-infested lands and mobs with pitchforks and torches. When Bartholomew turns the tide and has the villagers stop chasing Nugh and instead call Edward the monster, Nugh pauses and rejects that as well. There are no monsters, here. 
The Firebreathing Kittens finally confront Edward in the real world, where he is trying to keep his mother alive long past her natural end, through magic stolen from a strange artifact. The Firebreathing Kittens convince him to let go, and he smashes the artifact, releasing his mother to her death. She says goodbye, and is gone. Edward is left bereft, the Kittens awake in the bottom level of the tower, where they suddenly remember their mission to save this town from some strange nightmare-giving spell. They go upstairs to comfort Edward and eventually help him center himself and, perhaps someday, join the Firebreathing Kittens in the future.
Poem from Nugh:
A mother's love
Never fades
From the stars above
Throughout an age
Your heart only mends
When all your illusions end.
Category:Episodes