Critical Role - C3E26 Hidden Truths

Episode Date: July 14, 2022

Bells Hells seek out allies and options in their evolving plan to infiltrate Paragon’s Call… Due to the improv nature of Critical Role and other RPG content on our channels, some themes and situations that occur in-game may be difficult for some to handle. If certain episodes or scenes become uncomfortable, we strongly suggest taking a break or skipping that particular episode. Your health and well-being is important to us and Psycom has a great list of international mental health resources, in case it’s useful: http://bit.ly/PsycomResources Watch Critical Role Campaign 3 live Thursdays at 7pm PT on https://twitch.tv/criticalrole and https://youtube.com/criticalrole. To join our live and moderated community chat, watch the broadcast on our Twitch channel. "It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme Song)" by Peter Habib and Sam Riegel Original Music by Omar Fadel and Hexany Audio "Welcome to Marquet" Art Theme by Colm McGuinness Additional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 Alarm Character Art by Hannah Friederichs Twitch subscribers gain instant access to VODs of our shows like Critical Role, Exandria Unlimited, and 4-Sided Dive. But don't worry: Twitch broadcasts will be uploaded to YouTube about 36 hours after airing live, with audio-only podcast versions of select shows on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Google Podcasts following a week after the initial air date. Twitch subscribers also gain access to our official custom emote set and subscriber badges and the ability to post links in Twitch chat!

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

Hello everyone, and welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. Woo! That one there. Before we jump into tonight's episode, however, we do have some announcements to get through, beginning with our first sponsorship of tonight.

Ashley will be here. She's just running a few minutes late. In the meantime, I guess, Sam, if you want to kick it off, our first In the meantime, I guess, Sam, do you want to kick it off? Our first sponsor is Shopify, I guess? Shopify, yes, yes, Shopify, a fantastic service that our own company, Critical Role, has actually used a bunch.

Shopify offers an easy-to-use, all-in-one commerce platform for anyone, regardless of technical ability or experience, to start, grow, and manage a business. It lets you sell online, in person, and on all major social platforms. Now, everyone knows, above all else, I'm an entrepreneur, and I've recently launched my own small business

called My Johnson. Using Shopify, I built an online store quickly where you can access a suite of products all based on customizable photographs of Ashley Johnson. Oh no. Like the My Johnson custom tee. Oh no! Or the My Johnson mug mug.

Oh. Oh, why? Uh-huh. Or the iJohnson. It's an iPhone case that's Ashley Johnson's face. Wow! Wow. That's a nightmare!

I hate it. I want it. Shopify supports businesses like mine. Oh shit, where is it? Okay, like mine, along the entire journey from first sale to full scale. And speaking of full scale, myJohnson's most amazing product is none other than a life-size version

of Ashley Johnson! Pull it! Ah! Hey. What's going on? Ashley, where are you? She's supposed to be in the box. Did I open it before? But she wasn't.

Yeah, maybe she's on the other side or something. What? Oh! Oh my god! Are you looking for the perfect pie to smash into Sam Riegel's dumb face? Well, check out my new online store, Rigel Revenge Pastries, powered by Shopify.

You going to hawk any more cute little mugs, Riegel? No, thank you. Or should I show off RRP's new spicy meat pie special? No, thank you. I'm good. Do it. I thought so. I can't see anything!

If you want to start a business today, go to shopify.com slash critical to start a 14-day free trial. Check it out. Matt, back to you. Oh man, you're like a moron! Oh shit! Is it good or is it shaving cream?

The first one was cool, but this is shaving cream! Is that shaving cream? That's definitely shaving cream! Oh no! Why did you put shaving cream in my mouth? Why did you put that so hard? Is shaving cream in my mouth? Yeah, I literally tasted it! Oh no!

Oh no! I'm going to have to forget it. Are you just crying? It's shaving cream in your eyes. Yeah, it's okay. Santa, what did you get me for Christmas? Go wash your face, Sam! Continue with announcements! Yeah, okay. Over here!

Wow. Are you okay? Your eyes are tearing. I'm seriously going to go wash that out of your face right now. Go, Sam. Go, Osha! All your announcements! Go, Sam! How did you become my sleep paralysis demon? Like, I am hating this.

All right, this episode is also sponsored by... Because I wasn't immediately back. No. All right, hold for the next sponsor. Hold for the sponsor. No, keep going, keep going. The second Slow Pie was the saving pie. Ryan like, Well, I couldn't decide if I wanted to do it or not. No, it was good. It was just...

No, it was go to sleep pie. Yeah, it really was. Sleep. Logistical link. This episode is also sponsored by our friends at Hip Wing Press and their brand new Humblewood Tales, a 5e companion book to the Humblewood campaign setting with expanded lore to the everyday happenings

and events around the mystical tree city, Alderheart. That'll be fun. Mm. And that's the end of it. Five new adventures. Five new adventures. Have you encounter pirate mercenaries? Have you encounter pirate mercenaries? Face off against the Slime King

and take on the Amaranthine Krenn in a nightmarish dreamscape. The 200-page book has everything you need to play, including premade characters, bestiary, and more. And it is available in a handful of different versions at cr.humblewoodtales.com. Thank you so much for supporting the show. Woo!

There we go. We are, we get worse at this every week. Well, you got an excuse this week. Fair enough. Ooh, the show has its own built-in planned obsolescence. Marisha, you're up. Next Tuesday, July 12th at 7 p.m. Pacific, we are going to have the whole cast

of Exandria Unlimited Calamity coming back for a special wrap-up. Oh? Yes, this is by popular demand. We heard you, audience. We heard you wanted more info on all the drams. And so we're giving it to you. And some Lou Wilson, please.

And Lou Wilson! Yes! No! Love that Lou Wilson. Love that Lou. So tune in if you want all the deep dive and the informations on Calamity. Woo!

Thank you, Marisha. Laura, you're up. We're excited to announce our first collaboration with the fine folks at, hold on, I'm looking for the box, Razor. Whoa! We teamed up to create a myriad of designs inspired by Belle's house as part of Razor Customs.

We're flea gamers now. Now you can personalize your Orochi V2 mouse and Gigantis V2 mouse mat in sizes medium, large, and extra large with patterns by Grace Berrios or go big with a large, fully illustrated mouse mat by Kendra Wells. Check it out. But also, everybody hold up your stuff because they're really freaking cool.

I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I put chisels on my stuff. Wow! Yeah. So these are the smalls. Look at the slot in one! These are the mediums, and then those are the extra larges. We don't have the large here, but.

It smells like a gym. I know, I love it. Like a fresh one. In the best way. Not like a gross gym, a new gym. Like the rubber floor of a fresh gem. Then wait, did anybody hold up the mouse? Because here's a mouse. Oh yeah!

Learn more! Check out these awesome things. Learn more about this amazing collaboration and start customizing today by visiting rzr.to slash critical dash roll. Exclamation point. Exclamation point? I don't think that's part of it.

You got it. You got it, Laura. You did it. You did it. You saved it. You saved it. In case you missed it, Beauty of Exandria, the Wilds. Yeah! Water bottle, art also by Grace Berrios, and it's beautiful, and it's got this, which you can also use as just an extra little thing.

Dangle anywhere you want it to. Anywhere you want it to. Anywhere. Drink your water, consume. Anywhere. I'm done. Awesome, thank you, Laura. Nice! Yay! Also, the mice come with a battery.

Yeah! I mean, come on, they never give you batteries anymore. They come with a battery. Are the plural of computer mouses mice? Mies. Miesies. Isn't it mouses mice? Mies. Miesies. Isn't it? Miesies.

I hate Miesies to pieces. I should call my Miesie for a while. What should you do? I don't want to be put in it. I want to know that answer. All right. Okay. With that, our well-oiled machine of professionals, I think, have finished our intro.

Let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of Critical Role. Critical. Thursday. Critical. Thursday. Critical. It's Thursday night.

One by one we climb until we reach the top. Two by two we fall. Will we meet our end or meet our destiny? Hold your breath and roll. How do you want to do this? It's Thursday night. All ye critters come join us. It's time to continue our flight

There is magic and mystery, who knows what will happen in my eye But one thing's for sure, we all share the same goal. Adding more allies, taking more chances. Hold your breath and roll. You can certainly try. It's Thursday night. All ye critters, come join us. It's time to continue our fight

There is magic and mystery From darkness our friendship will rise But one thing's for sure We never give up on the fight Oh, get ready It's Thursday night On the fly Oh, get ready It's Thursday night And welcome back.

So, last we left off, Bell's Hell has been hot on the tail of Armand Treshi, who had escaped southeast from the city of Drusar and vanished into the Hellcatch Valley. Tips that have been given via the network of aligned individuals to Eshteross so that he had gone towards Basuras, where his alliances with the Paragon's Call

would likely lead him to some sort of protection. Utilizing the enchanted ring that you had placed upon his finger, you head that way and quickly discovered the ring had been pawned off. Leaving the trail cold, however, you did discover the Seat of Despair, the stronghold of which the Paragon's Call

resides within the city, and figure that he's likely, possibly within there. You acquired the ring back and had forged a plan that involved some elements of practiced forgery to try and draw him out or at least confirm his location within. You had wandered and staked out the exterior and grounds of the Seat of Despair.

You went forward with a few different ideas, tossed around some plans. You had a brief encounter at the Taste of Tal'Dorei. A wonderful themed tavern and experience here in the city of Bassuras. You acquired some merch, some keepsakes. You got an oven mitt, I think. It's been great. The oven mitt, I think. It's been good.

No, the oven mitt and the pencil were gifts for Imogen. That's what it was. I rapid-fire got a couple of choice swords. That's what it was, yes. Do you still have them? Indeed. You have a t-shirt? You know, he did give me, I got a Whitestone is for Lovers t-shirt.

Yep, yep. That's right. Bless you. Good and tight. Stop it. That was so funny! DM, was it Seat of Despair or Disdain? Sorry, Disdain. That was my brain having a fart.

Which stain? Disdain. That's right. There it is. Deez stains. Deez stains. But you've been traveling with an individual that you encountered when you came to the city dusk, an individual from the Fey Realm, like Fearne, who seemed to be having a series of blocks in their memory,

but an interesting connection to Fearne's past as well. You've taken them under your wing, and as you ventured away from the Seat of Disdain, back towards the Raha Den for a night's rest. That was where we left off. So after you've attempted and completed what you feel is a solid forgery for the intent of the following day, you've all gone back up to your rooms.

Is there any business before the night comes to a close? Very well. Yep, no, it doesn't seem like it. Okay. You're going to talk, right? We're going to, we'll take first watch. If there's a watch. Oh yeah, we should have a watch.

We should definitely have a watch. We are in a hotel. We're in a yurt. Yeah, but it's a canvas. It's a fabric on the walls. Is this where we were last? Is this not where we were last? This is where we stayed before.

That bird could come right through the ten flaps. Yeah, well, I can take first watch. All right. Yes, would you help me? Yeah. Okay. All right. So, um. Okay, I just, I have so many questions, and...

What were you doing with Birdie and Olly? Well, they found me wandering around in the Feywild. I, you know what it's like there, with all the lights, and you just follow one, and it's so beautiful, and then there's another one, and you got to go over there to that one. And it goes on that way, and there's no real day or night cycles,

and you just wander. And I could have been wandering forever. I know how that goes. Sometimes you're like, I don't know if it's been 10 minutes or three years. Yeah. So things, I feel like now, are a little unstuck for me in time, you know?

Like it feels more... I feel like time makes a little bit more sense here. Do you like being here? You know? Yes, I do. Why? I think just because it's so different.

And I love all the trinkets of things that they have here that really don't make any sense, but I like to collect things from here, and I really like this whole group that I'm with. They're really, really wonderful, and I feel like I've learned a lot, and something that I do feel like is really different here is,

it seems like I feel a little more. Does that make any sense? It's funny that you should say that, because I feel it's the exact opposite. I feel like things here are so controlled and that everybody doesn't say what they mean and that they have to put boundless concepts into tiny little neat packages.

Whereas in the Feywild, it's wild. It's wild. And things are gooey there. Yeah. Yeah, I miss it. I do miss that a lot. Don't you feel like they put you in little boxes here? Yeah.

I think there are definitely different rules here. And sometimes I like it, though, because I know what not to do, if that makes any sense. Like here, sometimes when I want to keep a trinket, I sometimes will feel bad. And I don't know what that means. Like I'm doing something wrong.

Maybe. Or maybe it's just the weird boundaries that they've set up that tell you that it's wrong. Maybe. Or maybe it's just the weird boundaries that they've set up that tell you that it's wrong. So how do you live life here, then? You don't have any, you don't live in this world's box? No. No, I don't think I do. Should I? Should I want to?

No. I think if it's something that you don't feel, then you should do what you want to do. We should find a way back sometime. I would love that. I really do miss it. And I would love to show everybody my home. Do you think they'd want to come too?

Even if it meant that maybe they might leave things behind? Families, times, identities. I guess I didn't think about that. Sorry, I didn't mean to get too serious. It's fine. Can you tell me about Birdie and Olly? I think they might've been in trouble out there. But they were... They really wanted to come out this way,

out into this realm. Well, they left because they were saving the world, which you probably knew that. I didn't. It's what my grandmother told me, which is why they had to leave, because they were on a very important mission to save this world.

So I know that they wouldn't have stayed gone this long if it wasn't important. Huh. I mean, that's a surprise to me. They didn't really ever talk to me about grand plans, but then again, I don't know how much time we actually spent with each other. It was enough that,

well, I felt like they were family. Oh. That's so nice. Yeah. I'm nervous to meet them. I feel like I don't know them at all. Well, if you get to meet them new again for the first time,

I mean, that's kind of exciting, isn't it? A fresh slate. Yeah. Yeah, fresh slate. Is there anything I should say, or? Just be yourself. Okay. I mean, you know,

I'm sure they'll be very happy to see you. Yeah. I think they will be. I think they will be. I know they will be. Yeah. This is just so unbelievable that we ran into each other and...

I feel like it was destiny. I do, too. I do, too. If... I was... If I was different before this, before my trip to the Feywild, before coming here, do you think,

do you think we'd still be getting on like this? I mean, like you said, you haven't seen your parents in 90 years and that you're scared of what to do and how to act and who to be. But, I don't know who I was back then, even necessarily when I met them before, so. Maybe they won't like me like this now, either.

Maybe they won't like me like this now, either. I just don't see how that could be possible. I mean, we've only known you for a day or so, but I think you're wonderful. I think you're wonderful. I think you're brave, and that you don't belong in the little boxes that people are going to try and put you in.

I don't either. I don't either. I don't want to... I certainly don't want to live life in a box that feels... small. Yeah. And people like you aren't meant to be small. What do you mean you don't know

if you were different before this? I don't really have memories from before the Feywild, or even much in the Feywild. So, you know, I could have been anybody. Yeah, sometimes when I think about when I was there, I have wonderful memories. But sometimes I feel like I'm different when I'm there, too. But I don't know how to really explain that.

I just, yeah, there's a lot of questions around that place, and I didn't realize it was so, I guess, different until I came here. I guess in the end, that no matter what, you're always going to be you. You know? Yeah. It's like that ship of that adventure, right? Even if there's different parts that make it up

or different memories. Yeah. I was you. How do you feel like you started living life outside of the box? Did you just start doing what you wanted? Yeah, I think that the Feywild encourages that. Maybe I should start doing what I want now. I think you should.

Now? Please, no. What does that look like? Dark Eladru. Wow. Yeah. Last day. I think you've inspired me. And you've encouraged me. And I am so happy that we met you.

I'm so happy that we met you, too'm so happy that we met you, too. It's like we're family a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Well. I'm going to go get some rest. Get some rest. I'll wake up the others for the next watch.

Awesome. But thank you for talking with me. No, thank you. We were all murdered in our sleep. Yeah, there's nobody left. Shit! They're dead! Oh yeah!

Ah! Okay. Thank you for everything. Yeah, yeah, it sounds like choking. While you guys finish your watch, if I could have everybody except for Erica leave the table. Oh! Wow!

Oh! I'm in trouble! What did you do? Is this the first one of these, this campaign? Yeah, I think. Wait, did you guys do this before? Yes. Other campaigns. Maybe episode one?

Okay. Shh. Please be careful. Stay episode one? Okay. Shh. Please be careful. Stay. Please be careful. I hope you're still here when we get back. I need some water in my cup. Go out into the hall.

Go out in the hall? Oh shit. Oh, how dare. Goodbye, friends. Okay, and? As you step away from the conversation, gently flicking the dark metallic ring on your finger, here in the still silent night, you feel that familiar, cold, creeping sense,

like mythic tendrils reaching beyond layers and layers of time. You feel a presence creep into the back of your mind. A voice exhales and you immediately remember the familiar voice of the Sorrowlord Zathuda, Bearer of the Lightless Flame

and Grove Captain of the Unseelie Court. You. I wait in prickly silence for your report. My lord, you know that good work takes time. Have you located the Moontide Crown? Have you dealt with the Calloways? Are you aware that there is a daughter? Go on.

She's been living here in the mortal realm for who knows how long, and these beautiful idiots that she keeps company with have led me right to the Calloways. So I could succeed, or all of my rivals could not. Don't think you're the only one still on this job. Yes, but I'm the only one that's gotten success, that has results, and is the prettiest.

I see no results yet. And your dalliance in this mortal realm slows you with distraction and weakness. I hope that I wasn't wrong in entrusting you with this task. Come on, my lord. There's so much to explore out here. Have you ever had a rumble? Samanar grows impatient.

You will not fail me, lest I find better use for you in one of your mirrors. Now, if you're this close, I expect the crown soon. You will have it, my lord. I will end the Calloway line. Very good. You feel the tethers release.

That cold sense in the back of your throat gives way. Fuck. I check the ring. It still points to the room next door. It still tugs gently in the direction of Fearne Calloway. There's more than Terry Flicker. A ride of color passes over my face, and then it's gone. And I lie down to sleep. Very well.

We can summon the rest of the folks back in, if you don't mind. Thank you. Get back in here! Come on! Long walk, long walk. That's okay, welcome back. Hi. Oh no, you have a sad face.

I'm fine! Oh no, what happened a sad face. I'm fine! Oh no, what happened? It's fine, nothing happened! Why are you alive? How many hit points do you have? Fine. Oh no. Did you get assassined? I'm fine.

Anything happen to you? Did you have a nightmare? Some people have nightmares. Did you barf water? Did I? Barf. I do an insight check on you. Anybody doing any other specifics for the night's rest or should we progress?

I'm just sharpening my blade. Okay. And staring. I'm just going to watch, if we're taking a watch, I'm just going to my blade. Okay. I'm staring. I'm just going to watch. If we're taking a watch, I'm just going to watch you do that. Okay. I'm watching both of them. Do we need to take watches?

I'm assuming from... Well, yeah, there's a bird out there that's hunting FCG. Okay. I feel like we can take him. I would like to get up for a solo watch at the end, unless anyone objects. Hell no. For a brief moment. Before we get up for a solo watch at the end, unless anyone objects. Hell no. For a brief moment.

Before we get to your final solo watch. Yeah. Imogen. No! What? Everyone leave their cameras. No, no. Dream Journal. Fucking shitballs. Shit, shit.

Where'd I put them? You find yourself once again standing in the familiar field, but the greens of the grass that normally greets you have already passed. There is no looming storm in the distance. You stand within it already. You see the darkened clouds above,

the red hues already consuming all but a brief glimmer of blue in the distance, the dark shadow of the farmhouse, barely visible at the cusp, at the right end of your vision. You hear the echoing sound of your mother once more. Run. What do you do?

I start spinning around. Do I see that figure that I saw before the last time I was here? You glance back around in the opposite direction of the farmhouse, and indeed, you see again the figure. You focus in, looking through the bits of sand and dust and debris that blow past,

and you can see the shape. Live, built. Hard to discern where on the specter of gender it may lie, live, built, hard to discern where on the specter of gender it may lie, but you're almost certain it's feminine when you take more time to focus. Mother? The figure takes a step towards you. Who are you?

It takes another step, and you begin to see, emerging from the dust, around other figures, roughly the same height. You see, amongst the darkened leather armor, a bit of short gray hair that pushes to one side and ends outward to the left. Dark eyes like a bird of prey looking towards you. Does it look familiar at all?

No. What's their expression like? Hard, focused, and a slight curl into a grin as a voice enters your mind. Hello. How interesting. Who are you?

I say back. SAM and LAURA say, Who are we? As the other figures step up, you can see more and more of them, and more, dozens and dozens, wearing dark gray and black leather armor, all masks over their face,

except for the one central commander-type figure standing towards you. As they all at once rush towards you, the wind picks up around you, and you wake up. As you come to consciousness, breathing, there's the faint opening across the various bits of cloth that maintain the exterior of this soft,

rahaden outer wall. And there you can see the stars beyond, but a faint orangish hue that marks the sky. What? What do you mean, orangish hue marks the sky? Does it mean, can I look out the window? Oh, can I look out the window? Yeah.

You step up and carefully approach where the flapping bits of sail-like material and fabric give way to the night sky and the horizon views of the Hellcatch. You can see the tops of the numerous buildings, the beautiful, chaotic, haphazard skyline of Vassaris. There above, you can see Catha just finishing its descent across the way

into the mountain range, and above, you can see the ruddy moon Ruidus on its daily rotations, growing closer towards its zenith, but where it normally sits in a dull brownish-red coloration, here it is vibrant red. It's flaring.

And it's at this moment you notice many others in the street are all stopped and looking up towards it, these rare occasions. And just in that moment, the flare vanishes and it fades back to its calm, ominous red-maroon hue. Can I go over? Is everybody else asleep?

I'd say you would be up sharpening your blades. Can you draw? Sure, yeah. Can I grab Laudna's notebook that I know she keeps with her and hand it over to you and I start describing the face that I saw in my dream? The dream journal chapter? Oh, great. Well, I flip to that then. Sure.

This was in your dream? Yeah. Shoot, I should have been there for it. I still feel like I can glean something. But anyway, describe before it wears off. Gosh, it was a figure. They had gray hair over to the side. I was describing what they look like.

Was it sharp features? Sharp features. Now that you recall, just roll a perception check for me. Aw. We'll say, recalling the details that you could pull from this dream. No, no, no, no, no, no.

Just knowing how stressed out you are, I'm going to cast Calm Emotions on you. Okay. Just to you are, I'm going to cast Calm Emotions on you. Okay. Just to settle you, and then also I'll hit you with a Guidance. Well, this technically would be recollection of the dream, so the Guidance wouldn't help with the perception. Okay, well, I'll Calm you so you can focus.

Oh, 11. Perception? Yes. 11. 11. In the midst of the storm, you couldn't pick out two finer features. There was something, they seemed sharp. The chin came to a point, almost like a heart-shaped face, feature-wise.

You just remember the eyes being dark and cold and piercing, like a predatory creature about to pounce. Do I remember their armor? Remember the armor was dark shades of leather. Blacks and grays and everything. Sharp points, or was it just? Form-fitting, very tight to the body. Definitely designed for movement.

Tell you all about it. I do my best to get it down to paper. Does it look like what I saw? I don't know. It's a police sketch. I'll say, I'll say, go ahead and roll. I'll let you choose, either a standard dexterity check or a performance check.

Your choice. Are you dexterous at all? I'll do performance. Can I guide myself? Yeah, you can. I pictured him like a 3D print, you know, like a print. Sure, sure. Dot matrix. Dot matrix, exactly.

Just to tear the edges off when he's done. All right, here goes. Yonk. Oh no. 13. 13. It looks like a woman. Which is good, because I don't think I told you woman. I know. We'll say it's her.

The details as you convey them, best you can. Okay. It leans to be more feminine form. You definitely get the shape close, the hair a little bit. It's vague and sketchy. Not super detailed, unfortunately. I should have used this hand, but it's got a blade on it,

so it was drawn left-handed. No, I'm sorry. This is pretty good. I mean, it looks like a dream person, right? I'm so sorry. I didn't notice. I've been watching you while you sleep, not in a creepy way, but trying to be ready so that I feel like I can connect with you

while you're in a dream and maybe see what you see. You think you could do that? I do, but how do I time it, right? I have no idea. The moon was flaring right when I woke up. In your dream? I was in the flare, and then when I woke up, the sky was still orange.

You recall something interesting. When you noticed it in the sky, you felt drawn towards it. You didn't will yourself necessarily to the edge of the window more than you just found yourself there. And as it flared, there was an ever so deep, faint

yearning, a pull. Well, I don't know if that means that the moon was just going through something tonight and maybe it affected you or the other way around? No, there's no way I would. No. No. No. Are you all right? Yeah.

It didn't feel, I mean, it was, it was terrifying, but there was something different about it. Different good or different bad? I don't know. Well, how about this? Next time you sleep, not in a creepy way, I'll watch you and maybe be ready to look in.

How would you know? I was having a nightmare right in front of you when you were awake. How would you know? I was having a nightmare right in front of you when you were awake. How would you know? Your eyes sometimes go all loony when you're... Oh, do they? Well, everyone's does. I've looked at all these folks while they've been sleeping, not in a creepy way.

And... And I don't think that my ocular receptors do that, but y'alls do. Not every night, too. But Chetney? I don't think that my ocular receptors do that, but y'alls do. Not every night, too, but Chetney? I look over at Laudna, and with her eyes. That always happens. She's like that all the time. I'm just wide open.

Everybody has their own sort of sleep tale. Yeah. Chetney's eye. Sometimes his leg starts thumping. Does he wake up and run into the wall? His leg starts thumping. He's chasing Toymaker. Yeah. Thumping. Ashton, sometimes his brain glass starts to shine.

Oh yeah. Fearne, sometimes, every once in a while when she's asleep, like a little, like she'll start to, like some fur will grow, like she's turning into an animal, then just comes right back. What? Just like, you have to really focus on it.

Just when she's hot, like some hair will just. Fearne's always hot. Orym. I don't even want to say it. He toots. He toots. He toots. He toots when he's dreaming? Canon. I think so.

It's like Supremus. Twice now. So small. Twice. Then your eyes start darting back and forth. Mine seems relatively normal. Yours is the best one! I haven't found out what Dusk's is yet, though. We'll have to watch her.

Not in the creepy way. Yeah. Can I just stare at her for a minute? I know. Oh. Maybe she's just talking. She's talking. Monkey. Maybe she's a talker. She's a talker. Monkey.

Did she say monkey? Yes, I'd like some tea. Yes, I'd like some tea. I'd like some tea. Tulips. Tulips are sure she likes tea. Oh, she just has boring things. Tea and monkeys.

Those scones are so fresh. All right, yeah, that's it. Foreign stuff right there. I want to tell Laudna. But you can't because she's asleep. Well, she's asleep. But also because she talked to me about, she confided in me that y'all are maybe having a little bit of a tiff.

Mm-hmm. Did she? She did, but she was very worried about it. I mean, she gave me a pencil. I figured. And a taut holder. A taut holder, yeah. A taut holder.

Why do you say it like that. She's trying. She might not know how, but I suggested to her that you and she might want to just sit down together when things have calmed down a little bit and be honest with each other and say what's on your mind.

That's the best way to get through these things. Yeah. And I could facilitate that? Maybe, maybe. Just as a third party, independent third party. It makes you feel really good. It's the thing that I do, so if I don't do it, I don't really have anything to do, you know?

Yeah, then maybe I'll let you have it. Okay. She's really broken up about it. Yeah. I'm sorry. Me too. I'll try to get some sleep. I think I'm awake now.

Sorry. I'm going to make some tea with two lumps. Two lumps. Okay. All right, you finish your watch, which completes with you alongside you, Orym, since you said you wanted a final watch. Yeah, I'll just take it on my own.

And I will spend the whole time just watching the group and watching for trouble and watching Fearne's hair grow slowly outward and then shrink back. Then when I think we're 20, when I can tell the sun's coming up and it's going to be time to, that never stops. That's happening all while it's, no, I'm awake, it stops.

Yeah, it's the warm of the air, I'm sure. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, where do you think the dust comes from? Involuntary gantrip, yeah. How are those air brooms? The whole time, I am watching Fearne, and when I think we're close to waking, I scoot over quietly to the spot where,

earlier, I was sleeping in the nook of her knee, and I very carefully and gingerly go in to take Captain Zandis's spy class off of her that I clocked, because I have a passive perception of 26. Yes, you do. I just want to gently take it away and roll it up in my pack.

Okay, I need you to roll a Sleight of Hand check for me. Yeah. Can I get any extra juice here since she's asleep and I'm awake? Because she is asleep, I will give you advantage against your passive perception, is what it would be. Okay. Don't fall asleep, it's not your passive perception is what it would be. Okay.

Both asleep, but you have no passive perception. That is a 19. Yeah, it beats it. Okay. My passive is 17. You begin to remove it from within the tangled bits of slightly oily fur

in which it had previously been tucked away. I sleep in it. There's a brief moment where the fur suddenly, It's essential oils. There you go. Breathes deeply and begins to shift and you think it's over, but you remove it and it is yours.

Palms a sweaty. Don't like doing stuff like that. I put it away and then I- Out in the corner. Are you awake? Two hours later? I keep going. I wake up Fearne by tucking my toes under her tuchus,

and then I just start doing crunches. That's how I wake up the group. All right. Don't move, don't move. Five more minutes. Okay. Five-minute warning. You all slowly come to just past the crack of dawn.

Oh! Gathering your things, the morning is yours. What would you like to do? Worst day ever. Worst day? What? What's your worst day? I'm still sleepy. Oh. Why worst day?

I don't know, some people wake up cheery, some don't. Oh, all right. I feel pretty sure we can top this. Orym's doing one-handed pushups now. Sometimes. It depends on which side of the bed I get off on. That's how my day goes. Get off on a particular side of the bed?

Yeah, sometimes the right side puts me in a worse mood. Maybe you were sitting on the ground. Let me write this down. Oh, that's right. You think getting off on the right side would do it? Or a cot, maybe. This, it doesn't apply in this situation, actually, because there's no bed.

Sometimes if you lean too far over on the cot, though, it does tip up on you. It does a little tippy thing. That is really unfortunate. Yes. Now I'm doing burpees. You're making the rest of us feel bad. This is all I got. I have no powers.

Hup, hup, hup. You're making the rest of us feel bad. This is all I got, I have no powers. The morning is not based on a grade curve. Fuck's sake, I need something to eat. Oh! All right. What are we doing, planning time? Oh, well. Well, again? You know, wait a second. Yeah, no, I'm with you on that.

Incredible! All right, we have our letter. We've no, I'm with you on that. Incredible! All right, we have our letter. We've got the letter, but you know, I was thinking about it, because remember, the captain was like, it would've taken me 24 hours once you catch the guy and get the boat back over. So if we catch Treshi,

we should probably have someplace to stash him. It's not a public tavern or inn. Right. So I think before we execute this flawless plan, which I think would work, we find some allies. Joe. Joe?

Who's Joe? Who's Joe? You've got people, right? So you've got people. Do you have people? No, they're further from here. I know someone. I know someone here, yeah. Yeah.

Would any of these friends be able to put us up, hide us away, if need be? Well, I mean, I don't think Ashton knows where their friends are. I know where mine is. I was going to say, I got some thoughts on where they might be, but that's, I may have somebody in the All Minds burn.

So I feel like pretty much anything's available here for a price. Right? True. That's the trouble, though, if it's available for a price, it can also be resold underneath you. That's true. Let's go with something. Somebody who is something invested. Let's go with something. You need somebody who is something invested.

Let's go with something that we know for sure and then build off of that. So if you know some folks, let's start there. I'm just going to throw it out there. I'm totally happy to go there, but y'all don't have to come with me. We can divide and conquer here. We might need to keep eyes on Treshi's location.

We also might want to shake the tree for Ashton's folk. And then you all have your parents coming to town. Yeah. Because once we do this Treshi thing, we hit the button on the clock, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Well, I don't mind, because we've got a couple of days. We've got a couple of days. We've got a couple of days.

Before they're here, but we should definitely keep an eye on that fortress to make sure that he doesn't come out. Well, I can do that. I'll keep eyes on it. I don't mind keeping you company as well, if, you know, and I can maybe send messages. Okay. How far can you do that again? I can't remember.

Not far. Not how far. I can't remember. Not far. Not how far. I can't. Six feet, 100 feet. 120 feet. 120 feet. Oh. Okay, because there's two exits on the place. But she might have magic.

Do you have magic that could send up a flare or something? I don't know what you do. Mm. You'll figure it out. So you two keep an eye on the place. You're going to find somebody you know. Yep. You're going to find people if they're here or not.

Who else is left? Y'all are looking for parents. Imogen, it's just you and me. We're, well, us again. We take down Treshi. Just us together. We go in. Is that not what the plan was?

No, that's not what the plan was. Sorry, okay. Putting that on hold, we're getting ducks in a row first. So like you said, we want a place to throw Treshi while we wait. Safe house. Maybe you and I will watch for patterns from Treshi. Does he leave? Does he go to the grocery store?

Does he just stay inside? Sure. That'll inform what we do next. All right. Then you guys are looking into? Well, I don't know if my people are necessarily good safe house options, but there'd at least be allies,

people who could maybe help us make this happen. You want to go after them? You take somebody, and I'll take somebody, to back us up? We can divide and conquer, I guess, yeah. Sure. And of course Imogen can always send a message to me since we have a bond and she can talk to me.

Oh. If needed, you know? Sure. Yeah, I could keep that connection up with you. Right, right. That sounds good. Then the parent. Well, they're not coming for a couple days, right?

We can split off with some of the rest of the folks. Yeah, we could come help anybody. Who needs backup? I need a backup. I'll go with you. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I'll go with you. Okay. Okay. Yeah, we'll go with you. Okay. And then Ashton probably needs some-

I'll go with Ashton! Okay. I like that plan. Where am I going? Where am I going? You can go with Ashton, too, or wherever. Unless you wanted to stay with Orym. Or you can do whatever you want, because you're a free woman.

Just chill. You should come with us, because we're going to woman. Just chill. You should come with us, because we're going to establish some street cred. We'll be fucking fearsome by the time we come back. Not kidding. Nobody will mess with us. That's absolutely true. Oh, do we have a gang? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. What does my hair look like?

Oh, it's pretty much back to normal now. Long? It's almost there, but it miraculately- Is it like a cute little French girl bob right now? Yeah, it's a little bit longer than that. It's mostly returned. Which is like. It's cute. It's cute.

Yeah, it's mostly back. All right. Got it. So you had your- You know what we're doing. When do we meet back up again? End of the day? Sunday. Back here? Yeah, end of the day, Imogen reaches out, of the day. Back here. Yeah, end of the day, Imogen reaches out,

rallies the group. Uh-huh. Okay. I can definitely do that. And Orym, if you find, if Treshi moves, how will, we still haven't figured out how you're going to contact us. Well, we're not going to make a move. I can only track him. We're just, yeah, we're just.

He's not going to leave the city. He might not leave the building. But we're going to find out. Leaving the city would be ridiculous. I mean, this is the place you go if you don't want to be found. Where else would you end up going anywhere would make you found.

We're going to kill somebody before the day is done. I promise. Yeah. You swear? Yeah. All right. I wish we had earrings or something that you could talk through.

That'd be really fun. We need some sort of communication device. I mean, we've got to. Oh, maybe the Imahara Cho, maybe he has something that could help with that. Like those stones that we gave you. As you descend to the base of the Rahadent, the open caravanserai,

where breakfast and other meals are discovered and sold, as you're finishing up this conversation, a voice nearby goes, Ha ha, hey, lady, right what I told you. You glance over and you see there's this swaddled, cloak-wrapped goblin figure with its hood half pulled over its head with an eye patch on one eye and one eye that's pointing directly at you

with his finger out in your direction. Surrounding him, you see, at a quick glance, one eye and one eye that's pointing directly at you with his finger out in your direction. Surrounding him, you see, at a quick glance, 10 rough-looking figures in all forms of tough armor. Some of them were sitting, some with coffee in their hands, all turn back and go, stand up, putting their hands on the edge of their weapons, various heavy, rugged-looking maces

with twisted blades of metal. Other ones that have blades on the side and they all stand up and start beginning to mark a perimeter from where you're standing. Wait, wait, wait, the goblin was pointing at all of us or one of us? Make a perception check to see who was pointing. Oh, right, because I'm real good at these.

Come on, 11. Oh, ah, ooh, ah, ooh, 17? 17. Was pointing what you can gather, either to be you or Ashton. But it just points in the general direction. As the group begins to fan out a bit, as you take in the space,

a dwarven figure, a male dwarf steps forward, brown mohawk, long sideburns that dig past the chin and dangle at the bottom with rings attached to them. A big cigar in the middle of the mouth. You can feel it as he chips and chews it from one side to the other. It almost rubs against the scruff that's about a half an inch from the bottom of the lip.

As he pulls up his hand to pull the cigar out and below it, you can see there's no thumbs. The thumbs have been cut from his hand. On the other hand, it's resting on the edge of a large double-sided battle ax that's currently just slung to the left side. These spiky-ass shoulder pads that sit there, that if they were pushed any further inward,

it would be dangerous for him to be looking left or right. He steps forward. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Hi. So. Some of us sentries have said that they caught your bands moping about our seat yesterday. There? What seat?

Could that be? Seat? What are? What seat? What would that be? Seat? What are you talking about? What's a seat? You mean the seat of disdain. Right. That one. You see, we got keen-eyed folks and he nudges the cigar

over towards the direction of the goblin, skitters back a bit as the bit of ash gets knocked off the side before pulling it back to his lips. We survive by making sure the people that go poking around and looking all untrustworthy. Oh.

I was going to say suspicious. Suspicious, that's a better word. You know what it was? Thank you. Shut up. I saw, so yesterday, I think this is around your neighborhood. Sorry, I'm new here. There was this little creature.

It looked like a gopher, but it was super adorable. Oh my gosh, it was smiling at me, but it looked so defenseless, and it was stuck at your gate. So I was trying to help it. This scraggly-looking Qatari with patches of fur missing and one larger eye who's listening to all those things.

He goes, I saw that one! Yeah, yeah. Wasn't it so cute? And so. The dwarf just. So I realized, as I was trying to help it, that I was probably looking weird at somebody's gate, just helping this weird creature, so I stepped back. Is that what you're talking about? Make a deception check.

Come on! It's so good. It's so good. I'm scared of all my dice right now! Diggity-giddy-go. Oh, come on. Hold on, oh! Well, 13. I rolled poorly, but it's 13. 13?

No, but really, what's your business? I'm giving them the opportunity to tell us before we go ahead and beat it out of you. I think this is only fair. Who are you again? I'm Tanvir. Tanvir the Rake, the Paragon's Call. Rake? Tanvir? Tanvir? Tanvir the Rake, the Paragon's Cull. Rake?

Tanvir? Tanvir? Tanvir the Rake. Tanvir the Rake! You may have a reputation around these parts here, but not letting people doing what you're doing get away with that sort of bullshit. Wait, yeah, what do you do? Other than rake?

Yeah. Are you a landscaper? Like the bodies of your victims and then you use the landscape. Reaches back and flings the axe out of the side of the sling that's hanging off the side of the belt, and it sticks in the ground

right at the base of your feet, Imogen. I'll make sure that those that are poking around have a good reason. If they don't, they go missing and stop poking around. Is this? You don't have to do that, or be that way, and I highly suggest you don't. Or what?

Look, it's so early. We really don't want to fight this early in the morning. I mean, we could. We could, if you want. Are you hiring? We should just prove ourselves. And I just throw the wood chisel at his feet. Like.

Go ahead and roll an attack. Come on, Slytherin! 20? 20. I'm going to use it for the ground, right? The ground, to match the battle. I'm going to double down on that and give it a little Unsettling Presence

as my eyes blacken over as a little intimidation situation. Gotcha, as it in the ground, looks at it. I know, looks can be deceiving, but I still got it. Well, you say you're looking for work or something. I wouldn't mind. That's right, we already have an inn. Mm, that's true.

You've already proven yourself, sir. Me? Well, I don't work for these people. I haven't done any work for these people. No, but you did fire, you impressed Rutanish. I did, actually, that's true. I had forgotten that. Just blows this big plummet smoke out with a chuckle.

Oh fuck! Rutanish! Yeah. We're acquaintances, yeah. We just got back. Where the fuck did you meet Rutanish? We just said we're new to town, yeah. We just got back. Where the fuck did you meet Ratanish? We just said we're new to town, too. Let him in the spires. Andrew saw. We had a very lovely talk.

He looks back, and the rest of them look at each other. You see, we know all about the Paragon's Call and your little operation. Walks over and grabs the ax and pulls it back out as he listens to you. I tiptoe over. Pardon? Orym steps up behind Imogen.

We know that you're trying to expand your presence outside of just Bassuras, and honestly, getting a nice little look at your place, I can see why maybe you would want something a little bit more lofty in your goals, because let's be honest, this place is a shithole. Make a persuasion check.

Goddamn. Okay. Yeah, 23. Ooh! 23. Now, the Unsettling Presence is still pushing into his brain a bit. As you say this and step forward, your eyes widening, he doesn't even realize that he steps onto his back foot

and his cigar is now hanging out of the mouth a little bit. His finger went to reach for it and just stopped. Kind of. We certainly are sort of a motley lot, aren't you? We make an impression. We're finished. Yeah, we had a little sparring match. He told us to come and seek him out. One of them in the back, you can see this rough-looking human dude, has a large claw mark across his face that at first glance looks like it's paint pushed across,

but as he steps forward, you can see the healed folds of skin. It is definitely a scar. The rest of his hair is pulled in this very, very, very tight ponytail where you can see the healed folds of skin. It is definitely a scar. The rest of his hair is pulled in this very, very, very tight ponytail where you can imagine over time, it's just going to eventually pull all of his hair out. He's wearing a thick leather coat that drapes past his legs, almost like a duster that's tattered at the bottom.

He goes, I know, I heard about that fight. How's you? Yeah. Matches the description. He sits back. The time here goes, Okay. I'll tell you what.

You go ahead and talk to the Tanish. See if you're worth working with. If that doesn't happen, we find you tomorrow. If you're not gone, then we beat the real reason out of you. Shit. Tomorrow? Fuck, I had people to look up. You better hurry.

Oh. Well, I guess we're all going to go talk to him, huh? We'll see you tomorrow, then. Tomorrow morning, then. Have a really good day. Yeah. I mean it. They all gather. Have a really good day. They all turn and...

Super fucking good day. Mad Doggy on the way out, and the one, Katari's like, Good day. Each morning's a gift. One by one, they all exit out of the main Rahadenn area. Well, that changes things.

That complicates everything. If word from them gets back to Treshi, Treshi is going to say, why is this group that was just in the place that I came from here now automatically suspicious? And we're the group that was fucking with his ring. Yeah. But still, you have to imagine

that Treshi's not going to bolt or make a run for it. This is his headquarters. He's not going anywhere. He doesn't know Ashton's connected to the ring fucker. No, not at all. It might make him turtle up more, though. I mean. Sure. Ashton was connected to the Nightmare King, though,

which is the whole reason Treshia had to leave town. Yeah, he's not going to know what it means. It's just going to put all his alarm bells out. He'll probably hole up even deeper in that fort. Of course, we'll be getting into that fort. We just go, then. I think this doesn't really change the plan. It just means that it speeds it up.

Yeah. We got to do a lot of stuff today. I really thought that Quokka thing was going to work. I did, too. I really did. It was a brilliant idea. We tried. We tried the cute route. Okay, so we meet back end of the day, unless Imogen says sooner? Yeah, still need a safe house.

We'll keep an eye on the place. Going to need allies, but. Just expedites everything. Yeah. Dusk and I are going to kill somebody. What's the most promising place to find a safe house? I can ask my contact if she would houses. I don't really know her housing sit-u-ash, but.

Sit-u-aish, but. Sit-u-aish? But I know that, I mean, I know her, and maybe, it's a maybe. I got a couple maybes in the order of preference. All right. I got to say, yesterday, I was pretty against storming the place and all for trailing him out,

but I'm really worried that the gopher's going to stay in the hole now and we might not have a choice. I'm just throwing that out there now. It's a boat reference. Constipation. Look, it's just at night that I toot, man. You don't have to hang on it. Yeah, we all know that.

Yeah, it's fine. All I eat is protein. Fiber. It's keto. You want fiber. Yeah, it's fine. All I eat is protein. Fiber. Tito. You want fiber. All right, should we break? Break. All right. Oh boy. All right.

Oh, and Imogen. Yeah? If you send a message, send it to me, because I might be able to do something similar to you to others of the group, so we could double up. Oh, good idea. All right. Okay.

Wait, before we go our separate ways, everybody hands in the thing that we say on three. Ready? One, two, three. Say what we say! Okay, we'll figure it out. Very well. So as you scatter in your groups, which group is, which group wants to go first?

I don't even know what group I'm in. To be honest, I don't know which group I'm in. We made it to the All Minds Burn. You can go with Orym, you can go with Ashton, you can go with us. Or my mom and our stakeout crew. Duskfern and me are going to talk to my folk. I'm going with Ashton.

Yeah. Who's talking to Joe? Joe's not for two days. Nobody's talking to him, not for a couple days. Okay, so we're just not going to go find Joe. Okay, cool. Then I will go with Ashton. Okay. All right? Yep.

Okay, so going with Ashton's group, we have with that Ashton, we have Chetney. Yeah! We have Imogen, and is that the group? That's the group. That's the group. Okay, what are you doing? Where are you going? I'm heading to the Palace of the All Minds Burn. Of the what?

All Minds Burn. All Minds Burn. I grab Ashton before we all leave. We just did the hands thing. It was reparting. Don't let anything happen to her or I will fucking kill you. I will kill you first. Okay?

Kill him first? I mean, come on, fuck. If something goes wrong, it's going to be because of the little fucker. You're surprisingly the most level-headed here. So I'm looking at you to be responsible. If she gets hurt, I will fucking slit your throat. Pâté will come to life, and you will eat your eyeballs out of their fucking sockets.

I feel bad about making the outfit now. What's happening? Nothing, nothing. We feel bad about making the outfit now. What's happening? Nothing, nothing. We were just having a little, a quick little motivational speech. Good luck on whatever you're doing. That's really working. Marisha. No, I would have been mad if it wasn't a duck or something.

You'd think. As we're walking away, in Laudna's head, she hears, I had a dream last night. It was fucked up. It was fucked up. What? I'll tell you about it later. What?

Good loophole. Last words you'll ever hear. Is that text message that's hanging on three dots for two days now? There were three dots? I saw three dots and then there stopped being three dots? It's probably just a really long one. Ashton, just a question for you as we get started.

If people see you being you, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, it's kind of a, as we're heading over, it's kind of a middly thing. I don't know who remembers. It's been a long time since I've been here. Okay, so if you see a face that makes you go, oh shit, what's the word that means

that we need to be subversive? Oh shit, I think would probably cover it. Let's get creative, though. Something that sticks out singularly. What's the food you hate the most? Ah, sweet fucking mutton chop. Battle of the Worlds. Sweet fucking mutton.

We'll do it. Mutton's gross. Okay. Fucking mutton what? If he says that, we got to get real squirrely on him quick, because old shit has spotted him. Got it. Death. Old sweet mutton? I don't know, I'm just going to scream loudly

and attack something. This is how we set up for success. All right, you could all, okay. Ah, where we're going to, you might want to keep your brain stuff a little pulled back. These people are a little squirrely in the head. I have been keeping my brain shit pulled back

for quite a while now. I don't know if y'all have noticed, but I'm not talking in your heads as much because I keep getting shit about how weird it is. I don't give a fuck about it. I actually think it's pretty cool. Yes, you do. You gave me shit about it. I give everybody shit about everything.

That's fair. She gestures with her imaginary class. These people are a little weird. Short fingers. Short fingers. The Palace of the All Minds Burn? All Minds Burn. Got it. So in trekking, following the path

that Ashton sets forward, you head through the now continuously warming middle, like early middle of the day at Bassuras. Wrapped as you are, the temperature this day is relatively sweltering. A dry heat, thankfully, and it looks like there is some cloud cover possibly on the horizon,

either if it'll pass overhead or pass a little far north and not hit you. It's uncertain, but you immediately look forward to the hours from now that there is a chance of a little bit of midday shade as you begin to immediately feel the sweat begin to drip within your armor and clothing. But heading towards the center of the city, past the numerous buildings

that are clustered clay brick constructions and ancient, outfitted, long abandoned temples that have been retrofitted into modern day gathering spaces and drinking halls for whoever else might be passing by, you eventually come upon the Palace of the All-Mindsburg, which you can see is not a grandiose palace. The term palace is used. It's used in a way that is technically correct.

You can see the large arches and the green glass-like dome that sits in the front, presentational appearance of the palace before you. A number of towers that seem to crawl up from different spires and walls that partially surrounded, though, crumbled on the right side.

You can see there's some wear and tear and a lack of general care over time that has been afforded this central building, but it does seem unique against the surrounding cluster of the neighborhood. Approaching closer, the numerous windows and openings, there is, I want to say, a dark, almost like a silt,

gathered at the edges of the glass. All the color on the edges, it looks like it's mildewed, but it's not when you get closer. There's just a shade that seems to creep into every corner and crevasse of this structure. As you head to the front archway that opens, it's an open-door entrance.

There's no blockade or a heavy door that prevents your entry. It's just an open archway and a dark shaded interior awaiting you. As you begin to approach, you see two figures step out, themselves wrapped in a light linen scarf of a faint brownish coloration, like a pattern with yellows and reds throughout.

As they both move past, they don't even acknowledge you. They just stare straight ahead and drift beyond. Yep. Okay. What's up with these guys? Everyone's doing their own thing on a very fundamental level here. Everyone's a little out of it somewhere else. All right.

What the fuck? I'm sorry. It's our products. They're very good. I'm going to head my way up into what would be the main hall to see if I can find somebody who is conscious enough to answer some questions. So as you follow Ashton within the darkened interior, the dry, dusty smells of the city

immediately give into a sweeter scent. Musty, but sweet. Like long-used tea bags that have been left to ferment. It's both pleasant and unpleasant simultaneously, and it is stronger the further in you step. Within this main entryway, you can see there are all manner of cables and ropes that are pulled across the interior dome,

the glass above. Now looking inside, only bits of sunlight come through, giving a greenish hue to where it strikes the distant walls, and a number of curtains and heavy bits of dark material have been strewn across to block the majority of what would normally have been a very bright interior chamber. Within this room, steps rise up onto multiple platforms

and where you can see tables and chairs that are scattered between pillars, load-bearing pillars that hold this central domed entryway high. On a quick sweeping glance, about a dozen or so figures in various states of conversation, unconsciousness on scattered beds or cots, and all the figures at once all seem to

shift in your direction. Ooh. Mm-hmm. Can I give to this room, I mean, the sweet smell is one thing, but anything that seems a little out of place? Sure, make a perception check with advantage because of your woven scent. Fuck yeah, 18. 18.

Really taking it in, there's a number of smells here that are colliding. Once you push past that initial odd, sweet mustiness, there are a number of burned tobaccos, almost like a hint of opium at times, and a strong underlying layer of mold. Like just an old, ancient, prevalent, like, tomb-rot mold. It's not like the earthy smells that were around

the lady that turned and back in the place, right? Right, no, no. A uniquely different scent. And it's faint, but it's definitely there. It, as you get close, you smell it and go towards one of the nearby pillars and rub it a bit with your finger and smell it.

It's present, almost like a sedimentary layer of this particular mold-like scent, or at least the source of it is everywhere. And that's what's on the windows? May very well be. So they've got a greenish, is it a greenish tint or black? It is a blackish brown tint to the

shaded edges of where the light begins to fade. The light interior that's coming through is green tinted by the glass the dome is made from and the sunlight that's coming through, though most of it is enclosed. It's like the fish tank where you don't clean it. Yeah. Okay. What?

And how many people would you say are there in this room with us? We can see about a dozen. Okay. They all slowly, one by one, if they notice you enter, a few of them keep watching, but they go back amongst their drinking or conversation card game on the edge there.

How old are you? Sorry. It's okay. One finger stands up and begins to approach. How old, do you know these people, Eshton? Oh, I mean, back when I lived here, all right, a little bit. I mean, you know, this organization's pretty well known. Were you part of this group?

No, no,, you know. This organization's pretty well known. Were you part of this group? No, no, no. Right. What? These people are fucking crazy. The figure that's stepping down from the stair-stepped dais that's on the risen central platform of the interior chamber

of this smaller palace. As they step through one of the beams of green light, you can see an orcish visage that steps through, their skin a sandy coloration, like a light orangish yellow. You can see a scraggly bit of facial hair that's either patchy or falling out, who knows. But as they approach, you can see their hood is pulled back

and it's like a bundle of dark red cloak that is thrown over the shoulder and beneath that is not expensive looking clothing, but definitely not a commoner's outfit. A medium... medium-income piece of attire. They step down and approach. What can I do for you?

I'm looking for Justi Pross. She's still around, an old friend. Maybe. You, she happens to be around. Can you tell her Ashton Greymoore? She's here. Relax. Maybe. She happens to be around. Can you tell her Ashton Greymoore? She's here. Okay. She's coming.

How did you know that? He turns around and begins stepping back up the stairs. They tend to... They're all functioning on a very different level. You hear a creaking sound from up in the risen rafters of this central chamber. One of the bowing pieces of thick material that's used to block out the sunlight hangs,

shifts slightly, moved, disturbed, and you hear as a shadow begins to unfurl from above. As it does, you hear this faint, gentle screech. With that, you watch what looks like wings unfurl and rapidly before descending onto the ground, not but five feet from where you stand.

You see, through the green light, your eyes adapting, the changes in hues based on the internal odd green coloration that imprints upon everything, a deep red color to the feathers, almost like a cardinal of some kind. As the figure stands up, you see before you a red ice furrah, a long pointed beak to the front,

their eyes a pale sky blue coloration, wearing a simple dark brown tunic with a light gray cloak that comes to a point, the mid-back, simple pantaloons that stop at the knee where you can see the claw-like feet themselves grabbing onto the bits of tattered carpet that they landed upon before it looks up and head to the side.

Huh. Ashton. Look at you, you messy fucking bitch. Have you been? Comes forward, wings out, and gives a big embrace. Yes, amazing! Pulls back.

Why are you here? Well, that's a little complicated. I was actually hoping for a little bit of help for old time's sake, maybe something that could benefit you as well. Maybe, maybe, maybe. These are my friends, by the way. I'm so sorry, Chetney and Imogen.

Hi, friends. Hello, Chetney Parkopee. Hi, friends. Hello, Chetney, Pocker P. Glad to make your acquaintance. Well. Hmm. Welcome. Welcome, friend Sebastian. How big is this room?

This internal chamber, now that you get a really good vibe of it, it's probably a good 150 feet across and a good 70, 80 feet to its apex of the dome itself. It's a big internal chamber and there are other rooms and splinters off into the small palace. It is a palace, though it is on the tinier scale. How many people are around us right now?

Like within 30 feet, thereabouts. Within 30 feet? Of us. Three outside of you guys. So five total, aside from you. Okay. We seem to have gotten ourselves in a little bit of a sticky situation

with the Paragon's Call. Oh, oh no. Oh no. Problems. Yes. And we were thinking that our problems could, maybe they could use a little help and maybe we could figure out a way for them to benefit you. Maybe. I mean, I owe you.

Yes. It was some good times. Indeed. How have you been doing in here? Good. We're all doing well. Your friends are... interesting. That is an understatement. So? You're quite interesting yourself.

Thank you. What can I do to help with this problem? Are they looking to kill you? Are they looking to kill you? Well, they're looking to kill us, but not quite yet. They don't know they're looking to kill us yet. Ah, pre-kill. Very good. We were trying to get somebody

who's currently under their care out, smuggled out of the city. Somebody who, let's say, turned on one of our employers, and they spotted us, and now we've had to bullshit our way into them, thinking that we're there to talk to them tomorrow. But really, we just need to get the fuck out of here and get our guy, get out of town.

If you are in their sights already, it's difficult. Yes. Why are you tough? They did not take you already. We got very lucky. We convinced them that we were legitimately here to see them. Ooh, what for? A job to audition for work. Oh.

They're trying to expand into the spires, and I'm sure you know that. I'm looking. Can I look up where? Get in there. Get in that shed. I want to. Can I look up where they're looking? Does it look like there's anything up there they're looking at?

Make a perception check. Figure out what is happening. My perception is balls, and I rolled a seven. In that case, fuck it. Glasses are off. Glasses are gone. Elegantly as you please. More Imogen is back. I'm going to...

Where'd Laura go? That's super Imogen. Is that you? Yes, Laura. I'm going to... Just, can I back up at all to where I'm around less people? This is a large chamber.

I'd say you could take a few steps and maneuver in a way that would put only... That would only put Justy and Ashton in your periphery. Okay, then I will do that. I'm going to back up and I'm going to drop my wall and I'm going to drop fucking here. Oh boy. Shit. Okay.

As you begin to focus, you're... Okay, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. You're good? Okay. As you focus and push into the mind of this odd ice furrow, as it stares up and almost freezes from him before returning its attention back to Ashton, there's like a... It's like a fuzz.

Like there are thoughts, but they're underwater. Do you want to push deeper? You're not hearing anything. Ooh, that was really good. Kind of, yeah. We're working pretty much. Didn't mean to steal the show for a minute. As it's looking back towards you.

Well, perhaps that could work, too. How we could help. We could, how could we help? We would love to have a place to- I'm going to push in. When I see the eyes dart up and have a place to stop. I'm going to push in. When I see the eyes dart up and start looking, that's when I'm going to try to push. What's the DC for you?

Oh, for Detect Thoughts? Yes. Oh jeez. 15. 15, yeah, I think 15. 15, okay. They do fail to save. Oh boy. As you push past past that weird underwater sound,

becomes a loud buzzing, a static, an ever-present, all-consuming static. You suddenly aren't delving into her mind, you're delving into the mind of everybody in this room. Everything in this chamber and beyond the walls, they're all one mind as opposed to individual bodies, but it's not their mind. It's a collective, but it's not.

It's like a hive mind, and it's buzzing, and it's loud, and it's hurting, and it's hurting, and it's from below. It's from below, and it hurts, and it's everywhere, and you have to pull away, you have to pull away, you have to pull away, you have to pull away. I pull away, I pull away. Okay, you pull away and pull back, and you touch, and your nose is bleeding.

Oh shit! And as. Okay, you pull away and pull back and you touch and your nose is bleeding. Oh shit! As you notice, you glance over and Justy is looking right at you. It's this dry weather. We were hoping for a place to stash our guy for 24 hours if we managed to get them out, and then a little help getting out of the city the next day. We could provide, yes. Yes, we could keep you safe.

If you have anything else that you could help us, I don't know, we're looking for ways of distracting the Parian's Call, any weaknesses in their throne, any way to get inside undetected? I don't know. Best way to get inside is as one of them, perhaps. Ooh. You said you're looking for work. Told them they expect work.

Maybe challenge them. Maybe show what you're worth. Maybe take them to the run. We could help there. We could set the run in your favor. What's the run? Does Pocket end up at the run? Oh, yeah. What's the run?

I haven't seen Pocket in some time, I think. The run. Can I start for a second? Yes, Pocket's at the run. Pocket. Pocket's at the run. Pocket, run. Run's not a bad idea.

Run's a great idea, shit. If so, let us, we can set traps. We can set it in your favor in places. Even the arts, no one plays the run. Fairly, you know. I missed you, Justine. I will owe you one. Don't think I don't know what that means.

Of course. Reaches a big feathered hand into the side of a little pouch and pulls a small box and like full snuff box, takes a hit. SAM and LAURA, SAM and LAURA, Exactly. Let us know. We'll help. We'll keep you safe.

We'll keep you quiet. Be careful. People will kill you one day. Takes up and clutches the edge of one of the hanging pieces of material before darting off and flies back up to a small perch, lands and tucks the wings back in. You just traded for another favor?

You didn't give any money? Ah, we're old friends. God, yeah, I got to admit, this city sucks, but man, I miss some of these people. Fuck. What? Aren't you afraid that they're going to sell us out? No, Justy, no, no. And also, the All Minds burn to the Paragon?

No, they fucking hate each other. They do? Oh yeah. Nobody gets along in this goddamn city. Anything the Paragon, now they fucking hate each other. They do? Oh yeah. Nobody gets along in this goddamn city. Anything the Paragon takes is just something that the All Minds Burn doesn't get. Oh. It's a constant territory war. No one actually wants to make a deal with anybody. How long have the All Minds Burn been around?

God, for as long as I can remember. Oh no, you went in, didn't you? I don't know what you're talking about. This has got a little more. Yeah, you got red. I'm going to use my scarf. What was that even like in there? It was fucking awful.

Yeah. I'm pretty much embarrassed. Let's get out of this. Okay, I'll explain later, apparently. Okay. You'll explain. Okay. You'll explain, okay. You all eventually head back out

into the oddly welcoming, sweltering heat, by comparison, as you exit the shaded interior of the palace and are back now amongst the city streets of Vastris. Anyone tailing us as we leave? Make a perception check. Yeah. Even in the sky. I look up as we leave? Make a perception check. Yeah. Even in the sky. I look up at the sky.

Make a perception check. You better fuck. God, that's a wild one. I finally roll a good one. 19. 19, nice. 13. 13. Don't seem to see anybody following you,

though there is somebody just standing at the edge of the archway, just watching you leave, and then they turn around and go back in. They take a lot of interesting chemicals. Sometimes they have weird. No, no, you can't. They don't have their own thoughts.

It's not like, it's like one, no, but y'all, it was. Well, there are layers to it, as far as I understand. I don't know, I've never actually been in it myself. I've never experienced anything like that. They make some crazy shit. I hear a cacophony of voices all the time. I grew up with it. And that was so different.

It's all together. And there's something big under the ground. That's a, you actually sound like some of them when they dry out a little bit. That's interesting. You didn't even have to hit that shit. Wait a minute, so they're all under the effects of something in that place?

That's why it's fucking kites, yeah. But do they ingest something, or is it just from being in there? Oh, that was probably the shit that... They make a ton of weird shit for that, but you know, that's kind of a bad idea. I mean, clearly it's a bad idea, but you know. Some people are into that. What's the run?

Oh boy. We're going to have to find ourselves a car. Is it a race? It is more than a race. It is a race where the stakes are high. Death is possible. You're beating everybody. It's not just about the car that wins,

it's the car that survives. It's intense. It's not just about the car that wins, it's the car that survives. It's intense, it's awesome. Oh, I've always wanted to do this shit. Are we going to race? Fuck, I hope so. It's a great plan. We got to go to Joe's. I keep talking about Joe's like it's an amazing place,

but I feel like that's where we're going to get stuff. We're at least going to eat there. Yeah. We got to eat at Joe's. DM, how long did it take us to get over here to the Palace of the All Minds Burn from where we were? Not even that far. Not that far, because it's central to the city and you guys are just a little further north

in the Summugundus Strip. So I'd say about a 15-minute walk. So in a worst-case scenario, if we ran back in there, do you think they'd hide us or pretend they didn't know who we were? Yeah, we didn't really find that out. Well, I think in a worst-case scenario, we could, if we lost our tail, if we got in there, we wouldn't be found and they wouldn't rat us out.

And honestly, I don't even know if they would go in there. That's dangerous. What kind of favors do you owe if you're not giving them money? Is it your body? I mean, technically. It's a good body. I get paid to do shit.

I break into people's houses, steal some shit, and occasionally do a little mild enforcement, whatever. Smuggle. Who doesn't like smuggling? I love smuggling. It's basically a vacation someone else pays for. Okay. So we got to get a car. We're going in the run.

We got to, let's go find a car. So tomorrow morning, we go in there. We'll see how it goes, and if it goes poorly, we'll just demand to settle things the old-fashioned way. If we settle things the old-fashioned way, we'll already have some friends to help cheat as much as we possibly can. Oh, here, so instead of trial by combat,

you can be like, trial by run? Yeah. Awesome. More or less. To clarify what they were saying, just can be trial by run? Yeah. Awesome. More or less. To clarify what they were saying, just so you know. Yeah, sorry, I was going off on a line. No, no, that's good, that's good. It's like, take your lore and run. No, no, to clarify, they mentioned

it wasn't so much that you had to come back tomorrow, but if you didn't check in with them, they would come back tomorrow to beat it out of you. Oh, okay, that's much better. No, they were like, cool, we'll give you a day to do what you're saying you're doing, and if you don't, we'll find you. Well, okay. No, they were like, cool, we'll give you a day to do what you're saying you're doing, and if you don't, we'll find you. Well, we got one person,

and then also, apparently, I've got an old friend who is currently working at the run. Pocket? Pocket, who's probably fine. Pocket's a good name. It is a good name. The name's better than the guy, but that's okay. Are you closer with Justy or Pocket?

Oh, Justy. Pocket's a... I mean, I haven't seen Pocket in years, but when I left, he was a mess and he's probably still a mess. This feels like it'll fucking fail at any moment. Which means it's doomed to succeed. Yeah. And if worse comes to worse,

there's always the orphanage and I could hit that up and see what the fuck happens. What do you mean? Like, oh, the orphanage you were here? The Greymoore Orphanage. Greymoore Orphanage? Wait a minute. Your last name Greymoore because you came from there

or your family owns the orphanage? Oh, my family's own the orphanage. I couldn't even get through it, shit. Oh. All right. Like your family owns the one? Oh, my family's own. I couldn't even get through it, shit. Oh, all right. No, any ward of the state who goes through the Greymoor home for the untethered children,

I kid you fucking not, they give you Greymoor as a last name. It's supposed to create a sense of community, I think is what they would say. So, a Greymoor kid's a Greymoor kid. Got it. Place is a shithole, but you never know. Might be a good place to hide.

Could be. Do you know anyone at the orphanage still? God, I hope not. Anybody I was in there with is either probably long gone, and god, most of the staff is probably long gone. It's not like I really gave a fuck about them, either. I was not exactly pleasant. What are you talking about, Ashton?

Oh, I know, I'm charm personified. Yeah. I thought that went really well. We've got at least a fallback spot. If the orphanage isn't anything we need to check out, I mean, we're fucking killing it. That's a less, if everything goes to shit, then maybe the orphanage, but then, you know,

we'll let the others know. But in the meantime, Justi's, I mean, I don't know, it's been a while. She's pretty on the level. I don't think that's urgent enough for me to send a message to everybody else just yet. I say we go and we look for a car in the meantime while everybody else is scouting,

and then we meet back up like we're supposed to. Oh, if I'm really into that, that's a great idea. Okay. In the interim, what other group have you gathered? Me does confirm we're going to go to Finders Takers at some point. Okay, okay. Losers Maker.

On the East Dregs. Indeed. So the three of you go ahead and tread on over to the East Dregs. Now this is one of the more rough and tumble parts of town. It is a combination, tightly woven cavalcade of hovels

and ramshackle buildings and clusters of scrap materials that have either become so overused or rusted that they really don't serve a purpose to anyone except for decor or a dangerous nearby hand grab to defend yourself. And just where a lot of the folks like to disappear, if need be, within the town

on an independent, individual basis. But you also come to the exterior here of Finders Takers, which is a small boutique scrap and black powder shop, where all manner of raw materials and scrounged minerals and unstable materials can be found. As you approach the outside of it,

you can see it's a somewhat simple building, but the roof, which curves at the edges and then goes into a bell shape, has a number of black singe marks across it and has seen all manner of fire damage that has either not been fixed because they couldn't or because they didn't want to. But this is a familiar sight

that brings you a bit of calm upon approaching. You know this place? I do. I've been here before. They've fixed me up and we've bought scrap here before. And yeah, I'm a little nervous. And might just ask the both of you just for some quick advice. Okay. If you had to deliver

sort of bad news, do you just come right out with it? Or do you lead with something else first? Something good and then go bad? I like to do a shit sandwich, you know? What's that mean? She's going to say an item where you're like, hey, the weather's nice. I'm sorry, your child is dead.

And then, like, hey, great shirt. Yeah. You give the compliment, you give the bad news, and then you give another compliment. And usually the brain just is like, okay. You give the compliment, you give the bad news, and then you give another compliment. Usually the brain is like, oh, and then they... Yell them into surprise. It works, yes. All right.

What bad news are you t- Well, I guess we'll find out. Is there anything we can do? Maybe just smile a lot at the pieces of bread in the shit sandwich, just to make them look more appealing than the gooey sandwich. I can smile through the bad news as well.

You know, maybe that'll- Sure. It might not be appropriate, but sure. Okay. We'll try. Okay. I have a good feeling about this. I do, too. I do, too. I also, we talked last night,

and I am in a whole new headspace of just living life balls to the wall. What does that mean? That's great. That's fantastic. You're free? No rules. No rules? No. None. None.

As opposed to before? I mean, now I'm just going to do whatever I want to do. Oh! Let's go in. That's the spirit. All right. Let's go. As you turn towards it, two figures step out. You see a younger, probably no older than 17 boy, dark tan skin,

a pair of goggles over his eyes and some scruffy hide armor comes out with what looks to be a long rifle and is in the process of holding it out before tucking it under his arm and stepping away. A person behind them keeping an eye out. Across, you see a hardy-looking elf, a bit heavy set, who currently

glowers at the three of you as it steps off and joins their companion. They both head off the street, but the door, and it is like a saloon double door, that comes to a close, but it doesn't close perfectly. It's a little off-kilter and it's frustrating that it's not quite perfect.

But on the inside, you can just see it looks shaded and a welcome comfort from the hot day you're currently standing in. Yeah, let's go on in. Do I see Esmer anywhere in here? Okay, as you glance inside, the smell hits you and it is a smell of heavy rust and iron,

as well as fires. Not like a normal campfire, but like metal burning. Those of you who have been around forges or smithies, there's a specific smell to super hot metals that have been struck or broken down, filings that have been heated up in cauldrons and crucibles. There's a particular smell of unique burning that already informs you that somebody industrious

has spent time in here. Now, the interior's not very well lit. There are a couple of lanterns that are hanging, oil lamps that are on hooks by the door. In the back, you can see, between a number of small shelves, it isn't like a display shop of some kind. It isn't like this is a wide array of things to purchase.

It's more like a supply cabinet that also can sell things based on request. But amongst the clustered bits on the sides, to the back and to the left side of it, you can see a long table where a whole cluster of six lanterns are jammed together and are all fixed to a long pipe that is drilled and bolted up into the ceiling.

That's giving warm light from different perspectives onto the table below. At the table there, you see a woman who's currently with thick pieces of leather, stitching, some sort of vest or a piece of chest armor. You see a tall, slender, gorgeous woman with jet black skin, white, almost bleached hair that's parted in the center that goes just past the chin.

You see her wearing a sleeveless, dark purple-red vest that cuts off right at mid torso and a dirty white work shirt beneath it. She sits there with a thick pair of goggles with multiple lenses, not too dissimilar to the ones you've seen Milo wear, but with a better refined build to them.

She's in the process of pulling this heavy thread, this thick, thick leather thread through the material she's working with. Smiley day to you? Yes. Esmer, hi. Pushes the thing aside. Shh. Hi there.

I see business is booming. Remember me? I do. I'm surprised to see you. Fresh cut grass, right? Yeah, yeah. It's been a while, but I'm back in town with a new group of friends. The weather's really nice.

The weather is really nice, yeah. Not a cloud in the sky to be seen. There are clouds on the horizon, actually, but I appreciate that you maintain the same stunning disposition that you had for so long. What are you doing here? Did she send you here? No, she didn't.

She's, um... Sits back into the chair and puts her legs onto the table. You see she has these thick fucking leather boots with a wide bottom, all-Manner spikes off the front and a big old steel toe in the front. Sits back, grabs a bottle of already opened, looks to be some sort of a red type wine

or brackish liqueur and takes a big swig and sets it down. Go on. She isn't coming back. She's not with me today. Good. That is good. That's not with me today. Good. That is good. That's good news, right? That is good news!

There's just good news all around. You won't be seeing her today. In fact, funny story, you won't be seeing Dancer anymore. She was brutally murdered. What? Give her a compliment. You have a nice shirt. It's so beautiful.

It really burns out the color of your eyes. How, when? A few months ago, we were doing a job and they got her. They got everyone, really. She just spits the wine all over your face. You're a filthy liar like she was. Oh. No, but seriously, what is this about?

She send you in here? I saw her like a month ago. I'm sorry what? What, she came in here wanting to connect old ties and was like, hey, hey, I'm sorry about how things went. You know, it's a rough time to go around the world and all kinds of bullshit up north and stuff. And you know, I was, should have sent her packing. It's not like history would have told me, you know, she's kind of bullshit up north and stuff, and I should have sent her packing.

It's not like history would have told me. She's a really good manipulator, but you know that. Pulled those heart strings, among other things, but once things got a little too intimate, she bounced again, the fucking bitch. So if you see her, please tell her, don't come back, I'm going to fucking cut that cunt. This, did you say, when did you see her?

Did you say a month ago? Yeah, about a month ago. Huh. Are you? That's a great shirt you're wearing. I'm not wearing a point. Your legs are great. She came back here.

You saw her, you talked to her. Oh, I did more than talk to her, little friend. Wait, you mean, um. Wait, so you know, you're sure it was her? I'm sure, only one person does the thing. Yes. Did she have the others with her? Was Axor here and Tarowyn?

No, it was just her. Any of the other bots? No, it looks like you got one of the pieces right there, right? That pussy's old buzzsaw, right? It is, yeah. What a phrase. Right? That pussy's old buzzsaw, right? It is, yeah. What a phrase. I know.

Pussy's old buzzsaw. Are you... She didn't have any of her companions with her. She had a new arm. That was pretty crazy. Oh, I'm sorry, what? Big old metal arm, kind of cool. Maybe, maybe, maybe she survived. And that's why she has a metal arm, because she...

But we saw, I saw, I saw everything. What did you? Look, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so intense. I just assumed you were, you know, delivering a message or an apology that wasn't heartfelt at all. Yeah, that's all this is. Yeah, just, she wanted to say sorry, I guess.

For running out on you, I guess. So she did send you. Well, what a lovely store. I don't. Thanks. I have a, what, I was going to ask. What are you, what, how did you know Dancer? You guys were a thing? You dated? Is that what I'm gathering here?

You could say that, yeah. Okay. We were entangled. Oh, okay. Is she here anywhere in town? Did she know where she went? I don't know. After the last time I saw her,

screamed at her loud enough, I assume she went way away. Did she say she was after something? Running from something? She didn't tell me much about anything. Did she buy anything? Fix anything? She came in, stayed for a few days, and then did what she does.

Finish. Did she leave any hints to where she might possibly be going? Hopefully far away from my shop. Wow, well, I came here for other reasons, but sorry, I'm just a little shocked that she was here and didn't tell me, that's all. She's smart and she's still in town.

She's probably at the Ends. That's where our other friends used to be. Yeah, of course. I know the Ends. Yeah, I'll probably just swing by there. She's probably waiting for me there. All right, well, if you see her, tell her she's an asshole. Yeah.

And that she should not come back to see you? Yeah, tell her that. Okay. Unless she's ready to apologize in person, maybe. Say, unrelated to Dancer, I'm here with a new group, and we've been looking for some assistance for a job we're on.

Didn't know if maybe you could help us out, for a price, of course. If I can help, maybe. We're doing a couple things. One, we might be going into a place that we shouldn't go, and so we might need some tools for that? I have tools. Tell me what you're looking for.

I could probably sell you. So Esmer sells all sorts of stuff, but especially pepper boxes and things that make explosions. I don't know if that interests either of you. Unstable elements and types of things. Oh yeah. What is in that boy's hand over there?

Is that a pepper box, the long? No, no, that's a carbine. It's a carbine. What does that do? It goes boom and puts holes in things. Can you attach one of those to him? That's enough time, probably. I'm more of a healing type

than a making holes in things type. Well, maybe it's good to have just in case. Sure, sure. I don't know. What else do you have that's fun? Well, we've got all sorts of pistols and rifles and dynamite sticks and small explosives. We've got satchels of black powder.

We've got... Something that could maybe blow a hole in a large wall? Give me a little time, yeah? All right. It's dangerous to do that. It has to be prepared properly. Of course.

I need a little time to do it. What is it you're trying to do here? You're back in the old game again? Maybe. I don't know. I don't want to get you in trouble and tell you too much. Yeah, we probably can't. We should, we were hired. It's probably best not to know. But. Is this for Dancer? No, it's not. She's probably best not to know. But. This is for Dancer?

No, it's not. She's not involved in any way. The other thing that we sort of needed help with, which I don't know if you can help us with, is we might have some cargo, some living cargo that we need to ferry out of town, and we might need that cargo to have a night to rest somewhere before we leave.

Is there a place that you can think of that might house some folks who are on the run? I don't deal in smuggling, especially of the living variety. That's not what I do. All right. Do you happen to know someone who does do that? Are they a voluntary smuggle?

Well, for all you know. Yes. Hey. I mean... Honestly, probably somewhere in the skids. Easy to get lost in the skids. Hard to be followed. A lot of trash heaps, a lot of small winding alleyways. Okay. Thank you so much for all of your help.

How many of these would you need to make a large wall-busting charge? How big a wall? How big you got? How about a gate? How about just a big gate? A big stone situation that, you know. You're talking like this thick, this thick, this thick.

You were in there. Probably like this thick. We could put something together in like six to eight hours, maybe? Six to eight hours. It's pricey. It's a lot of black powder. How much is it? Hmm. Hmm.

For an old friend. Make a persuasion check. 16. 150. Okay, that's good. Okay. Okay. What if we also get, how much are the dynamite sticks? Sorry, I'm making an absolute mess of your space. Let's just put it all back. As you do it again.

She just continuously ruined it. She's probably chasing through the store. Oh god. I'm going to be the Dungeon Master's guide, I think. I'll just say, I'll say per stick, five gold. Okay. Can we take a couple of those? To go right now?

Yeah, you got me. Let's take a couple to go. Sure, go. Let's put on order the large one, if you can. Half up front, 75 gold. How much do you sell the pepper boxes for? Well, you see, the ammunition is custom for those. Let's say you went for 300. No. No, no.

I think I'd like an explosion better. I respect that. So here's a fun fact. I don't have any money, so could y'all front me? I can do it, I can do it. Okay, so we will get the explosive. And how many sticks of dynamite do you have? Well, based on recent purchase, I have five.

We'll take them all. Okay. 25 gold, that put us at 100 gold, including the half-down price for the explosive to be picked up later tonight or tomorrow morning, whenever you prefer. If anybody asks any questions at all, I have no idea who you are.

If any sort of funny business goes on, I find where you are and I put one of these sticks of dynamite up your ass and I light it. Well, you won't have them because we took them all, but I understand. Just being specific. It really is a nice shirt. And thank you for everything.

Okay. Why something so... I've always liked you. All the ones she made, you're the one, you're something special. Thank you. I hope you're right. All right, well, I'll see you then.

If you see her, just tell her, you know, fuck off and... Sure and eat shit and die. Yeah. Yeah. I'm still waiting on that apology. I will. All right, let's go. Okay, I'm going to linger. Okay. Of course you are.

All right, Dusk, let's go outside. Yeah. I have a question for you, since you seem to be familiar in these types of things. Sometimes, Fresh Cut seems like he's fritzing. Do you know what that could possibly be? I mean, automatons are often,

especially in this space, scavenged from multiple sources. Sometimes they get a little crossover. You know, imperfections. Like a melding of memories or something? Maybe. Or a melding of different technologies. Maybe the enchantments are incongruent between the schools and it can cause a bit of a shakeup.

I don't know. I don't deal with them often. That was more of Dancer's purview. Okay. Do you know, does he have, like, I don't even know what these words mean together, but does he have a control panel? I could even begin to tell you

that is not my specialty. Okay. For that, you'd probably have to go to, ask somebody at the end, that's where they do all the crawler work and automaton construction. Somebody there could probably help you. Okay, great.

Thank you so much. Of course. All right, I'm sorry Dancer was, has been an asshole to you. But love, right? You know? I'd be lying if I didn't say part of me didn't like it. I know, it's always those crazy ones. It's really not healthy.

Yeah, well. Could be into worse vices, I guess. No, maybe not. I don't know. Okay. Well, thank you for all of your help and your dynamite and for making us an explosive. No problem. You didn't get that from here. Where?

I don't even know where I am. Bye. Bye. Like a girl. Are you okay? No, I'm not okay. That was, what? She's alive? What does that even mean? She has a metal arm.

Okay, so maybe you guys got attacked and- She got away. She got away? Why wouldn't she go try and look for you? Yeah, or tell, maybe she didn't know I made it. She probably didn't know that you were alive. Because I'm sure she would've grabbed you or something. I saw her die.

I thought it was all sort of haste. God, I wish I could remember more. Maybe if we find someone who, or maybe when we go back to Milo, I don't know, maybe we can dig around in my memory or something. Yeah. Just open you up or something. Yeah. Just open you up or something. Yeah.

Anyway, we didn't get a place to stay, but we got our way in, maybe? Yeah, okay. Let's go find the others? We can definitely use that for something. Yeah, let's go find the others. Okay. Gathering your thoughts on that unique encounter,

you go ahead and find the rest of your fortunes of the afternoon and or find the rest of your friends. And as we turn to the final group, we'll come back to them after we take a break. Yay! Oh, my God. What the fuck? All right.

We'll see you guys here shortly. Thank you so much. Okay. 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,

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And welcome back. So we got through two of the groups. The remaining group that had scattered to the four winds was you, Laudna, and Orym. Yep. And it was just the two of you? Yeah.

Where were you off to? Come on, we got to run an errand first. I start dragging Laudna through the crowd. But I thought we're going, all right. First, we have to, I got to take you clothes shopping. Can I take us in the direction, I think we were in a bazaar where there was all kinds of things for sale.

Oh yeah, there are a number of caravanserai in open shopping areas. Okay, then I'm going to start dragging us to that, or look for one, find one. We've already been made, right? They know what we look like, so you and I can't just go as is hanging out. So we're going to change things. You are what some would call an impressive woman.

We need to counteract that a bit. Okay. Let's go into this place. Oh. He starts going down through all the clothes on the rack. Now, there aren't many fine threads to be found here. Most everything is for function or affiliation with a particular crawler gang

or utilized to keep one cool on a hot day or keep one hot on a cold night. Which is perfect. I'm looking for function, over form. I actually want something that is light-colored, white or cream to be better in the heat. I want matching outfits, rough-hewn, so that we blend in.

I'm not looking to dress finely. Yeah, it's easy enough to find. There are a number of like- You want me to wear white? Just- It gets very monochromatic when I wear white. It just is my skin tone. We're going to get something hooded,

light under the sun, but you've got to hide your face. Okay. You know that black shit drips out of my eyes sometimes, right? That's why we're going to cover your face, Laudna. You've got to cover my face, it's all right. All right? Laudna.

What is the problem? Is how you say her name? Laudna. Laut-na? Laudna. So you said that it was easy to find something. Yeah, you find beyond just a spectrum of light general clothing,

a lot of it just open tunics or simple coats. There are also hooded scarves that all themselves, like a hood that scarf that pushes over both sides. Thin hooded scarves, really thin material, but to hide our faces and all the clothes that we're wearing. Like a scratchy linen that will be lightweight, but not the most comfortable on your skin for days at a time.

I want burner clothes for you, Laudna. Do you want me to set these on fire? Okay. They're easily flammable. Just go put this on and meet me back here, and then I will go throw the smaller version of it on. All right, so you have it as close as you can find to a matching set. Right, okay, so.

The child size. Exactly. Your mom. Okay. Aw, baby. And you're going to call me Nancy. Georgie. Nancy? This is not my first rodeo. I'm going to call you Georgie. You don't look like a Nancy.

You say that. Ready. Freddie. Jeremiah. Let's go with your first instinct, Georgie, I think. Georgie. Okay. Georgie Boy. Little Georgie. Oh no.

How is this? Do I look like a cult leader? I feel like we look like cult leaders. You just look, you look great. I mean, you don't look like a cult leader? I feel like we look like cult leaders. You just look, you look, you look great. All right. I mean, you don't look like you normally do. You have very dark clothing and very dark hair, and now you're not going to be recognizable. They have sentries all over that building,

and they spotted us already. So it's kind of stupid that we're even still doing this. We have to be careful if we are going to do it. Ah, fine, little Georgie. All right, Mom, let's go over there and give it a walk around. All right. Are you okay? I'm good. Okay.

The shopkeeper has a cold. It's just, it's just. Keep the change. It's the dry air. All right, I'm going to start leading us back toward the Seeds of Disdain. Hold my hand. Do not get, look at this city.

You cannot get more than six feet away from me. And I lean into it. Are you serious right now, Georgie? And is anyone following us? Make a reception check. Great. That is a 24. 24. You feel fairly confident that nobody seems

to be following you or trailing you. Okay, we're going to go over there and we're going to make a big loop of the place, all right? Then we're going to go over there and we're going to make a big loop of the place, all right? All right. Then we're going to try to find somewhere where we separately, but within range of each other, can communicate, okay? I just don't know if I feel comfortable leaving my child alone, though.

You're not old enough. Maybe in a few years. I've got to grow up someday, Ma. It happened so fast. All right, let's go. Okay. When we get over there, I want to try to get a bead on the kinds of buildings that are surrounding the place.

I don't want us to be in the open. I would love for us to get indoors if possible, but I don't remember the imagination zone around Distain. So around the actual fortress of the Seat of Disdain, there are the high walls that surround it. It looks at a simple glance like it's a rectangular shape, but there's actually five edges of the wall. It's more of a pentagonal wall

that encloses the interior courtyard. Surrounding it, and it is pretty much a road that surrounds it. It's meant to be separate enough where there isn't a building buttressed closely, so a person could either try and jump the wall or it's to help any of the sentries keep a good watch of anything perimeter-wise.

So it definitely stands alone. There's nothing too close to it. But in the neighborhood around it, it does stand out against the other buildings. A number of them are two- to three-tiered residential buildings. Looks like there's maybe some warehouses or storage spaces.

There are a couple of, looks to be one building that has partially collapsed and just abandoned. It eventually gave into its faulty architecture and who knows who occasionally squats in there, but there is a partially ruined, what was once a three-story building that remains probably empty

and filled with all sort of masonry. Okay. That's good. There's a gate on the back of this place, though, too. Correct. I feel like you should watch here at the front because it's going to be real obvious if they come out. Then I'll find a place maybe halfway around

where I can at least see the back of the whole joint. Then if you see our guy, you will I can message you? Yep. You can just ping me every so often. All right. Can I just message you if I'm bored and just want to talk? Sure. Are you okay, by the way?

You got really intense with Ashton back there. Well, yes. I'm separated from Imogen, and if something happens to her, especially because we're fighting, I don't want to end on a sad note. You guys have known each other a while, right? Yes.

Quite a while. Mm-hmm. Have you weathered a few storms? This is our first really big fight. There's been times where she's like, ooh, what if we put up these drapes in this way? And I'm like, oh, it's whatever you want. I guess that's fine.

Or she's like, ooh, you should put the cups upside down so they don't collect dust. And I'm like, well, but then the rims are touching the shelves and that's gross. So there's been little things, but not like this. Cool. Well, I don't know every nuance, but she seems to care about you.

Mm-hmm. And you clearly care about her a lot. Yes. I mean, maybe just breathe through a couple of days and whatever happened, give her a chance to process it on her own. I don't know, she's capable, too. She's the most capable.

She is the most capable. She flew off ship and caught me before I hit the ground. It's true. I just, I've honestly gotten a lot of mixed advice as well. So it's hard. I don't know if I should approach her or give her space. And I don't want to be overbearing. And Ashton said I should just get her a new rock. Have I found any good rocks in this whole stupid city?

Well, maybe just give it time. All right. Give it time, I guess. Okay, I'm going to go find another spot. Are you cool climbing into that heap? Mm-hmm. Come on. Stay in the shadows, if you can.

Okay. Okay. I'll ask you to roll self, and since you are hiding in the shadows, are you also hiding in the shadows, or are you trying to play off as a? Well, I want to stay within range of her being able to message me,

but I also want to be able to see the back end of it. So I'm going to go as far as seems possible from Laudna. And if I have to climb on top of a building from the back, or sneak into a building that looks not busy, or sneak into a building that looks not busy, then I'll do that so that I can see the other side of the Seated Disdain entirely so that we don't lose Treshi out the back

if he goes the other way. Okay, fair enough. Oh, go ahead. I'll just say a stealth check for you as well. So if the area that I am, would it make sense? I just need a little bit more description. If I did a little darkness in the area,

or would that be weird? Like if it's an alley where it makes sense to make it just feel like the shadows are a little bit darker, but I also don't want to blow my cover if that doesn't make sense. Right, well, the Darkness spell, is that what you're referring to?

It creates a sphere of magically pitch black darkness. So it would be super weak. Yeah, an illusion would probably extend the shadows. Okay. But a Darkness spell would be like a Vantablack hole in the middle of a day. Which means place properly could help a little bit, but you also can't see out of it. I don't want. Unless you can see

through magical darkness. That. Okay, no, I'll just do a, I'll just, for now, do a nice regular old stealth check. What'd you get? I got a 19. 19, good. Oh, it's not as bad as I thought. Okay.

21. No, that's definitely not as bad as you thought. I thought it was a three, but it's a 16. That's a bit of a range. It was weird. It looks weird with the light. Fair enough. Okay, so you both perch into your corresponding areas of shadow,

keeping an eye across the various pentagonal elements of the wall that you intentionally want to keep watch on. How long do you want to remain keeping an eye? Meanwhile, I guess. At least until they... Okay, so it's a number of hours, all right. Unless we get word from somebody. I would say both of you roll perception checks for me,

if you don't mind. Fuck this up. Don't fuck this up. Going to Gil? No. I know, I was thinking about it. 16. 24. Gotcha. The hours go by.

Thankfully, you've chosen Areas of Shade. Occasionally, when somebody walks by, you can play off the beggar aspect or wander off for a moment before circling the background and taking your spot once more. It is trying on one's patience. Occasionally, the loud noises catch your attention and another crawler ends up wandering through.

You see the same mammoth crawler that had come through the previous day, the massive dual-platform one. This one, not carrying beyond a skeleton crew, ends up meandering through. You can see one of its back legs is a little wonky and ends up dragging behind, leaving this large groove in the dirt that one of them has to brush past

and reform as they go. A couple of other sand-based creatures begin to come around, these odd desert birds that you've only seen one or two of that are used as a mounted creature for smaller people. They're too small for a standard human to ride, but someone of your physical stature could probably attempt to utilize a fast-moving mount.

Right around the time the dusk hits, right when you're about to give up on this circumstance, dear god, Marisha, what have you done? I'm bored. This is amazing. It's pretty good. All right. As the dust begins to hit,

and you've watched a number of sentries patrol the upper parts of the wall, the top of the fortress. You've seen a couple of individuals start taking sniper shots from one of the watchtower positions towards somebody walking the street who begins to freak out and dance,

and they're just fucking with somebody to keep themselves interested. But around the time that the sun begins to set and you're considering returning, you, Orym, glance up and watch as three figures eventually come to the roof. Glancing over your incredibly acute eyes. They're just so cute. They're so adorable.

Hone in on these three figures. That's my son. You haven't seen these three trek before, and as they head up there, two of them seem to be fairly well-armored and are essentially flanking a third figure. The third one looks shorter than the others, Two of them seem to be fairly well-armored and are essentially flanking a third figure. The third one looks shorter than the others, but squatter, dwarven in stature, it seems.

As you're watching, you see an orange glow begin to brighten the face as you notice that the figure in the center is lighting up some sort of a pipe. As the embers burn in, in that quick glance, as they begin to puff on it slowly and the red begins to frame the shape of it. You're pretty damn sure that's her mantra, she.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Gotcha, bitch. He's out there and he's nervously smoking, nervously smoking, rapidly going through his tobacco. Then, uh, one. The fortress is a no-smoking cellar? Yes, he's being very secretive about it. You get the sense, being out in the open like this is,

he's smoking nervously. Then upon a few moments later, one of the armored figures pats him on the shoulder. He nods, hits the pipe on the edge of the watch cliff on the top of the fortress, tucks it away. The three of them enter the fortress and vanish from view. Okay.

Okay. Well, we'll just continue watching in silence. The sun eventually sets. The stars begin to come out, the bits of broken clouds above. Just send a message to Orym. Oh, Orym! Yep.

If you could turn into any animal, Yeah, I see you. All right. What would it be? Boy! I tell you. Why are you like this, Mom? Animal. What would it be? Why are you like this, Mom? I'm just making conversation. It's a rabbit. Sparrow. Sparrow, I guess.

He wouldn't want to be like, like a bird of prey. Hey, I know it's not the question you asked, but I saw Treshi. What? Where? What? How? Did he leave?

Leave. I actually blow that one. I don't reply fast enough because I'm so freaked out. I'm all alone now. Okay. I don't dare look over. You look like madness. It can't be good for your hair.

I can't look at it. It's very Mad Madam Hymn. I know how it stays so well. Just cannot be good for it. Okay, I wait until she jumps in my head again because I can't initiate anything. Did you see him leave? Yeah, I saw him leave.

Didn't leave. Smoke break on the roof. Maybe report to the others. Right. Right. I try to message Imogen. Oh. Oh, goddammit.

Oh, Imogen. You're quite a ways, though, right? Yeah, unless we were making our way back. Which, to that point, you guys have been waiting for a good part of the day. Other groups, is there other things you're hoping to accomplish during the day? Yep.

We were debating. Looking for a car. Yeah, we were debating going to look for a car, but we were kicking that around. That's cool. Would you like to? I mean, where would we go to find a car? Sondjarn, I suppose. Bring it back. Where's that?

Sondjorn Row. That's where the ends are. Yeah? Yeah. All right. It's either that or Toxted Pocket, but I think Sondjorn might be the place to start. Okay. Also, since I absolutely have no idea

where Pocket might be right now. Fair enough, no worries. So, that being the case, it would be Ashton, Imogen, Shit. Chetney. Don't act like you don't know my name. No, no, I'm trying to make sure. Trying to keep the groups in mind as to who all of us are.

Did you guys have plans to roll around or no? Yeah, are you guys planning on rolling around anywhere? I don't, I mean, do we have any plans today? Did you want to stop anywhere, Fearne? Well, no, but we could, we have to pick up the explosive at some point. Did you want to go to the ends to try to see if we can find things? Not before talking to the others, so. I think we're good.

We just want to reconnoiter with y'all. Oh, okay. Yeah, I mean, we should probably reconnoiter. You could go stop at a car dealership if you want. Reconnoiter? Yeah. Should I send a message to the group and see if they want to meet us in the end?

You can do that. That's a really cool idea, actually. All right, I'll send a message to SCG because he told me to do that, they told me to do that. That's a really cool idea, actually. Yeah. All right. I'll send a message to SCG, because he told me to do that. They told me to do that. Hey! So we're going to the Andes to find a car. Apparently there's some sort of race or something

that we can be part of. I'm not sure what's going on here, but the Andes, we're heading towards, what was his name? Which? Where we're going. Oh, we hadn't actually discussed that. We were just going to the Andes to, because that's where you go to find people who are

in the most less. The Andes, that's where you go to find stuff. Maybe pocketing food. What's a car will see you there. What's a car? We'll see you there. What's a car? We'll see you there. Wow. All right, so. We'll start going to the end.

Fair enough. So all but the two sentries that are watching the exterior of the Seat of Disdain gather on the outskirts of the Son'yan Row. So as you arrive at this pocket neighborhood, this area is, it very much resembles a junkyard, more so than any other places.

There are buildings, but there are all manner of old, ruined crawlers and crawler pieces everywhere. You can see bits of furniture that have been broken and bound together to create bracing for the sides of buildings and makeshift scaffolding that has slowly rotted or fallen apart or it's lost its color from just being sun bleached over the years.

You can see piles of bent and long, rust-eaten iron. You can see what looks to be broken parts of overused and discarded automatons that sit at the edge of small workshops that are either abandoned or no longer in service. Amongst these clustered spaces, there are odd piles, it seems, of hovels. There are homesteads that are just

nonsensically jumbled together and held and ratchet fit to each other with all manner of heavy straps and metal bars. Everything has this ready to fall apart feel to it that also brings an element of danger and charm to a lot of the structures. And as this pushes into the later afternoon as well, you can see a lively energy

as people come to and away from it, carrying all manner of scavenged bits to either sell to those who are purveyors or tinkerers within this space or are leaving with interesting things they might sell to other facets of the city and beyond. On the way, you do catch, FCG specifically catches your attention, these small brass sphere objects glide over with these small, almost propeller-like tops. They just glide in the air. One of them, a little lens opens up and goes like,

. How? Shh! A little lens opens up and goes like,. Well, how? Oh! The other one picks it up and drags it off out of the way. Have I seen anything like that before? Yeah. So cool.

Wow. All right. In this industrious space, too, there is a familiar smell, the scent of industry, something that reminds you of some of the aspects of Jrusar, and is a familiar smell to you, especially, as a lot of your time alive in this city

centered around the Ends themselves, and there is a sense of homecoming when returning to the Ends here. There are all manner of smokestacks, these black plumes that eventually drift and dissipate into the sky above. Now that the cloud cover begins to push in, offering some bit of shade and a hint of respite

from the heat of the day that has just beaten down so aggressively since your waking moments, you look around and, while not incredibly crowded, there is an air of interesting industry and curious scavenging. As you wander through, a number of eyes are on you. You see this pair of small, it looks to be halfling or gnomish figures

that are wrapped in scattered rags and ramshackle patchwork clothing. One has a heavy coat that drags behind them, leaving a trail on the ground. They both come out and glance at you from across the edge of the walkway, the main thoroughfare that pushes through the ends, and they stare at you, talk to each other,

and point and point, and one of them seems like reaching into a tool bag. Hi there, what are you? Do you know me? Do I know you? They both look at each other. They just dart off. I'm looking around to see if I recognize anyone here, anyone at all, or any automaton?

Make a perception check. Okay. Seven plus one or something. Oh, I have a plus six to perception. 13. That makes a difference. One or something. You don't see anyone out in the open streets

that reminds you of anyone you know, necessarily. You weren't a very social entity. You definitely followed in Dancer's footsteps, and Dancer was the one that definitely made all the connections. Then when there was someone important, they'd introduce you. But that network was relatively small

and often just traveled with you. So, but you glance around and you vaguely remember conversation about Imahara Joe. And you know that there is a... There's a workshop around here where this Joe figure, you remember Dancer mentioning Joe. There was a, you almost recall, an odd competitive nature to it.

Oh. They were, now that you think about it, you're like, they mentioned a Joe. You only heard them referred to as Joe, and it was usually out of frustration, half-drunken frustration at times, competing contracts, two specialists in odd arcane constructions and machinery.

But glancing around here, there is a familiarity to the space that at least you find yourself instinctually leading the group as you go forward without even thinking. Do we meet up with the others yet or not yet? I'd say by now you would have met up with the others. Oh, okay. Hey. Hey.

Hey. Hey. Productive day. I think so. We saw some weird-ass shit. Really? Yeah. Yeah. What? We learned some weird-ass shit as well.

Yeah, yes. That's great. Why are we here? Oh, well. There's a possibility. I talked to some friends and they had the idea that, honestly, since they assume that we're there to see them, we can probably just walk right into the Paragon's Call and if shit goes sideways,

we can challenge them to an old-fashioned duel and maybe come out on top. So we're here to? This is how we duel. But you should clarify what the duel is. It's not like a... That's a dance-off. It's a dance-off.

It's a dance-off. It's a sick beat, sorry. It's not like a duel in the normal sense. There's the run. It's the run. I like the way you say that. Not like the dookie run, a different kind of run. I'm familiar. A little bit, but these.

Like a running race? Getting on top of a crazy thing with engines and wheels and spikes and just going full speed. Like a crawler race. A crawler race. What? Ashley lights up in the dome when he talks about it. I always wanted to do this, I got to admit. We need to do it.

It could end in death, it could end in glory. That's what Ashton's always saying. That's my conversation about lunch, but yes, that also still applies. Anything can end in death or glory. We also could stop somewhere, if you wanted to, to maybe see if you wanted to see anybody. Sure, sure.

We learned some stuff, some crazy stuff. But also, we're also near where you need to be, right? You need to be near Jowe's or something? Jowe's is around here. Yeah. But that's not happening yet? Not yet, but we should scope it out. We should scope it out. There's a lot here.

Yeah, this is a crazy alien. My whole memory is a lie. Everything I've known about myself is wrong. Wait, what? What are you talking about? Wait, hold on, hold on. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Dancer's alive, maybe. Wait, what?

I know. And maybe she's anywhere. She's within the three block radius. I don't know. Maybe? Maybe? I saw a pile of meat, right? This was when? Oh yeah, no, there were definitely bodies.

Okay. Yeah. Just double checking that this was not some weird Spider-Man villain. Yeah, no. There was definitely a murder scene that he was the only survivor from. You saw into my memory. When we merged, it was just chaos

and the one-eyed creature. I was there afterwards. That's not. You're my monster. Really? Really? That's why I said creature. Sure. Really? It's an outside creature. That's what you lost. That joke again. It's just so big and scary. It's an outside creature.

Every campaign. Fuck my life. Yeah. That's the realest. Who the fuck did I find you with? I don't know. I don't know. So, all right. Okay.

So we got my connection somewhere around here. We're going to buy, or no, we're finding a vehicle somewhere around here. It's a good idea just to have an idea. Your parents are somewhere around here, or soon to be. Soon. I hope so. Soon, soon. What is this crazy?

What, wait, what? And then can't you message, can you send a message to Laudna? You said you could do it if I could. I could, I could try, yeah. I mean, I feel like this is a lot of stuff. Should we call them here? Let's collect everybody.

We should probably, you know. Yeah, call Orym and Laudna. Laudna. She needs to know. Call her Laudna. I'll try. I'll try my best. I will cast Sending. Right? That works? That's a thing?

Yes, that is. 25 words. Okay. That's a man I drew. You drew me. La-ma-ma. Okay, I will connect to La-ma-ma. Here we go.

Oh. If you can hear me! We're in the Andes! That's an area of Boceros! Ask around and you'll find it! We're at a street corner. Oh my god, wait. Yeah, two more.

Two more. What, like it's hard? Street Names? Yeah. Street Names, that's it. Well, North and Main. North and Main. Yeah, it's North and Main. Shit.

That's Nord and Mon. Oh god, it's going to be lost. Nordmon. Nordmon. I can respond, they're going to be lost. Nordmon. Nordmon. I can respond, right? You can. Fresh cut grass. You don't need to yell, it's in my head.

Also, where's Imogen? Why isn't she messaging me? We saw Treshi. We saw Treshi. We saw Treshi. We saw Treshi. See you soon. She's still talking. Okay.

I'm assuming this is timing up right? I'm fixing the timing now. Okay. Timing now. Yes. See it, see it, see it. Now it's my head that's shaking. Holding the universe together, we're good.

Okay, fixed. It did take us a while to walk over here. It's true. Yeah, lost a few times. You know, found a butterfly. Was weird. You think it's not Trisha? Apparently. She was, it was really weird to hear her voice in my head. Had you never done that before? I've heard her voice, but it was just weird.

It was, I think she, I don't know. It was just, I haven't heard it quite like that before. That's all. Oh. All right, they're coming. Summon Orym. Give him the update. Fair enough.

Shall we? Yeah. Hold my hand, hold my hand! God. Still need to buy a car. Well, we're going to take a look at our options. Maybe we can barter. I like that idea.

This is also a place where people modify cars, so, you know. Oh. Sometimes you got something lying around, you never know. You know, FC know. Oh. Sometimes you got something lying around. You never know. You know, FCG. Why? I mean, if you're looking for Dancer, you could find her or at least try to talk to her. You've got the same ability that I do.

You're right. Well, go on. That's too much. Do you not want to talk to her? I do, I do. You're right. Ah. Well, go on. That's too much. Do you not want to talk to her? I do, I do. She probably would be so happy that you were alive. I was fidgeting with my fountain pen and it- It's all over you.

She's all over me. Oh, Erica! No! Oh, Erica! It's one of her character traits. I feel like maybe a fountain pen is the wrong choice for me. Yeah.

I'm a son of a fountain pen feat! You got to be careful with wild magic. Yep. It'll blow you. Oh, wow. That is incredible. You totally blew yourself, well done. Oh my god. You're absolutely right, I guess I could.

Is it? I just feel like there's someone behind me. I don't know if you can fix this right now, but it's worth a shot. Maybe we'll just wait until the whole group is together. Yeah, I mean, obviously it's a lot. I just. You don't have to right now if you don't want to.

I don't know why I want to. I just wait until everybody gets here. You seem very hesitant, though. Why? I'm just confused. I mean, what else have I seen that's not true? Or what if I was wrong about other things? Well, it's possible there's some crazy healing magic out there. Maybe after you left,

something came along and saved her. That could have happened. This feels like a heist thing. What does? Whatever went wrong? Oh yeah, it was a heist. Yeah. Just to generalize how you're feeling about it,

if we find Dancer, are we killing her? No! Oh, you're happy to see her. Yes! You just wanted to make sure. I'm killing her. I'm down to ground. That's a very fair question. Oh yeah, it was fair, but it was, yeah. No.

No, we're not going to. I was just saying, you know, we didn't know she was alive, and now that she's alive, we don't know if we should kill her or not be. We should not kill her. We won't, we won't, we won't. Hard no.

Got it. No killing. Until you say so. Yeah. I'm not going to say so. Dusk and I are on the same wavelength. Never close the door. All right. Should we get a big machine to ride? Let's wander a little bit,

see if anything looks interesting. Okay. Do we window shop around here? Well, there's no windows, but yeah, you shop. Do I know if's is an automobile dealer or just an automaton dealer? You know that Joe, and part of the jealousy that came

between Dancer and Joe is Joe essentially became the go-to person for many of the crawler gangs for repairs and alterations to all their crawlers of all scales. He had a team working with him, but he was the primary tinkerer of the Ends and was called the King of the Roaches because a lot of people that live here in the Ends

are prone to scatter whenever an untrusted figure walks in. So they just colloquially refer to him as the Roaches, but they pretty much all trust in him. He's like the Fagin of the tinkerers in this region, and Dancer was always a little jealous about that. Seems like he's the place to go. Like, right? No?

Seems like it. No, yeah. You have a better idea than I do. All right. Let's do it. Let's go to Joe's. Yeah, we got to scout it anyway. Yeah. All right. All right. Are you waiting for us to arrive

before you leave the premises? I'm going to hang around and wait for them, and then I'll meet you guys at Joe's. Okay. You know the area well. As memories come back to you, you glance around, and it's odd because you look at the space and you have memories associated with following Dancer

and the rest of the troop, and seeing other constructions and being privy to conversations and business dealings of Dancer's and parties and having to pick her up and drag her home to go to sleep after she passes out from too much drinking. And you just always were this protector and caretaker of your creator.

And through here, you remember there was always one space that you kept a wide berth of and Dancer often cursed when passing the front of it. You think that, if any place, it's probably that one. In guiding the rest of the troop over there, you come to what looks to be a massive construction yard. There are at least two layers of jagged fence lines that look like there are multiple types

of fences that have been scavenged and layered on top of each other to build in the interior construction yard for it. In here, there are all manner of metallic tables and chain-based cranes and looks like hoarded clusters of ingots of different metals and materials. The floor itself is a hazard of bolts

and jagged metal pieces and errant bits of material that look sharp and unkept. In the center of it, there's a small open-air warehouse and three small buildings that are buttressed against each other. The cluster of buildings, as the night begins to slowly filter in, the sunset begins to fade, you can see the warm light from the inside.

Occasionally, there's a flash, a sparking of light that flashes through the window that goes quiet for a second. And here in this space, you can see there are a few signs hanging that have just eventually grown dark with soot and smoke. But at a quick glance, you can see one of them says, Imahara Jaws.

I mean, I don't know this fella at all, so maybe, Fearne, you take the lead, or someone else? I mean, I don't. I don't know him either, but sure. No, don't, stop. You approach and knock on the door. There's a pause. That flashing again, from the inside.

Keep working. Yeah, what do you suggest? It stops. You hear. Good job. Wow. The door itself is a heavy iron door. From a distance, it looks like a fun little ramshackle place.

From a distance. But this close, this whole place is armored and heavily fortified with all sorts of scrap metals. This door itself is probably a good solid three, four inches thick. Like a vault that opens up and then a head craning around the corner, you see a gentleman in his 40s, lightly tanned skin,

jet black hair with a shock of gray that's appearing at the edges of the temples, a little bit of soot smeared under the eyes, and a heavy set of goggles that are pushed up on the top of the head. You can see the grease and the sweat that's formed on the cheeks, and a little bit of very, very faint chin scruff

that's peeking through in a light grayish-white coloration. He looks behind. Eh? Honestly, if I had known it was going to be that much work, I wouldn't have been so insistent. Yeah, I was high. We would like to purchase your finest automobile.

Crawlers, we're looking for crawlers, and we heard you're one of the people to talk to about crawlers or modifications thereof. Yeah, yeah, no, crawlers, yeah. How soon? Well. Imminently. I think that's the word.

Yes. Can we come in and talk for a second? Gives you a close look up and down. Make a persuasion check, make a persuasion check. Oh no. Come on. Come on, Ishii. This goes poorly.

16. 16. Four. Kind of looks over at you. Glances over at you. Slowly back off. As you back away, is it this part? I slow. As you back away, you now notice what didn I slip. As you back away, you now notice

what didn't catch your attention when you approached, but sitting right above the door, there is a massive, looks like a cylindrical tube, almost like a barrel made of metal that sits downward. And within it, it looks to be close to nine or 10 of those strange rifle-like devices that you've seen a few of the Crawlers kept together that are bolted on the inside at different lengths,

some shorter, some longer. It looks almost like a series of massive keys that have a jagged exterior. As you turn, you watch as it shifts and tracks your movement. Oh shit. You see the arm off to the side as this figure is apparently controlling it. We can talk. Okay, cool. off to the side as this figure is apparently controlling it.

We can talk. Okay, cool. Who are you with? What's your affiliation? None, for right now. Pre-agent. Interesting. We're new in town. I can tell that. This one's with you? I'll wait outside.

I'm a financier. Do you need cash? We could help talk about. I'll just pop on in. Yeah, we're not going to do anything. All right. You two at least should go inside. Yeah, yeah, let's go. Let's not have to review.

Goes and you see him pull something down behind the door and that large cylinder comes to rest. Oh, that's nice. No longer towards you. That's really nice. Opens the door. Now you can see the rest of him. He has a long, light brown, looks like a linen vest coat combination

that ends at the elbow with large, heavy leather gloves on each arm. Beyond that, you can see a heavy leather apron that's put on top of that as well that has all manner of burn marks across it, scuffs and heavy boots beneath that. He looks at her as he begins to pull the gloves off a bit. Okay, well, here's the thing.

I have most of a couple. SAM and LAURA laugh. How crazy. So. I can finish them. Here, come in, come in, come in. And goes ahead and turns inside. And as you follow within,

you watch as the inside of this workshop has these bright blue crackling orbs that are set within cages against the wall. These orbs look conspicuously like the energy sources you've seen within many of the crawler automatons around here, just smaller. Occasionally, they flicker brightly and come to rest again,

this low hum emanating from them. What are those? Oh, these? My lights. Continues walking inside, sets the leather gauntlets down, and you see on a large table, there is some smaller, weird clockwork-like devices. It looks to be a strange, it almost looks like a crowbar,

but within it is another smaller one of those bright blue glowing arcane orbs. At the end, there's a forked element and there's a heavy smell of that burning ozone, almost like an electrical fire smell that permeates the interior. You also notice that those glowing caged orbs that you were saying for lights, they move.

And with the move, what you thought at first were just decor are large automaton bodies, these rotund walls that keep an eye on you. It's like, just my protection, don't worry. I don't trust easy. rotund walls that keep an eye on you. He's like, just my protection, don't worry. I don't trust easy. Turns around, takes a piece of sandwich off the table. I'm Imahara Jau.

Welcome to my workshop here in Bassuras. And you might be? I'm Dusk. That's fair. I am Dusk. We're Bells Hells. We're a group that's been traveling around for some time. Immediately darts up right to you and goes like,

What the heck? In blazes of exandria. I don't know, all right? I don't know. I don't know. It's okay, FCG. I think he's just inquisitive. Sure. I know he did it a lot. But everyone's looking at me.

You're so special. That's why. Yeah, all right, yeah. I'm weird. Hi. No, no. You're not weird. You're... You're something else.

His sentience is interesting. Sorry, that's disrespectful to me. My apologies. We'll talk in a moment. I'm very curious to talk in a moment. Before we get to that, Bells Hells, you're here to buy some vehicles. Yeah, there's a chance we might be entering the...

Oh, don't worry, don't worry. I think they're with us. You glance over and he's already probably reaching to another device. All right. Damn, I want to see what I can do. Hello? Bells Hells? That's us.

Wow, you are rolling deep today. Come on in, come on in. You know Harjo? This should be the last of us. Hello! Good to know. Anybody else comes in? He goes ahead and does this, and he watches the two closest to the door,

the large, beefy automatons towards the front door. You have five seconds to reply. Straight up. Officer Murphy. All right, so looking to just cruise around the Hellcatch? What's the? Deathwish.

I'm sorry, you're taking these to the Deathwish run? Well, there's a possibility that in the next couple days we're going to really, really piss off somebody in Paragon's Call. And we're just trying to get a little insurance going if things go south. Okay, okay. As these things tend to.

Okay. Well, I'm not going to lie, to get... You just need one? Need two? I mean, how many people can ride in one? Two. That might be all we need, right? Yeah, we might need a couple riders. Yeah, that's true.

How expensive and how long do they take to make? Well, to get two of them, how soon are you doing this? Maybe just one. Probably in a few days. I think we got to do a little bit of time. Double our chances. Sure, I guess. It's just worth knowing the options. Right now, we're just dealing with options.

I mean, wrap it around the clock. Generally runs baseline without additions. A little over a thousand gold per crawler. Then upgrades from there can ramp up depending on the provided materials or what are constructed internally. If you want carbine weapons, you want mountain weaponry, there are all manner of chain-based

harpoon or grappling elements there. I mean, there's a whole spread. What do you need for one of these runs? Is it just speed only or do you need firepower? Oh. Okay, so. The run runs through the skids. It's through dense neighborhoods, rapid turns. It's extremely dangerous for both riders and onlookers.

They crowd anyway. Part of the run is not just the race, but preparation for it, meaning people before the race set surprises. Yeah! It's part of the fun. So the only rule is don't die. Death or glory.

So, you know, anything goes scenarios. Don't be surprised to see a few unexpected things waiting for you along parts of the run. But it starts in the skits. Urban race, rapid speed, trying to get the best you can in front of the folks, leaving them behind you. Then it begins to dive into the ravine. There's a switchback path that goes along the baseline

over the cliff that heads down into the ravine itself through some of the caverns that run through the base of the ravine and within the mountain. There's a number of dangerous things that actually live there that tend to cause a little bit of fun while you're in that space. If you can make it through that part,

then eventually it glides back up around to the top of the ravine, hitting along the carmine wall, and then returns back to the base of the boneine, hitting on the carmine wall, and then returns back to the base, the Bone Tree, where it starts. Bone Tree? Awesome. Carbine wall? Carbine wall, yeah. All along the way,

most have a driver and then a support. The support is there to both keep an eye on the road and to harry their opponents. Like a real? That's awesome. Whatever that is, sure. So yeah, it a real... That's awesome. Whatever that is, sure. So yeah, it's... Like Goose.

I'm saying this with absolute care and respect as I can. You don't look like the normal people that make it out of a Death Wish run. So just, I've seen a lot of bright faces come through here for a loner, and that's the last time I saw them. And so those are the only rules, basically, right? I mean, the things that you just told us,

but you can use whatever you want. Pretty much. Hmm. I like our odds. Yeah, me too. Don't die is pretty simple. Do it all the time. You, me too. Don't die is pretty simple. Do it all the time. You said loaner. It's 1,000 gold at the base for a loaner piece,

not outright purchase? Well, it depends. If you're racing on the behalf of any of the different crawler gangs, they'll usually grant an emblem and give off to loaners, which is a short-term rental, whereas they pay me directly for the services,

a smaller fee, and then I collect whatever's left over at the end to incorporate into the next build. The two that I'm working on right now that I was mentioning, they're from the last Deathwish run. What's left of them? I'm getting their memory up to speed. Can I see what they look like? Can we see them? Sure, yeah, yeah.

Follow me. All of you, and points to the two other standing, massive, battering ram-armed behemoth automatons that just follow behind, the ground shaking with each footstep as you follow. How old is Joe? Yeah, I think so. Joe is in this, this human looks to be in his early 40s,

mid 40s. Okay. As he's walking, he's like, now this yard's a little scattered. He's got a bright white smile and pointing with an excited glare in his eye now that he has people to talk to. He seems to be getting quickly excited to have people around.

He's asking about everything. What's that? Well, these are all manner of weaponry that I'm designing or at least have been brought to me from far ends of Exandria that I'm looking to improve upon or to borrow design-wise. Also, I'm part of a tinkering, a low-key tinkering guild where we share bits of information

around the world and we try and iterate on each other's designs and then send them back out. It's not very interesting, but. That's so interesting. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, here, and he comes to the back door and opens it up.

As it opens up, you see additional little lanterns flicker on into an interior caged back patio area for about 30 feet one way and about 50 feet of the other. There are these big metal caged elements that area. For about 30 feet one way and about 50 feet of the other, there are these big metal caged elements that hold it within. There's all these chains that hang with hooks and on the hooks, there are sections of crawlers.

There are elements of exterior metal cages and body elements that are broken and dangling and placed upon the hooks that are long destroyed. You can see elements of metal that are blown back from an internal explosion. You can see elements that are pierced through by massive harpoons or themselves were impaled on heavy bladed bits of jagged metal.

They're all just waiting to be repaired or recovered and incorporated into the next crawler design. Is this like going into a slaughterhouse for you? I mean, I hadn't thought about it like that. Draining from hooks. Little bits. I mean, I hadn't thought about it, but yeah, it's kind of weird, yeah.

She shrieks at the way you look. Ow! Yeah, I mean, they're just pieces of metal, though, so. I mean, it's all good. You do see there's one that you hadn't quite seen before yet that looks like it's in partial construction or reconstruction mode.

It's like a tripod, like a massive spider-like tripod, with these three pointed legs that have, within one of the hinges, built-in wheels that almost hinge back to roll or to crawl. In the center of it, it looks like a partially spherical, dome-like seated midsection with a throne-like control chair in the center. On top of it, it looks to be a mounted ballista

or a weaponry mount on top, but it is blown apart on one side and looks like it's in heavy need of repairs. He goes, past all that, those are the two that I've mentioned. You see hanging on two of the big chains on the far backside of it. As he points over, he brings a small wand out

and points it over and as he gestures, three more of those blue orbs crackle to life and as they do, it lights up and frames these two skirmisher-crawlers that are hanging. As you can see, most of the seats are there. You can see the shape. It has a big wind guard that points outward, almost like jagged teeth. There are parts of it that are metal bent to look like animal bone, but it's made of rusted iron and elements of black metal bolts that are pushed into it and strips of leather that dangle off the sides and have long been tattered by the wind

and the elements. Where the front wheel is, you can see bits of armor that are waiting to guard the front, but the wheel itself is missing. In the back legs, the large, muscular-like, clustered bits of cable that act almost like the muscular push of the horse-like back legs themselves are torn open and the cables are dangling unfurled and dragging to the ground. You can see the beast-like claw feet that you've seen pushing and propelling the back of the crawlers previously, hang limp,

dragging on the ground as they gently sway with the wind. So these would be the two. I mean, they're most of the way there. It's been a project for the past few weeks. With a bit of a rush, I could probably get them done in the next day or two. What about this thing? The three-wheeled?

Oh, the Ruiner? Oh, that's a few weeks out. I don't think you could afford that. That's not Deathwish-run territory. That's full-scale. Ruiners are for... They're there for more aggressive service. Sure.

Doesn't mean I don't want one. Yeah. These Crawler Guilds, do the people that pilot them, are they considered positions of honor in stature, or are they like short straw draws? Well, I mean, everyone wants to ride one of them. Those that survive riding them tend to be respected

because they survive. Right. They're dangerous. They're reliable most of the time, depending on who built them or who worked on them. I take pride in my construction, even when rushed. But I'm not the only one around here. And of course, every Crawler Guild likes to think

that they can train someone up from the inside to save a little bit of gold here and there. Sure enough, you see the backup explosion in the middle of some sort of power parade on the west side of the city, and they lost 30 dudes. You know what? Just means more work comes back to me and my compatriots. Oh man.

Did the crawlers, you said you called them Skirmisher crawlers? Skirmisher crawlers. That's the single wheeled, the back leg ones. Those are more of the standard. The individual units, the vehicles themselves, do they have names, like ship names or anything? Or is it just like Crawler One, Crawler Two, or do they?

Well, yeah, I mean, every person who owns one usually names them. Oh, do these come with names? Not originally, no. Usually, the ones that normally do, we try and scrape it off because the person who previously owned it, who named it, is no longer around.

Plus, it's easier to sell them to Blank Slate. Someone's like, they don't want to inherit the memory of someone who wasn't good enough to survive utilizing one of them, so it just works better. In case we have to come up with a name, just what are some examples of other people's name? I don't want to name it something dorky or something. Or something too clever.

It's already too late. Oh boy. The spectrum is pretty wide. We get everything from face chewer to sunrise hellhole to gentle buds. It depends. It's like an ironic name.

Yeah, yeah. People laugh at it until they get run over. It depends. There's a lot of different odd personalities from Crawl Gang to Crawl Gang. Some people like something more poetic. Some people are just lacking personality. Those two are giant.

That Ruiner, though, the little tripod, you said it's expensive. You said you would never see that in a race? There's no trade-off for size versus? No, no, no. Deathwish is like skirmisher crawlers. The Ruiner is more for artillery and going after some of the larger denizens

of the Hellcatch, or for full-on full-on, it doesn't happen too often, but whenever color games start to get a little antsy and want to attack each other out past the city bounds or go after some of the other villages across the valley and beyond. I mean, the Ruiners were more in use 20 years ago when the Apex War was going on with the Stratos Throne and they were hiring themselves out as mercenaries.

They don't really make a lot of new ones. They're more just keeping the ones that were built in that still function going as long as we can. Just in case I'm a prince in disguise and I'm just loaded, if we wanted to refurbish that ruiner, just for hobby's sake, how much would that run you? I mean, well, this one here, I'm already on contract for right now, for hobby's sake, how much would that run you? About...

I mean, well, this one here, I'm already on contract for right now, but if there was another one were to come in and you'd want it, I'd say probably around 8,000 gold? Fair enough. You know, for a hidden prince in disguise, no big deal. Good to know. DM, quick quesh. In all the time that we spent here and Fresh Cut Grass is from here, right? Yeah. DM, quick quesh. Yeah. In all the time that we spent here,

and Fresh Cut Grass is from here, right? Yeah. All of the automatons that we've seen, none of them are shiny or polished like FCG is, right? Everything you've described is really rough and patchwork and scuzzy. So letters stands out from anything else we see here? Very much so.

Okay. What are you? I? Very much so. Okay. What are you? I don't know now. Thanks. Of course. You just look over at me and I'm just looking at something with my flesh. Stop! Yeah, I mean, you know. For the purposes, look, the Death Wish is usually used

as a means of either putting to rest conflict between the different factions, or it's used as an initiation rite for different factions, or it's used as a means of getting rid of individuals that they don't want to have to officially get rid of. Like blood relatives of higher-ups that don't want to deal with the fallout of, you know, aggressively firing them. They can just watch them kill themselves,

essentially, in the run. It's a little rough. Do you know which two crawler gangs these belong to, just in case they want to get a driver for, I don't know, no money? The skirmishers? Yeah. Skirmishers aren't held. The Ruiners, the one that's on commission for right now.

So these are up for grabs. Yes, these are kind of. I'll take them. Both of them? Yeah, yeah. Or just one? Do we have that kind of? No, I don't. No. I got Scratch.

How? Because he's been hoarding stuff that was supposed to go to the group. Be careful, you're going to have to be accountable for the words of your mouth. The words of your mouth. The words of your mouth? In your head, you hear, what about these words? That's nice hair. Do you want to keep it this time?

Oh! I think I look pretty good bald. You don't scare me. I have some scratch. The base one, scratch. Question. What do you get when you win? You survive in the respective victory of whatever the current reason you went in for.

There isn't a prize money or anything. It's, like I said, it's mainly used for clout. I have a funny feeling we might be going into this, so it's good to just be a little bit prepared. Shit's going to go sideways. This is where it's going to go sideways, too. It's just a might makes right kind of thing for him. Worst case scenario, we can talk to All Minds Burn

and see if they'll actually put us up if it comes to it. You mean sponsor us? What's going on over there? Nothing, he just had something on his shirt. I had to get it off. I had something on my shirt. I don't know what that is. It's a nice shirt. Thank you. So do we need a sponsor?

No, we definitely need a sponsor. Independent competitors can throw down a challenge and go against a roller game. Oh my god, if we bought two of them, we could just raise each other. Then we'd always win. Yeah, we'd be so cool. Like when you go to a county fair

and you all sign up for the squirt gun thing and everybody wins. I will say, they don't happen every day. It's not a recurring thing. They can happen once every couple of weeks, sometimes once every couple of months, sometimes once every couple of months, depending on the necessity of it. But when it happens, it's an event.

People come out in the streets to watch it. People come out in the streets to mess with it. All the different factions come together to watch. And anyone, if there's anyone looking to go ahead and prove themselves or to work out something between them, they jump into. So if you're going to be part of this Deathwish run, you either got to jump into an existing one,

or if you're starting one, you're definitely not going to be going in there by yourselves. How many normally compete? I mean, I've seen anywhere from four to 12, depending. Damn! 12 is chaos. Let's hope for four. Yeah, there was a lot of collateral damage on that one.

I think they might be trying to keep it lower after that. Oh. Watch out for this first five minutes are amazing. Yeah, got to watch out for Sweet Tooth. So 1,000 baseline plus whatever it is he's going to do to it. Yeah, if you have any extra. We would like those two, please,

and done as quickly as possible. If possible, using parts unlike the ones that did not come back with these ones. Okay. I think just actually the one, because these are 1,000. How much, do you have a lot of money? Well, not 1,000 money, but.

Yeah. I think we can pool our resources for one. You're like a hidden prince or something. Yeah, yeah. My last name's Storm. So I have a lot of resources. Okay. But only enough for one with you right now.

Of the Prince Storms, yeah. Yeah, I have an allowance that comes in. Okay. Oh boy. So two? One. Just one. We're going to pool our resources and make one fucking unkillable skirmisher. You could put me up as collateral for the second one.

No. No! You couldn't! Everyone says that I'm worth a lot. This fella seems to think I'm very interesting. No, no. As collateral. When you win, you get me back. We'll probably die. Well, some of you might,

but the ones at wing could get me back. I don't think that's a terrible idea. How much would we get for the robot? Because if we're dead, then he has a nice home. That's right. Yeah, think it over. How much would we get for the robot? Oh, you're willing to sell your automaton? Not so!

Not so. We'll put it up as collateral. Collateral for you? Oh my goodness. I would. Stop it with your flesh tongue. Stop it with your tongue. That's weird.

I mean, this was your idea, Fresh Cut Grass. Yeah, we win, you get all the accolades, all the glory. And you get the crawlers back. Also, Orym and I just got here, so I'm fully catching up on this plan as we're hearing it. So I mean, it feels a little reckless for you. That's a little off-character. We don't even know if we're racing yet. This is just if everything goes shitty, and knowing us, it won't go shitty.

It will go shitty, obviously, but this is just as we're trying to cover our bases. Is there one scheduled? Or no, we would have to start it? Why do you have to challenge the treasury. Not that I know of, at least. You'd have to initiate it. Fuck off. So.

I appreciate the offer, and believe me, there's a part of me that is genuinely interested and curious, but I mean, based on your level of sentience and the primary historical connections that that probably entails, I don't think I can ethically take you as a collateral piece of ownership.

Thank you. Perhaps you wouldn't own him, but he would live with you, share his secrets. You could study him and work with him. I've got to solve. No! I've got to solve. What's your solution? You get to have and work with him. I've got to solve. No! I've got to solve.

What's your solve? You get to have a nice dinner together. Like a date. Ask anything you want. Have a conversation. What's your story? Never mind. A meat tongue.

I've been on one date. Make it two. All right. We don't even know if we're racing yet. We just need these things to be... Ironed out ahead of time, just in case we need to pull the switch. Sorry, sidebar, Mr. Joe.

You saw Treshi? You saw Treshi? Oh! Did he make you? Yes, we did. Are we doing, is this? No. He was smoking on the roof. I think he knows that

chickens have come home to roost. He seemed really freaked out for the moment that I saw him up there. He seemed spooked, so I'm a little worried that word's gotten back to him. Patricia would be spooked anyway. He's got to be terrified. He's been here for a while.

So you don't think we can coax him out and kidnap him or anything? We're going to have to call him out. You wanted these, didn't you? You wanted to race these things. You said, why are you even here unless you do this? Right? Part of that was Sam Riegel saying that.

But no, you're totally right. I mean, it feels like the call of this place is rooted in an intense death or glory, skirmisher, crawler, race to the death. But we have to go propose this to Treshi first before we even know if we're going to race. Also, one issue, not Sam or Eagle, is that if we put FCG up for collateral.

We're not. You don't get to drive a death machine. I'm not a driver. Neither am I. Is anyone here a driver? Do you have experience to drive these things? I have. I've driven a bunch. You have an experience. It helps.

I have an experience around sleighs. Yeah. We could. You know that's a noun and a verb. Sleigh. Once one is ready, we could all take turns on it and see who's the most natural. Ooh, I like that.

That's a good idea. I am good at horse riding, so maybe it's similar. That's true, actually. It's half horse. All right. Yeah. Let's start to get one up and going. We'll check in tomorrow and let them know

that we're still just taking care of a few things, but that we're actually going to have our meeting and set it up. We'll take care of you two, and then we'll let shit hit the fan and we'll try and get out of town with our guy. How much do you need to start? Baseline, if you're just getting one for now,

say 1,000. If you want any armor upgrades, if you want any sort of mounted carbine, maybe, that can be a little extra. How much is that? A mounted carbine will put you at about 1,300 gold. Okay. Wait, on top of the 1,000 or 1,300 total?

No, no, total. Total. Extra 300. Okay, Wait, on top of the 1,000 or 1,300 total? No, no, total. Extra 300. Okay, okay, okay. Additional art? That'd be about 150. Would the date with letters maybe knock some off the overall cost? Well, I mean, we discussed talking here in a minute. I still have a business to run. I mean, we discussed talking here in a minute.

I still have a business to run. We have to wager somebody to offset the cost of this thing. It's all or nothing. We go over, we pick a fight, talk some shit, and then we win, make money. Wait, how are we making money? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know where the money came in.

We bet on it, we bet on our own money. We find one of the crawler gangs, we're like, bitch, you don't know nothing about skirmish races. Enter the death race. Put your money where your mouth is. We win. Profit. That's not how any of this works.

How are we going to win against multiple crawler gangs? This sucks. We've never driven one. You heard people go out on the tracks and leave surprises? We take dumps at every hard right. We know where the dookie is, they don't. It's in the bag.

Dumps? We can elaborate, but it's a start. I understand him, Ahura. You look confused. Same, same, same. Dump it. Dump it. No, I do understand, that's why I'm confused. Are there any rules or things that you are not allowed to do,

or can you just do anything? No. I mean, outside of being on Skirmisher back and no more of a team of, well, actually, no. If you can fit either two medium folk or four smaller, I think might be able to ride on it from there. But that's also four people that can die in one fiery crash.

You know, it's up to you. You talk about adding different kinds of weapons or contraptions to the side. Could you add sidecars or seats? Oh. See, here's the thing. At that point, we're already pushing it with a possible mounted weapon.

It starts throwing off the balance of it, which not only adds drag to the vehicle, but it ends up becoming a possible issue with the tight turns you're making. What if we don't want that weapon? What if she's the weapon? Right, but I'm saying if you have a sidecar on something like this,

I mean, I guess I could probably do that. But knowing this track and some of the tight turns, there's a good chance you might scrape your companion off at a turn. Which I can do it, but I'm just letting you know. We can also station ourselves over the course of the track and help when it drives by, I suppose.

Because there's no rules, yeah. Yeah. That's true. Well, I can get started on this one. If you manage to piss off a faction or get involved with somebody, you can always come back with an emblem for maybe another loner and we could take it from there. I think that's the call. Excellent.

Pay the man. All right. I think that's the call. How much money do we need? I've got 300 gold. So armor upgrade is at 150. Are you taking the carbine mount as well, or the additional 300? What are we, so if we take the armor upgrade,

are we lessening our speed and mobility? It's negligible. Okay, okay. Negligible. All right, yeah. Are these adds of man time? Armor? Shield? We got 14, 50. If you go with Bowser, is it going to be slow?

Carbine? Mount? Does anybody know how to shoot? What about oil? Can you drop oil behind the vehicle or a smoke screen? Or a banana peel. I mean, you can. That would be the same. You could pay me to put on something there

or you could just have it with yourself. They come with a large satchel in the back that you can just go ahead and utilize as a pull mechanic. 1450, all right. I'm in for 750. Who can help? I can't. You can't? Nah.

I'll throw in a hundred. The plan is what? We're going to go just call him out now? No. Tomorrow. Yeah. Not right now. We'll figure that out tomorrow. So we're going to spend 1,000 gold and figure out how to use it tomorrow.

If it turns out that we don't need one. Look, we can always resell. Yeah, would you buy it back from us? Because you'll sell it, obviously, right? I mean, I can. It'll be at a higher price. You'll buy it back from us at? A lesser price, sorry. No, done.

Are we giving you a deposit type of a thing? We're just giving you half now and then half later? This would be half now, then half upon acquisition of it tomorrow. Okay. So 725. 725. I could just do it myself. Do it, go ahead. I'll toss in 100 gold. A hundo?

A hundo. Cool. I'll toss in 100 gold. A hundo? A hundo. Cool. I'll put 100 in. Orym is thinking about the weeks, the months of immaculate planning he was privy to standing 30 feet away from the voice of the Tempest and thinking of all the fucking dickery that is surrounding this all in this moment. Then he puts 100 gold. Yeah, this is what true planning is!

There it is. Are we turning this into some sort of bonding experience? Is that what this is? Oh, for fuck's sakes, 100 gold. It's literally ride or die. Okay. I hate you. It's die or die. Anybody else?

Yeah, wait, are we putting it all in now? No, no, we're just putting in the down payment. How much do we have? We got 725, but how much do you want to help to help lessen the load? I'm in for 325 and others are in for 100. I've got the money. Oh, let's see.

We'll open it. Wait, I thought you said you had enough to cover it all on your own there. Yeah, but we're a team. So you're just going to cover the other half tomorrow all on your own? No, I'm paying the most. What do you want from me? Because the rest of us won't have any cash.

Listen, I can change your toy at any time, all right? I'll put in 100 gold as well. You haven't given me anything yet, so. You're right. It's really nice. I could just scrap it. Yes? 100 gold as well. 100 gold as well. Thank you, Fearne.

That's enough. You're welcome. I'll pay 225. Others have paid 100. That's wonderful. Thank you. Here's 725. You build this son of a bitch the best you've ever built anything. Your name depends on it. My name is Nima Hara.

She's always your boss. She is your boss, did you hear that? That is a craftsman's guarantee. Are you an emcee, too, a master craftsman? So, is that a thing? Then yeah. Yeah. Yeah?

We'll indoctrinate you afterwards. We have chapters all over Exandria. Okay. Yeah, I figure I've got a decent amount of these. I could probably have this ready for pick up tomorrow, we'll say about mid-afternoon. Mid-afternoon! Incredible. Sounds good. Do we want a color?

Do we get a color? I could do a quick wash on it, I guess, but normally I'm not. Is there a charge for a paint job situation? I'm not a specialist in that. That's exactly what you're saying, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just worded it differently, I think,

unless I just wasn't listening. I probably wasn't listening. You ready for your moment? Could we show you our logo? Like, if we came up with a logo for Bell's Hells, could we put it on the car? Oh my god. You, of course you can.

I will say you will probably have a better shot at doing it yourself than I would. I'm an engineer. I'm not an artist. Oh, you're too humble. So we can put a hood ornament sort of a thing on the front of it, or? Sure. than I would. I'm an engineer, I'm not an artist. Oh, you're too humble. So we can put a hood ornament sort of a thing on the front of it, or? Sure. Painted red!

Laudna, no, wait, hold on. Why red? Red because it's a color of blood and it's a color of rudis! Wow. Oh, I like that. Jeez, Ashley. We've got a vibe. And blood! And rudis. Mainly blood.

It'll be ready by the mid-afternoon tomorrow, and you are welcome to color it however you like. All right. Red. I'd recommend not putting too much detail on it, just in case things go badly and it's ruined afterward. Okay. But what do I know? Plus, we don't want to stand out too much and become the target,

just because we're brightly colored. It's true, a red one will probably be like Delco after us. Screw the wash! Red cars get the most speed. Of course we're going to be. We're already going to be the target. We're calling. That's true. Let's give it some. We're putting down the challenge.

Keep the red wash. Come pick it up tomorrow and you can decide then. How about that? All right, all right. Do you paint terrain? Can you paint some of my terrain? I hate it here. Thank you! All right.

Oh wait, no, yes, yes. One, a question for you. Do you happen to know anybody named Birdie and Olly? I want to know, anybody named Birdie and Olly? Oleander? Yeah. I was going to ask, you remind me of one of them.

Really? Yeah. Birdie? Yeah. Well, how do you know them? They come in here every few months or so for supplies. Often people come in here looking for automatons and various other constructs of that nature.

They just come in for power sources. Power sources? Yeah, like these here. The different blue in for power sources. Power sources? Yeah, these here. And the different blue crackling elements there. What are? Then occasionally the scrap and general materials, yeah. Did they tell you what they're building? No.

I don't ask, I just tell them. Are these similar to those orbs that the Nightmare King had? Very similar coloration. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Both. Okay. So.

Oh wow, so power source. What exactly are those? So I don't make them, but I import them and utilize them to both run a number of the automaton's and arcana-based constructs that I work on. They are sourced from all over Exandria, but they are themselves essentially arcane batteries.

They draw from local ley lines and they deliver enough arcane energy to power the level enchantments for locomotion, transmutation, abjuration, all manner of things beyond generally destructive magic, mainly things that just operate devices and such. But it depends on the size, depends on the make. Yeah, I mean, it goes a little beyond my purview from there,

but that's primarily what I use them for. Sure, sure. How often do they come? Have they been customers? How long? How long, I guess. Well, a couple years, maybe. Oh, years. Not often, every few months they'll stop on by

and pick up whatever I can spare, really. Just the two of them? Yeah, just the two of them. Okay. What? They just pay with money, right? They don't leave anything else? Yeah, they will.

Have they ever had any companions with them? No, I mean, it's primarily one or the other. They haven't actually, I don't think they've come in together before, but they've definitely made their relations known. Has anyone else asked about them? Not to my knowledge. Oh.

Oh. How old do they look when they come in? I mean, it's hard to tell. You got someone of elven lineage and someone of, well, yours. Do they look similar to this? Yeah, yeah, that's them right there. Yeah, they look only just a little bit older than that,

maybe, at most. Do you say elven? One of them is elven? Yeah, some sort of elven lineage, too. Right, right, that makes sense. So, okay. Do you know when they're coming back again in here? I don't know. They usually just wander in

and show up when they do. Okay. Is that it? Is there anything else that you can think of or know about them that you'd like to share? They're nice. They're pretty jovial, especially compared to, I mean,

a lot of people in the city I do business with. They're loaded? Good sense of humor. Pretty loaded, actually. I figured they probably had some political connections or maybe a royal history or background. That makes sense. Well, if you happen to see them very soon,

would you tell them to, I'm sure they're already planning on it, but stick around because? Your daughter's looking for them. You're their daughter. See, I wasn't going to say anything. I didn't want to assume. No, it's totally fine.

I just, I was waiting. I was going to tell you. I was figuring out what your deal was with them. Yeah, yeah. What's your name? My name is Fearne. Fearne. Fearne Calloway. It's a pleasure to meet you. Oh, it's very nice to meet you.

Indeed. Well, yeah, I'll definitely let them know next time they come around. Okay, that would be wonderful. Thank you. Of course, of course. Also, maybe if anybody else asks about them, maybe don't, maybe keep it on the down low, right? Yeah, probably.

Oh, is there, like, okay? Just to be safe, you know, around the area. No, no, it's valid, it's valid. Just they're on a very important mission, so. Okay, so. Okay, okay. Just leave it at that. Mum's the word. Mum's the word. Thank you so much for your service.

Do you, this is weird. This is weird. Do you... Did you used to run with someone named Dancer? I did, yes. I knew it! I knew I'd seen you before. Why, do you know her? Have you seen her? We had a...

I've always thought she was friendly, talented, but she never really took a shine to friendship with me. So we had a playful rivalry, if anything. Very talented, very talented artificer. I remember you, because when you came through on that trade caravan, I wanted to pick you up originally, but I was down with a large investment at the time,

and by the time I tried to come back to pick you up, Dancer already nabbed you. I didn't come in a trade caravan, she built me. No, no. No, because I almost almost bought you myself, but I... Did I look like this? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, if you don't mind, you are a grade A scavenged automaton. The quality of find here, this is pre-Divergent stuff here. If you don't mind, you are a grade A scavenged automaton. The quality of find here, this is pre-Divergent stuff here. This is obviously, I thought it was originally an Avalir design, but the sentience already tells me

this is straight up a automaton. You are a relic, and if Dancer still considers you under purview, you don't even know how much you're worth. Not just from a research standpoint, but just monetarily. What does that mean? What is an aeormaton? What is divergence?

Oh boy. Oh, that's a long conversation. You're a relic of history. Even just the designs here, the power grooves here, the overall design, your speech, your sentience. This was... It was assigned to me by Dancer. She built me out of spare parts.

Okay. Is that what she told you? There are some in recent years that have been coming online, if you will. Some others? Other automatons like you, scavenged out of ruins and found in long hidden chambers and vaults of history of Exandria have been awoken, reawoken.

Where was the train caravan coming from? I don't know specifically. We get all sorts of odd traders coming through here. And was he like this? Oh no, you were disabled at the time, but... Were these there? The grass, the scrapes in the front? I don't remember.

That was a couple years ago. A couple years. The heist that you guys were doing, was that just a cave system or was that like ruins? It was a cave system. It was just a cave. Caves we were supposed to go in and clear out. I don't know what was in there, but.

It was just a monster. Like a creature that we were supposed to clear out. Please don't misread me. This all comes from a place of absolute respect and just professional interest and wonder. You know? You were the one that got away at the time. Just the fate of bringing you back here is incredible.

What would you know about bringing someone like him back online? And letters is different than anything else we've seen in this city, or really anything I've seen anywhere. You're saying that letters is from that long ago? I mean, I have no confirmation,

but from the reading and studying I've done, this... Why don't I remember anything? I can only tell you that it... Maybe you went to the Feywild, too. Maybe time took its toll. Do you think that, is there a way to re-start him? Like maybe Dancer erased some things?

I could look into it, but that would be an extensive bit of research. See, understand, the reason I'm going to the automaton is that there were automatons of incredible designs in ancient times, like all spectrums of builds and capabilities. Part of what I do is just trying to rediscover and essentially iterate on the scraps of that time

best I can, along with other compatriots and individuals that I mentioned earlier, this tinker trade that we do. But all of them were like all the other automatons you see. They perform functions. They are not living things. But you. The folks of Aeor managed to bring sentients

to their automatotons, and eventually they fought for their freedom. Then these Aeormatons became citizens, and they were the only source of folks like you before it fell. For a long time, most folks thought that they were gone, that you were gone. Past five or so years, though,

there's been whispers, rumors that some have been showing up, waking up. So there's more people like you. I also wonder what happened in the last five years to make that happen. Yeah, why the past five years? I don't know. In the past five years? I don't know. In the past five years, they've been waking up?

From what I've heard, the first I heard about it was about five years ago, yeah. Oh. Careful, Erica. When was the last time you saw a dancer? Oh, maybe a year? Mm-hmm. These others that are similar to our friend, they're coming online.

What part of the world? I mean, I haven't seen them personally. You were the first to come through here, which is why I was so excited. That's why I thought I remembered you. But you've heard of others? Yeah, no, I've heard rumors of Eastern Side of Tal'Dorei.

I've heard in Wildemount. I've heard one in Silra that may have come on as well, but these were all rumors. These were all exciting rumors. Exciting. So anyway, all that to say,

it's genuinely really special to see you again. And if you ever have the inclination to let me carefully and consensually inspect your capabilities, I would be very interested. Sorry, Laura is a child. I know. I don't agree with you. I...

Dancer didn't seem to like you very much, but you seem okay to me. The dancer was a bit abrasive. To be fair, I'm not the most outgoing person, either. to be fair, I'm not the most outgoing person, either. I'm married to my work. If we make it through this, maybe we could spend some time doing that.

That would be fantastic. I mean, goodness, could you imagine if we could discover what the great artificers of Eor were able to uncover, to create life like you once more, that would be? I just want to know who I am. I just want to know who you were, too. All right. Well, smiley day.

I guess we go. Well, would anything, would it hurt him to check in there and look at? I wouldn't want to at all. Maybe not right now. Yep. Okay. Don't distract him, he's got to focus on our build.

I do, you're right, I'm sorry. I was just saying in the future, if that comes, I was just seeing if there's any, you know, repercussions to it. I would do everything in my power to ensure I didn't. This is different than cobbling in my workshop. This is a conscious living being. Yeah, yeah.

Do you hear that? This is nothing new to us. No. Aeor Madan. We should find out more about Aeor. Yeah, whatever the fuck that is. Okay. Thank you so much for your time. Of course.

I guess I'll be seeing you all tomorrow afternoon. See you tomorrow. All right. I'm going to get to work. He's just putting his gauntlets back on, turns around and grabs the unique device that you saw earlier with the small blue orb in it, and as he begins to pull it over to dragging it outward

with a small, looks like a battery device, the base of it to the backyard, you can hear him gruffly speaking excitedly to himself. He went to go back home because he's so excited. Oh, because he wants to fuck me? Yeah. Yeah. He really wants to fuck me? Yeah. Yeah. He really wants to. How do you feel about that?

But just with his fingers, I think. Really get in there and, you know. Yeah, I mean, everyone should leave the table so I can be finger fucked by a Mahamud Cho. Why? Why? We went in for a skirmish racer and we came out with information about your parents. What in the hell?

You're an ancient technological marvel. Yeah. And we bought a car. What in the? Bought a chassis. Yeah, fuck it. It's a lot. Are you all right? Are you all right? Bought a chassis. It's a lot. Are you all right? Are you all right?

I don't know. I don't know. Do you want to try and find Dancer? Yes, but I mean, maybe not this instant. Plus, she was lying to you. Yeah. Why would she do that? Hold on. I mean, she didn't lie.

She just probably told me what she knew. That she built you. That she bought you. Okay, okay, easy. And she's not dead. I mean, a lot of things are not adding up all in one day. Pretty much all of your existence is a lie. Well, all right.

Let's not give them a crisis right now. Dusk is not wrong. But also, that's kind of cool, because now you can decide who you want to be. Clean slate. Or maybe not. Maybe I've got ancient programming in me that will make me...

What if he, what if Joe digs in and finds out that I was something else, someone else? A murder robot? Yeah, or. That's awesome. Or, I don't know. I don't even know where I have these powers from. What if I was created by some mad person or some evil archmage? You are so much more

than your programming or the person who made you. You are here with all of these amazing, nice people and you offered me help. Chetney's not nice, per se. Guys, he's in the cool category. I can turn it on. You're totally an Archmage, by the way. But does he?

Has anyone given him a wand to see what the fuck happens? A wand? Yeah. Like if I can cast spells? Like a focus, yeah! I mean, I can cast spells already, but like, through a wand, does that change? It's a whole new aesthetic for you. Don't have to be your past or your programming

or what you, your body. Yeah. For you, right? I mean, Dusk is right. I mean, he said so himself that the Aeormatons gained sentience and then fought for their freedom. So you, you know, it doesn't matter where you came from.

You might've been made by other Aeormatons. Maybe Aeormatons could have Aeormaton babies. You might be right, I have no idea. We don't know. We don't know. I have a crazy woman in my head who likes to tell me what to do that's really not that dissimilar to being programmed. I mean, it feels really great to know something,

but I guess I just don't know what it means yet. I want to understand level of context for us. They threw out words like Aeor Avalir. How commonly known are those things? They're not terribly commonly known. There's a history check involved if you want to know that sort of information. commonly known are those things? They're not terribly commonly known. There's a history check involved if you want to know that sort of information.

I'll take that check. 16. No. Oh. 18. 18. You do know of the names. You know of the names Avalir, Eor,

along with Xemnas, like other of the great cities of the Age of Arcana, or Age of Arcanum. But this is to us knowing Constantinople or? Exactly. Right. You see on the details. Yeah, you don't know much beyond a passing bit of historical information

that may have crossed your studies or just your own casual reading time as a child or as a teenager. None of you have that academic background necessarily. And with those roles, you have context for it, but to your point. The vaguest. The vaguest of historical passing knowledge. But it's enough to be like,

it's a what the fuck moment to have someone say, you are from this place. You're from Mesopotamia. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that changed the day. Yeah, for sure. Wow. I mean, I guess as the oldest member of the group,

I should be our leader. Oh shit. Yeah, sorry, youngster. I don't know what my job is anymore. Hmm. Well. We'll always need wood. We'll always need wood.

You will. What are we doing? I don't know anymore. I know it's a process. We were supposed to stake out a fortress, and now. We did that. We did. We're an ancient race. Dancer! She could be here. We're going back to somewhere,

get some food, sleep it off. Yeah. It's late. How about a beer and some copper pieces to take the edge off? Maybe we can even find you a nice silver piece. Oof. You know, treat yourself. That sounds real good right now.

Yeah. It might be too rich. Okay, well, we got a place to hide out. We got a car. We got, you know, a bomb to pick up. Yeah, a lot happened. Oh yeah, we did quite a bit. You ordered a bomb?

We ordered bombs. Just as we're out the back of the crawler. The sins coming together. Just out of curiosity, should we find a new place to lay our heads since the last one is spoiled? Yeah. That is true. Can we look around for a little goblin with an eyepatch?

It's 24 hours later. We've changed one plan for another, and our prey is aware that they are being hunted. 24. No, we're showing up tomorrow. We're going to check in. We'll see what they think. Maybe tomorrow, around the same time that you saw him,

we can swing by, see if he comes out every day around that time. He always takes a smoke break at the same time. Yeah, maybe. It was after sun went down. We have to, he might not know, but we have to assume that the Paragon's Call tipped him off.

We just have to act as if that is likely. Boy, you've really gone through quite a lot of effort for one guy. Right? Yeah. You really have. Well, you know, what's wild about it, Dusk, is you were asking about all the little weird battery things that

Imahara Joe had. We saw those in the Nightmare King's lair, which the guy we were hunting was in cahoots with. So, and then. Nightmare King's like a fey creature, real fucking crazy looking. And now to know that your parents are trying to get them. Let me forget that.

Sorry. No, I'm sorry. I'm just, there's so much. So much. It's been a day. Fearne, why are your parents getting weird batteries? Is your dad the Nightmare King? No, but he did know you. He said you smelled familiar, which means he knows at least your-

Maybe he's met them or something. Maybe he's met them, or he knows your grandmother. And did you ever know that they would go and split off and do their own thing? Would they ever disappear? Your grandmother. Did you ever know that they would go and split off and do their own thing? Would they ever disappear? Parents. Uh-huh. No.

And they've been coming to him for two years now? When? Yeah! I thought you just left them. I thought I did, too. They're being held captive and someone's impersonating them. Always assume the worst. Yeah.

Fearne, these arcane batteries, is that a thing at the Seelie Court or with people you know from home? I don't think, I don't, do I know, are they? 90 years, three more. Not in your experience, no. I've never seen anything like that before at home. It seems like maybe our parents weren't quite as

forthcoming about everything. Ooh, she said it! I said it out loud, we were all thinking it. Well, I think, for sure, but I think there was definitely a reason for it, you know, a very good reason as to why. The light of the batteries that we just saw, same exact color as what Ira's messing with or similar?

Variations. They're not fully consistent across the board, but different shades of blue and turquoise and in the same ballpark. Okay. Okay, okay. I just don't know. So not the same, but similar ballpark.

Yeah, from what we were saying. Some of them the same, and some of them slight variation. But then also the rock, the rock that it broke wasn't. Doing the rock trunks, yep. Yeah, the gnar the rock that broke wasn't. Doing the rock trunks. Yeah, the Gnarl Rock wasn't, because we also heard that that was also from the Fey Realm

and that it was a similar or same stone that we found in the Nightmare King's laboratory, right? That's what I wrote down. The Gnarl Rock was found in the Shade Mother's Den, which had some... Which it's reminiscent of. The structure around it was reminiscent of, but the actual stone itself is different, yeah.

Still face shit. Yeah, it had an ory thing around it. Yeah, yeah, okay, okay, okay. I mean, I have a postcard from Aeor from my parents, so that's a I mean, I have a postcard from Aeor from my parents, so that's a little weird. You have a postcard from Aeor? Yeah, all the postcards that I got. I told you guys this.

What? From Aeor? Yeah. From Aeor? I don't have so many. I have hundreds of postcards. What does that mean? Aeor was ancient. Aeor's post office? Show us one, show us one. Was it recent?

I don't understand. I have hundreds. From Aeor? From Eorndal! From all over, all over! Because they traveled all over the entire world. Do you have an audience? What are the Ganderins? They need power sources? They're traveling all over the world?

Are your parents thousands of years old? They might have been gone two years or 90 or... They just have been gone two years or 90 or... They just have been doing something apparently extremely important. Oh man. So, I don't know. Wait, and you said that they left because they were trying to save the world. Yes, so they left.

A little bit is fuzzy because I was very young, and my grandmother was there, and they left me because they had to go do something, and then my grandma always told me that they just had to, it was just very important and I couldn't know, but I got postcards this whole time. Including from Aeor, or is that a miscommunication? Yeah, pretty sure.

Or did they find it at a vintage shop? They might've. I mean, who knows? Can we see it? If it's not somewhere that's real, like, not somewhere that's... That's merch that we sell. Oh yeah, I didn't think it did to look so Missing Info Bailey. It could have been a,

it could have been from a, It took on the gods. a shop. And lost. You know. A novelty thing. Like a novelty shop. Oh, okay.

I mean, if it's, I don't even, I mean, from what it sounds like, this place is not even around anymore. But I have. You can first up, you can check, you can. It's above me Make a perception check, Imogen. It's above me, isn't it? Oh wow. 12.

Never mind. Wow! Why do I always roll low on perception? I just pull out all the postcards. I mean, you guys can see, they went everywhere. Boy, at some point, Orym stares into the camera like Jim from The Office. I chose poorly.

I'm going to look at this back and see if it rolls better. No, exact same roll. Do we know that? Oh. What you can tell from the postcards looking at them is they are all handmade. Meaning there isn't a gift shop or a printer set. All of them are meticulously done by hand.

Maybe made by your parents. Yeah. Probably. For you. Well, I don't know that. I mean, how else would you make a postcard? Someone would have to make it. Do you think your mom and dad were trying to tell you something in the postcards?

A deeper meaning, a code. What is there? Maybe a history lesson or two. Or to deceive you about where they actually were? Or just a postcard. You also say, though, that time is like a soup, right? And acts a little weird, maybe. Time is a soup? What does the handwriting look like?

Are there stamps? There aren't stamps. They're more like colorful letters with hand-painted elements of different locations across Exandria and a note on them. Like a little painting of the location so you can see what it looked like? Well, okay, okay, okay.

The city of Aeor, does it look like ruins or does it look like. Well, okay, okay, okay. The city of Aeor, does it look like ruins or does it look like a city that they painted? It looks like a city. I don't know, I mean, it looks like all of you. I think it's just a painting of you. What I've heard about your home, and from you and from others,

is that time is slippery. Maybe they've been doing a little hopping around? You follow me? I follow you for sure, and I think that's entirely possible. We should have FCG read that Aeor postcard and see if something pops out. Sure. Can I see the postcard for us?

No. Got that one. Here's the whole stack. Maybe use your fancy lenses. Galeca machu pasa el pito. I'm just kidding. I get it. It just looks like a postcard. I don't know. Nothing? Nothing?

No. Try to look harder. Okay. I will cast Identify on it. Okay. This turns into something I'm going to laugh my ass off. It's a postcard of Storm Giant strength.

It is, in fact, a postcard of Diversions. Postcard of Diversions. You can keep sending it and sending it. Postcard from the edge. So they're not magical. Identify definitely. It focuses more on the magical aspects of things. I will say, as part of what you are, you gather these are handmade and hand-painted

and all by the same handwriting. You guys, come on. There's something in the postcards to their daughter. What if you look at maybe the first letter of everyone in a niche. Can I spell the sentence? And you can put it out in order that you, and then it says something. That's always it. Can you scan your postcards?

Oh, Fearne, yeah. How about the first letter of the second word? Well, I mean, I doubt it, but I mean. Maybe tonight when we rest, someone can just take a couple minutes to just look at them and see if there's any patterns. I love puzzles. Oh! I was alone a lot.

And so, you know, little brain teaser. Sure. Come on, okay? You are a cousin. Where are we staying tonight? Not in the same place. Are you ready to make some decisions? Do you know other places around here? I'm not going closer to where you are.

You're pretty sure I do. You do know of one. This one, while the Rawhide Den, you've not frequented it often before, this one you have frequented in the past. It is in some of the shadier regions in the outskirts of the western side of Bassuras, a location known as the Undercarriage.

Oh yeah! It is a rugged caravanserai on the surface and a whole series of stairways and tunnels lead to the rooms, which are all subterranean beneath. It is like a... If the rooms didn't have beds, it could very well be a dungeon. But the beds are decent and...

You know, that's never. I mean, you'd probably find a few rooms for there, too. So the revel and Break, right? Yeah. All right. So. Good beer. With that in mind, you follow Ashton's lead towards the undercarriage for another night's rest as your minds swim with the revelations of the day.

We'll pick up from there next week. Ah! So that's about the dream. I was not prepared for this monolure. I didn't expect a lot of the. So that's about the dream, because you dropped that, and then a lot of other shit. I didn't expect a lot of the lore to hit back to back to back to back, but sometimes that's how it works. Wow. Rich.

Wow. That was a lot of shit. Now you have a week to digest. Hold on, I'm going to save the game. We'll take a week to sit on these revelations. We'll pick up from there next time. Marinate. Marinate. Marinate. Marinate.

But until then, thank you so much for joining us. We love you very much, and is it Thursday yet? Good night. Thank you so much for joining us on this adventure. To help new listeners discover the show, please give us a rating and review on whatever podcasting app you're listening on.

Until next time, is it Thursday yet?