Episode 4 - Choose Your Own Adventure

## Episode Synopsis

### Recap

After the team enter the coliseum, they were met with a large crowd of apes and faced with a giant ape challenger who they cleverly freed from the curse he was under. Zippy convinced the giant ape to play dead to pass the trial of strength. Dariun and Norman entered the giant tree Ent body where they found a Tinder Soul while Zippy got a lot of the apes to 'sign' forms for the pills he sells. They then found out the name of man running the dungeon was named Paul.

After getting side tracked, they found an old man named Gilbert tied up who claimed his granddaughter had been poisoned with the same poison that the King of Aurum was suffering from. Gilbert asked the group to get the antidote and give it to him so he could save his granddaughter. Gilbert promised the group a grand treasure if they saved his granddaughter instead of the king.

The team went on to fight Paul, a hillbilly type and after defeating him, they destroyed an amulet Paul had that was controlling the apes. After the fight they gained the antidote and a ring of communication which is supposed to be connected to Felix.

### Episode Summary

They stand surrounded by the bodies of chimps and Paul. Norman asks Zippy for a little help in the healing department which Zippy is conflicted between healing the his now dead monkey or Norman. He decides to heal Norman after some contemplation. As they talk, Blackjack and Yogurt come in and ask what's next. Norman pulls out the ring of communication and proposes they could try to talk to Felix but they need to figure out what to do with Gilbert. Norman realizes that he is unable communicate with Felix as he is not attuned to it.

Blackjack, Zippy and the strange voice in the sky don't like how the ring looks on Noman but Yogurt stands up for the ring and rallies for him to wear what he wants. Norman, after hearing Yogurt's compliments, takes the ring off and puts it away. They discuss Gilbert, Dariun and Zippy don't care about the outcome of the antidote or Gilbert. So, Norman proposes they save Gilbert's granddaughter and possibly find another way to help the king. Dariun points out that either choice Norman wants to make, it's going to be a gamble. Zippy tells a story to help Norman in his choice.

Norman decides to save the granddaughter but the remaining Greeders may be an issue. They decide the team will deceive the Greeders and tell them Paul did not have an antidote but they have to ensure all members of the party are committed to the plan. Blackjack and Yogurt are tasked with lifting Paul's corpse to carry out as proof for the Greeders. They all agree they are on the same page (page 76).

The team get to Gilbert's door and hear his muffled yells. Norman takes the lead and opens the door and takes the gag off. Norman tells him he has the antidote and tells everyone to come in. Zippy hops him way in and introduce himself along with Dariun. Gilbert recognises Dariun as an Eladrin and tells the team that he had once been to the Bramble Patch as he was once a Greeder. Gilbert again pleads his case to the team begging them to help is granddaughter. Norman explains he is good for their deal but explains the situation with the Greeders. Norman unties Gilbert and they confirm plan A is to lie, plan B is to ask them to join us and plan C is play it by ear. Zippy asks Gilbert to pat his head which he reluctantly does.

They make their way back through the dungeon seeing many dead chimps except for Mongo, the giant ape still pretending to be dead. After Norman gives Mongo a wet willy, he shoots up and asks what happened and when Zippy launches into a long winded story, Dariun walks away. Zippy explains to Mongo that all the chimps are dead and tell Mongo he can go be free, maybe go study further and Zippy will sponsor him if he send postcards every month. Mongo joins the crew and follows them out.

They start to come into the daylight and see Stretch, holding his side looking very banged up. Stretch explains the apes got Bondo and Mr Frosty but the apes all of a sudden died. Norman tells Stretch they did not find an antidote but they did find a ring of a communication. Stretch asks about Gilbert, which Norman explains he is someone who they found. Gilbert tells him Paul poisoned his granddaughter. Stretch questions why which Gilbert explains it was so he could show Paul this coliseum. Dariun explains the amulet, the chimps and Mongo.

The team tries to convince Stretch and he calls bullshit. He is angry and tells him he thought he had a good feeling about the team but now he believes otherwise. He thought he could trust them and he believes they poisoned the king. Dariun, fed up with Stretch, is honest about the antidote, they made a choice and chose Gilbert for a grand treasure lead. He offers Stretch the information but he refuses and tell them he will get that antidote for the king. Dariun takes out his blade and cuts Stretch down.

Norman goes to search him and finds some gold and a Greeder's cloak. Dariun stands firm that he gave Stretch all the options and he made his own choice. To get past Mooch and Zodiac who are still outside the coliseum, Zippy casts pass without a trace and sneak to find their horses. They make their way out of the woods without a trace and they see the walls of Aurum and the encampment they started at. They say their farewell to Mongo and make their way to Aurum.

The team, plus Gilbert, ride to the north eastern part of Aurum to get to his granddaughter. They get to the gate and they see golden guards. Gilbert takes the lead, introduces himself, and one of the guards knows him as one of the nobles. Gilbert says the team are Greeders and they are let into Aurum. They can see the large city far away but they are currently speeding through to Gilbert's house. Soon, they come to a mansion on top of a hill about an hour's travel outside of Aurum. The front doors have symbol of Salem on them. Gilbert grabs the antidote from Norman and runs into the house. They tie off their horses and head off inside, before Zippy heads in, he names his Horse Longface Cloppyhooves. Dariun names his horse Tealeaf and Norman names his Denmark.

They look around the mansion and see different sculptures and pieces of art. As Dariun walks in, he hears a little girl scream, jump and hit him in the head with a wooden sword. He see a young girl with a summer dress and a paper bag over her head. After Zippy smack talks the girl, she comes back to hit Zippy but misses. Zippy finds enemy number one, Paige Bernstein. A young butler named Joey, comes out and apologizes for Paige's behaviour. Joey offers them refreshments so Norman orders a coffee and Dariun asks for raw bugbear, much to everyone's disgust and confusion. Zippy asks for water and Blackjack and Yogurt ask for milk 5 degrees hotter and colder than room temperature respectively.

Zippy hears footsteps and easily dodge a sneak attack from Paige. Meanwhile Norman looks at the books in the room. He learns about the war during Aurum's making where the Crystal Kingdom in the north west tried to invade Aurum to get the grand treasure. Once again, there are small footsteps and Paige whispers to Dariun "*You're weird*" and Dariun replies, "*You're dam right I am*" and he takes a bite of his raw meat. Meanwhile, Zippy has a scowl on his face.

The team hear Gilbert celebrating and he invites the team to meet Marley, a young girl with long blonde hair in a bed who waves at the team. Norman speaks to her and Marley makes some signs with her hands. Gilbert lets them know she is deaf but can read lips well. Norman kneels down to her and creates butterflies using prestidigitation. They learn that the poison was called midnight tears made from nectar of black violets under the cold moonlight of the winter solstice in the Fey wild. Dariun speculates that the poison and amulet given to Paul were likely not self-obtained and he must have gotten them elsewhere. Gilbert tells them the amulet was of Ganala, the god of beasts. Dariun leaves with a bow and Zippy does not allow Marley to pat his head and states it's a rule of the Bramble Patch.

The team leave to the living room and Gilbert asks what rewards they want. Dariun asks for the information he has on grand treasures. As Gilbert runs upstairs, Zippy gets a bonk on his head from Paige much to his disgust. Gilbert comes down and proposes that the team makes the mansion the home base and they should work together to find the grand treasure, which the team agrees to. Gilbert puts a white piano key on the table and he pushes down. It sinks into the table and makes a sound.

He shows the bottom is a slightly different symbol of Salem that they have seen with a small X in the corner. Gilbert tells the team that he found it just outside of Pokarok. Dariun asks for the room and asks the team if this is the path they want to go on. He expresses his interest for wanting to join the actual Greeders guild has been lost due to their association with the king. Norman feels they should see Gilbert's lead through. Gilbert being excited as the new team up and gets Joey to bring in a cake to celebrate. They plan to go into Aurum the next day after spending the night at Gilbert's house.

Each team member get their own room, with Blackjack and Yogurt taking a shared room. Norman speaks to Gilbert one on one and tells him of his own great ambitions and how he would like to one day be a leader in Aurum. Gilbert tells Norman about how the kings of Aurum are elected from one of the three founding families; sorcerer, cleric and fighter. The families are descendent from three of the original Greeders who found the first grand treasure and stayed to create Aurum. Zippy asks for gravel to put in the corner for Zippy to use as a bathroom.  He laughs and says he'll just use the normal one but he enjoys messing with the people at the mansion. Before sleeping, Norman attunes to the ring and tries to talk into it but there is no response.

As everyone sleeps well, Zippy is in a dream. He sees himself in a void where he cannot speak. Suddenly he is in a rough black sea. In the distance he sees a blue neon light glows as it dances and makes a trail. He sees a large tree with blue balls of fruit hanging. He then sees a man on a raft standing up and paddles towards him. The man reaches a hand out to Zippy before he wakes up.

## Quotations

* Zippy "*Caught between a carrot out of the ground and a carrot in the ground*"
* Zippy "*The problem is you can never go back a page*"
* Blackjack "*One of those quest your own choose kind of books*"
* Zippy "*When you plant a carrot seed in the ground, you're never quite sure how it's gonna go! It could come really quick but the carrots gonna be awfully hard and not very tasty. But it could take its time but it might not be a perfectly straight carrot either. Either way, you never quite know what's gonna happen*!"
* Dariun "*I don't take kindly to traitors, so if anything happens, I will kill you.*"
* Zippy "*How are you doing today? We just killed a man for you!* "
* Gilbert "*Being a Greeder, it's not about being a part of the guild. That's not what real treasure hunting is. A treasure hunter goes on their own way, find their own path. You shouldn’t bind yourself to the guild, you don’t need an interview!*"
* Stretch "*Greeders are meant to serve the king and save Aurum*"
* Stretch "*I'll see you in the deep*"
* Dariun "*Greeder's only care for themselves*"
* Norman "*Rules are made to keep things as they are but the only way to move forwards is to break them.*"
* Norman "*Treat those who are near well, and those who are far will come to you*."

## Featured Characters

### Main Cast

* Dariun Branch
* Norman D
* Zippy Westborrough

### Returning Characters

* Blackjack
* Yogurt
* Gilbert Bernstein
* Mongo
* Stretch

### New Characters

* Longface Cloppyhooves (Zippy's horse)
* Tealeaf (Dariun's horse)
* Denmark (Norman's horse)
* Paige Bernstein
* Marley Bernstein
* Joey

## Locations

* Coliseum
* Golden Road Woods
* Aurum
* Gilbert's mansion