The Wolf that Walks and the Recluse Spider

*Snake Eyes*

"**The Wolf that Walks and the Recluse Spider**" is the 1st episode of *Snake Eyes* Campaign One. It premiered on May 15th, 2021 in a live-stream event on the Check Republic's Twitch channel and on YouTube on May 17th. It features the debut appearances of the Player Characters Pae'dor and Mu.

## Synopsis

### Introductions

Beardy, the DM, introduces the new podcast and explains its core concept: differing from the DM-to-Player Character ratios of earlier campaigns, Snake Eyes instead features a single player, Keni, portraying five characters, with a given session's character selected by chance at the beginning of play. Keni makes their first roll, and the session begins...

### Part I: The Wolf that Walks

#### Crossed Boundaries

... on the edge of a small village populated by Wood Elves, with the new Player Character standing on its outskirts, covered in blood and exhausted from a particularly long day. This newcomer is described as appearing like a young wood elf (but with blotchier skin than the usual brownish-to-tan), with white hair and red eyes, and wearing fur skins from a multitude of different forest animals and a glowing-stone-bedecked antlered skull on their head.

The creature is carefully approached by a local hunter, who attempts to communicate with them. The hunter introduces himself as Ferrith, and the creature, responding in halting and simple Elven, gives their name as Pae'dor. Ferrith recognizes them to be the feral individual of the region known in the town's stories as "The Wolf that Walks"; Pae'dor agrees, identifying themself as a wolf. Realizing that Pae'dor is hungry, the hunter offers them food, which Pae'dor hungrily devours.

Ascertaining that Pae'dor is wounded with fresh bites on their forearms, Ferrith gently leads them into the village, which is identified as Fylion, a settlement in the northwest region of the Emerald Forest of the Southern Continent. Ferrith summons a healer, who easily tends to Pae'dor's wounds. Pae'dor struggles to communicate what happened to them: starved of meat, their adopted family of wolves attacked them, forcing them to defend themself and ultimately leaving Pae'dor without a home.

#### A New Home

Ferrith does his best to convey to Pae'dor that, owing to Pae'dor's apparent wood elf race, they do in fact have a home with the rest of their kind, and are welcome in Fylion. He explains that he is a hunter by trade, and sometimes also takes on odd jobs to help keep the town safe. Pae'dor indicates they they too are a hunter. Ferrith invites Pae'dor to stay, and Pae'dor accepts.

The two head to Ferrith's simple home in the Hunters Ward district. Pae'dor's keen sense of smell reveals that an old dog once shared the home, but has died. In a moment of surpassing cuteness, Pae'dor flops into the unoccupied pet bed. Ferrith offers Pae'dor a place in his home, which Pae'dor accepts.

#### Montage

Two weeks pass. Ferrith spends a great deal of time bonding with Pae'dor, doing his best to teach them about wood elf society and equipping them with a hunting bow of their own; Pae'dor proves to be a natural shot, and their language skills improve. Ferrith sees a bounty posted and suggests that he and Pae'dor pursue the designated bandit; Pae'dor agrees.

#### (Bounty) Hunting

Pae'dor and Ferrith set out, tracking the bandit south from Fylion within the Emerald Forest. Eventually, they spot another hunter – a female wood elf, who is adorned with feathers and is wielding a longbow. Pae'dor and Ferrith approach her stealthily, not drawing her attention, and see that she's observing three wild boars in the valley below their current position. Pae'dor and Ferrith reveal themselves to her; she is momentarily startled, but then suggests they join forces and take down the boars together.

The three hunters spread out and take their positions. Pae'dor effortlessly climbs a tree to gain a better firing angle on their prey, then fires off an arrow. Ferrith and the other hunter follow suit. They quickly bring down two of the boars, but the third is able to gore Ferrith, heavily wounding him. Ferrith brings down the final boar with a slash of his rapier, but begins to bleed out, close to death himself. Pae'dor falls from the tree, hurting themself slightly as they rush to Ferrith and attempt to help him. The other healer administers a healing potion to Ferrith, which stabilizes him. The three hunters finally exchange names, with the newcomer identifying herself as Aelrie. The three field dress the boars, recovering meat and hides. Ferrith, still injured, explains the bounty situation to Aelrie and enlists her assistance.

Pae'dor tracks a set of large, heavy footprints, indicating that the bandit is not a wood elf and is not alone. They lead Ferrith and Aelrie to a fortified encampment deeper in the woods, where they observe three goblins.

#### Killing Goblins

Pae'dor tries to climb another tree, but is unable to do so on their first attempt; they succeed on their second. Ferrith and Aelrie also position themselves in the trees. Pae'dor opens fire with their longbow, killing one of the goblins with their very first shot; Aelrie's first shot goes wide and hits Pae'dor, injuring them. One of the goblins returns fire; another, swords drawn, approaches the tree where Pae'dor is situated. A goblin dog appears inside the encampment, followed by a hobgoblin – the bandit who is the target of the bounty. Aelrie shoots down the second of the three normal goblins; Pae'dor shoots down the third, who is still at the base of their tree. Ferrith aims for the goblin dog, but misses; the hobgoblin moves closer and fires an arrow at Pae'dor, which comes within a hair's breadth of striking true. Aelrie shoots at the hobgoblin, causing mild damage. Pae'dor fires off an arrow at the goblin dog, heavily wounding it. Ferrith and Aelrie both fire again at the hobgoblin in turn, critically injuring it; Pae'dor brings it down with a final shot, and Ferrith shoots the killing arrow. The goblin dog attempts to run off, but Aelrie puts an arrow in it, finishing off the battle.

The victorious trio strip the goblins of their possessions and loot the camp of its valuables (such as they are). As Ferrith looks on proudly, Pae'dor does the honors of removing the hobgoblin's head in order to claim the bounty. The three then make their way back north to Fylion.

### Part II: The Recluse Spider

#### Pilfered Pages

Far beneath the surface realms of Aedron, in the Underworld city of Mythelion, a Dark Elf named Mur'ca'lu'mi (better known and hereafter referred to as Mu) is annoyed. The sheltered child of a wealthy family, Mu is a tinkerer, scientist, and alchemist, constantly engaged in experimentation of one kind or another, and relentlessly pursuing knowledge in their beloved books. They spend most of their time at the Great Library of Mythelion, from which a highly valuable set of tomes has recently been stolen – hence Mu's annoyance, given that they'd sought access to those books for a long time. Learning that the theft has been linked to a group of "surfacers", and lacking confidence in anyone else being able to recover the books, Mu attempts to journey "upstairs" to retrieve them. They are promptly stopped by guards before they can even step foot outside the city's limits.

Mu's older sister, Sa'Sho, gently chastises Mu for their recklessness, but also relays some vital information: the Library is hiring mercenaries to go after the books. Mu rushes back to the Library to meet the two dark elves picked for the job: a female named Zai'Dah, and a male named Sil'vek. To demonstrate their usefulness to the mission, Mu demonstrates their potion-imbued ability to magically disguise themself (in this case as a human), and mentions their prowess with bombs. Zai'Dah agrees to have Mu accompany her and Sil'vek, and the three depart to find a guide for the journey to the surface.

After some window-shopping and negotiation, Zai'Dah purchases a pink-skinned human slave, whom she simply calls "Slave". Zai'Dah instructs him to guide the group safely to their destination on the surface; in exchange, she promises him his freedom, though also threatening a slow and painful death should he fail in any way.

#### The Underlands

Slave leads the group from cavern to cavern, through multiple passages and across a number of chasm-spanning bridges. Eventually, they emerge into a large cavern, where Mu initially senses... nothing whatsoever amiss. Moments later, the ground begins to shake, and an enormous insectoid creature bursts out from a crack. Slave quickly pushes Mu out of the way towards safety, but is wounded as a result.

Sil'vek attacks the creature with a mighty blow, causing heavy damage. Despite his wounds, Slave continues trying to shield Mu. Zai'Dah casts Magic Missile at the creature, which retaliates at Sil'vek. Finally, Mu throws a bomb, killing it. The group stops to rest for the "night".

#### Slave's Story

While the mercenaries meditate, Mu takes first watch. Once Zai'Dah and Sil'vek are no longer listening, Mu attempts to speak with Slave, who notes that Mu seems different from their companions. Mu probes his backstory, and Slave explains that he was captured when his village was attacked, and that the rest of his family members were killed. Mu says that they're sorry for his loss, surprising Slave with the idea that dark elves can feel that kind of empathy. Slave asks if Mu believes the others will really free him when they reach the surface; Mu informs him that they most likely will not, but offers to try to keep him, sparing him from torments. Slave is grateful for their efforts (despite Mu's mostly-disinterested manner), but expresses that he'd rather be free. Mu introduces themself, commenting naively on the apparent popularity of Slave's name; Slave replies that his true name was beaten out of him early in his confinement.

#### Onwards and Upwards

The next day, Mu hears Zai'Dah and Sil'vek quietly discussing the many tortures they have planned for Slave when the mission is complete. Mu broaches the idea of keeping Slave intact for experiments, but is unable to convince the other two to spare the human.

The group, now in the Shallows (a region of "Downstairs" very close to the surface), reaches an underground body of water that is aglow with some form of bio-luminescent algae or plankton. Slave notes that the tracks he's been following – footprints that have clearly walked through ash – lead to this area. Across the river lies the tunnel to the Surface. The group approaches the water, but are stopped by Slave, who points out a large number of kobolds armed with spears and slings on the far bank. Zai'Dah instructs Mu to engage them with their bombs.

Mu attempts to approach the group stealthily, but catastrophically misjudges the water's depth; their splashing immediately draws the attention of the kobolds. Apologizing profusely, they lob a bomb at the kobolds; it lands far off-target, but splash damage still hits and disables two enemies. Slave grabs a rock and positions himself to defend Mu. Sil'vek moves to cross the river, sword at the ready. One of the disabled kobolds manages to hit Slave with a sling-thrown rock, but hurts themself in the process. A second kobold attempts the same maneuver, misses, but still manages to hurt themself as well. Several other kobolds attempt to engage Sil'vek. Zai'Dah casts Magic Missile, disabling one of the eight kobolds. Mu hurls another bomb, which lands near Sil'vek, damaging him and one of the kobolds.

Slave smashes a kobold so hard with his rock that the kobold "pretty much explodes". Sil'vek, entering a state of foam-mouthed barbarian rage, cleaves one kobold into multiple pieces and then effortlessly dispatches another. Zai'Dah once again casts Magic Missile, taking down yet another kobold. Mu aims a spear swing at one of the two remaining kobolds, but misses; Slave likewise misses with his stone attack, as does Sil'vek with his sword. Zai'Dah drops the penultimate kobold with another Magic Missile. Mu lobs another bomb that lands wide, but its splash damage disables the final kobold, which Slave kills with his bare fists.

#### Upstairs

As Zai'Dah ensures that each of the kobolds is dead, Mu awkwardly heals some of Sil'vek's wounds. Finally, the group makes its way past the river, up the brightly-lit passage, and out onto the surface. Mu is amazed by the immense proportions of "Upstairs", with its impossibly wide spaces and the vast cloud-filled sunset sky. The other dark elves are disgusted by the view, but Slave is moved to tears by the sight of the world he thought he'd never see again. Picking up the trail, the group continues their pursuit of the ash-footed book thieves.

## Key Points

Some of the major elements, references, and foreshadowing of story continuity and character development in this episode:

### Plot & Lore

* Native goblin language is described as guttural and jabbering, or at least in comparison to the dialect of elvish spoken by wood elves.
* Goblin dogs are introduced for the first time.
* Goblins have greenish skin, while the skin of hobgoblins is closer to orange. Hobgoblins are also closer to humans in size, and show more intelligence and cunning.

### Character

#### Pae'dor

* Pae'dor interacts with wood elf society for the first time. They are quick to acquire bow hunting skills, but communication remains difficult, and they are (perfectly undestandably) not yet literate.
* Pae'dor's natural hunting skills, honed by their time with the wolves, are significant. The pelts they wear are all taken from kills they made using only a stone dagger and their teeth and bare hands. They become an even more proficient hunter when equipped with a longbow and metal dagger.

#### Mu

* Mu is shy when introducing themself. They also don't correct Zai'Dah when the latter uses the incorrect pronouns, presumably in attempt to avoid conflict.
* Mu dislikes having anyone in their lab.
* Mu is excited at the promised chance to finally read the recovered books before they're returned to the Library.
* Mu completely misses Zai'Dah's flirtatious advance when commenting on her use of the word "straddling".

## Memorable Quotes

* "He [Ferrith] smells like leathered oil... no, other way around, oiled leather." "'Leathered oil?' Sexy!" "Yeah, right?" "'Oiled leather'... still kinda sexy." – Beardy and Keni.
* "You find a posting in the middle of town. Now, what that is, it's a thing where they write down something on a piece of dead tree, and those don't really make a lot of sense to you. You've seen Ferrith look at things like that before, but they've never really meant anything to you before. You have the sense that they must convey some kind of meaning, but if they're talking you can't hear them, so you kinda put them out of your mind... so, it must be something that only the other wood elves can hear, 'cause they look at these papers and then they know a thing... maybe if you live here long enough they'll talk to you too." – Beardy, describing Pae'dor's difficulties with reading.
* "Kill bad person? Am good with that. Yes." - Pae'dor, accepting their first opportunity to work as a bounty hunter.
* "Can I tell you something? This is gonna be my first-ever Goblin fight, and I'm so excited!" "I'm glad I could... pop your Goblin cherry?" "Please never say that ever again." – Keni and Beardy.
* "Awoooo!" "Ferrith will howl to the sky with you." "Aww. That probably means a lot to Pae'dor." – Keni, getting set up for heartbreak, and Beardy.
* "I had fun during combat! ... what is this? What did you put in my water?!" – Keni, surprised to discover a whole new facet of D&D.
* "Eloquent as always." – Zai'Dah, on Sil'vek's grunts.
* "Shall we be off?" "Yes. The closer we get to my books, the better." "Those are the Library's books, and they'll be brought back to fulfill our contract." "Right, but, you know, I work at the Library, so they're kind of like mine." – Mu, eyes on the prize.
* "I told you I was useful." - Mu, dropping the mic after dropping a bomb to drop an ankheg.
* "You seem different than them." "Yeah, they're a little rude." – Slave, on Mu's traveling companions (and dark elves in general), and Mu, with the understatement of the year.
* "Not that I actually talk to most of the people that I actually have to deal with. I mostly just kind of exist in the same space and then hope I'm alone soon. I'm not really good with, uh... people." – Mu, summing themself up nicely.
* "Do you think they'll really let me go?" "No." – Slave, and Mu's harsh but honest answer.
* "I don't know if I'm actually being kind. Most of the time people say I'm being a nuisance." – Mu, further endearing themself to all socially-awkward anxiety-ridden listeners.
* "It's excrement. The entire surface world is made of it. Can you imagine? The defecation is everywhere. It's filth. It's disgusting." – Zai'Dah, on the odors of the surface world. She does have a point.
* "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, oh god, I'm so sorry." – Mu, after their water troubles.

## The Dice

 3
 Pae'dor
* Climb
* Survival
* Attack

## Trivia & References

* As with the game sessions for the first season of Check Please!, this episode's session was run using Fantasy Grounds, a virtual tabletop simulator – in this instance, PFRPG ruleset v3.3.10, with the Wood Theme for Pae'dor's segment. Check Please! began operating on Foundry for its second season.
* Keni mentions that Pae'dor is their first experience playing the Ranger character class in Pathfinder.
* Unlike Check Please!, an exact count of ammunition (in this case, Pae'dor's arrows) is kept, with Pae'dor taking the time to recover five after their battle with the goblins.
* Keni laments rolling for Perception as Mu. Their unease is proven justified just moments later when they roll a Nat 1 – their very first roll as Mu.
* Though not identified aloud, the creature that attacks Mu and their group is shown on screen to be an ankheg.
* The wood elf healer is later identified by name as Kyrenic in the episode "Escapades of Betrayal" (C1 E4).