Critical Role - C2E74 Manifold Morals

Episode Date: August 15, 2019

Joined by a new, lawful ally, the Mighty Nein delve deeper into the disks of Uthodurn in their search for mythril and the whereabouts of a white dragon... (guest starring Mica Burton!)Watch Critical Role live Thursdays at 7pm PT on https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole

Hello, spellcasters, sages, and spectators. I'm Ashley Johnson, and you're listening to the Critical Role Podcast Network. Tap into our magical narrative by watching Critical Role as it airs on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Pacific on twitch.tv slash criticalrole or youtube.com slash criticalrole. Twitch subscribers can watch the video on demand right away, or you can catch it the following Monday on YouTube. As always, Critical Role will be available right here in podcast form on Thursdays, a week after the initial broadcast. And now, let's scry into the story and see what mysteries it holds for us, shall we?

Hello everyone, and welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. We're Dungeons & Dragons! Thank you, Liam. Wow. So we're, oh yeah, I'm ready. We've returned from our Gen Con live show last week,

which went amazingly. And since we are back in our home front here at the table, let's go ahead and jump into some announcements before the show, beginning with our fantastic sponsor, friends and campaign two since the beginning, D&D Beyond. D&D Beyond! D&D Beyond, they wanted me to let you guys know that a few of our cast members participated

in a series called Fandom Uncovered, which explores a variety of amazing and intense fandoms like this one. Most recent episode is about D&D and you can find it at fandom.link slash D&D. Now, you guys might have caught the end of the D&D Beyond presidential campaign last week, where Liam and myself were elected

co-presidents of D&D Beyond. Oh, yeah. and myself were elected co-presidents of D&D Beyond. Oh, yeah. And we have held that title. Well, we held that title. Something happened, and maybe we should tell you guys what happened, or maybe it's just better to just show them what happened.

Oh, we thought this was done. No, it is done, it is done, but we have to show the people how it really ended. Turn back the clock. So this video will start right after last week's show stopped. Roll it. I'm being told that the election results are in. The winner, stop celebrating early.

The winner, everyone in the world, is Mr. Liam O'Brien! Critters, you are the wind beneath my dead wings. I could not be here today without my goblin, Sam, my beautiful husband. I would like to propose a partnership.

From here on out, we will president as one. Will you make me the happiest president of D&D Beyond on Earth? Liam, I've never lost anything in my life. And by accepting this, I keep that streak going. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. I will be your co-president. Woo!

Did it. Woo! Wow! Wow! Great show! What a great ending to the show! Hey, congrats guys! Get out of the way, wiener dog! Ow!

Yes! Yes! What a show! What a finish to the show! You won, but then I won too, and we won together! We're co-presidents of D&D Beyond! Yes! Thank you! Thank you for bringing me along for the ride, man. We are stronger together.

Yeah, we are. D&D Beyond isn't going to know what hit them. No, no. What do we do first? What do we do? Oh, Bubby. We celebrate. សូវាប់បានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានបានូវនប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ប់ I did not think you could fit that in your nose, man. You did.

Whoa. You doubt me, San Rico? Wow. Wow. I mean, that's a tough one. Our day has come, you idiots. Hi, Adam. What are you doing?

We are the presidents of D&D Beyond. Dos presidentes. Presidents of the party planning committee. We've been through this so many times. Huh? But you're not anymore because you're both fired. Fired? We have so much work to do.

Yeah. Considering that you just blew the entire year's party planning budget, no, you don't have anything else to do. It's over. I'm going to need you to pay the overages on this bill. Especially this 1984 Chianti.

I am so disappointed in you. Holy crap. What? Let me see the... Hold on. Holy crap. What? Let me see the... Ooh. Hold on.

You like wine too much. Wow, that's a lot. Oh man. You seemed really sad, or mad, or... I can't tell. We had it all, Sam. We had it. But then we blew it.

Here, you take this. You got more votes, so you should pay for it. That's fair. Come here, come here, it's fine. Can we still be the presidents of, I don't know, each other? You'll always be my number one, Mr. President. That means a lot, man. That means a lot.

And that's the end of our presidential lane, unfortunately. We were presidents for about 90 minutes. We flew too close to the sun. Yeah. I feel like leaving on Sunday, earlier Saturday was a mistake. Yeah. We missed out. You made the right call. But thank you again to D&D Beyond

for allowing us to go on this journey, and we learned a lot, and we'll never make those mistakes again. You'll never be allowed to. That's true, that is absolutely true. Legally. Yeah. We have it in writing. Thank you, Sam, and thank you, D&D Beyond, a fantastic resource for D&D players

and the intermasters out there. Wow. That allows you to create characters and run campaigns with a new encounter builder that they've been having an alpha that's awesome. Check it out. That whole fucking campaign. Fucking shame. Yeah. To you guys.

Oh my god. What? It was. Worth it. It was worth it. That party was off the hook. That was really great. It was really awesome. Erika Ishii in the one-arm push. Yeah! Yeah, she doesn't fuck around.

Yeah. Shit. Thank you, D&E Beyond. All right, so once again, thank you everyone for coming to the live show, watching our live show, and if you haven't already seen it yet, you're going to be really confused about tonight's episode, and you should watch it.

We did announce that we're headed to Austin on Saturday, November 23rd, for a very special live show one-shot, The Adventures of the Darrington Brigade, where we get to follow Terry and Darrington and the Brigade after The Adventures of Vox Machina. It's going to have the rest of the cast

playing members of the Brigade. VIP tickets will be on sale Monday, August 12th at 9am Pacific, 11am Central. And general admission tickets will be on sale Tuesday, August 13th at 9am. I've got a bubble in my throat. Don't give me that face, Laura Bailey. It happens. We are imperfect creatures. Well, it was good. Tuesday, August 13th at 9 11 a.m. Pacific, to 9 a.m. Pacific, 11 a.m. Central, check out critrole.com slash events for details.

And for those who haven't seen it, the season three premiere of Between the Sheets, featuring Amanda fucking Palmer, is now available on our YouTube channel. It's a great talk. And she just had a music video drop today. Yeah, yeah. Jotting in the sound. Check just had a music video drop today. Yeah, yeah. Jotting in the ZAP.

Check it out if you have a chance. I believe that's all of the announcements, so without further ado, let's go ahead and dive in to tonight's episode of Critical Role Shack. Take it down, take it down, take it down. The adventure begins They were always beside you Your nerdy best friends And the DM to guide you

And they rise from the flames For the battles ahead Villains beware Cause you're about to be dead They got magic and flair They got fountains and cunning They don't see over there There's a monster incoming

Inspiration is waiting Rise up, don't think twice Put your fate in your hands Take a chance, roll the dice Roll the dice Roll the dice Roll the dice, critical Roll the dice, critical Roll the dice, critical

Roll the dice, critical Can you answer the call? Digging deep in your soul As the legend unfolds Now it's your turn To roll We're going to roll! And welcome back. You guys are getting lazy.

It's okay. So, space. Last we left off, the Mighty Nein had found their way to the northern realm of the Graying Wildlands in search of answers regarding Caduceus' visions. He's been granted multiple times to the Wild Mother, and the pursuit of fixing the broken halves of this blade,

of which you've discovered has some ancient power attached to its historical lineage. You made your way across the mountains of the Flockett Alps into the subterranean dwarven elven city of Uthodurn, where you acquired a room to stay and then made your way to the forge of what seemed to be the one individual responsible for previously reinforcing this blade,

a very talented blacksmith, legendary, if you will. However, upon arriving there, discovered that he had passed away four years previous and instead met with his son, who was an apprentice of his and is hoping to eventually climb to that level of notoriety and skill. A brief discussion between him and you

unveiled that this weapon requires a certain material to be recreated, called Iceflex, which is a form of mithril that has to be enchanted, essentially, by the breath of a white dragon. Not knowing where one might be found, you stepped out into the alley on the side of the smithy to where a hooded, cloaked figure

approached you from the shadows. That's where we're going to go ahead and pick up. Jesus. So, as you all, mid-discussion, glance over, Caduceus noticing first, Jester quickly second, and the rest of you, this figure approaching. If I could have the player please come to the table. Niko Burton is joining us as our guest.

This is a quick join. Was not going to have another Noelle Stevenson happen. Fastest ever, maybe. Welcome. Glad you could join us. Woo! Drew! Do you need me to recap you on the D&D Beyond campaign?

Or should we just get into the whole thing? I saw your cod piece and that's all I needed, so I'm all caught up. I'm sorry. Yeah, thank you. If you'd like to describe what they see as you approach. Yes. Oh! Yes!

Laura Bailey has a run for her money. That's a lot. And they're beautiful! Thank you! How will you roll any of them? This is my special. Okay, now I'm done. She came prepared.

I came prepared. This one says fuck on the line. Can I touch them? Yeah, you can touch them. Oh my special. Okay, now I'm done. She came prepared. I came prepared. This one says fuck on the line. I don't want to touch them, I don't want to. Can I touch them? Yeah, you can touch them. Oh my gosh. Dice protocol is very important. Well, we'll see you next week, ladies.

Yeah. It's been a great show. Right, so you see before you a warm brown-skinned Aasimar. Halo above her head, white cloak, white dress, thigh-high brown boots, gold freckles all over her skin, and bright gold eyes. She has a scimitar and a wand stuck in her brown belt,

and she has long, long, long white blonde hair down to her waist, up in a super high ponytail on her head. Ah, shit! A halo? A halo. long, long white blonde hair down to her waist, up in a super high ponytail on her head. Ah, shit! A halo? A halo. A faint glowing halo just above the head. Is there any physical resemblance to Yasha? Not like facial resemblance,

but is it the same body type? No. No? Whoa. Wings? No wings. Just a halo. And a cloak, you said, like a cloak with a hood? A white cloak with a hood and a gold trim,

and it matches the gold trim on her dress. Is your hood up or down right now? My hood is down right now. Brown skin, gold, golden eyes and freckles. Golden freckles all over her body. Golden freckles, that is so cool. I mean. Oh, who was this? I think we've died.

We died, right? Fjord, draw your, nope. She's beautiful. I'm just here to make sure that everything's fine, but I see that you've met Umi. Umigun? Umigun, girl? You've met Umi?

Yes. Is that the guy in there that we talked to? Yeah, and I couldn't help but overhearing something about a dragon. I couldn't help but overhearing something about going to find this dragon. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. His nickname is Umi? Yeah! We're hearing something about going to find this dragon. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

His nickname is Umi? Yeah! I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Listening to our entire conversation. Are you a spy? I just, I was eavesdropping just a little bit. I'm sorry, I'm not sorry, I'm... You've heard the whole conversation then,

or just the end? The whole conversation. Fair enough. Where were you? Were you invisible? My name is Reani. Reani. And I just wanted to make sure that he was safe.

I just want to make sure you guys aren't bad. And you guys don't seem bad, you just seem... Awesome and colorful. Like you need help. I do, it's very fair. Are we that transparent? Kind of. Yeah, it's fair. Are we that transparent? Kind of. Yeah, it's fair.

You and Umagorn are... Omi. Yes. Are friends or family? He's my friend. Okay. How long have you known him? For about four years.

That's cool. Are you guys together? No. Oh. Because he's... But I like to bake him things. And I like to bake him things. And I like to make him things. And he's my friend, and we like to,

sometimes we tell each other secrets, and sometimes we like to plant flowers together, and sometimes, even though he grumbles about it, he lets me leave him little presents in his forge. I don't know if you saw them. If you saw the flowers on the wall, that was me. You did, but that guy. Don't listen to a single word she's saying.

Oh, Umi! Be quiet, you know you love me. Umi, you love it. You see his arms splayed out on both sides of the doorframe, his face just bright wet, with sweat and bright red, and he's just like, Would you please be as so kind as to maybe,

you know, not just go rambling about things to strangers? Hey, Umi, you be proud of your sleepovers, all right? Right. There is nothing to be ashamed. Of. It's like we finished each other's sentences. Oh, shit. Look, what you're looking for, it's not easy.

Sure, I could use some help, go for it, but just, you know, friends keep certain things between friends. So you don't want me to bring you back a souvenir? I mean, if you... Yes, a souvenir would be great, I'd love that. That's what I thought. I'm just asking. It's too late now. There, fine. Anyway, good luck, stay alive.

I'll be here. You bake things? I do. What kind of things? I like cakes. Oomi likes my cakes, right, Oomi? Yeah, you do. They're tasty. I'll give you that. Thank you.

Oomi likes my cake. Do you want a cupcake? You have cupcakes? Oh, do I have cupcakes? Can I have a cupcake? Yes, you can. Choose your flavor, though. I can choose my flavor? You have cupcakes? Oh, do I have cupcakes? Can I have a cupcake? Yes, you can. I can choose your flavor, though. I can choose my flavor? I got to see how many I have left.

Hold on, let me look at my thingy. You actually wrote that down, how many cupcakes you have. Fuck, yes, I did. Keeping tabs on your inventory. Other possessions. I have four cupcakes left. And they're fresh. They are fresh, I just got them.

Do you have a vanilla? Let me look. Ooh, I think they were blueberry. There was blueberry, but she did put a couple, there's one black moss flavor left. Have you had a black moss cupcake? Never. You've got to try it.

Well, then I'll try it. Okay, here you go. It's like the opposite of vanilla, but it's so good. It kind of tastes like matcha. I'll just, I know! And shove the curio go. It's like the opposite of vanilla, but it's so good. It kind of tastes like matcha. I'll just, I know! And shove it in my face. Jester, I hate to interrupt the cupcake bonanza, but we are supposed to be, um.

You're going to need the frosting on your cloak because it's so pristine. Is it good, do you like it? It's so good. Insight check. Roll. Five. She's hard to read.

She got a tough exterior. She seems to be enjoying the cupcake, but who knows? What are we signing for? Yeah, we have a to-do list. Are we going to stand in the street, or what are we doing? Yeah, let's go somewhere. Do you want to go with a bunch of strangers

back to a hotel room? I don't see what could be wrong with that. Awesome, she's good. She's good, okay. You'll be fine. They're curious. I'll make sure they don't die. And I'll have one of those. Oh, if only guts, okay.

We got to stop back by this bakery, you guys. We know where it is, it'll be fine. Reani? Yes? Are we going to walk and talk? Yeah, let's walk and talk. Let's walk and talk? I look around, make sure no one's listening.

What do you do? How do you know, are you a blacksmith? Like, Umi, Oni, Umi? Umi. Umi. No, I'm not a blacksmith. I kind of keep this place safe. This place, Uthodorn? Yeah. From invaders?

Are you in the military? No. Well, there's a lot of bad people here, and. You? Yeah. There's a lot of underground crime. You wouldn't think it, but, well, now they're not that much around, because I like to take care of them. I like to wander and help people, you know?

And I found Umagorn and he took me in when I accidentally, it's a long story. You're an idyll and tea? Kind of. How about you guys come over to my house and I'll make you guys tea and then we can talk. You have a house? Tea!

I have a house. You have tea? I have tea. Do you like tea? Yeah. I feel like you're our dream come true. No, I'm just me. She likes tea, she likes baked goods. Do you also like whiskey?

Who doesn't? I don't trust it. I love this person. I have wine, if that's more your style. Who do you work for? Who sent you? Myself. You said you know about secret underground organizations. Because I fight them. Are you playing both parties right now?

You spy? No. You a double agent? No. You said you've known Omi for about four years. Have you been in this city longer than that? I've been here for about five years. About five years? Yeah. What were you doing before that? Well, before that, I was wandering around

saving other people, and before that, I was dropped off by my mom in Nicodranas, and before that, I don't know, I was born, I guess. What is Nicodranas, and before that, I don't know, I was born, I guess. What is Nicodranas? You know, Jessie's from Nicodranas. Why, no way! Nicodranas, too. Are you guys called Nicodranians?

Nicodranians? Nicodranians? Yeah. They're from the Dronas. I'm sorry, were you asking about? I was a little bit curious. I've never seen a, what is that? Well, Landon told me that it means that I'm part angel or celestial or something,

but I don't know, some really nice angel talks to me from time to time in my dreams and tells me what to do, so I'm just going to trust it. Landon is the name of your angel kind? No, Landon's like my dad. Like your dad. He's kind of my dad. I don't know my dad.

You have daddy issues, too? I don't know my daddy, either! Oh, you're in! Damn it! You're in, too! She's too perfect. That's four out of six. Do you like fire? Do you shove balls into your stomach?

I don't shove anything into anywhere. That's okay. Is it your actual accent? Do you have another accent that you're hiding? No. I feel like we are losing focus. You're right. We have to find a dragon and deal with it.

I don't understand why you want to accompany us on that. Well, it's funny you mention that, because remember that whole angel thing that I was telling you about? Yeah, just 20 seconds ago, yeah. He's been telling me about a white dragon, and then I heard you guys talking about a white dragon, so I feel like I kind of have to go with you, right?

Your angel's been talking about a white dragon? Yeah, in my dreams. I get dreams sometimes that tells me what to do, so I follow it. What's this angel's? It is you, too! Oh! That's five out of six!

Five out of six! I'm so confused, what's happening? You are perfect. Oh. But wait. Have you ever been in jail? Have you ever pretended to be someone else? Do you like to burn things?

Do you like to burn things? Sometimes. Oh! She's like a horoscope. Who doesn't like to burn things? Do you like to burn things? Sometimes. Oh! She's like a horoscope. Who doesn't like to burn things? Do you like cats? I love cats! Do you like books? Eh.

Oh. A little bit. Down the drain. What is your angel? Is it dressed in a green cloak? No. Name the traveler. No, my angel's name is Sam Liel, and he likes to talk to me,

and he came to me when I was really little, and he tells me to go help people, and he told me to come here, and so I've been here for five years, and he hasn't really talked to me since, so for a few years now, but then he started telling me about this dragon, and then you guys said dragon,

and so I feel like I should be here, right? Yeah, no, you definitely should. You've just been waiting for us. I think we all need to sit down with a cup of tea. We're your destiny! You're part angel or celestial, but you have an angel that speaks to you. I'm sorry, I'm just trying to play catch up.

Yeah. Oh, that would've been amazing. Did you get it? No. It was so close. Damn, that would've been cold. Sold it, though. Yes, your house, how far is that from here? And who lives at your house? Oh, it's just me.

You have your own house after five years? Well, I've been traveling for a while. Because we have our own house after like two days. That's true. Yes, but we came by it under very questionable circumstances. Have you ever carried a dodecahedron across enemy lines? No.

Just maybe not with all of our stuff. Sorry. Are we close to your home? We are. It's on the liver disc, so we're just going to walk a little bit further and we're going to get to my house. And if you want tea, I have tea. If you have wine, I have wine. I can also bake cookies. She's going to kill us all.

Does anybody want cookies? I would love them! That's very exciting. All right, well then follow me. I'm still not redacting my theory that we might be dead. I'm following behind there very enthusiastically. This is precisely what we've needed. So, traveling through the neighborhood,

you guys still generally stick out like a sore thumb amongst the general populace of Uthodurn. You know, few eyes can turn curiously as you walk by. Some seem just confounded, some seem trusting, some seem dubious. How do people react to her? Better looks, yeah. It's hard to tell. You're moving as a cluster.

But nobody seems to cause any stir. For a being that walks around with a faint halo visible half the time, nobody seems to be having any sort of adverse reaction or calling additional attention to it. Probably as if they've seen it a number of times. As we're walking, can we just keep an eye out for anyone else that has glowing circles above their heads? calling additional attention to it, probably as if they've seen it a number of times. As we're walking, can we just keep an eye out

for anyone else that has glowing circles above their heads? Sure, make a perception check. Yeah, let's try this. 20. Nice. Currently the only one. Who's your class? Roll Amazing. Bye-bye.

Okay, only one, good. I've heard this shit before. Who is your class? Roll a mazel. Hey, man, at least there's balance somewhere. As you move along for a few minutes, gauging this unexpected conversation and companion, you turn to see the domicile of Reani, if you would like to see the domicile.

Vrini, if you would like to describe the home that they encounter. It's a small home, mostly elven details. Only one story, but once you enter, it goes far back, so it's like a studio apartment, but it's kitchen, then living room, and then two small doors, so bedroom and bathroom. It's like the shotgun houses of New Orleans.

Exactly. Yeah, like a train car. Yeah, like a train car. Train car tournament. Yeah. It's filled with little knickknacks and books, definitely from places that aren't from around here. They look like they're from all over,

like little keepsakes, lots of plants, and a little dog bed in the corner. Oh. You have so many plants. lots of plants and a little dog bed in the corner. You have so many plants. That's unusual where there's no sunlight. We're underground, aren't we? Well, I can keep them looking nice, and I love plants. How do you do that?

Well, once when I was a kid, and Landon told me to go get herbs, because he likes herbs, he's like an alchemist, and I was his apprentice, and that's when my mom dropped me off. Still haven't met her, though, that kind of sucks, but I ran into these fey, and they gave me powers, and now I can do cool druid stuff.

Right, yes. See, Fjord, you just meet someone and they give you powers. Yeah. Right, good, good. Do you need a fairy or something? Is that what's happening? Do you need a fairy for?

Not currently. Well. Can you rent them or something? I don't know. For training? If we go to a forest, I'm sure I could find one. Dragon, bringing it back to the dragon. Oh, right, right, yeah, yeah, yeah. The conversation is going on,

we're just going to wander around and look at all your Nekomaks. It's like someone dropped just an ADD bomb. Pretty much. We'd be very interested in hearing what Sam-lee-el has been telling you about a dragon. Only that there is one. Oh, okay.

Can he or they give you any details about where? Nope. Can you ask? That's not how that works. Any specific type where or? Nope. Can you ask? That's not how that works. Any specific type or breed? A white dragon. White dragon. So he just came to you in a dream and said, there is a white dragon.

Wake up! How often do you communicate with your angel? Well, he's been telling me about a white dragon every night for the past two weeks, and last night I didn't get anything, and today I met you. So I'm guessing that's going to be it for a while. So he just pops in and goes,

white dragon, and then goes away. Or bad guys, or sometimes Big Quest, or sometimes there's a war you have to stop, or stuff like that. Is there a war that you have to stop? or you know, stuff like that. Is there a war that you have to stop? Not right now. Oh. How old are you? 33.

33. I feel so under accomplished. I am. How long has it been since we messed up under the ground with the King of Crawls? Oh, it's probably been a few days. Okay, just a few days. I'd say close to a week, close to a week.

You guys have taken a few evenings to recover for transitions to the Mechadranas, so about a week. No, this is good. This is good. I'm going to leave a little figurine of the Traveler that I have made amongst the rest of her knickknacks. Okay, like quietly? Yes. Make a sleight of hand check. Ooh.

26. Cleverly, expertly placed as you just wander past one of the shelves and without even a movement or twitch of the arm, suddenly something is there that previously wasn't. Ooh, nice. So bringing the conversation back to our dragon, which could possibly be her dragon,

are we doing this now? We set out in the morning to find this thing, or? Oh, what time is it? At this point in time, you would know, it's pushing close to noon, probably not 11 in the morning. We're coming. It's 1152. Then figure out where we're going and head out in the morning.

Well, don't we need materials first? We need the sword, right? We have this sword. Caleb does, but Liam doesn't remember. Do they give us directions to where this thing is, or it's just out in the wild? You haven't, nobody knows. No.

Or at least you've encountered. You were told to talk to Ava or something. You were given a couple possibilities. You mentioned that there was the Vellum Steeple, which is kind of an archive. Might be a good place to go for information. You were told the Plexus Post, which is like an odd trading post

run by an individual named Ava. Those are the only real clues you have at the moment. The rest is up to you guys to try and figure out. And the items that we needed, we needed the sword, and we also need the mithril. You need some mithril to take with you to be enchanted. And then whatever else you guys are looking for as far as like. And then the refined residual. Refined residual, if whatever else you guys are looking for as far as like. And then like the refined residual.

Refined residual, if that's something you're looking for as well. The Mithril is opening to have the ice flecks. The breath on the Mithril. Yes. I mean, I imagine we could go try and talk to Ava, see if she has any. Oh.

What's that? You have a stomachache? No, she's mean. Ava? Who's mean? Ava. Ava Andalwood. Mean like she would hit us, or? No, mean like she doesn't like my flower crowns when I give them to her. Her flower crowns?

Do you want one? You want one? Before he even answers, I immediately start druidcrafting little flowers and start weaving them together super fast, and I just place a flower crown on his head. I feel pretty. It suits you. Thank you.

See, he likes it, she doesn't. She's obviously got problems. Well, we are quite likable, so maybe we can turn the tide and go speak with her and get her to like us. You could try. Maybe. Yeah. Do you know where she is?

She is at the Plexus Post? She is, yeah. Do you know where that is? I do, but can we go there after wine? Sure. I thought, yeah. Wine and tea first, yeah? Sure. I thought, yeah. Wine and tea first, yeah? Sure. Wine and tea for the moment, sure.

Yeah. Okay. I immediately start bustling around the kitchen and making tea and pouring glasses of wine for everyone. Okay, so it's Master Ava. Maybe she requires a certain disposition. Maybe. She doesn't like frilly things. she requires a certain disposition. Maybe... She doesn't like frilly things. Maybe she just doesn't want party favors

placed on top of her head. Maybe you should talk to her. I'm going to the Archives, so. Oh. I would like to join you at the Archives, but you could also, we could go and we could talk to Ava first. Or, or. If he wants to go

to the archives, I'd be happy to talk to her. That's your strong suit. I could help you. It's his only suit. I'll go with you to the archives. Not true, he can hold entire worms with a whip. Hold worms. Hold the worm. We might find one,ibly refined residuum. And we're going to need to find some mithril.

Yes, do we have a lead on mithril? Well, maybe the trading post would be a good place to start for that. Didn't Umi tell us she would have some? Everybody is looking for everything everywhere. Let's go talk to her. Inevitably, the right path is going to open up. We already have divine intervention.

I don't know how long we're going to be here. We never seem to stay in one place for long, so I would like to go to the archive as soon as possible. Well, I'll... After tea and wine, perhaps. Yeah, I'll go with you. We can do some research, figure out the White Dragon, maybe some mithril, maybe some other things. We'll hit the books.

You actually hit the book? I can imagine you hitting the books, though. They make great targets. Well, then let's have that tea and wine and be on our way. Start to serve everyone their tea and wine. And cookies from last week. Yes! Sorry, they were a little stale.

They're chocolate chip. That's delicious. Do you have any milk? I don't. That's okay, that's okay. Tea is really good. Inside check. Go ahead and roll. 10. You can't tell if you're getting the entire truth,

but a little part of you thinks that maybe she might be out of milk. Okay. Or maybe you didn't have it to begin with. This one's hard to read. Only soy milk or almond milk. There's no actual milk in this. Cattle. Yeah.

There's goats. Goat milk here. Goat milk is a beast milk. Goat milk is actually pretty popular in dwarven societies. I don't mean to bribe, but that scimitar you have is quite impressive. Thanks, I kill a lot of things with it. I gather. Yeah. And is that a wand in your belt?

Yeah. What do you prefer that a wand in your belt? Yeah. What do you prefer, the wand or the sword? Well, I prefer, I prefer to, it's, maybe I should just show you, and I want to Wild Shape into a wolf. A standard wolf? A standard wolf. All right. I don't think a dire wolf would fit in here.

It'd be pretty tight quarters. It'd be pretty tight quarters. She watches as Reani takes a moment and then shifts the entire body magically into a woven form. Jesus, Druid. I'll spin around in a circle and I'll sit in the dog bed. Oh, is the dog bed for you?

That's really a good use of space. How often do you scare a dog? That is the wolf. On Wild Shade of space. How often do you stay with a dog? That is the wolf. On Wild Shade, I'm like. Can you bark? I just, I don't know, sometimes it's comfy. I really like, sometimes I'm an animal, too. What? And it's really, really fun.

Right? So sometimes I like to sleep as a dog because, I don't know, it's comfy. I will try that. I never thought that would happen. You'll get a great night's sleep, I promise. Wow. This one time I was at Moth and I ate curtains.

Are curtains tasty? They were at the time. Well, now I got to try it. Yeah, I'll take your word for it. How far is the archive from where we are now? Do you know, Reani? It's maybe about an hour's walk. It's about an hour's walk.

I can pack snacks, does anybody want snacks? Yes. I always like snacks. Well, we're going to two different places, right? Wait, what? Some of us are going to the Plexus Post with you to meet Ava. Okay. And then our learned gentleman here wants to go to the Archives.

I know guys at the Archives, I can go with you after if you want. Or. Could you, is the Archive on the guys at the archives. I can go with you after if you want. Or. Could you, is the archive on the way to the Plexus Post, further down into the city? The Plexus Post is actually on the way to the archive. The archive is the furthest distance. It's right on the cusp of the bottom disk.

It's better to stick together. We'll be on the way. Listen to the angel. It's better to stick together. At the be on the way. Listen to the angel. It's better to stick together. At the first sign of hesitation, you can flee. Books. Flee the presentation. If I give you one of my books to hold,

would you feel better? Do you have any good books? I have a lot of books about plants. Okay. I'll take it. Do you want a book about a plant? Could one be a loner? Okay, no, you can have it. So I'm going to go to my tiny little bookshelf

and just get a book. Here. It's about plants you can make poisons out of. I hope you like it. Start to speed read. I might want to take a look at that one. So, you know, we actually, we have, we have a friend who was also,

is also, fuck, an ASMR. Cool. She's an anime. I was trying to be positive. She had a bad time. She is no longer a good person. Maybe. She's still a bad time. She is no longer a good person. Aw. Maybe. She's still a good person.

She's stuck being a bad person right now. She might not have ever been a good person. Yes, she was. We're getting a lot of different stories here. We don't know. She was very enigmatic. We've lost a friend for the moment. Okay.

It's a raw subject. That sucks. I just didn't know if, this doesn't sound like a dumb question, but if there wasn't some sort of communication system. Among the Asimov? Yeah. No.

Oh. I mean, do you know if your friend has an angel friend, too? I think she's got a bad devil friend. Oh, well then, if she was bad, I'd have to kill her. Ooh. Sorry, those are the rules. Sorry, what rule is that?

The rule is that evil dies. Evil dies? Evil dies. Oh no, does this mean this white dragon is that? The rule is that evil dies. Evil dies. Evil dies. Oh no, does this mean this white dragon is evil? I don't know, Samuel didn't tell me. All I heard was dragon! He didn't go dragon kill. No, just dragon! You have to kill evil, not evil dies in general.

You are tasked with destroying evil? If there is evil, I will kill it. How do you know the difference between what's evil and maybe someone who's just confused or complicated? Sam Liel usually tells me, and I just listen to him. Does he have a stance on gray areas? No.

Oh. What if you disagree? I don't disagree. Wow. None of you are evil, right? Nope. Cool. No. Yeah. Not today. Not really.

He's joking. Okay. He likes my flower crown, so he can't be evil. He's a good guy. He's a super good guy. Shall we set off to the Plexus Post? Yes, do it. This way, everybody. Caduceus, as we walk, does the Wild Mother tell you people are evil

and gives you assassination tasks? Well, yeah. Shut the fuck up. He's playing the long con! What, how do you think all those bodies made it to that graveyard he grew up in? I made it myself. Oh no. I do want to, just on the way out, ask her plants.

She on the up and up, everything seems all right. You guys see a lot. Is she all right? The plants flicker vibrant green and healthy in their sunless abode. That's what I thought, all right, good. Excellent. All right.

As we walk, I'm going to whisper to the Traveler, hey, so, so, apparently some people talk to their people in dreams and say, hey, go find these people, and you don't really tell me anybody to really look for, necessarily, but if you ever want to, you know, feel free. Also, do you know anything about the White Dragon? Because that could be helpful.

At the corner of your eye, Reani, you just see Jester quietly talking to herself emphatically. Continuing, you guys are led through the main auger road, further down through the Liberdisk, until eventually you come upon a rather gaudy-looking building. You can see already the entranceway. It's like a double-set door,

and with a little bit of the window light you can see inside, there are multicolored paper lanterns that are clustered and jammed in corners. You can see bits and scraps of colored material and silks covering most of the windows themselves. There's a sign out front that says the Plexus Post. It just remains still, not much in the way of noise or traffic

making its way in or out. Remind me again, we're talking to Ava? Ava. Yes. Master Ava. Well, this looks good. She's apparently the collector. But I mean, Reani seems to know far more about her. Just don't make her mad.

Don't make her mad, don't offer any flower wreaths. No flowers. Yes. No crowns. No crowns. Chiara's, whatever. And we're looking for Mithril. Yes, and anything about dragons that she might know. All right. A few things. I'm going to stay out here and keep watch, I think.

Just survey the scene. I'll stay out there with Beau. I'll move. All right. I'm going in. I'm going in as well. I'm definitely going in. Okay, who all is going inside? I will be going in in a moment after I finish making the plexus post look like the penis post.

Is this your painting on the sign? I stand guard. Okay. Make a steady hand check. It's pretty easy. Yeah, I looked, I checked it out. If Reani thinks you're evil and kills you for doing this. It's not evil, it's fun.

19 plus eight. 27. Power of the penis. In a very impressive display of Banksy-level street art, you rapidly scrawl across the Plexus Post sign and leave it as intended. Hope you didn't use your magic paint.

Nope. That was not hard. Jester's World of Dance. All right. You enter through the front door. It's a familiar sight to you, but the rest of you see what looks to be the most organized hoarder experience you could imagine in a subterranean elf dwarven city.

It is just floor to ceiling canisters and bags and little boxes, each with little labels and tags on them. Just from floor to ceiling, awkwardly set in ways where they're about to tumble over. Everything looks cluttered, but organized, if that makes sense. It is just a mass amount of all sorts of containers

of different sizes and the strange scents immediately hit you that are a combination of scented candles and dried cedar meets a musty fungal smell. Then as soon as you take the next step, that shifts again into almost dried meats and long, dusty leather. The next step leads you into the smells of wet metal. It is a strange interior and it is immediately imposing.

It feels like you're walking into a warehouse that you have no idea what lies in here. As soon as you enter, with low light, there is some lanterns around you and the scraps of material that hang in front of the windows and parts of the ceiling. Across the way, you see a figure spin around in a little swiveling stool,

currently in the process of holding a tiny knick-knack in hand with a paintbrush. You see an elven woman with wide shoulders and a faint mustache of dark gray-green color that matches her long gray-green hair. Very fine and thin. She's dressed in a patterned frock of a Marquesian make under a cotton robe.

She turns around, looks at you, places her little knick-knack and brush in the side, and stands up in this awkward, stilted way, and approaches, upper body almost unmoving as the feet swivel one in front of the other, the head slightly tilted. Might I help you? Oh yeah, we are new to the city.

We are here for a few things, some supplies for our journey and also to do a bit of fact finding. And if you believe it or not, we are searching for some mithril in town. I don't suppose you have anything for sale, ha ha ha. I can check. I have many things. Ha ha ha.

Many things. You have my favorite. All I ask is you stay put, please. Of course. Stay put. Good, Duggan. I'll look. Okay. I wish there was a dog. Then she turns around and whisks off

and vanishes down one of the aisles and you can hear things shifting out of sight, boxes being moved and things clattering to the ground. It sounds like a pod almost like ping, ping, ping, ping, ping off to the side and a. Reani, how often do you speak with Ava? I try not to, but I got to pay Ren. She takes all my things and she gives me money,

so I don't know. She pays you? Once a month. I give her stuff. But she knows your resourcefulness. Yeah. Okay. She takes your things? She takes my things. What do you mean, she takes?

You sell? I give her my things. And she gives you money? We trade things. Oh, I see. What kind of things do you trade to her? Things, you know, I've been around. Just stuff that I found. I found some dungeons and they had some mystical artifacts in them or whatever,

and so I keep them, and so sometimes I give them to her because she wants them. Okay. But she still doesn't take my flower crowns, whatever. Her figure turns back, coming along the way what looks to be a small wooden box with a number of shiny things poking out the top. She sets it down on the table where she was sitting.

Who may come now, please, to my desk, if you don't mind? Of course, of course. Does she look like a bunch of kobolds in a... Make a perception check. Come on, higher than a ten. 17. 17. You glance around across the robe, intently looking.

No signs of kobolds, but your eyes meet her, intently noticing you, intently looking at her and goes, Sorry. Sorry. I don't know, she doesn't like eye contact? I was scoping her. She doesn't like eye contact? I was scoping her. You wanted that? I have some mithril things, perhaps, you're interested.

Sets the box down, you look inside. There are what looks to be a mithril teacup, what looks to be a small figurine. They're all just little things that have been crafted or pressed or molded to be collectibles and apparently made of mithril. The material itself looks beautiful, but it's not like a bar of ore by any means.

Oh man, I wonder how much old Umi needs. What do you do with a mithril teacup? Drink out of it. Well, that's fair. Yeah. If you're really fancy. The nobles have strange tastes, and when they get sick of their old things

and buy new ones, well, they find their way to me. Just as a means of measure, that particular teacup, very charming. How much would you require for that? For that teacup there, let's see. Fine craftsmanship, mithril as itself is a fantastic material, especially for crafting, pliable, but light and strong and sturdy.

That is meant to last many lifetimes, something you pass down from generation to generation. That teacup, I'd say, would run you about 75 gold pieces. Okay. Okay, okay. And how much for all of it together? All of this, the box here? Oh, you're looking for quite a bit, aren't you?

The one you're such a means. She looks very passively, aggressively unhappy with being eyeballed by you. For the box entirely, I'd say... 800 gold. That's a lot. Well. That's a lot of myth rule. Yeah, I know, I just don't know

if we need that much, I'm not sure. Well, then grab a few things and we'll pay for them individually. I don't have all day, make your much, I'm not sure. Well, then grab a few things and we'll pay for them individually. I don't have all day, make your choices. I told you she's mean. I quite like it, it's fascinating. I don't mean to ask, but since it seems like

we might do a bit of shopping here, we're looking for some refined residuum, if you have anything like that. I'm not entirely certain I know what that is. Oh wow, you don't know what's residuum? Wow. I know of residuum. I have some residuum, refined residuum. Describe that to me.

Oh, it's like residuum, but like a denser, larger, pure crystal, a big green crystal of it, I guess would be the best way of... Green crystal? Big green crystal. it, I guess, would be the best way of. Green crystal. Big green crystal. I'll be back, Pink One. She stands up and drifts off again, the feet moving quickly. Should I steal something from the Throne?

Should I steal something from the Throne? Your gold is almost nothing. Yes. No, no, just no. We are going to just use our words. There is no reason to flip this whole situation upside down. We're on a divine mission. It can't be weird about a divine mission. Also, if you steal it, I'll have to kill you.

Yes, right. Oh no. That's true. Just wait, so what is? But this is stealing from a bad person. Even though she doesn't take my flower crowns, she isn't a bad person, she's just mean. So, Reani, you're that hard line,

so if I jaywalked across the street, instant death, beheading instantly. Like, what is the line? What if you're stealing a loaf of bread to give to an orphan? Like in Les Mis. Well, that's different because then you're doing good, but you're stealing for your own means and that's bad. But what if we're stealing the mithril

so we can create a sword that will help save the world? So those gray areas we were talking about. Oh, oh gosh. Sam Lial didn't prepare me for this. It's all about balance, really. You hear an impact heavily and you see what looks to be a jar of some kind slams into the ground from off the side alley

where you watched Ava disappear down, then roll a bit before the top opening and a bunch of dust spilling out and you hear, ah, shit! Do you need a hand? No, it's all right, just ashes. And darts back off into the side. Looks like ashes? Looks like ashes. You said you're saving And darts back off into the side. Looks like ashes.

Looks like ashes. You said you're saving the world, right? Which is good. Can I go to sleep and take a nap and see if my angel will talk to me? Because this is really confusing. Okay, don't worry about it. I won't steal anything from you.

You don't have to make a life or death call right now. Okay. As we're looking around in the shop, are there any arms or shields or plate armor or any other things that adventurers might be looking to? Make a perception check. Also anything that just looks cool. 13. Make a perception check as well.

Yes, I would like to also look for shiny things. I'm also just going to cast a Tech Magic and see if anything pops up. All right. I'm going to stand there and start crafting more flower crowns. Okay. I'm going to stand there and start crafting more flower crowns. Okay. 10, 15, 10? 14, wait, 15.

15, okay. Looking around, you don't see anything that looks visibly armor. Most things are put away. Like they're locked into boxes or set into crates and above higher shelves. And there's just like row after row after row of high shelves, floor to ceiling, and the ceiling itself

probably goes to about 11 or 12 feet up. Kind of creating a room of requirement. A little bit. At a first glance, you're not entirely certain what could be a weapon. Some of them are long boxes, short boxes, tall boxes, wide boxes, some of them are baskets. Yeah, it's just, this is the most mighty haberdashery

beneath the surface of Exandria. But yeah, between you and Nott, both, you'd have to pour through these to really make ends of what's inside. There are boxes that nothing is out and exposed. No, no. No, the price No price tag swinging. Are there any boxes that could be opened?

I'm sure there's plenty. Anything glowing, though? There are a few things glowing, actually, in the vicinity. You do not see anything sticking out, but what you do notice is at the top of two of these stacks, you see two tiny creatures. They have a dark, ashen gray skin,

little humanoid, but faced with a pointed nose and fanged teeth, little sets of wings, and they're perched on top looking down at you with these faintly glowing yellow eyes. Little imps just watching. Security cameras. Yes, sir. Imps? Yes. Imps. watching. Security cameras. Yes, sir. Imps?

Imp. Imps. Unicode, demon imps. Yeah, yeah. It's very standard in any kind of shop like this. You get an app with them. Yeah. Aren't those bad things?

Eh. Sam Liel hasn't said anything, so I let them live. Okay. Moral certainty is I'm so glad that we're finally getting a bit of this. I feel like it's been missing from this group for a while. I know! I'm not saying it's a flavor we have to have all the time,

but I'm glad. All we needed was the threat of imminent death, so that's all we needed. I'm glad you're getting a taste. That's all I'm saying. I don't know if we steal that. You might have to die. Can I wave at them? Mm-hmm. The head just turns.

Can I hold up a little bit of cookie that I took from her house? The one on your left side takes off and snatches out of your hand and rushes back up to the perch and. Thank you. Oh shit, it talks! You're welcome!

Then it just keeps watching, at which point Ava turns the corner again, has two baskets under each arm, different ones, like a dark brown shade, the other one's just a dull gray, it looks like it's been woven, sets him down. All right, let's see if we have what's necessary. He pulls out what looks to be,

there are different shards of glass, you can see one looks like pieces of elongated crystal that have been made into points. The coloration's a little off. It looks more like a bluish clear crystal. I don't think that's it. I do have some residuum. Sets down a small pouch.

It looks almost like a snuff pouch, if you will, but opening it up, you can see inside there's a condensed block of residuum that's just been pressed. Goes ahead and pulls open what looks to be a wooden box with a lock on it. You watch Ava look at it and do a little signal with the finger and the lock on it opens up.

Opens up and on the inside you do see what looks to be five elongated shards, almost diamond shape of familiar green glass. That's what I'm looking for, right there. Fantastic, glad to hear it. How much would that cost us? Well, let me go look at my books. I'm not sure what the going rate is for refined residuum.

I'll also mention that we are happy to discuss trade or any sorts of work that may need to be done. Work, you say? What's your specialties? Well, are you in league with this one? As unique as she may be, she does occasionally bring useful things to me. Are you in a similar sort of wanderlust-type lifestyle?

We may be in that very sort of position, actually. Definitely some overlap. Now, and you see the eyes look back to you. Are you more of the bold creature hunting type, or do your skills lean more subtle, unseen, quiet? Actually, we're quite talented in both arenas. We were talking about going to Tangle with a White Dragon.

That's ridiculous. Is it? Do you know of one around here? No. Okay. We will probably be having an encounter with the White Dragon perhaps before the week is up. However, if you needed more subtle work, as you put it, accomplished, we might be able to help out. Well then.

She goes ahead and takes the two baskets off the table, leaving the one unlocked case of the residuum glass. Are you able to bypass barriers unseen, only to return with others none the wiser? We have before. Good. I have a bit of a personal issue with one of the noble families in Uthodurn.

They're not very nice. They're not very gracious. They are, well, how do I say? Classless. Hmm. And they've come into the ownership of something that was intended for me, not lawfully so. I would be interested in perhaps you

finding your way subtly into their estate and returning it to its rightful, paid for owner. So they stole it from you? Yes. So they're evil. They are immoral and scrupulous. How believable is this story? I was going to insight check some of this.

Make an insight check. Pretty believable. 14. 15. 15? Her demeanor is so strange and off-kilter that you're having a hard time really discerning any subtle motive. Seems pretty straightforward. Who is this royal person, and where do they reside?

They are known as the Tumblecarves. Tumblecarves? The residence is near the end of the Libberdisc, in the affluent Demerant Circle. There's a number of wealthy families that live there, but it shouldn't be too hard to find their estates. A three-story home towards the back wall, sort of wedge-shaped to the front,

dual balconies on the second floor. Keep an eye for it, Niasse. This'll be. And the item? They have a ring that belongs to me. They've made it part of their personal museum collection. It's a red metal spiral across the band, filigreed with elven script, set atop by an oval-shaped polished stone object. That is my quarry, and I would like my property back.

What does the ring do? That's none of your concern. Well, what if it's going to kill us the minute we put it on? It's not going to kill you, I assure you. Is it a good ring, then? Will it help people when you put it on? It will help me quite a bit. We only ask in case it's something

we might be able to utilize in need of quick escape to return it to you. Unfortunately not. It's more of a subtle enchantment. Don't worry yourself with it. I imagine this will be something that we take care of perhaps after our more pressing matter. Well. I know that we can,

one thing at a time, of course. Did you want to see anything else in the shop, by the way, since we're here? You noticed a few magical pings, yeah. I was curious about that, that, that. Keep saying that, only 12 times. That, that, that, that, that. Come up with an answer.

So what are you asking about? I'm pointing specifically at everything that glowed when I was looking around. Okay. Maybe three of them. Those things. Three of the blips that you saw were from a similar space.

She goes over and takes this small, long box off the shelf, sets it down, and slides it open. The lid actually pulls outward and it leaves it open. You can see in there what look to be these river stone-looking pieces of rock that are faintly blue, and they almost look somewhat translucent, like a polished quartz crystal, semi-opaque, semi-transparent, and they're a little soft. She pulls one out and sets it down, and it seems to have a little give to it as it's placed. Like a mochi ball?

Kind of, I guess you could say. All right. That's interesting. What does it do? I have to go check, I'll be right back. Why doesn't she know these things are there? Why don't you bring the books to the front? All right, it's fine.

You know what you should do now, you should just touch it and see what happens. I'll touch it. As your hand gets close, you hear from both of the imps up there. Thank you. I guess it's because you didn't try to steal all the metal, huh?

She returns. We could kill them very quickly. These are echo stones. Echo stones? Echo stones. Watch. She takes it and squeezes it in her hand and you watch it glows faintly and she goes, It's useful, hopefully, depending on the situation.

Then releases it and tosses it about five feet behind you. It makes almost no sound as it hits the ground. It's a talk bag. And that's it. What is it? I go over and wave my hand over it. Nothing happens. Touch it. It's squishy. Jump over it.

You leap over it. Rather disappointing. I'm going to pick it up and squeeze it in my hand. As you go and pick it up, it suddenly says the exact phrase and the exact voice that she left into it. Interesting. It's a way to leave messages for each other, or?

Or a distraction, perhaps? It'll repeat it over time. I'll pull the exact, I'll drink up here. That's pretty cool. I don't know how we would use it. We could come up with something. It's like the whiteboard on your college board. It repeats it every five minutes.

On its own? On its own, until it's been squeezed once more and no longer and continuing its repetition. Ah, it's a diversion. Right into the corner, yeah. That's cool. That's cool. There are five of them in the box,

or four in the box now and the one that's in there. That's very cool. If you wouldn't mind, please. Oh, sorry, I was chewing on it a little bit. It's probably okay, though. How much would one of those run? Oh, each of these runs about 100 gold pieces. Could be. You could save 450 for the lot, if you're interested.

Could be useful when infiltrating. May I ask, would you mind if I inspected your residuum? By all means. He slides it forward on the table. The refined residuum? Mm, I see. It's a familiar coloring texture to you.

Oops. What? Oh! It's a familiar coloring texture to you. Oops. What? Oh! That's what the crystals were! What crystals were? That is a Shaman's Rose! Oh shit!

That makes sense. We're not saying that out loud, don't worry. I'm saying it out loud! No. Thank you. Ah. Of course. So, if you wish these stones, one, two, or the lot, what would you like to purchase?

Before we, is there anything else that I saw popping up? He goes ahead and pulls over, and you can see what looks to be a small vial, has a swirling, dull, look at the coloration on this one here. Yeah. Got all the items. Yep.

This one has a pinkish purple tint to it. Oh, that's cool. And says, This in particular is an elixir that can purify the body of any sort of ailments. I believe so, and she grabs it and looks underneath and puts a little tag. That is exactly what it is.

That labeling system is a really good idea. That's actually occasionally helpful. You should maybe write what it does on the outside of the box, so you don't have to. But then it just makes it that much easier for it to be pilfered by wandering eyes. This is true. What does? Never mind.

Don't doubt my techniques, I don't doubt yours. See, she's me. She's kind of abrasive. I think, was there anything else that was glowing up that I'm mad at? There was the stones, there was the vial, and I'll say there is probably one. One more. One more. I won't push any further past this one.

Okay, okay. Got to do three. Brings it over and pulls up what looks to be a small jewelry box, about that big. Pulls it out of a larger container, rummaging through, lifts it and opens it up, looks for the little tag on the side and goes, yes, this is a ring that's enchanted.

It's a simple application with the intent of just enabling a minor bit of passive protection to an individual who, you know, wishes to survive in a very harsh world. Fjord, do you think you could use one of those? Who has a ring of Protection already? And how much for that beautiful ring you have there? She goes in. They're expensive.

Ah, let's see. That would run you about 3,000 gold pieces for that. Right. What is that, a plus two to AC or plus one? It's a plus one to AC and saving throws. Ooh! Do you need protection, Mr. Green Man? His name is Fjord. Fjord, do you need protection, Fjord?

Yes. I can protect you. Thank you. We never told you I could keep you safe. We didn't. No, but you guys seemed nice, so I just trusted you. Wow, that's so nice. You know, Ava, Rini here tells us so much about you,

and about how wonderful you are to work with, and how kind you are to her, and. That's not what I said. Oh, well, I was trying to help out with your relationship a little bit. No, it's okay. We're very aware of our relationship. Thank you for whatever you were attempting,

but it's unnecessary. And I'm guessing you still don't want a flower crown? I will destroy you. Ava, could I offer you 850 gold for all of the mithril that you have and one of those little echo stones. Make a persuasion check. Make money. 16.

16? Do you? Yeah. Shuffles the pile of various mithril knickknacks and sets one of the stones amongst the pile. Closes the box. We have some business to take care of and then once we're finished with it,

we'll be back to have a conversation, perhaps, about the residuum. Well, if you manage to return this object I seek, then I'm very excited at this transaction. I'm excited as well. I think this may work out well for everybody involved. I'm only curious, and just because I am a curious creature, what is your intent with this refined residual?

I am on a mission for the Wild Mother. She asked me to procure this and so I shall. Hmm. Sure. Very well. Anything else you require? Did you want the residuum? We'll be back.

I do, but, uh. One step at a time, right? One step at a time. Fair enough. You don't deal in spells, do you? No, unfortunately, the Steeple tends to run most of that business. Ah, of course.

Steeple. That's where we're going next. Did I notice anything suspicious while watching outside? My notes are awesome. Watching outside, nothing caught your attention specifically. Okay. This is out of the way, and it's so strange. It doesn't seem like a lot of people

tend to enjoy coming through just to check in on you. I put the mithril in the Bag of Holding, and I threw the echo stone to Jester. Let's double check that this is enough mithril, and then the right, if we can just maybe even keep it in the box and just have the box get hit or I don't know. After we let it hit the archive.

Oh yeah, of course. Yes. That would suck if we had to hold up every single item on the zone. Yeah. Breathe here, breathe here, breathe here. Oh. She's licking stamps and.

Before we leave, Miss Ava, do you know what ice flecks are, and do you have any of it? I haven't the foggiest idea what that is. Sorry. Can you check? Can you check? Sure.

Turns around and goes off. Just kill the imps and steal everything. I don't think we should kill the imps. I think that would go very badly. Remember, I'll have to kill them. Oh, that's right! Yeah, how do you forget? Hey, imps!

Great security is right here. They've also just been listening to us have this entire conversation. They can't speak carbon. They can. And then also, if you kill them, then maybe she'll kick me out of my house, and then where am I supposed to go? We'll give you your house?

She's the reason I have it. I did a lot of trading, it was a long story, and I kind of don't want to be home with you guys. Oh, that's so important. Good context, yes. Not stealing. Then once again, I'd have to kill you. All right. And you seem so nice.

And I assure you, they can speak Common, right? They can. We hate to die. Thank you. You guys are real cute. They just know the couple phrases. Not today. Oh, see?

Yes, I am very cute. Ava's still in the bed. Ava, did you find anything? Comes by a moment later. No ice flecks, sorry, fresh out. All right. All right, thank you. We'll be returning, hopefully, with your item. Yes, please, I'd love that.

Exciting. Ta-ta. Ta-ta! Be careful. We head out. Did you see anything while we were inside? No. Turns out people aren't that interested, or... They were pretty normal.

You sound slightly disappointed. How'd it go with you? Yeah. We got some stuff. I waited for 30 minutes and nothing happened. Yeah, we got a box of mithril and... Ooh, can I see? It's in the, oh, I have the Bag of Holding, yes. There's the Echo Stone. Take out the box.

There's a teacup and a bunch of other fragments of shit. That little soldier guy is cool. Yes. Can I hold a soldier guy? That is a game that's cool. Sure. Mr. Coatman, did you want to go see books? Oh, I asked you. Mr. Coatman. The answer to that is always yes. My name is Beauregard, by the way.

Hi, Beauregard. Yeah, good to meet you. Nice to meet you. Don't kill us. I won't! Don't be bad. And that's Caleb Coatman. Thank you, Caleb Coatman, Wid to meet you. Nice to meet you. Don't kill us. I won't! Don't be bad. And that's Caleb Coatman. Thank you, Caleb Coatman, Widowgust. I'm not the brave. Not the brave. And your gesture, you whispered it to me.

Caduceus Pink Guy, apparently. Can I call you Pinky? Yeah. Hi, Pinky. Caduceus Pink Guy. Pinky's Pink Guy. Not today. We have Caduceus plays with his poop.

Like the ladies. I don't get it. The lead singer of a ska band. Caduceus, pink guy. No, Tupac, Tupac. There's a line on this table and you find the guy. Ska is the line? Ska is by gods always alive.

He's the drummer for Yasha. Warren. I cast Conjunctivitis. He's alive. He's the drummer for Yasha? Warns. I cast Conjunctivitis. It's a six-level spell, you're not there yet. Too much in the deck. You're also better, fella, quick! So we have Lord Greenman, Beauregard, Caleb Coatman, Nott the Brave, Jester, and Pinky.

Mm-hmm. And Reani. Is Reani short for anything? Caleb Coatman, Nott the Brave, Jester, and Pinkie. Mm-hmm. And Reani. And Reani. Is Reani short for anything? Yeah, Rhiann M'near. Oh, that's beautiful. Rhiann M'near is beautiful. But it takes a lot of people a long time to learn that, so it's Reani.

Rhiann M'near. That's beautiful. Have you ever heard of the Ruby of the Sea? Actually, I have. I've met her once. You have? Yeah. That's my mom! I love your mom!

I know, she's so great, right? She's so pretty. Oh my god, did you hear her perform? Yes. When were you there? When I was a kid, but I was, I know I wasn't supposed to be there, but I went to visit your mom,

because I followed Landon, because my dad wanted to go see her performance, so I went behind and then I was like, whoa, she's so pretty, I wanted to be here when I grow up. How old were you? I was five. Oh, that was before I was born, probably. I grab Borogod by the shoulder and say, come on, we're going to the Archives.

Yes, thank you. Just the two of you? We're all going. We're going to catch up. Yes, step ahead. We go running after them, being very noisy. We should go. All right, you guys step ahead. And with a little bit of guidance from Reani

and your general streetwise awareness, you eventually find your way towards the vellum steel. But you see. DM question? Yes. Okay, and you mentioned before that this is primarily dwarven and elven in terms of population. Correct. We are out of Xhorhas, of Xhorhasian borders.

Yes, yes. You guys are outside of the elements of the war. You are far north of the Empire. North and west, or just straight up north? It's more north of the Empire and northwest of Xhorhas. Cool. Okay. East of Xhorhas. Oh, northwest of Xhorhas. Cool. Okay. Oh, northwest of Xhorhas, got it.

Yeah. All right. I give you a look. There's Matt, point to a finger. Well, that's just the whole thing. Right there, right smack dab. Right there. That was pretty stupid.

That was gross. Off to the steeple. Indeed. You come upon the grand, curving tower of blue marble that glitters as it ascends, blending into the rock above it. The exterior of it seems to reveal the presence of very wide cavernous halls on the inside. You can see what looks to be very, very limited color palette on stained glass

that sits primarily between red and yellow to be complementary to the mostly blue structure itself. The outside of it looks to have a colorless courtyard of bushes that have a gray tint, the leaves themselves looking to be heavily textured. This is a unique form of subterranean plant life that you haven't really come across.

So it's a makeshift garden on the outside of an odd type of lightless plant life. You saw elements of this, actually, underneath in the Shadow Shire of Rosohna, usually used in less decorative and more an element of the subterranean planting process and farming as a separator to various fields. But here, it's given a slightly beautiful manicured presence

on the exterior of the staple. You can see the door is open. There is a curved archway and a very, very tall door, probably 10 foot to the top. On the inside, it's warmly lit, an orange, and you hear a chime. You approach. Looks like a...

Oh, they have a door open. Oh, good. They have a lucky cat in there, so. I have an echo. But as you step and approach, you can see there are a few figures that walk out. They look to be well-dressed noblefolk. You see a pair of elves,

male and female, walking arm in arm, watch as you pass and continue out into the city. As you step inside, you can see what looks to be a long, curved table with two individuals at the front. You see what looks to be a young elven man in cream-colored robes what looks to be a young elven man in cream-colored robes with a sash of golden burgundy, has a cool stitched pattern throughout it. He was sitting there looking bored out of his fucking mind.

To the left of him, you can see what looks to be a dwarf woman, middle-aged or so, who has a very, very thick pair of spectacles on and is currently in the process of sketching or writing in a tome of some kind on the table. As you step into the chamber, the bored elf gentleman, without even looking up, goes, Can I help you? Yeah, good afternoon.

New to town, and we have heard great things about the Archive. Wanted to inquire as to the... Are you here to meet with the Woodset Auditors? The Woodset Auditors? You are not here to meet with the Woodset Auditors. They're Otters? You are not here to meet with the woodset auditors. Are there auditors? Auditors would be interesting.

Yeah. Can I help you? And then finally looks up and starts making eye contact. We hear you have some books. Are they open to the public? Is there any method by which visitors to the city may peruse your shelves? No.

You can request a book, and it will be brought to you under supervision. Yeah. But this is not an open library. This is a place of research. Understood. I apologize. The thing is, we are here under a diplomatic mission.

I'm actually Beauregard Lionett with the Cobalt Soul. I've reached Brow Ruffles. Cobalt Soul? Yeah. I probably want to speak to, what's his name, Demond? Yeah, I'm sure you have a representative here. We didn't have them throughout the Empire. They just occasionally wander through. I'll look into it.

Check and see if he's in. That's the first time you said the last name out loud, right? Yes, it is. Yeah, I thought so. Gets up and walks away. The old woman's still sitting there, just not paying any attention or giving two shits about your presence.

You wait for two minutes, three minutes. Hi. Right. Do you have any books about weasels? Yes. Can I see one? No. Do you have any books about...

I don't know about that. The Traveler? Don't know what that is. What kind of a... Anyway. Do you have any books about alchemy? Yes. Can we see it?

Nope. How can we see it? Your representative is already on his way to get you some person to speak to. You've already been helped. Leave me to my business. What is she doing? It's a puzzle book.

She's essentially doing crossword puzzles. Amazing. Wow. Do you come here, Reani, a lot? I do. Do you have a card or something, a library card? Noticing this, how long have we been waiting? About four minutes. Only four minutes?

Four to five minutes. Ugh! So I'll step up to the desk. I'll be like, excuse me, I know you're busy with your puzzle book, and I know that she had a really cool fancy last name, but the EVAS has sent me, so we have to go see books now.

Is that cool? We have to go see books now. Can I please leave? What did you say? The EVAS has sent me, so we have to go see books now. Whatever they want. I'll go fetch the scribe board and hold on.

Thank you! Have a good day! How are you, Executive Platinum? What just happened? E.V.I.S.! Oh, so. Everybody's here. Everybody's here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, okay. Remember that time I said that I keep everybody safe? Yeah. So I do it as only animals, and I keep everybody safe, and they started calling me Eva S., and that means the Lightbringer or whatever, and it's a cool legend around here.

You're a superhero? Kind of. What? Well, nobody knows. So this is your secret identity? Shh. So Reani is your secret identity? Shh. That's great, baby. Reani is really Yvaias? Yes.

Do you change your personality, your persona? I change into a scorpion, or a bear, or a wolf, or an an eagle or a snake. How do they know it's you then? Because what else are there going to be animals around like that down here? There's animals. It's kind of rare to see animals

with halos and gold eyes. So they haven't caught on that you have a halo and gold eye? No. They're dumb. Yeah. Wow. But it's kind of fun, and I've been here for five years, and so people keep talking about it, and sometimes there are drawings and stuff

of me as an eagle. I'm like, whoa, that's me! But I can't tell them that it's me, because then they'll blow my cover, and then people will come to kill me, because lots of the crime families that I keep on the DL, they would want to kill me, so. So this is another identity for yourself.

Yeah, and if you tell anybody, I'm going to have to kill me, so. So this is like another identity for yourself. Yeah, and if you tell anybody, I'm going to have to kill you. Oh! Oh! The door opens, and you watch as the old dwarf woman returns and sits down at the desk, followed by what you see is a very tall, pale-skinned elven woman with a platinum blonde pompadour,

short in the back, but billowing in front. These bright blue piercing eyes. You recognize as the Scribewarden approaches. Hello, Reani. Word is that you've come under the request of the Yvayas? Yeah. And gives a wink. Uh-huh. You get the immediate sense that

she's not good with keeping a secret identity. I'm thinking Clark, everyone knows Clark Ganswell. Superman, everyone's like, oh no! Superman, you just showed up. Where did Clark go? So what can we do to help the Evaias? So he likes books, she likes weasels, and we need to find a dragon, a white dragon.

White dragon? Yeah. Also, if you do have a representative of the Cobalt Soul here, that would be cool, because I did mention that. But if you're offering, we would love to peruse any books you have on the subject of mythical beasts or creatures of great repute or dunamancy or local legends or the earth.

And weasels. Or Laughing Hands. One book at a time. Let's prioritize. Caleb? What do you wish us to retrieve? Creatures of this realm, local legends that might talk of beasts like, yeah, I think you've said it multiple times,

I think she heard, white dragons. White dragons. Yeah, white dragons. I'll return with such a tome. The price is 10 gold per hour of research. And you can only look at one book at a time? You can put multiple books as one per individual, of course, each paying independently. We have to fund our research somehow, as you know, really.

Sure. Excellent. So if we are getting a couple books for a few of us to read, I will cover the costs. Do you have anything also on more intricate forms of transmutative magic here? I can certainly look. So who will be taking the possible tome of transmutative magic?

That one will be for me. Right. Then who is taking the interest in mythological creatures and folklore? I'll take that. All right, that's two. Who else needs one? Anything have pictures in it? There's mostly pictures. There's a lot of pictures.

I'll get you a picture book. All right. All right. With like, what's on that? I'll take a book on deities, new and old, perhaps. That'll do. Very well, Pantheon speak. Probably pre-calamity, such a thing. Very well, anything else?

Yes, alchemical guide to making different chemistry mixtures, sticky things, or puffy things, or acidy things. All right, five books. And Chester, you were saying you wanted a book about ancient forms of the arcane, like the origin of magic in Exandria. That's what I've been looking for my entire life.

For what is this? I'm sorry. Focusing on the ancient forms of arcane. Very well. Do you have to roll damage for that? My brain just fell out of my ear. I thought you said weasels. Ancient arcane weasels, specifically. I will do my best.

And the Evaias requests what? A book of new poisons, please. Anything poisonous plants, mixing poisons, creating poisons, killing people, anything like that. Interesting, very well. Thank you. It'll be done. What was your name? Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Scribewarden Ressia Uvesic.

Scribewarden? Scribewarden, yes. What's Scribewarden? Ressia Uve. Ressia Uvesic. Uve. Ressia Uvesic. Uvesic.

Can I just walk and talk with you for a second as we go? Well, no, I'm retrieving the books for you. You must stay here. Can I walk and talk with you to the threshold of which then I will stay behind? Certainly. Thank you. All right, but you must pay in advance

that seven tomes, that 70 gold for the first hour, repeating from there on with the continuation of your research. See, I would like to, if we could just, just real quick. Right. It's like two seconds. We're like to, if we could just, just real quick. Right. It's like two seconds. We're going to have a hundred gold before this is over. She goes ahead and steps off to the side, joins you.

So? Yes, you may know Archivist Zeenoth from Cobalt Soul in Zadash. I'm familiar with the Cobalt Soul, yes. We do have one such representative here on our research mission. Okay, yeah, that would be good if we could maybe connect with him.

And if you know, the Cobalt Soul is always interested in sharing any type of information and having that free flow communication. Of course, but have you for trade, then. Sure. Sure. Yeah. I will pull...

What do I have for trade? You've got some crossbows. Look, I know there is free trade of information within your troop, your faction. However, we are a legitimate business, and there needs to be a history book. A history book. And Courting of the Krik, the Smut.

Okay, just a general history book. What history book do you have? It was the one on the cream. The smutty one? No, I had two. Did we already read that whole book, that history book? Mm-hmm. I did. Okay.

Yeah, okay. Thumbs to the history book. Interesting. The second one's really valuable, too. You don't have to look through it. Oh my. Told you. She has a bit of an anxiety.

Terribly sorry. We'll go ahead and consider this trade for two of the research periods, so 50 gold for the first hour. Here's 10 gold. Not bad, not bad. Sure, 10 gold for me. Oh yes, same, same, same, same, same. Even though I'm probably just researching for Caleb.

Here's 10 more, that's 40. Who's got 10 gold for Skyborden? I was looking through my things. I will cover all of it, if need be. I'll put forth 10 gold to tingle, too, and give me back the smut. We're covered. Thank you.

Yeah. I will return. Thank you. And she leaves, and as soon as she passes by, you can see the elven man who was originally here enters, giving a bow of respect towards the Scribewarden, and behind you see entering, looks to be a male gnome with a curly mop of red hair, blue eyes, and cobalt soul attire, familiar to you guys

who've been by the Archives in Zadash, comes in with himself a pair of his own large wide spectacles to match the dwarven woman who met you at the front, and as he steps in, I, hello, sorry, I was called here for someone. Yeah, it's me. Right, right, I was called here for someone. Yeah, it's me. Right, right, I was in the middle of my research.

Cool. You want to chat? Certainly, are you here as well studying the moons? Absolutely. Are you a specialist? I am. Well, please tell me all about your mission here. I'm curious.

Me too. Him too. Right, all right. Who are you both with? I'm actually from the Cobalt Soul from Dutsudash. Oh, really? Oh, interesting. Are you as well?

Yeah. All right. Make a deception check. RIP. All right. Make a deception check. Rude, rude! 24. Wonderful, wonderful just to meet others. It's so far north here. I felt a bit isolated for some time,

so it's very exciting to meet other scholars. It's only work. Oh, very, very. So, I'm primarily researching Ruidus, the smaller of our moons. Ruidus. Ruidus. So you do know that there are two moons of Alexandria.

There's Catha, which is the main moon, that's the one that's largely associated with the Moonweaver, and the bright one that's, you know, the sky. And there's Ruidus, who's the main moon, that's the one that's largely associated with the Moonweaver, and the bright one that's, you know, where's the sky, and there's Ruidus, who's the secondary moon, which is a dull brown color, is much smaller and further, and is mostly not visible throughout most of the day, and usually only during certain points of night.

So I'm hoping and working here with the Woodset Auditors to see if there is some information that may have been recovered from the ruins of Molaesmyr. And so far, it's been a lot of false leads, but I'm working on that. Anyway, what have you been looking for? What is your process? Please tell me anything.

Oh, what was your name, by the way? So who? Oh, sorry. I know. Archivist Dimit Sunlash. Sunlash? Sunlash. Sunlash. Archivist Dimit? Dimit, yes.

Dimit? I read his glasses a bit. He's got a little, I mean, he's tiny. Like, even for a gnome, he's slightly hunched on his shoulders and probably comes up to mid-thigh for you, Beauregard. Okay. Just looking up at both of you. You said your focus was on Ruidus.

Personally, yes, it's the one that we know the least about. We know a bit more about Kaffa, actually. Understood, most do. It's mostly just folklore elements. There isn't a lot of specific study on it these days, which is why I find it such a fascinating subject. What have you found so far? Well, yeah, it's been a bit dry so far, hoping.

I mean, the standard beliefs of various cultures across Exandria, of it being an entity of ill omen. Yeah, speaking of the ill omen thing, we've actually been trying to research the coalescence between the moon cycles and beasts and fiends that happen, because maybe there's a correlation. Do you know, have you heard of anything?

I mean, that is very possible. The moon cycles themselves are distinctly related to various entities, whether it be abyssal curses or creatures themselves that are nocturnal, that come out by Cartha's light to hunt. Demons? Demons. Now, there is a lot of interesting thoughts and ideas about Cartha. Yeah.

About Ruidus. Ruidus itself. Some are believed to have been either a pre-creation, back when the elements themselves were consuming all of Exandria, but others believe may have not originally existed, may have been a creation by the Betrayer Gods, and was some sort of long-running mysterious plot that was cut short during the end of the Calamity, and when they were banished away.

That's what I'm certainly curious about. You think demons come from the moon? I don't. Some people do. Okay. White dragons? Anything with that? Those aren't demons. No, I know. Don't follow, but anything, yes. Just it's separate, you know, we've been getting pings and you know,

what's a demon, what's a dragon? I don't know, have you heard anything about a white dragon? Very distinctly different creatures, white dragons and demons. There are many varieties of both. No, I know. People are stupid, though. About a white dragon? Very distinctly different creatures, white dragons and demons. There are many varieties of both. No, I know. People are stupid, though. Have you heard anything about a white dragon?

In the area, specifically? I've, no. I've been here for about a year and a half. It's not really going anywhere. Sorry. But if I hear anything, I'll send word to the Dash, don't worry. He doesn't know anything about what he's doing.

You can ask him more times. What about you? What have been your findings? Well, it's illusory, really. It's, as you say, everything is shrouded in myth and legend. It's mostly superstition. Some people say it's made of cheese. Oh, what? Who?

People. People. I said they're dumb. Interesting, is there a particular culture that believes this? Because, I mean. Yes, Whitestone. Whitestone? Part of the local myth and legend in Whitestone. Tal'Dorei, such an uncultured land.

Interesting, I'll make note of this and bring it back. I wonder how far that goes. All right, thank you for that nugget of information. Question. Yes? You know, they're being a little by the books, no pun intended, about letting us view the archives. Right, right, of course.

We have to respect the way they do their business. Oh, no, I absolutely do. We wouldn't let just anyone peruse our libraries openly without interest. And Ione gives us free reign to spread the information. They don't fall under this same form of religious interest, so they're a little more protective. Understandably, too, because this place is very remote

and not involved in local politics and does not want to be a continuous draw of open information that would be an unwanted intention towards this. Okay, you think you could give us the hookup, say something, maybe let us go in, like get a little look-see? I could have done the same, but no.

Plus one, plus two? You know, do a little research. Shallow moon archivist. I'll tell you what. Yes. What I can do is show you my notes on Catherine Ruidus. Well, I'll take what I can get. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. Not now.

Too many prying eyes and ears, but perhaps, perhaps in the next two days, if interested, you could go ahead and meet me. Let's see, what would work here? We could meet at the Tumbled Tank. It's a bit of a seedy place, but I think no one will pay mind of our interest and I can tell you all about what I found.

This is not much, but it's interesting. Tumble what now? Tumbled T. Tankards. Basically, the D's interesting. Tumble what now? Tinkered. Basically the D&D equivalent of the Denny's parking lot. There's nothing good about it. You're not wrong. You don't go there, you wind up there. You wind up there.

A CD shop? It's a CD shop. CD shop. Yeah, it's fair. I know the Denny's parking lot all too well. You read Hot Chili Peppers, yeah! Unfortunately, the Dark Tower shop closed down a while back.

Quit while we're ahead, huh? Okay, well, Caleb and I look over his shoulder and we quickly read his, or no, he won't let us read his notes right here. No, no, no. You have to meet him at J.D.'s party, man. You can go to Denny's if you want a hookup, man. Well, you know, I can't guarantee

that we won't be busy. I don't know if we're going to be available, but I'll get back to you. Great, I'm usually here, so just ask for me. Thanks. Of course, thank you. And if you find any additional information, please do pass it along. I'm kind of flapping in the wind here a bit. Yeah.

He turns and watches as the Scribewarden enters. Heads on back to his research chambers. Bye, Sunlash! I always felt kind of sorry for Ruudis, you know? Why? Less noticed than its sister. It's the ugly duckling. Big, flashy sister, always trying to take all its attention.

Little sister feeling practically invisible. Yeah. Are you talking about wounds? Yeah, they are. Okay. My fucking contacts were for shit. We are a long way from home, Miss Lionett. Well, we've got some good books, though.

We've been traveling together for a long time. Take that long to drop a proper family name? You never asked. That's true. Shit. The scribe warden returns and leads you all to an independent research chamber where there is a large table that everyone's able to sit at

under supervision of the Scribewarden and is keeping track of how long you are reading and making sure that no undue use of these tomes is carried on. So you're given your respective books and begin to research. Interesting tidbits about different elements of nature that can be converted, whether they're poisonous to begin with

or under certain processing can be made into a toxin. Some of it's information you already know. Some of it is information about places you've never been. You learn about some other herbs that are indigenous to maybe south Xhorhas, some of the further south islands of the Menagerie Coast. Some of it speaks of the Vesperwood that surrounds an area of Nesilra, which is far, far, far west of here.

Also some strange blooms that happen in the deserts of Marquet as well, that have been known to have essentially induced coma-like effects. So you just take the information, very fascinating. Now, you were reading about Arcane Weasels. Well, I think she was reading. She was trying to slip the book to him, I believe.

Yeah, it was Arcane Origins and whatever the fuck. That's the title, it was Arcane Origins and whatever the fuck. That's the title, that's the specific title. Arcane Origins and whatever the fuck. Something on the bestseller list. So are you reading it? Sure. All right. It is a fascinatingly deep,

scholarly, verbose dissertation on various theories on the origins of mythological creatures. Some of them that believe that they stemmed from the breaking of the Elemental Planes when they once were just a mashed chaos across the surface of Exandria. Some that believe that they were born from dreams

of the first beings that were given life by the Pantheon. There are some that believe that they were creations magically through those that dabbled in arcane or divine-based magic to suit their own needs and then lost control of them, and thus they became part of the natural world as their own accord. Anything about blink dogs?

Yeah, I think about blink dogs. Blink dogs are believed to be fey in nature. Believed to have originally began in the Feywild and then were brought in and partially domesticated here in Exandria due to their unique talents. Spoke of the difficulty in breaking them, especially at a young age, and how they tend to be a bull in a china shop.

You immediately like, yeah, yeah, I know that. Fantastic. Any tidbits I wouldn't know about Nugget? and you immediately like, yeah, yeah, I know that. Protatic. Any tidbits I wouldn't know about Nugget? You learn that preferred foods tend to be ground nuts made into a meal. Oh shit. You're way off. So far. Yeah. For a healthy diet.

That's so weird. They'll eat pretty much anything. But that is considered a core element as part of the fey life in which it originally stemmed from. Blink and cut. You're looking for? Just looking for things I can make with chemicals. There's a chemistry book there

that goes down into alchemy, same thing. Similar to what Reani was looking for, a lot you've already learned. A few things here, there's some chemicals that aren't widely distributed here in Wildemount, because the materials aren't present, and you didn't grow up in a heavy trade city, necessarily. So other forms of chemicals that are used to

dissolve certain minerals and elements. It's interesting. Nothing that necessarily specifically triggers any interest, but I will say that you do come to find some easier and better methods to refining the chemicals you already work with. So that may help reduce the cost of some of the chemical components that you wish to purchase.

Cool. You were looking at a book of? It was higher intricate levels of transmutative magic. I'm looking for things about transformation and permanence, not transitory, so locking that change into place. Okay. Yeah, it's a lot of arcane theories

on the challenge of permanence when it comes to transmutative spellcraft. How a creature's natural form is intended and is stubborn against arcane nature. However, there are also entities and creatures that they are born not in their natural form and have a life coming to discovering that transition into their natural form, and that magic is actually easier

and more accepted into that space. The permanence element of it is challenging up until a certain level of magic. Discussions of the temporary elements of polymorph and the supposed idea that there is levels of polymorph-based magic that can induce permanence. You pick up some tidbits and some interesting ideas and some things that start getting your mind running a bit.

It isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it's helping just add more to the breadth of your understanding. Yeah, and is that the main focus of this book, or does it touch on the nature of reality itself? No, it's primarily on the nature of material elements, the matter and the attempts to try and transition those. It goes into discussion of the Philosopher's Stone

and wanting to make Golda Devlet and other material movements there. The success it's had, once again, temporary elements, which usually only helps in the process of deception and or temporary use of materials. So the elements matter and the manipulation of those things, good. You got a book on?

The deities. The deities. So it is a discussion of the wide pantheon of Exandria. It speaks loosely about the creation myth of the realm. It speaks of the tethered elements on how these entities came to the planet and attempted to quell the elemental chaos that was roiling across the surface

and the elemental titans that resided here before the Pantheon came, managing to separate and disperse them to their separate elemental planes and bring order and the beginning of life to the planet. It goes into the eventual betraying of what can be known as Betrayer Gods and the creation of other entities

that were just born out of the malice that begin to find its way into the heart of those that were created in the life form of the initial Pantheon. It goes into the discussion about the Age of Arcanum in which the gods gave the gift of, first it was divine, through worship, the divine presence of magic,

and then eventually the gift of the arcane, in which it's supposed to be lending of one's essence for magic. It taught them to create magic from within themself, and then became the rise of the, for lack of a better term, the arrogance of certain mortal species and races as well as cultures that began to see themselves

as now equal to or above the gods that created them. We're sent into the Age of Arcanum and you start going a little numb getting through this portion of the process. And even then, the Age of Arcanum is a bit spotty. A lot of the information is still lost with the Calamity and pieces of it are still being put together and a lot of its theories and a lot of its different people's notes about it until it continues into the Calamity and pieces of it are still being put together and a lot of its theories and a lot of its

different people's notes about it until it continues into the Calamity. There have been multiple times in which the gods have warred and a lot of terrible destruction has been wrought, but the Calamity itself, at the end of the Age of Arcanum, was what was responsible for destroying most standing society. Those that survived, either by going underground

or escaping, managed to begin the seeds of the current age. This was over 800 years ago. Fuck. It speaks of the Divine Gate, it speaks of the banishing of the Betrayer Gods, the self-imposed banishment of the Prime Deities, the creation of the Divine Gate that separates any of them from transgressing onto the actual Prime Material plane of Exandria.

And you finish, it takes you a few hours to finish this, and when it does, your head just like. Yeah, that's fair. Is that a lot to unpack, that one? Yeah, yes. I feel like most of this is stuff that some of you already know, but as an introduction, it's a bitch. Give me the three-line pitch, a summary.

What are the good bits? Yes, there were good gods and bad gods, and they fought, and they ruined parts of the world, and little things were left in its wake, and some were ruined parts of the world, and littler things were left in its wake, and some were sealed away, and some remain. Right, right, right. There are planes and alternate dimensions, and I might need to sleep tonight,

actually, to process all of this. Are you finished with that one? Yes, would you like to? Yes. Please, have at it. We're now pushing into hour four of research, by the way, guys. Every hour is an additional 10 gold per book

that's brought out, and there are currently seven books checked out. So we're looking at, right now, total 200. Actually, to that point. Lowered by 20 gold, so it's only 50 gold per hour, so you're looking at about 200 gold cost. If there is anyone still diving deep, I don't want to interrupt, I'm tapped.

I could certainly go back to Umi and see if the mithril that we've gathered is enough and meet you back on the outside of the Archive, yes? I'll come. Great. I would like to stay. Would you like to swing by and pick me up when you're finished? Yeah, we'll wait for you on the outside, I'm sure. If for some reason like to stay. Would you like to swing by and pick me up when you're finished? Yeah, we'll wait for you on the outside, I'm sure.

If for some reason you come out and we're not there, we'll be over. Just meet back at the room, yes. Our lodging is... Are there any books about healing? There are books about healing. Healing spells and stuff? Oh yeah, that can definitely be brought in. Okay.

Make a perception check for me. 18. 18. As you're getting towards the end of your transmutation book, you notice that one of the pages, the ink is different than the rest of the book. And I would know if it was arcane in nature or if...

Well, an arcana check. Yeah. Ready. 23. 23. This page itself holds a very, very simple transmutative spell on it, usually used to conceal or contain something just beyond the boundaries of this reality. It's like stumbling upon a pocket on your jeans

you didn't know was there before. Oh jeez. You're under supervision. Yeah. I'm still with you in the library. Yeah, so am I. If you need a distraction. Where is everybody else at this time? We're all still here.

Didn't you guys step out? We all sleep left. You guys all stepped out. Three of us have left. We out. All forms of vague moral authority left the building. All right, so you two and Fjord. There will be no killing. So the three of you guys are out? Or are you going to leave with them?

One, two, three. I still haven't read my fiend book about local fiends. Because that's what I was reading. Sorry, next one. Local fiends, like fiends specifically, or just creatures? Like local legends. Local fiends, like fiends specifically, or just creatures? Like local legends. Local legends is what I was getting.

Yes. It discusses the idea that the Flockhead Alps themselves are homes to a number of various frost giant clans that live amongst and within parts of the mountain. It speaks of wyvern nests in the peaks. It speaks of terrible, large lizards that themselves are an embodiment of elemental ice. Mm-hmm. It speaks of the known,

the yeti and the terrible yeti that do sometimes peruse and supposedly themselves run from a larger, more elder yeti that has long haunted the folklore of the Flotket Alps as well. Fucking yetis? Sasquatch. Is that real? You do also find word of a cursed location

to the far east northeast of Uthodurn, known as Mythboro. It's about 350 miles from here. 350? 350. Along the southern end of the Alps. Many speak of an ancient dragon of hoarfrost color and quaking roar that was thought to possibly nest there, now unseen in nearly a century.

This dragon's name is Giladon the Nightmare in Ivory. Oh shit! Giladon, Giladon, the Nightmare in Ivory. Could his name just be Simon? Killadon. Dragons are a bit particular about their titles. Hello, I'm Simon. I heard you had some teacups you'd like me to beave on. To the northeast?

Like far to the east and northeast. Killadon. The nap in Teflon or something? The dream in feathered pillows. Ooh. We are here. Ooh! Fuck, that's far. We got teleport, we're fine.

No problem. Let's go back. We'll use Essek to teleport us there. And then he can just go home, and then we'll teleport with Caleb. You need a circle. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. We go back, we get Essek, we go there. Caleb's got a circle to go back.

We don't even know. We don't even know. What if Reani can teleport us? Yep. She's not with us anymore. No, she's not with us. We're the Chaos Crew. We're inside. We're just the Chaos Crew.

So how are we stealing this fucking spell? This is just Beau reading this book. This is all Beau's head. No, not, um. Oh, I tell them what I found real quick to the Chaos Crew. That's great. Holy moly.

Fucking Giladon. Giladon or Gil-don? Giladon. Giladon. Like G-E-L-I-D-O-N. Not, um. Yes? I'm going to move on to this other book, but I think you would find this interesting. This page especially is not your average

modern literature, this page. Thing that we do. Yeah! Oh, it's an old, it's an old, funny, The thing that we do. Oh, it's an old fucking thing. Oh shit, you break it out the fucking bottle? Okay, okay, okay. Oh my god, what? Okay. What? I understand what you're telling me right now.

Are you sure? I think I do. Are we being watched? Yeah. Are they watching this exchange? The Scribe Warden is watching you all, and you know, is just keeping an eye. She looks a little manic, so I'm going to turn away

and start reading the book that Fjord was reading. Just that page, give it a read. So you handed me this book with the page open? With the page open. Oh, okay. The book that you have, the scribe warden comes up and removes it. Like the one you were reading previously. Oh, because I'm only allowed one book at a time.

Correct. It's gathered into a pile on the table. What about healing books? Do you guys have healing book? He goes ahead and summons one of the other workers here at the Velen Steeple and eventually retrieves you one, talks of various, these books aren't instructional. Healing magic is a difficult thing to teach.

A lot of times it's more just an instinctual thing that comes through faith or is largely more applied to bombs and more the creation of healing salves and potions and such, but it's interesting. Oh, okay. I assume there's some notepaper around or anything for taking notes here, or no? Yeah, you can ask for it.

I mean, you're here to research, so you take your own notes, you just can't take the book with you. So I'm going to just write down a little note and I'll pass it over to Jester and it says. Make a sleight of hand check. It's okay, okay, sure, sure. Passing notes is still a very noticeable thing.

Sure. 32. Fucking yes! Yeah, you're good at this. The note says, I'm going to create a distraction. While I do, rip this page out of this book and steal it. I have to go to the bathroom!

I'm going to get up and start walking, and then, oh shit, I don't know. I get to turn around, draw my crossbow, and say, you know what this is for! And I'll shoot Caleb in his side where he keeps the book. Roll an attack roll. Not great, 17. That's probably for the best. Roll an attack roll. Not great, 17.

That's probably for the best. That definitely hits you. Yeah, yeah. Even with Mage Armor, that hits you. As the Scribe Warden's eyes move, I'm going to make a move to take the paper. Okay, well, first off. Oh no!

Oh no! Go ahead and... Is that a nausea puff? Just roll an acrobatics check for me. This is a mild, skillful attempt to maneuver. But you knew it was coming. Yeah, which is why I'm allowing this. Six. Six, all right. So...

It misses the book by about an inch. Oh no! Go ahead and roll damage. Sneak attack? No! Okay. That's damage. Uh-oh.

Oh! Okay, that's 12 points of damage. I'll pump in that fury of the small dog. So you turn knowingly and it's like, oh, that's not how this goes. Your acting becomes very believable. I clutch the book that I was reading and I just topple over to the ground,

clutching it to me and actually whimpering. What are you doing? Stop that immediately! Ah, he knew, he betrayed me! Make a sleight of hand check. Okay. I'll say with the distraction of the advantage. Ooh, that's good, that's good.

Thank god. Oh! Really? So what's the total? Oh man. 28. 28. Natural 20, holy shit.

That was so lucky. Oh! Natural 20, holy shit. That was so lucky. Oh! The page tears out and slips in the inside of your sleeve. The scribe warden is currently focused on the two of you, and is like, if you don't place that down immediately, we'll have you arrested and thrown into prison!

He cheated on me! I tackled on! Oh! Yeah. Good. Hold her down! I'm sorry! I filed a scribe warden Yeah. Good. Pull her down. I'm sorry! I'm sorry for her.

We'll leave, we'll leave, we're so sorry. Two other people come in and they start trying to figure out how it's happening. I get out the bell next to Caleb, I try to start killing him. They claim all the books off the table, put them in a pile. You all have to leave, pay, and then leave immediately.

He shouldn't be cheating on his wife, me! You two, you two are banished from the Steeple. Oh. Get them out. Okay. For 90 days. For just like a month, maybe? I linger on. Until otherwise decided. Okay, okay, okay.

Let's check. I linger behind. I'm healing you! Jester, Jester, okay, okay. Let's chat. Let's chat. I linger behind. I'm healing you. Jester, Jester, pull this out. Oh shit. Just one split. Nott, here you go. Thank you.

All right, I'm going to sit. The side of the coat is just like this, where the other blood-soaked parts that have dried in the coat from previous battles, there's just this one growing. Nose-livered spot. Yep. You all are escorted out of the steeple battles. There's just this one growing. Newest leopard spot. Yep. You all are escorted out of the steeple immediately.

I just got this coat. After the movie. You do owe 250 gold for the time you spent in there. I stay behind and I say, I am so sorry. You see, we've been through a lot and we've seen some terrible things. I'm sure.

I don't know how you do business, but here, as part of the Steeple, we don't fire weapons in the middle of our research sessions. Yes, yes. No, sometimes our business gets in the way of our personal life, and you know, it is something we are all actively working. Pay and leave. Absolutely, yeah.

I give 300 gold. All right. Just maybe that extra gold will help cleanse your memory of this moment. It's certainly helping. Man, I think I even talk about fucking shit. Are Fjord and the others out here, or are they gone? Where are you?

You guys are off to where? We're going back to the two. Umi's out. Umi's place. All right, as you are making your way towards the Anvil of the Smelt-Born, we're going to go and take a break. Yay!

We'll be back here in just a few minutes to pick up where we left off. We do have a Wyrmwood giveaway tonight. Back in here tonight, we have the, ooh, a favored return of the Purple Heart dice tray. The Scanlan special from campaign one. This will be going to one lucky winner in the chat. I'm so sorry about that microphone.

Use your words! I'm so sorry about that microphone. Use your words! I'm sorry. This will be going to one lucky winner in the chat. The keyword tonight is snowfall. One word, snowfall. Snowfall. Enter it once in the chatroom, more than once and you get disqualified. And once again, U.S. and Canada only,

so go to Quebec because of Stupid Laws. We'll be back here shortly to tell you who the winner is. See you in a minute. Stupid Laws. Stupid laws. Stupid laws. We interrupt this Critical Role Podcast Network broadcast to bring you news of dangerous treasures that lie sealed within the Critical Role shops. Only the heartiest of adventurers should dare seek them out. In all seriousness, though, I'm Matthew Mercer, and we've made some very cool things that we really like and hope you will, too. If you'd like to support the show, please consider visiting any of our Critical Role online shops through the Shop tab at critrole.com and see if anything catches your eye.

Okay, back to the show. And welcome back. So before we jump in, we do have our winner of the Wyrmwood giveaway, our fantastic Purple Heart Dice tray. The winner is Ashenart. White Cat? Ashenart. Congratulations, we'll get that sent to you ASAP. heart dice tray. The winner is Ashenart. Ashenart, congratulations.

We'll get that sent to you ASAP. Sam, we don't need to know that. Okay. It's the summer. I can't, I don't know what to do. Are we going after the white dragon or the fucking fly? Fly. Kill. Priorities.

Either way. See if we'll make a give it. So, as you guys exit the steeple, and make your way to find the rest of your party, the rest of you have gone to go ahead and meet up with Umagorn. So heading back towards the Anvil of Smeltborn, outside of Moradin's Mantle Temple,

you come back to you very familiar doors and the rest of you pseudo-familiar doors, where you find both Daelin and Umagorn are not currently at the anvil, but instead are sitting and eating. It looks to be a spread of cured meats and some bread. Very simple, just hearty foods for a hard day's work. It's still that same warm interior,

and there's still sweat across Umagorn's brow. As you're sitting there eating, Umagorn's talking, Deilin's nodding and signing back, and as you guys enter the main chamber doors, you both stop and turn and look, and Deilin waves a bit, and Umagorn goes, Okay, you're back. Have you lost everyone already?

No, we are obviously trying to work on a little bit of an expedited schedule. We managed to stop by Ava's place and pick up some mithril. Oh, you got some mithril, that's nice. We took whatever she had. I'll take the box out of the bag and hold it up. Trinkets, it looks like.

I don't know if perhaps we could smelt it down into one piece that we could then try to. I can certainly try. Let me see it. Sets it down. Takes in the trinkets. Hopefully it's enough. Give me just a second, let me try this. Dallin, if you go ahead and bring the spark box for me.

She nods and steps over, and you can see behind where the forge is, and there's the little desk area that he has, she rummages through the little side corner and, pardon me, pulls a box out and brings it over. Magorn goes ahead and grabs what looks to be almost like a bowl or a pot that's in a long metal handle

and begins placing these various knickknacks and cups and everything inside of it to be a bowl or a pot that's in a long metal handle and begins placing these various knickknacks and cups and everything inside of it. You hear just piling up on the inside until they're almost about to fall out. Goes ahead and motions over to Daylan. Daylan opens the box and pulls out what looks to be these little bits of tinder crystal, almost, multicolored.

She scatters them across the fire of the forge and the forge flares up brighter in almost a multicolor flare. He immediately takes and turns it and puts it over into the fire. The heat in the room almost doubles. It's like, yes, they take a few steps back. It becomes almost unbearable. As he holds it there in the flames almost doubles. It's like, yes, they take a few steps back. It becomes almost unbearable.

As he holds it there in the flames himself, stoked by whatever material that Daelin threw into it, you watch as they slowly begin to soften and fold into this pot, eventually pulling it out after it seems to melt into a molten metal form. He gives a nod to Daelin. that seems to melt into a molten metal form. He gives a nod to Daelin. Bring over the ingot mold.

She brings over and sets down this piece of dark metal that has grooves in it and what looks to be a central piece where a rectangular recess is placed within it. He turns it and begins pouring it into the edges, and as it merges down and begins to fill, you can see now the liquid mithril fill up to just about where it reaches the top of this mold. He turns it back and looks inside.

Oh, you've actually got some extra, it looks like. You did good. Go ahead and give me that mold there. Dallin passes over and he pours the rest into the smaller mold. Says, well, I'll set that aside for the time being. But sets down the pot, takes the mold, the pair of tongs,

and then sets it carefully into a trough of water that steams around the materials before bringing it up, turning it over and banging the mold across the edge of the forge until suddenly this bar of solid mithril there sits before you. He goes, This is going to be warm in here for a bit.

Let's step outside, but looks like you got enough, maybe, to work with you. Let's step outside, but looks like you've got enough maybe to work with you. That's good. Good on you. He goes ahead and takes the tongs, takes the bar, and you all step out, just outside of the forge. He's looking over. There's a few imperfections, but those can be hammered out.

This'll do, this'll do, hopefully. The hard part's up to you. So ideally, we would take this entire piece and cover it in ice flecks from a white dragon. Supposedly. Right. Okay, yep, no problem there. Hold on a second.

Then he hands you, at the end of the tongs, the bar. You're a little reticent at first, afraid that maybe it's still hot, but it's cold, you're touching it. It's lighter than you anticipated. Like for the fur being a solid metal, mithril is known for it. Not only is it strength, but it's very, very lightweight

compared to other materials, so it's surprising when the heft is placed in your palm. He steps out, comes back with that same notebook that he had previously, outlined the process in which he was refining the blade, and then looks at him and goes, What says here for Iceflex is there's actual change in hue to the metal.

Fuck. So that's when you'll know. I don't know what that means, but I guess you got to keep an eye. Right. Is there any sense to attaching this to the front of a shield or something that might, you know, be in the direct path of Dragon's Breath?

That sounds a lot safer than maybe holding it up with your hand. Yeah. I do have a shield, it's rather plain. I mean, preferably, however you get this done, you're not anywhere near the bar when this happens. Hoo! If only that were true.

Yes, I'm sure we'll come up with something. Any ideas? I think we will. Okay. I hope so. Definitely will. It's just a matter of getting there and getting back. Don't be foolish. Where are you going, did you figure it out? Yes, actually, nope, nope, we don't know that info.

We were not in there. That was after we left. No, I'm sure our comrades have come up with something. Well, good luck, and just be smart. So I can say, kind of feared historically for a reason. Really? How are you doing with these yahoos?

Uh-huh. Really? Uh-huh. Come on, it's a white dragon. I know that. Yeah. I won't die, I promise, and I'll make sure that they won't die, probably, and I'm going to come back, and I'm going to give you a scale of a dragon,

and then you can hang it up, and it's going to be a cool keepsake, okay? Promise. It's not the first time you made that promise. Have I died yet? No, but you've come back pretty bruised and beaten. But have I died? Not yet, but each time you push me luck. Look, you know how many strange travelers,

mercenaries make their way across this place looking to find glory and they're never seen again. Just don't be one of them, please. It's not glory, it's a dragon. I'll be fine. Does Umi know about your, um? Umagorn. Umi. Oh, yes, I.

Only she calls me that. Apologize, my fault. My mistake, sorry. Does he know about your secret? Yeah, he's one of the first people I told. Well, not told, I messed up. He caught me changing back. But that was a while ago, it's fine now. He knows.

They know about Evoy? Yeah. Yeah, go stop telling people about this. Well, they seem nice. It's not a good secret to keep you safe if you're not keeping it a secret. They're not going to, if they tell, I'll kill them. See?

We got to talk about that, too. Yeah, she kind of got a very hard line here. It's going to put you in trouble. Fatal threats and revealing secrets in the first day, it's a lot. I think it's a refreshing change of pace. What if I bring you back two dragon scopes? I mean, if you're going for it, bring me back many,

but only if it's easy and it's dead. Otherwise, don't. And by the way, don't kill it. Don't try to kill it. It's a fucking dragon. But what if I want to kill it? What if Sam Liel tells me to kill it? Then can I kill it?

I'm going to take that as a yes. No, no, don't take that as a yes. That was just me exhibiting my frustration. That wasn't an answer. That was a form of social expression. Wish I'll take as a yes. We will keep her safe, as neither of us wish to die in this endeavor.

Right. Yes. We should be returning to our friends. Thank you for your help. We'll be back, hopefully sooner rather than later. All right, I'll be here finishing my orders. Be careful. Bye, Omi! Bye, Aurelion. And did we say we were going to try and meet them

at our lodgings or outside of the archive? We were very unspecific about what we were going to meet. But they also followed about a half an hour after, so we'll say for the purposes of ease, eventually stumbling around, you manage to cross paths again. Plus they have sending in their disposal, so it wouldn't be too hard. Eventually you guys do meet up once more.

We have a new single bar of mithril. And we have information on a dragon. You do? Giladon. He is fucking far. Is a 100-year-old dragon an old dragon, or is it kind of a new dragon? What do you guys think?

I would know that based on reading. Well, what you read said that he hadn't been seen in 100 years. Yeah, he's way older. Probably. I mean, maybe. He's way older, probably. I mean, maybe. He's at least 101. Did I get any information on how long this myth has been around?

The myth has been around for maybe close to two to 250 years. Is it going to end spoiling? 250 years. Oh! Almost. Curse his spiritual weapon. This is the show. No. It's just going from cup to cup.

Wait, wait, wait. You have to clap above it. I learned it from Steve Carell. Clap above it, clap above it. Where it's going to go. Boo! Oh, you almost got it. What do you mean clap above it?

Clap above where it goes. Get it, baby. Boo! See, it was so close! What do you mean clap and pop it? Clap and pop where it goes. Get it, baby. Oh! Again, again! That was amazing! Let the Brandon Circuses commence! We're going to end the game there tonight, guys.

I don't think I can get any better than that. Naturally. That dragon eats shit. After an obnoxiously long period of time of being harried by some sort of subterranean insect, Fjord snatches it from the air just as the rest of the party catches up and blunders its imprudence.

We lost our powers years ago! Incredible! All your other senses are hiding. I lost my powers years ago! It's incredible! All your other senses are hiding. Oh, did you see? I think you should teach me some shit, I'm just saying. Are you, who are you talking to? We just caught up. Yeah.

Hey, so! So how far away are we talking about? 350 miles! That's just a slight trek up the hill. That's fine, we can do it. Can you transport long distances? No, I can walk. Oh. Right.

Yes. So 350 miles, looking at the map that you have, there's a few options here. Hold it up high, Travis. Hit him in the face, hit him in the face. All right, so. I can feel your twitchiness. I can feel it.

Hit him in the chest, hit him in the chest. On foot, on foot, through the mountains, you're looking at 18 days of travel. What?! However, on Goatback. Goatback? Because you did see goats on the way in, these very, very large goats.

It's a whole different campaign. That's 12 days. That's still a fuck ton of days. If you go through the Rhine Plains, which is underneath the mountains, looking at 15 days of foot travel, 10 days on horseback. Oh.

Okay. Are there horses here? They do have some wild mountain horses as well. Man, I wish we had more bounders. The downside of the Rhine Plains is it's, you're in open plains, so you're much more visible as opposed to mountain travel, so the choice is yours. Or, I'm just throwing this out there,

Reani, how would you feel about doing that much easier to handle caper that's in town where we go and get the red ring back from the tumblecarves, or whatever their names were. No, we need to kill a dragon. I know, but that's like a month long ordeal. This is like a two hour ordeal. No, it doesn't have to be, guys.

Let Reani answer my question. Is that evil or good, stealing back a ring that was illegally taken? Samliel hasn't gone back to me on that one. We got to sleep. But I know I have to see a dragon. Even if it takes us two months to do this. This is what I'm saying, it worked.

That's a lot. Why aren't you listening to my idea? What's your idea? Caleb. Yeah. You take us all home to Xhorhas, we talk to Essek, he transports us to the mountain, we kill a dragon, and then you can use your circle and take us back to Xhorhas when we need to go.

But we need to come back here. Well, then we talk to Essek, and he pounces back here. That's a lot of pouncing. That involves a lot of Essek. Is it possible there's already a circle where we're going? Could we talk to someone?

There might also be a circle here. There's got to be a circle here. There's got to be a circle here. There's elves here. It's just who and who doesn't hate us yet. I could send a message to Essek and see if he would do it. Plus the archive, I'm sure, is friendly.

We've left that and, you know, good, good. Oh no! Chaos crew kind of fucked that up. Yes, Reani. Oh, did somebody say you need an elf that doesn't hate you? Yes. Somebody that's powerfully magical?

Oh, no, never mind then. What were you going to say? I just know a nice elf. Who's that? She works for the Glassblades and we could visit her and ask. Oh, the Glassblades? Yeah, the Glassfell of Guards are.

They might have access to some things. You said elf. Yeah, yeah, we could. Why do we need elves? Well, they tend to have access to maybe intricate magics, especially teleportation spells. Yeah. We are basically totally being biased

on the former stereotypes that we've known. That's valid. Yeah. Okay. We could use your magical paint and make a hot air balloon. That's a lot of paint. That is a lot of paint, but I think I might have enough for it.

We'd use most of your paint, but it's possible. All of the paint. Then we could get shot down pretty easy. Also, do you have any experience piloting a hot air balloon? Nope. Never seen or heard of one. I was just wondering.

Just throwing a bunch of words to you. Hey, Nott, did you just invent the hot air balloon? Canon. Canon. It just seems like hot air trapped in a, some sort of a container would rise up. Why? Be able to, it's just thermodynamics. I don't know what, I mean like. Hot air, hot air. It has to rise.

Does it? Dunamancy, and then there's thermodynamics. Somewhere Percy is having a nosebleed. I know. Well, yeah, we should certainly explore the glass blade option, in case there is someone that has abilities. What an exciting opportunity

to make more friends and or enemies. Yeah. Yeah. Schrodinger's friend. Yeah. Let's go talk to you. Something else I invented. The philosopher. He's the guy who invented cheese on the moon.

Schrodinger Lioness. All right, let's go see your glass blade. Cannon. What's his or her name? Her name is Fenn. Fenn is a cool name. Glass blade. Yeah. How far is a cool name. Glassblade. Yeah.

How far is she from where we are? She lives in the Glassblade Kessern, which is right by the entrance to the city. All right. Oh good, that's close to our hotel. Oh, that's nice. Did you guys leave anything in your hotel that we may need to get?

No, we just have to travel very lightly. Your idea is a good one. Thank you, Caleb. We should see this Fenn and then pivot to that. Okay, I can send a message to Essek and see if he'd be down to help us. Oh yeah, that's a good idea. Do you want to try that first or after Fenn?

We can talk to Fenn. Okay, let's go talk to Fenn. At the very least, they have horses, or goats, or things we can ride, and then that'll help, and we don't have to walk. Goats are cool. Also, riding a goat could be really fun. Yeah, they got square eyes.

But they smell really bad. No. I like the way they smell. Strangely, Caduceus smells not entirely similar to some of the goats. I've been told that. I've been told that. They smell like a goat. Yeah, I've heard that.

All right, do you guys wish to head to the concern, then? Sure. All right. So you remember seeing elements of this when you first arrived. You didn't take too much stock in the barracks because you were instead focused more on this entire city opening before you after you descended the large pit. But returning back through the Volition disk to the entrance of the city,

you come to the base of the spiral stairs that lead up and out of the city of Uthodurran and the mountains, and there to the back of the city, you come to the base of the spiral stairs that lead up and out of the city of Uthodurrana in the mountains. There, to the back of where this pit and these descending staircases are, you see the three separate chambers that lead to the glass blade castering, which is a number of embedded housing, training and storage areas for the glass blades and all the various elements of main military protection that the city itself provides to defend itself and to house some of the rangers and other ones that keep the exterior elements of the city safe. You already know where to go.

You do have an actual guide to the city here, which helps a lot more of your wandering fuckery that usually a new town entails. Fuckers. A few questions are asked as some of the other glassblades see your unfamiliar companions and are just asking for confirmation, but they trust you.

You're not going to any sort of weird secret place. You're just trying to find out where Fenn exists. Heading over to Fenn's portion of the barracks, you find she's in the process of working with a small troop, practicing archery in this long chamber, and you watch as one after one, they're taking arrows out, knocking them and firing for target practice.

One of the glass blades sees you approach, goes like, Fenn, Fenn, you got company? Fenn turns and looks back. Huh. Puts the bow away, throws it over the shoulder, comes up and smiles and gives you a hug. Reani. Hi.

So, um. I know that face, you look concerned. What's in your mind, girl? Don't be mad. We need to find a dragon. Pulls the hood back, and you can see now, like, this young elf with pale skin, almond-shaped eyes, bright blue irises,

dark hair that was tucked behind the ears and just tumbles outside of the hood as she pulls it back a little more, flops behind. We need to kill the dragon, but first we need to get the dragon to blow on a piece of mithril. And I promise them I take them and get them back safe.

You're not doing this. I'm gonna. You're not doing this. I'm going to. You're not doing this. This isn't a question. We're not going through this again. I'm just telling you what's happening, and we need some sort of magic that they said the elves know, and you're an elf that I know. So you're going to give us the information, and I'm going to go free without a lecture, right?

I'm not going to help you run off to your death. Don't be stupid. I'm not going to run off to my death. I'm going't be stupid. I'm not going to run off to my death. I'm going to be fine. I have a bunch of people with me. This dude's huge, and he's fine. How many came back with you from the Savalirwood, huh? He's tall.

One, but that's not the point. That is the point. That's exactly the point. I'll be fine. I came here because I knew you'd help. So let's just skip over this, and you're going to give me the information, and we're going to go, okay?

There's no way of stopping you. You know me well enough to know that there isn't. Why do you have to kill the dragon? I don't know if I have to kill it, but Sam Lial told me I have to see it. I have to go there, I have to know what I have to do. I don't know if I have to kill it, but Sam Lial told me I have to see it. I have to go there, I have to know what I have to do. I can't. I'm not doing this with you right now.

Please. And she looks over at the rest of you. I avert my gaze. I don't. We're very dependable. We won't let her die. We didn't tell her she had to find the White Dragon. She just really wants to find one, too. It's for a very noble and good cause.

Also, we're pretty strong, and she seems pretty strong, so. Both of you make persuasion checks. 13. 17. Okay. Fjord's tough. And what do you want from me? Again.

They need to know something about a circle or... Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. They said an elf might know and... A teleportation circle. This is a large city. We thought perhaps there would be a means of transportation here. Probably. Probably, but you do not know.

I'm a grunt. I'm more comfortable at Topside than in this city half the time. I don't know much in the ways of magic. I know you assumed, but. Do you know someone that would know? No, we... Please.

I mean, your best bet's probably where they keep Please. I mean, your best bet's probably where they keep most of the arcane knowledge, which is the steeple. Ooh! Fucking hell. Morning, we were banned. Beyond that, is there any fast travel west? The safer and more contained we can make this journey, the better our chances of all coming back in one piece.

All right. Where are you looking to go? You've got the book. Yeah, it's called, pull my notes down. Mythboro. Mythboro, 350 miles northwest. That's ridiculous, you're traveling to Mythboro. Well, I know it's cursed or whatever,

but I'm sure that's just a rumor. Cursed? I'll tell you later. Okay. Come on. Please don't do this, not again. I made it back last time, didn't I? Last time you didn't. What was this last time?

Was this some deadly mission? You're not part of this conversation. Oh, but I thought that I was, because I was here. Careful, she might shoot you. There's no stopping you, is there? I can't let Samliel down. I could love you, but I can't be part of your own until your death. You can't say you love me and then turn around

and betray me like this, not again. Ooh. Don't put the blame on me. I'm always going to put the blame on you if you're always going to stick your foot in the mud and just not, and I just walk away at that point. Throws her hood up and goes back and starts firing arrows with increased anger

amongst the rest of the glassblades. Well, we seem to have struck a sore spot. Oh. Yes. I feel like we've learned so much about her in like two hours. No, six hours. Secret identities, relationships. We will try to keep her in good care.

I don't know. I'm sorry if we've disturbed you. She's stormed out, isn't she? Yeah. She's just ignoring you guys. Perhaps I can make a contribution to the archives as an apology. If we need to use the circle there. We don't know if there's a circle.

We don't know. I could go in and ask them first, and then we could go from there. Yeah. Yes, let's try that. If not, there's always words. That page, I mean, that page, I don't know what this is. Yeah, perhaps while Beauregard is speaking inside,

I will take a moment, yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess we should check in with Reani. Reani. Yeah, where'd she huff off to? She huffed off back towards the entrance away from the Kisern. All right, well, let's catch up with her.

Reani, Reani, hello? Hello? Sitting outside on the sidewalk. Oh, there you are. Take it that didn't go as planned? No, I knew she'd say that. I thought maybe she'd help. It can be difficult for others

when you answer to a higher power. Yeah, but like, I don't know. I'm not going to die. I'll be fine. I don't know why she won't help me. Are you immortal? No. We get pretty banged up.

So do I. Eventually, everyone doesn't come back. But it's not my time yet. Do you know your time? No. Oh. But I trust Sam Lian will tell me. But Fenn doesn't get it.

Yeah. It's important not to get angry at people for what they don't know. I guess. This Sam Riegel, or however you say it, is very smart and wise. I know that you can trust him. So put your faith in Sam Riegel and he'll guide you.

The election is over, Sam. This is just for me. I mean... Do you ever think that maybe higher powers don't have the best interest in you? Yes. Oh. So a lot of you.

I think the higher powers have the best interests of everything, and sometimes the best interests of everything don't necessarily line up with the best interests of each of us. Or what we want. Or what we want. Or what we want. Well, that sucks. Yeah.

Well, I'm still going to help you find your dragon, and I'm still going to help you kill the dragon, and... Maybe we won't have to. Or maybe we won't have to, and then maybe Fenn won't be mad at me anymore. She mentioned before, who is she to you and what happened before? Well,

she saved me five years ago. I was out patrolling and I was trying to save a trapper out in the snow and I was hurt and save a trapper out in the snow, and I was hurt, and she saved me. I thought I was going to marry her one day, but I wanted to join an expedition that she knew was going to get me killed, but I wanted to go because I wanted to help

because I'm supposed to help people. And we argued, and she told me that if I'm not going to stay and keep the city safe and keep myself safe, then we can never be together, so. Right. That's difficult. Yeah, sometimes the people that love you just want to keep you around

so that they know you're safe, and it's only because they care about you so much. But I also have to care about everyone, you know? It's my job. Yeah. So how am I supposed to put myself before everyone? Well, I think you're included in everyone. Sometimes I just don't feel like that, and that's okay. Well, perhaps we should send Beau in

and inquire if there is a circle to be used in the archive. We have a definitive plan, a good plan, that Jester came up with. Why can't we all go in? Oh, well, some of us are banned from ever going back into the farm. You said banned? Just banned from ever playing a notice at all.

Oh. For 30 minutes. I just realized who we left alone. Yeah. Oh. Should we not have? No. Oh. Wow. Ha, ha, that's a... Wow. Chaos Kar ha, that's a... See?

Wow. Chaos, K'ruuuu! We're the house! Will you take this, perhaps? It would be a help. Kind of a house, really. Then I give 300 gold to Beauregard. If that will help grease the wheels or make amends. All right. Why is Beauregard going in? She was part of the chaos.

Yeah, but she's from the Cobalt. She smoothed things a little. Okay, but maybe Reani could go. Reani knows people there. I can go with you. She can both go, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, let's do this.

We'll stay out here and analyze your page. Good cop, asshole cop. Yeah, you know that, right? Yeah, also something we invented. All right. Yeah. All right. Oh boy. So you trek your way back to the Volition disk,

to the Libera disk, eventually coming to the familiar site of the exterior of the Vellum Steeple. You both approach and enter the familiar site of the two front-facing clerks of the Steeple. The same older woman still going through the same, looks like a few more pages later into whatever the next puzzles have her entranced,

and the younger male elf is half asleep, going. Is there a desk? Those chimes from earlier. Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling! Hello? Need to speak to the scribe warden? That's your funeral. Gets up and. Wait, what?

Why? Because she's busy. Oh, I don't care about that. Comes back. Right, hello. Your friends have caused a ruckus and as such, for the time being, Your friends have caused a ruckus and as such, for the time being,

it would be appreciated as to the day's interest in the steeple come to a close. I wanted to extend a deepest apology on behalf of my coworkers and, of course, myself, on what happened. It was totally uncalled for. Things got out of hand. As leader of this group, I promise I will never let that happen again.

Also, I vouch for them. She likes us. Here, this is from the wizard himself. Make a persuasion check with advantage. Ooh. 300 gold helps. Whoa!

Raining down pride. Okay, ooh. Both good, both good. An 18 and a 19. Baller. Yes, always. Plus my persuasion, which is one. 20. The scribe warden reaches out,

takes the stack of coins and shakes it a bit. Your apology is accepted. Thank you. The Steeple is glad to be at service of your interests. So, what do you require of the Steeple? What do we require of the Steeple? We're looking for potential arcane means of transportation,

and if the Steeple has access to a teleportation circle. To be more specific, if you don't have access, if you could point us in the direction, I would be obliged. If I might ask, what is your interest with this circle? We have matters to attend to at great haste. So it would be good to have that

than to travel by goat for two weeks. We do have one such circle, but it is for steeple and biarchy use only. These matters that we are attempting to solve pose a great threat to not only the surrounding communities, but the continent and potentially the world at large. That's very large.

Wow. It's so large. Curious. What are these issues, if you would be specific, please? I'm definitely entranced by the possibilities. Well, it has to deal a little bit with the ongoing conflict between the Dynasty and the Empire and the fact that a demon incursion might be overriding those entire events and utilizing that to invade us in a very insidious way.

That's a good book report. Yeah, it was. Make another persuasion check. And we are very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very scared. Extra reference points. 10? Very, very, very, very, very, very, very scared. Next draw, what's your reference? 10?

Well, such foreign political matters are of little interest in the diarchy. We wish to remain absolved of such scenarios. I'm sorry, I can be of no help to you. At this point, I shuffle over and I'm sorry, I can be of no help to you. At this point, I shuffle over and I'm like, the faster the Lightbringer can go help them and come back, the faster everyone will be safe here. Are you doing this,

are you doing this with the subtlety of trying to be very convincing or doing this as a veiled threat? As a veiled threat. Roll an intimidation check. Come on, come on, come on, make up. Ah. Oh!

That's a solid fight. Nice outpost you got here. It'd be a shame if something happened to me. Yeah. Well, I believe the Lightbringer will have to do their best with the resources at their disposal. Well, luckily, the resources at our disposal happen to involve a decent amount of cash. Gold. Platinum? disposal happened to involve a decent amount of cash.

Gold. Platinum? 100 platinum. Ooh! And you gain access to the circle. In perpetuity. Oh. 500 platinum for perpetuity. 500 platinum for perpetuity.

100 for the month. Shit. For the month. Okay. No. No, fuck that. That's not good enough. 100 platinum is 1,000 gold, is that right? Yeah. Okay. All right, we can afford that. Just hang on, hang on, hang on.

Wait a minute. Summoning Tracy. Tracy! I haven't seen it in the game very often, but this is a... We also need another bloody manifest. Circle on the other side. Here we are. It's five and four, it's one, two, three, four.

Don't worry about my circle. If that's too rich for your blood, I can entirely understand, but it was your offer. What did you say, 500 permanent? Yes. 200 platinum in perpetuity. And you have full access to any of our findings along our journeys.

Make a persuasion check with disadvantage. No! What? Come on! Just roll a really high. Two natural 20s. Do it, do it. It's not unheard of. Will it into a distance? Not bad, not bad. 11. Bad, pretty bad. Not bad. 11.

Bad, pretty bad. I'm sorry, but your interesting, I'm sure, excursions hold very little interest for us up here in the Graying Wildlands. Your political matters are your own. The deal sits where it is. Fuck. Well. Oh, not in there.

Hmm. Hang on. Looking at Reani. Coming back for a fourth try. I lost a piece of information. I turn into a bear and I rip him into pieces. I turn into a giant scorpion and I start murdering everyone I see.

What could possibly go wrong? What could possibly go wrong in that moment? Sam Riegel does all. Sam Riegel. Uh-huh. Unless you got something. I do have something. SAM and LAURA and LAURA and LAURA and LAURA. Sam and Rhaegar. Uh-huh. They're good at that. Really? Unless you got something. I do have something.

200 platinum. And the Lightbringer accompanies another excursion to the Savalirwood. What? Let me go speak with my compatriots. And she leaves the complex for a second. We don't need to do this. She's gone for it. Because I can draw it.

Once you see it, you can draw it? No, no, I can draw my own on the floor. But you have to see the circle, though, right? You can draw your own in her house. Yeah, to go to the Dynasty, which still gets us to Essek, who can still take us to wherever. So I can keep bringing us back to the Dynasty, right?

Yeah, you can keep bringing them back to the Dynasty. You just can't scribe a new circle. No, no, no, yeah, you can't bring us back here. I thought the plan was to go to Essek, though. Yeah, but once we kill the dragon, we have to come back here. But you had said we have to go to Essek again. Yeah, that's, I mean, ultimately would be great.

But then we also said that that's tapping Essek a lot. But we're stuck. If I can get you this Arcade Circle for 200 platinum, I'm going to do it for you! It's all good, it's great, it's great. I mean, then you'll have it forever. Sure. Yeah. And then we can come to, oh my god.

Butter! Butter! 10 minutes of awkward silence pass in the main entry chamber of the Steeple. Is it just me and Reani? Just you and Reani. In that 10 minutes. And the two clerks there at the front. In that 10 minutes, I made another flower crown

and just placed it on Beau's head. I've also checked out that ripped out page. Right, we'll get to that in just a moment. Just to kill the time. I like it. Eventually, the scribe warden returns with two other figures behind, not dressed in similar robes to the Steeple.

Instead, they are dressed in a little more green and blue themed noble attire, but also appear to be scholars of some kind. You recognize them as being, at least their attire, as members of the Woodset Auditors. What are these Woodset Auditors? Otters. O-T-T-U-R-S or no?

Auditors. Auditors. Audit-a-tors. Sorry. Who are you just making fun of? I love it when the Auditors put a rock on their chest and they fang. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they hold hands when they're sleeping. Yeah, when they hold hands when they're sleeping. The third part of the society here

is just adorable fucking Auditors, guys. There's thousands of the society here, just adorable fucking audience, guys. There's thousands of them. Hey man, Otter's going to take down all of you. You thought the word auditor was safe, didn't you? Keep pushing me, book boy. Book boy. Keep pushing me, Barnes and Noble. Oh.

No, I say borders would be the tougher one to say. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All righty, so. The Scribewarden. Should you pass on to the Lightbringer the interest in signing a contract of intent to be available for six months' worth of excursions to the Savalirwood and to the ruins of Molaes Nier,

along with the woodset auditors, they will consider this 200 platinum deal. Do I have an accord with you? Six months, 150. Make a persuasion check. Go get him, guys! Go get him! Go get him! 12. 12.

You've reached the limits of this conversation, and I am quickly losing patience. Fine. Hey. Fine. Don't do this if you don't. Fine. We can just. Don't, okay, just saying. I'm letting you know.

The scribe warden raises a hand and you see one of the auditors approaches, paperwork already drawn up. Places it onto the table. He swims up. Yeah, the process of handing you the quill is extremely cute. He's like, no, no.

Goddamn it, guys. He's got a rock on his chest. Oh, I'm going to kill you all. You will see the Vellum Archive auditors in their natural habitat. Oh no. It's a troll habitat. Oh no. Every DM out there,

you understand me. You know this pain. Then suddenly, a predator. I can't even keep my thoughts out of it. It's got a little wound. Sorry, keep going. A Drillian spoke season for the attack. Do you sign the paperwork? I sign the paperwork. Reluctantly, I sign the paperwork.

I hand over the 2,000 gold. It's worth cash. All right. Which is everything I have. Well, I look forward to doing business with each of you. Except for money. How do we, ooh, wait, wait.

I meant to remove. I wish I could have added that. How do, who do we contact when we want to come in? Me. Awesome. Thank you. I'm distracted with the amount of money I owe the luthier now.

Dope. That's not a fantastic attack. Dope. Snooches. All right, so. Word. Dope. All right. It's very Beau, though. Swag.

All right. Look. You've made the deal. You guys get the fuck out of the Steeple. I hear you have a yeet suck on you. Can we yeet ourselves? Excuse me, we'd like to yeet ourselves into the mountains. Yeet back to Rosohna.

So in the meantime, you are doing that. High fantasy, yes, checking out that page. Oh shit, the page. The page. The page. I mean, that was like two hours at least, so. Yeah, so what do you wish to do? It's been a long time since I've had a page. I will take the time to cast

Comprehend Languages to read it. All right. The page itself is, has nothing to do with the enchantment you seem to sense on it. The ink is different, and there is definitely something subtly hidden amongst the script to bind some sort of magic to this page.

But the text itself appears to be picking up in the middle of an expository write down on the ability to take various forms of earth and raw materials and craft them through magical means into structures. And essentially discussing about how in the Age of Arcanum, there was very little need for masonry as most all major construction eventually was transitioned

into purely arcane-based summoning and creation. So the spell is contained within the page, or that is hard to assess? It's hard to assess. There's something enchanted in this page, and the page is... There's something about this that you can't tell. I'm going to spend another 10 minutes and identify, cast Identify on it.

Okay. There is a strong conjuration essence to this page. You get the feeling that there is something essentially zipped or hidden within this. Like there is a thin veil, like a pocket that doesn't exist on this plane that is woven into this page.

There's some sort of portal. The page itself is a portal. Can you imagine? Could you dispel something? Perhaps, if I study the words, could I see if there is any sort of code or pattern hidden in the writing? Make an arcana check. My motherfucker.

14. 14? Emotive possibility. Unfortunately, it escapes you. Whoever put this in. Can I see any symbols? Like drawing things that would catch my eye? Uh, make an arcana check. With disadvantage.

Okay. This is certainly not your specialty. That one, just look at that. Ooh. Oof. 16. 16. Not really, but it's pretty ink. Shimmery. Yeah. Something to it.

I'll save it for a rainy day. We'll have time. Yeah. Okay. So you pocket the page. Yeah'll have time. Yeah. Okay. So you pocket the page. Yeah. All right. The rest of your party pitches up to you. Is there anything else you guys want to do in the interim?

All right, well, I'm super broke now. What? Well, it just bought us a year-long, like a forever membership to this place. Hey, that's great. Yeah. Forever? Well, we have access to the

Teleportation Circle in perpetuity. I thought for a long time. Well done. It just cost me 2,000 gold. Oh! Wow. And I might die. What? And then Reani kind of signed up for a six-month contract.

Because they originally wanted 500 gold. Or, no, sorry, 500 platinum. So 5,000 gold. So we were able to talk him down. We tried to go for a little bit less, but they wanted 100 platinum for a month, and I was like, fucking ripoff. This is huge, though.

Is it good? Did it do a good thing? Yeah, it did very well. We can come here forever. We could use it forever. It didn't cost us a thing. Well, let me cover half of that. You have a thousand gold on you? Deal.

I can help, too. Let me get this. Yeah, and I don't mind either. I haven't paid for anything in a bit. You had the idea. That seems like a really good deal for me. Does this mean you guys will come back to visit? Yes. Yeah. This place is awesome.

Fuck this place. No, I'm just kidding. So we need to reach out to Essek. Who is Essek? Oh, he's our friend. Is he nice? He floats. He's super cool. He floats? He floats, and he's super duper hot.

Hot boy. When can we go? Can we go now? Well, we got to talk to him first. I got to talk to him. I'll talk to him. All right. I'm going to him. All right. I'm going to send him a message. Okay.

Further developments on our mission. We need your help again to travel a great distance. It's of dire importance. Okay, he has one word, I'm going to have to do this one. What do you think? Can you? Prove? Mm. Why?

If it is of dire importance, I will do what I can. But please, my skills are not given parlor tricks. Be mindful. I send the message back. No, no, no, no, no, we don't think that. You're very powerful, and we just need your help. We don't take it for granted. Do, do, do, do, do.

That's the entire message? Yeah. All right. Very well. I will await your arrival in Rosohna and will do my best to be of aid. Oh my gosh.

He's going to help us. We just got to get to Rosohna. That's great. Good news, good news. Have you ever been to Rosana? No. Ooh. It's a little weird. It's very dark.

Oh. All the time. But it's pretty dark here, isn't it, too? Because we're underground. Do you think that, I mean, do you think that she'll be accepted there? She's with us. You might get some looks. I have a hood, and if anybody tries to hurt me,

I'll stab them. Yeah! Well, maybe we lay low on the stabbing outright. I don't know if the hood will hide your... Does it hide your light? Right. Have we ever seen anyone that had a halo of light above their head?

Yeah. When you're in your beast form, do you still have the halo? Uh-huh. Is there any way to dim it? No one can see it if they're dead. Okay. Not what we're going for.

What if you put on a hat? Does it conceal it a little? No. Just goes around the hat, no matter how big the hat is? Yeah, and I put up my hood to show them that they were still there. Wow. That's really cool.

We're actually favorite people of this dynasty, so they tend not to mess with us. You should be fine. Okay. So no staffing? No. Poisoning? Mm-mm. No. Okay. Does this keep you up at night?

No, I've learned to live with it. Yeah. But it's just a little neon light on your forehead. It dims when I sleep. Does it? I was a bit told. It dims when you sleep? Yeah. Do you mind if we use your home to jump? Please? Yeah.

Only if I can cook dinner. Sure, let's go. All right. Yeah? Oh yeah. Let's go then. Let's do this. All right. Just as a note, you have not yet inspected the circle at the Steeple.

Oh yeah, you probably should do that. Yeah. Caleb knew that. Liam didn't. I wanted to pop back in anyway, real quick, before we left, because I forgot something. Well, let's go. You can run your errand. She's right here.

Here's your deal. Steal the money back. All right, you head back to the steeple as the rest of you are gathering over at Reani's house. It's going to be a good time to prep dinner. Yeah, dinner time. Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling. You enter, the old woman dwarf looks up and goes,

You certainly come in a lot today. Sorry. What do you need? We need to take a peek at that fancy-schmancy teleportation that I just spent a lot of money to get access to. I'll get the scribe warden. She gets up and wanders off.

The scribe warden is retrieved and, huh, very quick are you to take of this particular arrangement. Well, you know, they say, lucky number three. We won't bother you anymore after this. Good. To maximize our use of it.

Also, I would like to apologize for my wife and my domestic squabble earlier. How is your rib doing? We have some very accomplished healers in the group, so. I hope you have very accomplished therapists as well. Come. Leads you guys back from the doorway where you saw the people you were gathering,

entering and exiting, which you hadn't been in before, and you are stepping into what looks like a sprawling library, similar to some of the Cobalt Soul libraries that you've come across. Cool. You can see a lot of them are scrolls as opposed to books,

kind of like Library of Alexandria style, stacked up in sections with labels and various notes set aside. Some iClaudia shit. Fuck, it's so cool. It's not as big, comparatively, as some of the libraries. There are sections where you can see areas are very well guarded and some old books.

There's actually a lot of these appear to be damaged. Can I tell what kind of damage? Make a perception check. Why is it never investigation? If you want to be close, you can investigate it. Will I get in trouble? You don't know until you try. Try.

That sounds like a dare to me. Roll the dice! It's always a dare, it's always a dare, and I have to. Just spend all this money. Just to get re-kicked out. The section of most predominantly damaged books is surrounded with similarly dressed individuals as the ones that you saw referred to as the woodset auditors.

I don't want to Red Rover them, because I know they're holding hands and they're super adorable, but if I could. That's why they call them aww-ditors. Aw! I'm done, the Turbist. Aw! I'm done, that's my one. You guys put so much faith in a teleport spell. You're so fucked.

Can I swing wide and take a look? Yes, you can try to do that. This is such a bumble fuck. Make a stealth check to see if you can peel off for a moment to get close enough. Okay. 22. 22.

You find a moment where you peel off away from the periphery of the Scribewarden and get close enough to look over the shoulder of a few of these auditors. Good. And glance past and take a deep bit of interest. Now roll a perception check. Oh no, investigation for this one,

because you got close enough for investigation. I know. I think that's going for her. Are you serious? Shut up. I don't need this from you. 11. No.

10. Oh. It's hard to tell. The pages look sullied, and at first glance, it seems from, like, just filthier or oil or some sort of just contaminant, like they were just dredged up out of an ocean floor. But the coloration is continuously purple.

The tint is purple. Which leads you to be different. That's as much as you can. Okay, that's something. I got something. Which leads you to be different. That's as much as you can. Okay, that's something. I got something. You got something with the tint. It was a color run.

Yeah. And then you hear the scribe warden is looking back in your direction as you're sliding back up. 45 foot in the wind speed. Yeah, like, the scribe warden seems kind of, you're just ninja-catted her, essentially. Caleb is very innocent-faced

and just ogling everything. He hasn't been by books in forever. You are brought towards the very back and center of this large, open chamber. You can see now, it's called the Steeple because the center of it is just that rising part of the temple. It's this ever's this extremely tall,

gradually gathering point, a tower from the inside. Each 15-foot or 20-foot height has a small walkway and a staircase that goes up, and another smaller walkway, and a staircase that goes up. It's like being in the Luxor, where you look up for all the hotel floors that descend to the top,

but it's much more of a point. Right in the center of all that, you can see on the ground, there's a very familiar chiseled sigil representing a teleportation circle. As you approach, the scribe says, Just so you're aware, to step into this circle will send you to Palebank Village,

which is a bit northwest of here and is involved in our excavations of Eiselcross to the north. That is not of interest to you, and I would hate for you to be suddenly stranded in such a small podunk place. However, should this be an element of you returning to it, it does act as an anchor for such circles,

which I assume is why you're so interested in this, looking straight towards you. Well, we have business here and business elsewhere, so we need to be able to return here expediently. Good. Then come here and meet the guardians of the circle so they know what to look for, so you aren't immediately assailed when you return.

Introduces you to a set of four different guardians. They all take note. They meet you briefly, take a very intense look over each of you, some of them sketch a bit and take notes. That seems sufficient enough to the point where you won't be attacked on sight for suddenly appearing in the middle of a very closely guarded.

Give a brief description of our friends who are not here. All right. I am the one who will be piloting the expedition. Thank you. Very well. Do you require anything else? Is there any type of certificate or documentation that we need to show to people at the front desk

so we don't have to bother you every time we come in? Or so that we can get our very hefty transaction in writing? A contract I can draw up, yes. Thank you. But I do have to be present whenever you're here, so do not try to abuse this. Also, not today, but does this deal mean that I have access to the archives again?

No. Okay. It was focused on that. Sorry. Wow. The contract is written up, and you now have in your disposal, and you can add it to your equipment section of your character sheet, that you have a contract with the Scribe Warden.

Just a little. I know, I know. Sorry, buddy. Yeah, great, it's good stuff. Caleb's heart broke that day. Good to be a repairer. All right, we go back to everybody else's room. All right. So should we rest tonight and then go,

or go now and rest there? Hmm. I think we should rest there, I think we should go. Yep. All right. We have dinner first, though, right? Yeah, they've been making dinner. We've been making dinner while you guys got to town. What did we make?

Grilled goat with assorted veggies. Ooh! Spice. Spice, absolutely. I have good stuff. And a rice pilaf. Oh my god. And then after dinner, some mulled wine. Mm-hmm.

Lovely. What about baked goods? Probably a big cake. Absolutely, yeah. This is making me emotional. It's a cake, and then poorly frosted is everybody's face, but it looks really bad. No, I definitely helped with that.

So it looks pretty good. I take it back, it's a beautifully frosted cake. Make a performance check. Yeah, I was going to say, are the performance or dexterity? I was like, no, I'll allow this to be a performance check. Make a frosting check. Make a frosting? That's exactly what this is.

This is frosting technique. How's your performance? My performance is not good, but that's a 19. It's pretty impeccable. For the limited icing resources that they have here that you've managed to accrue over time or through favors at the local bakeries in the area, you pull off some decent mixtures and some color shade

transitions and stuff, or there's actually almost a little shadow and elements. Duff Goldman would be proud. Oh yeah, straight up. Ace of Kings. I don't know how you got the glowing lichen to work like that, but that's really impressive. I'm going to let you know.

Moss. Wow. I know. Yeah. Crazy. Is there anything it can't do? All right, so your meal is much better than you were expecting for a podunk portion of the city of Uthodurn. The rest of the evening is yours.

We're going to go back now? Yeah. All right, fire it up. How do we do this? It takes a little bit of time to write on the floor. Is it okay if I use these chalks here? Yeah, do you want a different color? No, I'm all set, thank you. When he is drawing that up,

I'm just going to send a real quick message to Yeza. Oh, thank you. Oh, yeah. What are you going to say? Hey, Yeza. Found out Nugget really likes ground nuts, like in a meal form, because I don't think we've been feeding him the right things.

Also, how's my family? Also, how's the fam? How's the? This is about where it ends. Oh, I had no idea. That's good to know. I'll go ahead and get some post haste. I assume you meant family? All is well.

Just miss my, and like. Somewhere in the neighborhood. So that's your response there. They're good, they're good. Perfect. You finish the circle creation, mark down the components utilized for that. I have to get more.

I think he was going to say he misses me a lot, though. We need more before we end up where we're ending up. We could get some in Rosohna. Also, before we take off, I finished everyone's flower crowns and have delivered them to everyone, so now everyone matches. Each of you have matching flower crowns in your inventory.

Do with it as you will. I'm putting mine on my head and I'm starting my spell to get it to start sprouting mushrooms. The flower crown immediately begins to, much more rapidly than you expected, to produce unique and alien-looking fungus that in some ways blends and contrasts with the hair color, which is transitioning away

from pink a little bit. Yeah. Wait, what's happening? He hasn't been eating enough salmon or something. Well, we've been in a bit of a rough environment. What color is it turning? It's still pink, it's just getting a little lighter, and there's also some new colors in the lichen,

and I've got some interesting blue glowing lichen starting to spread on my right side. What can make your hair pink again? Oh, that's just a better environment for what turns it pink. It's just been, it's not been a lot of sunlight. I'm going to druidcraft a small pink flower and place it just on top of your head.

But I have to climb up on a chair, I'm assuming, to place it on top of your head. But I have to climb up on a chair, I'm assuming, to place it on top of your head. Problem solved. Yeah. All right. At this point, while you guys are having this conversation, Caleb, you finish the spell and you have in your hand the final component to trigger the very brief instant

in which this circle is active. Flower crown still on my head. Okay, are we ready to go? Yep. This is very quick, so you have to jump in right away as soon as I make this last mark. On it. Okay. Mm-hmm.

All right, I am spying. Ready to sprinkle. As soon as he does that, you watch all the scrawlings in the ground light up with extremely strong whitish, almost golden light, and you watch as one by one, they all jump in and then vanish. You go with them.

There's a moment where all of a sudden the ground leaves your feet. There is no color, no light, just the sensation of being pushed through a void expanse. Your stomach suddenly knots up in butter, like that butterfly-type feeling in your stomach, and then your feet find ground, and you are inside of a dark,

the lit subterranean chamber of what looks like gray rock, very smoothly carved, and a bunch of soldiers around suddenly turning with spears, wearing strange, almost metallic armor that looks organic or chitinous with helmets. And probably one of the first times in a long time that you've seen Drow. Oh, well first, I turn and vom a little bit.

Yeah, that'll, that'll. The weapons. That's not fun. The weapons go lax. That's not great. Yeah, show our symbols. Yeah. And they escort you through hallways into this grandiose-looking walkway that you've never seen something quite so large.

It's like a cathedral of muted color palette, but still beautiful and perfunctory in the colors that do push out, which are bright purples and greens and subtle reds. The walls themselves, these chisel, almost refractory, opaque gray marble. Heading down this hallway, more soldiers pass you. They look curious, and there's definitely,

with each moment of recognition, an impulse towards intruder, and then a moment of recognition that goes into a moment of relaxation. They lead you out to the exterior, in which you now look upon the entirety of the beautiful city of Rosohna. It is midnight here, from what you can tell.

A pitch black sky, sparse with clouds. You can see circle after circle of this city sprawling out around you, separated by boundary walls, themselves made of a similar gray-like material, with numerous small green lanterns of light that flicker and glow across, marking the separations to each ring of this city. It is strange, it is dark, it is beautiful, and it is alien.

Nothing quite like anything you've seen. I fight the urge to run off and explore, because adventure is the greatest thing on Earth. I'm just, first of all, getting over the stomachache of Still a little queasy. Still a little queasy, but I'm spinning around in a circle, not sure where to go first, like a dog. You guys see this push and pull.

No, no, it'll be fine. There's time to explore later. Can we? In a bit. Okay. You should see our house. You have a house? We have a tree on the roof. What? Yeah. Can we go? Less stimuli while we are on an objective, yes?

Right. Okay. Can we go in? In a hot tub? What in our house? What? Can we go now? No, they seem like no. We're going to see Essek, right? What's your order of operations here?

Well, we should speak to Essek. I need to speak to Essek. We should check in at the house anyway. We should show Essek the wizard. Yeah, absolutely. I should make sure Dairon's okay. And that she's properly folded our laundry by now. Perhaps we should tell Essek to meet us at the house,

and that's where we should take care of things. Yeah. Oh. Yeah, I can do that. Yes, I can do that, I have the pearl. I can do that. I will I can do that, I have the pearl. I can do that. I will send a message to Essek again. All righty. This poor guy.

Hey. Hey. Stop it. Bra. Bra. Don't worry, we made it totally safe. We're back here, just heading to the house if you want to meet us there.

We have something cool to show you. We have a friend with us. Don't be surprised. See you soon. Essek responded, that is quicker than I was expecting. Well then, I will be heading over towards your abode shortly. Get your things ready.

Get our stuff ready, he's coming. Okay, okay, okay. Is there anything we need to do before meeting up with Essek at your home? No. On the way there, I will probably try to find a place where I can replenish my supply of fancy chocks for. Yeah, you know of two locations

you've been introduced to by Essek in your brief excursions through the city, giving you the lay of the land where this is accessible to you. So I'm dropping enough for four more times. Go for it, so mark those components down on your inventory. Yeah, repacking teas, spices, things that we need for travel, and I'm going to try and take the flower off my head Okay, go for it. So mark those components down on your inventory.

Repacking teas, spices, things that we need for travel. I'm going to try and take the flower off my head and see if I can get it going in the tree once we're back home. Ooh, yeah. Since we've got some stuff going there, anyway. So as you are brought towards this neighborhood, the architecture is familiar but distinctly different, and it's really beautiful.

Also, the populace here is vastly drow. As well as you see bits of other creatures you're not used to seeing in and around Uthodurn. You do see some orcs, and you had some interactions with orcs of different ideals and dispositions, from like Barufkra to the south, very positive, if aloof, in their interactions and very culturally protective,

but agnostic to anything with Uthodurn specifically, as opposed to the Jezera's orcs, which are much more intense and hunt whatever comes their path. But you see occasionally goblins and bugbears and other people that you've heard varying degrees of communication about being considered enemies, villainous, killers of dwarf and elf alike.

There's a lot of conflicting information in your head at once you're trying to get through. As you're struggling with that, you're brought into this neighborhood and see a home, a very nice two-story home, where upon a parapet-like tower in the far corner, a massive fucking tree is growing 60 or so feet out of the top of it, covered in lights.

Is that the tree? That's our tree. That's our house. It's really pretty, right? How did it get there? Hey. Yeah. It's so nice. Thank you.

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that. I love it. Yeah. Does it have a name? You know, I haven't asked. I should ask. You should ask. It never occurs to me to ask plants names. Normally it just doesn't come up.

I've actually never met a plant with a name. Well, wait. Clay goes silent for an hour. As you guys approach the entryway. Thank you. The familiar face of Dairon's dark elf form turns to the rest. You've returned.

Well, come in sight. Tell me what is to inspire it. Usher you all in, looks over to you. And you are? I'm Reani. Reani. Kind of lean. She's cool. Dairon. I'm eyeing his hand.

She's cool. Yeah, I actually like this, though. This, yeah. I mean, in terms of how protective you all are. Stop staring at me, Christ. Come inside. Who is that? Sorry, I just mean, never mind.

Dairon Essek is on his way over. I will do my best to be out of sight. No, I have. In the meantime, as you're out shopping and gathering everything and you guys vault the house, they give you the tour of the space. Beautiful interior, it's kept well. Dairon's done decent maintenance, at the very least.

There is a tub of water at the base of the tower where the tree is above, and you can see the roots that have dug down through the rock and stone that are just tickling about five feet above the water surface. Strange. Through the rules? Yeah, I'm pretty proud. Yeah. Pretty proud. Leads you up into the base of the tree at the top of it

and you can see there's a garden that has been established here where there are little shrines with little symbols placed amongst them. Incomplete in full collection, but partially in process there, and little small packets of plants that are in the process of growing,

though having a tougher time given the environment here. Are these your plants? Well, I mean, they're their own, but yeah, I helped put them here. Do you want help with them? Always, of course. I want to go over to all of them I mean, they're their own, but yeah, I helped put them here. Do you want help with them? Always, of course. I want to go over to all of them

and just generally druidcraft over them and give them love and warmth and growing powers. So the way you've established this, it's sustainable, but it doesn't allow for rapid... Sure. That's what I'm looking for. Rapid abundance, if you will, of the flourishing of these different pockets.

A massive expansion. However, as Reani comes through, having a different but fascinating connection with nature than the one that you have, you watch as each of these patches, suddenly the color becomes more vibrant. The leaves, the flowers, everything seems to blossom as she runs her hands across the exterior.

Not to an unfathomable degree, but quickly and subtly, in a way that it impresses you. Oh, that's great. This is... Oh, that's great. This is... Oh, that's great, I was getting a little worried on that. You know, sometimes you just got to talk to them in the right way and give them a little more encouragement. Well, I've been trying to encourage,

I mean, I talk to them as much as... Yeah, I can tell, they like you. Oh, well, I like them, too. Yeah, good, yeah. Well, I'm glad to be of service. Oh, thank you. Actually, thank you for reminding me, by the way. I meant to ask, what is your name?

Talking to the tree. Yeah. LAURA and LAURA laugh. Is he recording? Yeah. Yeah? Yeah, his name is Silence, apparently. Oh, that's a good name. I said, yeah. Strong. There's just nothing, yeah. It's just quiet. It's quite nice.

We can call him Sy. We can call him Sy. I think he likes it. He just keeps saying his name. It's pretty, I think. Yeah. I think that's it, yeah. All right.

Thank you for that. You don't happen to speak with plants prepared, do you? I don't, actually. That would be funny. I'm so mad. That's okay. All right, so around this time, Caleb returns, gathering materials as well, including what Caduceus was requesting,

right about the time that Essek arrives. Now, you see arrived to the front a male drow, short white hair, a perpetual soft smile, a similar mantle of armor to the soldiers that you saw exterior, but beneath it, a cloak of dark purple drifts below and obscures the entirety of his body as he glides in no bobs or footsteps,

just drifting to the front of the house and entering the chamber upon being led into the rest. It is good to see all of you well. And this is the friend you were talking about. Mm-hmm. I lean over to Jester and I'm like, he has a hot eye. Wow.

If I might inquire, what is your name? Sreeni. Well. Welcome. Where do you hail? Nicodranas. What? Sorry, I mean, you'reodranas. What? Sorry. I mean, you're speaking very quietly.

Huh? From Nicodranas. Hmm. Yeah. Me too. Indeed. So you required my assistance. My time is limited. Yes, really valuable. Remember how you teleported us somewhere?

Yes, to the Graying Wildlands. We need to go somewhere else. Whereabouts? So it's called Mythboro? Very well. Have you heard of it? Oh boy. We have a map. No. Oh shit.

So we do have a map, but also I was thinking, what if I scryed on the dragon? Can you do that? You're familiar with it. I'm familiar with it. We know his name. Yeah, and I know basically what he looks like. Do dragons sense that sort of thing? Who knows? I don't. All right, let's do it then.

I mean, one would assume. That's rare. That sounds like a good idea. So what are you doing? I'm going to try to scry him. Do we need to do this? Just to get a, we're doing this to get a location so that we can teleport closest. Wouldn't it be better if I could give you

a description of what it looks like? That would probably be helpful to a minor extent. I was going to say. As I have not traveled there, it's going to be challenging, but not impossible. Perhaps also not attempting to teleport directly on top of the dragon. Well, yeah, I know that.

Like maybe a mile or two away. I'm just mildly curious. Dragon. Oh. Oh, wow. It's like a... Have you heard of Giladon? It's a story with many parts.

He's a piece of the puzzle and us trying to accomplish our overall goal. All right, so you're going to a dragon. Yeah. Have you heard of Iceflex? No. It's mithril that's been breathed on by a dragon, a white dragon specifically, so we have to go there

and get him to breathe on the mithril so that we can go and get this sword fixed so that we can defeat the Laughing Hand and serve the Bright Queen, because she wants us to. Pretty standard stuff, really. Yeah. It means quite important. standard stuff, really. Yeah. It means to her, yes. But here's the thing, can we sleep before we go?

Well, I thought we would sleep once we're there. Yeah. But why? Why would we do that when we could sleep here instead? To get a better sense of where we are. But what if something attacks us there and we're not rested and we could be rested and go, well. Could we put a pin in that for just one moment? May I ask, too, this is a separate topic.

Yes. How is the timeline that we have discussed? We are looking at an extension of maybe two more weeks. Oh. But I have pushed to the extent of my ability. Well, if we leave in the morning, we have two weeks, that's good, I have time,

but perhaps tonight, now, today, would I be able to get in to see this prisoner again? Or sometime in the next few weeks? There needs to be a bit more of a, an acknowledgment in advance. Even I have my limitations within my den. Of course. And I've already pushed that to a limit

to make good on your request. If you intend to leave tomorrow, then I'm not entirely certain why you summoned me now. If you intend to leave tonight, either way, you would need a few days for me to bring this to the den. We'll leave tonight, then, if there is paperwork or logistics involved. Consider this my formal application, then.

I will go ahead and put it in. Thank you. Now. Wait, shut the door. I feel like I'm pushing too much. I'll ask him! But he might like it. Yeah, there's one thing, there's one thing. Caleb is such a polite young man,

he wouldn't bring this up to you and bother you with this, but he found an amazing page filled with magic and wonder, and you might be the key that unlocks it. Also, I brought you a present. Yay. I pull out the cupcake. It's fresh, I swear.

He extends his hand and the cupcake lifts out of your hand and drifts over. I did that myself. This guy's a germaphobe. He extends his hand and the cupcake lifts out of your hand and drifts over. Oh, this guy's a germaphobe. That's why he floats. It's like Howie Mandel. Thank you. It vanishes beneath the cloak.

Oh, he eats with his sleeve. He's like, subtle chewing noises emerge from it. Caleb sheepishly. It's like Vishamon from Darkstalkers, anyway. Sheepishly fishes that page out and says, I've only just acquired this, but it is stumping me a bit. Does this mean anything to you?

Reaches out and takes the page, and unfurls it. You might that skeevish, begins subtly encanting some spell, and you begin to recognize it, hopefully, make an arcana check. What he's casting? Mm-hmm. Yeah, sure, that's 26.

To spell magic. Oh, wow. I was going to do that tonight at bedtime, but great 26. Dispel magic. Oh, wow. I was going to do that tonight at bedtime, but great. He completes the cast. You watch as suddenly all the writing on the page flares. You hear a tearing sound, and it seems like dropping out of the bottom of the page. Two pouches and a round case.

Whoa! Onto the ground. Oh my god. He goes, I think I figured it out. Sometimes the simplest solutions escape us. I am in your debt again. Mm-hmm. Thank you. Cool! Yeah, so I scoop up the things

and hide them away for now. Shall we wait, then? Do you want to check in with Dairon real quick while that was happening? Sure, while this is happening, Dairon's off in the other room, arms crossed, listening in, facing away from everything. I just back up and lean against her.

How goes everything in Beauregard? It's going pretty good. About to head off to some sort of cursed land to apparently have a white dragon breathe on a sword. How's it going with you? I'm going to be perfectly honest. I hate it here. I'm not to be perfectly honest. I hate it here. I'm not made for housekeeping.

The housekeeping was a guise. I know. But what am I to do with my time when I have to maintain this guise when people occasionally come by? It's okay. I'm doing my own bits of detective work in the meantime. Just broken with dusting. Okay. It's okay. I'm doing my own bits of detective work in the meantime.

Just broken with dusting. Well, the house looks fucking fantastic. Thank you. We'll talk more when we get back. I'm sure we will. White Dragon? Yeah. How old?

I don't know, at least 250 years old, probably more. How old is that? What's that mean? You have any information? It can depend. If it's 250 years old, it could be an adult. Hmm. Older, even bigger. You're all very talented people, but you have your limits.

Just be careful. If things go poorly, run. All right. I say this as an individual who has survived this long because I knew when to run. You can't abandon these people.

No. So make them run with you. Bravery has a very fine line before it turns into stupidity. Survive. So you keep telling me. and the line of her returns into stupidity. Survive. So you keep telling me. Indeed, and you've made it this far. That means you're listening. Catch you on the flip.

Peace! Your heavy sigh from Tyrande. You all join Essek, gather in a circle. He begins to mutter an incantation. His voice begins to echo loudly until it seems to consume the space around you. In a similar uncomfortable sensation, all the color and shape suddenly blurs.

Shh. I need someone to go ahead and roll a percentage dice for me, please. Are you doing it? I'm doing it. All right. Doing it on the map cam. We can start first. Nope. Nope.

87. Oh, that's good, that's good, I think. Or is that bad? I don't know. Hold on, I'm pulling it up right now. This is not an exact science. Okay. We might die. 87, you said. Bottom of the ocean. Into a rock.

Oh fuck! A lot can happen, actually. Three miles in the air. All right, let me pull it out of the book here. It's a little more complicated than that. So keeping the number in mind, thank you for your patience here. We're on the moon! Woo!

I'm cheese! We weren't going to help you there. My stone was right! And then I died. All right, so what'd you roll? 87. 87. Good boy.

Don't do that. No! You're so mean. And with that sudden rush, the temperature immediately shifts as you find yourself suddenly sitting in the center of a mild snowstorm. Familiar to your first arrival here in the Graying Wildlands,

the successful teleport has brought you to the base of a heavy mountain range just beyond the white blasting of the snow around you. You can see the rolling, craggy Alps just beginning to vanish into the storm ahead. This region still powdered familiar white from the recent and current snowfall, but one mountainside's mild discoloration

before you catches your eye. A few hundred feet up from its base, a faceted, jagged, unnatural frostscape of white-blue ice appears to have claimed the rocky incline for a few hundred feet more, looking like a plague of ice vines erupting from the mountain's belly, frozen in time after climbing

and attempting to burst out of the mountain itself. In the center of that spiraling web of ice, you see a massive cluster of cage-like ice growths that encircle an oblong mouth, a cavern that enters the mountainside. This, you assume, is Mirthbora. As Essek turns to you all, his hair blowing in the wind, you're crazy, but good luck.

And that's where we'll pick up next week. Oh man. Shit. You'll be joining us again for next week. Yay! Or you're like, and this is where you die, goodbye, get out. All survival. All survival.

Oh, you skipped a shit ton of possible encounters there. What? What? Well, yeah, I guess. We're not traveling by goat. We're not traveling by goat, but, which is great, you guys did a lot. Earned some more in Essek's debt by doing so, but you managed to avoid a lot of possible danger,

so well done. Damn it. You say more S's, Ed. I like dangers. I'll show you some of the maps afterwards. I was damn proud of them. Oh! Oh, don't apologize, this is my game, guys.

This is what I do. Come back. This is what I do. Anyway, thank you guys so much for joining us. We'll be back at the Myth Burrow next Thursday to see where this leads them on this leg of their journey. Don't forget, we love you very much. And is it Thursday yet? Yeah.

And this concludes the current chapter of Critical Role. Your essays on the history and impact of the various ages and epochs of Exandria are eagerly anticipated. Just kidding. No homework for you, but if you are inspired to do some writing, please leave us a review. Your words can really help new folks find our show and encourage them to give it a try.

Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure. Until next time.