Icebound | Ep. 2 | Dire Straits

Yornir (0:01)

It is Legends of Avantris.

I am called Yornir, and you are listening to Icebound. Here is what happened last time.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (0:14)

5,287 days left to go. Serving your 16-year sentences for crimes you were unjustly framed for.

Yornir (0:24)

This is the path I'm on in 16 years, and this is just a simple drop of water.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (0:32)

89 days away from her. There's something I don't even remember doing. 89 days without a drop of rum. We suppose there's a bit of a coincidence there, probably not related.

16 years until I see her again.

Scrim (0:51)

It's been not good. I do as little work as possible to get by every single day.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (0:56)

I don't work.

Scrim (0:56)

I don't work for anything. I never work for a single thing in my life. And I don't intend to start now.

So needless to say, I'm at the bottom of this hole, and with whatever tools and implements I have, instead of actually doing the work, I'm drawing more plans in the bottom of the hole, in the rock wall, trying to think of something. Because I don't do well in captivity. Look, I've been in prison a few times, but there's never been a prison on Avantris that's held shrimp for very long.

Queenie March (1:18)

I'm just hanging in there like a hare in a biscuit.

Unknown (1:21)

Hare, I wonder if that's spelled H-A-R-E or H-A-I-R.

Queenie March (1:25)

You know, I never did ask, Old Bear Jenkins. I don't know how I'm going to get these seeds all over Avantris if I'm stuck in this hole, and I tried to hop out of it at least five or six times.

Taishen (1:38)

If we turn the slop counterclockwise at a slightly faster speed, I think we can make some of the best rock slop for the water that they've ever seen here.

Taishen (1:51)

I really think we can increase the quality.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (1:52)

I'm thinking of ways to help. I am, unfortunately, running a bit of a skeleton crew, so I would need some insurance, and I understand that you guys are capable of solving problems.

Captain Verme (2:06)

I didn't tell you my name, did I?

Taishen (2:07)

Ha ha ha!

Captain Verme (2:08)

Captain Verme!

Queenie March (2:10)

Oh, I thought it was Chuck.

Captain Verme (2:12)

No, no, no.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (2:13)

Captain Verme is what you may call me, and that is what you will call me for the remainder of our voyage.

Dungeon Master (2:17)

Is that fine?

Captain Verme (2:19)

What is the nasty?

Queenie March (2:21)

I don't understand.

Dungeon Master (2:21)

I don't know.

Queenie March (2:21)

It was in a song I heard once in a tavern.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (2:24)

Captain Verme wants to leave tonight, and he's gathering everyone around. I know of three other vessels looking to depart for this same hunt.

Dungeon Master (2:33)

There will be more. We may be the first to unfurl our sails, but that is no guarantee.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (2:40)

As I'm sure most of you know, to see a fog between Yulong and Chok is a misery.

It's been ten days now since you departed the Delta Dock area of Wuzhe, the river city. Finally, you are out on the open sea. It is getting cooler.

Yornir (2:57)

There is a creature on board that we must destroy.

Unknown (3:00)

Oh, you didn't say arachnid, did you?

Scrim (3:02)

I'm saying that none of that makes any sense, and I choose not to believe it, because I have a nice bottle of whiskey.

Yornir (3:08)

Every life on this ship is at risk if we do not find this creature and destroy it. Do you understand?

Dungeon Master (Mike) (3:14)

Just behind the ear, you find a single puncture wound.

Dungeon Master (3:19)

You feel this surprising stinging sensation, like a wasp.

Captain Verme (3:24)

What the fuck was that?

Dungeon Master (3:26)

And still you feel that there's something else in the room.

Dungeon Master (Mike) (3:29)

It's on the ceiling, but what you see is an inscribable aberration. It's like a spider had a baby with an octopus that has its own stinger, like a wasp. You only see the outline of this creature.

It is somehow naturally invisible.

Dungeon Master (3:51)

Stop!

Captain Verme (3:52)

He's awake!

We were awake! We were paralyzed!

Dungeon Master (Mike) (3:56)

It's called a shadow work, for one thing. I don't know about this chupacabra business. At this stage that you see the horizon, landmass emerge.

It is early morning on the first day of the ninth month of the year, and the day is clear. Salty, frigid, bracing air blows across the upper decks of the mora bound and across your faces. In all directions, the deep dark azure sea stretches around you, a broad blue horizon that evenly meets the cloudless sky.