With the dragon dead and its treasure cave theirs for the taking, Flynry, Toddleheim, Elianna and Cerys went looking for the one prize that mattered: a golden orrery. They found it, and then it found Flynry’s sword. The meeting threw them into an unknown corner of the desert and down into a half-buried library, where a giant winged man was pulling books off the shelves only to watch each one crumble. There was no fight this time, only a slow, creeping mystery with a final reveal that landed like a slap.
The Story
Spoils of the Dragon
The episode opened in the quiet after the battle with the dragon. Cerys was still giddy about how she had finished it, with what she called “those two nat 20s… back to back,” two perfect blows in a row. Where the beast had fallen, it had collapsed into a pile of snow. In that snow Cerys spotted a glint and pulled out a soul gem about the size of her palm. It was large, uncut and rough, and it was something none of them had seen before. Every soul gem they had come across “in the other places” had been green. This one was clear white, like a diamond, though it held the same ethereal inner light as the others.
Cerys flashed the “big honking gem” at her companions, declared “This is quite something,” and pocketed it. Then she took charge: “Well, let’s get a-lookin’ for this orrery. I command.”
The only other time Flynry had seen Cerys in combat, she had been on her knees and bleeding. Watching her take on a dragon toe to toe, and with such flair, had raised her a good deal in his estimation.
The Crown Jewel
The hoard was everything a dragon’s hoard should be. There were heaps of gold and gems of every size, and they could fill their pockets with as much as they could carry. There was also some ordinary armor, none of it worth swapping for. At the back of the cave, perched on the tallest pile of gold as if on a pedestal, sat the crown jewel of the collection: a golden orrery. It was a gyroscope of interwoven rings around a central orb, about half the size of a basketball. It gave off such a presence that you didn’t need to be a wizard to know it was magical.
“You two might want to come up here and have a look at this,” Flynry called. Cerys agreed: “This might be our winner, our item that we’re looking for.” Flynry, however, had no intention of laying a finger on it.
Flynry: “I might have seen it, but I’m not going to touch it. We all know what the king looked like.”
Elianna wanted to be careful too. She noted that the dragon “didn’t look like it had any wounds on it from before,” then snapped her fingers and sent a wave of white light rolling across the cave to outline anything dangerous. Danger would have shown up red, and nothing did. There were no traps.
Flynry pointed out that Toddleheim was the wizard. Toddleheim answered, “Well, I guess I’ll take one for the team,” then added modestly that Elianna was “doing a fantastic job.” He bounded up the gold in his werewolf form, leapt onto the ledge, shifted back into himself as he landed, and picked up the orrery.
Up close it was hefty and lifeless. It was shiny gold flecked with green, copper-like patina. Its rings spun by hand, and markings ran around each one, including symbols that looked like numbers. Toddleheim knew five languages and recognized none of them. Flynry hopefully offered Elvish, but it wasn’t Elvish. It was Celestial, which Elianna could read. Toddleheim hopped down and handed it to her. The faded inscription struck her as oddly familiar and specific, enough to take her aback:
“The path to dreams begins with the truth.”
Sword Meets Orrery
Explaining the words as she went, Elianna dashed toward Flynry’s sword. As she drew near, the orrery’s rings began spinning in different directions. It lifted out of her hands and hovered, whirring mechanically, and Flynry’s sword began to glow the color of its flames without igniting. The closer she came, the faster the rings spun. The two objects pulled at each other like magnets, and the sword rose slightly to meet the orrery. When metal scraped metal, a flash of light blinded them all.
The Green Desert
When their eyes cleared, they were once again in a desert of green. It was part of The Sands of Eternity, but a place none of them had ever been. The sky and the sand looked familiar. The building in front of them did not. It was enormous and very old, made of costly stone and marble, with ornate columns and carved gargoyles. It was tilted at nearly 45 degrees, its bottom corner sunk into the sand, and lights glowed inside. The orrery had fallen lifeless back into Elianna’s hands, and the sword had gone dark.
Elianna asked Cerys whether she had been here before. She hadn’t, and Flynry was uneasy:
Flynry: “This is different from where I woke up. I’ve never seen that structure before. Something here feels… off.”
Cerys wondered whether they could get back: “If we say the name of the city, maybe it’ll work. I don’t know.” Flynry admitted they were in uncharted territory. Cerys reasoned that “that orrery brought us here for a reason.” Flynry settled it: “I haven’t had a reason to doubt my sword yet. Well, let’s go then.”
The Sunken Library
Sand spilled down the half-buried entry steps into a library sunk in the middle of the desert. Every shelf was full, candles and lanterns burned everywhere, and loose pages lay strewn across the desks. Over the hiss of falling sand came a voice, muttering on an endless loop: “I don’t know what’s happening… I need to know, I need to know.” And then: “I need to know all of this knowledge.”
Behind a bookshelf they found the source. He was a man seven or eight feet tall, with great black wings down his back, his hair pulled back with the sides shaved close, and a large mustache. He wore leathers and robes of blue and black. He pulled book after book from the shelves, and each one crumbled to sand in his hands. He was in a dismayed trance, trapped in a loop.
Flynry recognized it. When he had first arrived in this realm, he had woken into something like a dream, a trance, maybe some sort of hell. “Something about the way he is acting reminds me of my first arrival here,” he said. So he sheathed his sword on his back and approached with open hands. “My friend, greetings.” The man ignored him: “I have to know.” Flynry answered gently, “I too would like to know,” and laid a hand on his shoulder.
The Face of the Scholar
At Flynry’s touch, light came back into the man’s eyes. He reached for one more book, stopped, glanced sideways at Flynry and shook his head. His desperation melted into joy, and his confidence flooded back as if he had lost himself for a moment and only now found the way home. Then the joy curdled into something smug, a wry smile with an air of self-importance and more than a little arrogance.
“This is excellent,” he said. “I know exactly what I need to do now. I know my path.” He gripped Flynry by the shoulder: “You can be useful to me.” Then, to all of them: “I can make good use of all of you. You will do nicely.”
He looked younger than they remembered, and his hair and mustache were different. But there was no mistaking him. This was a face they had all seen before: the face of The Arbiter. Elianna managed only “Oh!” and Cerys stammered, “No! You know I… Oh…” The episode ended on that.
Notable Moments
- Cerys pulled a white soul gem from the dragon’s snowy remains. It was the first white one the party had ever seen.
- Toddleheim “took one for the team,” sprinting up the gold pile as a werewolf and changing back mid-landing to grab the orrery.
- The orrery and Flynry’s sword drew toward each other like magnets, and their touch hurled the party to an unknown part of the green desert.
- The party found a library half-sunk in the sand, with books that crumbled to sand the moment the man pulled them from the shelves.
- With a hand on the shoulder and “I too would like to know,” Flynry broke a stranger out of his trance.
- The stranger turned out to be a younger Arbiter, who promptly decided the party would be “useful.”
Memorable Quotes
- Cerys: “Well, let’s get a-lookin’ for this orrery. I command.”
- Flynry: “I might have seen it, but I’m not going to touch it. We all know what the king looked like.”
- Toddleheim: “Well, I guess I’ll take one for the team.”
- Flynry: “I haven’t had a reason to doubt my sword yet. Well, let’s go then.”
- The muttering man: “I don’t know what’s happening… I need to know, I need to know.”
- Flynry: “I too would like to know.”
- The Arbiter: “I can make good use of all of you. You will do nicely.”
- Narration: “This is a face you’ve all seen before. This is the face of the Arbiter.”
Who and What Appears
Characters
Flynry (BdTeej)
- Carries a sword on his back. The sword’s flames glow in response to the orrery, and he trusts it: “I haven’t had a reason to doubt my sword yet.”
- Knows Elvish.
- Woke up somewhere else in this desert-dream realm when he first arrived, which he describes as a dream, trance or hell.
- Wary of touching arcane items (“We all know what the king looked like”).
- Newly impressed by Cerys’s combat prowess.
- Wakes the young Arbiter from his trance with a touch on the shoulder.
Toddleheim (Ahnubyss)
- Has a werewolf form. He transforms back as he lands on the ledge, and is still “werewolfy” afterward.
- Has an arcane background; Flynry calls him a wizard.
- Knows Common, Deep Speech, Dwarvish, Gnomish and Undercommon.
- Picks up the orrery first.
Elianna (ParallaxStella)
- Casts find traps as a visible wave of white light; danger normally shows up red.
- Reads Celestial and translates the inscription.
- Brings the orrery to Flynry’s sword, which triggers the transport.
Cerys (speaker 03; player uncertain)
- Killed or finished the dragon with two back-to-back nat 20s.
- Found the white soul gem and keeps it.
- Directs the search for the orrery (“I command”).
- Has never been to the new location.
The muttering man / the Arbiter (younger) (Mudcat)
- Found trapped in a knowledge-seeking loop in the sunken library. The books he touches turn to sand.
- Seven to eight feet tall, black wings, hair pulled back with shaved sides, large mustache, blue and black leathers and robes.
- He looks younger than the Arbiter the party knows, with different facial and head hair.
- On waking he becomes confident and smug, and intends to “make good use” of the party.
- The episode is titled “The Scholar.”
The dragon (defeated before this episode). It formed into or left a pile of snow, guarded the hoard, and showed no prior wounds.
Places
- The dragon’s hoard: a treasure cave full of gold, gems and ordinary armor.
- The green desert: a new location within the Sands of Eternity (the blurb’s name for the setting), with familiar celestial events and sand.
- The sunken library: an ancient, ornate marble building tilted in the sand, with columns, gargoyles, lit candles and lanterns, and strewn pages. Its books crumble to sand when the man pulls them.
- “The city”: referenced by Cerys, who suggests saying its name might take them back. Not named.
Items
- The white soul gem: palm-sized, uncut, clear white with an inner ethereal light, unlike the green soul gems seen elsewhere. Cerys has it.
- The golden orrery:
- gyroscopic rings around a central orb, gold with a green patina;
- Celestial inscription “The path to dreams begins with the truth,” plus number-like symbols;
- reacts to Flynry’s sword by spinning and levitating; contact between the two transported the party.
- The party was looking for it (“our item that we’re looking for”).
- Flynry’s sword: flame-glowing, drawn to the orrery.
Lore statements
- Soul gems are normally green; a white one is unprecedented to the party.
- The orrery plus Flynry’s sword act as a means of travel within the desert-dream realm.
- Being trapped in this realm can put people into dream or trance-like loops (Flynry’s arrival; the young Arbiter in the library).
- A younger version of the Arbiter exists or is trapped in this realm (stated by the narration: “the face of the Arbiter”).
Full Round-by-Round
Every beat of the episode, with timestamps (click to expand)
Aftermath of the dragon fight — the white soul gem
- 0:00:01 The party is out of combat. The dragon has just been defeated in the previous session. Speaker 03 (Cerys) is still reeling from “those two nat 20s… back to back.”
- 0:00:20 Cerys makes a perception check. In the pile of snow the dragon formed into, she sees a white, gem-like glint and picks it up.
- 0:00:58 — The soul gem.
- It is a soul gem about the size of her palm: large, uncut and rough.
- It is clear white like a diamond, not green like the soul gems the party has seen “in the other places.” They have never seen a white one before.
- Inside it has an ethereal light reminiscent of the other soul gems.
- 0:01:40 Cerys flashes “this big honking gem” at the others and pockets it: “This is quite something.”
- 0:02:11 Cerys: “Well, let’s get a-lookin’ for this orrery. I command.”
- 0:02:18 — Flynry is impressed. The only other time Flynry had seen Cerys in combat, she was “on her knees and bleeding.” Watching her take the dragon on toe to toe “with such flair” impresses him. BdTeej describes it as a reputation increase with Cerys.
The hoard and the golden orrery
- 0:03:30 The party searches the hoard (investigation checks).
- Most of it is gold and gems of all sizes, and they can fill their pockets with as much as they can carry.
- There are a few run-of-the-mill pieces of armor, nothing worth swapping for.
- 0:03:30 — The orrery. In the back of the cave, perched on the largest gold pile like a pedestal, “the crown jewel of this collection,” sits a golden orrery. Flynry (16) and Cerys spot it.
- It is gyroscopic: many interwoven rings around a central orb.
- It is about half the size of a basketball, small enough to hold in two hands.
- It gives off an aura and a presence. “You don’t even have to be arcane or a wizard to know that this is magical.”
- 0:05:52 Flynry calls the others over. Cerys: “This might be our winner, our item that we’re looking for.”
- 0:07:03 — Find traps. Elianna casts find traps at 2nd level. She snaps her fingers and a wave of white light emanates out, scanning and outlining things. Nothing glows red. She explains that danger would normally show up red. No traps.
- 0:08:41 — Toddleheim takes one for the team. Flynry: “You are a wizard.” Toddleheim: “Well, you may want to hold on to me for later, but Elianna is doing a fantastic job.” He werewolf-runs up the gold, leaps onto the ledge, transforms back into Toddleheim as he lands, and grabs the orrery.
- 0:09:21 — The orrery up close.
- It is inanimate and hefty, goldish with a green, patinaed-copper speckle, and still shiny.
- With his arcane background, Toddleheim can tell it’s magical, but it does nothing.
- Its rings can be spun by hand.
- Markings run around each ring, including symbols that look like numbers. Toddleheim knows Common, Deep Speech, Dwarvish, Gnomish and Undercommon, and recognizes none of them.
- 0:10:42 Flynry asks if it’s Elvish (“I know that one”). It isn’t. It’s Celestial. Elianna can read it, and someone else says they can as well (speaker uncertain, 0:11:18). Toddleheim, “still werewolfy,” jumps down from the ledge and hands it to Elianna.
- 0:11:40 — The inscription. The text is a little faded. It seems oddly familiar and specific, and it takes her aback for a moment: “The path to dreams begins with the truth.”
The orrery meets Flynry’s sword
- 0:12:39 Elianna dashes toward Flynry’s sword, explaining the inscription to the others.
- 0:12:50 As she nears the sword, the orrery’s rings begin to spin in different directions. It levitates out of her hands and hovers, spinning mechanically. Flynry’s sword begins to glow the color of its flames, though it doesn’t ignite. The closer she gets, the faster the rings spin.
- 0:14:15 She brings them together. The two pieces become slightly magnetized and pull toward each other, and Flynry’s sword lifts a little. When the orrery’s metal scrapes the sword, a flash of light blinds them all.
The green desert and the buried building
- 0:14:15 They find themselves once again in a desert of green, but somewhere they’ve never been. The celestial events above and the sand underfoot look familiar.
- 0:15:03 — The structure. In front of them stands a large, very old building of costly stone and marble, with ornate columns, carved gargoyles and other ornamentation. It is tilted at nearly 45 degrees, its bottom corner buried in sand, and lights glow inside.
- 0:16:05 They still have both items. The orrery has fallen lifeless into Elianna’s hands, and the sword has stopped glowing.
- 0:16:23 Toddleheim: “Well, I guess we found the aura [orrery?], right? Jesus.”
- 0:16:33 Elianna asks Cerys whether she’s been here. She hasn’t, and nothing looks familiar to her.
- 0:16:51 Flynry: “This is different from where I woke up. I’ve never seen that structure before. Something here feels… off.”
- 0:17:11 Cerys weighs heading in against trying to get back. She suggests that “if we say the name of the city, maybe it’ll work.” Flynry: “We’re in uncharted territory.” Cerys: “That orrery brought us here for a reason.” Flynry: “I haven’t had a reason to doubt my sword yet. Well, let’s go then.”
The sunken library
- 0:17:58 The doorway is half-buried, and sand spills down the entry steps. Inside is a library sunken in the sand in the middle of the desert:
- shelves full of books;
- candles and lanterns lit everywhere;
- pages pulled out and strewn across desks.
- 0:18:54 — The muttering. Coming down the steps, Flynry and Cerys hear someone muttering incessantly, and the sound of sand falling: “I don’t know what’s happening… I need to know, I need to know.” “I need to know all of this knowledge.” It repeats over and over, almost in a loop.
- 0:20:10 — The man. They find him behind a bookshelf.
- He is seven or eight feet tall, with large black wings spanning down his back.
- His hair is pulled back with the sides shaved close, and he has a large mustache.
- He wears leathers and robes of blue and black.
- He pulls books from the shelves one after another, and each one falls to dust, to sand. He is in a dismayed trance, stuck in a loop.
- 0:21:35 Flynry makes a wisdom check (with advantage, 19). When Flynry arrived in this place, he found himself in some sort of dream, trance, “some sort of hell, maybe.” It’s no large leap that this man is experiencing something similar.
- 0:22:41 Flynry: “Something about the way he is acting reminds me of my first arrival here.” The table jokes about height: next to the eight-foot man, “right now I could be his son.”
- 0:23:33 — Flynry wakes him. Flynry sheathes his sword on his back and approaches hands out, with no hostility: “My friend, greetings.” The man ignores him: “I have to know.” Flynry: “I too would like to know,” and rests a hand lightly on the man’s shoulder.
- 0:24:09 At the touch, light comes back into the man’s eyes. He reaches for another book (“I need to…”), stops himself, looks sideways at Flynry and shakes his head. His desperation turns to a joyous look, his self-confidence returning “like he had lost who he was for a moment.”
- 0:25:50 — The reveal.
- The man: “This is excellent. I know exactly what I need to do now. I know my path.”
- He grabs Flynry by the shoulder: “You can be useful to me.”
- The man looks familiar, though younger, with different facial and head hair. As his true self returns, he grows smug, with a wry smile, an air of self-importance and a little arrogance: “I can make good use of all of you. You will do nicely.”
- “This is a face you’ve all seen before. This is the face of the Arbiter.”
- 0:26:55 Elianna: “Oh!” Cerys: “No! You know I… Oh…” The episode ends at 0:27:43.