“We all got teleported really, really, really far away! You’re on your own! Please run!”

—Orkira

Watch Beyond Heroes: Wildemount | Episode 10: Whispers

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The cast of Beyond Heroes, Penelope is level 11 while the rest are level 10:

• Todd Kenreck as the Dungeon Master
• Keen Dayeprath - Eladrin Eldritch Knight Fighter played by TJ Storm
• Briv Steelmarrow - Half-Orc Oath of Heroism Paladin played by Adam Bradford
• Penelope Half-Pint - Halfling Circle of Land Druid 10/Warlock Pact of the Archfey 1 played by Hope LaVelle
• Alyndra Alexandria Garanahil Sarrbarand, Lorekeeper of Rime Spiro, Kinscribe of Clan Monkeymouse, Daughter of Oblivion - High Elf Cleric 1/Wizard 9 played by Jen Kretchmer
• Orkira Illdrex - Dragonborn Light Domain Cleric played by Lauren Urban
• Freely - Halfling Lore Bard 3/Oath of Heroism Paladin 3/Sorcerer 2/Warlock 2 played by B. Dave Walters

Full Summary

The forest is flooded with salt water, catching everyone in the murky waves. The hag and Furian quickly advance on the drowning Heroes, and as the water swirls around them Freely suddenly finds himself alone. Using his own bubbles to figure out what direction is up, Freely swims to the surface and manages to get out of the rapidly receding water. While he is still in the forest with their two foes, there is no sign of his friends.

Everyone else finds themselves plunged into a vast ocean, with storm clouds rolling over massive waves. It was daytime, but now bolts of lightning light up the night sky. Thanks to Penelope’s water walk everyone breaks the surface safely, then Orkira and Grif fly high into the air to figure out what has happened. Not only are Freely, the hag, and Furian not around but there is no sign of any land. Keen is positive the hag has the power to use water to cause this teleportation. He also knows that time moves differently between the planes, so Furian could have only been gone a day or two on the Material Plane but aged many years in the Feywild. The eladrin suspects the boy they once knew might be even more powerful than the hag. Using the stars and moons as a gauge Penelope believes they are still in Exandria. Alyndra and Keen take a moment to use the stars and maps they have to try and figure out where they are, but with few landmarks it’s difficult to determine details. Worried about their missing member, Orkira casts sending to warn Freely about what happened and begs him to flee.

Facing down the Furian and Fell the hag, Freely takes a moment to use Lay on Hands to heal himself. He tells Furian how he was a good kid, and acknowledges that the hag was alone for a long time, then demands that his friends are returned to him or he will destroy the pair. Neither are impressed or bothered by his threat, and the hag tries to cast a spell that the halfling is able to shrug off. Covering himself with a shield of faith, Freely turns to Furian and apologizes for not being there to save him from the hag and offers to help him now. However his attempts to charm person are thwarted as Furian reacts with a counterspell. With the fight fully engaged, Freely hexes the hag and hits her with an eldritch blast. Furian rushes forward with a spear and viciously strikes the halfling, knocking him to the ground.

A massive wave threatens to pummel the Heroes out on the ocean, but Penelope uses control water to part it and give everyone a path through. Nevertheless, the waves are endless and the storm continues to build. Keen manages to figure out what direction land should be, so Orkira grabs him as Penelope transforms into a giant eagle to lift Briv and Alyndra. Together they fly high enough over the waves to be safe from the water. For once Briv begins to panic as his worry over their missing halfling and his fear of being so far away from land for the first time begins to overwhelm his usual calm. Over the telepathic bond, Penelope reminds him that her fellow halfling is lucky as well as brave, and they just need to do whatever they can to get back to him quickly. Far in the distance they can start to see lights so the group fly in that direction as fast as possible.

Orkira’s message only confirms what Freely already knows, so using his expeditious retreat he dodges away from Furian and Fell to flee into the forest. In a panic he activates the dark elf ring and contacts Toma, filling him in quickly on the hag and Furian, and asking for their help saving his friends. The drow is confused and a bit surprised, but agrees to try and assist. Freely continues to run with extraordinary speed while casting cure wounds on himself, but Furian somehow appears standing in his way. The halfling tries one more time to request they simply talk or walk away, but instead the drow casts a spell that plunges Freely into darkness. Surrounded by whispers that entice him to join the darkness he is blasted with psychic damage that almost causes him to fall unconsciousness, but his death ward activates and prevents him from falling. For a moment the whispers request that he stay and join them, but with what energy he has left Freely dashes out of the darkness and continues to flee! Reaching out over the ring, Toma tells him to not resist what is about to happen, and Freely allows something to pull him suddenly through space.

Flying over the ocean, Orkira senses something attempting to scry on her, but she manages to push the gaze away as she warns her friends about the tracking attempt. The storm picks up in ferocity, zapping them all with lightning as they continue towards the lights in the distance that are coming into view as a ship. The huge galleon is some sort of warship, and the Heroes call out greetings and apologies as they land on the deck. However the deck is devoid of life and all that can be found are blood stains, body parts, and strange appendages resembling giant crab claws and tentacles. The dragonborn wants to immediately take off again, but Briv is convinced that plan will cause them to become exhausted from flying and fall into the ocean. No one is sure how to sail a boat, so Keen heads inside to look for maps so they can pinpoint their position better. Penelope remains as a giant eagle in case they need a quick escape, enjoying sliding around on the deck of the ship as it rolls in the storm, while everyone else follows Keen into captains quarters. On the desk they do find several maps as well as course charting equipment lit by an obviously magical lantern.

Orkira is also quick to notice a lone, loose eyeball sitting on the desk yet tracking everyone’s movements. The cleric quickly covers the organ with her hands to prevent it from seeing anything, and requests they get the information they need and leave. While Keen pours over the maps, Alyndra starts to identify the lantern, while Briv throws the dead body parts on the deck over the side and into the ocean.

A sudden loud scream and thump from a nearby closet sets everyone on edge, but the newly teleported Freely casts Freely’s txantrum in both relief and anger and destroys the door. Noticing the eyeball in her hands has vanished, Orkira runs over to hug Freely in relief and cast cure wounds on his injuries. The halfling recounts what happened while he was separated from the group, and Orkira replies they should thank Toma for helping get him to safety. This prompts Freely to offer the ring back to her, as it was given to her in the first place, but she believes Freely and Toma have built up a rapport and suggests he keep it. Briv admits he was in despair when he believed Freely dead, and the halfling assures him that the only reason he fled in the first place was to make sure everyone else was safe.

When Keen worries there might be undead aboard the ship, Briv takes a moment to use his Divine Sense to check. Ultimately, he doesn't detect any undead nearby. Alyndra discovers their light source is a lantern of revealing, and as she shines it around the room they all notice that there is an unlabeled island marked on the map that is only visible in the magical light of the lantern. Keen pinpoints their location far south in the Lucidian Ocean, and everyone is pleased to be many miles away from Rexxentrum. Briv suggests they sail to a nearby island that might offer them all a respite, while Alyndra reminds everyone she still has the Cubic Gate that could be used to teleport them back to Faerun. Freely asks Orkira if she can now remember where they were when they fought the monster that initially stole their memories, thinking if they had gone there in the first place they must have had a reason and should return. While her own recovered memories don't have a lot of details, she does remember being far to the north and finding a dead sailor who was from Icehaven.

With the immediate danger gone, Keen heads up into the crows nest to find a quiet place for meditation. The eladrin reaches out to the Elder Council through revelry, warning them about the dangers of Furian and Fell. Freely asks Alyndra to contact Avren and warn him that the children are in danger, and while the wizard agrees she is careful about what she says in her sending but because of the time travel nature of what might have occurred. She sends a general warning about the hag and asks to be alerted if something happens. Then she and Orkira ask Penelope to join in searching the rest of the boat to make sure it’s safe. The druid is happy to transform back into her halfling form and the three head off to investigate the inside of the ship. Tired and still wounded, Freely falls asleep at the captain's wheel, where Briv gently scoops him up to tuck him into the captain's bed to rest. Still obviously concerned about the halfing, Briv lays down protectively next to his friend and also falls asleep.

Down in the hold the three ladies find an arcane circle at the very bottom of the boat. After some study Alyndra can determine it’s a permanent teleportation circle, but can’t tell where it leads. There are more bodies, some the regular bodies of sailors but many are barnacle covered humanoids with gills or other sea related appendages. Hoping to get some answers the three find a mostly intact of an older human, and Orkira sits the body upright and casts speak with dead. As the corpse disgorges sea water and takes a breath, the cleric is suddenly struck by memories of her own experience as a dead body under the same spell and flounders in fear. Reaching out she takes Penelope’s hand for comfort, listening to the druid and wizard feed her questions through the telepathic bond, and finally forces herself to start asking questions. First she asks about what happened, and the reply confirms that the strange creatures came on board and attacked, killing most and taking the rest. Then she asks for details about the crew of the ship, and the corpse answers that he and some others hired the sailors to take them to Xhorhas. When asked if that’s where they were from, the reply is that they were only taking their cargo to Xhorhas. She asks where the portal on the ship goes, and the answer is that it goes to Hupperdook. With her last question Orkira can’t stop herself from apologizing to the corpse over what has happened and asking if there is anything it would like done with its body. The corpse addresses Orkira by name and asks her to try and save the children, leaving a confused and panicked dragonborn as the spell ends.

Taking a closer look at the clothing, Alyndra finally recognizes the corpse is Hugo. As Orkira covers up his body and says a quick prayer to the Phoenix, Alyndra sadly spots the dead body of Avren nearby. Putting together that the cargo was the children, the three frantically look around but don’t find any of the kids among the dead. Rushing upstairs, Orkira first flies up to the crows nest and then into the captain’s quarters to alert Keen, Briv and Freely to what they have discovered. When Freely asks if the cleric can bring any of them back from the dead, she announces in frustration that she doesn’t have any diamonds for the spell, though it appears that the attack only happened a day ago. Casting sending, Alyndra manages to make contact with one of the children, who says they were taken to safety by friends of Hugo and are now in Rumblecusp. The plan is to head back to the mainland and continue the journey to Xhorhas. When Alyndra asks them to be safe and stay together so they don’t lose anyone, she is sadly informed that Furian was already taken from them when the attack on the ship happened.

Freely pulls Keen aside for a moment, relaying that he tried to tell Furian that they didn’t abandon him but were sorry for what happened. The eladrin compliments Freely on his bravery, and says he will wait for the Eternal Court to make a decision about Furian’s fate. Despite their history of despising drow, he hopes Furian can be accepted and reformed, and is willing to take responsibility for what has happened. Freely is worried about how powerful Furian has become, and how the hag tried to take control of the halfling in the same way. He asks Keen to promise to stop him if he ever falls to the darkness the way Furian has, and the eladrin swears he will do as asked.

Briv doesn’t want to go after the kids as he is convinced that horrible things happen wherever they go. He believes their luck will doom the children if they seek them out, however they currently know they are safe. Alyndra does not believe they will be safe for long, especially with the hag hunting them already. After a brief argument Orkira announces that Hugo asked her to look after the kids and that’s what she plans to do, then heads down into the hold with Penelope right behind her. They spend some time collecting the bodies to secure them in a respectful manner, but when she reaches Avren’s corpse she sits down next to it. Pulling out the instrument he sent as a gift, Orkira begins to talk to Avren about how she’s thankful for his present even though she doesn’t know how to play it. Because her memories have all returned she thinks she’ll see him again, and says if he needs anything to let her know. Taking a moment she uses the magic shawm to cast produce flame, and while her musical performance is horrendous the magical flames dance into the familiar shape of a dragon, mirroring the image Avren created to delight the children both many days and many years ago. When finished, Orkira thanks Penelope for staying, and the druid replies that’s what she does for her friends.

Then Penelope watches in horror as the broken form of Avren stands up behind her friend, and with seawater pouring out of his mouth rasps, “Uk’otoa"

Are our Heroes about to find out how haunted this boat really is? Find out April 8th at 2pm PT on twitch.tv/dndbeyond for the next episode of our adventures in Wildemount!

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Lauren "Oboe" Urban is the Community Manager for D&D Beyond, as well as a professional classical musician on oboe and English Horn. When she's not playing a Bard in real life she's a prolific Dungeon Master and player on a variety of livestreams and podcasts. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband Luke where they spend their free time playing video games and drinking tea. The best way to keep up with Lauren's busy schedule is to follow her on Twitter @OboeLauren!