Note: Ain't Slayed Nobody is produced for the ear and includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.

OF SORROW AND CLAY, EPISODE 2: FAMILY REUNION

cuppycup (Keeper): Ain’t Slayed Nobody is a produced actual play podcast intended for adults and may contain material that some people find disturbing. Please see the episode notes for content warnings and listen with care.

Jack: *roars* More! Find me more! *gibbering whispers* Stand me up now. *gibbering whispers* Don't stand there staring. Let's go. Those Tafts haven't gone far. This way.

('FOR ALL MY SINS' BY MARCO CINELLI PLAYS)
♪ FOR ALL MY SINS, GOD DENIES ME TO HEAVEN
♪ ON JUDGMENT DAY, MAMA WON'T YOU CRY?
♪ 'CAUSE IF THERE WILL BE JUSTICE IN HEAVEN
♪ DRY YOUR TEARS MAMA, 'CAUSE I'LL BE FINE
♪ I WAS BORN IN A SHACK MADE OF MUD AND WOOD
♪ TWENTY OTHER PEOPLE HANGING FROM ONE SPOON
♪ THERE WAS NO WATER AND THE MONEY WAS RARE
♪ AND TIMES WERE HARD EVEN TO SAY A PRAYER
♪ FOR ALL MY SINS, GOD DENIES ME TO HEAVEN
♪ ON JUDGMENT DAY, MAMA WON'T YOU CRY?
♪ 'CAUSE IF THERE WILL BE JUSTICE IN HEAVEN
♪ DRY YOUR TEARS MAMA, 'CAUSE I'LL BE FINE

Blair: Y'all, that was never Jack. That was one of the things Ma told me about. It's the spirits of these woods. And I think there is something dark lurking here that got Pa.

Faith: Why would something want to trick us into coming into the woods?

Blair: All kinds of reasons. To eat us, to suck our souls... Well, mostly just those two.

Lorelei: Well, you got to have a soul first, Blair.

Blair: Alright, Lorelei. Now, there's a lot of things that we could get into, but let's go find Pa.

Becca (Blair): And I turn on my heel.

cuppycup (Keeper): Ok. The woods have settled since Jack's transformation, but it seems like night is falling beneath the thick cover of canopy trees. Pistol has run far ahead of the group, desperately tracking the footprints of your missing father. In the distance, he sees this old shack deep in the thickets.

Pistol: I found it! Blair, Faith, Lorelai, I found the shack.

Faith: We're coming!

Cam (Faith):  And I run after him.

cuppycup (Keeper): As you chase him, you'll start to see bramble bushes slowly devouring the structure. They're growing up and over the moss-covered walls and roof. Through a cutout in the vegetation, you see a door with peeling strips of bright yellow paint. Danny, give me a spot hidden as Pistol fights his way through the terrain on his way to the shack.

Danny (Pistol): 55 out of 55, SUCCESS.

cuppycup (Keeper): Ok, you're running up on a worn clearing. It's the spot that's been matted down and you notice a shadowy heap just in time to not trip over it. Pistol's done enough hunting to recognize this as a white-tailed deer carcass. The smell of decaying flesh tells you it's been here a while.

Danny (Pistol): Was it shot?

cuppycup (Keeper): The carcass has been picked over by scavengers. You see rotting tears and bite marks that are crawling with carrion beetles, but no obvious gunshot wounds.

Danny (Pistol): Do I know what kind of creature might have bit it?

cuppycup (Keeper): You're crouching down now closer and the bite marks are small on its neck. You spot a tooth. It's wedged into a limp flap of skin. It looks like a human tooth to you.

Pistol: Who the fuck bites a deer? *yells* Are y'all coming?

Blair: Now, Lorelei, not so fast. We got to talk about this now. I understand. I have not been around as much as you, but I still help raise these, these children. I mean, a little respect.

Lorelei: You was always wanting to get things for doing nothing. I've been the one around here for years.

Blair: Alright, well, you tell me if you could have done all that without those checks that have been cashin' just fine out of my bank account.

Lorelei: I'd have found a way.

cuppycup (Keeper): As the two of you argue, the whole group does stumble upon Pistol, who's looking at these deer remains.

Blair: Oh, Jesus.

Rina (Lorelei): I slap Blair.

Blair: *surprised cry*

Lorelei: Don't you be taking the Lord's name in vain.

Blair: That was fair. I deserved that.

Pistol: Are y'all still fighting? Look, there's a tooth in this deer, a human tooth. I think. It looks like a tooth. Look at this. What would have taken a bite of a live deer?

Faith: A cougar, of course.

Pistol: But cougars don't have human teeth.

Faith: Well, that's fair. That's very fair.

Blair: Does it look human or does it look like those things buried back there?

Pistol: I don't know. Here, you tell us, schoolgirl.

Danny (Pistol): I'll give it to Faith.

Cam (Faith): *laughs* Ok. Let's see. I'm trying to think what, you know, what skills I might have that might aid me in this.

cuppycup (Keeper): Do you have any points in MEDICINE?

Cam (Faith): Yeah, a little bit. Not a lot, but a smidge.

cuppycup (Keeper): Go for that, then.

Cam (Faith): Ok. Oh, no, I FAILED.

cuppycup (Keeper): The tooth is misshapen and jagged. It comes to a sharp point. But to Faith, it's plausibly a human canine tooth.

Faith: As far as I can tell, it's human. I mean, it's a, it's a little different than what you usually find in a human mouth. But I mean, that that could just be a birth defect or something, I guess.

Pistol: Or a little different, like those things that I shot that was certainly not a human?

Faith: Or a little different, like those things that were certainly not human.

Blair: Oh, speaking of those, Pistol, Lorelei, do you remember Mr. Tuppers?

Pistol: Of course.

Lorelei:  Yeah.

Becca (Blair): And I hold him up.

Lorelei: Where did you find that?

Blair: Deep underground. Six feet. Well, you know, the equivalent for one of these things. Something strange, real strange, is going on. I mean, don't forget, the thing we found had our picture.

cuppycup (Keeper): The chorus of wailing from the trees starts up again. And Faith, you start to realize that you're mindlessly running your thumb over that horned brooch, the one Nora gave you. Everyone else notices Faith staring at the shack. Now you see a line of rocks defining a small yard, which is ringed by small muck-covered jars.

Danny (Pistol): Can I spot like any movement?

cuppycup (Keeper): You do see someone moving through the warped glass of a small window.

Pistol: *whispers* Quiet! There's someone inside. I see someone.

Blair: I've had just about enough of this. I'm gonna go knock on the door.

Pistol: You're going to go knock? *hesitant* Ok.

Danny (Pistol): As she says that, I'm going to try to put myself at a distance where I could comfortably aim my gun at the door.

cuppycup (Keeper): Ok. Pointing your gun worked well for you last time.

Becca (Blair): I'm still carrying that hunting rifle with a single bullet somehow.

cuppycup (Keeper): You are, yes. Is everyone going with Blair?

Cam (Faith): I am.

Rina (Lorelei): I am.

cuppycup (Keeper): Ok, good. It takes 10 minutes to finish the hike over there.

Becca (Blair): I got Mr. Tupper's hanging from my right hand. And in my left hand, I hit the door with the butt of the rifle three times.

Jenny: And what do we have here?

cuppycup (Keeper): Her gray-peppered black hair is pulled back into a tight bun and she's wearing a blue and white dress with a bloody apron.

Jenny: Can I help you?

Becca (Blair): I want to look back into my memory of my father's shack. Was there an image along with Sadie's disappearance notice?

cuppycup (Keeper): No. But you're the oldest. And your Pa did talk about Sadie on a few occasions after he got into the moonshine. And this woman does not fit your father's description of Sadie.

Blair: We are looking for our missing Pa. Have you seen an 89 year old man without any boots running through these woods?

cuppycup (Keeper): She looks past you with concern and extends a heavy arm toward Pistol with his rifle trained on the door.

Jenny: I'd invite you in, but first tell that foolish boy to put that down before he regrets hurting somebody.

Blair: Pistol, put down your rifle and get over here.

Pistol: You sure?

Blair: She's nice so far.

Jenny: Better. Now, come on in. I made tea.

cuppycup (Keeper): There's a heady aroma of drying herbs hanging from the rafters alongside two rabbit carcasses. They're ripe with the tang of blood, which is still running off in smacks on the wood floor.

Danny (Pistol): I'm going to stand at the doorway and go no further.

Jenny: Your intuition is faithful, but don't linger. I need to shut that door.

cuppycup (Keeper): She looks wearily over your shoulder.

Lorelei: Pistol. You've been invited in.

Danny (Pistol): I will take one step through the doorframe and go no further.

Becca (Blair): I'm going to walk boldly into this room and take a closer look around.

cuppycup (Keeper): There are many oddities on display. Give me SPOT HIDDEN rolls for Blair, Lorelei and Pistol. We'll get to Faith in just a moment.

Becca (Blair): SUCCESS.

Danny (Pistol): FAIL.

Rina (Lorelei): SUCCESS

cuppycup (Keeper): Ok. There's an oversized kitchen table dominating the room. It's damp from a recent scrubbing, and at the back of the room, a blood-spattered workbench is home to all manner of twine, wire and bauble. Blair and Lorelei, you're also picking up the familiar smell of curdled milk. It's like that pungent odor from Pa's shack this morning. Faith for you, I'm going to ask for a POWER roll. You're too distracted by that horned brooch to focus.

Cam (Faith): EXTREME SUCCESS.

cuppycup (Keeper): Faith finds herself at the front window, staring back into the forest. Leaves and soil swirl in the wind quite unnaturally. You've taken that brooch out of your pocket and pressed it to the glass, which is slowly cracking. From the tree line, a voice calls out.

Jack: Hey, I told you not to come this way. What am I gonna do now? Oh, your father would be so disappointed.

Faith: What the hell?

cuppycup (Keeper): You see a shambling form, like a scarecrow made of flesh and mud, pushing out of the thickets. Roots contort its form into a mockery of Jack's face.

Jenny: What have you done?

Pistol: Why does it matter?

Jack: That woman's trouble now. I tried to warn you, but did you listen to old Jack? No. Nothing but death come from here. Oh, take your time. I'll be right here.

Lorelei: Oh no.

Blair: Oh my god.

Jenny: Who else is with you?

Lorelei: There was a thing that looked like our old neighbor, Jack, but it was like a haint. Dirt and roots and things.

Jenny: Good Lord, take me now. And you brought it to my doorstep.

Blair: Now, hold on, Lorelei, we got to talk about oversharing. How do we know who you are and what your intentions are with this, this smell that smells like our father's place.

Pistol: Oh, it does.

Jenny: You are here by no invitation of mine, nor its, by the sound of things. You sought me out, and now I have to deal with this. Do not leave the shack.

cuppycup (Keeper): Grabbing up a jar, she slams the shack door behind her as she shuffles outside.

Jenny: Begone! Git! I'll have none of you round here. Leave these grounds. They are mine.

cuppycup (Keeper): She hurls the jar at the hobbled form. White powder and iron nails explode around the thing that was Jack as it breaks until there's no sound, not even birdsong. After a short wait in the silence, the old woman returns inside, visibly shaken.

Jenny: I can't do that again, but it doesn't know that. We have no time for games now.

Blair: Look, there's a lot you're not telling us. Let's start with your name.

cuppycup (Keeper): Becca, can you give me a PERSUADE roll for Blair?

Becca (Blair): 39 out of 40.

cuppycup (Keeper): She seems to let her guard down a little bit and walks over to sip from a tea cup. You see recognition in her eyes.

Jenny: My name is Jenny, and I do know your father. He's troubled, to be sure, but he makes good company, and that's hard to find out here.

Lorelei: You know Pa? Where is he?

Jenny: Finishing some business. Killing an old sin so that you kids aren't left with his burden.

Blair: You've seen Pa?

Faith: Ma'am, please. We're worried about him.

Jenny: He came through here for help a few days back. He's out at the bog by now. Not much we can do.

Blair: Did he bury his first wife out there?

Faith: Why would he do that?

Jenny: Well, Sadie is a complicated matter. You might want to sit for this.

Lorelei: He buried her in the bog, didn't he?

Jenny: In a way he did. But she didn't die out there.

Lorelei: Wait, what?

Jenny: She's been made unholy by that place, and he's finally had enough. Maybe it's good you came. He's weak, even if his will is strong. He needs family now.

Faith: Please, can you just start at the beginning and tell us what you know about Sadie and our father?

Jenny: But I won't pretend to know everything. But something wicked found Sadie before those search parties so many years ago. Every year around this time, she is there for your father, and he returns with a babe.

Lorelei: I told you those things were probably her dark children or something.

Blair: You know what, Lorelei? This time I got to say, you're right.

Jenny: What children. What have you done?

Lorelei: We didn't do nothing. We was attacked by a creepy thing that petted my hair and then Pistol here shot it in the head.

Jenny: You did what?!

Blair: It was an animal. It's fine. You killed these rabbits.

Pistol: They hurt my sister. I was justified.

Lorelei: Pistol. You shot our half sibling.

Pistol: No, no. That ain't no sibling of mine.

Lorelei: Well, it ain't now.

Faith: Look, Jenny, when you say "Child"... Do you mean actually like a human child, or is that just sort of a term you're using to describe some sort of being that came into this world unnaturally on account of Sadie?

Jenny: Some of them passed for human. But you're right, they're more than that.

Faith: Does she birth them monsters is what we want to know.

Jenny: You shouldn't call them monsters. They're fragile, like you and me. I've had to bury some myself. Many still live out at the old distillery. But your father can't care for them anymore. And he wishes to end the cycle.

Lorelei: He's just going to kill 'em?!

Jenny: No, I don't think he'd ever be able to bring himself to do that.

Lorelei: Oh. Alright.

Jenny: He's going to kill Sadie.

Lorelei: Wait. What?

Blair: I'm uncomfortable by all of this. Pa had children aside from us, and he never told us?

Jenny: He's lost his way. Anyone would. I've done what I can to help him.

Blair: And I do want to thank you for helping Pa in whatever dark things he's got himself into.

Jenny: Well, you're welcome for that. I suspect you may need my help, too, if you plan to save him. He's not planning on coming back.

Faith: We are trying to rescue him. And we'd welcome any help you can give us.

Blair: Mostly trying to return his boots, though, above all else.

Pistol: Yeah, he forgot his boots.

Jenny: Oh, yes. Well, he did love those boots, but this is where we need something else. I'm afraid we need blood and bone to put Sadie down for good.

Blair: What about the horned brooch that Faith is wearing?

Cam (Faith): I hold up the brooch for her to look at.

cuppycup (Keeper): In the dim light, she studies it.

Jenny: Quaint, but this won't help you.

Blair: Well, it certainly didn't if you see the injury on Faith's arms, so.

Cam (Faith): *laughs* Thanks a lot, Norah.

Jenny: I fashioned a weapon for your father. I'll do the same for you if you're committed to this.

Lorelei: Well, he's our Pa. Course we are.

Blair: What kind of weapon is needed to kill a woman who wandered in the woods and lost her way? I mean, can't you just kill her with guns and knives and the like?

Jenny: You can't just hunt her like a common deer. But your father... I took one of his ribs.

Blair: You what?!

Jenny: I said I took a rib. Painful, but makes a suitable weapon.

Blair: You did that to an 89 year old man and he didn't die?

Jenny: Oh, yes. I'm quite meticulous.

Lorelei: What is this perversion of the Bible that we got going on here? Taking a rib from a man like that.

Jenny: I'll take your rib too, child, if you like. You're going to need it to save your father.

Faith: Whose rib?

Blair: Now slow down, everybody. Nobody offer to give a rib yet.

Pistol: There's a dead deer outside. Can we give you a dead deer's rib?

Jenny: No. No, that won't help. It needs to be the right blood.

Pistol: Then why did you need Pa's rib?

Jenny: Because he's a part of this.

Blair: I'll tell you with my knowledge of the occult that when you wed someone, in the eyes of the mystical world, you become one.

Lorelei: Bout now I'm wishing I brought Eugene along. Could just use his.

Blair: I don't know if you and Eugene count the same way, I'm gonna be honest.

Pistol: You don't even like the way he touches your hair. What do you create with such a rib?

Jenny: I'll carve the surface, groove it down, rub it with some of these.

cuppycup (Keeper): She gestures to the plants and powders.

Jenny: Hack the tip down to a sharp point with my cleaver and wrap it in leather so you have a nice grip.

cuppycup (Keeper): She points over to a collection of bloody tools wrapped in a sheet.

Blair: Do you require payment in exchange for these rib knives?

Jenny: No. I think the whole land will be better for this.

Blair: I see.

Jenny: I wouldn't have helped your father if this wasn't important.

Pistol: Well, what's this procedure look like?

Jenny: One long cut. A bit of sawing and a break. I'll work as fast as I can. I have something to take the edge off.

Pistol: I'll do it. You're not taking any of my sisters' ribs.

Faith: No, no. 

Blair: Pistol...

Pistol: No. I refuse to let any of you get hurt.

Faith: Pistol...

Blair: You're 19 years young.

Pistol: Yeah, I'm the healthiest, alright. I don't want any of you getting hurt.

Jenny: This is not how this usually goes. You're taking it very well.

Pistol: As long as that witch don't put a finger on Faith.

Lorelei: People have been fingerin' Faith for a while.

cuppycup (Keeper): *laughs* Jesus.

Pistol:  Lorelei!

Blair: I don't know what to say to that.

Danny (Pistol): Alright, I'm going to uncork some of the moonshine that I have with me in my little flask and take a couple swigs.

cuppycup (Keeper): Sure. And the others can hold Pistol down. Jenny wants him on his belly.

Rina (Lorelei): I reckon that's what we got to do.

cuppycup (Keeper): I won't bother asking for a STRENGTH roll with 3 of you helping. You can pin Pistol face down on this table as Jenny retrieves a sharp knife.

Pistol: Don't let go, no matter what I say.

cuppycup (Keeper): She makes the slowest, longest incision across Pistol's back. This hurts a lot.

Blair: You're alright. You're alright.

Pistol: *sobbing in pain* Oh no.

Faith: It's going to be ok, Pistol, hang in there.

Lorelei: You got this.

Jenny: That was the hard part. You'll be fine.

cuppycup (Keeper): Jenny begins to saw away at the rib and to the sound is almost worse than the physical pain. Almost.

Pistol: *crying in pain* Oh, God damn it.

Blair: It's gonna be ok, Pistol. It's gonna all be ok.

Pistol: Oh, I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

Lorelei: *encouraging* It's for Pa.

Jenny: Oh, stop fighting me. You're making it worse.

Pistol: No. Oh, no. *screams* 

Jenny: Almost there. Hold him tight now.

cuppycup (Keeper): Finally, Jenny hoists the chisel, presses it into the bone and cracks the rib off with a mighty strike from the hammer. When she's done, she carefully slides it out like a boning a chicken.

Jenny: Oh, this is a nice one. Good.

cuppycup (Keeper): Everyone should give me a SANITY check.

Becca (Blair): Oh God.

Danny (Pistol): Self included?

Rina (Lorelei): *snarky* Yes. You included, Danny.

cuppycup (Keeper): Especially Danny.

Rina (Lorelei): I FAILED.

Cam (Faith): SUCCESS.

Becca (Blair): SUCCESS. I can't look away. I always did love skinning a deer.

cuppycup (Keeper): So for Lorelei, it's a d4.

Rina (Lorelei): Well, now, I roll and see, the thing is, that puts me at my TEMPORARY INSANITY.

cuppycup (Keeper): Oh, ok. So you are going to have another BOUT OF MADNESS for Lorelei.

Rina (Lorelei): Paranoia.

Danny (Pistol): *chuckles* That fits.

Rina (Lorelei): Yeah. I'm backing up because Pistol's screaming and everything, and I'm just looking at Blair going,

Lorelei: Oh, this was your plan all along, wasn't it? You were going to get us out here, and you were, you were going to. Oh, you're in league with her. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you.

Blair: We need your help here. No time for backing out now.

Rina (Lorelei): I'm backing away, backing a way.

Lorelei: Oh, no. Maybe she's one of them things. She's one of them things like Jack.

Faith:  Lorelei. She is not a haint. She's our sister.

Blair: There is a lot of flack I will take from you. But there is no one, no haint, nobody that it could insult you the way that the true Blair does. And your shoes are stupid.

Lorelei: I got the same shoes you do. Walking boots for the woods.

Blair: They just...They look better on me, though. See.

Lorelei: You're a haint, Blair.

cuppycup (Keeper): Shall we have an OPPOSED APPEARANCE roll?

Becca (Blair): Oh, yeah. Who wears the boots better? I FAILED.

Rina (Lorelei): And I SUCCEEDED on my APP!

Becca (Blair): Oh, wow. Ok.

cuppycup (Keeper): There you go. It's actually Lorelei.

Lorelei: See, you were lying. You were lying about my boots. They show off my calves. You're a haint, and y'all shouldn't be trustin' her.

Faith: This is our sister. This is not some root monster, you know, no root monster could be as mean as she is. She's mean as a snake.

Blair: Thank you, Faith.

Lorelei: I suppose that's true.

Jenny: You know, if she was roots and dirt, she wouldn't have been able to enter my yard.

Blair: Oh!

Faith: You could have said that earlier. That would have helped.

Jenny: I'm busy. And your brother is hurting. This isn't easy work. There, there. You were very brave. No one's ever agreed to do that so quickly. Are we finished here? Do we have more volunteers?

Lorelei: Don't you come near me. Don't you come near me!

Rina (Lorelei):  I'm holding up my fingers in the sign of the cross.

Pistol: Lorelei, I don't want any of you losing your ribs. It was really painful.

Jenny: Your father said you'd grow up different, but this is something else. What a family.

Blair: Thank you. Now, how long is Pistol going to need to heal?

cuppycup (Keeper): I'm feeling generous. So I'll take d8 DAMAGE and we'll subtract the same amount from your DEX. Alright, just 2 points for that rib. Wow.

Blair: Pistol, how are you feeling?

Pistol: Blair, I'm feeling alright.

Jenny: Oh. If you're well enough to walk, you should go now before you lose the light.

Pistol: How does this work? Is this just like a magic knife or something?

Jenny: The pointy end goes into the monster.

Blair: I don't know if you're the best one to wield your own rib, Pistol. Given your current strength.

Pistol: Mm hmm. I yield it to you. I'm going to just stick with my gun. That's what I know best.

Blair: I'll take it. I'll take the rib knife. Well, Jenny, visiting you has been enlightening.

Jenny: Likewise. I'll do what I can to hold off the forest. But you need to keep moving.

Faith: Do we know where the bog is?

Jenny: Like your father, you'll head west for maybe another hour with Pistol's condition. Of course, you'll know the bog when you see it. Good luck, Tafts. I hope you find what you're looking for out there.

cuppycup (Keeper): Leaving Jenny's shack, you continue deeper into the forest for nearly an hour until you're picking up the rich smells of musk and earth choking out the spring air. And there's smoke on the horizon in that direction. The day's light cascades into a waning orange cast. A fire? It's difficult to see through the smog, but it does look like a dark shapes loom in the distance.

Jack: Oh, now you kids remember what we discussed. You can't trust a witch.

Blair: I think we've got all that can help us now. Specifically, this rib bone dagger.

cuppycup (Keeper): Watching the tree lines for Jack, you step warily forward. The threatening dark shapes in the distance are merely mountains and your imagination. A figure moves between two bonfires, feeding the billowing smoke that's pouring off of them.

Faith: Is that Pa up there?

Blair: I think we've got to get closer to tell.

Pistol: Alright. We should walk carefully, quietly.

Becca (Blair): So the bog is like swampy, watery earth?

cuppycup (Keeper): Yeah. The mountain bogs are these flat areas bursting with moss and plant life. Ahead you see black water with dead moss, decaying leaves and twisting roots coating the surface.

Becca (Blair): And there's no way to sort of hang to the tree line as to not be seen? Like if we just have to walk straight towards the figure?

cuppycup (Keeper): There's not much cover in the bog water, but you don't need to walk directly down the middle.

Becca (Blair): I want to hang deep left and gesture to everybody else to come that way, too.

Danny (Pistol): Alright. I follow.

Cam (Faith): I'll follow Blair.

cuppycup (Keeper): The water's cold to the touch. It should be about knee-deep if it's like other bogs you know.

Blair: I'm afraid of no water.

Pistol: Should I be worried about the water with this open wound?

Lorelei: It's not as high as your ribs. I know you didn't go to school, but your ribs aren't on your knees.

Pistol: Oh, it's knee-deep. Alright. As long as I don't fall over.

Faith: Just lean on me, Pistol. I got you.

Pistol: Thanks, Faith.

Becca (Blair): I wade in.

cuppycup (Keeper): We're waiting in, ok. The leaves and the moss floating on the top pool around your legs as you trudge through the water. The bottom is spongy and squishy. You feel mud pulling at your boots. The water deepens gradually as you walk through. You're close enough now to recognize your father's gait as he moves between the fires.

Blair: Pa!

Becca (Blair):  And I start splashing through the bog, running straight at him.

Rina (Lorelei): I'm moving faster now that I've recognized Pa.

Becca (Blair): I just kind of ditch Pistol in helping him walk. *laughs*

Cam (Faith): I'll try to pick up the pace as much as we can, but I'll hang back with Pistol.

cuppycup (Keeper): I'll ask all of you for DEXTERITY checks. Some of you are moving with haste. And the twins, of course, hobbled by Pistol's injury.

Becca (Blair): FAIL.

Cam (Faith): SUCCESS.

Danny (Pistol): SUCCESS.

Rina (Lorelei): HARD SUCCESS.

cuppycup (Keeper): Blair, you're running on uneven ground, stumbling through the bog with disregard.

Becca (Blair): If only my boots fit better.

cuppycup (Keeper): With these clunky-ass loose-fitting boots, Blair trips and slips down into the water. Searching roots begin to grab at you as you're submerged. The bog didn't seem this steep when you were above the water. It feels like you're falling into an abyss.

Becca (Blair): Well, I was holding on to the teddy bear and the rifle when it fell. So I think they fall as well.

cuppycup (Keeper): Yeah, that's unfortunate. Give me a STRENGTH roll for Blair, see if you can break free of these grasping roots.

Becca (Blair): I pull away. SUCCESS, but just barely.

cuppycup (Keeper): Well, you do break out and resurface. You could give me a hard SPOT HIDDEN and see if you can find those items in the black water.

Becca (Blair): Got it!

Danny (Pistol): Oh, yay!

cuppycup (Keeper): You reach down and retrieve a soggy Mr. Tuppers and a wet rifle. Good luck with that.

Becca (Blair): Oh, damn. One wet bullet.

cuppycup (Keeper): That's right. You work your way through this numbing water and you're more cautious after Blair's fall. You do see your father stoking these fires. He's built a circular perimeter around himself with jars that are reminiscent of Jenny's yard. Looks like they're filled with nails.

Becca (Blair): I think I'm not in the lead anymore since that fall.

Rina (Lorelei): I think Lorelei's in the forefront because of the HARD DEX.

Cam (Faith): I believe. Yeah.

Rina (Lorelei): Yeah. So I'm moving as fast as I can.

Lorelei: Oh, Pa!

Pa: Oh, Lorelei. What the hell are you doing here?

Lorelei: We was looking for you. You went missing for four days.

Pa: Go on, get. There's no point in caring for me now.

Faith: Of course we care, Pa.

Pa:  Faith?

Pistol: We brought your boots.

Pa: Oh, God. You all came back? She said you would.

Becca (Blair): As I catch up, I'm going to give him a terse, quick hug.

Pa: Blair, you're bleeding.

Blair: I'm fine. You know me, Pa.

Pa: Y'all can't be here now. You have to go and let me stop this. Please. I've tried so hard to spare you from this.

Blair: We understand, Pa. We know enough about it.

Faith: We came to help.

cuppycup (Keeper): Your father points down with concern at that rib tucked into Blair's tool belt.

Pistol: Jesus Christ, Blair. You saw the witch? She took your rib?

Pistol: No, I wouldn't let her, Pa. It's my rib.

Pa: Pistol, you sorry fucking bastard. I should tan your hide. No, it's alright. It's gone. God willing, we won't need it.

cuppycup (Keeper): He waves for you to step inside his circle of jars.

Blair: What's in the jars, Pa?

Pa: Those? Little protection from the dark soil and the rot that festers there. It won't be long before she comes.

Pistol: It's Sadie, right? Jenny told us all about it.

Pa: She did? You ain't mad? I should have told you myself. I was scared.

Blair: You were just trying to protect us. We understand that.

Pa: I know, Blair. It's just that I told you Annabel was your mama all those years.

Blair: *all siblings* Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Faith: What?

Blair: What, what?

cuppycup (Keeper): His eyes are like saucers.

Lorelei: Pa...

Pa: You said Jenny told you everything.

Faith: She said she did.

Pistol: She spoke ambiguously.

Blair: Too late now, Pa, fess up. Who is our real mother?

Pistol: Oh, shit. It's Sadie. Sadie's your mother. Shit. Shit. I thought Jenny told you. Shit. Listen, kids.

Faith: Oh, my God. Are we going to turn into monsters like those things in the woods?

Pistol: Are we monsters?

Pa: No, no, no. Listen to me. This gonna be difficult to hear, but you lot ain't alone. You got a mess of brothers and sisters. It's just that some of them may not pass in our world. They're sweet kids.

Pistol: Pa?

Pa: Yeah, Pistol?

Pistol: I shot one of them. Are you tellin' me that I shot my brother?

Pa: God damn it. This is my fault.

cuppycup (Keeper): He rushes over and hugs Pistol.

Pa: I'm an old fool. It's my fault, not yours, boy. I never, never dreamed you'd come looking for me. You aren't meant to be here.

Becca (Blair): I go up close to Lorelei and I say quietly to her,

Blair: I guess that makes you two for two. You did say the Pistol done shot his own brother.

Lorelei: I did. It don't give me no satisfaction. But I did.

Pa: Well, you're here now. We got to put an end to it. I can't... I can't keep doing this. I'm old. Hell, I'm dying.

Blair: That part we did know.

Pistol: We found the letter in the fireplace.

Pa: Well. At least that's something. I need to set things straight while I still can. I've caused enough grief. Sadie, my first wife. She's in there. The bog took her a long while back. She's brought me a newborn every goddamn year since.

Lorelei: Wait. We're one of the monster things?

Pa: No, child. Listen, they ain't no monsters. But for whatever took Sadie... You're good kids.

cuppycup (Keeper): Everyone give me a SANITY check for learning that that was your sibling back there.

Becca (Blair): Yeah, that that don't rest well with me neither. Oh, God. That's a big old FAIL for Blair.

Cam (Faith): SUCCESS for faith.

Faith: I PASS. Pistol is just going to drop down, like, kind of sit down on the ground, put his head in his hands, and just like I passed.

Rina (Lorelei): HARD SUCCESS. Yeah, I knew there was something off about us.

cuppycup (Keeper): Alright, just Blair. Blair, you're the oldest. This is tough. I'll take 8 from you and 1 point from everyone else.

Becca (Blair): I've been birthed by a forest monster and an octopus. It was a good thing that he shot that creature. And I guess...well, it's alright. I only rolled a 1.

cuppycup (Keeper): Ok, you lose the same as everyone else.

Rina (Lorelei): Cuppy, I'm TEMPORARILY INSANE, so losing one point sends me into a BOUT OF MADNESS.

Danny (Pistol): Another one?

cuppycup (Keeper): Oh, right. Wonderful.

Rina (Lorelei): Amnesia. I've just completely forgotten everything since the last time I was safe. So I think I've gone back to about 12 years ago when I first met Eugene, before we got married. And it's like, life was good, and I had the whole world ahead of me, and I'm just,

Lorelei: What? What are we doing out here, Pa?

cuppycup (Keeper): Your father stops. You see he's noticed a gaunt form that stands on the far side of the bog near the trees.

Jack: I tried to warn them, Carson. Don't be hard on yourself. They want to be with their family.

Blair: Jack? Where are you going? Jack?

Lorelei: What's happening?

Pa: We're waiting on your mother, Lorelai. She's coming. I can feel it. I've told you. I've been trying to tell you. We're out of time.

Blair: Hold on. I don't mean to meddle in your affairs, but you mean to say that you kept trekking out this long way into these woods to have sexual relations with the woman spawnin' devil spawn?

Pa: Are you asking me, Blair, after all this? No. That's not how this works. Not at all.

Blair: Oh. Are you going to tell me how babies are made now, Pa?

Pa: Your daddy is... I don't know what the hell your daddy is. He's the forest. He's the roots. He's the dirt.

Pistol: *devastated* You ain't even our Pa?

Lorelei: What? What the hell is happening? Why am I out here? Where's Eugene?

Pistol: Answer the question. Are you our Pa or ain't ya?

Pa: I raised you. I'm your Pa. We're family. I just ain't your kin.

Blair: This is a lot to take. I don't even know what to call you, Pa.

Pa: It won't matter none soon enough.

Lorelei: I don't know what's going on, but I don't think I want Eugene to meet the family after all.

Pa: Pistol, can you take care of Lorelei? We need to be ready. Look, Blair, you got that knife, the rib. We need to put your mama down. She can't keep bringing more into this world. Most of them die anyways. You four were worth it all. I love you all so much.

Lorelei: Yeah. Well, if you ain't my pa, I guess Eugene ain't got to ask your permission to marry me. But what's he going to ask? The forest. Come out, yell at the woods, "Can I marry your daughter?"

Becca (Blair): Can I check out his torso and see how his rib wound is looking?

Cam (Faith): Is it full of roots?

cuppycup (Keeper): It's not full of roots, but it is festering. It's amazing that he's even standing.

Blair: Oh, you're going to need medical attention, though.

Pa: I got some powder from Jenny, but it hasn't been doing the trick.

Blair: Yeah, I'm no doctor, but she wouldn't be my first resource for medical attention.

Pa: *irritated* Quit fussing at me. It's not important. Are you here to help or not?

Blair: Well, I never met my mother.

Faith: After all the lies you've told, you're asking us to take your word and kill our own mom.

Pa: I ain't going to make you do nothing you don't want to do. But I do ask you to let me do what I need to now.

Blair: Family is who you love. I'll stand with you.

Pa: I can always count on you, Blair.

Danny (Pistol): I'll get up cinematically by your side as well.

Pistol: You're right. Family's family.

Lorelei: I don't know what's going on here with... With any... I mean... I mean, I know I've been gone for a couple of years, but this is crazy. How did I get here, anyway?

Blair: Lorelei, you're about as pleasant as I've ever seen you.

Lorelei: And how did you come back? You left a while ago. What is happening to y'all?

Blair: Just come on over here. It'll be alright.

Lorelei: Alright, whatever.

Rina (Lorelei): And I go over because I have no idea what the hell is happening.

cuppycup (Keeper): As Lorelei makes her way over, out in the gloom of the smoke bound water, the rot and death of the bog are changing, growing. The surface ruptures as a monstrous husk rises.

Blair: Is...that our mother?

Pa: Yeah, it's Sadie.

Lorelei: That's ma?

cuppycup (Keeper): As Sadie emerges, a putrid mush churns inside her figure, a tangle of muddy roots veins and bone precariously hang on to stretchy skin. It flexes and twists as she expands deep within the writhing branches of her knotted form. You see what looks like a baby growing.

Blair: Got another sibling on the way.

Lorelei: Is that why I can't have kids? Because you got to do it that way?

Pa: It's not the time, Lorelei. Stand back now.

cuppycup (Keeper): He steps forward to the edge of the circle with his rib dagger pointed at the towering creature.

Becca (Blair): I take a step forward, stand beside Pa and draw the other dagger.

cuppycup (Keeper): The twisted limbs lurch forward and your father runs toward the figure with the dagger. If no one stops him, he's going to attempt to step into the bog and attack.

Becca (Blair): Does it connect?

cuppycup (Keeper): Well, a mass of roots climbs out of the bog. It's creeping across the land surrounding you and toppling those jars your father set up. Mossy clumps burst from the bog and explosions of water rained down on us. Sadie stands tall in front of your father, looking down on him.

Becca (Blair): I want to stab at any tendrils of moss that try to come into the circle between the jars of nails.

cuppycup (Keeper): Ok. And as you stab at the sprawling roots twisting across the rocky soil, the creature shoots a tendril through the throat of your father.

Lorelei: Pa!

Faith: No, Pa, no!

cuppycup (Keeper): There's a heavy splash as he falls forward into the bog.

Pistol: Pa!

Blair: Shoot it, Pistol!

Pistol: Sadie, if you really were our mother, you wouldn't have done that.

Danny (Pistol): And I shoot.

cuppycup (Keeper): Give me a FIREARMS roll for the rifle.

Danny (Pistol):  FAIL.

cuppycup (Keeper): The bullet tears through loose mud and splinters, small branches, but sails straight through the void between winding routes. You have Sadie's attention, and Faith is going to have the next action.

Cam (Faith): So our Pa had his own rib knife, right?

cuppycup (Keeper): Yes.

Cam (Faith): I want to search him for his rib knife.

cuppycup (Keeper): Give me a LUCK roll, see if he dropped the knife before he fell into the bog.

Cam (Faith): Ok. SUCCESS.

cuppycup (Keeper): And there it is at the water's edge.

Cam (Faith): So I'm going to dart forward and try to grab it so that we've got two of the rib knives.

cuppycup (Keeper): Faith is carrying your father's sharpened rib. And next up is Lorelei.

Rina (Lorelei): In my inventory, I have matches. Can I set it on fire?

cuppycup (Keeper): You can try. Everything's wet. Give me a DEXTERITY roll, see if you can get in there to try this.

Rina (Lorelei):  SUCCESS.

cuppycup (Keeper): The network of roots has expanded over the dirt and rock. You're attempting to ignite the damp extremities of this creature.

Rina (Lorelei): Well, I mean, pouring the alcohol over it, because that should counteract some of the damp. I've got gin.

cuppycup (Keeper): Yeah, it does help a little. And Sadie is going to continue taking damage from this as long as the fire is going. And what is Blair's move?

Blair: Mama? I hope you don't mind me calling you that because you're my real mama. I knew there was something different about us. I knew we weren't like other children in other families. Come on over here and give your daughter a kiss.

cuppycup (Keeper): When you speak to Sadie, she lets out an unholy screech. This almost feels like a response. But as the creature unwinds, holding the debris to its mid-section, it begins to disgorge the child, extending it out toward you, where this child is presented to you on a bed of roots and clumped moss wrapped in a gelatinous sack of brown mucus.

Becca (Blair): I gingerly take the sack of brown mucus from the extended root hands. I cradle it in my arm. I still have the rib knife in my left hand as I cradle it in my right.

cuppycup (Keeper): Please give me a SAN check for Blair.

Becca (Blair): I FAIL.

cuppycup (Keeper): Give me a d8.

Becca (Blair): I don't know how that's just a 1.

cuppycup (Keeper): This is a baby, Blair. Eyes are larger than normal, and the shoulders are hunched. But this is a human child.

Blair: Hello, little sibling. See Mother. Maybe we can all get along. Come on down.

cuppycup (Keeper): Yeah. Throughout this exchange, the bulk of Sadie has drawn much closer to the circle.

Becca (Blair): I think because I'm being non-aggressive, I'm hoping maybe if I step out of the circle, that'll be ok. And I'm going to step closer to it and just look up. Does it sort of have like, is there any humanity left in in the face? Is there a face?

cuppycup (Keeper): There is skin and stretchy membrane, but you don't see anything that would pass for eyes. You do sense that it's looking at you, though, through the hollow gaps and the system of twisting vines and roots.

Becca (Blair): Ok, I'm getting closer to it. I imagine I'm like, looking straight up at where its eyes might be as I hold its newborn and grip the leather grip on the rib in my other hand as I hold it low at my side.

cuppycup (Keeper): The creature withdraws from Blair and lurches toward Pistol, who had taken a shot with his rifle. After a moment of pause, it shoots a bundle of grasping roots out at Pistol. Would you like to DODGE or FIGHT BACK?

Danny (Pistol): I want to try to try to DODGE.

cuppycup (Keeper): I have a REGULAR SUCCESS.

Danny (Pistol): I FAILED.

cuppycup (Keeper): Oh, goodness. She wraps you up in these now thickening routes. They're acting independently of each other, grabbing and pulling at Pistol's limbs. It feels like she's going to pluck them right off. One sharp branch presses through the open wound on your back while the others snap your arms and legs. This takes a lot of damage. One d8 plus two d6.

Danny (Pistol): Oh my God.

cuppycup (Keeper): Hoo hoo. And that attack is more than your maximum HIT POINTS.

Faith: Pistol, no!

cuppycup (Keeper): The roots crumple Pistol like a bundle of sticks. Mournful wails well up from the trees as another sibling dies. You've all watched this happen. Sadie pulls back the impaling branch, which is dripping with Pistol's innards. Then she sways back toward the bog water.

Rina (Lorelei): So Lorelei, having done her thing of setting fire, looks over at Blair and sees the baby and is going to run up and hold out her arms. Like,

Lorelei: *pleading* Give it to me. I'll hold it.

Rina (Lorelei): Lorelei has desperately wanted children of her own for several years. And you know this.

Becca (Blair): I look down at the newborn and into Lorelei's pleading eyes, and then up at the the bog monster. And I say alright, and pass the child to you.

Rina (Lorelei): Alright. So I'm going to take the baby and I'm going to run into the woods with it. This is my baby now.

cuppycup (Keeper): Yeah. You run off to the mountain trail, away from the bog with the baby.

Becca (Blair): She'll keep it safe.

cuppycup (Keeper): It's up to Faith now.

Cam (Faith): And I'm going to retaliate and pick up my rib knife and just attack the creature.

cuppycup (Keeper): And she is going to try to FIGHT BACK. And she has FAILED.

Cam (Faith): A CRITICAL SUCCESS, looks like.

cuppycup (Keeper): Oh, wow. Excellent. I think I'm going to let that do MAX DAMAGE as you lunge at the creature. You manage to slip past the roots and to drive the rib dagger up into the wet, spongy flesh. But she isn't down just yet. Burning, and now with a gaping wound which drools into the black water, Sadie falters backward, retreating.

Blair: Wait. Mother!

Becca (Blair):  And I wade deeper into the bog.

Blair: One more thing. If you're really my mother and we're family now, there's one thing all my family knows you're going to need to know. I'm mean as a snake!

Becca (Blair):  And I stab it with the rib as hard as I can.

cuppycup (Keeper): Amazing.

Cam (Faith): Yes!

cuppycup (Keeper): Give me FAIGHTING BRAWL.

Rina (Lorelei): Love it.

Becca (Blair): 38 under 65. But let me spend all 36 of my remaining LUCK points to make that an EXTREME SUCCESS.

cuppycup (Keeper): Blair plunges the dagger into the fleshy mass holding together this root system and a black pus runs down the rib and onto your hand and arm. Roots crack and splinter. The fire that Lorelei set erupts into a bonfire, suffocating the creature. Her squealing and screeching as the branches break and the moss burns. Sadie melts and the mass of her turns to dust before your eyes. What remains recedes into the bog, thrashing. Sadie collapses, broken. A rot floats across the surface.

Becca (Blair): After standing in awe for several seconds, I'm gonna rush to where Pa's body fell and drag what's left of him back out to to the ceremonial ground. And then I kind of yell to Faith to do the same with Pistol.

Blair: Faith, I think these pyres are here for a reason.

Faith: What reason is that?

Blair: Grab the legs.

Faith: Ok.

Cam (Faith): I'm sobbing over the loss of my twin as I, you know, try to assist as best I can.

cuppycup (Keeper): You burn the bodies of Pa and Pistol in the pyre and their ashes flit upward and catch on the wind. You hear the familiar wail echo across the forest.

Lorelei: Shhh. Hush now. Shhh.

Eugene: Lorelei, that you? Shit. Hey, did you find him? Drunk fool. Probably got stuck in the outhouse again. Stupid old drunk.

Lorelei: Shh.

Eugene: Say, where's the twins? Pistol better not have been driving my truck. Hey, now, stop. Where are you going? What's that you got there?

Lorelei: Nothing. Just go sit down. I'll fix you something later.

Eugene: Hey, now. What is that, a baby?

Lorelei: Don't touch it! It's mine! I'll look after it.

Eugene: Lorelei, where did you get it? Is that blood?

Lorelei: (baby crying) Shh. It's a Taft now. It's ok. Mama's got ya.

cuppycup (Keeper): You are listening to Ain’t Slayed Nobody. For ad-free episodes, heaps of bonus content, and special programming please join our posse at patreon.com/aintslayed or subscribe to Ain’t Slayed Nobody+ at Apple Podcasts. See the show notes for full credits, and help us grow by posting friendly reviews and spreading the word to your friends and followers. Thank you and good luck out there!