Critical Role - C2E84 Titles and Tattoos

Episode Date: November 14, 2019

Join our November fundraising drive with OSD to support active duty military, veterans, and family members. Donate now at: http://critrole.com/osdHaving survived the dangers of the Folding Halls, the Mighty Nein must now grapple with the gravity of Obann’s plot and decide who in the Empire they can possibly trust...Watch Critical Role live Thursdays at 7pm PT on https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole

Hi there, this is Matthew Mercer, resident Game Master here at Critical Role, to welcome you to this podcast version of the show. If you'd like to watch the stream as it airs, you can catch it Thursdays at 7pm Pacific on twitch.tv slash criticalrole or youtube.com slash criticalrole. Twitch subscribers can access the video on demand immediately after the broadcast, and it also becomes available on YouTube Mondays at 12 p.m. Pacific. Podcast episodes land right here on the Critical Role Podcast Network on Thursdays, a week after the initial broadcast. Okay, with that info dump out of the way, let's dive into the story.

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 play Dungeons & Dragons! Whoops! Just like that. So yeah, before we jump into tonight's session, let's go ahead and get through some of our announcements,

beginning with our fantastic returning sponsor for campaign two, D&D Beyond. D&D Beyond! Sam. D&D Beyond is our returning sponsor again this week. We love them. You can check them out at dndbeyond. D&D Beyond. D&D Beyond is our returning sponsor again this week. We love them. You can check them out at dndbeyond.link slash Critical Role. They cheer us on every week. I thought, why not cheer them on as well?

Watch Marisha die inside. She wasn't even cheer squad, she was the dance. Oh, I don't know. Okay, ready? There's a difference, bitch. Ready? Okay. D&D, Vyond. D&D, Vyond. Table, on this side, show me your D&D pride.

Yell D&D, Vyond. Vyond. D&D. Vyond. Vyond. Table, on this side. You suck! Please make this ad die. Yay! Wow.

Surprisingly succinct. You should have been a cheerleader. Is that a record? It might be a record. It might be. The pithiest D&D Beyond spot. Yeah, pretty good. Vying for one of the more violent ones, but not quite there.

Eye protection. Sorry. That mic is just going to keep vibrating for so long. Perfect, thank you, Sam. Back to you, Matt. And thank you, D&D Beyond, for many reasons, mainly your endurance. So, let's get to the rest of our announcements. Travis, you got some things to talk about, if I believe?

I do, yes. For the month of November. What? You go first. That beverage. For the month of November, Holy shit. Critical Role has partnered once again with one of our favorite charities, OSD.

Yeah! They support active duty and civilian veterans that are various stages of their life, and they have currently served over one million members of the military in all their different branches, and we are glad to be a part of the next million that they will help. We have a month-long push, so please consider donating

or at least sharing the message, and you can see all of that goodness and all the details and more at critrole.com. Critrole.com. Slash OSD. OSD. Hell yeah. Hold that, Thought Traps. Marisha, you're up, go.

Oh, I'll just moon. Jazz. It's fun to throw you off. On that note, in case you missed it, earlier this week we made an announcement that we are going to push part four, the finale of Undeadwood, by one week to November 15th. That's this, not this Friday, not tomorrow,

but the Friday after next. Got it. We had some technical difficulties in post 15th, that's this, not this Friday, not tomorrow, but the Friday after next. Got it. We had some technical difficulties in post and a few very frustrating hurdles that we had to get over, but we are good and back on track, but didn't want to destroy our team. Was it Brian's hair?

Is it Brian's hair, like you had to CG it all? We, oh. Well, he's going to hate if I out him on this. What, his hair product caught fire? Did you have to do something to his hair? He did get a haircut while we were reviewing the edit. He just had his girl come to our edit

so we can dress up. I have pictures of it. Sorry, Bea! I'm so sorry! Worth it, worth it. Burn it to the ground. Amazing. But yeah. Harness life. Fucking diva. That is such a diva.

How hard we've been going on this, man. Anyway. Got to stay fresh in the editing room. It's true. It was good times, but yeah, tune in on the 15th. That's this next Friday, 7 p.m. for part four of Undeadwood. I promise you, it's crazy. It's a doozy. It's fucking crazy.

It's a doozy, it's fun. Travis, you're up. Yeah, also earlier this week, we announced some pretty major news around our upcoming animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina. It's been picked up by Amazon Prime Video! Woo!

Which is huge, and because of that partnership, we are able to create two additional episodes for the first season, so now 10 episodes has become 12 for season one, and a second season of 12 episodes! 24 total episodes! This is too big? This is too big?

Not too big. Almost five. Not too big. We're real excited. This is huge. Yeah, it's been amazing. It was hard to keep under our hats. They've been amazing to work with.

We've also seen a few questions around whether the Kickstarter backers will still be able to see the first season for free, and the answer is yes. It is at the forefront of our mind. We wanted to make sure that everybody knows that backers will get access to the two-part special first. We are still working on how we do that,

but with all of our brain powers combined, it shall surely be an easily surmountable task, and you will get access to the first season for free. All of those details to come, and if you want to see where all the details are listed, you can head to our Kickstarter page. But I can tell you, we've been hard at work with all of our friends at Titmouse,

already making this thing amazing. Scripts are in, designs are in, location, background art is in. I'm so good! It's so hard not to just like, should I just show them on my phone? No, no, no! Okay.

No, in due time, there will be a rollout. We'll be rolling out some art pretty soon. Should I just show them on my phone? No! There's a titmouse. Thank you to the backers for making this. Thank you to all of our backers. We're going to make this as amazing as we possibly can for you guys. It's going to be great. Yeah. Thank you, Trev. Laura, you got some updates, I believe. Well, yeah. It's not as cool as all of that,

but it's still pretty cool. I disagree. Take pride. So number one, merch in the store, it's all merch in the store, but number one is the finishing of our collection of our Mighty Nein chibis. Oh, they're so cute. There's Fjord, and there's Nott, and there's Molly. I love that Molly.

Love it. I love the backgrounds. I don't know which one is my favorite. They're all so amazing. The pins were designed by our beautiful friend, Jenny Park, who is phenomenal. And thank you, thank you, thank you for that, Jenny. So they're in the store now.

Also, I have to back up for this. What? You got something. It's sitting in my lap, keeping me so warm and toasty. I'm actually cold right now. Oh, you can have this on during the show. This is our blanket. It's so good. It's so incredibly soft. It's the mat by Devinru, and I love it.

And I'm just so happy that we got this made. Zephyruna? And yes. It's a blanket, it's a map. I've stolen many already. It's a blap. Here, do you want to snuggle up in it? Feel how soft it is.

It is. That's so good. It smells like teldorum. A macot? Legitimately fell asleep wrapped in that while we finished Barry season two. Yeah. And it's pretty comfy.

I'm just excited we get to make this stuff, you guys. I can do anything under here. Oh. That's the whole point of it. All right. Do anything with a hole in the sheet. Anything we make is mostly so we get one. That's really it. That's kind of so we get one. That's really nice.

That's kind of our whole merch plan, is just make stuff we want to have. Yes. And hopefully you guys want some too. I have one of everything in my home office. Running out of rooms to slow down. All right. Don't slow down.

All right, thank you so much, Laura. I've been given freedom and I love it. You're good at what you do. All right then, I think that concludes our announcements. I think the first time that I didn't actually have to make any announcements myself, which was nice. That's why I got to fuck with you guys. But on that note, let's go ahead and dive into

tonight's episode of Critical Role. 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 falchions 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. 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. Critical. Roll the dice.

Critical. Roll the dice. Critical. Roll the dice. Critical. Roll the dice. Critical. Roll the dice.

Critical. Roll the dice. Critical. Critical. Critical. Turn to roll! I missed! And welcome back. Children. Yes. So. Last we left off, the Mighty Nein, in search of their allies in the coming struggle that seemed to be slowly building around Obann and the plans that he's making

in pursuit of the will of the Angel of Irons, you went to find Yussa, the mage of Tidepeak Tower and Ikedranas had vanished into the folding halls of Halas, the Archmage Bane, the Heirloom Sphere, or as you guys refer to it as the happy fucking fun ball, after spending what was essentially weeks and weeks of real time, and just for a few days within the ball's strange time dilation,

you managed to make your way through all sorts of strange chambers and traps and battle mage hunter golems and then eventually find your way to a lost den of Halas, the creator of these halls, who had found his soul locked within some sort of a trapped or sabotaged relic of which he was using in his research. Acquiring this gem, questioning him,

and making an alliance to a certain degree to gain guidance out of this strange sequence of rooms. You manage to find yourself to the Prisoner's Soot. You freed Yussa, who had been silenced and put away as he began to peruse the interior of these halls on his own. You all manage to escape and found yourself outside of the sphere, partway up Tidepeak Tower,

along with Allura Vysoren from the Council of Tal'Dorei, who had aided you as a friend through this small adventure. Now, as you all gathered, her research had brought her to ask information and to bring materials and thoughts and imagery memories of this individual Yasha of which you spoke of that seemed to be involved in this mess with Obann. As you gathered hands together and prepared the ritual,

you peered past the Veil of Deceit and revealed the Angel of Irons seems to have been a cover, some sort of a possibly fictional name, an entity to mask the true intent of An-Tarizdun, the Chained Oblivion, who has been seemingly amassing allies under the guise of the Angel of Irons, to what end? We do not know, necessarily.

But upon this revelation, we return to the chamber partway up Tidepeak Tower. As Allura finishes saying to herself, I must inform the council, there's a long, pregnant pause. The air itself is still. You can smell the salty sea air

that comes in from the nearby docks and ocean of the Lucidian nearby, but amongst that is just this sense of dread and weight on your shoulders as the sheer volume and gravity of what you've all recently heard comes to take your mind. Is that a thing that's happening right now? You guys are now, you're in the tower.

Oh, okay. You're reacting to the ritual, what would you like to do? Oh shit. Therizdun, Therizdun? I feel like we need to practice saying it. Therizdun. Therizdun? Therizdun. Where's the emphasis? Yeah, where is the emphasis? You guys know about him?

We've been talking about him. He's come up a few times. Yeah, but he's super powerful. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. He's also a Betrayer God. He's crazy, crazy old, right? Mm-hmm.

You think we can take him because he's real old? If someone wishes to make a religion check. Me! All right. Okay. 23. 23? Okay, good to know. Yeah, not too bad, not too bad. As part of this conversation, you do know that

Thurisdun, as an entity, while categorized as a Betrayer God, does not belong necessarily or stemmed from the same founding entities that the other elements of divinity stem from. While it is lumped with it, it is something other entirely, possibly older than the world, no one knows. Oh god, that's so cool. It is strange, it is aberrant, and it is very much that.

Do we know, do any of us know, if what separates Tharizdun from our plane of existence. Is there a gate or a? Because of your religion check, you do. As Allura leans forward and goes, Yussa, we need to research how this entity was put away, was sealed.

What does it exist? You, at this question, pipe up and recall a couple of things. One, you know from the, it was sealed once long ago in the Founding, back when the deities first began to give form to the world after defeating and scattering the Primal Elementals that previously walked across of Exandria

in its early days. They had thought to have banished Therizdun, and then he returned during the Calamity. And in that time period, Ioun and Pelor spearheaded the assault against the roiling, hungry black void that was the entity. Right, right, before and after. But nothing.

They had banished him, the roiling, hungry, black void that was the entity. Right, right, we've learned that before. They had banished him, but the struggle left Ioun with a terrible wound that would not heal. Oh! Forever. For as long as Therizdun exists, it seems, the wound harrests.

It is said, because you've rolled so high on religion. We learned that in the volcano, right? I don't remember where we learned that. No. Is that right? Keep going. It's okay. It is also said that multiple sets of divine shackles hold the Chained Oblivion at the bottom of the Abyss,

their power anchored somewhere in Exandria. Shackles. Wait, what? And you rolled what on a religion check? 23. 23, okay. That's all you know. I have a question out of story. Is this beyond, like everyone knows what the Calamity is. For the most part.

Is this beyond common knowledge, the existence of Tharizdun? This is something that only people with esoteric knowledge or vast amounts of study know? People know of it in the way that people know about the boogeyman. Tharizdun would be the equivalent of the boogeyman colloquially in most cultures.

People might say, be careful, Jaina, believing will get you if you don't go to bed early. But it's been so long ago, and only, for a lot of people, may not really, like history that old, that has been altered or rewritten based on whoever's in power in those locations and certain interpretations can shift from place to place.

Many people who are of some level of intellectual knowledge and training acknowledge that it existed, but as it is with a lot of mortal entities that are so caught up with their own day-to-day business, it seems like something so far off that no one can say. So it's more weird than us knowing stories of Zeus turning into a bull and stuff like that. Yeah. It's stranger than that.

Correct. It wounded Ioun and the wound didn't heal. This thing's like Mike Tyson at the end of Punch-Out!!. Nobody wants to fight this. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. It's got to go down with one hit. It's like Hercules Mulligan, but he's too weird to be real.

Yussa pipes up and goes, Well, who do we know who belongs to this cult? If this is who you are chasing, who you are after, who do we know is connected to this entity? We know a few folks. We have a running list. Yeah. One is Obann. Obann. Yeah, he take a tea. We know a few folks. We have a running list. Yeah. One is Obann.

Obann. Yeah, he's a demon. Yeah. Demon? Devil? Devil. Devil. Devil? Devil. Devil. He's Obann.

He's got wings. Mm-hmm. Right. He can make himself look like other people. Yeah, and he's really good at manipulating people. So he has control of our friend Yasha, right? And when I was looking at them through scrying, you know what that is? When I was looking at them,

she was trying to fight him, right? And she was like, I don't want to be with you! And then the storm god was like, oh, almost took control, and then Obann touched her chin and something happened, and she was instantly back to being under his control. And she's got the thing on the back of her neck! But she might have also been evil the whole time, and just sort of, we didn't know that.

I don't think so. What does this thing on the back of the neck you say? It is like, and I describe it exactly like I saw it. What you saw, it looked, the faint orange glow, reminiscent of the old car cigarette lighters, that faint reddish heated tint to it. Very, very difficult to see.

Right at the base of the neck, underneath the hair. Lots of little circles. Right, well, sure. But Yussa contemplates after what you're saying. If this Obann is able to continue to control your ally, is this by the same means or are there others as to why he's able to bind the champions

of other betrayers to his will as well. Maybe. Oh, I did see the light coming from the Laughing Hand, I think, didn't I? Well, if that is the case, then Solvang is a dangerous entity. Because if the Laughing Hand is a champion of Tuorog and this other one that you had mentioned.

The inevitable end. Jor-El, the Kaedogast. The Kaedogast, as you said, yes. He's born from, was it Asmodeus and... Chosen assassin of Loth. Of Loth and Asmodeus. There is no reason for these things to follow the intent of such a creature

of madness and disparate will as Farisdun. And we killed him, and instantly came back. So you need to be mindful of what it is that affects your friend, might also be affecting these other creatures, these other champions. Allura turns her head over to you, Samus. Are they even aware they're worshiping this thing? Like, if they follow the Angel of Irons,

is that just their own cover, or have they themselves been duped into believing? It is rare for something of sound mind to want to follow such utter destruction of the planes and beyond. Yasha had amnesia. She didn't remember her past ever since we met her. Maybe they all once were conscious followers

and something happened, or maybe it was always manipulation. Well, if Obann is a devil, and he's from the Hells, could it be that he's working or executing the orders of a devil prince, a king? Someone from Hell is trying to wipe out? They like their hierarchy.

Ferezdun is one of the entities that resides at the bottom of the Abyss, which is more of the demonic heritage. That's weird, then. There's a lot of mixed up factions here, which is why I wonder. And you, actually, because you're all so fucking high on religion.

And regarding Thurisdun. I circlet. Those who are foolhardy enough to follow such twisting destruction as the Chained Oblivion are often spurned, hateful, and chaotic souls who fall through the cracks of society and detention. A bit of inherent madness left unchecked opens the door to the creeping void that draws those who worship and come to the altar

of this unspoken entity. You also know, since it is rare for those of sound mind to worship an entity that brings only madness and destruction, the Chain of Oblivion and its followers often deceive sects into aiding their efforts from within other sects of worship, creating a false idol entirely. And you know that the higher acolytes of Thurisdun,

as part of their ritual of ascension and to show their true faith, often remove their eyes so they can peer through shadow and light with this boon. Ew! Inconvenient. I don't want to play anymore. I'm leaving now. Taking a fishing boat. Good crab for it.

Well, there's also, I mean, they're connected to this larger conspiracy within the war and factions within it, so god only knows how deep this runs and how many people are involved. Once again, they're attracted to fractured people that they could easily manipulate. This is the same cult that's been pushing warfare on the...

Yeah, we know that Obann was referencing this individual who is within the Empire high up. Yeah, the blonde guy. What's his name again? Oh, wait, what is his fucking name? I like Blondie. Oh, wait, Blondie? Vince Newthalus.

Yeah. You, Selene Sforz, you told me about this device that was opening rifts. Yeah. Across. Yeah. Yeah. It was opening rifts to, you were saying? The Abyss. The Abyss. Yes. Yeah. What purpose do these rifts

possibly have in this larger plan? They seem to have infantry, monsters, beasts that they were sending through. I wonder if their location had something, if it was a greater network or something? They seemed randomly placed. Remember, they're somewhere in the backs of caves in weird mountains and stuff like that.

Bottom of a well? If you're poking holes in a... Under a livery? If you're poking holes in a... Under a livery? If you're poking holes in a bucket, it doesn't matter where the hole is, just how many. You can go ahead and, both of you can make intelligence checks, since you are the two of highest intellect.

I beg your pardon. As of now, yeah. Oh, okay. I will let you know, I rolled a two. Just straight intellect? Yep, with your intelligence modifier. 15. 15? 18. 18?

All right. Caleb, in hearing this conversation, you begin to recall your studying of interplanar effects and how the veils between planes can shift and thicken and wanes as such, you know, different events through the actual calendar year occur and such. You do know, based on the probably putting the pieces together, that with each rift that probably opens

within Exandria, between that and the Abyss, the veils between the realms get slightly weaker with each one that remains, if temporarily, and through this subtle influence of the Chain of Oblivion, may begin to creep into the world. It's like if you have a leather strap and you punch enough holes. That's another way to put it, sure. And because you rolled so high in religion.

You also do know that the- I also know that. The characteristics of the Chained Oblivion's influence, the madness that it instills subtly, is said to slowly corrupt people with bouts of uncontrollable hunger, uncharacteristic aggression, and eventually violent mania. Who wants to join that fishing boat with me?

Anyone? The mackerel's biting, this time. Hunger, what else? We think that uncharacteristic aggression on a fishing boat. Under the water. Yeah, that's really clever. I mean, I've been saying for a while

that there's been reoccurring themes of hunger and famine and starvation and chains the entire time we've known each other. Yeah, but who's been hungry other than me and stuff? I'm really hungry all the time. I mean, me too. I'm actually kind of, I can cook something out if we need to. I also get this, sometimes I hide it,

but what if I'm influenced by the chained oblivion? Yes. I'm pretty good. It said that in Xhoras, remember the furry creature, the, what, the bugbear, right? He had bouts of violence and anger. Yeah. And Osiris talked to the, oh wait, was that Osiris, is that what you just said?

Yeah. I mean, even going all the way back to Trostenwald, Talk to the, oh wait, was that Osiris, is that what you just said? I don't know. I mean, even going all the way back to Trostenwald, with the Nergill. Oh, and the gnolls! That, you got the other one. No, wait, I might have been making that part up. The gnolls, were they hungry?

Most are. They came in and like, they were aggressive, though, they were aggressive. They were super aggressive. And weren't they unre They were aggressive, though. They were aggressive. They were super aggressive. Weren't they unreasonably aggressive? They were eating people. Okay, they were not regular gnolls. Thank you.

But yes, yes, the first time we met and we went to that circus, that monster was. The devil toad who kept lashing out and eating people. If this influence continues to spill out into this world and people grow more and more aggressive, that's going to lead to even further conflict. What if the Bright Queen is affected by it? Was she eating every time we saw her?

I don't think she was ever eating when we saw her. She did have a Slim Jim in her mouth every time we saw her. To combat the overall aggression. That's my headcanon. What if we commandeer the Statue of Liberty and we walk it in the middle of Manhattan and start playing? You lift me up.

Like positivity, yes, I like it. I love it when you're rough ass! Let's have a fish concert. All right. So we are talking about some ancient, forgotten thing. So what's the play here? What's the strategy?

I don't know what I would do. I have a question. If the Abyss is on the demonic side of things, and the devils and the demons have a spat, is there any way that we would employ or try and reason with the devilish side of things to gain access to an incursion? But Ovid is a devil.

Right, but he's obviously trying to pull someone out of the demonic side. Yeah. The abyss is on the other half. So weird. This cult, this cult, we would have to take down this cult, right? They're making it easy for Therizdun

to gain access to our plane of existence. How do we take down this crazy cult? We did make it easier to kill the Laughing Hand. We don't know how many there are in this cult, or where they are. We know where one of them is, and it would be a Blondie. We could get Blondie and get a bunch of information.

They did say the last time we scurried on them that they were making their way towards the finish line. Make it that way! Do we know where these individuals are? Do we know where the next plot is, where the next anything is? I bet he would. I could scry on them.

We can scry on Yasha, we can scry on Blondie. Who is Sif Tu-Thar? I have a spell book, he's a dead mage. He was worshiping the Crawling King. This is stressful. The Crawling King is a different entity. Oh. That has nothing to do with it. It's Chained Oblivion, Crawling King.

Torog. Torog is the Crawling King. Right, but Torog is more or less still related in this. Through the Laughing Hand. Yeah, Laughing Hand was a champion of Torog. If Oba is- Right, so she's still a player in this weird way. Possibly, Right, so she's still a player in this. Possibly. Possibly, but everyone's coming from every, might just be a red herring.

Is a servant of Gresth. Gresth. Therizdun. Therizdun. Obong was a servant of Gresth. But we don't know. That's. It doesn't matter, they're former masters.

Now everyone works for Therizdun. Okay. Right, that's what it feels like. The Nihilism. Yeah, you know, those were all, those were all. Like everyone is under Therizdun. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it doesn't matter who they used to be aligned with.

We don't know where the next event is happening or where to cut anyone off. Should we try and look in on the few that we are speaking on? Probably. If we could peel Yasha away, somehow she would know more. You said you have any thoughts? You say to Teryn, listen.

This is a lot, obviously. Let me do some research as well, some meditation, and reach out to a few allies I have that may have some esoteric knowledge. But I have to do this alone. I can... I do have a friend in the Empire still, though I am not really invited as much as I once was.

What's their name? I could give you a missive. Or Midas. Oh, we know that. We do. It's headmaster or, wait, oh! The Soltryst of Cad. Not the Soltryst, the other school.

Halls of Erudition. Yes, Hall of the Dash. Yep, yep, yep, that one. I could write you a missive. While I could not go, as it would not be best for me to be there, the introduction would be enough to gain an audience and perhaps glean some information from within the

range of influence that the Assembly seems to have. An audience for us or for you? For you. He can't go, he's not, chooses not to go. Who? Oh, you, sir. There are means within the hall to disable such glamors that would allow me

free entry and wandering, so it is best I not cause a stir. But you can go as my allies. Aren't we known by Ormid Haas? Is, um, yeah. Heck, we, um. We can be open with you, sir. Will you leave the room for a second? Is that what you were going to say?

I'm going to leave the room? No! We're sorry to get your house. Just say it. I think we're known by Ormid Haas. Yeah, I don't think he likes us. Our last interaction with him did not go well. There wasn't a fight.

We were at a cocktail party. He likes cats and we like... The fuck are your notes? We were at a cocktail party or something with him and Trent Ikthon. It was after the tournament. Yeah. Did we break into this guy's house?

No, we just talked to him. And remember, he said something to Yasha. Did he say something to Yasha? Trent said something at the party. He said something to Yasha. Did he say something to Yasha? Trent said something to Yasha. Trent said something to Yasha that was creepy. Yes, but Ormett was there, and I know he was like, Wingman-ing Trent.

He was like, with us, and then we were like, oh, he likes cats because he pet Frumpkin. And then we were like, let's remember that for next time. He likes Frumpkin. I don't remember us making a note of that at all. I did. That did happen. That did happen. Wow, that's amazing.

It's good to have a Marisha in every party. It is. I've also been really researching this. We didn't, oh, sorry, go on. No, go ahead. No, go on, go on. No, I was just justifying. Oh, I was just going to say, we didn't attack him.

He doesn't know that we're enemies. We're not enemies. No, I don't think, right? But Trent? No. Would know that Caleb is, wouldn't he? Trent saw Caleb and didn't say anything. No, he did not. If there is a concern with this Trent,

who I believe I know who you're speaking of, then just avoid him. Do not bring him up. So we can go see Hormid. He's super duper powerful, then, you know that. So is the rest of the Assembly. So am I. Well, yeah, but you're nice.

Well, do not think the entire Assembly is useless. They have a few dubious figures, but not all of them are bad eggs. Oh man. We're going to the halls of Erodeum. That's in Zadash. Erodeum. Allura goes, and I feel like I should at least

implore aid from the Council of Tal Aure. I don't know if they can get directly involved in Imperial Wild Nutt politics so brazenly, especially during a time of war, but I'll see what can be done. The council, huh? Who's on the council? Who's on the council?

Yeah, yeah, I can't think of a list. Who would that be? Do you have a list? I've never heard of them. She teleports away. No! Mercer! Left with Yussa and Wentzforth,

who's in the corner in his chair, just watching the whole thing, bright-eyed. Yussa goes, Wow. If you are going to Omed to ask for his expertise, knowledge, anything about what's going on within the Empire, just use my name, use this.

See, the whole time you guys have been having this conversation, he's been mage-handing with a quill and ink over on the counter. It's writing its own letter about 20 feet away from him. He then drifts over to. You fucking motherfucker. It's Brian Foster's payback. Don't put this on him.

That's a cute turn off, it makes a difference. I know Brian's brand of payback, that ain't it. As the parchment drifts through the air and then folds, a ribbon ties itself on it and it lands over on Jester's lap. Me! How closely should we trust this person? How much information should we give them?

As much as you deem necessary. As much as that would be useful for what you're going after. Be guarded, but Omed is one of the less problematic members of the Assembly. We're naturally mistrusting people, so it's always important to ask. We've also encountered a fair number of people

that are not who they seem or pretending to be something else. Is there a question that we could ask, or perhaps some way of verifying that he is who you say he is? I would say, I couldn't help but notice around your neck this tiny furred creature.

Oh, I thought you were talking about my ruby necklace, which is really beautiful, but yes, this is Sprinkle. Ormyd would react favorably to such a creature? Oh, he likes all little furry creatures? I think Sprinkle's been dead since the Happy Funnel. I know. Right? That's why it's not covered in ashes. It's just darn dead.

Don't say it out loud. It's just a big thing. If she hasn't found it, just leave him there. He's just stiff, hanging from a little string around. Solid collar now. To produce his new mask. He'll hide inside my armor whenever we're in battle and he's super duper protected.

As canon. Vexen, he's in there with Trinket. Shut up. He hasn't been fed in months. It's assumed that she's been feeding him. It's like that Tamagotchi. Any time I eat, imagine that I'm also giving Sprinkle food, okay?

Sprinkle gets a touch of it and he's like, Please. Let me tell you, the best part about playing D&D with friends is making your friends keep track of all their imaginary animals' responsibilities. Oh! He likes furry things. Mm-hmm.

Smaller the cute, the better. He's a furry lover. Okay, cool. You say this armad is one of the less problematic. Which ones do you deem problematic, and what do you estimate their problems to be? It depends on your perspective. Ludinus is very intelligent.

I do not know what his main intent is, but he's been around since the beginning. But he's also the one that keeps the balance with the king. He is the one that keeps the peace from an archmage's standpoint. But I'm wary of anyone that powerful, both from an arcane and political standpoint. Most of my contact has been with Ormett.

Trying to seem is just creepy. Jannah seems unique if a bit distracted. Uludon's a buffoon. They're the only ones that I've actually met in person. How do you know Ormand? We trained together. Or I trained him for a bit, I should say. I've been alive much longer than he has.

But he's stern, but has a good heart. Wants the best for his students, pushes them hard. I respect his techniques, though his students may not always. We appreciate your candor. Of course. Oh, and so I've had a day to recover and get my wits about me.

I'm going to sit up for a minute. I want to thank you for coming into the halls after me, for freeing me from the result of my own arrogance. It means a lot. I suppose the only question to ask is, will you be going back in? Not for a while, and certainly not alone.

However, I think it's only fair. He reaches behind one of the counters and takes this weighted satchel and throws it into the center of where you guys are talking. So Brooke? All bearings. What is that? This is a portion of Halas' fortune that I managed to recover. Not in the room, no, thank you.

Speaking of which, looks over to the unconscious body of Halas on the floor. Oh, right, where's the jewel? I already handed it over. Like, yeah. I think Nott has it. No, you had it.

Oh, you had it right there. That's right. Also, just out of curiosity, if you touch it, there's still a voice in there, right? Let's find out. Hello? Hello. Oh, yeah. You are the one who called yourself Nott, is that right?

Yes. Well. Oh, good. Where are we? Have we been successful in your escape? How would you do it? Do what? How would you change a body, if you could? Well, it depends on what you wish to change it into.

You see, there are not, as I know you've looked into my research, there are ways to, I believe, take a mortal body and make it perpetual. Maybe put the jewel down. Is it a spell or a ritual? Caleb? Both. I think this is going on long enough.

Do you know what it is? Do you know it, or would you have to find it? I would have to take a look at my notes. I was not entirely finished. But if you release me from this gem, I will help you to pursue whatever this may be. I need something more concrete than that. The name of a spell, something.

It is unnamed at the moment, but it was part of my design for myself and to talk to the other ones. Should you be interested, little cotton girl? Set it down. Yours is well. How do I get you out if I wanted to? Dispel this jewel. Dispel the jewel. As I hear that, I Near. I cast Silence.

Near your... I snatch, I'm going to attempt to snatch the jewel. You make a sleight of hand check, and you make an insight, or you make a perception check. Oh, perception? Mm-hmm. Wow. 11. Yuck, what'd you say, sleight of hand?

Yeah. 14. 14. As you're in conversation, your voice goes gone, you look over to Caduceus, and you look back, and the you say, side of hand? Yeah. 14. 14. As you're in conversation, your voice goes gone, you look over to Caduceus and you look back and the gem's out of your hand. Oh! Shoot. Oh.

Are we all silenced? No, just you. Good timing. Hang on, wait, wait, wait, just let her get out of her system for a minute. No, it was great, good work. If you could read lips, I see a lot of Fs and Ss. Yeah. A couple Gs.

Ferns. Ooh. Soliloquy. A T and a C. I don't think she's that angry. Gentle. Yep. F, S, L. Those hands are not easy to mistake. I think she's gotten it out of her, oh. Not yet.

I think she's gotten it out of her system. More of a cracker. It's baby salad. You can drop the spell, I think. Your face is stupid! That's fair. A very dangerous and powerful mage now knows your name. It's just good to know that he is still in there,

which is where we want to keep him, right, Nott? Because if he gets out, he knows your name. If you want, I'm more than happy to jettison both that body and that gem far into the scattered plains. I have the means. Did he sound like he knew what he could do? He sounded confident that he could do something. He was telling you what to do.

You spoke of dispelling that. He's also confident that he eats people. He definitely eats people. He does? Yeah, he has a restaurant called The Carving Board in the Happy Fob Ball. I love The Carving Board. He built a prisonacer with his left chest

that murders you in the blink of an eye. It's the first time I've had an opportunity to be myself again, and I can't just leave it alone. It's the thing. It's not an opportunity. This is the thing. You, sir. Do you think that the man who built that place would be willing to help you?

Maybe. He would be beneficial to help you? Maybe. He would be beneficial to you. He's an altruist. That is the impression you got from the person who chained a dreadnought and built a lever to open its mouth like a door, who has a prison. I don't judge his taste in decor.

Nott, you have to understand the difference between an opportunity and a temptation. That was a temptation. There's a big difference. Look, we have one option, right? Mm-hmm. We know that this is here. Not if he sends it away to a far-off place. Yussa. Yussa.

Yes? Do you know of a spell that would turn somebody into something else? There are. This polymorph is a relatively simple. Yeah, but permanently, like, put them back in their right body. Someone is in the wrong body.

It's a bit beyond my immediate scope, but there is a, I've heard whispers of, like, a truest polymorph, though even that is only until dispelled. It is not a permanent endeavor, but it can become most anything. This one has been dabbling in his time within the sphere.

I have notes of his that are incomplete, but it felt like he was on the right track. within the sphere. I have notes of his, they're incomplete, but it felt like he was on the right track. You have these notes? Yes. And what is your speciality? Transmutation. You're fairly bright. Is that a challenge?

Always. I'm not going to peel inches of your flesh off and eat them. It's so romantic. I'm not as far along as him. It's so romantic. I'm not as far along as him. I'm not nearly as deranged, and that's saying something. All right. You can't change if you're dead. Dead and gone.

All right, so you'll still work at it and try? Have a little faith. All right. I trust this crazy wizard, I guess, more than that one, so. You are a smart goblin. Halfling. It's complicated. Will you promise us that if we want to come back,

do any more research on Halas, that we have full access? Full access to? This. I don't know, what do you plan to do with this? Send it into the... I was going to get rid of it entirely. Yeah, like, way out. Well, the heart was technically sent off into nothing

and Halas found it. Well, here heart was technically sent off into nothing and Halas found it. Well, here, unless I am mistaken, that spirit can only return to that body, correct? Yes, that's what he said. You watch Yussa open his hand, and you watch as the unconscious body of Halas begin to blacken and crackle,

as it begins to burn into cinder and ash on the floor. In but a matter of 20 seconds or so, the smell of burned flesh fills the chamber. It is disgusting before it slowly filters out the open window. I can go behind that. Oh. Look at that. Now there is no longer worry of him returning to his form.

Wow, that was... Effective? Decisive. Maybe don't touch the stone and see if Halas needs an update. Let's just let him continue to think otherwise. You heard a tiny slant. See if he's crying. Let's actually not touch the evil stone. Can everyone be quiet for a second?

No, let's... not touch the eagles. Can everyone be quiet for a second? No, let's... Hello, Beau. Hey, Alas. So, might I speak to the goblin girl once more, if you do not mind? We are having a conversation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah, you know what? She actually just went out for a...

Silence. What? Yeah! Doesn't feel so good, does it? We just went out for a... Silence. What? Yeah, doesn't feel so good, does it? Huh? Huh? Every word. Your arms are weird. Huh? You can't say anything back, can you? Every word will come back to haunt us.

Vorgada cannot hear you. I don't actually know if that'll, she can't hear anything I'm saying. The voice continues through the gem because it is telepathic to you. I would say, yeah. Just, yeah. Let's do that.

The mage hand grasps it, and as the mage hand lifts in the air, he will not actually make physical contact with the stone. That's the smart way to do it, drop silence. Puts it onto a table, you have the same mage hand, pulls. I was going to say, you're going out to pee, and that you'll be back never.

How do you? You would've been clever. Yeah, but you know, you cut off my joke. I didn't cut off your joke, Vianne! You fucking cut off my joke. I think the less said to something that may be able to tell the difference between the truth and a lie, and probably a lot more information

just by us touching it, that's a lot. That's not the sort of thing you should be touching. Would have been the last thing he heard, he would have got a good joke. And when he eventually gets out. And then he'd be like, oh shit. Now he's wondering what the punchline was and he'll wonder forever.

No, he'll eventually get out and find you. He's not going to get out. Don't worry, he's in there. Uh-oh. You hear these two heavy impacts. You watch as you're having this conversation, Yussa has mage-handed the gem over onto the nearby table corners, draws a line through the air with the other hand,

mutters an incantation, and you watch as a almost spectral-looking chest apparates through the air as he draws the line, lands on the ground. It opens, mage hands the gem over onto the inside, it closes, and then vanishes. Wow. But still. That was good. Remember that we found that in the middle

of a magic fun ball inside a dreadnought, inside a magic space. I mean, it's these things. I was there. Things get found. It's a jorhassian wooden doll. We should be off. We have much to learn. That chest,hassian wooden doll. We should be off. We have much to learn.

That chest, though, that's not a pocket for you to access later. That was a random toss. That's a pocket for me to access later. Hopefully not until it's needed. But until you decide you have no further use of this individual, I will put it somewhere nobody else can find it but myself.

Excellent. And you don't have any use? If you trust me. I think that Yussa would prefer to inhabit his own flesh. Yes, I would. Halas? But it doesn't look like Halas. No, I'm talking about Yussa. Oh, yes, yes. Not wanting to be possessed

by an all-powerful being. We would trust you if you tell us who the members of the Tal'Dorei Council are. I regret to inform you that my only experience has been with Allura and members of the Panosophical. That's unfortunate. The council, I do not prefer to avoid politics. Just one.

No newsletter coming on by Gryffindor. Straight to space. Your old friend, Flora, she told you over tea one day. An older Seeker Assume. Master of spies, acid scarred and tattooed, but now with a goatee. Ooh! Gray as in maybe.

Oh, great! All right, so where are we off to? To Zadash! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to go see the guy that's creepy. Not creepy. He's normal. I cannot say he's not creepy,

to some degree, maybe, but just more trustworthy. Do your best to gather information, find out who's doing what, where they're going, anything, any clues we have to what their plan is, especially if it's happening soon based on what you had said. The last thing we want is to be caught off guard. Do you have any means for us to travel to Zadash

quicker than 14 days on horseback? Well, no, we can be on Fenty the Cobalt Soul. Oh, that's right. I'll send a message to... Whoa. That's probably a good idea. Yeah. To Xenoth. Xenoth, because, okay.

Archivist Xenoth. Yeah. Yeah. What does that say? Kind of wiry, mouthy guy. A little annoying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we met him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that guy. I'm going to send a message.

What's his name? Xenoth. Xenoth. Yeah. Hey, Archivist Zenoth! This is the Mighty Nein. I don't think you like us, but... Are we allowed to come there yet? Because we have imp...

Yeah, that's only half of what we have. Important. There you go. We have important. Important. You wasted a what what. I thought it was a phone. Sorry, should I hype man your message? You echoed the hype.

Zeenoth responds, Oh, that should be fine. Everything's been smoothed over. So yes, please do come on over. Whoa. What'd he say? He sounded like super duper brown nosey and he was like,

Hey. What? Everything's been smoothed over. You're welcome anytime. Ooh. Who did he get in trouble? He got in trouble! That's right! Aw! We're awesome.

Oh my god. He loves you now. He's trying to leave the key to your house! Right! Oh! We're awesome. Oh my god. He loves you now. What if Dairon told him that I'm in charge now? Probably, I mean, Dairon probably yelled at him really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and was like, you call all the other branches and you tell them that Beau's awesome.

Yeah. You want me to send a message to all the other? No, no, that's fine. That's fine. If so. Just letting you know I can't be here. Should we set off? I guess we're going to.

Oh, yeah. We're eventually going to want to sleep. We're okay. Did we rest? No. No. Did we fight? I mean, we just got out of, I mean, a lot happened. Yeah, but I'm full. I got some spells gone. I mean, we just got out of, I mean, a lot happened. Yeah, but I'm full.

I got some spells gone. I got some spells gone. Plus, if we go to Orly, we're going to, oh wait, we don't have dusted gems. Hey, Yussa, do you have any gem dust? And a diamond. And a diamond, do you have a diamond? Yes. Let me look.

Winsforth? Mm, did I? Yes, master, what can I do for you? I have a fight ahead. Let me look. Winsforth? The other one. Yes, master, what can I do for you? Could we perhaps look around for a diamond, what's it called? 300-ish. 300-ish. What they requested. And also just some gem dust. Which specific type of gem?

Can I remember what Orly said we needed? Different kinds, right? Yeah, all sorts of different kinds. I can go look it up real fast, because I forgot. Should write a swank rhyme about it. Do you think there's a printout or something? Somewhere there was a printout,

but that was a while ago. None of the tattoos. I did, I thought I told you. Yeah. That's all right, there was a thing. You told, but I don't think there was a printout. That's okay., there was a thing. You told, but I don't think there was a printout. That's okay. We're the worst.

There we go. Think of all the Tusk tattoos out there right now that are just disappointed in you, Laura. What, why? For not taking in notes? Look at my shit-ass notes. It's amazing. Of course they're I love your notes.

Is that a panda I just saw on the page? There we go. So for Orly's talents, it is Ruby dust for strength, Emerald dust for dexterity, Diamond dust for constitution, Sapphire dust for intelligence, Jade for wisdom, Aquamarine for charisma, Fire Opal for resist fire,

Starfire Sapphire, or Black star sapphire for resist cold. And the amounts generally range between the 2,200 gold to 2,500 gold for all the statistical benefits, and 5,000 for the resistances. It won't push you beyond natural levels either, will it, the tattoos? Tattoos. Yeah.

I mean. Ooh! Really? Okay. It's only a plus one. What was the wisdom like? So even if you hit the maximum of 20? You get a full sleeve? 21 doesn't increase any modifier benefits. Oh, true.

Okay. What if you got two tattoos? The quarter sleeve. You can only get one tattoo per individual, which you don't really have. Okay. You don't know what you have. Okay. I don't know what all the other ones were, that's as fast as I could write,

and it was pretty much nothing. Well, if you tell me what statistic you're looking possibly interested in, I can tell. I wrote down diamond for constitution, that'd be good for me. I'd be up in that jade for wisdom. Jade for wisdom is a plus one. in that jade for wisdom. Jade for wisdom is a plus one. Oh, jade for wisdom.

Waiting while you wrote down what's wrong. I suck. My notes are just doodles. I'm like... Pick one. Tonight we learned that Laura is a literate. I would do diamond dust. Anybody else? Anybody else need diamond dust? I would do diamond dust. Anybody else?

Anybody else need a stat that they would want? Of course, but it sounds extremely expensive. Well, I don't know how much money we just got from Halas. Yeah, J.G. Whitehorse probably has some diamond dust on his turn. Well, it was Halas' stuff. Yeah, I could use charisma, strength, anything.

Yeah, you woof, you woof. Easy. Don't stat shame me. Oh shit. Okay. All right, so what is it you guys are wanting to do? A 350 gold diamond and some diamond dust. A 300 gold diamond.

We'll say, given the help of you, Wensforth goes ahead and brings you a diamond worth 350 gold pieces. It's the largest one I could find. Is this all right, master? It's like, give it to them. I'll take it? Yeah, yeah. Because you gave me yours.

Oh, well, all right. Which gem did you request? Diamond dust for me. Well, that is the diamond item. I would have to take a gem to turn it into dust, so I could convert that, but that would still only be about. 300. Anybody else? Oh god, we need a lot of gem dust.

I mean, you could ask him if he has an overabundance of rubies. Did anybody pick up the satchel? Oh no, check in the fucking bag! Look in the bag, look in the bag. Oh, I opened the bag. It's all ruby dust. Yeah, checking it, it looks,

it's, first off, no gold. Oh. At first, you're like, oh, it's a bag of silver, but then the light hits it, and it's much more polished and much brighter in its color. Shit. It is a satchel of platinum. Oh!

Fuck! Yeah! Satchel! If you want to take the time to count it later on, you can. Or unless you want to count it in the middle of this chamber in front of everything, it's up to you. One. No! Platinum.

Man, I really want to know. For the ease of everything, it comes to about 2,100 platinum. Wait, 2,100 platinum? Correct, which comes to about 21,000 gold pieces. 21,000 gold? Giggi-giggi-giggi! Wait, so wait. Oh my god.

I think I'm feeling funny right now. This campaign, yeah. We've ever had. Just campaign you. We've been pretty D&D poor. You guys have been D&D poor for a long time. We've been sitting in those three digits. Yeah, we have. And you pulled them out of a very, very rich series of halls, and that's your split.

Say that again? Everybody gets 350 platinum. Ooh! Okay, that's happening. Shit. Wow. I'm Sam Riegel-rich. 350. That's happening. Shit. Wow. I'm Sam Riegel, Rich.

350. Oh man. Oh wow. Woo! Cool. That's a number. You got some spending cash. Damn. Damn! Let's go to

Prima on Souls. Let's go buy everything. If you're heading to Sadaj, yeah. I think we get a fortune. Are we going to go do this tattoo shit? Sorry, we haven't met quite yet. Those prices have gone up! Premium.

I want the premium Gilmore brand. I mean, it's up to you guys. It's up to one of our many dozen or so franchises. I mean, I'm not going to be able to stop. It so franchises. I mean, I'm lucky. This is Constitution. I can wait. I mean. We're here. We're here. We should probably go check in on our boat, right?

Do we owe taxes or like, marina rental or? Let's take a second to collect ourselves. Where do we go? We have to go to a jewel shop first to buy jewels? It's a thing. Maybe we should just go to Zadosh. What about your home?

Say hi to Mom. We just said hi. Oh, I guess it's been a while. You do know, Nick, to be honest, because it is a port town, there's a lot of trade. You could probably find a number of gems if you're looking for it, but you don't have to if you don't want to, either.

Do you want to try? You want any? I mean, I could get a tattoo, you guys. I wouldn't mind one either. Sure. Had my mind on one for a while. Let's go see Orly. Okay. But first, let's stop and get gem dust.

And then go back and get it. Fair enough, okay. So, you, well, for one thing, your ship, your ship, the Ball Eater, has been out at sea for quite some time. Your uncertain is the location of it currently. Yeah, but it's still working and moving. Oh, I thought Orly was just hanging out here.

I didn't know he was still going around. They've been doing shipping runs and bringing things up along the coast and earning you guys money while you've been away. Passive income, y'all. He's been getting us money, too? Shit, we might as well just buy a Nicodranas. Oh fuck, let's go check in and see what we got.

40 gold. Okay. But we don't know if they're there, so we should go to the port? Sure. All right, we'll go to the docks. How much diamond dust did I need for constitution? Constitution would have been...

Our boat's there. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It has stuff. Okay. 2500, fast. In case he's like, oh, I happened to come across 25 gold and gold. Constitution would be 2,500 gold worth of diamond.

Yeah, great. Yes, stat points for 2,500 resistance is a five. Some of would be 2,500 gold worth of damage. Yeah, great. A constitution would be 2,500 resistances or five. Some of them are 2,200. Strength and dexterity are 22. Wisdom and charisma, 22. Constitutional intelligence, or intelligence. So they're all 22, except for constitution, which is 25. I need it.

And then the resistances are five. Five, yes. But that is a permanent resistance to a specific kind of damage. Yeah, that's impressive. We leave the Tide Peak and we head towards the port. All right, so you guys make your way towards, there are two ports, if you recall. I know. Sure we do. There's the open key.

Yep. So as not to make people hate me for forever. Oh, the open quay, you mean? That one. Or the Restless Moor. But they're both correct, we learned that. We did, they're both correct. True, and I've used both, so there you go.

A gift to everyone on the internet to not be too angry. Or everyone's angry, I don't know. I'm used to it at this point. Or there's the Restless Wharf. The open quay is the one you're closest to, and that's the one that's actually owned by Yussa. Yussa oversees this entire section of the city and keeps it away from the guilds

that run the rest of Nicodranas. Let's go there. Yeah, let's go there. Okay. Where did we leave Orly? Restless Wharf. But as you approach the seaside, you look out for the ship. Who wants to keep an,

well, who wants to look for the ball eater? I'll look. I'll look. All right, both you guys make perception checks. 19. 11. Okay. You look out for a bit, and it's just now, the sun's getting a little high in the sky,

and as such, the brightness of just off the surface of the water itself blinds you a bit when some of the reflections catch you from the waves that are coming in. Caduceus, you do see the ball eater, and it is heading out. It is maybe a half mile out of port. That's a fireball. Oh, no, I sent a message to Orly.

It's a soft fort. Orly, come back. We're here in Nicodranas and we see the ball leader and you're sailing away. Are you, come back? Because we want to talk to you. Orly, come back. Orly, come back.

The voice comes back. He's going to work out. We're turning. Oh, it's been a while. Yeah, it's good to hear your voice, then. Mm, lady. What? We're going to turn that around for you. Give us a moment.

You see the ship slowly begin to turn, making its way back towards calming the warmth. It's on its way back. For the purposes of searching for gems, per gem, per gem, you probably couldn't find more than 3,000 gold worth of it to be grounded in dust, and it's a strange request to purchase gems from a jeweler and be like, thank you, can you grind it up for me, too?

I mean, sure. But that means with what's available in Nicodranas, you couldn't double up on a statistic. Right. Oh, okay. So, if anyone's. Who wants what? Do we have enough money to get everything? Like one of every gem? Well, if you guys pick what you want,

then we can figure that out. I want to get constitution. I want wisdom. Get my key saving throw up. Y'all are spending 2,500 gold each? Yeah. Mm-hmm. That's tripping. It's like half of what we just made.

But it's a stat, man. Yeah. It's a full point. I need to bump some shit up. Can you increase anything and go to evens? I'm kind of perfect. I'm pretty happy. I'm just going to wait for a sword. And the resistances are, Matt,

the resistances are for our damage type? Resistance to fire and resistance to cold. Fire and cold are the two you can choose from. Should I do strength or charisma? Charisma. I mean. Like, seriously. Okay, I'll do charisma.

Okay. All righty, so for those who have decided to possibly get a tattoo from Orly. Man! Possibly get a tattoo. Fucking group tattoos are always a shit show. Should we all get the same design?

Or should we get something similar? Should we get something similar? Beauregard, what should the design be? Oh, it's the girl! We're all getting a tattoo! It's a girl's tattoo day! Wait, is it just the three of us? Yeah, yeah.

Caleb, are you giving anything away? I know what I want, though. She would do Chaos Crew? Chaos Crew! Fuck, that's pretty good. That's pretty cool. As a note, it's not just a single tattoo. It's a series of tattoos that have to cover

enough of your body to actually have an impact, depending on what you get. For wisdom, it's probably going to be more like a back of the neck. Oh, that's tight. Exactly what I was thinking. Back of the neck to shoulders. For constitution, it's probably going to be shoulders and chest. Oh, that's tight. Exactly what I was thinking of. Back of the neck to shoulders. For constitution, it's probably going to be

shoulders and chest. You know. I wonder if he can make. And you're getting charisma. Really, it's your choice. It's a face tattoo? You can if you want to. What are the options? For charisma, I mean, it could be

either it be looks or so, it can be something that frames the face in a beautiful way. It could be less like a visual ink tattoo and more like those invisible minor body modifications that are more like skin color designs and stuff you can put in. Charisma's a little more amorphous because it's not actually a location-based thing,

it's more personality, so that's a little more interpretive. Is it associated with charisma? Charisma is. Ooh! That'll be so pretty with your skin, Nott! My ugly skin? Yes, it would be very pretty. I wonder if when you change back, the tattoo will stay. I don't know.

I guess there's only one way to find out. I bet Caleb can make it happen. You're so smart. He is. She and I will work together. All right. Did you find all your gems yet? Yeah, we did. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So we'll say, you guys, asking around, it takes, you know, say an hour and a half, two hours. So you're in the early to mid-afternoon now. By the time you acquire the gems you require and have them ground up based on the specifications that were last left to you. By the time you've come to this point, you wait about 25, 30 minutes or so

for the ship to turn around and make its way back to port. As it comes in, the bell rings, the ropes come off, the crew come over the side of the ship and moor to the dock and begin to wave to you faces you haven't seen in a while. Some new faces, some old ones from when you made your journey through the Lucidian Ocean and the Menagerie Coast

to and from Darktow. There you see coming off into the ship the large gnarled hard shell of Orly, eyepatch adorned, smiling from beneath the tortle grin, lumbers over to each of you. As he steps off the ship, he grabs the edge of his bagpipes-type scenario and gives a sound that is the decree

of the ship's arrival to dock, that they've become used to here in Nicodranas. As it approaches and goes up to you first, Captain Tusktooth goes, Oh shit. Yeah, been too long. Yes, it's lovely to see you all. Clasps your hand.

So how goes the majority of your adventures. They've been thrilling. We've learned, we've seen, and we've grown. How fair is the ball eater? Oh, terribly. You've been doing business all up and down the Menagerie Coast.

Got all sorts of money for you. Oh, really? Gives a big whistle, and they bring a small chest off the edge and drop it down. Whoa! Which, delivering to you guys, what now accounts for 1,312 gold pieces has been your split of the money they've made since you last left them.

Yes. Did you guys take out your money for your gem dust? I just did, yeah. It was 2,200. 2,500. I thought 2,500 was for diamonds. 22 for diamonds. Yeah, you guys take 22.

Wartime makes for very nice profits. All around. We'll take 150 gold out of that pile and leave it for Orly, yes? Oh, yes. Yes. Shit. So I'll wait for that map. 1,000.

Oh, no, me. Come. That is your split. We've already been paid for the money that was made. 280. Made. Are we going to tip my acne? Orly, we've come to get some ink.

Oh, I was wondering when you all be coming around to get yourself some molly fine ink. Go on, O'Neil. Let me get my materials. He goes back onto the ship and eventually sets up on the deck of the Ball Eater a table, what looks to be some sort of a strange,

like it's half an alchemical contraption and part of it is some strange tinkered mechanism. At the end of it, you can see what looks to be a needle element that rotates on a gear, and then as you wind it up, almost like a loom, it begins to rather rapidly. Olly, can we ask, how painful is this procedure? Oh, quite.

When was the last time you did one of these tattoos? Is it a common thing? This one, quite a while. Regular, maybe a week. He points over to one of the other deckhands who looks young, fresh-faced, one you haven't met yet, who waves over and goes, and you can see on his arm, there's still a fresh,

red, somewhat swollen tattoo on the arm. Is that infected? Is that infected? Seals just room. Oh yeah. Pansy. Okay. I totally want to stick around for this. Mm, fancy. Okay.

I totally want to stick around for this. I may go get some fish and chips. I'll see you in what, call it two and a half hours. Two hours? Maybe a little bit. I will join you. I'll take some chips. They're not going to stay and watch us get that fish and chips. No, no, we don't want to.

It's girl time! It's girl time! Girl time! Girl time! Girl time! Girl time! Get out! I belly whack not. Woo!

Yeah! Make your next 30 seconds. Those abs are lethal. Armbar breaks between two abs. Out of the bath, yeah. Drop to zero at once. Can we, in addition to the fancy tattoos, can we get just a little regular tattoo

to just commemorate the day? Yeah, if you'd like to. It's easy enough to do. Okay. All right. Well, I was going to say maybe like an exploding keg of gunpowder. Pretty cool. That's pretty cool.

I know, that's what I was going to say, that's stupid. Not against Chaos Grumps. Just Chaos Grumps. It's pretty good. CC. Yeah, I'm CC. Maybe they can be interlocking, like a chain, because we're fighting chain oblivion. Ooh! Like, but a broken chain!

But a broken, because we're going to break the chain. I like it. Fish and chips, huh? Yes, yeah. I'll go first. Lots of the brain sauce. I'll go first. Lots of the burnt sauce. I'll take a swig to numb the pain. Does he have to roll a performance check? Is this going to work? So you're taking charisma.

Correct, so you take the crushed aquamarine dust. Yeah, I'm going to like, well, I would request eyeliner, like permanent eyeliner. Wow. And that maybe swirls off and swirls up here. Oh, that's cool. Okay. I tattooed Derryng. Yeah, it's almost like a Mardi Gras mask,

but it's just your face in some way. That's cool. So I just got to, Oryll goes like, Mm-hmm. That I can do. Takes the dust and you see, Mm-hmm. Dare I can do more. Takes the dust and you see, places it on the top of the small device. It goes into this glass funnel

and it begins to wind it up with this large, tortle foot and as it does, you can hear the grinding sound. Sticking that big goblin mouth. I'm going to try to learn what he's doing. I'm watching everything. Okay. Make a perception check and an intelligence check

back to back for me. Perception first. Perception. Oh, come on! My perception was shit, it was eight, but my intelligence was 16. Okay. You can comprehend elements of the enchantment process. You watch the device is one half of it,

but the other half is as he takes the extension to this strange tinkered gear-like device where the needle seems to stem from and the small tube that draws into it that blends with the ink, there's an element to what Orly's muttering under his breath. There's a perpetual chant that he does. He said he would apprentice me a long time ago.

He probably doesn't remember. He's focusing the job at hand. While you pick up elements of it, you have a hard time focusing. There's so many things going on that as he begins to deliver the tattoo, to not, you don't quite grasp the intricacies of it. It's fucking crazy.

But describe how well you handle it. I guess make a constitution saving throw for me. Sure. I'm drinking. Mm-hmm. Constitution save. Mm-hmm. Nine. Nine.

You pass out partway through. Drink, drink, hold on, and then. Just go limp. He's just like, . Hold on. No. No.

No. The three of your guys' tattoos will lead into the evening. So each tattoo's going to take a number of hours to go through. They're not extremely elaborate, going to take a number of hours to go through. They're not extremely elaborate, but it's a lot of ground to cover, or the intricacy, especially with a face-based tattoo, it takes a lot of care.

So pushing in towards the, at this point, Am I a little puffy? The early onset of dusk seems to be probably to start hitting about an hour in the next half hour or so. You come to consciousness in the chair on the edge of the ship. You wake up to the immediate smell of ocean spray

and salt in the air and brine, and you glance over and see this big smiling tortle face with the one eye patch go, Mm. Some of my best work. Oh! Sits up and you can feel already the puffiness. You guys all look at Nott, and Nott is a little swollen.

Oh! What, is it okay? It's fine. It's really shimmery, it looks really good. Yeah. I can barely see. You've got a nice glow. Yeah, it's like natural highlighter. All right, I'm going to go to sleep now.

Okay. We're going to get ours done. All right. Casgrew! So there you go, with that completed, you get a permanent plus one bonus to your Christmas. Yes! You can increase your ability score there.

Who's up next? You want to go or you want me to go? I can go next. Okay. Okay. All right, you walk up to Oly's. So what might you be looking to put on your candies? Well, I'm using diamond dust, here you go. Places it back up into the glass vat,

all because it sift into the machine. I was wondering if you could make it look like, almost like a small cape, you know, like the one that I used to wear, the little short one, like covering my shoulders and my chest, and then right here, I want two hands like this in front, like the Traveler is hugging me. That I can do.

You need to wind up the machine, you can get the grinding sound within. Your hands are really hard. So this is true. Orly's super talented. Yeah, yeah. I guess it's just, am I getting naked in front of Orly? You don't have to get naked. I mean, you're doing my tattoo in my chest. Here. Orly looks at you and goes,

Mm, whatever makes you comfortable. Here, I take off my sash, tie this around you like a little tube top. There you go. Okay, yeah. So you're there. Is that right? Okay. So as you take off the armor that, Bray? It's our game. So as you take off into the armor and the outfit

and tie the tube top around, you can now see, if you guys are there, Jester, as cute as she is and as billowing as her outfit is, having her just there with the tube top on, especially in a bow-esque type outfit, fucking ripped. Jersey Shore. I try to make it not seem like I'm checking her out. Okay.

Aurelie goes to work, and it takes about three hours to complete the process. Go ahead and make constitution saving throw for me. Do I add my new modifier? You do not. Man. No. Do you want to raise your hand?

You're like. I got this, I got this, I got this. Just go limp again. Oh man. Orly catches Jester in the small of the back and looks over towards you, Beau, and goes. Goes right back to Vork. It takes a little longer because he's now dealing with a ragdoll.

I'll try and lift her head up occasionally. But the sun has set. The night has come. As you come to consciousness, you can see the stars in the sky, a moon slowly coming up over the sea-based horizon, and a slight tinge of ever-present pain across your torso. Ow!

But you look down, and it's a beautiful design. It's specifically what you asked for, and you get a permanent plus one to your constitution. Oh shit! That's huge. I don't know. So there, you're the last one. I am. You still up for it? You've been doing a lot of work.

You're not going to trip and fucking finish that thing. I've been bored for many months. That's to get the fingers moving. Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah. See that? I, uh. You have them which dust? This is the? The jade dust. The jade dust?

Jade dust. Places it in the machine, winds it up, what kind of tattoo do you want? I pull out Molly's tarot cards, and I flip through the tarot cards until I find the design of the all-seeing eye. Mm, okay. Because he had that on the back of his neck. Yes, he did.

Okay. Right below. Then I point out the other filigree on the card and tell him to just embellish it out. Get it, okay. That I can move on. So now you're turning the other way on the chair. You're supposed to have been sitting in the front of it. You're actually with your chest

against the back of the chair, leaning forward. Why is Beau entirely naked? It's the weirdest thing. Straddling a chair. Just doing a downward dog in the middle of the war. Maybe dessert, shall we get dessert? We'll be back. We'll get hot buns.

We'll be going to church. Funnel cake. Funnel cake. Constitution saving throw for me. Be the one. You got it, you got this. It's you. You rolled a one. I didn't say, okay.

Three, you got a three as well? Six. Bunch of bitches. At first, it feels like a tickle. You're like, oh, that's not too bad. You got this, girl, you got this. Then it turns into a burning. Then it starts hitting the nape of the neck

where it hits the base of the skull and actually tapping on the bone a bit. The pain begins to suddenly blackness. Void, darkness, unconsciousness. Just the thing? Yeah, the tunnel vision. You wake up.

It's now a few hours into the night. It's not quite midnight, but it's definitely later in the evening, it's like 1030 or so, or 10 o'clock at least. You come to consciousness and you can feel the pain in the back of your neck. I didn't pass out. It looks so good. No, you were awake the whole time.

It looks so good. Does it? I can't see anything. I think it looks good. Is that Beau? It's really swollen. Nott's pointing in the other direction. Looking towards the stern.

Staring at Orly, Orly just spins, not around, back towards Beauregard. Finished, and it's a little sore, but Orly goes and takes a hand mirror that they had below deck, and it's a little sore, but, you know, Orly goes and takes a hand mirror that they had below deck, pulls it over, and shows you a little bit, best you can see from behind, over this way.

From what you can see out of the corner of your eye, it looks gorgeous. It's a beautiful interpretation of the all-seeing eye. The filigree wraps around it, and then comes out of each corner, and then wraps up over, and then across the shoulder there. Kind of comes to a curl at the top of the deltoid.

The very point, you can see, the filigree actually comes up. You can see he had to cut and shave a little bit of the hair up the back, but the filigree actually spills up the back of the skull and stops at the crown. Oh, that's fucking dope! It taps into my spinal column.

Yeah. That's cool. So you get a plus one permanently to your wisdom. Thank you. Yeah. Nice. But the evening is here. The rest of you have come back greasy fingered, finishing your fish and chips.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I want to role play fish and chips. All right. Back it up. All right. I it up. All right. I rolled for vinegar. Then we're out. Yeah. And they're close.

Is there anything the three of you would like to accomplish while they're getting their tattoos? I want to talk. All right. You do have a number of hours to converse, so. Yeah. Half-width of the Mail, yeah.

In the distance, you just hear. You're doing well. I can't stop! Whose was this, by the way? That's Halas. Yeah, it's Halas. I don't know who gave it to me. It was mine. I started role-playing with it. I don't roll with it because it's huge.

Big. Comically large. What are you talking about? Big ones are fun. So, sorry, back to you guys. You finish your greasy fish and chips here. I wish I had fish and chips right now. This one's really good. Based on the journey, the tension,

everything that's come your way, it is strangely comforting having a moment of quiet to breathe along the shoreline, an ocean that you only became familiar with for the first time about months ago. As you guys finish your meal, you have a moment of quiet to look amongst yourselves. Can I ask you a question, and you as well? Sure.

I'm not a man of faith like the two of you. I know that there are gods on high who look down upon us and interact with the mortal coil from time to time. But in my life, I've only ever felt like an ant finding my way about in the mud. Certainly, no feeling of fate, no connection to that.

But everything that is happening with this group of nine, continues to build. We are so different, all of us. Seemingly so little alike, and yet, for the first time in my life, I can't shake the feeling that we have

been pulled together, and that is a very foreign thought to me. I knew that you had a destiny from the moment I met you. It's everything you do. You are particular. I don't feel that. Well, it's a matter of perspective, I suppose. You were always moving towards something since you...

since you've been who you are. You're moving towards something, right? I have been. Well, that's kind of how... How do I put this? So, have you ever, have you ever planted a tree before? Or a plant?

Have you ever planted anything? Put anything in the ground? Long time ago, yeah, plants. Well, what did you, what did you, what did you plant? Green beans., yeah, plants. Well, what did you plant? Green beans. Green beans, perfect. So you put something in the ground.

Didn't look like much. You knew what you were going to get at the end of it. Put this thing in the ground, and it's going to do what it's going to do. It doesn't know what it is, it doesn't know its purpose, but it's moving to green beans. The gods plant us, they plant their will and their desire, and we move towards the fruit

that we will eventually bear for them, if all goes well. That plant may not have made it, that plant may have fallen to a chill or circumstance. Been eaten by something that didn't appreciate what put it there. But destiny has planted you here and now, and it hopes that you will bear its fruit. That's destiny.

Don't look at me, I'm learning. The tree doesn't know what it's going to fruit. You don't know where you're headed, but you were put here, and I've always known this, but I will admit I've never felt it as truly as I have since meeting the rest of you. This is... This is...

This is a garden. This is a good garden. A lot of manure. What a good garden. And what is the point of a chip, if not just to douse it in vinegar? It's really the only point of this land, otherwise. It's true, yeah. That's not what the purpose was.

Does that help, Caleb? Or at least it's worth pondering. What about you? Are you ready to go chasing after Faris' tomb? That's a real sentence that I just said out loud. You did, you did. I am not ready for that. I admit I haven't been ready for that.

I admit I haven't been ready for any of this. We've just sort of been falling forward, one foot catching our momentum after the other. It's actually quite nice sitting like this. I can't really imagine what life would be like if we weren't trying to unravel this incredible mystery. I'm sure calm will come again one day, but until then, listening to my friends,

we've been given an incredible opportunity to effect change. Maybe change the course of some things. I don't know if we'll do it. I don't even know how to start. Start by helping a friend. A very large part of me still feels that this is all stupid, that I should run away

and stick my head in the sand. This is not for us, for me. This is our death. Well, you are the smart one. You're also not wrong. But... I have started to forget what it was like to not be with you people.

And we are missing one, and I am stuck on that, that we are missing one. It's good to know your goal, to really know it. It'll help you. I think the other part of it is if you know everything that we know, and you have a choice, do you choose not to act and sit by idly, letting the rest of your life go by?

Or do you act knowing full well that you might fail entirely? Yeah. knowing full well that you might fail entirely. Well, I'm at least familiar with the concept of failure. I think I'm becoming comfortable with the idea of failing with you. Makes it a little less lonely. Mm. You two are all right. Nothing better.

You are as well, you should give yourself more credit. Mm. I know. Just think about it. I saw how hard it was for you in there. In the ball. You put others before yourself over and over again in there. That wasn't easy.

It was very impressive. What's our next move? Oof. Going, going. Going to Sadaj maybe is what we will do, but it is complicated for me, Fjord, to go to Sadaj, to speak to this man. I don't know that I can do that.

I'm not saying that we don't, but I don't know that I can do that. We're going to have to protect you while we're there. I think we'll also need to listen to what it is you want to do in case we run across any of the unsavory types we've met previously. Specifically the ones that have it out for you. And we're going to have to get out

as cleanly and quickly as possible. Or, what do you want to do? Hmm. Do you want to run, or find some absolution? If we go there, I want to find any information from Haas. And leave. I don't need to

get my feet wet in that. We have a friend who needs us, and we have something bigger, bigger than anything, apparently, to deal with, so. First, we save our friend. First, we save our friend. First we save our friend. Everything else will come. Agreed.

I hate tattoos. They're just not for me. They're frowned upon in my family, so. We pound our pints, here we go. All right. Gage, you eventually catch up with the ship at the dock as the three ladies come back a little bruised, but happy with the art that has been placed

upon their canvas. What the fuck? We brought fish and chips. Oh my, wow. What is wrong with your face? She's a little swollen right now. It'll go down. Oh, that sucks! Don't look at the swell, look at the design. Who's talking? What happened?

Oh. Do I look pretty in it? It's really quite beautiful. Do you want some chips? We brought fish and chips. I'm not giving them to you. I start inserting them carefully. Oh! This is some very sharp bait.

Show us the other ones besides the horror on Nott's face. Just don't touch me. Oh shit. You got a haircut at the same time. Yeah. Oh! You don't touch me! I punch more.

Roll an attack roll. With advantage, because he wasn't expecting it. A one. That's a one. No, 11. So 21. Roll damage. Think about how hard you want to hit.

It's up to you. Full force. Full force. I said for some chips, bring it. No, I'm doing my D1. Stunning Strike. Or D4, I'm doing a D4. Stunning strike. It's still eight damage, but. Where are you hitting it? Strike aspect. Just in the shoulder.

Come on. Go! Unexpected and not tensing for any battle scenario, Beau turns around and clocks you in the shoulder. You fall onto your hip and skid across for about three or four feet. That shit's going to hurt in the morning. I fall and I'm like, good, good one.

I honestly didn't mean to hit you that hard. I feel a little bad. That did hurt a lot. You just got me out of bed. Just stay down, just stay down. I'll stay here. Justin, what'd you get? Oh, well, I'm still in my tube tops. I'm just wearing a sash because I can't put my clothes on over it just yet.

You are fucking jacked. Yeah. Well, yeah. Right? It's kind of ridiculous. I mean, I've seen her in hot tubs and stuff, but I think that really just highlights it. Well, it kind of shimmers on this. I know. So it makes it show.

It looks good. Thank you. Yeah. We also got these awesome Chaos Crew tattoos! Look at that! I got the shirt! Yeah, we're going to do this right there! Yeah, we just decided. Ah!

I tried, I tried. I tried dodging on the second one. Oh, I just hold that one in. All right. I guess, can we sleep on the boat tonight only and then tomorrow away, or should we go to your house? We could wait. Of course, it's your ship.

We got rooms down below for all y'all to be sleeping. Apologize for putting your day behind. Day behind, I'm happy to be seeing all you. Appreciate it. Any news to be shared from the open sea? Anything we should know about? Anything from, what was the name of the pirate island? Darktoe. Darktoe.

What was the name of the pirate captain guy? The Darktoe, the pirate king? The Plank King. The Plank King. Far as I know, ain't be hearing too much from that island, but the pirates be out and about. Wartime be making money for all those moving up and down the coast. That means it's extra gold for those who then tag the ship so pirates be around.

Well, glad to hear you're keeping safe. If you happen to hear any reports of giant, snake-like monsters covered in eyes, just be sure to let us know. Being set free on the seas. What? Yeah, just on the back of your head. Away.

Good times. Sleep well. I'll come get you on the morning. Thank you, Lee. You guys find your old places to sleep within the ship. Well, nowhere near as nice as Lava Chateau, of course. There is a weird comfort and a flood of nostalgic memories of your previous adventure here in the Lucidian Ocean.

Sleep comes readily to those of you who ate heavy food. Becomes a little more difficult for those who are undergoing now progressively heightening physical pain from the tattoos you received, but does eventually come to you. In the morning, the swelling has subsided. Still a bit sensitive, but the tattoos are there and present. Their effects fully instated.

You can already hear the seagulls awakening and the lower decks of the ship are already beginning, at least near the edges of your chambers, the outside, the heat is beginning to rise from the sun upon the exterior of the boat itself. The morning is yours. Is there anything you guys want to do, by the way, before you slept?

No. Just picking my spells. Oh yeah, I should do that, too. I'm going, oh my gosh! My hit points went up! Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, per level. One per level. Per level. Oh, that's up! Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, per level, one per level. Per level. Oh, that's awesome!

Yeah. Is that not why you picked your constitution? Well. You forget that you got all those nifty. Yeah, those little bonuses from constitution. I am going to not wear my underdress on top. Okay. I'm just going to wear my thing because I want to show off my awesome arm tattoos.

There's a lot of definition where your bicep meets your deltoids. Shit. Yep. Like an A on the back of her arm. It's incredible. I'm stacked. Okay. So, rest is had.

Caleb? Goddressmas comes. The morning is yours. What would you like to do? Shall we get, shall we away? How do we do it? Yeah, we go to go to the... By boat or by teleport?

Definitely not by boat. And where do we walk? We're leaving straight away. Yeah, you're good? Yeah, I think, number one, I didn't tell my mom I was getting a tattoo beforehand, so. I just want to give it a little bit of time so I can hide it, you know, before I give her some warning.

Fair. She worried about stuff like that? Well, I mean, I never, you know. Right. Discussion was never brought up. Oh, exactly, it's just, you know. Are you going to visit home in a sweater from now on? Maybe. All right.

I've seen people who find out their kids have tattoos literally at the funeral. It's a thing that happens. Yeah. Plus, you know, I think it makes her sad sometimes when we pop in and out so quickly and we don't stay. Very sad. Yes.

All right, then let's go. Back to the tower? Yeah, because you didn't even go see her. All right, then let's go. Back to the tower? Yeah, because you didn't even go see her. Well, we don't have to go to the tower. We can do it right here. It's painful. It's painful to go in and see someone for three hours and leave.

Okay. I don't know if you want to waste it. You guys make your way to the deck of the Ball Eater. The crew are still out and about, cruising on the shore, as they are immediately heading out to sea. As you gather around, Caleb takes his chalk and sets the ritual ahead, begins to draw

the sigil on the wood deck that matches that of? Zadash. Zadash, the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul. As you complete the final lines across the symbol, it glows for a moment. You can feel the faint hum and the vibration, the wood boards beneath your feet

that signify that the spell is active. At that point, you all start running through and right as Caleb, being the last one to jump through, you look up right as Orly comes up from below deck with a couple of platters and goes, Mm-mm, meat breakfast. This will look juice. That's so sad.

And that's where we'll take our break. Oh! On your way back to Zadash, we will return and see what awaits you there. When we return from our break in the interim, we do have our Wyrmwood giveaway for the break! So this here is the Corrupted Collection Master Vault,

available via the Backer Kit as their kickstarter. If those haven't seen it, it's this awesome turquoise werewolf with skull design on the front of its larger master vault. This stuff is getting cooler and cooler! Yeah, it's crazy. But yeah, you can check it now via the Backer Kit or the kickstarter they just finished on Halloween.

But one of you guys gets to win this when we come back from the break. The keyword for tonight is chain. C-H-A-I-N, chain. Chain. Enter it once in the chat. More than once, you'll be disqualified. And once again, for the U.S. and Canada only,

excluding Quebec, because of stupid laws, we'll be back here shortly with the winner. We'll see you in a minute. Woo! Oh, hey there. Laura Bailey here to tell you all about the glorious goods we create inspired by our stories. Our stores are filled with the basics, like character-inspired T-shirts, dice sets, and pins, as well as more specialty items like fancy jackets, puzzles featuring gorgeous artwork,

the comfiest joggers and pajamas ever and much much more there's also a few special items that support charity efforts like our dedicated Critical Role Foundation merch you can check out all of our regional online stores by visiting the shop tab on critrole.com or head straight to the U.S. store at shop.critrole.com every purchase helps support our shows and the stories we tell

speaking of which let's get back to the story. Welcome back. So before we jump into, they're different movies. We're debating Hereditary vs. Midsommar. Anyway, welcome back. We have our winner of our Fantastic Wormwood giveaway. Congratulations to Mickkomiker. Mikkomiker, congratulations.

Mikkomiker. Mikkomiker will have this sent to you ASAP. Well done. All righty. Getting that done. Oh! Wow! That was almost terrible. That was so on brand.

Can you slow down and make it happen? so on brand. That could have been me slowing down and making that moment. That was so on brand. I need it immediately. That was so on brand. That was the anti-monster card throw. That was to yourself. We had to cut the feed, come back next week, you have an eye patch. Yeah.

First of all, are you okay? I'm fine. No paper cut? Okay. Not physically. Emotionally, deeply. That's so bad. I can always count on the universe to humble me every waking moment of every day.

So. Mustache last week, this week. Yeah. So, last we left off, you guys have all rushed into the center of the deck-built temporary teleportation circle that Caleb had created on your ship. As you step through, the warm sea air

and the sun coming down upon you is immediately replaced with the cold, shaded interior of the basement of the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul. They're waiting for you on the opposite side because you gave them some heads up. You can see there is a standard cleric of Ioun there, flanked by Xenoth, Harkin the Xenoth there, still looking bandaged and recovering,

far better than you last saw him, but is still wrapped and leaning against the wall a bit. But as you all arrive, one after the next, you go, welcome and hello. So you've arrived, we've met you here. How can we be of service to you? Well, I guess we're just passing through at the moment, but we're going to go visit a newfound friend

at the Halls of Irritation. Of course. By all means. By the way, I do apologize for how things have progressed in your previous visit here. Yes, you should be the one to apologize, definitely. Dairon has returned and notified us of what you've all managed to accomplish in recent months,

and looks over to the other monk, like, uh-oh, and then goes and takes a small, you can see, looks to be a folded package of some kind that's wrapped in twine, in a cross pattern, and steps forward and hands it to you. Says, these rain mints of the Expositor are yours now. Yes, I was expecting these, thank you. All right, cool, all right, cool.

Yes? I apologize. Whoa. I came through a bit in a hurry, very headstrong last time, and could have probably explained the situation better. I appreciate your candor and accept it.

That shockwave hit Tal'Dorei. So, welcome to the formal ranks of the Cobalt Soul, I should say. It's been a privilege to watch you ascend as you have. I've notified Dairon of your arrival, but before you head off to the hall or wherever else you're going, I believe I could work with you, if you don't mind. Just Beau?

All of you, if you wish to be so. Even better. Or if you want to just go. Up to you. No, no, no, no. Cool, cool, cool, cool. Yeah. That's your prerogative, but I'm upstairs. Come, come, I'll lead you on.

So are we allowed to go to Port Domali now, too, and the rec center and all that stuff? All of that has been suspended and abolished. You have free reign of the archives. As it should be. Thank you, yes, thank you. Thank you. Are you going to go apologize some more?

Because that was awesome. Those are sparing. I understand. Caduceus, youaring. I understand. Caduceus, you know. I apologize. Pick and choose my apologies. I give mine freely. And I'm sorry, Beauregard's and our access

to the stacks has been reestablished as well, correct? Yes, if there's any further research you would like to make, that is at your disposal. Fungiwara. Well, that is at your disposal. Fulgur. Well, it is within her disposal. Yeah, you have to report to me first. So just, you know, make sure you go through the proper chain of command, okay?

I'm comfortable with that. Have our unlimited drinking privileges been restored as well to around town? Not to our real privilege. That... No. That's not a thing. See to it.

I cannot let it, it's not within my prerogative. You're right. You would have to speak to the High Richter or really anybody who's involved with the actual goings-on with the city. We just high-predomin predominantly deal with the archive itself. My apologies. All right.

Not great. Yes. All right, I remember that. Very good. This way, follow me. He leads you up the stairs. Hurt? Yeah, from the attack.

No one healed him? But it's been a few weeks, I know, that's what I was thinking. Shake it off. Sure, come on, man. What's up? Kidding, kidding. I know, it was a slaughter. We'll ask him about it when we get upstairs. He was nearly killed and torn apart.

Yeah, yeah. Maybe we can help out? Yeah, totally, I'm willing to give him some healing, but I'm just surprised that nobody else has by now. I know, me too. I was like, I don't like, you know, just. I think it was far enough that it's still shaking off. Yeah. You guys,

he looks like he's not bleeding through or covered in bandages, but he has, he's still holding himself in a sore way. Pokey poke. He's not an adventurer, he's not used to this type of hard lifestyle that you guys progressively throw yourselves into. Pokey. And banned. Pokey.

As you're led back into the main chamber of the Archive, you step out into the familiar marbled halls, the high libraries, the shelves swarming you from all sides with the open windows and the somewhat arching glass dome atop of you that has all sorts of stained glass imagery and symbols poured through it, along with clear sunlight that seems to break through.

It is a sunnier day than Zadash was last time you came through. There, as you're stepping into the main chamber, heading towards the entrance and or exit of the archive, you see their arms crossed in the familiar arrangements. You see Dairon, not in the dark elf guise of which you had been dealing with her for quite some time in the Xhorhas,

but in her original elven form. So, welcome. Glad to see you made it back. Glad to see you did as well, all of you. And it was a bit of a mess for me to untangle when I arrived. You were not joking when you said you had left a bit of a... How do you say?

Stink? Stink works, yes. Sorry, sorry. It's all right, just be a little more careful now that you have some, you know, authority around here. Others, younger ones, and those who come in like you once were as recruits will be looking up to you.

That is a new responsibility you hold as well. I don't hold you as any major example, but just be aware there will be other Beauregardes that will come in here acting as you once did. And you'll have to show them the ropes. Okay, okay, yeah, I hear you. No one will get more detentions than you. You'll hold the record forever, it's okay.

You have no idea. Okay. So I've taken the information we last spoke about and I've only told a few trusted individuals about this supposed Kryn traitor, the one responsible for this beacon being passed into the Empire. I am keeping it close to my chest for now, as currently the struggles seem to grow.

With the recent attack on Hapadook and the, for the time being, reclamation of the Ashgard garrison, we are awaiting some sort of retribution from the Crinn, or the next use of this momentum further into Jorhascian territory from the king. I myself am so far removed from that and have only just arrived here not but a few days before.

I'm still taking stock of what is going on and figuring out what is the best course of action. Do you want to tell? Do you want to tell Dairon about it? Share stuff with Dairon? I am thinking, possibly, if I can pull some strings by passing much of the bureaucracy and requesting an audience, if not myself,

maybe a few of us with King Duendal. What? It is counsel to inform them of the screen plot with the beacon. What? Internal corruption that we've been able to suss out here and there, in which case, if there's anything you've heard in that regard, please do let me know.

I'm just not entirely certain I can give it a range. It may take weeks. Have we shared what we know, possibly, about King Dwendal and the audience he keeps? Oh, I don't think so. Yeah. Can you tell if we're being scryed on right now? You mean like invisible thing, or?

Yeah, isn't that like? You're right, I haven't looked in a while. Dairon, please don't be alarmed, and I summon the broadsword, and I will cast See Invisibility. Okay. You go ahead and cast the spell. Your eyes focus. You can see that interesting,

almost ultra-violet extra spectrum of light that overlays that which you grew up with and become accustomed to. Filters through the chamber, make a perception check. 15. 15. You take a moment to scan. Nothing seems to catch your eye. Seem to be fine.

Dairon, a lot has happened since last we spoke. We've gained a lot of new information. Please tell me. It seems a lot of our leads towards the devices that were opening portals towards the Abyss, and everything leaning towards the Chained Oblivion and the Angel of Irons is starting to culminate and come into focus.

I don't know. I think it's still to be said. King dwindles knowledge or involvement in this entire situation, but it seems a plot for some sort of new rise of Therese Dune is imminent. There's no Angel of Ant. He was a guise.

And we know that someone in King Dwendal's immediate vicinity is part of that plot. King Dwendal's immediate vicinity is part of that plot. King Dwendal. Who is this? His name is Vence. New Thalyss. He's an annex to Ludinence. I know of him, but he is not of the council directly.

He is of the Assembly. You're right, he's with the Hedgard. Yeah. He is the associate, assistant, if you will, to Ludinus Dallis. We just, we know that through scrying means with Jester's talents that he's had some sort of association with King Dwindle. I mean, it mainly seems like some sort of warfront approach with sending the mages out.

But we scryed on them and they were... It seems that there's a third party that is pushing both sides towards each other. Where is he now, do you know? Vence? No. We'll find out, maybe. Do you want to scry on Blondie? Should we, should we?

We're going to. We've got another. Sorry, we have some old fish and chips that we've been eating. Just some chips. They're just at the crunchy part. It might be pertinent to what we do with guns. Do we do it now or we have another meeting?

Do we, when do we? Well, I suppose we have more than one scrying spell. Although if you scry on someone once, when can you do it again? I mean, if we need to know where he is, let's find out. Yeah, let's try it. If. Let me make sure that I prepared it.

Oh man. Did you prepare it? I didn't. Crunching the table tonight. I didn't prepare scrying today. What? You use it literally every day. Well, not on days I don't prepare it. What did you prepare today?

Were you preparing spice? It's called Healing Spells, what? Purify food and drink. Oh my god. As a note, if a creature succeeds at saving throw, it cannot be scryed on for 24 hours. If it fails at saving throw, you can keep scrying until they succeed, essentially.

You prepare? No. No, I prepared Insect Plague. I knew it. And Modifying Memory. Unleash your abilities! Atopies! Show them what you've got! And Commune, I have Commune.

Ah, Commune. That's a good one to have today. Perhaps we could complete our current business here in Zadashion tomorrow. and tomorrow you'll be better prepared. You know, I could just ask the Traveler if he knows where exactly. It's not an immediate present, I suppose. Let's just go talk to our person.

Okay. Well, if what you're saying is true, and this is somehow tied in with Thorezadun, it is definitely worrying, but we need more concrete evidence of this, though. Well, there's not enough of it or to take it to the king. Well, we'll find some evidence then. Allura Vysoren is letting Tal'Dorei know about it.

She was there when we found out. This goes as far as Tal'Dorei. Well, yes, she's on the council or something. Do you happen to know any other members of the council of Tal'Dorei by the way? I have not traveled there, unfortunately. That's unfortunate. Maybe King Duendo will know.

In your meeting with King Duendo, could you ask him? If it is pertinent, maybe. Okay. Just every episode for an hour. So far we know two. Who do you know? We know two people. It seems this plot and all of its connections span outside the continent of just our own. It's quite large in that we're able to fathom, actually.

With each hole, with each opening and from this realm to the abyss, the realms get weaker and closer together, the divide between them. It's like termite damage, you know? And then eventually a house will fall. Yep. You crack the foundation, bad news.

Bell, if there's anything you wish to look up or research here, the archive is at your disposal. Otherwise, gather your whatever allies you have and try and get what information you can before we move forward. I will see if I can muster some sort of an audience, but I do not know how long it will take. Where are you staying?

Where do you stay here? For you. Oh, okay. You have a chamber here now as well. Wait, I'm not in a bunk, like shoved in the corner of a wall anymore? You're an expositor, you have your own ways here. Oh shit! They give you furniture, too?

What do I got, what do I got? Is it en-suite bathroom? No, it's a monastery. You are a monk. It's a library, that makes sense. You get a pot. I am not to show you this, Xenoth can take you on the journey.

I will not put that up to you. I'm all right. I'm thankful to have made it back in one piece, and strangely consolidating my prejudice against the cream. Yeah, you came in real hot that first night that we talked about it. I was actually planning on eventually talking to you

about it if it didn't improve, but you're sort of coming around on your own. More or less, yes. This world is complicated, and it's easy to be blinded by hate and vengeance. Not everything is as we hold, I suppose. So, I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. Nah.

It's hard to make me uncomfortable, like real hard. That's true. I think they do it enough for you, anyway. Beau, terrible. You're an expositor now. I have to go and... Oh, just walk away. On that note, I'm going to go ahead

and see what connections I can make towards the crown. Good luck. Thank you. I'm not proud, man. Dairon exits the archive. Zeenoth leads you to your chamber, which is actually up on, there are a series of spiral staircases

that lead to different levels than the main chamber of the archive. There's the third floor that goes to the back, in which you do know you've walked around there before, but there is this large loop. It's a long semicircle hallway that bends around the back about two and a half, three stories up.

In there, there are multiple chambers in there where a lot of the higher-up members of the Archive exist. You are given a room that has a very nice bed. It's maybe, I'd say, 1,000 square feet for a singular chamber. That's a big room! Window. It's a very, very nice chair,

much better than the shitty bunk that you had known and trained in. I'm international, bitches! Can we all sleep here? I go jump on the bed. You all could sleep here, bitches! We all sleep here. I go jump on the bed. You all could sleep here, but there is only one bed. But it is a chamber, you're disposable, so you do not have to pay for a place to crash if you want.

So the furniture is minimal. It looks like they haven't finished furnishing it yet. You had only just recently been given your position and these things, so it's a relatively bland chamber. You don't know if more furniture or furnishing it yet. You had only just recently been given your position and these things, so it's a relatively bland chamber. You don't know if more furniture or furnishing is coming, or if they're expecting you to helm that, but the chamber is used. I'm going to go shopping.

Jump in on the bed. Get a Murphy bed or something. Ooh, that'd be cool. And then you could turn this into a living room. Totally. You could transport. A pull-out situation. Yeah. Oh, you never told us what the big deal

being an Expositor is. Pull that situation. Yeah. Well, you never told us what the big deal being an Expositor is. I'm jumping. I noticed. I guess I am. That's thus Ronan jumping. I don't know, I guess I didn't honestly know. What does your new outfit look like? I pull it out.

Similar to the previous arraignments that you've worn, but they are far more detailed. The elements in the front, it has almost like a more formal and brocade version of a Sub-Zero type outfit. It has the V that comes up over the shoulders, but it curls over with this beautiful a blockade version of a Sub-Zero type outfit. It has the V that comes up over the shoulders, but it curls over with this beautiful,

the word escapes me. Massive shoulder pads. Yeah, the trim on the side. The cuff that way. Yeah, the little that curls off the side there. It just goes over whatever else you're wearing. It's a symbol of your status, not an entire outfit. It covers up your abs, though.

I slip it on. Okay, it actually comes pretty low, and you can actually see the abs in the bottom of the trunk. Tight, tight, tight. Library in there. It's not too bulky, and it fits over the outfit you currently have. Take off my blue belt. Okay.

Your pants fall off. They're very tight pants now. Should I keep this? This was like the starter color, so like the uniform. Yes, you should keep it. Yeah, it's important. It's important to know where you came from. Maybe you'll hand it off to someone else one day.

So they can keep their pants up. Yeah. Belts are important. For god's sake, pick your pants up off the floor. Really uncomfortable. You should tie a knot in that belt, though, because you're done with it. That's what they do in karate, anyway.

That's how they do it? Uh-huh. Karate. And I drape it over my bedpost. Sure. And take out the, it's like a gray, right? It's like a gray belt? Mm-hmm. Wrap it around. When'd you get a black belt?

Well, I mean. It doesn't work like that. Kind of hit. That's it? There's no black belts. Hi, Richter, here we come. One step at a time. Taking over.

Now it's more of an identifier of what your role is in the monastery, so the librarians have a different color and the expositors have a different color, but the, you know. Cool. Well, yeah, sorry. So, expositor, where are we off to next?

Hmm. To the Halls of Irritation. Seems that way. Do we need to do any more research before we leave? I have a quick question for Caleb, actually, if you don't mind. Just because we are in your old territory, your old hood, if we should be so unfortunate as to come across

any of those Trent Ikithon types, are there any identifying features, clothing, garb, things that we should watch out for, things that you might be able to know are them in a low-key or hiding stealth position? Well, when I was training, we were very, very simple. Poor garb.

But I don't think that would be the case now. You could try to keep an eye on maybe their arms if they are exposed, and if you see anything similar to this. I can't think elsewise. I don't think that I should go with you. At all? Really? I did not study here. I studied in Rexxentrum,

which is where I'm from, outside of Rexxentrum. But the Assembly are a tightly knit group. And despite Yussa's fondness for this gentleman, I have no assurances of his allegiance to the rest. And you think they would see through like a magical disguise or something? Oh, yes. Well, what if we used like a practical disguise?

Or, and obviously we'll honor whatever your decision is. It might be useful to gauge his reaction to you, if that makes sense. I know that's a risk, but we'll learn a lot by having you in that room. But either way, either thought has merit.

Caduceus does have an interesting point. What if he does not react and keeps his true feelings hidden? Well, then we were already in trouble. And we would be without one very powerful member of the group. Yeah. It would be a clear disadvantage.

Caduceus is really good at reading people. Pretty good. And you're really good at talking to these mage types. Can you talk without an accent? You know, like a normal voice like mine or something? A normal voice? What do you mean? You know, like a normal voice like mine or something? Yeah, a normal voice. Yes. What do you mean? I speak in a normal voice.

No, but not the weird way that you talk. The normal way. Who do you want me to talk like? Normal? Like you? Like Nott or like me, something very normal. Like someone from Nicodranas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like Fjord,

he could do like your accent that you used to do. Why would I do that, though? So that they won't know it's you. I just don't feel as smooth when we talk like Fjord. Do you see what, no. Way more obvious. This is awful. Big problem. This is bad.

Wait, wait, I want to hear, do Fjord's old accent. Oh, I thought I had already started. Wow, really? Fjord, are you okay? What's happening? I summon Bol'sgura. Yeah, that's really good Boz'gura. Yeah, that's really good. Boz'gura.

It's not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not good. How are you thinking? Are you thinking of coming along with or? Four-year-old accent's very weird. I had forgotten how weird that accent is. Oh, wow. I can give you this, guys.

Like, I can dye your hair. I could put some eyeliner on you. She could tattoo your face. I could tattoo your face. Either way is fine, but it's worth considering. No, to me, everything says no. All right. Okay. Well, why don't you stay outside?

I could always message you if. We could take your cat. He loves cats. Oh, that's right! We can take the cat. We could take the cat! And things like Sprinkle. Sprinkle.

We could turn you into an animal! We could. And then you could spy on him. What if we were like, oh my god, here's our little Sprinkle and Cupcake. A chimpanzee! No, what if they were like friends, and it's two weasels, and then we go,

oh, you like Sprinkle so much, here, take Cupcake. And then he takes Cupcake, and then you're with him, and then you can spy on him when he's in his bedroom. Or you can just go read, and we'll have a cat with us. You can pop in if you need. May I have permission to use the archives here, Expositor Lionette? Let me think about it.

Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. It's a fast review process. I had to think about it. My brain operates very quickly. Expedited Expositor. I've got a bunch of them coming up right now. That's really good. Oh boy. I've been working on it.

No, I'm going to look up a few things. Is there anything specifically you guys need to research while you're here to look up? About what he's doing. Okay. Specifically? There's all those books that I, like, I was rambling off of that.

I recommend him a few books that I know of first. Like, what are you looking for? Are you looking for, based on the earlier questions that were brought up, is there anything specific that you're looking for? Like, what holds him in the Abyss? What his essence is? Like, what are you Abyss? What his essence is? Where? Like, what are you looking at?

Where did it happen? What it wants, what it seemed to want, what its motives were, how is there a way to find it? Okay. Where did it get bound? What are the chains? Who did it? Make an investigation check.

Actually, is there a bathroom that I could use? Really quick, is there a bathroom here that I could use? They do have a number of chamber pots available. Don't drop it, Caduceus. I excuse myself. Oh, that's good. I excuse myself quickly and cast Fortune's Favor unto myself, out of view of anyone, and then return. You got it. Yeah.

Investigation check, you said? Correct. Guidance. You got it? Yeah. Investigation check you said? Correct. Guidance. I don't think we're there. Oh, did we already leave? Well, you guys are, unless you've left, you were all in there. Is there anything you guys want to look at?

That's at 25. 25, okay. As far as the essence of Thurisdun. The scribes who got close enough to record what they believe the closest there is to its intent were driven mad, so it speaks a lot of endless growth, devouring. It's not a god, it is a world. It speaks of it being endless, black, inky, filled with teeth and malice, laughter, hatred.

It just goes into all these esoteric descriptions of something that isn't a form. Like all the other Betrayer Gods, all the other entities in the Pantheon that have different interpretations of how they're depicted in artwork, and tapestries, and tomes. Every single record of Thrysdun seems amorphous

and without physical manifestation, beyond just the actual symbol, which is these seven chains, as amorphous and without physical manifestation, beyond just the actual symbol, which is the seven chains and then the black swirling void amongst them, which is the unified symbol that has long been held by those that openly worship or the ancient temples and such that were built to it.

As far as what the intent is, the best that it can be ascertained is to consume and destroy, to eventually, to bask over and devour all that is Exandria and beyond, and who knows for what purpose and what there is after that, if there is a plan after that. It is said that those who have come to truly understand never came back.

Is there any record or theorizing on how or why it was able to be, I know the bits that Beauregard has imparted to us, but how or why it was able to be overcome? When it first arrived in the Founding, what little bits of information were kept and guarded within Vasselheim, spoke of, it was never here.

It began to spill through, drawn by either the arrival of the divine, the creation of life, the imbuing of magic into the world, something drew it from wherever it came and it began to spill through. And while it was still incomplete in that transition, it was originally banished.

Then during the calamity, something drew it out once more, unseated it from that banished plane and began to spill through once more and grew and grew. It was through the fast work and the unified power of a number of the Prime Deities that they were able to seal it away. Because you rolled so high in your research, it is said that there are numerous shackles,

six in total, that hold Thurizdun within the abyss. The locations of each shackle fane are closely guarded secrets within the highest clergy of the Dawnfather and Knowing Mentor. Did you say fane or fane? Fane. Fane. Fane, F-A-N-E, which is like a place of power,

of worship, or like a temple. It is feared that the nature of Tharizdun, being not entirely like the other of the divinity, could shatter the divine gate itself if unleashed. No one knows how few shackles must remain to keep it at bay. And this is what you pulled together from bits and pieces of scrolls

that have been copied over from what is, like most of the things you read here are hand copied from what currently is guarded and held in Vasselheim, which is where most of the original remnants of that era's history are kept heavily under guard. I share it with Beauregard and with the rest of the group. Okay. But if everyone waited,

that was the only thing that I was interested in researching here, so today. Did that take hours for him to do? Because if so, we would have left. I'd say it probably took a couple hours to piece all that information together and to find the right books. That's what I thought, is that I would be here

doing this while they went. So in the meantime, what would you guys like to do? We'd like to go to the Halls of Eriudician. Hall of Eriudician. Yes. Before we leave, though, I did want to get to sleep. Listen, sorry, got a little jumbly on the timeline. It's all good. Is there anything that we should ask

Omit, Omit? Haas. Haas. Ormit Haas. Ormit. Yeah. Ormitas. Ormitas. You could try to subtly ask what the Assembly is doing to ensure the safety of the Empire. What they are, well, I don't know, be subtle about it,

but he is a headmaster, you know, he is not in the field so much. At least he wasn't, but. Did you just ask Beau to be subtle? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I did. Well, fucking great at being subtle. She's getting really good at being subtle.

Very okay. Thanks. Deuces. Thank you, Jester. Also, Fjord is a very good talker, so you know, feel free to share that burden. We are not all really good talkers, too. Very. Super, super good.

Lots of talking, yes. Mm-hmm. All right. All right. Good luck with your reading. To the hall! Check out Old Gods and Us. It's a great read. We'll meet back up, want to meet back up

for the shopping trip afterwards? Yeah, after. Meet back up. It's very comprehensive, great for the youngsters. Makes sense, all right. All right, are you guys taking Frumpkin with you? We'd like to. I mean, you can, but it's not going to do

what you suggested, because he'll be too far away, and I'll be reading. But an extra cuddly animal probably will go over. Will he still just act like a cat, or will he be like? Weird and not moving. Yeah, broken. He'll do what I ask him to do.

404. Yeah, yeah. He's not there. Be especially adorable, especially to us. And he looks like this, and I think of him, and then I hand him to you because you are like sandpaper.

All right. Okay. You now have cat hair on your new robe. Don't talk about cat hair. As we're walking over there, can I pull Fjord aside? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Like, just to the back of the group?

Mm. Go, just walk forward. Okay. Fjord. Yeah. So we're in Zadash. Yes. And the gentleman is here. Right.

And, you know, he could be my dad. Right, yeah, of course. So I do want to go talk to him, but I know what we're doing is really important, and I don't want to pull the group there. Do you think it's stupid of me to want to go while all this stuff is going on, or? No.

No, of course not. I mean, this is incredibly important to you, isn't it? Well, I mean, I never met my dad. I mean, I did, I guess, but I didn't know that it was him and I thought about him a lot when I was growing up, you know, so. It's a tremendous opportunity, Jester. You shouldn't just devalue it like that. Yes?

Yeah. Yeah. And besides, didn't we say that we also thought maybe the gentleman, your dad, might know some things? Yeah, I mean, he might. Should we all go as a group, you think? Yeah. Do you think everyone will want to do that?

I think if you tell them how much it means to you, they will. I certainly do. Okay. But we don't have to go now. We'll go after we talk to this guy that we're talking to. But we've been here before.

Let's make sure that we don't leave without doing that. Okay. All right. doing that. Okay. All right. Thank you. Yeah. While they talk, I talk with Nott. Huh. What do you think they're talking about? Sexy stuff.

You think? Yeah. I think, I'm a pretty good judge of this, I think Jester likes Fjord. Yeah. And I think Jester likes Fjord. Yeah. And I think he likes her back. I'm curious. Maybe I should check in with Fjord. It's been a bit.

Yeah, definitely. Think she's confiding in him? I mean, she confides in everybody. She just says whatever she wants to say all the time. That's an interesting point. Okay. Do you want to confide in me? Sure.

I'll tell you a secret if you tell me one. Yeah. Deal. The flask has been empty this whole time. What? No, it's not true. I'm just fucking with you. That would be cool, though, wouldn't it? Yeah.

I don't have much secrets that I haven't told you guys. It's okay, we'll do this game later. Okay. You know what? Think about something. Oh, I'll think about something. And when you have something, come to me. I can think about something, too.

Okay, yeah, because, like, I... It was nothing good. And then I went to my bad place, which was, like, immediately think of lies. Nope, I don't want to hear it. Yeah. Oh, God. Am I confiding in you now? I went to my bad place, which was like, immediately think of lies. I don't want to hear that shit. Yeah. Oh god. Am I confiding in you now?

Why do I lie all the time? What the fuck? Why was that my first thought? It was like, what can I say? It's not true. You thought your instinct was to lie to me, your friend? Well, no, it's just, it's not you. I am getting, I'm actually getting

a little better at it, fuck. God, we're in the fucking public. Okay, look, I'm getting better at it, but. What? Just lying? No, just not feeling like I have to be something I'm not. Being honest? Being honest?

Being... Yourself? Yeah. Boy. I didn't, this is mind-sinding. How did we get here? I don't know! You have, wow! Holy shit! I feel like I just had a breakthrough with you.

I don't know, I've got a bard palpitation. Wow. Don't promote blood. Can we make a therapy character class, by the way? I think we may have to. This is like as a bard subclass. What just happened? I don't know.

What happened to the come-of-age? Make a note. Cry. I mean, let it out, girl. I'm not going to cry. Let it out, girl, it's okay. Can I lean over to Jester and go, what do you think they're talking about? She's sweating. What's everybody doing? I was running along. What do you think they're talking about?

What's everybody doing? I was running along. What a walk. What about everybody? God, my tattoo stings. Yeah, that's what it is. Fuck. It lets out all these toxins. It's true. Oh, they're coming, they're coming. All right. We'll talk later.

Shut up. You guys have passed through the arches into the Tri-Spires. The familiar. Like the Caduceus is just in the middle. It's just watching over you. And hearing all of it, because of his high fucking perception.

High five, Ambrose. Everybody's so unhealthiest. Catch it all. Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. He's also just hearing some random dude in his cell phone like, I'm the worst monk. Yeah. The one with the chum.

Aw, buddy. They fucking rode through on, I'm the worst monk. Yeah. Oh, buddy. They fucking rode through on horses and now everything's cool. It's like Superman, he can never turn it off. Yeah. Passive, man, my passive perception. So. It's 19, passive perception's 19.

Passing through the familiar elements of the city, you enter the old Zadash Pious District where the Tri-Spire was built upon. The familiar gardens of the aristocracy surrounding. You can already see the massive Gilded Willows neighborhood as it presents to you there. You can see the silken terrace, the pillow trove, the familiar glean of the direction of Chastity's Nook,

where such fine books can be acquired. Fuck, Pumat's here. Yeah. He's in the Pentamon. You guys are in the Tricypher. I know what I'm saying. He's close to here. It's where we're going when we're done with it.

There you see the Halls of Erudition. The beautiful bits of white and gray marbled, heavy stone towers, the walkways that weave between them. You can see the beautiful exterior courtyards with trees and trimmed hedges and little cobblestone walkways. It's this beautifully elegant,

you can see loosely inspired by elvish design, the way everything connects and has an organic flow from one place to the next. You can see a small class of about ten students in uniforms, these uniform rogues with a little bit of a fine tavern that's short and just below the belly that's hanging there and they're all clutching

their books with them and they're being led through by some sort of a teacher that's giving them a lecture as they walk through the garden to the left. You head up the main, heavy staircase that is about 20 feet wide and slowly tapers until it comes to the double doorway that greets you at the top. This beautiful arch that starts like a natural apex

and then curves up into this carved ivory spiral on each side before the doors come in. The doors themselves are cut in a similar shape. So as one of them is partially open, and you can see there are two, they're the crownsguard, but you see them dressed in similar attire as some of the students to signify the coloration of the halls here.

Upon approach, they give you all a look and one of the guards glances down. Could I inquire your business here? Fjord. What? Oh, yes. Hello, we've been sent here on a mission to gather some knowledge.

If you wouldn't mind showing us to the stacks. No, no. No? No. If you are seeking research, you're better luck with the archive. This is a place of learning. Not a library. If you are not a student. I pull out the letter that Yussa gave us.

And it's, um... You say, it's, um. It's, you know, it's, we're here on behalf of. We're here to see someone. We're here on behalf of Yussa. Hormid Haas. The super. Headmaster Hormmid Haas. The Archmage of Cultivation, perhaps you've heard of him.

Both of you make persuasions. I got a little extra charisma to work with. I'm going to guide myself beforehand. Natural 20! Oh! Prepared. 11 for me. Okay, not terrible.

Rolled a 13. Between the two of you, between the two of you, the soldier looks at the paper, looks, I will inquire if he's available. I'll wait here a moment. Heads inside, and as the door opens up, you can see the cut portion of the door has this nice little tapering top to it.

That's very impressive. The front of them, very smooth, polished. The details are more on the exterior of it. About 15 or so minutes pass of you tapping your feet on the ground before you hear footfalls begin to approach again. The other guard is watching you quietly as you all wait outside

until eventually the door once again opens. You hear it scraping against the stone or the floor beneath it. The guard arrives, the secondary guard, both flanking to each side. Ormidhas, who you've seen once before, you see standing there, somewhat short, maybe like five foot six,

but a stocky, humanoid man, appearing human, but the skin itself is a very dark brown with a unique texture to it. With each shift, dust seems to almost fall from elements of the joints. The eyes are pitch black, like tiny polished marbles of obsidian. Sick.

He steps out with similar robes to the other instructors you've seen, though his are much more elaborate. You can see there's these two long tassels that go over each shoulder that drag on the ground behind him for an additional two feet. They stay clean for as much as they're brought across the grounds behind him and the floor itself.

Upon stepping out, arms still crossed in these heavy, long sleeves that drape down almost past the knees, looking over all of you, these short, dark, kinked hair, and a bright smile, but a stern glare to the eyes that belittles a social presentation, but a very, very intense probing look. Hello, you have made your way to the halls.

You have requested my presence. I have but a few moments and would be quite curious as to what you are. The corner of the mouth curls into a smile. You sell your old fool. You have my attention. What has he tangled you lot up in? Yes.

We would value some privacy for this conversation. Is there somewhere secure? Well, then, to it. Volum turns around and follows you. You guys watch as, with each step, that bit of dust that seems to drift off of the side of the neck as it turns, with each footfall, there's this gentle little trail

of almost like gravel or very, very fine powder, like a gray powder that's left in his wake that slowly vanishes a few feet after he passes in front of you, leaving no trail behind. Heading into the main chamber, this is a beautiful, beautiful open foyer-type region of the entryway to the main chamber, this is a beautiful, beautiful

open foyer-type region of the entryway to the halls. You can see it's multiple archways with pillars all throughout that seem to give this lattice-type pattern of archway after archway after archway, each leading to the next, to the point where everything is connected in this continuous, beautiful, organic wave after wave-like visual spectrum. The sunlight that comes in from the side,

tall windows, lights everything with this warm sunlight hue, like an eggshell and a soft yellow light. This is gorgeous. This is awesome. You can hear the echoes of voices in distant distant halls, and you can see it splits into three different hallways immediately as you enter the chamber. There is a circular desk of some kind in the center

where a number of books and records are being kept for those that pass in and out, students' arrivals, anything else, and as you guys approach, the person at the desk. This older woman, looks to be a halfling in lineage, perched up on the chair, lifts a quill to ask a question, and Ormah puts her hand up and shakes the head, and she goes back to her chair. Ormah, you're like,

My calls. Leading you off to the right-hand hallway, which is on this hallway, while it's maybe 20 foot from side to side, stands about 80 foot to its apex. The whole thing has this gradual arch to it. Beautiful. You can see why this is considered

a place of higher learning. Even just looking at this, you can only imagine what the Soltryce Academy must look like. About four or five doors down, you are led into a left-hand chamber, and there appears to be a warm meeting room. The coloration shifts from the white and grays, that marbled swirl that seems to be the bulk

of the interior and exterior design of the halls, and it's that it has a dark forest green color. The wood itself is a deep, dark mahogany, and you can see there's an octangular table with chairs set up around. Orymid goes around to the opposite side and sits down, arms crossed, and addresses for you all to sit down.

By the way, before we got here, I probably would have disguised myself as something else. I assume, right? We're in Empire Lands now? You are. Yeah, but... You've gotten around before with your mask, but you don't have your mask anymore, so you probably would have.

I'll trust you to have the foresight on that, so. Okay. I'll have made myself a halfling. You got it. All right, and so as you're onto the chamber. So, it is strange for such a motley crew to be so heavily involved with a, I would say, oddball as you, sir, so far south.

And then to be sent to me by name Viemnese is very intriguing. Duel, tell me, what is your business? What has brought you to the Owls? Well, you should trust you. Very well. And what we've been through is pretty bad. I can keep going. What we've been through is pretty bad. I can keep going. We worry for the fate of the Empire.

I mean, yeah. And are here to tell you some information and see if you've heard of anything that you could convey to us that would help us protect the Empire from impending doom. And you know, the world. All these things seem to align with my personal preferences, so yes, let us continue.

Okay, so there was this group of people that were worshiping this Angel of Irons, right? And they took our friend, and she didn't want to go with them, but this guy was super powerful, and then we were scrying on them, and we found out it wasn't the Angel of Irons at all. It was the Chained Oblivion,

and he's trying to break into the world, basically. Big, it's a big drop. It's a big lore drop there. Do you know what Terra's Dune is? I am well aware. We have proof. You can see this look in the face of like, who the fuck are these people to walk into my house

and tell me such ridiculous things? But then you see he glances down at the partially unrolled missive that still sits there and looks over at the signature. They seem to be making headway. Do we know where, when, who's involved? Ev-well. That's a bit of a larger story.

It seems that there is a third party involved in bringing both the Dynasty and the Empire to blows as maybe a means of distraction or as a way to upset the order of things, but there have been devices planted on both continents to poke holes between here and the Abyss. Creatures have escaped. We've removed or destroyed some of them,

but we seem to have uncovered at least the intention to weaken the distance between the planes. I reach into my pouch and pull out the fragment of the homemade portal device, toss it at him. We believe there are agents on both sides of the war working towards possibly freeing this entity. Most of these were found in Xhorhas, but we do believe someone from Xhorhas allowed

one of the dodecahedrons to be brought over to the Empire in an effort to upset balance. What is this dodecahedron you speak of? It is an item that the Jorhasians worship. It's a structure and a geometric shape. They treat it as a deity, a god. Where did you acquire this information? We spent some time in Xhorhas.

And that is where you learned that one of these Todaqahedrons was taken? Yeah. We actually learned of it here in the Empire first. Is that a problem for you, Oremid? It's not a problem, it's just not common knowledge. So you did know?

I'm aware. You can see that we are obviously not the type to be privy to this level of information, and I think you know that by possessing that letter, we're obviously involved in something far above our pay grade. Yes, you are, and I would recommend you tell no one else that you know of this.

No. Agreed. You are lucky you came to me first. Insight check. Yeah, I was about to say. Both of you guys make an insight check. Why doesn't he want us? Well, yeah.

I've been watching him like a hot chest the whole time, if anything. Yo, 19. Oh, insight, hold on. 19. 27. Ooh! 20.

Whisper? Dual whisper, bring both of your ears here so we can tickle at the same time. You rolled so much better than I did. What's in the shop right now, Laura? Is there a whisper art? There's not. This is.

Oh, this lovely blanket that's been keeping my butt and back warm this whole night. Smells like Sam butt. Sam butt. A new fragrance. Some awesome pins, check them out. They're chibi. They're chibi.

They're chibi. They're cute. What, other whispers? A double whisper? Have we ever done that before? Why not just tell everyone? They're going to just tell everyone. It's so soft.

It so is. It is so soft. I love it so much. Also, two seasons of Legend of Vox Pogged and 24 episodes. Even more story. See it internationally. Ormyd. I know, as you said, we appear to be quite the

motley crew, and you're not wrong. Wee! We're dope. But that leniency has granted us the ability to infiltrate certain lines. Apparently, if you've been to Joyhearts during this conflict, that says a lot

about your capabilities. Now, there have been rumors spreading for some time within the more private echelons of the Empire of Imperial defectors working with the enemy. There has been, as far as I know, no identification the Imperial defector is working with the enemy. There has been, as far as I know, no identification with this perchance pertaining to the journeys you've made. Honestly, it's hard to say.

We've found evidence of potential defectors on our path. Yes, you are an expositor. Yes, sir. I take it this was part of your intended mission? Yes, sir. Well, what I do know is that whatever, whatever Ludinus is attempting to ascertain with this beacon is important. I do not know if I agree with the ramifications of this,

nor can I speak to as this beacon being specifically the reasons for this conflict. I don't think the beacon is specifically the reasons for this conflict. There have been many, many things guiding this tension for quite some time. This was just the... Perfect excuse.

Perhaps. Beyond the two rivaling factions between the Empire and Xhorhas, and this potential incursion from the Abyss and Therese Dune. Therese Dune seems to have unified certain elements between devils and demons. I don't think you worrying about the conflict between these two I think you worrying about the conflict

between these two mortal beings should be your main point of interest. So you are agreeing with me that this beacon and this cult are possibly unrelated? Yeah. All right. We're on the same page.

If we were able to expose, as you called them, a defector among your midst, what would happen to that person? If there was Imperial members who were defected to Xhorhas, they would be executed. What if they weren't defecting to Xhorhas? What if they were just working with this strange third organization that's trying to?

If there are cultists within our immediate mists, they would probably be given the same. They would be hunted by the Warstruckers and tortured and probably never seen again. May I ask a question that's insanely above my pay grade, and forgive me if it's insulting in any way. Have you considered at all that King Dwendal might somehow be knowledgeable of this?

Of this cult activity? Yes, of this third party movement. If he's aware and is not involved, he would have voiced this. There is a lot of very direct communication between the Assembly and the Crown and the council he keeps. If you are insinuating that Dwendal himself

is part of this cult. Again, no offense intended. Maybe I would need evidence for that. Have you noticed anything different with him here lately? Reoccurring themes involving the chained oblivion involve manipulation, starvation. Hunger. Hunger. Is anyone on the service assembly

like really hungry all the time? Or like aggressive all of a sudden, like all of a sudden they're like all gnawshy. War and conflict brings aggression, though the members of the council and the king himself have been a little more excitable towards conflict.

Like who? Like Trent, maybe? What do you know of Trent? I don't know, Yuzo was talking about some of the members and said that Trent was kind of creepy as well. Yussa's straight, yes. But he is effective, and he has his place. We do know that there are people who cannot be trusted.

Who? Well, to be fair, I'm not entirely sure we trust you yet. Then why are you here? We want to trust you. Then trust me. I trust you. Look, if this is the extent of what this conversation is going to be,

I can carry it from here. However, if you're going to walk into my halls, call me here at the Words of Yussa and display this very tangled tail If you're going to walk into my halls, call me here at the Words of Yussa and display this very tangled tale, I would want some definitive proof or direction of which I can be of assistance. We would be happy to offer that.

We just want to make sure that, if the worst is true and if this is even more tangled than it even appears to be, that there's going to be no trouble if it's disturbing information. We, as the Assembly, wade deeply in disturbing information. That is how we keep it from spilling into the streets of our people.

We keep them safe. We keep them blissfully ignorant of the dangers and the challenges of Exandria's darker and more shadow pits. It can be hard when one is betrayed by someone they trust. Yes, and speaking of, if there is someone in your midst who is betraying you, you can't just go around investigating them, can you?

Mm, no. I would need to begin to rally those I do trust within the Assembly. I would look to carefully build a case, take it to the king, as well as the council. If we wanted to possibly assist you in that effort, how best could we go about doing it? Well.

I can tell you that the Cobalt Soul is already assembling a case to take to King Dwindle. Who is assigned to this? Expositor Dairon. I know of this expositor. I will reach out to them. Perhaps together we can cut through some of the usual red tape.

I will see what I can do. You mentioned that Ludininas was studying the... The beacon. Yeah, the beacon. Do you know what means he's trying to? He believes that there is something dangerous and unstudied, untapped, that the Kryn have been tampering with for as long as they have been developing their society.

Magic's old and slightly beyond the understanding of the existing schools of magic. Hmm, interesting. I believe there is, as is the case with the Assemblies, one of our main concerns is assuring that any sort of errant or aberrant arcane pursuits are studied, understood, and contained

before they can do damage. Utenas has been helming the research into this, both as a means of understanding it, to counteract it, as it is being used quite heavily on the battlefield, and as a means of infiltration and assaults upon the Empire, and perhaps nullify it. Well, we happen to know that Ludinus' assistant,

the blond-haired guy. Gaines? I happen to know that Ludinus' assistant, the blond-haired guy. Vince? Yeah. He's kind of working in conjunction with the cultists. The lapdog. He was one of the cultists. Yeah, he was helping with the rifting, yes. In fact, we found this fabric swatch linked to him. And that's also where we found that.

It's one way or the other. It's time. It's time to go to the other. Look like Empire robes to us. This will suffice. I will begin my investigation. Are you going to keep that? I would have to.

Yeah, okay, okay. I saw him. He was writing in a book. It was a book that he kept with him. Well, do you know where he is now? I'll note him down. I'll go tomorrow. What on that spell? But if you need us to check up on him and get more information.

Please, notify me. I'll send you a message. Is there any? In a minute, I know anything. Is there anything you can give us that would help us get closer to his circle of assistants or employees or why are you? Maybe you can hire us as your assistant,

or one of us, and then we'll hang out as assistants together. But look at me. Do you have assistant break rooms? You see he closes his eyes, assistants together. Let me. Do you have assistant break rooms? You see he closes his eyes, the dark glare of his colorless pupils vanishing, and you see a faint glow from behind the eyelids.

He speaks out loud. You recognize this as a separate flare to the Ascending Spawn. Vence. SAM and LAURA, and SAM and LAURA, Headmaster Urmet. Don't mention us. I understand if you're still in town, I would like very much to perhaps

offer you a bit of a personal request, if you will. I myself am quite busy and have some business. a bit of a personal request, if you will. I myself am quite busy and have some business. He gets extra. 250 jerks? How many worse is he? When you don't have pupils, you can just find out.

May I ask one other strange question while you wait for his response? Do you have a little bowl of milk for our kitty cat? Oh, and. Immediately, his face goes, And spring! What didn't you say? What is this little one? Oh my goodness me. Oh my god.

Just immediately, the entire presentory, intimidating visage just crumbles. It's like, what is your name? I like the idea that the whole time Frumpkin has been hidden just one side of your lapel. And then the head pokes out. In my belt, too? Yeah.

This is a, are you all familiar? What about the, yes. Who is familiar with this? This is also Sprinkle. Familiar? I mean, he's just a cat. He's not a magical thing. Double prizes. Double prizes. Oh, this is...

Oh, this is... I know this is, we are talking about very important things, but... The little things. Oh, Arditch. Oh, it's Arditch. Yeah, Sprinkle likes to cuddle in, yeah. Remember, I told Frumpkin to be extra adorable. Zand is just cuddling on.

You can see the shoulders go up. Kitty biscuits, all of it. Oh yeah, on the back. Yeah, as this is happening, his reaction stops for a moment. Vence is not in the Dutch. He's not? He's in the direction trim

on important business for Daleth, so. We should also say, agents of this Angel of Irons are moving quickly towards something. Their plans, obviously, are to free this thing. What was that? He said, I know, I know.

If you are hungry, I'll get you. Hey! Bring some from the mess. Bring some from the, bring some of the small cubed meats, please, thank you. And the guard leaves for a bit. Kimble! I'm sorry, but there's a,

we do know that their plans are in motion and any leads that we could have on stopping them before they release this ancient void would be helpful. I would be, oh. Cats, okay. This is such a tiny weasel. No, he's just the best, isn't he? This is adorable, a bit gaunt, but it's beautiful.

Well, you know, he's an adventurer, so he's alive. Until you've been around, haven't you? As a pet. It's like it bites his finger,'s alive. Until you've been around, haven't you? Oh, that's, it's like, it bites his finger, but his finger's like hard, and just like, oh, that tickles it. I will go ahead and begin to reach out to my contacts. Perhaps I may have to make a general interruption

through myself when the time comes, but I need to ensure that I do not raise any suspicion or do anything to tip them off either. I'm just saying, we could go for you if you want. Well, of course, but I feel like we have different avenues we can pursue. I know, I know. We have different avenues we can pursue simultaneously.

Do you have anything else you need? Dang, man. I'm so distracted. I know, he's really cute. So cute. Do you have anything else you need? Dang. I'm so distracted. I know, he's really cute. So cute. I mean, this is productive, but what are the other avenues that we can pursue right now? We did ask for something that would perhaps

let us move with a bit more ease, right? Something, perhaps a letter, or if it's more important for us not to be affiliated with you, if you want us to move with some autonomy, but independence. Make a persuasion check. Guidance. Okay.

Well, casting a spell in a... Oh, is that bad? Guidance isn't just like a, it's like a, in front of a headgear. Oh, no, no, no, that's okay, that's okay. Just because I don't. 21. Persuasion?

Persuasion, 21. Reaches back into the inside of the robes and pulls out what looks to be a pin of some kind. You can see the shape of it. It's these, it looks like this with a series of small spires in it, almost like, imagine a curved comb with eight spires that all slowly get smaller towards the center.

And above it, you can see three diamonds that face each other. You recognize this as the symbol of the Cerberus Assembly. The three diamonds referring to the three heads of the Cerberus and the eight being the candles of Rexxentrum. Yeah, that's fucking crazy dope. Hands it to you.

People fucked with it. Oh shit. Maybe don't put it in the same pocket as the other one. As the right one. I think I still look like the wrong one. It's Venge, is it today? Let us fuck! Let us in! He goes ahead and waves his hand,

and you can see this faint glow solidify in the front of it, and a symbol flashes for a second and vanishes. I've marked that with my signature. If any members of the Assembly give you trouble, present that, and it should at least lend a bit credibility. But once again, even my influence has limitations. Should you do anything untoward or

extreme, you are on your own. Not us. No, we're fine. We're very even-keeled. Speaking of the members of the Assembly, in Rexxentrum, if we make our way up there, are there any members that you, without a doubt, and all of your experience points to trusting entirely and completely with your life?

No. Wow. Wow, these are your coworkers. That's a problem. You should have an HR department or something. Well, there is a spectrum of trustworthiness within. Also acknowledge the importance of what we do,

the work that is necessary. It is for the good of society and the future of the Empire. We are a series of checks and balances within our own group, and we in turn offer a check to the crown. Just like the Cobalt Soul. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Makes sense, makes sense, yeah. Just for clarity, you want us to avoid using your name, if at all possible? If at all possible, yes. But understand, there are many enemies of the Empire in Exandria. Many of these enemies rush towards the secrets and dangerous whispers that lie scattered throughout history.

We still use it against them. Part of our duty is to get to them first, to protect us. That requires strange bedfellows at times. I think we understand that within our own group. Well, beyond then, time is of the essence. Group. Well. Beyond then, time is of the essence. One last thing, do you happen to know any of the members of the Tal'Dorei Council?

Not personally. Very well. I do have names, we're just curious, you know. What does this have to do with? We try to keep up with global politics. Global politics. We feel like it's important. Yussa knew Allura by swore on him. We were just curious.

I've heard of Allura, but I have not met her personally. You've just heard of Allura? She's really cool. Yeah, she's great. They sent out a yearly photo with a Christmas card. Very well. We must be on. Motherfuckers. So proud of you, Travis.

All right, let's meet back up. As you guys stand up, Ormid escorts you out, and as you come to the steps of the Halls of Irudition, there's that moment of like. Very good luck, and please, once again, if anything goes terribly wrong, let me know. I do not know if I can help, but at the very least, I can continue the work you could not finish.

Can we have the pets back, please? I mean. Is it Frenkel?, please? I mean. Yeah, we'll bring them back. Oh no, I suppose. We'll bring them back. Ooh. Thank you. Can I insight check Sprinkle

and see if he wants to stay with Hossmorph and he likes me? Sure, make an insight check. Oh, I mean, you don't smell like her. Mm, 21. 21. Okay. You don't smell like earth. Mm, 21. 21. I mean, Sprinkler comes back to you, happy as was before,

seemed to have enjoyed the brief change of scenery, but. Don't. Gently puts Frumpkin down and scritches his head a little more and goes like, Feel free to bring them back any time. Do you know where to find me, usually? We're going to come back, he's going to have a fucking cat toy in his house.

Do you know what weasels like to sleep in? He's got a hanging net poster on the wall. As a keeper, you can have a small pouch that you keep over your shoulder, they can curl up inside and sleep, they'll keep themselves warm. Otherwise, blankets, thin, so there's a slight bit of dampness, but still warm.

It tends to be a very, very calming experience for most witches. Oh, that's nice. Otherwise, shredded bits of parchment, loose, natural cotton. You want to create a little burrow for them to curl up inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What are little special treats?

I've been giving him candy, but I don't know if that's like a... I would not recommend candy. Not candy? It causes the rest of their teeth to rot out. He leans forward and opens the mouth, and there's all this blackness in the gum. Aw, Zorgo.

I would recommend perhaps tanned meats, dried jerky things to help clean the teeth as well. What about like sweets? Dried flowers as well can be good with bits of sugar, maybe, but try to keep it minimal. Okay. He has been looking a little chunky. No, he's just a little.

He's not chunky at all, he's super skinny. Super skinny. He's like super skinny, and then I was like. For feces! He's so swell. That image is crazy. Thank you. He's a little rat mammal on Ice Age.

Yes! Yep, yep. Straight up. The acorn. Oh my. Yes! Yep, yep. Straight up. The acorn. Oh my god. All right, well. I've got, you know, that's good to know. Thank you. Of course.

Good luck. Goodbye. Do you think with his, bye, do you think with his earth powers, he can just change a litter box? Just like with his mind? Probably. Amazing. Oh, I can just change a litter box just like with his mind? Probably. Amazing. Oh, I pick a Frumpkin.

Okay. I don't figure a Frumpkin. Okay. You finished your research. Where are you guys meeting up? We said we were going to meet up. At the Invulnerable Vagrant. Is that where we said?

Yeah, we said we were going to meet at Pumat's. Fucking awesome! All right. You guys make your way back to the Pentamarket, the familiar smells of various pastries and cooked meats and foods, along with the smell of burning wood. There's the blacksmithy in the forge itself billowing out,

its own black smoke. It's very nostalgic to wander back into the Pentamarket after the times you had spent here together so early in your adventures. Eventually you come upon the familiar green and gold wooden exterior of the Invulnerable Vape Wound. Wow. It's been a while. It's been a hot moment.

It's been a while! Okay, we're about to go in there. We have a lot of money. Well, some of us do. Some of us went out and got tattoos. Really bad-ass tattoos. Yep. Super stoked about it. Look at, we shimmer.

I shimmer. Look at that, look at that. Look at this, the shoulder shimmering. That's diamond dust in me, right? Is that pus? Diamond dust. Oh, it is pus! Oh god! Just clean it up a little. Aquifol, I'm sure he has some inside.

You guys enter? We do. Is Caleb there? Yeah, I called up. Here's your cat. Yeah. He loved it. Is he okay? Yes. Oh my gosh. Look at him, he's fine. We tell Caleb everything? No, Frumpkin visually shows me everything.

Does it work like that? Yeah, telepathic link, man. Fuck visually shows me everything. Does it work like that? Yeah, telepathic ink, man. Fuck! That's cool. It's like a camcorder and a cat. It's like a little USB cat. You enter the warm chamber, the lanterns themselves still hanging, the light flickering in the nice,

dark green interior with these green velvet curtains that go over the windows to each side, the lantern light giving this warm feel. You can see the tables set out with a handful of things on them. It's sparse in here. Oh, wartime.

Wartime. You step inside, the door closes behind you. You can see there's one familiar face, a Pumat sitting at the counter and is currently in the process, you can see he has a band across the forehead that's keeping the hair out of the front of his eyes, and is in the process with his tongue sticking out

of his mouth of writing down on a stack of papers, before looking at him, he goes, Oh, hey there! Oh, that's some familiar faces I haven't seen here in a long time. What's going on? You ready to get primed for ya? Oh!

Oh, well, hi, Pumat! Good to see you. Hey! It's been a whole nelly of a few months there, I tell you. So what's been keeping y'all so busy? Oh, travel, lots of travel. We've been all over. Work stops, mainly.

Oh, hey, did you finish those bracers? What? Which bracers are you talking about? I just looked through the paperwork here. I think we had them made somewhere else. Yeah, in Xhoras. Do you have a receipt, perhaps, or an order for them? Claim ticket? Send sort of a pickup?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Xhoras. It's that big. Never mind, never mind, never mind. I just got some, sorry. Well, here, let me get, Pumat! Pumat, you got some returning customers you haven't seen in a while.

Here, I'll just take this work upstairs in my room here. Nice. Everything been okay? It looks like you might've been robbed. It's very empty in here. Oh no, it's just, at that point, you know, the curtain comes basting and you can see the familiar face of Pumat Prime.

Sweat in the forehead, goggles in front of the eyes with the long protracted lens in the front, wearing a leather apron over the rest of it, and goes, Yeah, we've been just running the clock here around. Assembly had a lot of orders coming in over here the past few months, and it just has been less of a shop as much as it's been an aid for the war effort. You know, it's trying to. Surprising to the front?

What's up, Shuri? Surprising to the front, I said. Oh yeah, trying to keep our soldiers alive and you know, best we can at least. There's only so many of us to go around. Where are the other two guys? They're like, oh, they're napping. It's like, oh, I earned it, it's fine.

Anyway, yeah, just, sorry we're a little low. What you looking for, what can I help you with? Well, we've come with quite a bit of coin to spend, actually, we were quite looking back to returning to your place of business. Any high-value items that perhaps? Unusual or otherwise. Ooh, well.

Just so you know, your previous items have gone to good use, and I'll summon the sword and show the hilt of... Oh! That'll repair it. Well, that's a sight for some flippin' eyes right there. Let me take a look at that thing. I couldn't make this myself. This is mighty fine craftsmanship.

It all started here, the Invulnerable Vagrant. Wow, that's just beautiful. I'm taking it back. Yeah, the invulnerable vagrant. Wow, that's just beautiful. I'm taking a back, I'm going to go a little whole teary-eyed here and just, Brad puts the goggles up a bit. Wow, if you ever look into a Southad, let me know. I will keep that in mind. All righty.

You guys are still doing the adventuring thing, right? Quite a bit. Yes, yes. We've got to quit the problem solvers. Done a few things, right, around here? Sure, sure. Quite a bit. Yeah. Well, would you be able to help me with something? You don't mind?

Help you? Of course. What do you need? Just curious, I got gold, I got discounts for repeat customers, especially, and I'd like to do this whole bag-op-er a favor. I'd just like to... Well, here, I've been working on a new enchant for months, and I finally got most of the way into finishing it,

but I miscounted my materials and had to hold my progress. Okay. What are you in need of? Well, I need an additional vial of Suaveen Basilisk Oil. My usual contact has been delayed up north and the Assembly is leaning on me

to finish this commission for one of their members, so it's important. Which member? Can't tell you. sort of, you know, privilege to the client, you understand. Totally. But I'd be happy to pay, like, kind of look at some paperwork here, about 5,700 gold for the Vale.

5,700 gold? Yeah. Wow. Swabian Basilisk Oil. Where would you find that? Oh, you'd probably find it in the Swabian Islands, probably. Oh. Yeah, obviously.

Where is that? Those islands. Get out those maps. Wait, we could just ask him, where are those? Now, what I say, they're south of the Menagerie Coast, like all along the southern base of Wildnawn. You could find them them usually coastal. Where's that in regards to Rumblecusp? The Suaveen Islands?

Oh shit, right next to them. Oh, sweet, sweet. Perfect. Yeah, how soon do you need this, Pumat? Well, I mean, you know, sooner the better, but it's not a huge push, I just, preferably in the next couple months or so. We may be making our way

that direction pretty soon, so that works out. What is the date? Today? We've been out of commission for a bit. I don't know the exact day. Let me get it from CritRuleStats. I'll get it for you after the episode. Okay. All right. I'm just trying to figure out how much time we've got.

Yeah, do you have a rough idea of how close we are to go time for Traveler? You are, I have to look at the full count of all the days gone. Say you're a number of weeks off. Okay, okay. It's getting there. Yeah.

Anyway, I need a full six ounces of this oil, so it's going to, I get a, procure for you a safe vial for it. Just don't touch this stuff. I don't know if you're familiar with this, but in basilisks, they're kind of a sea serpent type creature. About 20, 25 feet long

if I recall correctly. Their bites are hurting. It's not too bad, but they excrete this oil around their body. Helps them slither and touches your skin. Kind of starts turning you to stone. They wait for you to sink to the bottom, and then they eat off of the

corpse, you know? Petrified. Real dangerous. Lots of sailor stories about it. And you've actually, at this point, been like, oh shit, I thought that was just like a story, like a song. Sounds right. Clever, they turn them into stone. story, like a song. Sounds right. Actually, it was clever. They turned them into stone.

Drawing on this very map. I mean, trust me, I almost became a boom-hat piece of art when I almost forgot my glove's working on this thing. Whoa, whoa, that was a close one. Anyway, yeah. So whenever you get that around back here, that'd be much appreciated. Yeah, we'll definitely help you with that, Mr. Soule.

Do you have anything in right now? Yeah, in the meantime. He pulls out, like, most of the things up there are just for show. They're basic plus one enchantments. He looks around and says, Kind of came back here looking almighty, I'm not going to lie.

That's us. We're trying to keep up. I got some healing potions. Always interested in those, yeah. He's got two healing potions, two greater healing potions, and one potion of superior healing for sale. Take one. I'm going to take all of them.

How much are those? Those are expensive. Well, they're 50 gold apiece for the base healing potions. They're 250 for the greater, and 2,500 apiece for the single superior healing. That's more expensive than my tattoo. But in a pinch! That was a magic trick. How many superiors?

Where'd it go? Zero. We took the only superior that we had, Fjord guzzled it really fast. In a pinch. Well worth it, though. You really care about me. We'll take the superior and the two greater healings. Hooray! I'd actually say let's just take them all,

because even a minor healing potion will wake you up if you get knocked down. That's true. And then you can get back up again. To regular? Well, you're safe. Take the whole kitten caboodle. Oh yeah, no worries. You getting up down? And get up again.

By the way. Never getting cute again? No, no, never. Can I just say again how nice it is to see another fearball good side of the Empire. It's been a while for me, too. It's been a while. You guys have met, right?

You've met before. No, never. You've not met? I'm just trying out, just being sarcastic about it. Oh, oh, oh, hey, that was good. We met once before, yeah, never. You've not met? I'm just trying out, just being sarcastic. Oh, oh, oh, hey, that was good! We met once before, yeah, no. Yeah, it's been a while, you know? I just, yeah, liking the style, I feel.

Oh, thank you, I just was looking for a bit of a change. Yeah, and all you guys really mixed it up. That'll be 350 gold from everybody. Oh, I can do that. There you go. Just laying these out here for you. Yeah, you can see fit. What you go. Just lay these out here for you. It is your C-fit. What kind of plus one things do you have?

Oh, plus one leather. I got a plus one shield over there. I got two of these potions of maximum power. What is that? What is that? They're 750 gold apiece. What do they do? Let me pull it out for you. Maximum power? I've never heard of such a thing. Sounds metal? Let me pull it out for you. Maximum power? I've never heard of such a thing.

Sounds metal. He pulls it and shows it to you. It's a vial with a glowing purple liquid that just swirls around inside as he spins it a bit, and on the inside, it creates a small little vortex that calms down. It doesn't taste real great, to be honest, but it really bolsters

release of arcane power. These are supposed to technically go to the front lines, but I could pass it on to some friends here and some repeat customers, if you don't mind. Essentially, just so you know what they do, is you drink it, and within one minute after drinking the potion, instead of rolling the dice for damage dealt on something, you can choose to instead use the highest number possible

for each die. So it's like a maximum damage. On one turn? Yeah, you have to use it within a minute. No, it's whatever, you have one minute to use it, and then if it happens. So 10 rounds of maximum damage. No, no, no, no.

You have 10 rounds until it goes away, and then once you cast the spell, it uses it. Got it. It's a scroll? It's a potion. So if you have one thing that does 5d10 damage, you do 50. That's 750 gold pieces for the single use, and he looks at the thing. If you roll a crit and you choose it now.

I should probably keep one of these just because they were ordered, but if you want the one. Sure. I think the one. Sure. I think the one, because then, I mean, that could be a one-two combo that's pretty impressive, because I can also make things vulnerable to one attack, so that would double damage. You could do that? Yeah.

Wow. We're definitely taking at least the one, we don't want to put you in any precarious positions. Any damage or melee damage? Magic damage. Magic damage. Any damage. It's, wait, what? Your ability?

No, it's spell. No, it's only arcane. This is arcane only. Yeah. But your ability is an attack. That would be crazy. Fireball? It would not affect a spell unless the spell

had to roll to hit. What's fireball damage? Like a ray spell or a firebolt or something you had to roll to hit. What's fireball damage? Like a ray spell or like, you know, firebolt or something you had to roll. I could double a fireball damage. To one target is well decent. Yes, we'll take that. And then if it hits, I can deal that damage. Got that one there for you.

And I got this other, this, sorry, everything else is pretty much on order except for this, and he pulls up what looks to be like a thick squat, metallic casing. It looks like what would be a heavy perfume bottle, but it's made of some sort of tin-like material with a rubber capper on top that's wrapped around.

He goes, this is called Oil of Tempering. Yeah, you can rub it on a piece of armor, and for the next 24 hours or so, it gets a little boost. Oh. This one's only got two applications to it. How much of a boost? Well, plus one to your armor class for 24 hours.

Take it. How much is it? Takes about an hour to apply it. And this one will run you about 1,200 gold pieces. Little risk for my blood. That's a lot. How much is that shield of plus one? With plus one shield? Let me go ahead and check there real fast.

Plus two, I'd be all over it. For 24 hours. This is rough. Plus two, I'd be all over it. For 24 hours, it's rough. He goes ahead and starts going through the book in the back there as you're waiting patiently and you're sitting there. What's your armor class, Caduceus? 18.

You feel this searing pain in your back. This sudden burst of intense, deep, piercing pain. What? Your breath halts in your chest for a second as the muscles in your torso seize. What? You. Did you touch it?

I didn't touch anything. Something's attacking him. Suffer. 13. Deficient ships. Yep. Pumat is the mole. What is happening? Is there an invisible guy in the shop?

There's got to be somebody invisible. Use your thing. Is the searing pain in the back of your neck? Or in your back? In my back, right? Oh my gosh. My thing lasts for an hour and I cast it in. Take 45 points of slashing damage.

Oh shit. Make a constitution saving throw for me, please. You were thinking 45? Can we see it happen? I take and make a constitution saving throw? Corrected. Okay. Okay. 15.

15, okay. From that intense pain, you feel something begin to, like very briefly begin to corrupt into your veins and your body shrugs off. Whatever force or thing is trying to pierce in it. I cast Detect Magic and swing behind me. You guys hear this strange

from Caduceus. Caduceus leans forward. You all spin around and look, and there, creeping up out of the ground, you see a female form, dull, gray, almost blue-purple skin, black headband, bright red hair that spills down in front of the face,

cloak and armor with a deep grin as she draws one of two dark, envenomed daggers from the back of Caduceus and laughs before shifting back into the ground like a ghost. What? Oh shit, is that the name? Is that the fourth horseman? Is that the, is that the?

What? As Pumat says, What was that? Are you okay? No. That's where we'll pick up. Oh! What's the name, what's the name?

I'm looking, I'm looking. Catogeist? The Involve- no, the... The Inevitable End. The Inevitable End. The Inevitable End. Is that what it looks like? I don't know.

Oh my god. What if it's not? Catogeist. Huh? Catogeist is the name. Is that it? Is that who it was? We'll find out.

You have no idea, you've never seen them. Avantika lives! I know, I thought it was. They're the chosen assassin of Valk, so. Oh my god. Good chance. I just took a lot of fucking damage, by the way. Fuck y'all.

Well, we just bought a bunch of health potions, so. What did you do? How did you? Yeah. That came out of nowhere. That has to be your doing. Keep your hands in your pockets. That's got to be the assassin.

I didn't hit anything with my damn swing, did I? No. You could roll. That's okay. You could roll. Sure, yeah. That was so out of nowhere. We're shopping, Matt! Like an assassin.

23. It's like assassins, they're really good at what they do. Yeah. It's that. 23. Holy shit. 23? It's like assassins, they're really good at what they do. Yeah. 23. Holy shit. 23? Into the ground? As you swing outwards towards it,

you swing wide towards this strange spectral drow-like figure, and as it pulls into the ground, it uses this reaction to parry it out of the way. It does not hit. Damn. 23! Parry that. Yep. You said spectral?

She's a specter, the Inevitable Vagrant, and a redundant specter. Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, fuck. All right, that's fine. So we'll pick up with whatever's happening now in the Invulnerable Vagrant next to it. Protect Pumat. Protect Pumat. Protect Pumat.

This is like full-on Bobber and Blitz. We can actually, everything's a weapon. Oh yeah. Everything. There's nothing in the, oh, you don't. Yes, yes, we're going to fight. There's a map for the shop. We're doing a combat cam for the end of the episode. Sponsored by Dwarven Forge.

Check them out at dwarvenforge.com. I'm sponsoring the end of the episode. Because you guys are fighting a strong, good, vulnerable veteran next to me. Happy New Year! So we'll pick up on that. What is my chair? Cool.

Holy. Next Thursday. Until then, guys, thank you so much for joining us. We love you very much and is it Thursday yet? goodnight thank you for listening to this episode of Critical Role if you've enjoyed

this ever weaving story please consider rating and reviewing our podcast you might just inspire someone new to hop on the wagon for the journey we have plenty more stories to tell stay tuned and we'll see you next time new to hop on the wagon for the journey. We have plenty more stories to tell. Stay tuned, and we'll see you next time.