Episode 11 - The Rorona Reservation

Recap
Dariun, Zippy and Peterson rallied the town of Mannasnow behind them as they promised they would put the souls of their friends and families they had lost on the mountain to rest. The Manasnow people gave them supplies and they left with Leslie as their guide into the forest to leads to the mountains. They faced a yeti which they turned into a penguin and then found a tomb which they unlocked and went inside.

Episode Summary
Dariun, Zippy and Peterson descend down the stairs when they hear the same roar of the yeti. Leslie yells out but the stone slabs that opened the way to the tunnel closes shut. Dariun tries to have a look at the slab to see if they can open and help the horses but he can't seem find a way to open it. Peterson tries to have a look through his mask and can see a blue glowing down the bottom of the staircase. Dariun has the idea to use the doorknob, which Zippy definitely remembers he has, so when he brings it to the slab, a doorway appears. The door is heavy so Zippy asks the others to help open it, Dariun is able to lift it up and Zippy crawls through the gap and ushers the horses and Leslie in. Dariun smoothly pulls the door down and closes it, tossing the doorknob back to Zippy. Dariun lights up a torch and leads the way down the stairs, Peterson follows behind Dariun while Zippy decides to stay with Longface who he has some stern words ready for. Zippy tells Longface needs to be brave and a good leader for Tealeaf, who is a little absent minded. Tealeaf takes this on board.

They get to the bottom of the cave where there is an open clearing with a running stream at the end of the room. They can see a small row boat tied to a post on the stream that appears to lead in a tunnel. Now they can all see blue glowing text on the wall opposite of them but none of them can understand it, expect Dracken. Dracken tells them this place is a Rorona Reservation, a place from his time. Rorona was a collector of creatures and preserver of magic. She often blocked of locations using puzzles, like they solved to get in to the cave, to keep people out. Rorona was obsessed with all life living freely and naturally. Dracken claims he found a few of them and burnt them to the ground. Dracken tells them he could read it but he'd like a snack in return. Peterson spirals an apple and Dracken is feeling pretty happy so he reads the text. "The great snail Naromyn. The last of its kind, as the Paronican forest of Wesnia was turned to ash during the gifted strike. Here, they will be protected from harm and feed on rose quartz crystals. DO NOT FEED IT ANYTHING ELSE."

Dariun has a look and sees the river is about 4 feet deep and sees little manta-ray like fish swimming downstream. Peterson looks around and can see a piece of cloth on the ground. He can also tell the rope is fairly fresh as well, indicating someone had been down here recently. Zippy activates his magic carpet and floats down the river as a scout. The water gets rough for a short while then it smooths out. He sees the stalactites on the roof are like a black glass, resembling a starry night sky. Zippy sees the manta-ray fish, other fishes with bottom half dolphin, top half wolf, swimming in the water. The water funnels into a river that then flows upwards. Zippy goes up, feeling the gravity shift and finds himself in another clearing. The ceiling is now a pink-rose colour with crystals. It's a large lake and there is a large island in the distance. There are large white furry balls with walrus faces that jump off the island to catch the manta-rays. Just past the island is a waterfall and Zippy can see the largest crystal from the ceiling is touching the highest point of the island. Zippy can see a giant blue snail with a pearlescent shell licking the crystal. It has a chimney with smoke rising on the top of the shell, a window and a door on the side.

Zippy heads on back, relays all the information to the group and they decide the head together with everyone. Zippy casts bark skin on Longface and flies along as Peterson, Dariun, Leslie and Tealeaf fit in the boat. Before they leave, Peterson catches a manta-ray by dipping his hand into the water where one of them suctions to his palm. When he pulls it out, he realises he suddenly can understand Longface. They joke around and Longface gets into the water. He us now covered in bark skin and bonks his way down the river, stiff as a board. They all head down the water and end up in the lake and make their way to the island.

The walrus beings are super friendly and continue to jump into the water gathering food as they make their way up to the snail's shell door. Dariun knocks on the door and can hear some footsteps inside. It unlocks and opens. They see a grey skinned genasi with a red bandana over his eyes and nose. He congratulates them on winning the race as they recognise, The Red Bandit. Dariun is baffled about why he is here and just how Dariun remembers, The Red Bandit only answers with cryptic words. The Red Bandit asks how many are there as he cannot see. When Dariun tells them there is 4 people, The Red Bandit tell them he made up 5 places on the table. The Red Bandit seems unaware that he is in a Rorona Reservation as they walk in and see the inside of this snail's shell is lit up by candles on a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It's a large open room with a storage room off to the side and a staircase leading to another level up. In this room, there is a large round table with 5 chairs around it. There is a stool on the other end which the Red Bandit sits at. The Red Bandit asks them to choose a place to sit and their choice is important.

Zippy takes the seat closest to him, Dariun takes the chair that looks directly to The Red Bandit, Peterson takes a chair that is equidistance to the others and Leslie sheepishly takes a seat between Peterson and Zippy. The Red Bandit retrieves some cups and a coffee making set. He pours some black liquid into the cups and hands them to each of the party members with shaky hands. Dariun points out that gazers tend to be dressed in all white but he is not dressed like this. The Red Bandit tells them he can't see colour, only red. Dariun tries to get a straight answer but the Red Bandit remains elusive. He talks of what is odd and how Peterson is the odd one of this group here. Dariun points out that Peterson has not been introduced but The Red Bandit tells them he didn’t need to be told Peterson's name and sometimes you just know a name from the air around of them.

The Red Bandit tells them that he felt like 5 people were meant to be coming and it was a matter of time before they showed up. When Dariun presumed the fifth should be Norman, The Red Bandit denies this and tells them he is on a different path and the fifth was a different person. The Red Bandit talks about how paths converge when he is waiting for someone and this case with Dariun and Zippy seemed no different. He tells them that all of their choices matter and they will all add up in the end. As he speaks, Peterson pulls down his mask and looks to the Red Bandit and sees he is as normal as they come. The Red Bandit tells them that the biggest choices here are Leslie and Peterson and they should have the chance to leave. The Red Bandit gives them a choice, will they stay or will they leave? Dariun stays, Peterson also stays, Zippy asks to move his chair but it put off so decides to stay put. Leslie opts to leave, heading out to the horses to wait.

The Red Bandit gives them another choice, to drink or to remain sitting? Zippy decides to keep sitting and not drink. Dariun can't tell if the Red Bandit is manipulating him as his words are so cryptic. Peterson looks into the drink and can deduced it's not poisonous. Peterson and Dariun both decide to drink the viscous, black drink. The Red Bandit asks if they can hear the aura, the name of the person who is coming. He asks Zippy who is coming which he doesn't know but The Red Bandit asks Zippy to think deep down, to the first name that comes. Zippy says the name Karen, which the Red Bandit tells him he is right. Zippy question if the Red Bandit is telling them the truth to which he tells them he never lies and asks him to trust his word, as they have all had many shared experiences together even when they are not together.

Zippy scoots his chair to the right and the Red Bandits tells him fate has changed. Zippy buries his head in the table to avoids talking to The Red Bandit anymore. The Red Bandit tells them they have another choice, will they stay in this room or hide and listen from above? The team deliberate between them and as they do, they hear the sound of footsteps coming towards the door. They can choose or time will choose for them. They decide to stay and see who the fifth chair is.

The door opens and they see a tall figure, with a long wet black hair down to their bellybutton. He has a large bushy beard, black from the bottom lip down and grey from the top lip up. His pale, grey tiefling face is aged and his right horn is curved and arcs off while the left horn is broken to the base. He has elfish ears pointing out of the black hair and he wears a long grey pea coat. His left arm is covered in bandages and he is totally saturated in water. The person makes his way over and sits to the right of Dariun, leaning back in his chair and groans. He looks at the three of them and asks who they are. He tells them he had to swim here and that nothing is going right.

Dariun asks for his name to which he tells them it's Karen. Karen asks for each of their names and they each introduce themselves. Dariun asks what Karen is here for and he tells them he is here to pay his respects. When asked who for, Karen starts to become emotional and tells them he had an old friend who passed recently and they used to come here. His friend was his last anybody to him and he has been around for a very long time. Karen wanted to make a memorial here for his lost friend. He asks why the team is here and Dariun explains it was a random chance he came here. Karen tells them the snail house is neither his or the Red Bandit's but belonged to a friend of his named Parlay. Karen asks if they would engage him in some conversation to dull his thoughts. Peterson tells them what they are doing on their way to the mountain and see the red lights and happened to find this area.

Karen identifies them as Greeders and scoffs at how they are all the same. He tells them he wants to dry off and then make the grave marker. The Red Bandit speaks up and gives them a last choice, do they want to speak, or not speak? Dariun asks who they will speak to. Karen interjects and asks what they know. Peterson asks what about. The Red Bandit tells them they first need to make a decision. Karen begins to become more energetic and tells them to speak and that he will tell you what to say. When Peterson asks if he is referring to The Red Bandit, Karen confirms this and tells them that this is what he is here for. The Red Bandit is Karen's gazer, he lead them to Karen so they are here for him. Karen again asks them to speak, becoming more excited and hopeful. Dariun and Peterson agree to speak and Zippy listens.

The Red Bandit asks Dariun who died recently. Dariun says Gilbert, their friend. The Red Bandit asks him to keep going about Gilbert. Dariun tells them he was their friend, an ex-Greeder who lived in an estate on the outside of Aurum who took them in after they saved his granddaughter. When they were away from the estate, he was attacked. One of their other companions was being hunted and he and his family were caught in the crossfire, Gilbert didn’t make it. Karen asks who attacked him and Dariun replied two monks from the Calm Cloud Monastary named May and Cornelius. Karen looks at the Red Bandit and asks if it was the apeling and the shadar-kai. Karen stands up and tells them he was going to kill himself, here, once again. Karen asks if Gilbert had a mark on him, Dariun tells him he had a blue flower that was suppressed by a band around his leg. The Red Bandit gets up and start to leaves the snail. Karen puts his hands on the back wall as the Red Bandit walks away. They feel the shell trembling and Karen says "blue flower … two people … okay."

Quotations

 * Zippy "To ride with me you have to be a brave horse, a strong horse!"
 * The Red Bandit "I'm me. No one else could be me, but me!"
 * The Red Bandit "Odd is only odd to people who are odd themselves, right Dariun?"
 * The Red Bandit "I don’t see anything Dariun! I've got this cloth over my eyes. Just like you've got cloth over your eyes too. Just a different cloth."
 * The Red Bandit "Bravery is really only ignorance, I suppose."


 * Zippy "Trust is built on shared experiences."
 * The Red Bandit "And we've shared a lot."
 * Zippy "I've never met you before..."
 * The Red Bandit "We've shared this world together. Shared in the Bramble Patch. We've shared in Aurum. We all share together just not … together."


 * The Red Bandit "Every choice is important when it's the next choice."

Main Cast

 * Dariun Branch
 * Zippy Westborrough
 * Peterson

Returning Characters

 * Leslie
 * Longface Cloppyhooves
 * Tealeaf
 * Dracken
 * The Red Bandit

New Characters

 * Rorona (mentioned)
 * Karen
 * Parlay (Passed friend of Karen - mentioned)

Locations

 * Manasnow Rorona Reservation