Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry - Vox Machina Ep. 84 - Loose Ends

Episode Date: January 10, 2022

With the Chroma Conclave defeated, Vox Machina begin to pick up the pieces. With special guest Patrick Rothfuss.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Oh, that's going to come back to hang you. Welcome to the night's episode. We have quite an episode tonight. We'll have that to get to in just a moment. First we'll get through our announcements for the evening. First and foremost, our wonderful sponsor tonight returning to sponsor the show, Luke Crate. Good night!

To open that up, Sam. who cannot be here and unfortunately Sam Riegel is not able to make the episode. He did make a video, however, to help get us in the spirit of Who Creates Awesomeness. If you want to go ahead and show that for us. Hi everyone, it's me. Pro Alpine skier Sam Riegel, aka Scanlan Shorthaled from Critical Role. You know, when I'm not rolling dice, I'm rolling the dice on the hot, hot slopes of Park City, Utah. Anyway, I just did a lot of downhill skiing today, and it was pretty cool, but not as cool.

as the stuff you can get inside Luke Craig. Sign up now and you'll save so much money. You can come on an exciting vacation to Park City, Utah, buy skis and gloves and go skiing with me, Sam Riegel, aka Scanlan Shorthold from TV's, well, the internet's critical role. Anyway, I'm about to go do my last run. Hope I don't break my leg. If I do, I won't see you on Thursday, but if I I don't, let's roll high. Bye-bye. Thank you very much, Sam. I look forward to having you back next week in one form or another. Oh, that's cold.

But to finish up the details of our wonderful Lucreate sponsorship, we have Ashley Johnson joining us, thankfully from the monster herself. Tonight's episode of Critical Role is brought to you by Lucreate. The theme for this month is built. And the brands that are in it include Power Rangers, Batman, Nigo, Lego, and Tetris. All things you can build. The promo link is Lukecrate.com slash Critical Roll. And the promo code is Critical Roll, one word, for 10th,000.

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That was so good. You have to get a plane back to New York now, right? Okay, bye! Alright, so next up we have merch announcements, Laura. Do you want to go ahead and remember that? Oh, gosh, yeah! Okay, you guys. I know we've been teasing it for a while,

but guess what we have a becky have a becky! Are those the critical roll dice sets? Why they are! Oh my goodness! Hey, don't get too excited right now, because they're not in the store at this very moment, okay? We're putting them up for sale tomorrow at noon. Our time, Pacific Standard Time,

so that you know, all you lovely folks that don't get to watch at 7 p.m. on Thursdays can maybe snag them tomorrow afternoon too. So 12 p.m., go to the store tomorrow, that's Friday, and you will get one of these cool things. They've all been anointed with our individual musks. That's right, we've licked every bag. Every bag. Every dice. I literally just like this.

I put a bunch in my bra. I put it right to left. Right to left. Nice, nice. Armpids. Lots of armpits. Yeah. So it's wet.

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I think that's it. No. No. No. Yeah. No. Right then. Then, let's bring it down just a little bit as we step into tonight's episode of Critical Role.

And welcome back. So, to get you caught up on the current events of Critical Role. The party of Vox Machina has been combating the horrible, terrible influence of the Chroma Conclave, a group of Chromatic Dragons that have been terrorizing the countryside of Taldore, occupying the city of Haman, Western, and places beyond. They've been terrorizing. managed to kill off all the members of the conclave leading up to Raishan, the orchestrator behind the scenes of most of the chaos that they've seen in recent months. Reishan managed to nearly destroy Vox Machinan before absconding with the corpse of Thorac apparently into the next portion of her plot. The party, upon running into an old friend,

Carrick from Westran, who had helped in the attack on Iman, joined forces to give chase in hopes through her decision to head her off at the pass and prevent Reishan from seeing to fruition whatever plan she had after this leg. Through a series of very well-placed scrys, you discovered that she had absconded to the island of Viscan, an old layer of Thorax, and before that an older layer of Opash, an ancient necromancer who was banished and made that his demenzai. As you made your way to the island, hopefully prepared for this, you fought through various traps and difficult challenges throughout this necromancer's sanctum, eventually coming into battle with Rishan herself. A long, hard-fought battle left Percy and Scanlan both lifeless to the ground.

Percy was risen quickly. Scanlan, unfortunately, was not. And the final blow delivered a combination of both Keeleth, tearing the intellect from Reishan through a well-placed Feeblemind spell and Carrick with a well-placed Warhammer blow to the head of the green dragon. High five. High five from the screen. Just hitting him with the face. So awkward. Deuces.

There you go. The dragon destroyed. However, their friend, Scanlon, still, lifeless and still growing colder as the minutes passed, picked up his body, and you fled the cavern to the outside of the island after discovering the teleportation, or at least magic of transport,

had some sort of an alteration or a funkiness to it, if you will. You watched as two of your allies, Kima and Dolora, instead of teleporting away through a circle sent deep out into the ocean, you managed to find them through a very lucky perception rule, and at least you're able to connect your transport via plants through one of the outside trees by the beach to get you all to Whitestone.

There you took Scanlan's body to the recently constructed temple to the Raven Queen. And in preparing for this ritual, the gate stone was taken by Vex, who with the help of the Romseer Eskerrindarian, transported to Kymel, made your way through the riffraff to one of the darkened taverns there

to find Kaylee, Scanlon's daughter. Long estranged, and rambunctious daughter, but daughter nonetheless, handed her the gatestone, and she vanished in a puff of arcane smoke, leaving you in Eskil more confused than you within the tavern. And that is where we jump back in for the evening. So, as you guys are waiting carefully, kind of figuring out what to do in these moments, Pike, as you're kind of cleaning the area, cleaning the body, and doing the best you can to begin preparing for a ritual that you are hoping.

Will be in the favor of you and your friends. Percy, as you hold the other end of the gate stone, you feel it begin to glow and warm in your hand, and you instinctually take a step back, as within a bright flash, you watch as Kaylee, the gnomish, short-haired, rambunctious bards stands there now near the entranceway to the Raven Queen's temple holding the other gate stone. She's clutching at her face still kind of stoic and confused by the sudden transference She takes it and drops it to the ground. I'll take that. She found you.

Right, good to see all of you. So, is it true? Yes, he's inside. Let me see the bastard. She kind of pushes past and muscles through. You who've just previously begun to walk into the temple slowly, kind of taking in the gravity of the situation, and whether or not you want to even step up to the plate on this,

And that quiet, tense, slow but perpetual thought process that is grog. You feel a small hand to kind of grab the side of your hip and shove, though to no effect. You just kind of feel a little tug as Kaylee pushes past you. Pardon me, big man. And you watch as she darts up to where Pike is currently preparing the body for the ritual. You watch as Kaylee steps up to the edge and kind of gets up onto the top of the central. altar and kind of stands over quietly looking down at Scanlan's cold body. She kind of crosses her arms. He made me a promise. You made me a promise! And she kind of leans forward, kneels down, and just slaps them across the face.

She gets up and kind of wipes her nose a bit and hops off and just storms. I run after her. She just keeps charging, not stopping, not slowing. Wait! eventually get outside, you guys watch as Kaylee pushes past and then Pike Shrine there after. She spins around looking at you. You can see her fists kind of clenched at her sides. Face still dry, but you can see the water just slightly, barely keeping back in her eyes. What?

Listen, I know how angry you are, but we need you here today. So he can at least have more of a chance to be the father. that you've always wanted him to be. Those days have passed, I'm afraid. You have no idea how much he loves you. He's loved a lot of girls in his days, and that I'm certain. That may be true, but not as much as you.

Well, get on with it then. I figure at the very least we can go about our business when this is over. Clear conscience and all that. How much time you need? As long as it takes. Well, have we time. for a drink. Yes. I'm going to get a drink. She just kind of walks back into White Stone.

Am I, uh, am I still in there? You're still in there right now by yourself, as Pike just pushed past you, when you just have Scanlan alone on the altar. Can I, can I go over to him? Does he look the same? He looks the same, just paler. He's been cleaned. So the rest of you are a mess still, but it's clean, his hair's pulled back and brushed a bit. That pack is part of the preparation for the ritual. His clothes still tattered and worn from previous battles, but... Can I reach out and put my hand on his chest? Do I feel anything?

Nothing. It's cold with the touch. He's been gone for a while now, and there's a very little difference between the touch of the stone. Tony's on in the chest other than the fleshy texture. This is not over. It can't be. We've done so much and we have so much more to do, right? This is not over. Don't you move. Go ahead and get your shut eye and we'll be back.

You rest here. Try not to have too much photo without. Too much photo without us, and I leave. Okay. So as Pike, go in and finish the preparations for the ritual, and the ritual itself is an hour long once the spell is engaged, but you're just cleansing the temple, you know, some of the leaves that have blown in,

in general must that has happened from not being kept in your journeys here. You've cleaned it up. What's anybody else doing in this meantime? I'm just an assistant. Okay, thanks for helping over the temple. Okay Organizing Getting any materials that we need

Okay Carrot I'm Kind of like keeping my distance But watching What it is That they're getting ready to do here Like

Halfway between like Kind of disbelief And wanting to see how somebody else Runs their priestly You know know, this is because of like a professional interest. Like, what is this guy doing to appease the raven? All righty.

You finish preparations. Kaley hasn't returned at that moment. About 10 minutes more pass, and you hear small footsteps begin to make their way to the outside of the temple. They're stepping through a little wobbly, but a stoic

stone-faced Kaylee her hair kind of damp and slicked back with her fingers as she comes through but all right let's get it over with you can just smell the alcohol

you kind of stumbles up to the time and puts her hands on the altar so do your thing hold on look at me she turns around and looks up at you as she is practically just past your thigh. It's so funny, I'd never realized it before.

You look so much like him. Be careful, I'm at the right height to be juggling you. I'd expect no less. She kind of lingers on your eye contact for a second, kind of gives a nod, and then she gives you a tap, and turns back around, puts your hands on the altar. Right. Guess we'll go ahead and get started.

So as Pike takes her holy symbol out and begins preparing and burning the incense, you conscious of the fact that while you are a follower of Sarah and Ray, you are in the space of the Raven Queen, you take heed to make sure that the symbols you prepare as part of the ritual are a union of the symbols of redemption of which call to your divine nature and the cycle of life that are indicative of the Raven Queen's spheres of both fate and passing. And you orchestrate them in a way that is synergistic so that there is a definitive intent

to not let this lifeline sever. As you finish the completion of these various symbols and glyphs, spreading the salts across with each line that's drawn, you then begin to gather everybody around the altar itself, closing the doors behind you. But this, you pull out the diamond component of this resurrection ritual, which if you want to mark off within your gear, either if you have a diamond worth a thousand gold or just mark a thousand gold off of the... There's so. At which point you take the diamond and place it over...

Scanlan's chest, and you begin uttering the incantation, and what begins is a small whisper begins to echo. And you hear the source of the voice from Pike, but within a minute it's almost like the voice is sourceless. It begins to fill the room. It seeps from every corner. You hear Pike from all sides, and the more she begins to chant, the more you hear this very faint chorus begin to join in, a harmonizing voice, a secondary harmonizing voice. And you are familiar with this. This is the initiation of the ritual. This is the reaching out to the soul, to the bond, the thread that maintains the connection of the spirit to the prime material plane. Now, who would like to make a contribution to the ritual?

I'll go. I step up and I take my talking about. stone knuckles off. I take the belt of dwarven kind off. I wrap it around the knuckles, and I lay it next to Scatlin, and I say, you've been with me through so much. I pride myself on my strength, but as we fought Earth Breaker Groome, you were there by my side, as I learned that my true strength comes from my friends, which means that these trinkets, no matter how strong they are. It mean nothing. You knew me before them. I would hope you would know me after. And while my best buddy Pike taught me to love, you taught me to laugh. And I don't want to know what life is like without that. And the last thing I'd say is,

saying you spent so many times inspiring me. I'd like to take a page from your book. And to the tune of the Washington Redskins fight song, sing. Hail to Scanlan Short Halt, hail to victory. No one can make me laugh faster. Please bring him back to me. Go ahead and make a persuasion check with advantage. Grog steps away, he watches the

circular glyph pattern of the ritual around you, a portion of it lights up. The first contribution being presented. Who wishes to take the next presentation? Thanks to say, but I know I'm already. Okay. Well, I reach in my pocket and I pull out a little doll. And Scanlan, I don't know if you remember this, but I don't know if you remember this, but I You gave this to me, and it's a little doll of you, which is very appropriate. But when I died, this saved my life because you gave it to me, and I didn't know that you would put healing words in it. And it saved me, and I hope that today I can return the favor. Place that next to him.

I've prepared a poem. I don't have it memorized. Hold on. Okay. Here lie Scanlan the Bard, a gnome who sang soft but died hard. To anyone who hears us both far and wide, bring us back our dirty friend at least one more time. He may not be tall or brute or rough.

He may be little, but his heart is buff. We are a party, and every party needs a clown. our friend to rain us in, we'll burn down your whole fucking town. You see, I love this gnome very much. He's small like me,

but he's touched. He's raided and slain. He's pooped while he's saying. But if he's gone forever, I won't be the same. Now that he's learned he's a dad, the journey that all of us had

cannot be in vain. not be in waste. Please Scanlan open your eyes and see your daughter's face. I'd say go ahead and make a performance check with advantage. Okay. As you finish the poem you wrote and step back, the second of the three portions of the circle comes aglow. And you realize as she was speaking this poem, the chanting that she had begun has just continued without her. The spell ritual continues. The chanting seems to have been taken and echoed by the actual essence of the spell. As she stepped out of the incantation, it continued on its own. It continues

to swell stronger and stronger. At this point, as you step back, there is a flash of movement at the edge of the altar, and with a double clack of her shoes, you watch Kaylee land her flip onto the top of the altar. Stand up straight, wobble for her. a second and catch her. She pulls out her fiddle. Wait, wait, wait. I just take her wrist. It's no small thing to have a father who loves you. And I cast lay on hands and clear her mind of thou god. Her instinct is to pull away as you grasp her wrist, as it is instinct of any man who tries to lay a hand on her. And in the moment she fights the instinct and the healing energy kind of just swells through her arm.

closes her eyes and for the first time since she arrived, you watch as the tears that she had kept at bay blinked down her cheek finally. She just taps her hand twice with her bow. And still not making eye contact you, but just nods and begins to play a beautiful, soft, sad violin piece that begins to swell faster and faster and faster and to fall faster and to faster and transition from a mournful peace remembrance into a lively, jovial fiddle piece. The music begins to pick up and she begins to dance, her feet clacking across the top of the altar. And the juxtosition of the energy and the emotion of the room towards this strange rush

of energy and liveliness is awkward at first and then welcome. And you can't help it in spot of yourself smile as the sound feeling. the room as she goes faster and faster and faster. Her feet clacking faster and faster across the stonework on the top. She brings it to a giant crescendo and finishes with the flourish, the bow outside. She puts her head up and you see the tears she down her face, no smile, just a stoned expression, and she gives a bow. It's a performance check on that. The third and final portion of the ritual begins to swell as the magic crescendos. We take into count to the final post this right now.

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divine energies of the ritual swell. You watch as the energy kind of shoots across, stepping into the diamond that's still on his chest. You watch as the divine powers, the diamond swells with bright energy before shattering into a diamond dust across his chest, across the altar, clattering to the ground, like a glittering handful of sand just tossed across his body. The glyphs fade and go cold. The light of the room descends into the same low-lit candle light that you've presented to the ritual pipe. The moment passes. The moment passes. The moment passes. And eyes still closed, he watches a small smile, curls across Scanlan's face.

And his chest rises and falls. Rises and falls. As the relief spreads throughout the room, Kaylee walks up. I'll wipe that smile off your face. We're going to have a talk and slaps his face the other way. Jumps off the altar, slams out the two doors, the front, and kind of staggers out of the temple into the outside. Scanton's delay is unconscious, but breathing. I rolled a natural fucking 20, by the way, guys. On that final roll. Did you really?

No way. I haven't touched it since it landed. It was two natural twig-two. Two natural 20s. It was 14 for Kaylee's performance. You know what? Holy. The fights just won the scaly to come back.

It's true. And he was all poo-pooing on the dice. I know. There was, I mean, with the DC increase, because it was at 12, I missed at 13 last week, he was at 12, and we had two successes and one failure. That brought it to 1310. of 1310 to a 7. So he had one through a six and he would have been done.

Oh, God. That responsibility is so scary. Yeah. Anyway, as you all taken the moment, it appears that Scanlon's spirit has returned to the body. Anybody want to wake him up? No. I don't think so. Not yet. Keyleth actually goes up and just does a simple medicine check just to see what's up with him. Go for, go ahead and last. 18.

Okay. He is alive and he is breathing. His body has been ravaged by the experience and the trauma of death. His body's been ravaged by the trauma of the resurrection. He is borderline comatose right now. You've seen trauma have. this impact on the bodies before, it could be minutes, hours, days, who knows. But with

the right treatment, usually people recover. It's not like, you know, heavy skull trauma induced coma. It's just the physical exhaustion of the experience. So there may not be something you could do at the moment to rouse him from his slumber. But Scallon lives. He needs his rest. Percy, can we station some of the best stages and doctors on him to watch over him? Can we take him to the castle, I suppose, at this point? Yeah. We're taking care of.

Do you mind if I carry him? Of course. He's warmer now. He's also drilling a little bit and may have wet himself a second time. That's more like it, yeah, that's appropriate. But he's warmer. Everyone, he may have pissed himself. Just remind him later.

It happens. More things change. As you guys begin to step outside, you know, characters, you're there at the door after Kaylee charged out, um, Keeman Allura, who were just kind of waiting outside, respectfully, our kind of engagement.

You watch this as Kim immediately kind of pushes up. Is he... It'll be fine. And you were worried. I'm so dumb. The Lord kind of steps behind her and kind of puts her hands on Kim Michel. Well, that's good news. Take care of him. We'll probably return to Eamon and help helm the remainder of the

of the cleaning and situation of Amman, gather the dead to see who we still have alive, and come back sooner than idea of what we have to rebuild. Can I do an inside check? Sure. She seems worried. Something wrong? Uh, 26. 26. So loot crate.

So building, huh? Build. It's a... Such a cool thing what they have this month. You know, if you love Power Rangers and Ligo. Ligos, I love Ligos. Man, these lukrates are great. Can't do it like Sam.

You've never got one. Who can, though? Everybody's cancel the game. Ooh! Hey! Hey. Do you have to leave immediately? You seem tired.

We've all been through a lot. I don't know how you should rest today. I'll have to rest before I can find our way back to him on quicker, but soon as the better, we did kind of leave the city in a vacuum of leadership depending on who survived the conflict there. And I just want to make sure that we have whatever remains of the council there to put the pieces back together and count the dead, make sure that we don't leave a vacuum of power,

so another thawodact-like entity can sweep in and lead us back on the dock path. Let us know if you need our assistance. I shall. I, for one, need to get it clean. He just kind of taps chemo's shoulders and they both kind of walk up towards the castle. What do you guys want to do? I'm going to go back to the castle, sit down, take this off, and I think sleep for a long while. What time of day is it? At this time, the arrival here, it's pushing past sunset, I'm pretty sure.

If not, it's probably like early night at this time. The hour it took the ritual, so. Where are we dropping off the urine smelling one? We'll take him to his room. I'll make sure that someone cleans him up and dresses him, puts his things away. You're welcome to take him to his room. I'll do that. I'll go away. I'm going to go away. Girl can scan one. Okay. Carrot?

I probably just like drift along in everyone's wake at this point. Okay. I'm just staggering behind a bit, kind of just ruminating on the current events. Vex, you are still back at Kymel with Esco Rwandarian, who has come back with drinks and it's like, Oh, ah, so. What business have you here to drag me just far out of town? I thought you were grabbing room, Escal. Aren't you tired? So tired? Well, I suppose.

We probably need our sleep, right? So that we can recharge those spells of yours as soon as possible. I just want you to know I'm not interested. Oh, are you sure, darling? You're so attractive to me. I understand that, and I've had my hate. But those years are long past me now. Well, you better get to bed before I jump on you. He seems legitimately really disturbed and walks away.

I sit down next to Dr. Drenzel. Good. He's actually like half passed out now in the back corner. He wasn't there for the whole exchange with Kaylee. His hat's kind of pushed over his eyes, and he has an empty taker in there on his one hand. You don't see where his other hand is. And you sit down?

Ah, I look to see where his other hand is. You glance under the table, and you come right face to face with a crossbow. That is under the table, pointing out of direction, and without moving, you just hear him kind of grin under his chin. Nice drive, Exxali. Just seeing where it was, dear. I didn't want to sit on it. So do you know my corn is mine. As is mine.

Hmm. He kind of puts the hat up a bit over his eyes now. You can see him. It gives you kind of a, kind of a sort of a brow push. Did you hear what I said to Kaylee? As much as I could from the distance. Yeah, it seems a Seems her old pal finally at his adventures catch up to him. How do you feel about that? I've had friends come and go through the years. It's part of the job. Can't be true. Oh, no, each one hurts, but look, though, I've lived in some of the harshest landscapes, Tal'Dorei and beyond has to see. I've watched people torn asunder in the streets before me. I have...

I hold onto my purse the entire time I'm talking about. Okay. That was so subtle. Make your perception. There's a lot in there. Oh, motherfucker. You know your own kind. 22.

22. You catch the crossbow still placed there, but his other hand has kind of slubbed underneath and has been kind of slowly reaching towards the... Trying to help a feel, darling. Always. He wiped a nose on his cheek. So cash.

But yeah. Now Colge is pragmatic. When you lose enough people, you learn to just move on. Yeah, but Scanlan's special. There's a special pain of my ass. Nah, he's great. He'll be missed. He will be.

The Scanlan. Descanlan short hauled and our brief but very lucrative career together. By the way, if you're curious, We're looking to settle off some of this really nice silverware. You motherfucker. That's right, it's horrid. Shit.

I'm just gonna smile out you, his big, bright, toothy grin. You're lucky that our keep was under attack, and everything else got ransacked, otherwise I'd come after you. I'm always lucky. That's why I'm still alive. Give some of your luck to Scanlon. I'm going to bed. All right, I got a few more of these to put down.

Stay safe, Axelie. Yeah, don't come to my room. I'm serious, don't. It looks like the wink afterward. His face has like a, like signals expression. Question one. Not sure, not sure.

Not serious. Seriously, don't. Right, right, no, got you. Yes, fine. Besides, you seem like you're already shacking up with a curious gentleman. Isn't he dreamy? And I head upstairs.

Strange Bedfellows! And he goes in orders another round. You go ahead and find yourself up there with two separate rooms purchased by his skill all the way across the hall. He rapidly hands you the key and without making eye contact it's like, your room is it's yet, please yes. Finds his way and just fear the door slam and lock behind him.

I stay up for a really long time waiting to hear any kind of word from Allura, from anybody, something. Oh, nobody told Allura to contact you. No. So I'll eventually go to sleep wondering if Scanlan's alive. We can't, that's a, technically, chronologically it wouldn't have happened yet. Yeah.

So as she's going throughout the room and nothing, this has been, it's taking you guys hours to get, prepare the ritual, bring, Kaylee there, the whole circumstance. So yeah, she's been up for a few hours waiting. The rest of you guys, back at the castle. Anything else you want to prep for the evening? In the meantime, I wanted over to Kerrick just for a minute, and I say, I care. I'm really terrible about lending out my stuff. I forget who I've given what, and sometimes it doesn't come back. Could I, could I, could I, I, I'm so sorry, could I trouble you for that ring back, please.

Oh, no, he just takes it off. He ends it. Oh, damn it. Oh, awesome! Thank you, thank you. Oh, that is beautiful. Right back where it belongs. Kiela kind of taps, Vax, and goes smooth. That's me.

Turn to Carrick and just give him a massive hug. Thank you so much for following us into the fray, literally into the pit of the beast. So, thank you. There's not a lot of people who would blindly follow us there. Um, it, uh, it, it was a pleasure. And it was a double pleasure to actually come out again. I don't know if I would say risking your life as a pleasure,

but I appreciate your positive attitude on the whole thing. Would- It's, uh, it was, it was nice to have, something to do again, something worthwhile to do again. I'd say you definitely spent your time wisely. What do you plan to do next? If you folk are heading back to the tomorrow, I should meet up with my people.

They don't need me to shepherd them exactly, but I should head back with them. Okay. Thank you for everything. Sincerely. I'd give him another hug and say good night and go in the castle. Okay. I'm going to stay with Scanlan for the, just where I've been for the night. Okay. So you're taking back to his chambers,

were in the way, you just stay next to him as he's sleeping, making sure he's okay. All right. Everyone else just... I'm just staying outside his room. Okay. I then go, I was going to go find a Laura and actually ask her if she had a message spell. or a sending spell, and I was totally gonna do that before. Like, everyone started making the jokes about us being shitty and forgetting.

That would be awful. I was really looking forward to it, to be honest. To wait for 24 hours, or 12 hours to be around. Friend is alive or dead. Um, yeah, I mean, as you go find her, um, you know, she's already kind of in her night clothes, and he brought her hair down. Oh, yes, actually, I can.

Thank you for reminding me. Yeah, I would just, she must be insane right now, or half drunk, or both. Probably both. Yeah, I would be. I've learned anything, yeah. Well, I will make sure she knows. Okay, thank you.

Of course, of course. Sleep well, you've done good. You too, thank you. You've all finished when I started. I think we'll head back with you tomorrow to Amman so we can check in on our keep. Once Vexaldia comes back, of course. Very well. I can bring most of you with me.

Should not be an issue. All right, rest well. Have a good night. She goes back inside. Carrick will probably, like, track down a bottle of some kind of, like, really strong liquor. and look for it doesn't take you long to find it you've seen where they keep most of it and since you're already an esteemed guest of the keepers here of Whitestone they're given you a bottle already opened but you know promised to have been fine quality and

it doesn't take you long to hear the various bodily functions of Grog Strongjaw in the hallway watching Scanlan's room. So yeah, as now in middle of the night, close to midnight or so, you come across Grog alone, kind of leading up against the wall, arms crossed, just waiting outside of Scanlan's room. And kind of passed the bottle over, and I say this is a better sort of vigil than what I've seen in the past. Boy, that is true. That could have been much...

What is this? They seemed really impressed that they were giving it to me. They gave it to you. You didn't... That's the extent of my knowledge. You didn't pay for it, no coin. You don't know if it's like cheap or expensive.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm guessing it's top shelf, not that I would know. Hold on, let an expert take a taste and I'll take a sip. Do I detect any notes of stuff? Hold an intelligence check. Come on, Gittle. You need to air rate at that. That's the three.

No, that's a one. You detect notes of alcohol. Very strong alcohol. And liquid. Yes, this is clearly the finest reserve alcohol of the area. We shall enjoy this in great lengths. And to bend you on your acquisition of a great... I think I just stroked out on that word. Here.

And so we kind of, I just kind of share some some sort of, share some space, we chat a bit, and then I kind of bring up that whole resurrection ritual. I, you know, slowly like, so that sort of thing has happened before with you folks. Yeah, it has, unfortunately, a bit too often. But I have to say, before this group, I didn't even know like people could do that. Because you know me, like, I can't do anything like that. Have you, have you ever done one of them? I, no, no.

I, um, I, I've looked into things like that. Uh, but I've never known anyone who's actually come back. Really? Do you, yeah. Wait, so are you saying that someone coming back is, rare. I've, I mean, I've heard stories and I know, but I, I've never, I've never seen it myself and I've never, I don't know how much, I, I never knew how practical any of the stories were before. Yeah, I don't really know how prax, they are either, but, Um, I guess I hadn't really thought about it much.

It just seems like the others and the group are so responsible for it. This one was hard, though. I felt like it might not work, you know? So it always works? Yeah. I mean, of the ones I've seen. Has it always been, do you need a body? For what?

Like, to stay warm at night or for a resurrection? No, for, have you ever brought someone back when you didn't have the vibe? I expect that that couldn't happen. Oh, okay, because that would be, I mean, what would you use? Like, you can't bring along like a tea cozy and then be like, bam, you're back. Like, how would that even work? What are you talking about? Exactly.

How would any of that work? And, like, that is about as subtle as carrot can be. at this point, like, awake for three days and, like, two wars and a dragon. That's why he's desperately trying to pump grog for information about how they have someone can come back. Yeah. You know, if you have questions, the war behind me also knows probably as much as I do. And that's like, this is especially the person, like, the only person I could trust to realize. to not realize that I was trying to get information out of him on this subject.

Yeah. And then when it does not, you know, it kind of dead ends, I just drink as much of that as bottle as I can, moving it back and forth between the two of us for the rest of the night. I'm good with that. Do I hear them at all on the other side of the door? You hear muttering from across the wall, but do you want to listen in? I was actually hoping to be around the corner for a chunk of this because I was heading

to Scanlan's room as well. Both of you guys make perception checks. Awesome. So you like you take a big shiny thing and then someone starts like, I don't know, 19. You're around the way, you catch the tail end of the conversation. Just the question you back and forth. You pick up bits and pieces of it and you're able to make out the gist of the conversation. Okay, um, I'm gonna peek my head out the door. Okay, as you guys are finishing, passing the bottle back and forth, Scanlon's door opens and Pike just barely pushes her head out from the crack. Hey! Oh my god!

Are you drinking? And why didn't you bring some to me? Shit, really good point. We might be in trouble, care. I have made a terrible mistake, but it is one that I can fix. All is all really. I know this is why the gods gave us two hands. I will bring back two bottles. Is that why the gods gave us two hands? They gave us two hands for two bottles. I am so wise right now. You ought, that must be like an intelligence serum.

Sir, did they teach you that in your seren reintable classes? Because if not, maybe you have a thing or two to teach them now. Probably not, Grog, but thank you. All right, now I'm coming around the corner, I'm waiting long enough. So personally, you hear just enough to hear, like talk about needing a body and then alcohol. Percy, God's give you two hats.

Hands for bottles for each of them. Four if you can learn to use your feet. That's too much for you. Is that too much for you? My brain will . Can I insight checking since I knew, since I could hear what was going on? Sure.

Make it a disadvantage because it was through a wall. Okay. It's hard to pick up nuances without seeing expressions and stuff. It's just bass. Yeah, base practically. Eighteen. Eighteen? That's too hard to pick it with the nuance.

pick up with the nuances. From through a wall, the fact that you can pick up any of the words is one thing, but most of inside is based around, you know, spatial expressions, physical activity. You have no idea. Probably some intermittent farting. That too, yeah. So you wander in. Karris wandered away. I'm going to wander into the room. The nod. Just sit for a moment. Wait. Prove that you or you. No. It's you. Thank you. Thank you.

I love you so much. All right, so you sit for a bit. Kerr eventually returns with a second bottle of matching alcohol, unopened though, the same. Two, two hands. So you go for a third bottle as well. Yes. Two unopened bottles of the same brackish liquor. practice liquor. And I'll pass one to both of the people that I was not drinking with before.

Just I'll pass them off. Okay, so Pike and Percival, you have a fresh bottle jam in your hand. One for me. I'll be passing this around a bit. Should we all sit on the bed around Scanlan like a slumber party? Is that creepy? Honestly, I'm thinking about going through his thing, so no, I'm I don't think it is. Oh.

Okay. Scanlan is definitely alive. Oh my God. What were you guys talking about out there? If I can be so rude to ask. Oh, what? The liquor, it has fabulous brackish notes. Yep.

Notes of bracky. Thank you. We make it here. I was also talking about what a great job you do. Apparently, you're really rare. What do you mean? Look, apparently, you and your resurrections, like, they don't always work, which is amazing. They don't always work.

I didn't know that. They don't. We've been very fortunate. We've been very fortunate. What, did you, why do you ask, care? I've never actually seen anything. like that before. It was

quite an experience. Am I still wearing my armor? I might actually ask that out loud. And he is. He's still wearing his armor, unwashed. A few of you have gotten washed. A few of you are still kind of, you know, going over the events

today. Grog is not washed. Grog never washes. Yeah. Palfourmed Grog. So, yes, he's still wearing his armor. You get the the marvelous. of a slightly older, slightly portly man shrugging out of a full suit of chain mail.

It's entertaining. And then just like just dumps it on the floor and then like the padding underneath. That's a lot of shit you wear, man. You know what I forgot over all these years? Like the sweat gathers in your ass. Swamp ass.

Swamp ass. Swamp crack. It's, you know, you'd think that I would remember, but no, I had forgotten that. It drips right in. I forget, and then it suddenly, I remember that I met you all in a prison cell. I remember very well.

It's not fair, is it? What? Well, just one day, you lose so many people and then just one day you stop. And at what point in your life, it just, you decide that suddenly there's no reason. It's just, you're just not allowed to die yet. Your life isn't your own anymore. Suddenly, you've done what you were supposed to do, and now you're back. And it's just not yours anymore, is it?

And what of everybody else? It's not fair, any of it. You don't think your life is your own? I know my life isn't my own. My life is all of yours. My life is my sisters. My life is castles. My life ended.

I'm very glad to be here. I just miss an awful lot of people, that's all. And I don't understand how we get to choose. I understand. I know you don't, drogg. So grateful that you don't. To the unyielding unfairness of the universe. Yep, raising drinks.

I'm not even here and I'm right now. Oh, I'm sure. Fucking A. Don't drink. And that it decided that we get to keep this bastard. Hardly fair. What do we tell him when he wakes up? That's why I was thinking about going through all of his things.

We could just leave him in a gutter somewhere. He's reincarnated a hundred years in the future. I don't know. I keep thinking of terrible things to do to him now. It's funny. I know. I have not explored any of that and it is amazing. amazing. I, well, we were all troubled. I feel like once

Vax is awake, we'll really have an expert at this sort of thing. Now's your chance to throw something in the acid. I wish I could hear that. I wish I could hear that. Regal's not even here.

You could run rough shout over that motherfucker. You're not in the room. You're not in the room, asshole. This is the same talking to towels. I know. Yeah. I don't know if Fersie has that much of a lack of propriety. I'm really debating, though.

How much have we had to drink? That's up to you. Other members of this room have gotten quite wrong. Well, the math is always how much you've had to drink versus distance it takes to travel to get to your goal because they kind of balance each other out. The longer you have to go. If you're stationary, that's one thing. Yeah, but, oh, I got to...

Mobile. I gotta go a mile. Half of it sounds stairs? I don't know. We could play a prank on him. I think that's a great idea. I think I need somebody with a better mind for this. I walk out of the room.

Rock deep. Is we any of the business you guys want to conduct where the evening's done? Did you want to go through his things? Bits. That would be cruel. Well, you're a decent person, should we? Well, what if he happens to have something on him that requires attention?

I actually would agree, because what if there's something, you know, that he needs our help with, but feels weird about asking? Right. Or if he has, what if there's... Well, I was thinking like a plant that needs watering, except something you would have in your pocket, which is not a plant. Cair, by the way, it's pretty thrashed at this point. Thanks for clarifying. There are multiple meanings to anything that is.

I've got an idea. Okay, what's your idea? I need one of your nightgowns and some of the pudding from downstairs kitchen. Okay. Wow. Okay? Can I go grab one of them out? I'm gonna go grab one of my nightgown.

I'm gonna send for some desserts from downstairs. I had nights like this in college ago. This is not cool. I'm well aware. It's not cool when you wake up on this. All right. Nightgown retrieved. Pudding, a little stale but retrieved. That's fine. Stale is better.

Is my nightgown a little big on him? Actually, yeah. You're a little thicker than Scanlon. She's a mooched. Mott's done. There's nothing wrong with that. Ain't nothing wrong with that. That's right.

All the games. He's like a known skier from shaming. Essentially, yes. Those python, Joe. You're the monster. All right, so you have the nightgown, you have the pudding, what's the plan? What are you thinking?

Well, first we're going to have to strip him. Okay. We're gonna put him in your nightgown. Okay. We're gonna just sort of leave him hanging off the bed and decorate the entire room with all of the desserts we brought up and just smear them in interesting patterns,

maybe some Latin everywhere. Just wonder what happened. Let's just leave him a tableau. We'll have an art party. I think it's a fabulous idea. The food. All right, so I'll start undressing him. All right, so, Kerr you watch as Percival and Piping

in undressing Scanlon's comatose body. In a coma. In a nightgown. Terrible. And then stage by stage, taking handfuls of room temperature, probably day-old pudding and desserts in smearing them across the room. and Scanlan himself. We're gonna braid his hair as well.

It could be like a week before he wakes up. Yeah, yeah. It's all like moldy and nasty. Like an Irish, right, of course. Weird. I'm gonna smear in some of it on his forehead so he can read it in the mirror backwards. It's just gonna say no, never.

With a quill? It's a lot of letters. Shetley. Shetley with you fit that. It's a small forehead. Yeah, shop. Oh, that's true. It's small hair.

I'll do two lines. No. No. I feel like I got the nightgown and you've got the pudding. Now what are you going to do in cross-stitch on my wall? Alrighty. So you complete your art project. Take it however you feel, witnessing the event, Carrick. Actually, care at some point is probably like,

if you got some ribbons, you'll get his hands. Oh my God. I'm shocked. I'm shocked. I'm shocked. You, sir, are a man of the world. What a great idea. A man of the world.

I'm going to retrieve two of my scarves from my room. Okay. It's awesome. Of two of the, of the, yeah. It's perfect. From the neck scarves. Great, okay. Not too tight.

Not too tight. Not too tight. Gentle. No, that's not that's. Not that sort of knot. You have to wrap it around and then through. You actually can't care. You unintentionally learn more about Karek's history than you expected to.

I really, I feel like I'm getting so many more chapters. All right, and with the presentation complete, your diorama, Kahnlan, the evening draws late. It is now probably a good 2, 33 o'clock in the morning upon completion. It is time for sleep. Did I ever get a message? You did get a message from Alora that tells you that the ritual is successful. Scandlin is alive.

Yes. I wake Trinket up. He's alive! And I'm running out of the room. He's alive! It's the entire bar down below. Trinket rushes out after you. It worked! It worked! Who's awake? Anyone? Is anyone awake?

You look down and there's maybe three people in the open expanse of the tavern floor, two of which are passed out on tables, one of them in their own vomit, and there is the door to the tavern is still open, and the one bar keep is somebody else who's taking on the night shift, who's currently just sitting back and reading a book, which kind of looks up at you. You. What? I'm buying you a drink.

I come running downstairs if you're doing it. Okay, you approach the gentleman who, you know, receding hairline, short kind of salt and pepper hair, a bit of a double chin going on, a portly fella in his probably late 40s or so, kind of square spectacles at the tip of his nose with his book, he sits down to the side. He's wearing just a simple tunic with a little bit of an apron on. on. Um, uh, sure, I suppose. Yeah. All right.

Um, I'll pour my drink. What's the best thing you've got? That's, you know, within reason. That'll be the supple awake. Um, he kind of pulls this, this, this dark red kind of terracotta jug from underneath, and he kind of has a wax seal on the top of it that's kind of crumbed. top of it that's kind of currently closed off me. This will run you about a 20 gold for the bottle. It's the best we have. I'm in! Let's do it! And then pour a bowl of ale for my bear hair.

He looks over and he just sees like lumbering across the room. He didn't notice at the time. Just kind of transfixed by your little bit strange thing. Because he was in my necklace earlier when I came in. And suddenly there's a giant bear, like, okay. Just go ahead and like empties, you know, fills things, you know, fills things. three small glasses, pass them over, and puts over into a bowl and kind of sets it onto the edge and Trey kind of pulls and grabs the edge of the bowl with a big clot, tips over, kind of splashes, and his drink gets face, on the top, gets both arms up on the actual

bar and it's kind of like crushing the wood a little bit, and it's like knock a ball over and it spilled out, and he's like, and the guy's just sitting back leaning further and further away, grabs this glass. Cheers. What a great night. To the night shift. We've been playing this game three years. You wait three years to pull out that brand new sound effect of a cork coming up. I know.

Spent a long time alone as it can. Wow. Wow. You can play the game for like five years. Yeah. Five years. Five years. It's true, no.

Five years. We started back in 19-05, right? 19-095. It was spring break, Cancun. It was for print. For 90s. So, evening comes full circle, rest comes about. The next day presents you with rest,

comfort, you're heelful, you've restored your hip points, you get back half of your hit dice. You also, right and early as you all begin to kind of rouse from your slumber and wake up, Scammon is still asleep, still covered in the mess that you left them in. And shortly into the morning, there is a series of quick footsteps up from the lower regions of the castle as Vexalia arrives, especially transported by Esco Rindarian to Whitestone. So as you rush in, you can see everybody kind of slightly grogly, you know, having their breakfast in the main eating hall of the White Stone Castle.

Where is he? Where is he? Oh, no, he's still sleeping. He's still sleeping it off. Oh. I don't think he's actually like woken up yet. Oh, oh, it takes a lot out of you. It does, yes. How's everyone?

How you good? How'd it go? Good, good, good. Good. I'm so worried. I'm so glad to be here. How is your night? Where are, why? What did you, how was it, how was that town?

The town. Yeah. You know, I didn't see much of it. No, outside of a bar? Oh, sure. Yeah, me and Eskil. Had some times though, I can tell you. Really?

I never pegged him for like a party. That guy is a party. No way. What? Oh yeah. Shut up. Yeah. You've got to move on me, Percy.

You should be aware. Really? A lot. At which point you turn around in the room when you see Escal entering This little walking stick, like, pitch, Pitchell, you devil, you little pit feed you. Look at you.

Such impropriety. I'll take my meal in my room. Oh, it's- Thanks again, darling. It was wonderful. You gave him back problems. Good day. This slowly turns around.

Where is my man's servant? And he watched himself into the castle. Ah. So what are we doing today? Well, I guess, I mean, we, I know Laura's going back to Amman to check in on things since we kind of left in a hurry, but I guess we should wait for Scanlan to wake up. Well, there are things to do, I suppose.

There's still a list of things that need to be taken care of. Yeah. And I suppose we really shouldn't rush Scanlan. I mean, we might be able to do some of those. Sleep is the bus medicine? It is. Some people say that. Also, real medicine is...

Probably. It's really good for rejuvenation. What are we doing? Like, ballistic cleric. Pretty much anything is good. Carrick now wanders in very high, Good morning. Yeah, very, yeah. I look, I look as, I look every bit as old as I am. Yeah, swamp ass.

Hey, I remember, I remember. I don't remember what? He was talking about his, his butt getting sweaty. Oh, that got weird. We all agreed, it happens. I'm actually not here. I never left the temple. You stay there overnight? Yes, I did, and we'll have a flashback now. Okay. Super quick, super quick. Really easy. Nice, nice, nice. Where is Max? Yeah. Fucking exhausted. Set down everything that I,

everything that I own on the altar, and took 10 minutes to take off all the armor, and laid that out on the altar. and just get your candies unwrapped, grandmas. And just stared at it for a long time wondering, what happens now. That's it, and then I stayed there the whole night. So, as you guys can eat back first. And you arrive, catch up with everybody, your brother's not there.

What's that? Your brother's not here. Where is it? He stayed in the, um, he stayed in the Raven Quay. He stayed in the Raven Queen. I know that. I stayed in the temple? I think he did. I don't know. I was up in the room. That's where we saw him. He stayed there when we left, so he could still be there. I'm not sure. You didn't come back last night, so.

I'm assuming he's stupid. Well, I'm going to go find him. I give Percy a kiss on the heads. I want back. It's good to see you, okay? It's good to see you too. I'm glad you're alive. I'm very glad to be alive. Where's my brother? I guess I didn't know. She's in a really good move. Yes, she is.

Yeah. Maybe you should have a basketball for some tricks. I know. I think that might be fun. I didn't know you guys had that kind of a, you know, relationship. The girth of things that you do not know could fill such a cavern. You said girth. I did, Pallad.

I'm so proud of you. Oh. That influence of oxmarketed. The entendres. Beck taught me that was funny. That was funny. Well, thank you, I didn't need that. That was true.

Facts, after a long night of meditation on your place between the mortal realm and the divine, the ramifications or meaning behind the choices and allowance that destiny still lays unfulfilled to have not felt intervention against the return of the spirits of those you've lost weighs a bit on you. The idea that to not allow a thread be severed means there is still a plan. And that worries you, because that means in what little scope you have, you don't see that there is still more work to be done, at least as far as she's concerned. as the night you've had nothing but silence within the temple. And then, boom! The door slam open, the bright light from the morning just cross you and you're on the altar.

And there you see silhouetted in the light, the outline of your sister. Wink, Trinket's outside? It's holy in here. Don't come in here, Trinket, I'm naked. Oh. Wow. I walk in blindly with my hand in front of me. Are you really naked, we're just saying that? I'm saying that. Where are you? I stand up and let my dingleys dangle. No.

Hey. Yeah. I heard he's alive. Yeah. That's pretty great, right? I've turned my back to him so I can open my damn eyes. Okay. What do you do, sleeping in here?

Give her a naked hug from behind. Ah, creepy, get off. Fucking gross. Oh, we used to take baths together. I wrote a little song to remind you, choice. wrote a little song to remind you, Choice Hotels gets you more of the experiences you value. The Canberia Hotels got it all.

A rooftop bar, have a ball. Bring a date, your squad, or even your mom. Book direct at choiceotails.com. The war is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders, an army scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors claw to what's left of a broken world, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight.

But in the shadow dark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring and its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time. And when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job. This is a brutal rules-light nightmare with a story that emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play RPGs in the 80s. And man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the Shadow Dark every Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern on YouTube.com slash the Glass Cannon with the podcast version dropping the next day.

See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark. What's so funny? He is, he is, and I back off. He's good. You miss quite a performance, actually. Oh, really? By whom? The Youngers Short Halt. So she did contribute.

Oh yes. I think on that trip wasn't for nothing. I start to put on my sort of Mormon unibody underwear. So that's done, huh? What's done? What? Dragons. I mean, can I turn around? Yeah, I've covered the glory.

Oh. I mean, I think so, right? Yeah. I don't know what she was up to, but... What are you doing in here? Why are you sleeping in this whole creepy temple when everyone else is celebrating? You encourage me to embrace all this.

Oh, well, yes, of course. Not to the detriment of, you know, your happiness. I'm happy-ish. Ish. What happens now? Now that dragons are defeated and all of Tal Dorek and live in peace and harmony and Vox Machina, the heroes that everyone was searching for. You stay in here? Staying where? Here? Here in this temple? Here in Whitestone. I know what you're talking about.

I mean, I do have a keep here, right, a castle, a home. A husk. I also have money. Yeah. I can build. What are you going to do? Would you stay? Here.

You have a temple? I like it. I slept in it. But, um... You know, I can get some lush pillows put in here as well. Yeah. This is on my property after all. No, I was thinking... I mean, I don't know what any of us were doing,

but I was thinking that I might go back with Gila for a while. Well, of course. I mean, you're set. You're... This is your home now. I mean, the one of... I don't mean the place or the building. You know what I mean.

I mean, it's... It hasn't been very long, dear. Who knows what's going to happen? Sure. Would you like me to travel with you in Kili? I would never turn you away, but I think that you have activities to explore here. But no, I mean, you are my...

my heart, you are me, you are my other half, you are welcome with me always. Think about this, don't talk about this now. This is a time for happiness, don't talk about sad things. Please, please. I am happy. Good. The happiest I've been in a long time. Long time. Yeah. Well, you know, I'm in my undies, so why don't you go and I'll catch up? That takes like 22 minutes though. What if I help you? I've done it before. Ten minutes then, right?

Go get some breakfast after all. Yeah. Ding, ding, ding, ding, think, think, think, flip, flip, flip. Dress weak, that's how you put on armor. As you guys look back, you all gather. At this point in time, Alura and Kima have woken, met up with you, bringing to get arrangements and telling you to gather your things

if you're going to journey with them to Amman, to find your way there. You guys are everything you need? Need help. I mean we're all healed, everything's great. Yeah, you all had a night's rest. But what are we going to do? We're bringing Scanlan with us? No. No, no, no. Scalyn's going to stay here? Yes! Alone? Yes! He's got nurses. Well, not alone. We can have Keeper Yenen march over him. We have a number of guard here. As soon as any word is... comments to him rousing, you will make sure that it's sent to us.

By, how's he looking? Somebody should probably roll him over and change his knots. Oh, that's true. I mean, I wasn't there. I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. What knots? At this point, the nurses were given some instruction. And that's actually just like not like just laughing to himself. He just can't stop laughing. As his laughter begins to build a second set of laughter gets to join in his as you see coming around the corner, laughing,

as still drunk, not slept, Kaylee, comes in, kind of circles in her eyes, and just goes, well out there's some fancy work. Whoever did that? Oh, shit, she's down the room. That's choice. You're welcome, dear. It seemed the least we could do.

I figured it was appropriate when he woke up. What did you do? Not. Not, exactly. Not. Not. Not. Although really, though, really, we should.

His arms will be asleep. There is going to be a problem up there if we don't. You know what? I'll stay here. I'll watch over him. I'll make sure the knots are changed in time. I kind of want to be here to see his face. Did he break a leg or something?

Well, no, he just, we wanted to make sure he stayed that he didn't, you know, roll off the bed. Make sure he stays comfortable. Keep him there. All right. Keeping him in the manner of which he is comfortable. Yes. How are you doing, Kaylee? I'm fine.

You look great. I'm sure I do. Her hair's kind of all clustered to one side now, and you can see there's stains on her shirt. but she still looks like she could probably take somebody in a bar fight. You could definitely see in this moment more than anything, she is of short halt stock. Well, go on. Do your thing?

You're sure, you'll be all right here. I'm sure Percy can let you have whatever you want, right, Percy, just anything she wants? No, but if you do need room and some drink, we definitely have that available. The appropriate authorities have already been... Why are you looking at me like that? Do I need to remind you of the title you gave me?

Surely it holds some power. It does. Oh, yeah, oh, I wrote that title down. Thanks of all this and that, the doink-a-doink. Grand Poo-Barr. It doesn't really matter. I'm just saying, like, if she needs something while we're gone. Don't hesitate to ask if you do need anything.

Uh-huh. I have decreed it. Well, I shall certainly ask, and I will need everything. I, powerfully aware. It kind of rushes past you and just sits down and starts eating the leftovers of whatever dish was not finished. Grand Poo Bar de Boink. Is the title, of all this and that. Of all this and that.

Yes, in charge of this and that, of all of this and that from Percy. Maybe he is the head that was the right. I need to add that to the campaign guys. Grand Poo bar de Boinck. I have not added that to the campaign guy. I just don't do that. What is it? Grand Poo bar.

Poo bar. Du Boi-Boink. De Boink. Like Des Mooy, but de Boink. Of the Vermont. De Boinz. Steady of the winds. Calls about the thoughts of kings.

That is adorable. Indeed. All right. She finished eating. Alora is kind of watching this whole thing in the distance with their arms crossed. Whenever you're ready, Ready, shall we? Okay.

All right? Ready. All right. Now, please, hands together, and there's a rush of cold wind, but takes up suddenly a familiar sensation of teleportation as you're all thrust back into the outside of the cloud top district, the exterior of the gates. You can see there's still smoke rising up, but as opposed to the clouds

the billowing cinders and flame, it appears that most buildings in the immediate vicinity, while blackened, dark, and broken, no longer rage of burning fire. The smoke has gone from pitch black to bits of dark gray and plumes of white. You can see already there's bustle throughout the city as a number of bodies are laid out across the ground with bits of gathered cloth placed over them, those who had fallen in the battle and are being gathered and, you know, being prepared to be brought back to their families. I immediately look to the sky. Do I see any sign of the ashari?

And what do clouds look like? The sky is a clear cloudless crystalline blue. Really? Yes. Okay. No sign of Ashari? No. It's been a day and a half or so since the battle happened. There is no current clouds or a storm in the sky.

But as you do appear, you see there are a number of soldiers in patchwork armor, some that appear to be in similar outfits as the Fort Daxio soldiers that you met there during the pre-battle circumstance. There are a few that you recognize as Singorian armor, and a few that are just people gathered what they could and have been part of the fray in the recovery process. You can see, it's in all of the turmoil and darkness and the destruction you've seen in this city, it's strangely beautiful and welcoming to see that there is life thriving again as people are returning. Doors are being pushed back up onto frames. People are searching for survivors throughout the rubble and the various homes and finding them.

And you're seeing families that are stepping out and being reunited as you begin to walk through the street. You can see essentially the hidden heartbeat of the city is reemerging once more to take back when it's lost. All of you are kind of caught speechless for a few moments as you kind of take in this vision and begin to walk as Allura kind of leads you looking around and walksaw and talks to a few guards. She glances back to you and kind of smiles. Well, you've done it. And you hear a voice behind her, I come to shout. And you watch a familiar female face come rushing up and clanking armor. Ditch!

Dish! And she rushes up and just socks you across the face. What? This is Samantha? This is Samantha. Okay. Where'd you go? What'd you do? What did I do?

That man's a hero. He slayed a dragon. A giant one. The big green. You've been gone for two days. I told you I might be gone for a while. Is everything okay? Everything's fine. We're ready to go.

Good. Good. Good. We're leaving. Where are you going? Where we came from. I've got a town to continue looking after. And now I know that any work I put into it, we'll probably have time to become something worthwhile. Yeah, plus you got all that money you took from down in the Dragon's Land. That helps.

A lot of money. Hey, make sure your people note. That man played the final note in the song of the Conclave of Dragons. It's true. So I'm told. Care. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. He's a badass. His hammer glows. Well, it did, and then it was destroyed by the dragon. I just punched a badass. Yeah, and like, my lip is split and out of my nose. I'm like, yeah, that's what you got

there is now a holy relic. She patsy in the arm clanging her arm or gets yours. Well, good. Good. Glad to see you back in action. Glad to see you fighting, kicking ass, killing dragons. Yeah. We, are folks ready to troop out?

And you see her now, her expression goes from kind of joyous excitement to see him return to a somber tone. Yes. We have the bodies on carts. and the rest of us are ready to make the trek back to Western. Okay. Thanks. I'll be along straight away. I should say my goodbyes. All right, well, we'll about three blocks down that way. Turn to the right. Second square.

Okay. She turns around and makes her way off and kind of looking over her shoulder, kind of grinning a little bit, looks at her fist again, looks back, shakes her head, and just keeps walking. Bye, Sam. Um, I can't thank you all enough. You look after each other. Because I will not be here to do it. You're a good man, Ker. We do our best.

He, you know, he kind of stands there awkwardly for a moment, and then, and then turns around and walks away. Voxmachino is better to have you. Well, you know where I am. know where to find us. I'll let you know if we need you. Really, really keep an eye on the knots. It should know more than like four hours. And then I walk off into the sunset. As you guys watch Kerr, just slowly walk down the street, not looking back, making his way to this current chapter of his

re-adventuring to gather those he brought out here willing to die for the battle that you finished. We're going to take a break. We're back here in a minute. Padraultz, thank you so much for... Patrick! Guys, thank you so much. It was such a treat. I did not plan on kind of being up in your business for so long, but I'm so happy to be a part of this. for this piece of the story. I'm so glad that you'd have me.

Oh, man, mutual. Yeah, mutual. Definitely. There's a green dragon waiting for you. But he's in my house and you have to fight me to get it. But it's technically yours whenever you come for it. He weeks from now the door opens.

Oh, shit! That's fair. Mine. Thank you so much, Patrick. Guys, we'll take a break. We have a giveaway, actually, because we didn't get our break last week, we have a big Wormwood giveaway to do here at the end of the break, the big old cluster. So pay attention to the chat room, the information for you on how to get and be a part of that. We'll see you here in a few minutes. Yay!

Welcome back to Critical Role. Apparently we had a penguin explode in the background. That sounded like Delores, that sounded like Deloise. I don't know. That was a goose. I was specifically thinking, let me give Matt a little break here. I'll give him a little time. There's no break. There's no break. Like I have, I get an instinctual nervousness now, right before we go live because of you guys' souls now. Like this kind of hobobian kind of, oh, okay. Sniked a parakeet.

Yeah. There it was, the second time. Is that a sneeze or is he fucking, I don't know. I'd be ashamed if something should happen to your peace of mind before a D&D game. Yeah, I know. I'm pretty. Keep rolling your day. I know.

Alright, so anyway, welcome back, guys. So the winner of the contest in the chairroom is Kala Grace, K-A-G-R-A-C-E. Congratulations for winning. You're going to win a bunch of stuff. You got stuff. What stuff? What stuff? Cool stuff, apparently.

Like, bent to my body. Like there is stuff here and like a big stack this kind of stuff? Like that kind of stuff. It's going to be a thing. But you won it, and it's going to be really cool. So congratulations. You just wait. Boom!

You just wait. It's come. All right, so back in to the game. Yes. After you got Carrick walk away, the city itself is kind of wringing its bearings. People are returning to the recovery process. Post-conclave. IMAN's rebuilding and restructuring. What do you guys want to do?

Oh, man. Did you retrieve your items, by the way, from the first of the first of them? I did want to grab them from the temple. Okay, yeah, yeah. Unless they're like... I assumed post-ritorily we're going to just leave your favorite artifacts on the altar. No. I mean, yeah, I got them. And I flipped the Dragon Slayer Longsword for the gloves of missile snaring. Okay, so you've... That was last night.

Okay. That was what you guys liked to do. What's your going? Well, you know. We do have like a grocery list of things that we can pick from, right? I mean, we have a lot of stuff we need to do. A ton of stuff we need to do. Do we want to like make good on that promise real fast or what? Which one?

To bury the, like, eight ones we have. That's in Vasselheim. The thing under the tree. That's in Vassalheim. Oh. We also have a hand to deliver. Yeah, we have a hand. And, um, Rakhasa to kill and tribe to visit.

And try to do that one, I think. Maybe we should start with. with checking in with home, seeing how the keep is. We haven't been home in a long time. Oh, great school? We were just there. Well, I guess we were just there in passing. What do we look?

But, well, we're all sore, right? And like we could knock the dust off a little bit if we just did like a little delivery as some final remains and drew a tree or a hand or whatever. We just ended a threat to civilization. We don't feel like diving into the nine hells at the moment. Yeah, we're able. Yeah, not so much.

No, not really. I'm tired. Where's the hand going again? Marquette. Why? Because we told them we would give them a hand. Who'd we promise that to? Ha ha, ho-ha.

Um, the, you know, the thieves guild sort of thing there. The group of assassins. Eh, boring. That's got a lot. Right now? Shouldn't we help with, like, making sure the council is, like, in place here? I mean, is it, is it,

I mean, you've been gone for a couple days and it's been moving. You could ask around if you want to try and get some information about the current circumstance. Oh, I guess we could do that. Just to make sure. Maybe we should also check in with some of our other Keep members and see who's alive and who's dead. The people of your Keep you brought to White Stone with you. They've been there. Oh, that's right. I totally... Yeah. Good a while, it's been a year. That's right. How is Jared? Was he fine when we got back to White Stone? Jared is recovering. Okay. Is he come back with us, or is he still in White Stone?

You know, Jared's stolen White Stone. He's like, fuck you. Jared's had, Jared's proud and excited about the things you've accomplished, but Jared needs a vacation. He's got to find some drugs, too. Yeah. Yeah, he's not happy about that. Um.

If I remember. But yeah, if you want to roll an investigation check, thanks. Uh, 19. Okay. Spending the next hour or so asking around from various people, you don't come across any notable allies that you recognize, but the word is that the remaining bulk of the standing army of Iman and Fort Daxio combined with the remnants of Singorn's army. Half went back to Singorn, just in case. The other half remained to help with the relief effort here, as well

as the clasp. The clasp is now bringing people they've been keeping underground and hidden back to their homes, back to their locations. And so it seems that the structure for now is focused on the relief effort and the returning of the city to its people as far as the actual council structure. You don't hear anything yet on that point. To be fair, half of, you know, half the council was at Whitestone. You haven't heard from any of the people that you knew on the council who came as part of the battle yet. What do you guys want to do? We don't need to like check in with the clasp, do we, or anything? You know, they kind of have their shit that they're doing.

You feel like they're, you know, we're fine, right? I'm like, um... I mean, I'm just gonna throw this out if we leave things as they are the clasp, we're going to completely own the city. At some point soon, we might want to get some of the council back here faster. Well, Laura's here. That's one, yeah. Do we know where everyone else is?

Whitestone. Well, the problem is, I mean, Uriel was killed when the dragons attacked. Nothing else was ever set in place after that. It's true. Who was acting as Sordak? Well, when sovereign was slain, part of his instruction was to hand power entirely over to the council. So we are still the power structure of the city.

a localized republic. We need to enforce that structure. While you take to a business you need, I'm going to try the best I can to amass the remaining members of that council and install some sort of political structure here now, partly for the reason that you mention and partly because, well, we don't want the military suddenly running the show either. Just as a quick recap, he stepped down and kind of gave this whole speech that he doesn't,

he sees the flaws in one ruler and was to hand it over to a council rule. He didn't want to be a tyrant with advisors. He wanted to have a council that best represented people's interests in power. Right, but he essentially switched it from like a monarchy to a republic. Essentially, yeah. We have the rest of the royal family in Whitestone. Yes, Saldor and children are currently there. We've kept them safe, and they will be given, solidable, most likely placed on the council.

As she has quite a bit of knowledge and experience as well, and to keep memory. And if we can recover his body or some semblance of it, I will also see that there is a monument built to the memory of the sovereign. Yeah. And you think you've got a handle on getting a foothold here? I think if I can find one or two of my friends, definitely. Do you need help in finding your friends? Yeah.

Your strengths are best to turn it to elsewhere. Don't worry. I know Mikhail is around, and me and him have a good rapport, and he has the military at his back. So if anything goes south or wrong, I know how to let you know. So much as you stay on this realm, don't go vanishing to other planes. No favor? No, please.

Please, no. Not for a bit. Not for a bit. Alora, before we leave, will you take a look? I hand her at the box of ashes that Seneca gave us. Do you sense any kind of aura coming off of this? Do you think it is what he said,

just a box of his wife's ashes? He takes the dark box, and it has the small chained edges on each end. She inspects it for a moment. have a very faint magical essence to it, but it appears to be purely protective. Not entirely certain. If anything go on that, it's very faint. Okay. Thank you. Kema is with us, right?

Kema is kind of in the process of going around and gathering information and checking in. I grab Vax and Bex really quick and I say, hey, you guys are really good at asking people back for the stuff that we lent them. I feel a little, you know, rude doing that, but you guys are good at that. So, oh, Kima. The boots. Hey, those boots. See?

You guys are good at it. Hey, you know those boots you hate wearing? Oh, they're fantastic. I love them. Oh, shit. It's unfortunate that they look a little iffy with your armor, though. I mean, just kind of, ooh.

Can we have them back, please? Yeah. You kind of look like a... You might be sneaking around, you know. in life of death situations, and you're gonna be here with the council. You look like a gladi. You look like a glider. You look like a glenke.

No offense, pike. No, none dragon. I mean, you look like a badass gladiator in Yule Tide socks. She holds her, hold your pinger out in front of brink. Kind of checks a blade. We did give you that. You can keep it. Fine.

She bends down and then. Yeah. E. E. Hey. Does it be you, man? She's now barefoot in full armor. Kind of like wiggles her toes and kind of goes, sorry with it.

I could give her the shoes that I was wearing? Don't wear it, wear, but. What are they? What boots are she getting on? She's giving you the elven boots. They're like stealthy boots. They make you silent, yeah? Make you silent.

And you don't want to do it too and tall. Thanks for giving those back. Right? Really need them. She's staring at you. I, you're great. She actually laughs back at you. I know.

Kima soon as you there. You are great. And you know she's been kind of a ball of intensity in a lot of this, and she's had frustrated moments in combat, and she's had earnest fear, and she's had her own journey with you guys from the beginning of crossing her paths, but she kind of walks up and... Look, we smoothed it over. We did it over.

Or cool, hell. Right. In between the salsa, bitches. Yeah. Killer. Yeah. Pima walks up and it places her hand on Pike's shoulder. You're a little bit shorter than her, and she kind of looks down to actually the rest of you guys.

You've done more than anyone ever asked you to do. I've done a lot of good things. For me, for Allie, for everyone. Everyone. I know I can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I know I'm a little hot-headed. Lies. Lies. But I just, thank you for letting me come along.

Yeah. Thanks for kicking ass with us. We're not done yet. We're not. Of course not. What, you think we're like these class bastards start wanting this town? Ooh, thank goodness. Now, if you guys end up actually going out of Vasselheim and, uh,

Mr. Vord starts coming out and asking questions. Tell him you haven't seen me. You got it. Lye. No, no. Just tell me you haven't seen me. Well, I have seen you. Tell him you haven't.

Wur. Sometimes. Sometimes. Chihuahua with the... Okay, Kima just goes. Kima walks past, Piking goes up and just kind of pats in the chest and goes, It's okay, big man. Forget I said anything.

And then turns back to see what, like, ah. We'll say the words. Oh my gosh. All right. Oh my gosh. Well, stay safe. And if you need someone's skull cracked it. You're fine. She turns back and kind of runs after Allura, who's currently walking off to go ahead and find the rest of her connections in the city.

What are you guys with it? That little dude. Oh, sad face, we'll be loving the rain. Talk to me. Oh, go. Sorry. Hey. Shit. What easy thing could we accomplish?

I say we go to Vasselheim. Well, we're going to check in with our keep. Yeah, let's walk to our keep and then then Fripe anything we went out there. That means we came to Amon for nothing. Yeah, pretty much. We made a double check. Yeah, we had to like make sure everything was alright here.

It was a free ride. Cool, to the keep. And as I'm walking through, I kind of keep an eye out to see if there are any ashari lingering around, but I'm sure they've all bounced at this point. this point. Okay, make a perception. Use my Druid day. Okay, just straight perception, 26. Okay. As you guys continue your way through the city and you keep an eye out, you don't see anybody with a shari dress. You see, you do see a handful of occasional bodies in a shari dress. Sure. And you very carefully go and inspect. And while

You recognize a handful. You didn't know them extremely well. Yeah, they've been gone a while. Older folks that you didn't connect with, but thankfully not Corrin. Okay. But yeah, there is no walking presence here of the Ashari. You ask around a bit, and one of the guards was like,

they're supposed to be coming back here in a few days to gather the dead, but they went ahead and chase the rest of them Wyven riders up to the mountains. I think they're probably still at the Stonecrest. Still at Stormcrest? Probably. Still fighting? Well, at least picking off what they can.

All right, thank you. If you see any of them, just let them know that Vox Machina passed through here and that we're also alive. You do? Keeps out walking. Any bodies that are passed by that are Ashari, of jurid craft little flowers into my own little rituals as I walk by.

Okay. You guys make your way through them on. Eventually the southern walls to the outside of Grey Scull Keep. They're standing, still proud, undamaged in the fray. Still the fresh stone were crafted by your plainer ally that you summoned quite some time ago. I remember a servant of Sarah and Ray came down and helped us rebuild. Yeah, after the Voragal fight that destroyed the temple. But yeah, the key, still, currently the front gates are open. As you walk in, it looks like since you were last there, there have been a few people that have come through and kind of looked for things.

It doesn't like, they were raided by thieves by any means, but it looks like anything that was left to the kitchen has been ransacked. Looks like tables and chairs and some bedrooms have been moved, whether there be like briefly held up refugees from the city who have then gone back in or people that just mosey through and left, but the place is still currently empty. Eventually we do have to hire some people again. I think it looks nice for me and it's kind of like a lived-in look. Rustic? Yeah.

Once people are back in the city. Minimalistic. We can start to look for new hands, yeah. I go through and just kind of use my gust canterp and dust off some shelves and straighten some paintings. I wonder if we should offer this up to the city, to the council to house and refugees that haven't found homes again after they've been destroyed.

I'm fine with that. It's a terrible idea at all. It's not like we're going to be using it anytime soon. Right. That's a great idea. We do tend to wander. Yeah. Yeah.

We need to install the teleportation circle at some point, perhaps. Should I run back and tell Elora that before we head out? Yeah, and let me check on the garden too. Pike, do you want to join me? I'll head off on the broom and try to find Alura to tell her what we do say. I'll take a couple hours to get there and a hunter down, but you do so and let her know. Go look at the garden. Okay.

How's it looking? The garden still count? still count. The blessings placed upon it and the position of sunlight, a little overgrown, but flourishing. Wow. Overgrown's better than dead. All right, cool. I like it a little overgrown. It's nice. It's kind of rustic. Yeah. Seems to be the one of the deck. Yeah. Can I go down to Percy's room? Mm-hmm. The workshop? Yeah, the workshop. Yeah. There's a door closed? It is partially a jar. It is dark inside.

Fucking sweet. I go in. Okay. Is there any light inside? There are a couple of small oil lamps that are hanging from the walls. They are not currently lit. And the forge is dark, cold. Most of the tools have already been stolen or taken. Anything that can be grabbed by hand is gone.

But are any of those dangerous buckets of water around? There are a couple. And it smells of stale hard water. Treacherous. I don't really know what I'm looking for. Are there any like powders? Like sacks of powder and like little... Make an investigation check.

Craigs of powder or... That's not terrible. 14. You do find what looks to be a small, kind of brown wooden barrel type container. It has a lid on it, but it's... lid on it, but it's easy to pull off and on the inside it has a familiar smell that you catch whenever you see Percy fiddling with his weapons. It's sort of a dark, powdery substance.

Can I pour a little out? Yep. Looks like soot or charcoal dust. Grainy like sand. Can I have snuck down and be washing this? Uh, make reception check. That's pretty high. That is a 30. Yeah, you totally saw that Grog just stomped down into the lower area, so you can go ahead and... Thanks. No fire, dangerous water, no weapons. It does not appear to be any weapons in the room. There are the racks where the tools usually hung on, they remember, but they're all gone.

Shit. There's just... Welcome to Mick Unplugged, the number one podcast for self-improvement and modern leadership. I'm Mick Hunt, your host, and I'm here to challenge your why and fuel your because. This is where leaders, entrepreneurs, and go-getters come to level up. Each week, I bring you unfiltered conversations, game-changing strategies, and the kind of motivation that transforms lives and legacies. I've learned from legends like Les Brown, Damon John, and Robert Irvine.

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I'm Josh Horowitz, and yeah, I'm the host of the show, so I'm a little biased, but true. Truly, Happy, Sad, Confused is the place for nerdy and intimate conversations with all your favorite actors and filmmakers. From Andrew Garfield and Scarlett Johansson to Christopher Nolan, casting what-ifs, backstage stories, and much more. Listen to Happy Say It Confused on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Bubbs out of the wall. All right, I'll turn around and I leave.

Okay. Oh. Hi. Hey. Oh. There you are. Yes. chased off of, yep.

What are you doing in there? Securing the castle. In the dark room with nobody in it? Yeah, yeah, no, there was a guy, right? And I like, I was like, hey, you stop! And he was covered in this black powder, and he just gave me this slip.

He ran out. Yep. That's who that was. You saw him? I did. Why'd you let him go? I don't like to get in between you and a kill, thing, man.

I should go after. then. You know, I just want to, I just was looking for you. Oh, I have a moment. Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to thank you for working your magic yesterday again. Me? Yeah.

You saved him. You saved him. You did good, Grog. And don't hurt me. I love you. Thank you. I slap them as hard as I can. And I use disengaged and I fucking run like balls.

He's gone. The sting fades. Okay. So adorable. Alright, so you guys have checked, check the keep, secured it. Everything seems in the right place, given the circumstances. What do you want to do? What time is it?

At this point, it's maybe early afternoon. Oh man. You should probably head out then. I'm back, right? You've returned. At the time they've gone through and checked the whole keep, you've made it to a lower end back. It's been a couple hours in the keep. So, we're just going to go bury ashes and Vasselheim. Check one off the list. One a day. Not... No fighting.

What? Vasselheim? Yeah. We're not going to get it. We didn't do any fights, right? Not if we can help at it. Okay. Just the hope. Just grog.

Why are you making that face growl? Problem hold my breath. Why do you hold your breath? Pickups. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. No fights at all. Like, what if we run into bad people?

If we run into bad people, we can fight them. Can I roll a perception check of his hands? Uh, you know what? What's your passive perception? Uh, 18. Don't make them roll. Make them roll for it. He was not actively looking. He doesn't normally check for your hands, grog, but he's a

perceptive guy. And there is indeed a very dark, familiar residual on the hands, forearms, and a little bit on the top of the cheek of rug. Good to know. It's like an eight-year-old chocolate across this. I didn't get into it. No unnecessary fights. No one necessary fights. No, okay. All right. I mean, the crucible is there.

I'm only saying. Well, that's not unnecessary. Wait, he said we can't open the box, right? Or did he say? He didn't say not to. Seems a bit disrespectful. He said it was his wife's ashes after all. I know.

Okay. Why would you want to? Do you not like... Do you not trust it? No, I just... I just want to know for sure. I think I, didn't we kind of look before? We didn't.

We thought the same thing. Did we look though? Did we look before? Don't recall you looking in. Not in the, but didn't we do an inside check and... And I mean I had a Laura look at the box. Right. She said it had a faint magical aura of protection.

But it was protection. Okay. Did you shake it like a yule-tide present? No. Maybe it's actually somebody requesting that we do something that is nice, which I feel like never happens. From what I remember from my, I can look, right? From Sinekeye and I do an inside check.

I would love the notion that the one time we actually follow crew with this very simple and basic thing that we ain't to do. We plant a seed of a demon spun. Very hot. Oh, wait, city brass. This time everyone goes to shit because it's the one, the purely afteristic thing that we do. Okay, hang on, hang on.

Give me a second. Give me a second. No, this is amazing. His wife's name is Zofin. Playing with those dyes? I'm just turning dice over and over again. Cynnecéecaire's wife's name was Zophen. Zofin.

Zofin. Zofin. Zofin. So fine. Don't you check it. Um. No. That's all I got.

Just do it. Just do it. I feel like I remember. I feel like I remember. What are you guys soon? I think we're going to take, I think we should make a tree. I think we should make a tree and head that in that direction. Well, we already have a tree, but yeah.

All in favor of jumping through that tree. Make like a leaf. Can I make like a tree and leave? Do I do you for traps? Does the box already checked for traps? You don't know. Can I check it for traps? Make an investigation check.

Okay. Should we scoot this forward a little bit? As you guys are walking up, heading your way up into the temple area with the singular thing you used for transportation or Pike is just holding and inspecting the box as you off. I got an eight. Eight. Eight.

It's hard to tell. Looks pretty safe. Do you not trust it? I just don't trust anybody anymore. Man, I know that's luck. Right? Okay, I'm not gonna, okay, let's go. Let's go.

It's on your mind. I just feel like if this is just something fishy about it, it just seems too, too easy. You know? Too simple. Too simple. For us? just to just take a box and go bury it?

Why couldn't he do it? I know we already talked about this. Well, wasn't he kind of stuck in the fireplace? Yeah, he's not allowed. Yeah. He's not allowed? I don't remember him saying that. I might have made that up.

He said he'd been intending to make a trip to Vasselheim to bury himself, but he hasn't had the time of the ability to do so. Which seems odd, right? I mean, it is his wife's ashes. Oh man, you guys, I thought this was something sweet and we weren't gonna question it. Now we're right, yeah.

Are we saying there's no one in the world is truthful? I don't know anymore. We're all too scarred and damaged. Some people are truthful, but I mean, Seneca did want to make us his slaves. Let's just put that. We were all on board for this until 20 seconds ago when we started questioning it. I'm sorry. I just... I could be saving our lives right now. Or I could be killing all of us. Well, the bottom line is, he's probably never going to know.

What if I just take a peek? Vax! Oh, wait, that's a good idea. Or like open it to a mirror. Oh, taking a peek? I mean, she is quite holy, right? If anyone was going to look on those sacred remains, at least it would be all stinking. I mean, it does have a magical aura of protection, so it might be...

My backfire. Can I, I'm not going to open it, can I look at it? Yeah. Yeah, can I look for locks or traps and traps? I'm not opening it. Look for traps? Yeah. Ooh.

That is a 22. That is a 22. It is not trapped. And I don't know if it's locked. We're going to make a roll. We'll see if it's log. Ooh. It's even better.

That's a 30. It is locked. There are four individual locks on each side. Four locks. And it appears that there is. some sort of a, usually when the something the guy has a little bit of give against the chain, the box has none, and that usually either means it's adhered or it's sealed magically. Pickle, I will help you if you want, but my gut is telling me that this is just

his wife's ashes. Shake it and listen. I second, that. Make a perception chip. I put my hands up and walk a little bit away. 30 again. Ooh! You hear what sounds like the very gentle sifting of some very, very light particles

inside of a box. What do you think? Yeah, yeah, I think he's telling us the truth. Fax, you're like in, like the Raven Queen is like your girl. Can you be like, there is remains in here? Can you both just ask, you know? Yeah, like, yo, is this?

You're significant others. Can you? Yeah, can you? Yeah, can you? Yeah. If you're that concerned? Man, this is so extravagant, you guys. It's going to be wrong.

How paranoid has everybody got? I'm going to use my paladin powers. There's nothing undead in there. Divine intervention. Wow. Are you going to get your... Divine sense, yeah. You do not get a fiendish or undead aura from the box.

This is just a guy's wife. It's just good. We bury it and then it turns into like something crazy. What have you been reading? reading. When he told us it was his wife, we all went, oh, when that happened. You know, we're questioning this. But that's what a schister does. You know?

So hardened by the wall. They tell you things to make you feel bad, to buy their magazines. I mean, we have been inviting. You know? She's getting a weirdly person. Who is trying to sell you magazine subscriptions? Who? Just everyone.

Watching a high schooler hurt you. Everyone. Everyone in Ymahn. We just felt Roshan, I don't blame this. Pickle, pickle, pickle, pickle. Everyone in Whitestone. You guys haven't been there long enough. Pickle.

Pickle. Yes. There is a fucking tiger-faced demon who wants both you and I dead. We have bigger problems than this man's wife. Pike, we have to scale the ocean. I know. All right, let's go bury the, you know. But you carry it.

I'll carry it. Haik. I'll carry it. I'll carry it. Save give. I pop it up to my arm. Let's go. Okay. I just want to let you know.

I feel you. Okay. But I'm trying to make this our first step into being a more positive voxmachina. Okay. Which is your face? This is me forcing a smile. I think it is right. There's pain under here. That's why it looks like that. You're not supposed to see it.

say all those things. Sorry, alright. I'm supposed to hide the... I've bottled those emotions, right. I'll support it. No, things are great. Inner and alpha. Yeah, that's good. That's good. Yeah, that's how normal people talk, right? We just bury it. We just bury it under a tree, that's it. We got her name, right? Yes. I... Make her a little tombstone, we'll do a whole thing then. Yeah.

We'll do a whole thing, we'll bury your stuff. A whole thing, you know, we'll make it nice. She's gonna love it. That's genuine. No, it'll be beautiful. You're gonna get your mouth. It's genuine jewelry. Put your assy lines all over it.

Bada bada bada b'am. Man, the conclave arc is taking its toll on box. Hagen on. So, we're all huddle where in a box just like freaking out right now. Vax just draws, draws on that box. Yeah, one little fucking box. Reve your secrets. I die.

I just do. So, Keele. All right. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Okay, so what are you thinking to? Huh? What? The other side of the tree.

Where are you sending? You have many options you're disposed. You have the outskirts of the city, there's the lush forest or the Vesper Timberland. He told us we're to bury her, right? He said the abundant terrace, which you have passed by. We should stick to the outside of the city, right, because of the magical laws there?

The abundant terrace. The abundant terrace is a very heavily wooded area. Oh, right. And the outskirts. And the magical laws are more about. rampant arcane casting. Divination and divine magics generally fall more into the territory of respect as long as they're relatively controlled and not a grand display of power. Solid. So the Abundant Terrace is a forest on the outskirts of the town?

The Abundant Terrace is Malora's section of the city. Melora? Oh, right, right. It's where it's a district that has maintained magical fertility for growing crops and plants and it's basically where a lot of of the food for Vasselheim has grown. Oh, perfect. Farming district. Okay. Is there a tree there? There are a number of trees actually. And a number of the homes are actually built in, you know, in trees. That's cool. Sick!

I want a tree house? Okay. And you said it's safe. This isn't arcane, it's natural, and since Malora I'll probably be okay. People aren't going to look at us. weird when we come out of a tree on the other end? I mean, when you come out of a tree, people probably look at you weird anyway. Sure. Did people bury their dead here? You don't know. Roll history check.

Yeah, yeah. I'm telling you, Steve. But didn't he say that she was like from this area? So far and was from history. I'll join in that history check because this is bothering me. Zofin. Zofin. Zafin.

Zafin. Zafin was from this area. Apparently, yes. This is where she came from. What he told you. We both did history check. 15. 26. Yeah, there you go.

Okay. I mean, usually the debt are interred in specific graveyards. Some people do prefer to have their ashes spread in places that were important to them. It's just a general request. But the birth heart or the abundant terrorists are not areas that are designated for interring the debt. So it is a special request. Okay, I have a thought. Oh no.

What if we do bury this where he's asked, but we put it inside of something that deters magic? Like what? What? I don't know, like we find a container or something. I was just a thought. Isn't there things like that? Like a chest or something that dispels magic so that if he is trying to do something, nefaris, nefaris.

then we keep him from doing that. So you want to go find an arcane shop to find a very expensive container. This seems really out of the way towards a simple burial. How about we just ask a few questions to see if anyone remembers his wife and see. Hey! Yes.

I like it. Maybe she left some sort of connection. I think it's simple. Could you cast speak with the dead on ashes? Oh my god. Yes but they just say Like, is that probably true? Like baby powdered. We saved the world, but we are still a bunch of assholes.

Let's just record go there. The corpse still requires a mountain to speak. Let's get over there. It's in the world over so much. That's an asshole. Doesn't work. All right. So the cave of wonders, Sam doesn't come up.

What am I doing? You guys are you going to come up popping out within the city? Abundan Terrace. Abundant Terrace. Abundant Taris. Abundant! We'll decide when we get there. The tree. We'll have six seconds to think about it.

Don't smog enough. Be an idiot. The tree in the temple, shreds open into the familiar oval or diamond shape entryway. On the opposite side, you see the cold landscape of, or at least the cold sky of Aslaheim. Those around you, it is just verdant and green. You can see moss and bushes and grass and a number of tree trunks around you. You can see a very clear-cut path that walks through.

like an intentional park walkway. As you all emerge, you find yourself looking up into the relatively gray, heavily cloud-covered sky, and it is very gold. You watch as a very, very faint snow just drifts to the ground, but it doesn't touch. It immediately just evaporates before it hits the ground. It seems either the warmth of the area or an enchantment of some kind is resistant to the weather of this northern continent. Can I do like a quick nature check to see if this is like a mystical realm or if they've done something naturey to make it?

Nature check. 22. 22. The snow would usually touch the ground and then slowly turn to water and melt if it was just, you know, and temperature of the ground. However, the snow never reaches within a foot. It just kind of drifts in, so it does appear to be an enchantment or some sort of magical essence to the

abundant terrace itself. But you are surrounded by, you're like in the center of a forest that has very beautifully kept walkways in a grid-type pattern. And you do see some people that are walking through, a couple hand in hand, almost like they're just in a stroll, you know, kind of bunched furs around their shoulders. You can see a little ways down, the trees stop and it opens up into what looks to be an expansive farmland, rows and rows and rows of various crops that are perpetually being planted, pulled up, and harvested. There is no harvest season in Vasselheim because of the Enchamement of the Abundant Terrace. It is perpetually fertile and bearing.

That's awesome. Wow. So you haven't done a full pass this area, but it's not densely populated. It's people that come here either are working the land, keeping the land, or are enjoying the change in scenery from the rest of what can be sometimes a more, I guess you would say, gray and expressionless landscape that some parts of the city tend to hold. But here you are, in the abandoned terrace. What do you want to do? he said he wanted us to plant the fox under just a tree. Was it the spiffittes? It's a...

It's a... ...beeneteen beneath the birth heart in the abundant terrace. The birth heart. That is not a random tree. Is that couple pretty close? Yeah, they kind of walk by and... Like, everybody see, they both appear to be human. The one with, like, darker hair.

It's braided and pulled around one side. The man's a little older. Dark beard that kind of goes to gray around the mustache and the chin. dark hair that's kind of slicked back and it's kind of long in the back with how their furze around their shoulders and she has her arm around his arm and they just kind of walk past and kind of glance at you with a huh they just walked out of a tree um hello hi do you do you guys live here are you just passing through or checking out the you know the town we live in the quadroads we are just out here for a walk beautiful place um do you just Do you happen to know someone or knew of someone named?

Zafin? Zafin? Zafin? Zafin. Looks to his companion. She looks at. No, I don't recall anyone named Zafin. I'm sorry.

I do not hear. My apologies. Good day. Sorry. To awkwardly continue walking. Ask him where the birth heart tree is. Do you know where the birth heart tree is, actually? She kind of stops and turns back.

The birth heart is two paths up and to the right. It's hard to miss. How long have you guys lived here? I kind of look at each other. Back at you, my entire life. She lived up north in Cawson, but moved here 10 years ago. You've never heard of the Zofine? No.

I'm an insight check? Yes, make an inside check. 24? 24. I get a whisper? Whispers! If you want to help build tension, Luke Break will help you build a lot of things today. Oh, stop it.

With their next theme, build. Build. Build suspense, build character. Build tension. Do you feel powerful? Stress. Distrust for every human. Yes.

Build anxiety disorders. Do you just hijack your Twitter? No. Well. Sorry. Shit. Well done. Thank you very much for stopping.

and talking with us. Of course. And they kind of continue their path, quicken their pace a little bit, hoping to avoid any future questions. They had, they just have, they have no idea who he is. She? Oh, yeah, they just wanted to be on their way. Why is it called the birth heart tree? I guess we'll find out.

Maybe yes. They said we couldn't miss it. All right, let's go find it. All right. All right, you follow the instructions, which involves you guys now following the about 40 feet back and they kind of notice you've followed. No, we're trying to do that thing, but it's not like you're walking to your car

after you've already seen the fun. Okay, so you hold back in the hand. Yeah. They eventually turn the opposite direction. They're fine. You guys following instructions, you go up two paths into the right, and you can see now amongst what is a fair number of,

you know, I'd say 20 foot tall trees that you've come through in this area, there is a large domed cluster. of trees look almost like a redwood forest dome of hundred foot tall trees and there's this one it looks like like a lot of the way in the distance where it's just you have regular forest in this giant bump in the canopy and you get the sense that's probably the birth heart does it kind of remind us of Sondor's tree um Sondor was a singular tree this one what you can tell appears to be a cluster of many trees.

Okay. Do we proceed towards it? Yes, we do. All right, you guys push on and as you approach. Can we keep an eye up for guards? Anybody that might be watching us? Okay, make perception check. Me?

Yes, you. He who asks. Who asks rules, ten. Okay, as you walk, you see a handful of guards that just occasionally wander through. The bastions wear patchwork armor, there isn't like a standard bastion armor set per se, but they do have elements of colors and cloths that symbolize their station as well as usually some pins or badges that kind of mark the symbol there. So you do pick up on a few of them and they're just kind of doing the rounds and there are a couple that are curiously just keeping a distance and keeping an eye, But not like following you, but just, hmm.

Baday. Biday. Keep up of parents. Can I keep an eye out for any kind of tombstones or anything in the area that looks like anybody else might have done the similar things? Sure. Reception checks.

Oh, is it at advantage because we're in a forest? Technically, yes. Saddest. What advantage I've ever seen? Howda, howda, howda, howda, howda. perception you sound? Yes. That's a 20-8.

Okay. As you walk towards the birth heart and you get towards the outside of this large cluster of towering trees, you do not see anything that would be a tombstone per se. Occasionally you do see like maybe a small cluster of stones. Can I go like check them out and see if it looks like? Yeah, you can an investigation check. What? What's your binder closed?

Well, I'm trying to take up less space because we, you know. What was the first one? Eton. They were both dog shit. 15. 15. Okay. Shut up. Looking at the rocks that are here, there are not a lot of errant stones here. There's, you know, some occasional natural stones that hit, but there is a thick kind of naturally composting pine and other leaves that fall in this area

that kind of, you know, regenerate the cycle of fertility here as part of the enchantment. These stones are deliberately placed and are placed in a circular pattern with a pile in the center. Okay. It does appear to be a marking of some kind. All right. What was that? No, no, no. It looks like it could be a marker, a tombstone memorial, something like that. Do we have to make one that looks like that? We could.

Okay. Is it in the exact center of this big area under the trees? You're unable to see from your perspective. You don't have an aerial view. Oh, all right. But I mean, is it deep in or is it just as we come in on the time? It's not terribly, I mean, if you guys reach the outside of the birth heart, you've been walking here for maybe 10 minutes. It's not. You're not entirely certain how far you are from the outskirts, the abundant terrace. You haven't really walked through it before. You've seen it from a distance. I think Keelith did one pass on it when you first came to Vasselheim for the second time.

You really have no idea where you are within the city. Do I get a vibe off of it like it's a place where others have been buried before? Make a wisdom check. For a vibe. I'll use luck. That's cocked. That's cocked. Nope.

All right. Well, it was a tiny bit, but no. I'm very low. If you can read the number, it's not. Oh, okay. That's hay. Oh, yeah, you. You get the sense, I mean, it's awe-inspiring, this giant canopy of trees.

It's hard to tell from this distance, but it's probably hundreds of feet across from end to end. And it's beautiful. Once again, you can see trees up on the mountain that Vassaham is built in the base on. You can see distant clusters of pine that are all covered in snow. And there should be snowfall on these trees to a certain extent ice, you know, gathering. at some point in the bows, and it is just barred and green, untouched by frost or snow. Does there seem to be like one central tree in the center of all this, or it's just a massive... It's hard to tell from this outside. You have to walk into the birth heart to see.

Let's do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I thought we already were doing that. Well, you guys just reached in. So as you enter the birth heart, and it is kind of an archway of branches and trees that kind of knit into each other and wrap around as you step in. And you can see what looks to be like a heavy cluster of forest is really just an outside row of trees that are all intertwined. The inside is open with the occasional stock of tree that heads up and kind of adds and blossoms up into the higher portion. There is one large central tree in the center of the area that marks. The birth heart.

This is the center of the birth heart. And within there are a number of lanterns that are hung from the the branches all throughout that all have their own kind of yellowish fairy glow within each point. And they're all through the inside at different levels. It's just hundreds of these glowing yellow lights that are just hooked up into the bows ahead. There are a number of people walking through off the path, just through the soft kind of mulch wood and dying pine, soft floor of the canopy. all wearing similar robes of greens and yellows, golds and whites. You recognize these as similar signs of followers, priests,

and worshippers of Malora. Oh shit. All right. The central tree does have a number of staircases that spiral up at certain points. There are, look to be windows and holes throughout. The inside gives a warm glow from the interior. What?

And there's, you can already see dozens of people gathered around the outside of tables talking. It looks like it's all, there's no cafe, this is here. But there is a, there's a somewhat, surprisingly, I want to say vibrant social atmosphere, but there are places where people are just congregating here to have soft conversations.

Are they all holy or is it? Some of them are some of the mark. Okay. It's a smattering of individuals. Can you talk about? This is beautiful. I know, this is so romantic. This is cool.

Um, okay. Does it, um, I go up to one of the worshippers of Malora. Okay. There is a, an older woman. Her hair is, starts red and then goes to gray. Um, she, uh, best you can tell, her, her heritage is human, um, but she's a little thicker and more muscular than most women of rage that you've come across. Her skin is weathered from sunlight and will be harsh seasons, but she smiles as you approach and her eyes, one looks to be a little cataract ridden, but the other one is a beautiful kind of clear blue color, and both of them kind of meet with yours as you approach and she smiles. Can I help you? Oh, hello. I am Kieleth of the Aresari. What's your name?

Lamor. It's nice to meet you. Lamor, pleasure to meet you. Love. I was just curious. Lamor? Yes, Lamor. Let me write this time before our plan. L-A-M-O-R.

What? L-A-M-O-R. L-A-M-O-R. Okay. I was just curious. We are here to pay our respects and to bury a... You know, do a favor for a friend and bury his fallen wife. Is there a specific place where we can do that and spread the ashes in a respectful manner below the birth heart tree? Or I just don't want to disturb the grounds? I mean, to return to the earth is sacred offering from what you were given life is to give life once.

more. You would need a witness. I could witness for you if you prefer. Really? Just to make sure that there's no funny business, of course. Of course.

I have no problems with that. No. I think it's great. Solid. Okay. Yeah. Find your place of your choosing, and I will come as well. Thank you.

Do you have any suggestions? Kind of new to this? Anything with orange flowers around? I feel like Seneca would like orange. Not much in the way of blooming flowers of color in the birth heart. Should be asked her. Is it better to open a box and then put the ashes out? That depends on the interred.

I mean, whatever the wishes are of one you've lost, lost, but that's... What was the name again? Should we ask if maybe she knows? Yeah. The name? Oh, yeah. Did you happen to know a woman named?

Uh, Saffirim. I literally was thinking, so fine in my head, and I was trying to remember. I'm afraid I don't know that name. I'm sorry. She was a big fan of this place. One of our favorite locations. That's very sweet.

Yeah. Okay, well, I think we would just like to bury the box without disturbing the box. Right, guys? Probably, yeah. Just put the box in there. Okay. Yes. Probably.

She's looking a little awkward from all this conversation. We've never buried ashes before. We've had a very long week. Yes. You do look a bit worse for wear. A couple of months, actually. Well, decide on a location. of your choosing. We will have to keep vigil over it for a short time.

Great, that's wonderful. That's great. And if there is anything found that is not approved within the birth heart, it will be excised and removed from the premises. Great! No disrespect meant. No, none. No. None. Yes. Question. What sort of thing would represent an unwelcome burial? Anything that's not the remains of an individual like you promised they are? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like foreign seeds or something? Very much so. Yep, agriculture, control, very important. Bad, bad. Shall I speak with... There are flowers here, aren't there? I mean, on simple flower flowers, yes. Lead the way, please.

Whatever's closest? All right, I'll follow me. She turns around and... She looks not mistrusting, but she's definitely a little confused. She brings you to the edge of this pathway. You can see, like, there is a nice, smooth, packed dirt walk that's well kept. And you do okay, and you can see occasionally a few of the priests come through with these very fine rake-like brooms. They just pull through, like this very fine Zen garden, and it kind of rakes the earth as they go through, and it helps then attacked as they walk.

As we walked over there, I turned around to the groove and just went. She brings it to the edge where the dirt ends and you can see the underbrush and the greenery continues. She steps into it and you can watch as each foot comes down, you know, kind of as you would, you walk through a densely, kind of wooded area with each crush of a plant or a brush or a stick or a twig as it breaks, it kind of mends itself immediately after she steps past it. You progress, and she leads you maybe 70 feet off the path, past a couple of the central trees that are, you know, kind of dappled throughout this area. And one spot you can see there's these faint whitish gray flowers that are kind of gathering clusters around the base of a tree here. That's nice.

This looks perfect. It is yours to do. Does the birth heart have healing properties? The Berthard has many properties to it be, the guidance and blessings of Marora are strongest here, anywhere on Exandria, and here her presence

has felt even beyond the divine gate. Pike, this feels right. Right, it does? Yes, it does. Does it? Okay, look, this is, I feel like this is an exercise in simplicity for us.

And trust, right? Yeah. Sorry for all the questions, it's very lovely. It's not you, it's us. We're so weird. We really are. I was going to say it, but I'm glad you brought it out. Pike, would you bring the box over here, please?

Would you pray with me, please? Well, Matt, can I ask you a question? Yes, you may. Yes, you may. I'm serious. Oh, yes. Is it disrespectful to when you're at a place of another god's worship to, I know we did it at the resurrection ritual, but to bring another god into it? Roll a religion check.

Oh, fuck. Do I get an advantage? No. You have no idea. I have no idea. You spend some time in Vasselheim, but it's always been focused around your temple. and the reconstruction of Sarenreys Temple, you have spent very little time studying

the other religions around you and what that sort of situation would entail, so you have no clue. Wait, should you say something about a resurrection? You didn't say that, did you? I was just saying because... The resurrection was both the Raven Queen. It was in the Raven Queen, but we were using Sarenreys as well.

Yeah. Right. Yeah, so the crossing over of deities influence in a space was what she was inquiring about. Right. Some deities might like each other more than other deities, though. Right. That's very true, I mean, yeah.

Like besties. Like besties. I feel like Melora and like Serenway. I might think they be chummy. Like so similar that it's a problem. Yeah. This is kind of her spot. Makes sense on the surface, but like it's just, there's a lot of clash.

Well, Malora's more neutral. She's more like nature is... Earth tones, you know, fall colors. You know, I know that we are all really fucking worn out, but I would like to not cheap. in this moment any more than we may be already. Yes, I feel. Guys, when we set out to do this, we promised we were going to make this easy and simple,

and we can't even do that. We are torturing ourselves. We are making far more complicated. You're getting a little hysterical. Let's stop, let's just. Percy? Percy? I'm keeping my mouth so shut.

Okay, look. All right, Pike, if you want, before we do this, I could do like a community. immune with nature and maybe like just study the lands and maybe see if I can connect with Malora maybe through my spire if you want if that would put the box in the ground okay or we can just put the box on the ground Jesus all right I'm we're gonna dig a hole or is it alright if we dig a hole I imagine so yes all right so you get down and dig a hole sure it's soft the ground is pretty malleable

actually, not like clay, but the dirt is intensely packed in this portion. As I'm doing it, I'm like, Malora, you were clutch in the fight against Rishon, and we appreciate it greatly. Thank you for everything you've done for us. Your trees are beautiful. Also, we don't know what we're planning here, so if it's something bad, it's not our fault. Side note. Are you talking to the debt? I'm talking to Malora through the day. I'm talking to Malora through the dirt. You just put like, we are not responsible for any damages clause into the contract. I am smirking, but trying to pray for the Raven Queen.

Okay. You place the box in. Ugh. Okay. You rest the box down. My precious. Chains. It doesn't feel right. Chains locks in all into the hole, freshly dug by a vex. I'm gonna cover it. It's getting covered. The next covers it, takes the dirt, pats it there. The flowers kind of, you know, arranged naturally across the tree trunk and the growth surrounding it.

The woman clasps her hands together. Very well. Now, if you please. Would it be okay if I just picked a couple of flowers just to press and take with me for remembrance? It reaches over and there you are, child. Thank you. Now, business is done. Could we leave a marker of some sort, so we know exactly where we left her?

What would you wish to leave? Well, I saw earlier circles of stones. Is that traditional? Um, I mean, it depends on your background, of course. That's what you prefer. We'd wish nothing with names or engravings. Of course. The memory is kept.

or earn the presence of nature in its own. So, a mark... Can you think of anything Seneca would have appreciated? I think knowing his work is underground, maybe enough. I could stone shape something simple. Maybe a ring. He's a jeweler. No, it's true.

It was his wife. It's true. I just kind of out of the ground stone shape what looks like a simplistic, almost with a fire-branded wedding band. You watch as a, as the ground. on the earth off to the side of where you bury the box, kind of shakes in a single stone roughly that big, kind of finds its way to the surface like a localized earthquake,

and as it hits the top, it splits and shapes into a circular band, and then falls on the side and kind of rests there for a moment on top of the dirt pile. That's perfect. Thank you for this. I will remain in vigil. over this, you may take your walk of the birth heart or the rest of Asla. Thank you.

Can we go in? Can we go up and look? Is it, is it like? Well, you would have to speak with the priests. It's not necessarily an open. Who are the priests? It's not the Swiss family romance and tree house. It's just beautiful. It's so cool. Who are the priests? Ah, well, any of the individuals in similar, a guard.

but they have a series of golden rings around their neck at the base of the tree. I was just curious because, you see, I have this staff that has Malura's marking on it. She takes a moment, can I reach forward with. Wow, that's... We should have led with that. You know, that's quite a reaction. I wasn't expecting that. What happened? This, where did you... how...

Where did you come across such an artifact? I found it through a series of very hard... in troubling events and circumstances. I can only understand that. What you hold in your hand is one of the great relics of Malora. Okay. I must remain as I've chosen my vigil already, but if you would do the honor of the birth heart of having that return to the priestesses of Malora,

that would be of a great... hate to our people. He just did that. Fuck you, Jasmine. Wow! That's why you keep things shooting. And she kind of reached out and runs her finger all the time it's like... Yeah, okay, you know, that's enough. That's enough.

Touching. Her magic and a force is potent and that you are blessed to have found it. She's aided us greatly. She does us all. What if her aid? What if her aid was best used in the, in, you know, in protecting the world? Yeah, put to give use in the world and not maybe in a museum. That is your choice, not fine.

I think perhaps there will come a time, but that it does not get time to put the staff to rest. Look, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I don't want to hold on to anything if it doesn't rightfully belong to me. But this has also been lost for like a long time. So who does it rightfully belong to? And I'm trying to do good with it. She can't reach that and touches your forehead. It's all right.

We mean not to take it from you. If it still has purpose in your hands, keep it. Keep it safe. Do not lose it as you say it was once lost. and when you find the need for such power no longer necessary, then return it. I promise you, I will. And I'm very grateful, and I do feel very blessed. I found it and then I have this power.

Then use it to spread her love. Use it to spread her comfort and protection. Champion of Melora! Is there like a way? You see, I'm not very great with the gods, but I've never really spoken to Malora. I have a lot of friends who are very, you know, much supporters of her. Is there something I could do to maybe just show my things? I think the fact that you still hold that this day means that her favorite smiles on you.

If you walk the paths she rides, maybe you'll find her. find a way to talk with her yourself. But there is no key, there is no trick, there is no secret. She speaks through the growing buds of the flowers below. She speaks through the rain that comes and brings water to grow. I'm sure she's spoken to you most of your life.

Maybe now your ears are open to listen. Thank you, Lemo. I will not forget your words. I hope not. There is great wisdom in that stuff. There is great wisdom in you. You doubt yourself too much, child. People keep telling me that and just different,

okay, all right, thank you. She kind of takes your hand and just kind of cups it and two both of hers and kind of holds it for a second. I'm so conflicted. Thank you. Okay, bye. All right. Do we get to leave the arboretto now? It's beautiful though why it lasted. It's so beautiful.

I stepped on this toad store and I'm afraid to tell some I think it'll throw back, wrong. Yeah, take your foot off and watch. I'm scared. They're looking really close. Let's get her out of him before they change their mind, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Watch your moral panic all day. It's so delightful. Shut up, Percy! As you guys make your way out of the birth hearts, into the abundant terrace, what do you wish to do? See, that was not such a big deal. All that fuss for a box in the day.

Do we need to stock up on supplies? Oh, yeah. We haven't been to like a bright proper store in a long time, right? Yeah. Do you need to check in on the temple? Maybe, maybe, I don't know. What's wrong with you? I don't know why I just still feel weird about it. You know, this might be a bit of a wild hair, but watching you back there, I kind of had a thought. Grog.

Yep. I mean, we've just had a really hard time for weeks, months. It was fucking awful. You seem a bit punchy. You want to take her? Oh. Say it. To the crucible.

Oh, shit. To let off a little bit of steam. What's the crucible? Oh, yeah. So, were you saying she not here? Were you not? I think she was off. Oh, that's right.

The crucible, the crucible is a pit fighting arena next to the Temple of Corde, right? In that area, in the Trial Forge, yeah. Yeah, one on one. We know you're all an angel, but we know that you also have a little bit of piss and vinegar in you. No weapons. No weapons?

Just piecefinding. No armor, nothing? No, you can have. Yeah, uh. It's, uh. It's like a, bare knuckle fight. Yeah, it's pretty much fisted cups and they got no fights there.

They got known fights? They got known fights? Do you like to do it? That sounds like a blow. I want to see if I can find two small stones while we're walking through the path. I want to find two pretty reasonable fire starting stones. Flint's? Yeah, just do flints.

Let's make sure. Let's be investigation because you're going to be a bit. Oh, man. Nine. one. Yes, I'm going to keep looking. What are you doing with a rock? Doesn't seem like something you normally look for?

No, it's not. More grog speed there. Yeah, I was just thinking that he needs a gift. I mean, does anybody... You've got a gift for me? Not yet. Oh. I mean, I don't know about anybody else,

but besides, like, the store, I would kind of like to go by the Temple of Court again. Just, you know, just pop in. I don't want to bore anybody. No. I'm all right with that. We can go there. I'm sure we've bored you several times with our god, mumbo.

No, you have. You have. You have been keeping track. Tell me how you really feel, Grog. I'll resent you? Geez, you know what? Never mind. I take all of them back. I thought you're, I'm all right.

Tengently, not today, not for a while. I need to go back to the... The Temple of the Ravens. Yeah, not today. Do you don't want to today? No, I don't want to today. No, you never came back last night. I thought you were going to come back.

Welcome to Mick Unplugged, the number one podcast for self-improvement and modern leadership. I'm Mick Hunt, your host, and I'm here to challenge your why and fuel your because. This is where leaders, entrepreneurs, and go-getters come to level up. Each week, I bring you unfiltered conversations, games, game-changing strategies, and the kind of motivation that transforms lives and legacies. I've learned from legends like Les Brown, Damon John, and Robert Irvine.

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detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the Intrepid Chaotic's Detective Agency as they're. They take on their biggest case yet. This high-flying action-packed adventure will take them across the world, fighting for every quill they can fight. It's one heck of a tale, which is good, because this story might be the only thing that can save their lives. Well, if that's all, I can just dispose of you.

Wait, what? All will be revealed in. Sonic the Hedgehog presents The Chaotic's Case files. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. When the chaotic are on the case. Ever open up your podcast app, scroll forever, and still not know what to listen to. And there are millions of podcasts, and most of them, they just don't grab you.

That's why I created something you should know. Every episode is built around surprising, useful, and fascinating ideas. We're consistently ranked in Apple's top 200, with, thousands of five-star reviews. But more importantly, people come back because they learn something interesting every time. If you're tired of searching and you just want something good to listen to, try one episode of Something You Should Know, right here on the platform you're listening on right now. Carry on! So as you guys are walking, where are you heading right? To the birth...

The birth? What's it called? Sorry. Trial Forge? The Trial Forge. The temple. Yeah. I mean, I'd like to go out of the temple of call. Do you want to see?

Braving grounds. Yeah, the Braving Grounds. Ah. By the Obliate. Obliate. Obliate. What do you want to leave a country? All right.

Well, I just want to look. Does that exist somewhere in the city? It does. Yeah, I think I can share it. It's actually. Is it like the Ubliate. It is in. A little big up fast.

It's in the dusk meadow. The Ameranthineubliate. Oh, that's what it was. Yeah. Oh, out of character, Ashley, I wish you were here next next. You get into a fucking fist bite. No. Crucible.

She's looking at his schedule. Are you looking at your schedule? Can we make our way towards the temple of Kord? Yes. So you guys make your way to the birth heart. It's easy to follow. All the areas in here that are more clean, the Braving Grounds.

Braving Grounds is where all the iron work, metal work, smithy, and reflestone. finding of various burnable fuels are maintained. So you see the plumes of coal, smoke that come out of the various forges. So you've had that direction, following that as a very definitive visual reference point. Takes you a better part of an hour or so, making great

the crowds and the bastions. And it seems like not a whole lot has changed this last time you were in Vasselheim. For all the chaos and destruction you've seen in Tal'Dorei, it appears that it appears that. Isilra is none the wiser and life goes on. Wow. You make your way through the braving grounds to the Trial Forge. Now you see before you the large temple of core, the dark, deep red, rusted iron color

of the temple with the statue atop. The front doors, the high, the tall, tall, thin doors are open just enough for about two shoulders with people to walk through. The interior appears to be widely lit. Do you want to go inside? Only destroy me, ain't I? Yeah, I'll go with you. All right. I would like to go inside. Should we wait out?

Do you? You can come in if you were. Okay. You guys walk into the temple. There are no centuries. There are no worshippers of core that you. worshippers of core that you remember greeting you when the first time he came to the temple.

The hallway is just kind of a straight shot to the central cross section. That's strange, there's usually people here. Hello! Keep walking, making your way down the smooth, dark, granite-like floors. You can see the tall archway just continues in the repeated pattern

of the pillars that mark the strength, of the archway meeting in the center, just over and over again, like this oversized spinal column almost in the way it's segmented. Eventually coming to where the center points cross, where the sandpit, you recall the center of the Trial Forge was. As you approach, you see a singular figure standing in the center of the pit facing away from you. You see the same dark, like deep ruddy color. color and weathered texture to the shoulder muscles and arms, just kind of resting at the sides, the same grayish white hair, kind of pulling down the back of the bald on top head, the reds and golds of the billowing pants there before you, and as you kind of approach

quietly towards the edge of the sandpit, the voice shouts out, I have had visions in my rest of your path to war, Strongjar. You took my words and you found your strength. What have you learned? Now without my friends and love, my strength would be nothing. Then show me what you have learned. Show me what you possess. Show me your worth under the watch of cord, half giant.

Show me and he turns around. And he like slams his fist at the side and the sand just around him, kind of dust out in this small arc and then rests in the ground, and he looks up. I'm having a DPDC orgasm right now. And that's where we're gonna finish the... Oh! Show me what you got! Tell me what you got! Tell me what you got!

How long have you... Last time. Oh shit! Whatever he got back at the trial, that's been sitting there. Yeah! We'll pick up on that next week. Round two, right.

Holy shit. Dund, la da, da, da, d'an, da, d'an, he's a bad dude. It was Scanlon, Vax, and me against him. And we were giving him everything we had with Cravenedge. And he was just shrugging it off. like, yeah, we were like slashing through into his forearms, then he would like go and all the wounds would heal.

And he would, he hit, who did he one hit punch, the one punch? Yeah. Yeah. And he could have killed Vax at one punch, but he held it. He held back specific. He was just teaching Grogalasse. He just held him one hit, just like, boom! And Bax!

Sorry. The potion of broken heart. He's a bad. Oh my. But in a good way. He's like super, super smart. He's also. I don't know what the...

That's all you're gonna have your, like... Well, the last time I was like, where does your strength come from? I'm like, my rage! And he kept kicking our ass, and he's like, why are your strength come from? Like, my hair, Prince! I bet you let us live. It'll be fun.

So we'll see for this picks up next week. Okay. Well, awesome guys. Good game this week. He saved your friend. Hey, Scalalus! Come back soon! Say, all both!

Come back soon! And happy birthday to Cueen! Happy birthday! Thank you! Happy birthday! And don't forget, tomorrow at noon, these dice go on sale! Yay! Great, great, they're all dyes! They're not an infinite amount, but they're there. No, there's more than there last time.

Much more. And Lou Crate. Yeah, thank you so much, Luke Cray for being awesome sponsors. You guys have been awesome and been with us for this long. And as always, be sure to check in on Talks Machina on Tuesday. On Tuesday, 7 p.m. Pacific, on Twitch and I'm on Twitter. on Twitch and Alpha.

Yeah, with the wonderful Brian Foster. As a most. I think you should call him like Breenweiser fester. Brain Fester. Brain Fester. That was, yeah. Brain Fester.

You did. Brain Fester. Fair play, man. Anyway, guys, we're going to go get some rest. You should as well. Thank you so much for joining us in a crazy adventures. I'll pick it up next week. Is it Thursday yet?

Yes, Wayne. Good night, guys. Nice, Matt. Good night.