This episode is brought to you by Amazon.The holidays are here, and you know what that means?It's time to get your friends and family the gifts they deserve.
Take the stress out of shopping with Amazon's great deals and low prices on a huge range of items from toys to tech and much more.Whoever you're gifting for, Amazon has great prices on everything you need this holiday season.
Shop Black Friday week starting November 21st.
Greetings Adventurers!We've reached the end of our regular releases for Dark Dice this year, but we'll be back with bi-weekly releases on August 19th, 2025 at the latest, though I'll try my best to get us back on track as early as March 25th.
But speaking of infernal deals,
our Kickstarter for Unnatural Horrors has not only passed 300% of our goal with new additions like black bound external pages, ambiences and backgrounds for the adventure, more monsters and STL files, but for the first time ever, we are printing the book we fought tooth and nail to bring to Terrible Unlife.
Thank you all so much for your support. The Kickstarter will continue through October 10th, and if you think you'd like to make a monster with us, there's still a little bit of time remaining.A few more things to mention here.
First, instead of vanishing for the next few months, we have something special that we'll be releasing on this feed.An actual play by myself, KaStats, Peter Joseph Lewis, and many other voices that you'll find familiar.
You see, a few years ago, we made a sci-fi actual play podcast that virtually no one listened to.
So join us, starting in two weeks from today, as we release Liberty Vigilance, a sci-fi conspiracy created by yours truly, specifically for your entertainment.
It's a limited run series that should keep you smiling all the way through its explosive ending.
Lastly, our first ever sponsor for Dark Dice has renamed their company from Lefty Games to The Speechless Bard, and they've sponsored us again and sent us a ton of new terrain that we got to play with over the summer.
I know that makes us sound like children, but it was a lot of fun and brought out our inner children.
So, as our official terrain sponsor for Dark Dice, the Speechless Bard creates TTRPG treasures, everything from custom book covers, custom dice trays, dice bags, DM screens, pins, keychains, notebooks, sketchbooks, and of course, amazing magnetic terrain.
So if you go to speechlessbard.com, you can see for yourself just how beautiful and intelligently designed all their works are.You can also see a bunch of their modular terrain there, but also on our Instagram.
From the tiles they make, to hinged doors, to even the metal plates used to stack the terrain, it makes moving and stacking locations even more easy and a heck of a lot more dramatic.
I cannot recommend the Speechless Bard enough, so please do check out their website, speechlessbard.com, and look at their innovative and extremely pretty designs.Seriously, look at their galaxy chart and undead king.
And with that, let's get to the final episode of our crossover. Welcome back to your listeners to Dark Dice.I'm your co-guide in this story, Travis Vengroff, co-game master of Dark Dice.
Previously, Sindri and his allies met up with the Lucky Die crew in the dream realm of Kromana.If they wanted to escape, they would need to pluck the Eye of Prophecy from the spider goddess Farate.
At least, that's what some elements of their party insisted. But could their new allies be trusted?Why was the shrieking woman following them?And would they ever return home?I guess we're about to find out.
Lyril doesn't ask, she just walks past the others through the darkness.
That doesn't seem like a great idea considering you're both a bow and arrow kind of girl.
No response from Lyril is heard.
Sultana steps into the darkness.
Yeah, Father Westpike steps like side by side with her.
In a single blink, the disorientating shadows enveloped them before receding beneath their feet.They now found themselves within the sunken pit of a freezing theatre-esque room.
Up and around them, rows of benches and chairs upon which incorporeal masses, beaten and broken, devoid of their spirits, sat.Arms missing, faces missing, chests and legs missing, teeth missing, screaming or crying silently, in a muted chorus.
violence quickly noticed the Shrieking Lady, standing beside a monstrosity standing over a stone plinth, and all at once it was clear that this was an operating theatre.
The creature beside the Shrieking Lady loosely resembled a giant humanoid head, formed from a mix of vapour, glistening chitinous flesh, and extra-dimensional silk wrought from the stuff of dreams and nightmares.
The face was feminine, humanoid yet implacable, save for a disgusted smear. The longer the team stared into the face, the more they were able to notice something was off about its appearance.
Its visage was formed from the limbs of a gigantic misshapen spider, covered in giant stalks that protruded from its main body, each stalk ending in a small eye, though the two primary eyes of the face now resembling more of a skull as the creature unfurled itself and began to give off a hypnotic golden light.
The head of hair, actually comprised of hundreds of thin tendrils, began to shift the mass closer as its main legs cut into the cloaked specter that Ra recognized.
A skeletal figure, bound and gagged, stuck to the plinth and screaming in agony as it was seemingly bored into.The floating head, or rather the spider, gave a hissing rasp as the team stared upon the face of the Goddess of Dreams.
They were required to make a sanity saving throw.
Ooh, fun, getting to love those.Oh, shit.I think I got a 10.
Fucked.Travis, 17.13 on my side, Travis.
All who rolled under a 15 gained 15 stress and disadvantage for the first round of combat.
Travis, I just passed 100.
Oh no, that smile, I hate it.Over 100, you say?Yes.
We'll have some fun later, but for now, Elias was first to act.
I don't want to do anything, but I guess I'll throw a dart at it just to see if it's real.That's not going to work, because I rolled two, so it's a total of nine.
The dart filled wide, clattering off the stone plinth between the spider god and the screaming ghost, which now had bugs, maggots, and centipede-like creatures crawling from where the eye sockets and nostrils should have been.
The cold seemed to center around this figure.Elias buddied up to his friend, who was definitely real.
You're seeing this, right?Whatever the fuck this is?
In that moment, Liryl cast magic, pulling up a barrier that would absorb elements and confirming the potency of her magics while stepping toward the shrieking lady.
Balance!Translate!We may use magic here!
Balance set his focus on the spider, unleashing a psionic surge as blood poured from the corner of his eyes down his face and dripped down his extended hand, melting into a psychic grip which caught the goddess's attention.
Its many eyes turned to face him, and he recognised in that moment that such powers were no more effective against a god than throwing a pebble at a mountain. Fuck.
Rao the Dragonborn studied the spectre before him, recognising that ropes, no, vicious transparent webbing with a bizarre multi-coloured sheen bound his friend in a manner that reminded him of a torture rack, pulling his arms up.
Suspecting the webbing to be sticky, Rao spat acid on his hands before attempting to rip away at it.
Unpleasant as it was, Rao was able to dissolve the webbing holding one arm in his talons in acid, their smell reminding him of fresh pinewood, salt and sulphur.
Meanwhile, Zoltana raised her greatsword and jumped on top of the main body, missing with her first strike as she gained a good foothold, while slashing down hard with a second fuelled by her hatred of spiders.
A bolt of lightning came from the heavens from her god to strike the shrieking spider, separately from her holy smite.Clearly Zoltana's god approved of her bravery and actions.
But in that flash of light, Father Westpike did not see a spider, but rather the giant face of a woman, scared and scorned as if screaming out desperately to call for an end to this senseless violence.But he noticed something else as well.
A figure to his left, a face which dripped blood, its features shifting in the light.
Father Westpike turns on his heels, holds up his hammer, and calls on a sacred flame to reinquish the silent one. Father of Light, burn away in the darkness with your sacred radiance!
Balance now required a dexterity saving throw.
Now a fucksave.I got an eight.Fucksaves.
As Father Westpike called down a thunder of his own, which smoked the silent one, it hissed and glared at him in response before pulling down a mask of flesh that resembled Balance, who scolded the old priest believably.
Wow, what the fuck?Balance, for his part, didn't expect the pillar of light that engulfed him, burning and searing his skin momentarily.What the fuck?
We're on the same team here.Your facade slips.What?
Father Westpike held his hammer up defiantly in front of himself as the head of Faraday opened its visage to spit forth a stream of extra-dimensional webbing in an arc toward Raul and Elias, who dodged out of the way in a series of synchronized movements that aided one another.
As Zeltanna looked down to see large red eyes in the monster's body, feeling a sudden presence within her mind clawing at her consciousness.
That's a 25, so you can't hypnotize me.I have too many muscles for that.
Casting a middle finger toward the heavens, or whatever sensation it was, out, Elias overcame his own fears, charging over the plinth, calling to Raal and jumping off the dragonborn onto the spider goddess, who he perceived as having fleshy eye stalks.
Elias landed on her side, clocking one of the fleshy eyestalks with the right hook before bouncing to the other side near Zeltanna and yanking at its soft iris before unleashing a fury of blows upon it, spinning in a backwards roll off the plinth to disengage from the monster's blind fury, having successfully blinded his target.
Lyril now took a few menacing steps towards the shrieking lady, casting a warding wind around herself, while her wicked staff transformed into its cruel form.But this level of menace seemed to upset balance.
Don't kill her!And so L'Rell shifted her focus towards the form of the abominable spider goddess, as Balancelot eyes with Zoltana, infusing Zoltana with a psionic energy as his voice echoed within her mind.
Again what?You didn't finish that sentence.Oh.Yeah, the sword.Okay, I can do that.
Zoltana was the instrument of Balancelot's murder.
So those are two 20s.Smite.
The DMs glanced at one another with confusion before shrugging and accepting the results.
As Zoltana slashed left and right, cutting an arc of flesh, and another, and another, as lightning exploded forth from within the dwarf and the Holy Thunder struck her targets.
An attack of this fury, so fuelled by the gods, had weakened the form before her.
Ra reluctantly left his spectre friend to charge the giant terrifying spider, aiding Elias and punching the same eye over and over again, hitting, missing, hitting and striking out again out of panic, with his raking acid-covered talons tearing the hole into the eye as horrific shrieks came from the monster beneath them.
He reasoned that he could dig his way into her very brain. As Zultana offered a silent prayer before joining Ralph, striking the same location, peering deeper into the forming crevice, that was the moment Zultana learned that eyes don't bleed.
Step away from my cousin!
Sindri took a step toward Balance, threatening him.And I'm gonna cast Detect Evil and Good.
The old dwarf's eyes glazed over and Balance was unsure if he could risk allowing the spell to come to life, but ultimately chose not to react as Sindri's detection spell opened his awareness beyond what his weary eyes could hope to see.
A dance of bizarre grey auras swirled around Sindru, Elias, Sultana, the Shrieking Lady and Rao's inner lights, glowing like grey torches in contrast to Laurel's darker charcoal.Balanced, he discovered, was a bit brighter than the others.
Though a dark grey stain rippled his aura, interlinked but somehow separate, but behind balance.A swirling mixture of spinning colours the old man, who had seen many things and lived a long life, never witnessed before.
The chaos of Farati's soul, the aura of a god. For the first time, Sindri saw colours.The old dwarf was terrified, confused and in awe at its beauty, colours that did not exist to his eyes, colours that he would never again witness.
He cried and regained his focus, peering and glimpsing a small understanding of her true nature,
As the brilliant blue-like shade shifted through the dark yellow of Malice to something not quite yellow, nor orange, and all at once, he unexpectedly found himself pitying the Spider Goddess.
But Sindri's gaze lingered perhaps for too long before returning to face Rowena.Small sparks of gray and white enveloped within a cloud of absolute darkness, a lantern within a sandstorm.
He could see the good within Rowena, but just beneath her skin, a black shard, almost like a splinter, twisted, grew.It wasn't centered in any specific place on Rowena's body, but it was present all the same, and Sindri despaired.
As his hands kind of droop down, he's going to try to steal himself into getting back into the fight after skipping his turn.He does not want to admit that there's anything wrong with Rowena, and he wants to be done with this nightmare.
Ferati's many legs swipe at those around her, striking Rahl across the chest, knocking him back and away from her, while Black Ichor hissed forth from the wounds in her open eye, a noxious vapor forcing Elias and Zoltana to make saving throws.
who were able to avoid the effects of the ichor.
The Spectre freed his other arm and began to unlash his ankles as nasty creatures wriggled from the sockets in his face and fell, dripping onto the floor, and the shrieking lady moved towards balance with unknown, but presumably malevolent intentions.
Elias unleashed another flurry of blows, ripping open the torn eye even further before hopping back to the plinth and pulling Raal to his feet.
Elias swayed calmly, his defense ready as Leeral passed behind him, opening and pouring a flask of acid onto the final bindings of the Spectre with a 19.
The spectre stood to his full height, blot flies pouring from empty eye sockets as he nodded, and then bowed to herald an appreciation.Great.Within Zoltana's mind, the voice of balance once again pushed her to strike.
Keep going!It's working!Again!What?
This is when we learn that Zoltana has hearing problems.It's all that thunder.Did she murder- Oh my god!
Bring down the holy thunder!
As Zoltana rolled another crit to the dismay of the DMs, the sword swung down and was pulled, making the hole much, much larger.
Using the spider's body as a foothold, she raised and dropped the blade, putting her full strength into the blow, which exploded outward in a wave of thunder, as she heard the cackling voice of Kalimorn in her head.
You did ask me to bring the thunder.
A massive hole was blown through the side of the spider's body.Brains or something else, it was unclear, flew in all directions as the explosion of light detonated, raining down upon all nearby.
It was disgusting and gross, but... Congratulations, Sultana. As the explosion echoed through the room, the walls began to crack and break, the stone plates shattering to pieces.
The world itself around them looked like a shattering mirror or crystal as it refracted and broke, pulling itself apart.But those present were still floating somehow, as if standing on solid ground.
Balance is going to run over and he doesn't even care.He's just going to embrace Ninverna.Just grab her in a big hug.
Ninverna put her arms around Balance, but they passed through him as she was a spirit in corporeal, pulling away from a hug that could never be.And as she did so, her face was visible to Balance, whole, and it began to crack.
He could see light coming through it. and then her head exploded all over again, retracting into a red mist which poured back into her face.This process repeated over and over and over again.
Balan screamed at the voice in his head, Monarch.
Help, help, help, what do I do?Monarch, help, please, please, I don't know what to do, help.
There isn't room in here for three.
Oh god, um, Zeltana, Raul, one of you, please.
A small red light glowed beneath Zeltana's sword, an orb.
One she was quick to pluck up as the spider goddess's oozing skin hissed and seeped away, slunk away like mercury from her hands as it oozed through the cracks in reality, presumably vanishing, at least as far as Zeltana was concerned.
In Zultana's gloved hands, this orb was a mystery, and in its glow the face of Githa loomed inches away, peering into its depths for answers, before plucking it from Zultana with a clawed hand.
Even having just felled a god, the crone somehow scared Zultana, who made no effort to resist.
Father Westpike somehow found the strength to glare at the woman for abandoning his cousin to Valen's care, but it was quickly forgotten as Githa spoke, somehow enacting a dozen phrases at once, speaking to all present that only those who rolled over 15 for perception could understand the message intended for them.
The shadow behind the masked woman grew like wings as she looked from figure to figure. There is little time.Say your goodbyes and let us be gone from this place.
Uh, Zoltana's gonna walk over to Balance.Okay, how do we do this?
Zoltana, please, just embrace her.Take her in.We'll try to get her out of you as soon as we can, but please, we can't leave her here.
Balance is, like, visibly shaking.There are tears in his eyes, mixing with the blood that already poured out earlier.
Zoltana pats you on the shoulder and goes up and goes, okay, I hope you're ready for a big hug.Gives the ghost lady a hug.
The process was painless.As Banlitz moved his hands to bring life to the magic, the spirit's face reformed one final time, but it didn't crack or break.It merely fizzled out, a small white light that floated toward the back of Zoltana's head.
She now could feel the presence of someone else, and they were constantly screaming in pain.
As Valen lifted his hand up, he realized that he, too, was transparent.
Valen?I look at myself or others.Does anybody else seem to be doing this?
Beyond Geetha, who was quite corporeal, only Valen remained.
Vaylin, what is happening?
I thought it was a dream, but apparently it was not.There were bandits on the road.Words were exchanged and things escalated.That is why you have not seen me lately.I have been wandering this place, lost for what feels like an eternity.
I don't want to go.I don't want to go, Sindri.Please help me return home.Let us do the weird hug thing so I don't have to wander alone anymore.
Bespike grabs at his shirt and goes, is my family okay?I've been hearing rumors.
I will tell you if you help me.
Vaylin, if I help you and you've been lying to me, I will crush you wherever you're left. I agree to your terms.All right, Father Westpike embraces him.
I believe this is where our paths diverge.Valens, I'm sorry.I don't know what I saw, but I know what I saw, and it was a lie.You and your friends are not... You and your friends are better than me, and I am sorry for what I did.
May the light of Silicon guide you and greet you each morning.
Gallance gives a shaky nod.Thank you.
Sindri Westpike.Before you depart, you must make a decision.As I stated, Rowena's body is host to a terrible curse.Unfortunately, I am unable to intervene directly.I could keep her here, and her life.It would be the most humane outcome.
If you take her with you, the Bale of Bone will ring twice, and the world will despair.The Formless Lord, the Neverborn, will be made manifest.
I know not what you speak, but I will not leave my cousin behind.
This action could damn the world.Yet your love for your dying cousin blinds you from the responsibility of these consequences.
This is not a question, Githa.She's coming with me, one way or another.
A priest of rationality clinging to hope?You will allow it to manifest with your actions?No, no.
I will save her from... whatever you said it was.
The Neverborn?Yes. Fortunately for you, I am appreciative of your aid.700 years with this should be enough to stop him.Still, a price must be paid.
I will gladly pay it.It is not yours to pay.It is hers.But I am not without gratitude.Enjoy your final hours with her, dwarf.
From behind the beaked mask, the old woman scowled at Sindri as her hand was placed upon Rowena's face, a deep shadow forming between them.
A shadow that pulled the gray from Rowena's face, pulling the poisons from her body inflicted upon her by Sir Captain Osmark.A strange vigor stirred within Rowena as her blue eyes opened, a fierce, implacable magic hidden within them.Are you okay?
She looks up at him and she looks like she's trying to form a word and then like shakes her head and starts again.I think I'm probably okay.We need to get out of here.
Masked stranger, great all-shadow made manifest.Were the voices correct?Does Finley yet live?Does he wait for me in great Furnasco?
The woman peered into the Eye of Prophecy, its glowing light casting shadows behind them.
As the gaps in reality grew, manifesting a shimmering refracted light, a collection of similar shards were drawn toward Balance, Raljak, and Zoltana.
As promised, this is your way home.
We should go.Wait, there's something I've got for you.
Rowena's going to look around inside her bag and she's going to pull up two books.One of them Sindru probably recognises her journal and the other one he'd recognise as her book of song.
And she's going to take the book of songs over and she's going to give it to Ral, not particularly worried about how terrifying he looks.
You all seem to help.I've got no other way of thanking you.Here.And she pushes the book of songs into his hand.
Oh, thanks.I don't have much here.He gives you a healing, the healing potion that Kythia made.
No, it's this is a thank you for what you did.I can't take that.I didn't.I didn't earn it.You need to go.Look, your light.
Rolex over it, balance, and Sultana in the Spectre.
The Spectre looked exhausted.Skeletal as it was, he was weakened, and nodded to Raal.
We have a soul to ferry back to the other side.
I didn't expect to be pulled in with you.But in the end, we got what we came for.
Balance puts a hand on Zoltan's shoulder, gives her a squeeze, and then turns to the others and says, Thank you, all of you.You've helped me more than you can possibly imagine.
Sinti smiles and says, looks at Rowena and goes, No, I think I can imagine.
Yeah, yeah, this is all great and mushy.
Raal approached the portal and glanced at the spectre one final time.
With a nod, Raaljaak walked through the portal.
Lydia looks at Balance and nods at him.It has been interesting traveling with you, and I hope you find what you're looking for.Good luck.
Thank you.Balance, as he's walking away, actually reaches into his pocket and pulls out his signet ring. and tosses it over to Lyril and says in Undercommon, if you ever find yourself in the land of Becron, find me.
It'll be nice to see a friendly face again.And then walks through the portal.
Zoltana looks at everybody, it's nice meeting you all.I gotta go deal with this screaming lady in my head now.And then she looks at Elias and goes, thanks for the booze.
The masked woman raised her hand, manifesting a physical doorway of darkened wood from the formless shadows, motioning for the others to pass through.
Go.Enjoy what time you have left.
Cinder's gonna turn around and grabs Rowena by the shoulder and walks through the shadow door.
You can probably tell she's not happy, but they'll go through.
Her shoulders tensed lightly under his grip, but as Sindri's hand rested upon her shoulder, he felt something strange, almost as if fingers beneath her skin raised up to touch him back.
Sindri squeezes down as if to keep the fingers steady, to crush them down. not trying to hurt her, just kind of for his own brain's sake.
And they passed through, leaving dear Elias alone with Geetha to ponder his vision in silence.He looked around, staring at the edge of oblivion.
Will they, will they truly betray me?Will my father murder me?
Um, yeah, Elias will steady himself.He passes through the doorway.
And just like that, the nightmare ended.Dark Dice The Long Road Chapter 20 A Dark Miracle
Featuring Hem Brewster as Rowena Granitepike and co-DM, Ithur Vitharsson as Father Sindri Westpike, Tanya Milojevic as Liril, Drew Tillman as Elias, Casey Edison as Eltana, Arch as Balance, Neil Martin as Rall, and Travis Van Graaff as co-Dungeon Master.
Also featuring the voices of Carolyn St.Pee, Cody Brockman, Paul Mea, Sam Yao, and Ladybeard.This episode was produced and edited with sound design by Travis Vengroff.Originally edited by Neil Martin, with audio cleanup by Finner Nielsen.
With mixing and mastering by Marisa Ewing of Hemlock Creek Productions.Featuring executive producers Dennis Greenhill, Carol Vengroff, AJ Punkin, and Maiko Villegas.With associate producer Shion Francois.
This episode featured music by Neil Martin, Stephen Mullen, Brandon Boone, and Travis Vengroff. You can hear the other version of this episode by going to The Lucky Die and listening to their amazing podcast.Please do it.
You know you really want to, because it's a lot of fun.It's episode 50, and it's a lot of fun to listen to.So go check out The Lucky Die.
To support this production, please share your thoughts with friends, family members, co-workers, cult members, wherever you lurk on the internet, or within the darkness you dwell.
You can also help us eat and keep the lights on over at patreon.com slash foolandscholar.This is a Fool and Scholar production.Thank you for listening.
Welcome to Sagas of Sundry Goblin Mode.It's a brand new fantasy series that uses tabletop role-playing games to tell an ever-evolving story.Get ready for action, adventure, and weird little monsters.
Set in the mysterious world of Sundaros, Goblin Mode follows a group of underdogs, or should I say underlings, working for a dark overlord, until they find themselves in charge for once.
Join Game Master Amy Vorpahl as she leads players Danielle Radford, Dan Casey, and Jason Wynn on an adventure unlike anything you've experienced before.Who will live?Who will die?Sagas of Sundry, Goblin Mode.The adventure begins September 9th.
Join Geek & Sundry and Realm for Sagas of Sundry, Goblin Mode.Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hi, I'm Jennifer, a founder of the GoKidGo network.At GoKidGo, putting kids first is at the heart of every show that we produce.
That's why we're so excited to introduce a brand new show to our network called The Search for the Silver Lining, a fantasy adventure series about a spirited young girl named Isla who time travels to the mythical land of Camelot.
Look for The Search for the Silver Lining on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sign in
