Episode 16: The Rite of the Cave

## The Story

As Ludyn and Hazzo enjoy an evening of a burial ceremony, clan games, and partying with the outlanders, Gratha summons them to the Rite of the Cave. They are ushered into a dark tent where Gratha sits by a small fire. By undergoing to Rite of the Cave, Ludyn and Hazzo will become affiliated of the tribe. There the smell of incense and hides with the sound of shamanic drumming. Gratha explains the history of the Rite of the Caving stemming from a past tradition of facing your fears by entering a cave in a vision. To trigger this vision quest, Ludyn and Hazzo must ingest a hallucinogenic extract from the cactus flower. Ludyn begins the journey by sipping from the bowl which he passes Gratha and on to Hazzo. Hazzo ingests the earthy mixture and begins to lose himself by staring into the fire. The tent begins to shift, Hazzo blinks and find himself in a familiar roughly-hewn cave. He stealthily moves toward a purplish light down the cave as he knows that he has been here before – a long time in his past – as a feeling of dread washes over him. The tunnel opens up into a large cavern lit in purple light. Hazzo has a strong feeling of déjà vu as he slips behind a boulder that is pulsing. This is the very cave room where his fellow comrade was sacrificed years ago. A group of Twisted Fey dressed in garments of dark fey design surround a figure on a stone altar – but it’s not his old friend, it’s Ludyn! The anger wells up inside Hazzo as he attacks with his bow taking the leader in the throat. As they scream and search for their attacker, Hazzo quickly shoots another Twisted Fey in the eye. Hazzo releases his last arrow into another Fey and leaps off the boulder flinging an axe at another Fey. Amid the drumming, the scream of a Sabre Tooth Tiger splits the air of the cave. The one remaining Fey conjures a spell of crackling light which he throws toward Hazzo but misses. Hazzo rushes the wizard with a parkour off a rock and cracks him in the hip with an axe. Hazzo tries to wake up Ludyn to no avail. Hazzo deftly dodges a Fey attack and gashes his throat open with his axe. He is working hard to release Ludyn when he pops back into the tent, breathing hard and feeling a little frantic from the vision battle.

Ludyn says a quick prayer to Sedarra as he waits for the flower to take effect. The warmth of a ray of sunshine and calmness washes over Ludyn when the fire begins to dance and takes the form of fire faeries. One of the fire faeries jumps out and takes a few steps away, Ludyn watches as the scene shifts to a primitive cave wall. The fire faerie flies up the wall thereby illuminating primitive cave drawings with mega fauna scattered on the wall. Dragon-like and dinosaur-like creatures are depicted in the crude etchings on the walls. The Faerie disappears leaving Ludyn in darkness. He listens and carefully moves toward a sliver of light beaming in along the wall of the cave from outside. The cave becomes an earthen tunnel with grass roots and the light can be seen coming through a hole in the side of the tunnel leading into a field. Ludyn steps out through the hole into the bright sunlight into a grassy meadow on a slope. About 500 yards away down the hill lie ruins obscured by fog despite the sunny day. Ludyn cautiously grips his shield and moves toward the ruins to inspect. As he nears the ruins, misty fog swirls around his feet and there is a hiss and a pop followed by a burst of flame from the ground. Ludyn scans the area yet moves on with a careful eye out for flames nearly missing one on the left. Unusual sounds can be heard from the ruins, the howl of a wolf and the skittering of claws on stone. Ludyn pauses, rethinks the wisdom of approaching these ruins, and retraces his steps back outside the misty area. As he is considering how he might tackle this problem, the sound of leathery wings beating the air can be heard off to the right. Ludyn starts to run for the hole in the ground and is noticed by Skokul the Black dragon! Ludyn runs full bore toward the hole and dives into the hole as flame strafes the hole and a dragon voice says in his head “I told you that you weren’t ready for this yet!” and Ludyn is back in the tent. Both Hazzo and Ludyn arrive back from the vision at the same time, each of them somewhat frantic from their experience. Gratha grins and offers each of them a small carving made from sabre tooth tiger tooth signifying their passage through the Rite of the Cave.

## Notable Characters

* Hazzo Quickbolt Goodwidget Symbeth and Tamaska
* Ludyn
* Gratha

## Listen Here

* Natural Geekery Official Site
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