Critical Role - C3E65 A Path of Vengeance

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

Bells Hells settle into their reunion, comparing notes between experiences and dealing with the consequences of past actions... 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! "It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme Song)" by Peter Habib and Sam RiegelOriginal Music by Omar Fadel and Hexany Audio"Welcome to Marquet" Art Theme by Colm McGuinnessAdditional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 AlarmCharacter Art by Hannah Friederichs 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

Hello, bees! This is Laura Bailey, here to welcome you to the Critical Role podcast. If you'd like to tune into the show as it airs, you can watch Critical Role Thursdays at 7 p.m. Pacific on twitch.tv slash criticalrole and youtube.com slash criticalrole. Our lovely Twitch subscribers can view the episode on demand right away. Or you can find it on YouTube Mondays at 12pm Pacific. And of course, for all you fantastic podcast listeners, Critical Role episodes hit feeds on Thursday mornings, a week after the episode first airs. With all that said, let's get into another episode of Critical Role. Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass

voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS! With these unruly children. Before we jump into our episode tonight, we do have some announcements to get through, beginning with our sponsor for tonight, which Sam's going to talk about, Dragonair Silent Gods, a game I'm excited about because I have always one of the main characters.

Yes, you do, Matt. Yes, you do. In Dragonair Silent Gods, Matt plays the chivalrous horsefolk hero, Sagamir, with his, I guess, amazing acting skills? I don't know. You weirdly sound upset about this. I am, Matt, because I auditioned for Sagamir and I didn't book it.

Well, I'm sorry, what role did you read for it? I didn't book any role, Matt.'m sorry, what role did you read for her? I didn't book any role, Matt. You stole it from me like you always do. I want to say high noon, but oh, Matt sounds sexier. I want a GM Candela Obscura, but oh, Matt is competent. I want to be in Dragonair, but oh, Matt has literal dragon hair. I apologize?

But what do you want me to do? Simple. I apologize? What do you want me to do? Simple. I would like you to re-audition for the role right now. I printed out some lines. Here you go. Liam, you're a semi-decent voice director. You will direct us, and the cast will vote. Okay, okay.

Don't we have to actually do the ad, though? Just print the goddamn lines, Mr. Actor! O'Brien, direct us. Okay. Don't we have to actually do the ad, though? Just read the goddamn lines, Mr. Actor! O'Brien, direct us. Okay. Matt. Yeah? Slate your name and go for a take. Okay. Matthew Mercer reading for Sagamir.

Dragonair Silent God allows you to enjoy classic tabletop RPG fun, like rolling dice, character customization, and dungeon battles. That was excellent. I've known you for over a decade. You're always excellent. Directed you in many lead roles. No notes.

Wow, no notes. Sam? Emmy award-winning Sam Riegel, age 29, 6'3", voice of Scanlan Shorthalt, reading for the role of Sagamir. Dragonair offers 200 unique heroes with their own alignments, kinsfolk, and backstory. Using these differences, players can develop heroes, form teams, cast skills, and more.

Okay, should we put it to a vote? Who was better? I mean, Matt was much, much, much, much better. I mean, yeah. It was better. It's because you didn't direct me, Liam. I'm an artist. I need feedback. This is why you'll never be as good a director as me.

Try again. Fine. Matt. Ray Rock. Try the next part with, I don't know, a Scottish accent. Whoa. Zragoneer Silent Gods offers a sandbox world with diverse biomes, hidden secrets,

and challenging puzzles. Immerse yourself in a branching story that changes based on your choices. Wow. Now you asshole Scottish. Can I just do a southern accent? I'm good at that. Are you?

Scottish is hard. It's true. You want a direction? This is it. Give me fucking Scottish. He's cold. He is, yeah. Ice cold. Check out the game at bit.ly slash

dragonair underscore critical roll and pre- register to be the first to play when it comes out. Earn in-game rewards register to be the first to play when it comes out. Earn in-game rewards. And earn a legendary hero.

Whew, I blacked out. Would you like us to vote? No, I would not. Better than what my choice was. I was bad. Same. I have no right to, but wow. That's it.

I quit acting. Matt, back to you. I don't know. It's impressive. I quit acting. Matt, back to you. I don't know. It's impressive. I've never heard somebody roll a P before. I think that's talent in its own right. It worked with your tiger look. Yeah, yeah.

I thought it was going. My god. All right, well, next up, I believe we have some merch announcements. Laura, do you want to take it away? I've got so many things to talk about today. Okay, wait, but I put this one on the bottom, and it's the first thing I'm supposed to say.

No, no, no, no, no! Oh, I want it right now! Oh my gosh! Go to school with your own Critical Role backpack. We got backpacks. Designed by Jordan Torrance. Look, the inside lighting pattern by Grace Berrios. I don't know if you can see it, but it's beautiful. Is that a laptop?

It's got a laptop sleeve, look! Chomp, chomp, chomp. It's so wonderful. Yeah, little water bottle things on the side. I was like, please tell me that we made it. Yes. Done deal. It's so good. Check it out.

Check it out. Here, you can look at it. You can wear it through the episode if you want to. Next up. We've got this. Critical role watercolor logo. Oh wow. It's got foil effects, artist Grace Berrios again. Amazing work. I like it.

Yeah, so keep all your notes in this amazing journal with a pocket. Ooh, look at the yellow! I know, it's beautiful! Okay, next up. Next up, something that we've had for a very long time and is finally allowed to release it. Uh, dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.

Dun-dun-dun-dun! Oh! No fucking way! We made the shirt! We made a Critical Role in a t-shirt! It just gets more and more dangerously close. Look at him! I know. One step closer, motherfucker.

I'm in love with this shirt! It's by Jordan Torres. Check it out! I love it so much. I want to go to there. Me, too! Just pretend you went. You can have a holiday with your family at Critical Role Land.

Let's go to live there. Without having an actual holiday with your family. It's a win-win. The third seal is open. Four more to go. Next house. There's more. There's more, you guys. I told you, I have a lot.

We have a fresh kitegrass dice set. Oh! Look it, look it. There's stuff on the inside. I love it. They match your tiger suit, Sam. They do match my tiger suit. Oh my gosh. Look, you can play with them tonight.

Oh, I will. And we also have, they got gears in them! They have gears can play with them tonight. Oh, I will. And we also have. They got gears in them! They have gears in them. Stop it. They're super cool. All of them do. Aren't they? They're so cool. That's really cool. Oh my god.

What's up, guys? That's really cool. Pass it down, pass it down. We also got these Chetney Pock-o-pee dice. Oh, and look, we've got the new Bell's Hells little dingles. Ooh! Actually bits of Travis's blood in the Chetney dice.

These ones are so cute, look! They're stripy like Chetney's hat! Those are cool! They've got stripes! It's called me little beanie! It's called your little beanie. Aren't they so cute? Oh my god, I love these.

So you can get them now. Ooh, they rolled. Thanks, man. They're in our stores. They've been rubbed in Werther's, too, this summer. I honestly feel like you can buy these and then you can take this little bangle off of here and you can make a little necklace out of it. Oh, that's cool.

Anyway. Two merch items for the price of one. That's right. Oh, nice merch. Would you like to roll these tonight, my love? Yes. Yes. I'm done.

All right, thank you, Laura. Da-da-do. Da-da-da-da-do. Risha, you guys are not supposed to talk about that. The second episode of Candela Obscura Chapter One is now available everywhere. Oh, cool. It's a good one, you guys.

Da-da-da-da-do. It's a da-da-da-da-do. It's a. It's a. It's really good. It's got, this one starts a little sexy. Oh, that's great. Spoilers. Yeah. It's literally the first 10 seconds.

But it's good. You should watch. 10 seconds sex? Oh. That's the best comment. Find it on Twitch, YouTube. That long? Or your favorite. Wow, that's stamina.

For some folks, Constitution's a dumpster. Oh! Oh no! Oh, but it makes up for it in dexterity. Find it on Twitch, YouTube, or your favorite podcast streaming service. Join us for the finale. Crank shot.

On Thursday, July 27th. Hell yeah. The finale, July 27th. And we also want to take a minute to let you know about our upcoming conventions. Oh! We will be at San Diego Comic-Con again this year for not one, but two panels.

Two? Ooh! The first is our typical. I know. Yeah. Two panels. Yeah! I'm saying it, it's real. It's real. Manifestation. We're happy about that.

Why is this a problem? Why is it an issue? The first is going to be our typical fireside chat and short Q&A. Invite everyone to come and engage with that. Then later that same day, join us and a few other friends to chat about all things Candle Obscura.

Oh! That's right. Including the making of the show, the game, and this whole new, intriguing world that we've all been creating and exploring. The fun begins next Saturday, July 22nd. We know it's going to be. I can't wait.

So soon. We're also coming for you, Portland, Oregon! Portland, we're coming! We'll be at Rose City Comic Con on September 23rd and the 24th, and pre-sale begins next Thursday, July 20th, to come check it out. And then!

What? There's more? And then! We're making our way. Making our way. There we go. Over to the Big Apple, October 12th and 13th for New York Comic Con. New York Comic Con!

So you can always find the latest info at critroll.com slash events. And we can't wait to see you guys there. Thank you so much. Yeah! We're coming out! I believe that concludes our announcements. So let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of Critical Role.

No! Critical. 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 life But one thing's for sure, we never give up on the fight From the healer to the renegade 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! Oh, get ready, it's Thursday night! And welcome back. So, last we left off, after many days separated, shunted across Exandria in the chaos following the Malleus Keys arrival, the moon, Ruidus, remains locked in the sky and the perpetuation of the solstice

still sets the sky aglow with multicolors and strange, manipulated magic. You sought out answers and your companions, and finally, after making a few friends, reconvened in Jrusar. Some of those friends that came along, you set off as their own troop to find answers as you reconvened with what you have

and figuring out what your next leg of the journey is. To seek information, seek retribution, to figure out what's happening and how best to tackle the challenges ahead. So we come in as you've sent off your companions to pursue their independent goals. You briefly are a larger halfling, but I think we've only lasted a minute.

Much better. I prefer it. That was fun. But indeed, the day is yours now. This is it, finally just us again. Wow, it feels great. Great to be back, right? You look different, Letters. Oh.

Is it a cigarette? That was it. It makes me look a little older. It's mostly the soot, maybe. I like the whole, the look. The new look. It's really good. That's what you were referring to. Yeah, I got a new coat.

Oh, yeah, we all got new. You all look so pretty. I love a new coat. Oh, yeah! We all got new. Yeah, I love the new look. Thank you. Yeah, we got you a new corset. Yeah, I got you a new corset. You did. It's gorgeous. Y'all didn't have to. Does it get you a little bit of a corset if you want it? Just a little. My back hurts.

I'm okay with anything. All right. Oh man. Just in case. What were you going to say? It's pretty fucking cool. You guys didn't have a chance to go shopping and get outfits and stuff? Yeah, we just had a little downtime to go.

We had a fun little... We actually helped out some royalty and they paid for it all, too. Yeah. We met a king and a queen? It's actually pretty great. It's not a competition. What? We're here. We made it.

We're back together. Are you guys okay? We really missed you all. Not really. No, we're... No, not in a good place about it, honestly. Oh, what happened? Was it something? What's wrong? Right, I'm not wrong, right?

Oh, I was just assuming you would talk first, because you were the last one to have a complete breakdown, so I figured, yeah. Uh-oh. You earned it. We all got there. We spent every second of every day of every waking hour

trying to get back to you. We were worried sick. Same. Yeah, it's true. Well, I mean. I mean, it sounds. You fought Santa Claus and went shopping. Who?. Well, I mean. I mean, it sounds, you've- You fought Santa Claus and went shopping. Who?

You know what I mean. It was all in a sequence of events to get back to you. Yeah, we went to Uthodurn, all the teleportation was fucked up. We tried calling, talking. Before we get defensive, go on, tell us what you're feeling. You came back with a, you have a boyfriend now? You all had a little tryst, a little menage a trois?

You got to just let off some steam sometimes. I didn't know that word, actually. He went, he turned into- And you have a new best friend, apparently. Excuse me? That's what I heard what you were saying to Frida. I said, Laudna.

I thought about you every moment, and I thought you might be dead. Our stint was a little rough. We did not go somewhere good. We were teleported alongside someone from the Ruby vanguard, and he infiltrated, was near us, gained our trust, and then

tried to murder us. It was... It was really awful for every moment. It was not a good time. And it's hard, and I'm sorry that I'm upset because obviously we were all, I believe you that we were all. I take your hand. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Laudna. I don't doubt. I don't doubt, I don't. There wasn't a moment that went by that I wasn't thinking about you. We tried over and over and over again to contact you. Every moment we could, it kept coming back and hitting us in the head. It was impossible.

Same for us. The only option we had was to go find any information we could and then hope that someone would be able to teleport us. Stop laughing at me, Chet. I can talk. Missing. I can't hear your thoughts. They might be covered in rage.

They might be covered in rage. I don't doubt it, I really don't. It's just hard. It's hard to hear. And it feels like there were... We didn't have downtime. We didn't have fun moments. We didn't have laughs or jokes or gavots.

We didn't go shopping. We didn't have threesomes. We... We went to the middle of nowhere. We saved a fucked up town that was so wrapped up in their own God's damned problem We went to the middle of nowhere. We saved a fucked up town that was so wrapped up in their own goddamned problems that they couldn't see the forest through the trees.

And then we almost had one of the Ruby Vanguard murder all of us. That was our fun time. Honestly, you're skipping some of the other bad shit, but yeah. I'm sorry, I'm- No, don't apologize. You're absolutely right. I mean, you, you're skipping some of the other bad shit, but yeah. I'm sorry, I'm- No, don't apologize. You're absolutely right. I mean, you're absolutely right.

We did allow ourselves to relax and be complacent. Of course you were on our minds, but so was love and so was fun and so were outfits. And that's, and we... I just, my clothes were so dirty. They were just so dirty, and... I think I'm just going to put out we're not angry that you didn't suffer.

We're just going to be a little bit before we're okay. I'm glad you're safe. We are. So? I'm glad you're safe. We are. So? I'm just worried. We just made some compromises. We almost died multiple times. Yeah, yeah.

Really? It wasn't just fun and games. I feel weird, though. That makes me feel a little better. It was not. It was not. She was worried about you the whole time. Just the whole time. You know what I think will help? Is if we figure out what we're going to do next.

Mm-hmm. We're not enemies here. I don't want to tarnish I don't want to tarnish the moments of joy you all had. That's important. Maybe it's just a bit of jealousy. Yeah.

Well, I for one promise you that I won't take my eyes off the prize again, and I will. I won't forget my eyes off the prize again, and I will... I won't forget who matters most, and I won't be distracted by silly things like I just want to be focused. kissing or whatever. How about you just promise the middle one? I think the first and last one are okay.

I actually think that's the problem right now, is maybe we need a little bit of unwinding, just a second to breathe. I don't think dragging everybody else into our strain is really the best idea. You want to go shopping? Why do you want to? I don't fucking know.

I mean, I think I need to see some people I fucking love. I think I need a drink. I think I need a decent night's sleep and maybe a fucking bath. I think we're still covered in our friend who tried to murder us. I don't want to overstep, but I happen to be qualified in relaxation now,

so if the threesome thing is worrisome, I'm happy to open up my services. I just want to say, we went to the Savalirwood, which is real dangerous, and we got laid! It was amazing. You guys fought an angel, and that part sounds incredible to me, but if a little R&R on this side of all that

is interesting to you, just saying, Fearne and I are like, you know. Are you saying you got certified in sexual healing? I'm pretty sure some people will give testimony, yes. Yeah, it works, it works. Might be a couple reviews. You're practiced in Santric? On my yup page.

Do you have to be a wolf in order to be healing, or is it? It depends on what add-ons you want. All right. Well, I'll tell you what I think we give ourselves. Give ourselves a day to unpack, but that's it. Day, half day, race? So we're not marching with this army that's leaving in an hour? They don't know what they're, sorry,

it just seems like they don't know what they're doing. They're being led by nobody. I hate to not call them off, but I don't think they would listen anyway. After what we've fucking seen, all I can think of them as is a distraction that maybe we can take advantage of it. I don't want to be, I don't think that's who we are.

Plus, just joining them again, we haven't really learned anything. That's the definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing over and over again? I want to know what you guys know. Oh, yeah. I want to find out what you learned, and if I can check in at home, I need to.

Yeah, I'd like that, too. Obviously, we touched on a few things, which you all learned when Deanna and Frida were here. We've got stuff from Ludinus that we can look at. That's fantastic. That harness thing. Yep. Is that part of the sex thing, the harness?

No, it was weirdly unrelated. Don't say no, yes and, Ashton, yes and. Why have I missed you? This is so weird. Okay. Fuck. You want to go check in on your friends. I'm going to go talk to Milo. If you want to come talk to Milo.

I would love to. Just tell everyone, well, yeah, just talk to them, see what they think. But I want to know what Laudna wants to do, too. I don't want to leave you alone. She won't be alone. I'm with you guys. Okay.

Wherever we need to go. I always pick up some new, new, new things for you guys. Sometimes when you have a, like putting lipstick on a pig, you just feel a little better. I wouldn't call them pigs. Don't know where that phrase comes from. I should have said something else.

That's not exactly what I meant. That wasn't the term, but. You're much prettier. You're not wrong. Yeah, that's not even the thought of another animal. It's just something I know. Also, the angel sounds terrifying,

but I just want to know if it was hard or not. Was it a good fight, close fight, almost really bad? I can say it literally changed me in ways that I am still unpacking. Oh. There's a lot going on. Okay, well. Too bad. I can say it literally changed me in ways that I am still unpacking. Whoa. There's a lot going on. Okay, well. You know, I think I might be, actually.

Oh. I don't know. It's still coming down, but I think new clothes is a really, really good idea. I don't think this is me right now. This shirt doesn't match this corset, so. You want to spin out? I don't want to. Oh, okay.

I want to move. Okay. Yeah. Soon. Let's do it. Things are happening. Let's move. I feel like we've wasted so many days in separate places. We can do it. Yes, I definitely want to. All right, so what do we do first?

Do we know who we're talking to? Do we have stuff to show people? Do we have, should we look at this lewdness stuff? Here in Jerusalem, yeah, we have the stuff from lewdness, we could identify it. Aja Dial at the Dial Hall is here. You wanted to go meet with? Milo. Milo.

Is there anyone here in town that would know magical devices? Maybe we can go to someone to find more out about this harness. With magic? Milo might know. Oh, Milo might. I don't have my list of things, but like. Hexen might, but it'd cost us, right?

You know, at this point, I'm not entirely sure. Things might be weird enough now that. The moon's stuck in the sky. I don't think she knew what they were up to, but again, she's tricky. If she's alive. She probably is. And maybe this is enough for, I don't know,

maybe this is enough for her to be a reasonable person. I don't know. We know that Ajit is here. Does he know magic stuff? Does he, is he, is he that kind of professor? He knew about curses. I mean, he knew about- Do you remember? Arcannely focused?

Not necessarily arcannely focused. They had skills that you know. He is a member of a powerful Mahon house and puts most of his energy into the tutelage of the underprivileged kids of the city and surrounding spaces, but you're uncertain if he has any sort of magical background. Yeah, and Milo's just a junky artificer.

Well, if you need stuff from there anyway, maybe you could just get his two cents. Sure. And then we can bump it up. Yeah. I think, how do we feel about, do a quick run, we meet up tonight, we have dinner and drinks, and go over what we've got.

I think that's, I think some of us have errands to run. I think some of us need to maybe breathe and reconnect, ground with the things that make us happy, or has to figure out what would bring you down to earth. What are Laudna's hands doing? What are Laudna's hands doing? Probably fidgeting, a little clenched.

Maybe she starts pulling chunks out of her hair. Yeah, definitely a different trip. It wasn't that fun, it really, it was only fun like 10% of the time. The 10% was really fun, but the rest of it, but the rest of it, we were just very, very worried. Give us some time. We're going to meet you there. We will.

Before we all spread out, I think we touch base with who we can here in this city and see what folks here know, but you got you lot back here. Would you guys be up for going home with me? Yes. Yes, where was, it was? To go check on the voice? Zephrah.

To check on Keyleth, yeah. Yeah. The voice of the Tempest? I really need to know what she wants to do next and if she's okay and she's more well-connected than anyone we're going to find here. She can send us almost anywhere, right back to that tree she sent us to in the first place if we want to go to the Malleus Key. Yeah, I could try to take us there in the morning.

I used all my... Oh, great. I mean, that gives us a day here, and then... I'll find out how long I need. We go to your home. I know it's a big ask, but it would mean a lot to me. Hopefully, if I screw up the spell again, maybe someone in Zephyr would be able to help us out, yeah.

Very important person for us to talk to. Okay, thanks. We're not going to be able to do this if we can't get right, and we need to get right. Let's not, let's just be, let's do this the right way for once. Okay. Little level set.

What is the right way? Oh, yeah. Oh, yes, oh, yes. And you have an object from there. Not a mess. You're from there. You're from there. You're an object from there. All your clothes are objects from there. She's objectifying you. That's true. So we'd be able to just, it's,

I wouldn't be able, y'all, I wouldn't be able to fuck it up. Oh, it's automatic success? You just know that? I just know that. I just know that in my bones. You picked this up while we were split. Yes, yes, we got other magical items, too.

We did a lot of good things. What does this look like? That is a good question. It's just a fist. It looks like a... You've got to open it up if you want to mime. You've got to... World's best sorcerer mug.

It feels wrong to open it up. Nope, it's a fist. Yeah, no, that's fair. Touche. That is the size. I forgot. No, no. It's weird. It is a long stave, about that long. About how long?

About that long. Okay. With a twisting dark wood. What's the width? No way to find out. Figure it out, yeah. It has areas where thorns emerge from it, but they've been sanded down, so they're just these little nubs.

But it has this... Let it ride. But towards the top, it has this almost hand-like grip with a crystal there that's like a dull quartz coloration to it that you've noticed with the expenditure of the magic, it goes to a clear crystal. Then as it begins to regain its composure,

it goes to more of an opaque coloration. Ooh. Was it a very dusty? It was a dusty staff because it was in the... Oh yeah, no. It definitely looks like it's been in an attic for a long time and seen in the ages of disuse. Grampy staff. Oh yeah.

Okay. Not one thing. I clean it with a rag. Not one thing. Oh, I know by now. Yep. I'm trying to fight it. I said it's a station. And you found this on your travels. And Ludinus's, It's Ludinus's.

This is Ludinus's. You can swallow your meal. Swallow your ale, Jesus. It's all right. Did you order the ale or the meat? I don't know. No, y'all, I've got a circlet. Did you get that from a street vendor? I have a circlet now.

You know I have a circlet. It blocks thoughts. Wow, you guys are just. I don't hear thoughts. No, but I got it before we got separated. Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry. Anyway. It's all right. Listen, you can learn a lot. No, I mean, you can level up with us.

You're inspiring. We got it in Ludinus's shit, right? So I lowered my zip. And how did you? Oh, because you went to Uthodurn, and Uthodurn, they were like, oh, go to the Savileir Wood and here's shit. They basically said that you can't leave.

We have no way to leave. We had no teleport, no nothing. So they said it would be several days before anybody would be back that would be able to transport us. They said in the meantime, you can go to the Savalir Wood and research Ludinus if you want to. So that's what we did.

So we weren't just sitting on our asses. We did have a goat that died. It exploded. We also had to fight a celestial bull. A celestial bull. Well, we didn't fight it. Well, no, we befriended it. We could have fought it, and it would have been real bad.

We had to fight. You made friends with a stellar bull? Yeah, it was a really good trip. Oh my gosh, Laudna, we found this, the Sovereign Wood. You have to go there. It's terrible, but wonderful. And there's ghosts and creatures,

like a wolf with five long, necky heads. You went to Spooky Woods. We went to Spooky Woods. Called the Wolf King in Miasma. We're going to go there. That sounds so cool. We're going to go there. I just thought he would've loved it.

No, it's right up my alley. Oh, Miasma. That sounds so gross. My asthma. I just thought you would've loved it. There was ears right up my alley. Oh, my asthma. I feel so guilty. Don't feel guilty. I do, I feel guilty. I don't want to. Hey, I feel guilty. That's like a human emotion. I am so proud of you.

And you fell in love. I did, I'm sorry. I know I don't, maybe it wasn't love, though. Maybe it was just synapses and circuitry. Stop it. Lust. No, it was probably synapses and circuitry. Stop it. Lust. No, it was probably just nothing. Forget it. It's fine. And Deanna was an old fling of yours?

Yeah, from 200 years ago. Incredible. That sounds like my nightmare. She was killed and then brought back to life, and she had a family and kids. It was really crazy. Hey, before we go our separate ways, I'm going to just pull out this wooden rod

from Ludinus that I have. Is that a different thing from her wooden rod? Correct. Do that wooden rod. I'm going to identify it, just in case this helps send us on our way. Okay. It has a faint magical essence to it, but just enough where you can pick up what its purpose is.

This small, shaped, unique part of a green-brown wood to create this rod is a focused tether to the Feywild. It's used as a key for transplanar travel to... Plane shift. Plane shift to a specific place in the Feywild. Oh, okay. A specific place.

Oh, that's right. Because Ludinus was, we thought he was draining. That's what we thought, the harness thing. It drains energy, potentially, from powerful beings. And from wardens of the wild. Oh shit, what if you used it against the? Do you know anything? We asked you about this, we didn't remember.

Did I know anything? I think you thought, but you didn't. I thought, but then didn't. You could have just said yes. Well, as you mentioned, draining from Wardens of the Wild, one of probably the few beneficial things that we have discovered on our trip is, I think we mentioned it,

that there are these, they call them Eidolons. Right, right. Yeah, you said that. They are like wardens of the wild, is almost how they were described to us. They are basically remnants, almost like lesser beings from the Titans that were here that shaped the world far before the gods were here. We have the map. The map that Ludinus made of ones

that he had potentially sucked power from or destroyed. Ones what? He pulled power from multiple creatures. There were all these marks on a map and he had some X'd out like he had already taken care of them. Of this material plane? Or another? I think so.

Wasn't it? We got a talk with your boss about this. There's a lot to talk to your boss about. Am I remembering that right? It was a map of the Graying Wildlands and the surrounding area of Wildemount in which he had found different fey that existed in proximity to Mollias Myr.

Okay. Weren't there notes? There were many notes. I think we talked about them the last time. Yeah, we explained. Deanna, Frida had transcribed the entire thing. Into Elfish? Correct. So to clarify, which part of the notes

would you like me to clarify? Like, starting in the harness? What's the gen? Oh, the notes were on the, there was a physical harness and notes on the harness. There, yeah, there were multiple notes and different things. So around the harness and the contraption,

there were essentially design notes and engineering sketches, just parts of them. Some just damaged with time, but enough where you can see the similarities of it and its evolution. Discussions around it, talking about it being a physical, a physical regiment of magical infusion

and a synthetic recreation of the powerful natural magics that sustain the venerable Wardens of the Wild, is the phrase that accompanied some of these engineering notes. There are additional notes on dryad and fey entity locations throughout Wildemount, with eight of them crossed off, and then a note about feeding the root. Feeding the root. Dryad.

And then some mild notes on expanding his restoration sources into the Fae Realm. Feeding the root. Double OT or R-O-U-T? Double OT. We are going-U-T? Double OT. Malva. The person who helped us teleport here was an archdruid,

part of the Dryads. Ashen, Orym, help me out here. Hevestros. Huh? That was their name? Hevestro? Hevestro. Hevestro. Hevestro, give me a second.

Yeah, I know, that was mine. He guarded this place called the Verdant Tomb, where he was guarding this emerald obelisk that encased this other archdruid? This older archdruid? An ancient member of the Galdrashari, which is one of the most ancient druidic orders in Exandria.

Their spirits were right, wasn't it? Of the what? The Galdrashari. Yeah, the Galdrashari. Like the predecessors of the druidic ancestors. So we could take this harness there and suck the spirit into ourselves and become more powerful.

I think that's exactly correct. Or, huh. Her name was Everthriel? Evithrothor. Evithrothriel. Yeah, that was a word I thought of. Her name was Everthriel? A-Vithrothor. A-Vithrothor. Yeah, that was a word. A-Vithrothor. So many.

She was old as fuck and she was in a green crystal. Ah, the Inventor was the shadow entity you found. Oh wait, Amadva? Amadva? Amadra. Amadra? What the fuck is happening? I don't know. We're all having a collective stroke right now

with what's happening. There was a dense amount of druid names in a very short amount of time. Hail Lord Garfield! Yeah. Omadua was the name of the... That's a U and not a V. Oh yeah, I know, I put it up there. There we are, yeah.

Omadua was the ancient Galdrashari. Correct. Anyway, I don't know. The reason why I'm saying this is it's just triggering something a little bit in my brain because they were in this town that we were in, the Hearthmore. Hearthdale.

Hearthdale, you're right. It's been a few weeks. It was a rough trip. It was a very rough trip. We've been laid in old shitty clothes. The whole town. The Hearthdale, yes. The whole town was done with the gods

and done with religion and were more honoring these older Eidolon spirits. We were having a lot of opinions about gods. Yes. I saw some things. About which one's the best? No, they hated them all. And there were acolytes of the Dawnfather

who had come in and more or less took over and built a massive temple to the Dawnfather right on top of their sacred land that was not warranted and was not wanted. So they wanted us to help them. In order for us to get the information to be teleported back to you them, in order for us to get the information to be teleported back to you all, we helped them rid the town

of the presence of the Dawnfather. All of these people. Okay, I mean, you just disrupted the gods now? You kicked them all down? It seems like whatever Ludinus has done has the Temple of the Dawnfather, at least in Issylra, clamping down and maybe overreaching,

trying to enforce their... The gods weren't invited there. And there was other culture and their own form of worship. The people who lived there did not want a invited there. And there was other culture and their own form of worship. The people who lived there did not want a temple there. They didn't hate. There was no hate. They just wanted to be left alone.

Still, you attacked the realm of the gods while they're being attacked by Ludinus and all of his... We didn't attack the realm of the gods while they're being attacked by Ludinus and all of his... We didn't attack the realm of the gods. We attacked foot soldiers. We attacked pawns. We politely asked them to leave. We asked them to do the right thing. We appealed to their sense of moral judgment

as holy people. I've seen you ask nicely and it's not nice. Orym asked me. I promise you we did. Orym did, Orym, tell him. I did my best to end it peacefully, tell them they were, their time was better spent. Not there.

But honestly, we needed to get back to you guys. We have shit to do. Sure, yeah, you're right. Eyes on the prize. Well, let's go do the shit that we got to do. Milo! I'm going to go talk to Milo. Who's going where?

Well, do you need me with you? I don't want to abandon you. What the fuck, FCG? She was really upset! She should be alone. I'm not. She was upset when we, she was upset. I don't want her to be upset with us.

I will go. That's so considerate. He's so considerate. I am! Fuck off, I am! I'm serious, I'm being genuine. No, you're not. I am! Everything he says sounds sarcastic. I've just gotten used to it.

Serious question, vibe check. How are you doing, Letters? I've been better! You know what I mean. Why are you so upset? I'm fine, I'm fine. You were still stressed from before. Is it because you had to say goodbye to your boyfriend? Yeah, but I don't want to focus on that now.

Are you sure? Yeah. Okay. We got shit to do, and we got to focus on each other. I took my eyes off of my last group and they all died, and I don't want to do that again. Well. I get that. But didn't you decide? Who's going where?

So we can decide. We'll unpack tonight. We're going to have a drink tonight and hash things out. Sure. You are going to see Milo. Do you want to go to see Milo, too? I would like to, but sure. Then go see Milo. Okay.

I'm going to go see Ajit, who's coming with me. I'll go. I'll go with you. That actually is a... And maybe... Lana? You guys want to go shop? Where are you going? Actually, is it? And maybe... Lana? Maybe you should just go shop? Where are you going?

Wherever you're going. You've earned this, come on. You don't even have to just know what it feels like again, okay? Remind yourself. Yeah, you don't have to do anything. Just take a couple hours. Maybe just a spa day or something.

Have some human contact. We can go see. We can go see our old house. We should probably go check in with Shadonna. I'm sure she'd be happy to see us. Yeah. Maybe we go check in with Shadonna and I get a new blouse because it does not match this corset.

No, yeah. Sorry about that. I should have... No. I love the corset. It's beautiful. It's so beautiful. Let's go see Shadana.

Okay. All right. Hoo-ha. So as you scatter to the three different directions, I guess we'll go ahead and first pursue Milo. Why not? So this will be Ashton and FCG. All right. So you trek from where you are,

not terribly far from Fon'Cee Hollow. You take one of the numerous, well-known cavern entrances to take one of the numerous, well-known cavern entrances to the center of the core spire itself, into the darker, subterranean interior of the space. You come to the latticework of intricate walkways and ladders that build the odd cluster of people that have found life and vibrancy here

within the shaded, mostly ignored interior of the spire itself. As you climb down to the familiar exterior of the home that you've kept before you left on this venture, you look at the crook house before you, the door closed. After a brief knock, Milo comes to the door. They open it up.

You can see they don't have their knitted cap on. Their bright blue colored hair falls to the side and a thick braid dangles for a minute. They pull their glasses out and put them on. You can see they just got up from a nap and look out to the two of you. Hi. Hey, it's been a minute.

Shit's been crazy. Where you been? Come in, come in! Sure. Looks past you all, close to the doors. You come inside. The place definitely has that musty smell of getting a lot of work done. The kind of work that they do

lends to a lot of very interesting chemical smells occasionally. But indeed, Milo plops around on the couch, looks at both of you. Looks like you freshened up a bit, but also a little bit like shit than when we left off. I got it, there's a story here. What's going on?

Oh boy. You see this shit in the sky? So that's actually one of the reasons why we're back. You do this? I don't want to. That's not fair, is it? That's fair, we did that. Fuck.

That's so cool. You fucked with the moon? Well, if we don't tell them anything else, I think they'll stick with that's cool, but. We didn't stop it, so you could say we're responsible. It's bad. It's a bad thing. Yeah, it's complicated.

Okay. Had a hunch, just wanted to confirm. Haven't been outside in a few days. Okay, so have you noticed anything? How is your magic doing? Has anything been weird? Yeah, I could say, and you watch as Milo looks around the room, and the normal workshop they keep

is in complete disarray. It looks like a lot of things that they've built in the past, whether it be just small trinkets or projects they were working on had been completely disassembled, are in the process of being reassembled. A lot of the glowing baubles that hang from the nets within the top are just dark.

And you see Milo scratches their face before going, Yeah, some of my stuff just stopped working. I can't figure out why. I'm probably going to have to just start re-enchanting engineering from scratch. So I've been on a sleepless bender to problem-solve this from the backside in. I think we can help with a little bit of that.

Really? A little. Please. Maybe. Anything you got? Sure. Short, short-form answer. I'm going to make some coffee. I'm going to get up and rush off to the kitchen real fast. Were your meds arcane again?

I can't remember. I... Shit. What did you need from Milo? They come back and I already have a thing of coffee. I'm like, I already made some. I totally forgot. Your bath's cold now. It's cold,

but I got something for that. I'll take it. If it still works. Shit. They dart off. Are you okay? It's complicated. I imagine it's complicated, but yeah. Yeah, kind of.

I don't know. We'll get... Is Milo still bouncing or? Bouncing a bit, and you can see from one of the back chambers, Anya Otta looks out. Oh. Blinks a bit. What time is it? Boy, I he looks out. Oh. Blinks a bit. What time is it?

Boy, I don't know. Tuesday? Yeah. Okay. It's a Tuesday. Ish? Oh yeah, or whatever day is it. Windy Pilar? Thank you, I know we were talking about calendars. I like your coat.

Oh, well, thanks. Do you want it? Sure. Oh. You didn't think that through, did you? Nope, didn't. All right. Just fucking with you. It's fine, it's fine.

Glad you're alive. Thank you. I got some money on, well, I just lost a little money, but you know, it's the best money I ever lost. Oh, I appreciate that. Hey, it's good to see you. You too, you look a little frazzled. Yeah, yeah.

More than all the time, so. Yeah. Rough go? Yeah, it's not done yet. It's hard to get work in this craziness, so I'm going to go smoke my way into a nap. All right. Smoke? What's she smoking?

Oh god. The fun stuff. Closes the curtain. I may have some, I'll look. Okay. Milo comes back and pulls out a small, like a reddish platform stone, and sits down and puts the cold coffee on top of it,

mug by mug, and flicks it, then begins to heat up a little bit. It's like, see? Okay, some things still do work. We'll see. That's good. Some magic's working, some isn't. There's ley line issues, and the ley lines have shifted, and you can,

if you can, it looks like if you can find places where they are now, I guess, I don't know how this stuff works, but if they're conjunction points or junction points now, that's where things are still working. Gotcha, all right. I don't know if that helps. Not really.

Slurp down this freshly heated coffee and start sitting over your mugs under the hot stone to heat them up. I have a favor for him to ask. I have a big fucking favor to ask. Sure, I got nothing else on my plate. I hand Milo a note and I open up the whole walk-down,

grab a... Whoa, still weird. Thank you. I come out with a bag and I hand it to Milo. Take a look at that note. Okay. Go ahead.

We're just going to sit here watching him read? Won't take long. How fast can you do that? Really, how fast can you do that? Really, how fast can you do that? Ah. I may have to do a quick shopping trip, but logistically, with like a 75, 76% chance of success. Don't care, go ahead. Skip to the end.

Day and a half. Cool, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, if that works. I will go another night without sleeping. It will be a 63% chance of success. Uh, day and a half it is. Shit. All right. And I pull out my hammer, and I hand it.

Whoa. All right. What are you plotting? I think I'm getting a real job. What does that mean? I think we're going to maybe save the world somehow. We'll see. Fuck it. Yeah? Yeah, I think we're going to maybe save the world somehow. We'll see. Fuck it.

Yeah? Yeah, I think we're going to be some fucking heroes. Don't you need a weapon for that? Nah. I mean, I'll come back for it later. Oh, okay. All you need is love. What? What does that mean?

It's me fucking with you. Oh shit. That felt scary. You're scaring me. My leg was like, oh, oh. Okay. All right. This is, I really mean it.

And if you hear from any of the others, I need to talk to as many. If you hear from the old crew, just please let me know. No, yeah, I don't know. Okay, I'll put down some feelers. I'm going to go pick up some of my stuff that I might need. All right.

Hey, FCG. Yeah? I'm running back. Leans into you, but as you get up to leave, he goes, Keep an eye on him. I don't like this behavior. Well, I like it, which is what I don't like about it because it's positive and healthy.

Scary, right? Yeah. Doesn't seem right. No, but weirdly, the most right it's ever felt, which seems wrong. Yeah, definitely. I'm deeply conflicted, but equally excited. I'll try to figure out what's going on. Yeah, if you don't mind.

Okay. Ashton! What? Oh yeah, I run back in. Yeah. A hero. Bet you 100 gold, you fuck it up. Let me go find 100 gold, and we'll do that.

Wow. Don't have it right now. He's not even betting money he doesn't have? This is so weird. Yeah, no, I'm broke. Mm. All right. Goes and shuts the curtains and the windows,

which is funny because there's no daylight that gets into here anyway. Yeah, I'm going to go back into the room. Do you want to grab any? I don't know what stuff you have back there, or I just want to, you know. Grab some bits of metal and stuff, but. Yeah, I'm going to grab some clothes.

I think, yeah. Are you sure you're all right? I mean, this is what people do when they're getting ready to die or something. They come correct and turn over a new leaf. Are you dying of a disease or something? I think it's kind of the... You know how, I'm clearly throwing shit

in the hole while I'm doing this. You know how you just can spend all your fucking time telling people to do a thing and you're doing it because it's what you need to do? Where you just see your fucking shit on other people all the fucking time. Sure, sure. Well, I had a bit of,

I learned a lot in these last few days. I saw a lot of shit and I thought about my life and the people who've been in it and the things that have happened to me from every fucking moment and decisions. Yeah. I think we're all going to have to be the people we need to be to make this, to do something.

This is, I don't know. I don't want to be worthless right now. This is not a time to be worthless. This is not a time to be ineffective. It's not a time to be... How to put this? I need you. I need you to tell me about your boyfriend. Oh.

Well, that's easy enough. But first, can I just hug you? I mean, you're- Hug, just make sure you go in hard. Will it hurt? No, just go in. It's the weird soft crush. I'm so proud of you.

Mm, soft crush. You're getting a purpose and a trajectory, and you're thinking about others other than yourself, and a trajectory. You're thinking about others other than yourself. You're, I can't cry. I don't have the ability to, but I would if I could. Maybe Milo could add a little dropper or something.

How about I just pour some water on you next time? You need to adjust. I'll just let it roll. That's pretty good. Yeah. Tear me. I'm proud of you. I don't know what happened to you and I don't need to, but. No, it's honestly, I mean, you're the person I should talk to about this.

I don't like having things to lose. And now I have a bunch of shit to lose. So it's either I let it get lost again, or maybe try not to fuck it up. So these fuck ups, yeah, this is... It's just fucking in it now. I don't know. You're either in it or you're not,

and I've decided it's been. Well, that is, the way you put it, it still seems punk rock to me. Love, man, love. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's got to... Yeah, family's dangerous. Sure is.

And as we get his stuff, I'll just start telling him about everything with Frida and how we met and all that stuff. I am so fucking proud of you. And I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm so proud that you finally got the thing that I have been trying to fucking give you since the day we met, and I've just-

A kiss? No. No. A reason to fucking live. Yeah. So please keep that, because I am so tired of saving you from yourself. because I am so tired of saving you from yourself.

I can't anymore. So do not forget that there is some reward at the end of this. Please, I am so tired of the self-destructive shit in a lot of these people, and we need you working for so many reasons. I mean, that coming from you probably means double,

because you're the king of self-destructive shit, so yeah, yeah, we all need to do that. You know, there's a reason, I don't know. I don't know why I took you back here still at time, I don't know why I took you back here still at time. But clearly, I'm a genius. So. And I'm going to need that to be respected on occasion.

That I am possibly the smartest person of all of these. Absolutely. Let it be known. Ah, you're a terrible liar, bless you. I'm not programmed to. Yeah. I want you to remember that whatever happens going forward, that we are family.

And it doesn't mean that, it doesn't mean that just because we're going to have words with each other or get angry at each other, that I'm in no way prepping for things that are clearly going to happen. But even when we yell, or even when we're going to fucking disagree in this crazy fucking thing,

I don't know. I don't know. Man, just don't. We're all so happy when you take care of yourself and it makes it easier. You won't have to work so hard taking care of us. I'll do my best. And yeah, I'm just excited to see this new side of you. And I'll do my best to take care of myself, too.

And I'll let you know if I ever start to freak out. You do the same. Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. Let's go. Okay. I finish putting all my stuff in. Okay.

Let's go back to the bar and hear how fucked up our time was. You're Tiger once again with plastic hands. We weirdly have made it better. Kind of, yeah. Wait, who painted the nails? I think Ashley did. Yeah.

Good work. Beautiful. All right. Well, you gather the rest of your things, take the downtime you need to for the time being, and then exit for the rest of your journey out of the Fon'Cy Hollow. We come over to Imogen and Laudna. Who?

The two of you have splintered off. Oh no. Oh no. No, no, no. Jesus. Oh. No. Oh no.

Oh no. That's not correct. Not true. You're right, you're right, you're right. No, it's true. I! Oh no. Not correct. Not true. You're right, you're right, you're right. No, it's true. I'll fix it. How did you? No. Don't look, don't look.

I want you to see you're surprised like the rest of us, Marisha. We'll just keep going like it's no big deal. Imogen and Laudna. He's not distracting at all. Not in the slightest. What are the two of you up to? You're such a dick.

How's that? Oh, okay, I'm much better. Sure. Thank you. Conditional. Yeah. Such a dick! Oh. Svendred, Dick! Should we check on Shadonna first? Of course. All right.

All right. All righty. So the two of you trek terribly far from the Dundavar, and you come to the mass neighborhood of multicolored homesteads that are built like this leaning quilt against the side of a large portion of the Core Spire. The neighborhood itself, beautiful and welcoming.

For all the things that you've seen and all the wonders that you've been able to behold in recent months' journey with your new companions, there is the simple beauty of coming to one of many homes that you've called home, especially one as welcoming as Shadana's. Trekking through the winding staircases and small walkways that weave between

some of these homesteads as you ascend the stark angle to get to the exterior of her simple home. You see the familiar windows and a door that sits closed at the front. I called her, checked in on her to see if she had heard from you. Apparently, I can do it over short distances still, just not long ones.

Yeah. All right, yeah. She sounded frazzled. Shadonna did. It's understandable, I guess. There's been a lot going on. This is where it all started. Hello. Shadona!

Oh, my goodness. It's so good to see both of you. It's been quite some time. Oh, please, come in, come in. Give her a hug. Oh! A little a hug. Yeah, a little group hug. I'm fragile. Yeah, sit back down. I can relate.

Let's make some tea. I'll go start making tea. Oh, poor. If we break her spine. Hell yeah. Okay, all right, so. You spoke to me through a daydream. I did, yeah.

Yeah. It was very nice to hear your voice. You as well. Did you end up renting the rooms out again, or did you keep them empty? Oh, no, I just kind of... I liked the solace for a bit and wanted to leave it in case you came back.

Oh. And the gold we've given you has sustained you? Oh, tremendously. I've taken up painting. And she, you see the room where you stay, she pulls the door open and looks. While the bed and everything is still set up, there's also an easel.

You can see there's this really nice kind of watercolor and dappled brush rendition of the Vidun Dvar, but it's bleeding in an intentional way. It's very interesting and very pretty. She's talented. Wow. You're talented. Thank you.

Are you still knitting? I am, in between, but this is also taking a lot of my time. It's beautiful. Thank you. Good. Are you here to stay for a bit? Would you like to take the room again?

I have some oranges. She goes and gets a bowl of oranges. I'll have an orange. Pulled apart little slices. Oh. Thank you, Shaddaa. Thank you. Don't want scurvy. Yeah. We won't be staying, it seems. Oh, okay. Maybe for tonight.

Oh, yeah, if that's all right. Sure, yes. We have a little dinner planned, and then we'll maybe come by after. Of course, I'll get it ready, don't worry. How have you been, especially with the recent events? Oh, it's been a little, it's been a little scary.

Yeah, It has. Everyone's very tense. They haven't gone outside much in recent days. I should go shopping soon, but there's a lot of unfamiliar soldiers. I will go get you some groceries. We're going to go get you some groceries right now.

That sounds great. You stay here. We'll be back. Okay, I'll get the bed ready and... No, no, no rush. You don't have to do that. We can handle it ourselves this evening. Okay. Yeah.

See you in a little bit. All right. Any requests? Looks like you're good on oranges. Looks like that's the only thing you have. It's mostly just oranges. I like them a lot. But no, if I could get, like, some cauliflower. Cauliflower?

About a half pound of potatoes. Let's go of oranges. Some fresh lemons. Not pre-squeezed, it needs to be fresh. Yeah, fresh. Two loaves of bread. So all the usual. And it starts just going on this full list

of restocking a house. We'll do a sweep. Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about it. Yeah, we got you. All right. A little lavender oil. I mean, can you do that? Getting fancy. I know.

That's expen- Oh, I can afford it. You gave me a whole lot of money. Organic. We did. We'll be back. I know. Okay. Yeah, no. As we go shopping,

I imagine we don't have to play that all out. This is not how I imagined reuniting would go. I'm sorry for my outburst. I'm sorry y'all went through so much. It's not directed at you or anyone else, I hope you know that. I do. Just the circumstances. That's what's frustrating. It is weird, Lodna. I can't hear your thoughts. Even now?

Yeah, I don't... Because you circle it. That's great, that's... It's great, but it's also strange. It's very strange. Does it make crowded environments easier? So much better. That's wonderful. You don't have to listen in to get my thoughts. I'll always share them willingly.

You can just ask. Can I kiss you? I can't tell if it's all right or not anymore. All right. All right. All right, so I will. I do, I do. I kiss her. Describe it.

No! Describe it. Use your imagination! With your words, Matt! Continue your scene. I'll describe it. God, no. Three for three, Marisha.

Hey! I was making a dead person who wasn't romanceable. I know, I know. Oh. Stop it, stop it! Stop! You don't have to. No, I just...

Obviously, I care for you an immense deal. I know. I don't know if you realize how much of an anchor you are for me. And when you weren't there, I was adrift. And Imogen, when you make me better, and when you weren't there, I did horrible things. I'm afraid I'm a bad person. You're not a bad person. You're not a bad person.

I kiss her again. I've... I've heard everything inside of you, Laudna. You are not a bad person. I called you my anchor. My tether. We're that for each other. Whatever you did, you can tell me. When... Bordor...

betrayed us... It was just it. It was the last. I was so strained and stressed and at the end of my rope and... literally hanging on by a thread. And he was just I couldn't deal with one more person betraying us. We put our trust in him and

and Denise and Prism, just as you all did with Deanna and Freda. And just like you and so many other people who have betrayed us in the past. It broke me. And... I couldn't let him live. Oh.

Had he attacked you, or was it? Yes, this was after he revealed that he was with the Ruby Vanguard, and he unleashed this acid sphere, this vitriolic sphere upon all of us, and watched several people go down. And I lost control. And...

I lost control. And I haven't asked, but I think she's back. I think she's back. And I just feel so guilty because of what all of you all went through to defeat her. And just in that moment, I was another person, and I sucked the life force out of him. And then I felt it. I felt that dull, deep beating heart

that wasn't mine return, and I haven't felt it in months. And I'm so sorry. It feels just like such... Such a betrayal to everything you all went through. You don't need to apologize. He attacked you, first of all. Fuck him.

And whatever happened with her... We'll make it right again. We'll make it right again, all right? Can I be honest with you? Always. There's part of me that thinks... Maybe we shouldn't. We're about to face the grandest challenges of our lives.

You want to use her? Make yourself stronger? Laudna has a hard time even admitting it out loud. I get it. Look at the fucking moon in the sky I don't know if I want to get rid of it Power's very tempting And I won't judge you either way

Maybe we can... Maybe it's our destiny... to haunt us. Maybe it's our destiny to fight it. I guess time will tell. Together either way. You're very capable. Let's get these groceries. Do you think she's a wry kind of a woman, or a whore?

A pumpernickel. Of course she is. Pumpernickel. As you're doing this, you begin to hear there's some louder whispers from around part of the marketplace. You hear there's some like, what's going on? Shh, shut up.

And there's a crowd gathering not too far from the core of the marketplace. You glance over to where it is, and there's about two dozen or so people gathered in a circular area. And you hear a voice, a familiar voice. We hurry over. Yeah. You catch phrases, it's familiar.

We were never meant to be bound by their laws. We were never meant to be bound by their laws. Fuck! We were always meant to rise above them as you hear the voice speaking. Does it sound like it's echoey, like over a loudspeaker or like a person? It sounds like a person.

What? I see the air. Get there, get there. Is he there? We're going, we're going. You rush up and in this crowd, there is a fountain in the middle of this area and floating above the fountain in a semi-transparent illusory image, is Ludinus.

Just in case, I'm putting my hood up. Giving a speech not unlike the one that you heard at the base of the Malleus Key, speaking of continued themes of the time to finally rise past the imposed destiny, to no longer be the beasts of burden, but be the driving force of our future and our fates. Does it sound like it's just this single spot in the city,

or can we pick up echoes like it's surround sound, like he's got multiple of these going on? This, from what you can tell, it's all coming from this source, and the volume is carrying out for about this neighborhood. More people are gathering. Some folk are seeing this from a distance,

and you can now see it's got the attention of the entire neighborhood. It's about now that two warden guards start rushing up and start pushing through the crowd to get over there, and one of them says, fuck, another one! They both jump into the fountain and you see them looking through the water as the illusion is flickering a bit.

One of them ends up pulling up this small crystalline sphere and throws it on the ground. The other one smashes it with his hammer. Oh my gosh! As it does, the illusion flickers out and vanishes. Go on, get your days. What's the reaction of the crowd listening to the? Most of it seems to be fear and confusion.

Make an insight check for me. First roll. First roll of the night. 21. 21, not bad. General glance reading the crowd. It's weird. We're fucking bad. General glance, reading the crowd. It's weird. We're fucking talking. No, we're not. First glance at the crowd looking around you.

Most people appear to be... This is adding on to their general anxiety about the continued solstice, the moon and the sky. Everyone's already been keeping to themselves, but when this happens, people gather. As soon as it's gone, they all realize they're clustered around each other, and they're all looking into those faces,

and a lot of them feel like they just want to get away from the center of the crowd. A handful of people seem to be taking a moment to absorb and walking away. The wardens are immediately dispersing this gathering, and you gather this probably isn't the first time they've done this. Well, that's news.

Must be regular occurrences. Can I even, it's probably fruitless, but grab a few of the shards? Certainly, yeah. They shattered. Yeah, as soon as it's broken, the guards just keep going right to pushing the crowd apart and you can quickly dive up and grab a cluster. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Is it sharp? It'll cut your little hands. I mean, if you were to crush it, it would probably cut in parts of it, but it's... My paper skin. Yeah. Crystal cut. Yeah, it's not it's... My paper skin. Yeah. Crystal. It's not like a glass exterior with the shards.

It's more like a broken crystal sphere that was about that large, like a small material almost. That means... he has allies distributing these. Yeah. Keep my herd up the rest of the walk, just in case. Okay.

Just get these groceries back. Join me on this. All right. Just get this fucking drop off these groceries. All right, so you drop off your groceries and you continue your shopping through the days. Is there anything specifically you want to do? Oh yeah, maybe we should, do you want to get a dress?

I do want to get a dress. All right, I'll be back. You know, we don't have to make it a big deal. You guys are going to have to get a dress, too. But I imagine, what does the corset look like? Did you guys, or is that from what we're doing? No, I wanted you to be able to design it. Player's choice. Okay, player's choice.

Yeah, I just said I got you a corset, but if you wanted to describe it. I imagine it's maybe black, but got some embroidered flowers on it. Oh my god, that's exactly what I had planned. Really? I will projectile vomit on it. I imagine, because Lana has a little bit of money now.

She would probably lean into her Regency romance era. Ooh! Okay. I like the Pride and Prejudice thing going, too. I know, and I'm like, come and love what you have going on. I'm going to take off my jacket

so you can see the full dress, because it's so orgy. It's so fantastic. I mean, it's hard to find dresses like that here, too. She was so talented this dress. It was a custom? Yes. What the fuck?

I know, I know. You guys had such a better trip than us. I'll just find something off the rack, but maybe it's a little off-the-shoulder situation. And if it's a black corset, I don't want the blacks to clash, you know? But maybe it's a deep purple. Yeah, you know how blacks don't match?

Sometimes it's a reddish-black and a bluish-black, and they look wrong together. And it looks weird. Especially in the light. One of the blacks look almost brown. Yeah. I heard that blacks would clash. They're blacks that don't mess. I don't know.

I'll show you. That blue does not go with that blue. Yeah. Yeah, that's even more than that. Now I will be better. All right, fine. So I imagine she's trying to emulate the lords and the ladies that she always had a mild obsession with.

Maybe it's a little off the shoulder situation, maybe a dark purple, but it's got a high neck, black lace Ooh! collar line. Like a little, still Victorian spooky. So it's got that and maybe a flared skirt that's got that Regency era slit in the middle

with a different color underneath. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And a corset, of course. Maybe it's that. Cool. And then I'll figure it out with the artist. Okay, there you go. Call him.

Yeah. What do you mean? What artist? Oh, oh, and she, okay, here's the thing. Oh, I also have these gloves, if you want them. You got me gloves? Well, no, they're the weave piercer gloves. Which, okay, here, I have the thing here.

Weave piercer gloves. They're magic gloves. They're magic gloves. You got me magic gloves. Check them out. I didn't get you anything. No the thing, here. Weave piercer gloves. They're magic gloves. They're magic gloves. You got me magic gloves! Check them out. I didn't get you anything. No, no, no. You ruined the fucking gloves. I had your vial on me the whole time. Just look and see if you want them. These gloves can act as a focus for his main weapon.

Plus two what? I know. They don't have to what what what? I had them on, but I had to take them off to hold this fucking staff. But you can have them, they're amazing. They're gorgeous. You just gave the word staff eight syllables. Style. Style.

Style. I love it. Maybe they're black lace gloves, like a little Madonna, and they match my neckline. Oh my god. I can make that happen. But I take, so the belts that I have been wearing was originally put on me by Delilah to make me look like, what's her face?

Oh. I just had it forever because it was the most. Her name was Vex. She was amazing. She's really big. Vex, that's right. Lady Vex, right. Yes, that's right, the lady. But you know, it was the nicest thing that I ever wore that was ever put on me, so it's just really,

I mean, it's well, it'll last forever. But I take the double belt and I take my pate house that Chetney made me and I'm going to attach, with a little bit of mending, the belt straps to it and make it a backpack. Oh, cool. That's pretty rad. Oh my god.

A pate backpack? Yeah, yeah, yeah. A pate house? It's a pate house, wooden house on her back. Come on. It's a little Baba Yaga tat. Yeah, so Regency era. You're even more into the woods witch aesthetic. She doesn't know that.

I love it, I love it. So yeah, she has the... Chetney! She has... I'm wearing your house as a backpack now. Fuck! No, it's very important! Yes, she's got this wooden hut on her shoulders now.

I love it. All right. Yes. All right. Yes. All right. Congratulations. As you are finishing up your shopping, we're going to move on to Fearne, Orym, and Chetney. So your troop ends up careening through, yeah, well,

careening through the comparably barren to previous times you passed the city streets of Drusar until you come to the exterior of the sprawling establishment known as Dyle Hall. You can see there are the large open archways and there are the multi inset into the ground circular amphitheater classroom step sections of the hall as you begin to approach.

Though the last time you were here, it was filled with children of multiple ages and there were multiple people talking. Here, it looks like there is just one group of about eight children that are gathered a bit close. You can see Adj is in the process of talking with them. You can see there are two other employees or at least associates that are off to the sides,

keeping watch off the outside road. As you approach, they glance over and curiously lean in before one of them recognizes you from the last time you were here and relaxes a bit. They both just keep an eye, though. As you approach the exterior, you hear him speaking to the children and says,

And it is at that point that the true birth of mathematics found its way into not just the way that we discuss and operate numerical value in Exandria, but also it became a strong weave within how magic itself is constructed. And that's why it's important to make sure you pay attention when we're teaching you mathematics.

And some of the children are like, There's a lot of it you won't use. I'll look around and he looks up at you. Ah. Let's go ahead and adjourn for a quick recess. Demond, if you want to go ahead and get them some snacks, we'll continue our class here in about, I'd say about 20, 30 or so minutes.

Thank you, students. And they scatter off and they're talking amongst themselves, but you see they're also looking at this strange trio of newcomers and you can see many of them are just locked eyes and almost bumping into things as they're not paying attention where they're walking. Keep up with your studies! Okay. Adjit approaches. Many of them are locked eyes and bumping into things as they're not paying attention where they're walking. Keep up with your studies! We're tired.

Adjit approaches. It's this really nice day wear coat, a high collar, Sherwani vibe to it, but it's a little bit shorter, just past the mid-thigh. Approaches, cups his hands. Friends, it's been a bit. Hi. Hi.

I can already tell you approach with a very intense purpose. What up, AD? Yeah, we've been out of town for weeks and gather things have changed here as much as they have in our travels. It's certainly been a different time. Jrusar hasn't quite seen so much attention.

As he looks past you all, he's looking in the direction of the Skyport. Even from here, you can see the cluster of skyships that are still up there, docked beyond its capacity. It's clustered maybe right now, close to 10 or so, and it looks like it was built to house four at a time. That all happened in a hurry? Yeah.

The days leading up to the solstice, a number of skyships approached from the north, docked briefly, and then went south. Since the solstice has occurred, it's been a steady stream from all manner of places. This ominous moon business has definitely seen quite a larger military presence this side of Markat, and we're ill built to house such a interesting flow through of people.

I don't want to overburden you with details, but we've just come from out in that direction, as he gestures towards the moon, looking into it. Hmm. Trouble that way. Hmm. I guess we're back briefly,

and we are on the move, but just wondering what the rumors are around town, about what everyone here has seen. Hmm. Well, from what I've heard, amongst all this chaos, the people of the city, of course, are very scared.

They're confused. They want answers, but the Quorum assures everyone everything's under control to remain with their day-to-day activities. But it's hard to hide the strange foreign armies that continue to arrive and pass through. They all seem to be heading to the Hellcatch. And of course, when that many foreign soldiers

are heading towards what is now a massive, glowing, red, ominous sign of impending doom, the people are a little riled, the children especially. And we're working hard to keep those here who don't necessarily have families to go back to calm, and those that do, to stay with them until times can feel safer. Military keeping pretty tight-lipped about everything?

As far as I know, yes. A few get drunk here and there and a few things slip, but it seems like there's an alliance going on between a number of foreign figures. There's definitely a seal still an influence here. Actually, but a day ago, the leader of Ank'harrel was here, meeting with the Shanday Quorum.

It looks like they're also reaching out to the Stratos Throne to possibly try and ally as well, to see how many people can get across Marquet and beyond to all look towards this as one. Or the leader of Ank'orel, that would be. Oh, it takes a moment to think for a second. It's a J'mon Sa'ord. What an interesting name.

However, people who don't understand the scope of celestial events like this tend to go off of what they know. And in recent history with the Apex War, many people are beginning to believe and spread rumors that this has all been orchestrated by the Stratos Throne and there's a new apex war brimming. So those of us who push for truth and honesty

are trying our best to push back at these rumors, but scared people spread scared thoughts. Doesn't help that many of the doomsayers start shouting for the possibility of a second calamity. So the people are understandably stressed. There's also been a bunch of... Many of the localized enchantments that the city has relied on

have, of course, broken during the time. Many of the automatons that run the cables between the spires are still being repaired. A number of the additional services, usually relegated to the affluent of the city, have been commandeered by the Quorum and made accessible to, on a need-to-use basis.

However, some prisoners are also bound by magic. And a number of imprisoned, dangerous criminals A number of imprisoned, dangerous criminals within Jrusar have since been broken out of prison and are being sought after. So the wardens are very much on high alert.

Hence the extra fuzz. Indeed, the Ivory Syndicate leader, Leftonia, was one of them, and they vanished within the city. Did you say, who did you, who'd say one more time? Who's this one? Leftonia. Oh, the one who was slimy and slipped through a hole? Leftonia? Yeah.

Oh no, not that. But everything's under control, according to the quorum. Sure, sure. Temple's business as usual. Interestingly enough, the Prakash Pyre has not lit its beacon at full flame since the solstice began,

and the temple has been shy in opening its doors. Orym has been debating for two minutes whether or not to share everything, and they know if there's even any use to or anything to gain for Ajit or us to do so. Any unwelcome visitors to Truesaur? I mean, aside from the creepy ass, overbearing skyships.

Violence in the streets? No violence, just a lot of fear, a lot of panic, a lot of misinformation, and a growing discontent with that lack of information. I feel if we have a few more weeks of this without to find answers from the Quorum, we're likely to see our eyes in violence. What are your guesses?

Towards what? All of this? That. Looks out towards Reutis and like, the Moon of Ill-Omen has so many superstitions that surround it, I can't even deign to imagine what sort of dark omen this represents. If that's it spilling some evil seed upon the land beneath it,

it's not far from where we live and that is something I don't want to conjecture. Well, someone out there is trying to figure out how to use it. How to keep your loved ones safe and close. Ooh, ooh, ooh. You should ask him about the old spirit beings you guys encountered.

The idol. The idol. Yeah. You ever heard that word? I can't say I'm familiar with that term in particular. My apologies. Insight check. Go ahead and roll an insight check, Fearne. In the present, don't worry, I'm just checking.

I'm going to have to roll back to the beginning. Sorry, baby. 26. So yeah. Oh my god, Whizkers. Join forces with the Mighty Nein to take on the terrifying Uk'otoa. Oh, this is brought to you by Whiz Kids.

Pre-order this behemoth today. Whiz Kids. Expand your collection of Whiz Kids. Critical Role miniatures at Whiz Kids. .io slash CRMinis or your? WizKids. Local game store.

How are you doing in all this? He's been keeping this air of stoic positivity. When you ask him this question, you watch your shoulders drop and he exhales deeply. The tough thing about being responsible for many good and scared people is they need someone to hold it together.

I understand. It's really hard to have all that responsibility on your shoulder. You'd have to be the strong one, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But I'll be all right in time. As long as they're okay, I'll be okay. Okay.

I'll just check it. So we've been out and about, and we found some cool old magic shit. Now, I usually get down with a little wiki-wiki-wiki magic, but I was wondering if you might have anybody that we could check with that might have some old-ass knowledge of stuff that might be around and not locked in their abode. Old old, old old. Old old, old old.

Let me check. Wait here just a moment. And he wanders off into one of the doors that lead into the main dial hall structure that's built into the rock of the Core Spire. We don't have to. I just figured because of resources are back up. Oh, that was a very good call.

We try to take it, we kill him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Less than a minute later, the door opens and Agit returns, walking an arm on the shoulder of this extremely elderly man, old enough to the point where the shoulders have pushed deeply forward and the back itself has this heavy arch.

Very bald, thinning hair, but this gentle smile. The eyes are very beady. And this white chin beard that continues to scrag off into this big puff where all the hair has just moved to the chin. Gravity's a bitch. Yep.

But wearing these nice, comfortable robes to drape and drag behind. This is Deremond. He was a mentor to me. I look after him in his later years, but he's the one scholar you might have that could help any of the rest of you. Hello, friends.

It is very nice to meet you. What are we doing? Oh, it's very nice to meet you as well. A friend of our shit is a friend of ours. We don't want to take up too much of your time, but we did come across a rather unusual, older, perhaps arcane item, and I was wondering if maybe we could get

your very learned eyes on it. Certainly. It would be my pleasure to take a look at it. Orym, are we alone? With the three of us? As much as we can tell, the five of us. Oh, is anyone watching right now? Yeah, Orym, are we alone? With the three of us? As much as we can tell, the five of us. Oh, is anyone watching right now? Yeah, Orym. I mean, there are many children about 100 feet away from you

that are looking from a distance. But is there anyone we don't want? You're far enough away from the main street that most anybody who's present or even taking notice of it, is likely to be people who work here, but go make perception check to see if one of those kids is from beyond.

Yeah. It's a 21. 21. No, best you can tell, most anybody who's paying attention at the moment is within or affiliated with the Dial Hall. I will loop around the Bag of Holding and I will pull out El Crusty Vest de Ludeness,

since we don't have a name. Old funnel duck. You see, Agit look at it, looks back a bit confused. The old gentleman reaches forward and takes it. Oh, this is very peculiar. It's a sex harness. Don't let the children see this. Long time.

Ah. I have no idea. Oh! Sorry. Can I finish my soup? Yes, you may. Yes, you may. No, two soups are worth you may. Don't tease me, you're the drag. Oh my god. You said they got the leader of Anquerelle,

J'mon Saurd, and the Stratis Throne involved. There's suspicion against the Stratis Throne. Are they meeting up here in Jrusar, or just moving in action, in concert, on whatever's happening out there? Gearing up and passing through? I'm not deeply affiliated with the inner workings of the Corem,

especially in this time of crisis, but those I do know, J'mon had been here for a few days and just left a day ago. It wouldn't surprise me if they are having meetings adjacent to the core of this in the Hellcatch. But I can continue to ask some questions

and should I hear anything, I can keep that information at the ready when next we talk or meet. That would be great. Did you hear anything when that dumbass was talking during the solstice, the guy that was like, I'm going to do all this stuff.

And did you hear him too? Lewdness? I don't believe I did. Oh. We didn't, nevermind. Oh. That was about your fault. No, no, no, not now, during the solstice.

Oh, oh, oh. Both times. Gotcha. Right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Hmm. I thought everybody heard it. Well, we didn't hear it in Uhtah Durn.

They didn't hear it in Uhtah Durn. That's right. Yeah. To clarify a bit, it seems the pattern is proximity to the nexus points of the ley lines. Ah, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I think we're. I think so.

Good, yeah. Anything else, Fearne? I don't think so. Okay. I really thought I was onto something, but then I wasn't. I forgot about something. I think you might still be onto something.

Just the wrong audience. No, but you also clarified that separation between the two as well. Some people heard it, some people didn't. And one thing to keep in mind, as I've also heard that you've dallied a bit with the Hubakusers, when last time you were here, some of the Mahon houses are seeking

to forgive higher profiles of the Corsairs. They can conscript them in this time where they need more hands. So at least for the time being, if you do encounter them in a negative light, just do know that they are allied with the Quorum and likely best to not come to blows. Ooh, copy that. Thank you.

Wait, weren't you friends with the Gorgonay? I had an affiliation with them. We went to go see them. Oh, how did that pan out for you? It was great. The Gorginay were amazing. Sorry, did I say it weird? No, no, it was cool.

The emphasis was on the wrong syllable. It was great. I met up with a whole bunch of Gorgine, and they were all sorts of different types. It was beautiful. I found my inner beast, and I've become more in tune with it. My magnetism grows day by day.

Day by day. Day by day. Day by day. I'm very happy to hear that. Curses concern me for those who aren't prepared to embrace what it means to live with such a challenge. Those that meet these challenges and live well is rare and worth celebrating. I hear you, baby. This face is a challenge. Those that meet these challenges and live well is rare and worth celebrating. I hear you, baby. This face is a curse. Mm.

Anyway. Well, thanks for taking time out of your day. We appreciate it. Of course. Stay safe and sane out there. I have a deepening suspicion that it's only going to get stranger. Wait, isn't there the Duskmaven Temple here? There is.

Any news? Any weirdness? I'm not a pious man. I could look into it for you, but. Okay. Sure. That's a good thought. That one's a really good one. Yeah, maybe just check it out. I don't know, for no reason to know.

You're welcome to go check it out yourself as well. Maybe that'll be a good way to just do that. It's on the Smolder Spire. Smolder Spire, that's right. On the top, top street network of the Smolder Spire. Kind of hard to miss. Sure, sure, sure.

Okay. Do you want to, I actually do not need, if we're going, thank you. Of course. Do you need anything else from me? No, we just need to delay the land. You did that heartily. I'll keep asking around,

and if I hear anything, I'll try and find you. In the meantime, I guess recess is over, and I hope you are all working on your multiplication tables. Back to work. This room began to gather up quickly. Zerat walked up, one of the kids' ears like, why is she so furry? Why are you so hairless?

Uh-huh. He looks at himself, and the girl goes, See! The kid stands there staring at you before backing back up. Yeah, mind your tongue. She's making a list. Checking it twice.

Oh god. You owned that. God, is Fearne the new Santa? Mrs. Santa Claus? Oh my god. She just steals things and just gives Santa? Mrs. Santa Claus? Oh my god. She just steals things and just gives them to others. Maybe her big pouch.

I'm going to decide who's mad at your knives. Not one of the reindeer. No. Definitely. The cloths. Who's her in? Yeah. The first Santa used to make toys. She just redistributes them.

Yes. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Sorry, I was going to say, I was thinking of looking for an upgrade today, but if we're going home, if I'm going home, I'll do it there. Do you want to swing by the temple? I don't think that's a bad idea at all.

Sure, sure. We could definitely do that. Molder? Yeah. Yeah. Let's go. All right. Okay. Wee-loo, wee-loo. Let's go. All right. Okay. We are there. Along the way,

as you're moving through some of the smaller marketplaces and heading towards the safest trajectory to get to the Smolder Spire, a scent catches your nose. Is that lavender oil? Is that old bitch? You don't speak that way about Shadana. No, no. And citrus?

It catches you as you're all hustling over, and it is the most incredible, savory meat pie you've ever smelled in your entire life. Your salivary glands immediately click off. Whoa. It's just like,. What's up? Hi.

Do you not, are you not catching that wave of fresh, flaky, no, it's like savory meats and oh, there's seasoning. You don't smell that on the wind? Both of you can make perception checks. Natural 20, so a 31. 31. Run!

Perception? 28. Whoa. I smell pie. No, you both smell something, but the scent is more like a stale grain, almost. I smell something stinky.

Sure you didn't fart? Stinky? No, no, no, hold on. Just trust me on this, it's going to pay off. Can I try and follow the scent? Yeah, yeah, okay. Make a perception check to see if you can follow the scent. Make a perception. Can I get advantage because I'm using my nose-nose?

Yeah. Guidance. Oh, what does that do for? D4. One. One? What, 21? Oh, 21. Oh my god. I heard one. 20! Fair enough, fair enough. I heard one. I heard one. 20.

Fair enough, fair enough. I was like, what, what? So yeah, you follow the smell and it gets stronger and stronger and it becomes this almost Toucan Sam-like draw. It becomes this overwhelming hunger. This bestial drive towards the source of the smell. Like fresh blood on a hunt. Like some...

Make a wisdom saving throw for me. You're getting all weird and sniffy. What's going on? Is it magic? This would be magic, but you do not have advantage on this. Oh shit. Ooh. Secrets.

16. 16. You go into a sprint. Oof! Holy shit! Uh-oh. Guys, this sounds really good. MATT and MATTRUDINILE GIGGLES

Is he changing? He's not changing, but what are all your movement speeds? 30? 35. 35, what's your movement speed? 35. 35, okay. In this form. Right.

You both have... You both have bonus action dashes, right? Yes, yes. So you begin to fall behind. You can keep up if you want to. Sure. So you're about 20 feet or so behind him, but he just, you just start.

Come on, you guys, come on! Oh my god! Oh my god, what's the best part of this? Untransformed, you even do the run, run, quadrupedal run and do a sprint and then go back again. It's this, you're just now going on pure instinct now. Nor the popping at my back. And you watch as he snakes around

one corner of the road down this road bit and you're just following it. You can almost see it. It's almost like you can visualize the scent itself. And you go past a couple of carts, and you brush past, and people are curiously looking. As you curve into an alleyway.

Yeah! And right as you curve into an alleyway, there's a cloaked, short man who's standing there holding this pouch that is tied off and closed, and you can see it. Right as you turn the corner and look at him, he throws it towards you. Uh-oh. I mean, I fucking lunge at it.

Yeah, you bite into it, and it is this like... Like a cat jumping at a mastiff. Yeah, you just in your mouth, and it's at that point that the transformation begins to kick in instinctually as the hunger sets in, and you bite into it, and it tears open, and your mouth fills with, it's almost like a dried herbs cluster,

like some sort of a collection of almost like a medicinal texture, but it smells so good, but the taste is different than what you expected. The minute that you take it into your mouth, you look up at the figure with your mouth filled and spitting this out, just as you turn the corner for him to catch up,

and he throws this net over you. No! This shiny sheen of a metal cable net. Uh-uh. What? Not silver. Metal cable. The minute it clusters around you, over you. No! This shiny sheen of a metal cable net. Uh-uh. Not silver. The minute it clusters around you, you can feel your skin burn slightly on contact.

Silver! Woo! No, no! That's where we're going to go to break. No! That bastard. What the hell? We're just going to the information gathering.

What's going on? Best shopping episode ever. Oh boy, oh boy. I don't want to have a check my product! So I'll pick up from there in a few minutes. We'll see you folks here shortly. We're back, baby! We interrupt this Critical Role Podcast Network broadcast to bring you news of dangerous treasures We'll see you will, too. If you'd like to support the show, please consider visiting any of our Critical Role online shops through the shop tab at critrole.com

and see if anything catches your eye. Okay, back to the show. And welcome back. But in this moment, Chetney, partway into chasing a strange, unresistable urge to follow this scent. Chet! To follow your nose! Oh my god, that's right. Into an alley, you meet a dwarven fellow

with blonde gray hair, a bushy beard that's missing a section due to a scar that runs down his face from his bald head on top. He's wearing dark leather armor, has a crossbow at his side, and has thrown a shiny net upon you that burns upon contact to your skin. You are restrained.

Ah! As you turn the corner, you haven't quite caught up yet. You catch his eye as he looks past and goes, Don't come this way, miss. Different business. Flight! Oh shit! And fucking around. Oh!

I've been through some shit. I'm done losing people! All right, that is a 17. What's your spell, DC? He said what kind? Ooh, it's 18. It's 18, that's a miss on him. He said what kind of business? Said, it's 18. It's 18, that's a miss on him. He said, what kind of business? Said, stay away, miss.

Essentially, this is on business. Okay, okay, got it. More or less. Wait, is what? I improvised, I can't remember exactly the phrasing. It's a specific business. Okay, I think it's 88. He didn't say anything. I don't know, he's just finding it to cook it.

Oh, I kicked his ass! I'm doing it right now! Oh, it hurts! Okay. I guess I have to take off my clothes! Okay, help me keep count. One. All right, eight. 16.

16 plus seven. 16 plus six, 22. Yes. Two more. 22 plus nine. 31. 31 points of necrotic damage. As soon as he's looking, he says, Drop it!

You watch as where the scar goes beneath the armor, the scar itself seems to flare a darker color and these black veins spill out as the Blight spell takes effect and curls and he's like, black veins can spill out as the Blight spell takes effect and curls and he's like, What's that about? Oh! I'm going to try to reach out and grab the net,

the silver net. Okay, you reach out and grab the net as he reaches out and grabs the side and is giving you this look and you can see his eyes are intense, goes like, It's just business. Fuck off. Well, you mean like- This is my business.

You were an initiative now because you opened that up with an attack, so. Okay, okay, all right. Oh. This combat is also brought to you by WizKids. Join forces with the Mighty Nein to take on the terrifying Uk'otoa. Pre-order this behemoth today.

Expand your collection of Critical Role miniatures at wizkids.io slash CRminis or your local game store. It's so pretty! You have to pull this back so you can see what is happening. Ooh! You get to see inside the houses. There's just two people fucking in there. Two people.

They're like, ah! I would love to eventually have one of those house runs where you're going through people's homes and just a series of minis clearly doing weird shit. Yep. Is that a dead woman and a horse girl? Is the guy taking a shit in that one? No, no king shaming, bye!

So you guys are in a little alleyway, or is there a... There's an alleyway in the middle. Alleyway in the middle. Any way in the middle. Oh, wow. Is there an exit? Might take a little easier to find. That's it? That's like it's blocked off? As far as you know.

That's right, we're not there. No. Come to this here, please. What's going on now? Here. Okay. I set the scene for you, but now you can see it. But there are second floors on those buildings.

Yes. Yes. It's like, you pull off the top and then you've got two floors. There's this poor, poor old man who's been taken advantage of. You're talking about you? Yes! Are you still screaming, by the way?

Yeah! Are you both? Or are you? I'm just me! He's partial, in between the net hit and held it at bay. He's going donkey! You're on donkey. Yeah. in between the net hit and held it at bay. He's going donkey! You're up. Oh yeah. Oh, donkey!

Where are you making that noise? 25 to 20? Oh, 23. Oh, it was just that? Just the three of them. Are you, so how close? I'm around the corner. Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Out in the street!

God. All right. 19. I just ban the corner. Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. Out in the street. God. All right. I just banished it. 19. 19? All right. I got nine. No, I got 16. Out in the street. 16, all right. Fuck.

Shit. It's been very earwarming this week. Because the hook brings you back. To rub it! Because the hook brings you back. To rub it! All right, so Chetney, you're up first, technically. Yeah, sure am. Ah, it fucking burns my skin!

Uh, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I will, I'm going to send a, can I send a blood curse his way? Do I need to activate it first? Oh shit, I didn't learn that. Blood curse you can just do, depending on, it tells you which type it is. Yeah, as a bonus action,

I'm going to use a blood curse of bloated agony. Okay. Preach it within 30 feet until my next turn, he takes disadvantage on strength and dex checks and other stuff if he attacks people. You got it. Then with my action, I'm going to try and... God, this is a metal net.

I'm just going to try and get the shit off of me if I can. Yes, yes, you totally can try that. All right, so bonus action. As the blight takes effect into his body, you go ahead and use that moment to go ahead and harness that as the blood curse to fit into him. He doesn't quite recognize yet that it's taking effect

as he's focused on Fearne, but still has one hand on the net. For you to try and break free, go ahead and make a strength check for me. Okay. That's your action to do so. You can do it! I can do it! Come on! A 19.

19 just fails. Yeah! Damn! It's not that strong of a net for most people. Oh! But as you try and resist it, it burns into you and seems to almost sap the strength away as you touch it.

Aw. I'm going to find it for really old people. Yes. Yes, please. Respect, Vellas. Do you play that card? Old man getting abused in the streets? That is my turn.

All righty. Orym, you're up next. Okay, so I'm going to come around the corner, and as I do so, what do I see? How's this character armed? You see, all you see right now, you have pretty high perception, you rush in, you glance, you can see his cloak in dark armor.

He has a crossbow hung off the side, slung, and what looks like a sheathed, like a rodathed, like a rod, you can see a handle, but you can't really see the rest of the weapon in the cloak. Okay. He has one hand on this net, like a gloved, gauntleted hand. Okay, so I can't get there just on my movement,

so I'm going to use my action to get all the way up. I'm going to come running, blast underneath Fearne's legs, and plant a foot on Chetney in the net and leap over him. Yes. Nice. I'm going to come down and try to barrel into this guy and do a tripping attack. I'm going to plunge right into his gut.

Over him? Nice. And stab. Over? Into him. And try to knock him down. Okay, go for it. With a trip attack. Okay, so... That is a 25 to hit. 25 hits. So that is the damage.

That is 11 plus... So 14 total damage, and that has to beat a 17 for strength save. You got it. 19. Okay, I will swing again and this time drag my blade into his ankle and try to lift him right up off the ground and drop him.

Okay, so second trip attack? Yep, natural 20. Yeah! Woo! No! Dang. Five is 10 plus 16. That is 22 damage

and another 17 strength save he's got to try to make. Oh, this is an action surge, by the way, to be able to do this. Right, right, that's an action surge. So that's going to be a 23. Okay, he's fine then. Cut, but it's standing. Oh!

After the two cuts come in, he glances at you to the side, he pulls back, still a hand on the net, and says, You don't know what this is, Stadenbach. I'm going to use the last of the movement from that action surge to step in front of Chetney, put the shield and say, Why don't you fucking explain it to me?

That's the end of my turn. Nice. Nice. Okay. So that's going to bring it to his turn. Let's do it! Ow! I'm holding onto this net. This is a problematic cursed beast,

and I'm going to bring him in. He's really not. He looks at the both of you like, he's just reading any sort of reaction of the two. Yeah, you're not wrong, but he's our problematic beast, okay? Well, some folks want him taken care of. There's a bit of money on his head.

I'm going to take it in. Who, who, who? You fucking tell me or I'll kill you. He's going to go ahead and, still reeling from the hit that you took, is going to make a shove attack against you. Shove attack. So I need you to make an athletics or acrobatics. Check, so it's not a strength save or anything like that?

Correct. Okay. It's been a bit of a shove attack. What are you doing? Triple check. Since it's been a minute, I'm going to hold on a second. Yeah, I'd love to be in a fight with no weapon, just punching. It's been a bit of a show of tech. You guys are on a triple check. Since it's been a minute, hold on a second. Yeah, I'd love to be in a fight with no weapon, just punching would be great. He's not attacking, though.

Well, he's attacking you. I technically am. You don't count. Athletics versus your athletics or equities. 28. Athletics. No, that's a 23. So it goes to try and shove you off your feet,

like with a side, like an elbow, and you just I roll under it because I'm short. No, off to the side. He's going to go ahead and... Oh, he's going to flop with the second hit. He's going to try it again. Okay. Which, because it is a second attack, technically, he does get the Bloated Agony.

Oh, 28, that's right. Yeah, Bloated Agony, not Bloated Agony. Five points. Got you five points. Six check? Yeah. This is actually much better. This is a 26 on this point. I got a 19 that time.

19. Did he roll a disadvantage on that? Because of Bloated Agony? That's right, because he has disadvantage on these. That's right. Oh! has a disadvantage on these. That's right. Oh! Does a 17, naturally. So yeah, that's a 26 again. So he, the first one, he slams,

he tries to slam into you, goes overhead, and he comes back around and cracks you with an elbow. As it hits you, it knocks you off your feet. You're knocked prone in that space where you've been holding the position with Chetney. You don't take any damage. Pulls you off to the side, grabs the net,

and is going to attempt to drag it back further into the alley. Fearne, you're holding onto it. Yes, I am. So this is going to be a contested strength roll between you and him. Of course it is. So go ahead and make a strength check. Okay. Grab what?

Okay. All right. No, make a strength check. Okay. All right, what? Okay. All right. No, I have nothing. Number one. 13. 13, 16 on his side. Sure. Okay. So pulling the net free, he can only move it.

Oh, the net hurts. Only 20 feet back, as he drags Chet further into the alley. SAM and LAURA, SAM and LAURA, and he's just holding it past the cobblestones. You see him pull out of the side of his, like the belt he has, this beautifully polished silvered war hammer

and just holds it in front of him over towards you as he pulls it back and just goes, Don't let him get me. Don't get involved. Wait! Are we in, we're just loosey-goosey, right? I mean, we're in initiative order. That was his round, attacking you twice and then dragging him back.

All right. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let me just give him a kiss before you take him. Please? It is your turn, make a persuasion check. Or this would be deception. Come on, Bernie. Well, deception or persuasion, I guess, depending on how you mean it. Do you really want to kiss him?

Do you really want to give him a kiss? Do you really want to free me? So that's going to be 28. Whoa! 28, as you shout this, he gives you a cockeyed look, looks down at this and goes. Squeeze out a tear. And a tooth.

And a tooth! Sometimes, a tear. And a two tear. And a two tear sometimes. Little pellet, maybe two. If you're this entangled, then say your goodbyes. Thank you. Okay, I'm going to go over. Just get real close. And when, I don't even know if this is going to do anything. You're still screaming through all this.

When I give him a kiss, I am going to cast, this might be real fucking dumb. It sounds great already. I'm going to cast Stone Shape on him. So maybe it's like a shield? Stone Shape. So you're going to try and, let me see here.

Cowl stones are stones. You can shape them. Wait, Stone Shape on him? Or Stone Skin? Stone Skin, Stone Skin, stone skin, sorry. Stone skin, ah, I got you. No, no, no, that's not what I'm trying to do. Works against the silver, I guess. Stone skin, though, that's cool.

Okay, so you cast stone skin on you. Your outer flesh, untransformed, begins to take on this texture of rock and stone, like a more earthy-toned version of Ashton. As soon as you begin to take the different shape, this dwarven figure looks at you and goes, Oh. And gives you a disapproving realization

that maybe it was a little too trusting in that moment. Shit, that might not have, that was dumb. That was great. Why? Well, I don't know, it didn't really do anything. You were just saying. I don't know yet, I don't know, it didn't really do anything. You didn't say you know. I don't know yet, I don't know yet. Okay, okay, okay. You're an amazing person.

Okay, okay, okay. Do I take any damage from the net just being on me through his turn? No, it's not enough burning to damage you. It's enough to just keep you restrained and a challenge to try and escape it. Got it. But that does finish Ferenczko.

If they moved up and then cast a spell, you have a bonus action still, if you want it. Okay, I'll try to bamf out Mister behind me. Okay. Just quietly. He appears. Yeah. This little flame bursts behind you. You're blocking it with most of your body and you hear Mister latch onto with most of your body, and you hear a little mister latch

onto the back of your hair. Great. As the dwarven figure's still dragging it back into the alley and is looking out at the rest of you. They don't normally come with friends. Negan's looking at the both of you. Still coming. Orym's going to at the both of you. Still coming. Orym's going to roll along the ground

and then do that thing where he goes on his back and then flips up onto his feet. I can only go 15 feet doing that. Well, Chet needs to go first. Is it? Okay. Yeah, and then we get to you. Me? Do I notice any difference on my skin

from the net after Fearne's magical thing? Does it still burn? It does burn. Fuck. But stone skin itself can help resist non-magical damage. So while it doesn't effectively help the net, it may help you in other ways. Guys. This is, I thought it was just a regular old silver net.

It's magical. I don't know, it's just this one old silver net. That's magical. I don't know, it's just this one. You're not the only one with silver, and I'll take out Turmoil under the net and extend it so the scythe is out, glimmering silver. Okay, you try and pull the scythe out and it extends,

but you're also bound up tightly in the net. And so it's out, but you're like. So yeah, it restrains. So all rolls attacks are at disadvantage. That's totally fair. I'll use the one casting of Shatter that it has to go off right behind him. So it's within 60 feet, but it's a 10-foot sphere.

Right, so right behind him to catch him. Send him towards us. His beard hair blows forward as he leans, squinting, as this concussive explosion detonates behind him. You see rocks and stone in the nearby brick crack just in the proximity nearby. He's going to make a constitution saving throw.

Ooh, that's a 20. He, I think he saves, yes, he saves. And that was a 19, so nine points of damage. Nine points of damage, all right. So. Oh! Feisty. I am feisty, it's true.

Uh, motherfucker. I would try and transform, but I don't think it would work under here. I am going to, that's it. That's my whole turn. All right, finishing Chit is Go. Orym, now you're up. Same deal, rolling along the cobblestone,

flips up onto his feet. I can only go 15 feet, and I have no idea if this will work, but I'll try it anyway, and I use Seedling to slash the air and send a cut into the net around Chetney, and I will hit net and Chetney, just trying to cut the net. Okay, go ahead and roll for an attack.

Yep. That is a 28. 28 definitely hits the net and Chetney. Ah, gul! Ah! No, that's a net. Nine points of damage. Does it have any effect on the net and Chetney. Ah, gul! Ah! No, that's a net. That's nine points of damage. Does it have any effect on the net? It does. The net, you can see, what you now figure out is silver threading along it.

The cabling does sustain damage. Not enough to break it, but it does look like it's taken quite a bit of a hit. Second attack. You take the nine damage as well. Thank you. Second one's probably going to miss. That is, well, to hit the net and Chetney is a 13.

13? Chetney misses. The net. It's nothing but net. Go with donkey under here. That's it for me. All right, that finishes your go, Orym? Yeah. All right. Reverse donkey?

Oh yeah. Reverse donkey. Hey!'t like that. Reverse donkey. It's all the rage. Oh. All right, the dwarfen figures holding this sees this display of this blade cutting through twice, this wind arc just cutting, hitting the nearby wall and causing the masonry itself

to clear off with the impact of wind and magical power. He's like, he sees the tension of the tides shifting a little bit. We're not going to stop. No, but maybe you'll hold back a minute. He looks out at you. Go ahead and make a wisdom saving throw. Oh no! Come on. Nope, it wisdom saving throw. Oh! Oh! Oh!

Come on. Nope, it's super low. Oh no! It's a six. Hold on a second, though. I'll use Indomitable and reroll the save. It's a seven. Yeah! Well, you have advantage on it

because you are in combat with this figure, so roll one more time. Come on! It's 14. Okay, figure. So roll one more time. Come on! It's 14. Okay, now. Hi, Quon. Says, says, Why don't you hold your friend back there

and let us just have a conversation? And you are charmed by him. Okay. You're going to be a charm person. Ooh. Now, charm doesn't dominate. You don't see your friends as ene- I'm a killer! I mean, you do you. I'm not going to stop you. You don't see your friends as enemies,

but you definitely don't see him as an enemy anymore either. And so he's like, Colm, just let us have a conversation in private. All right, give him a second. Woo! Wait, wait, wait, we're having a conversation? And you saw him do like, you definitely recognize him casting a spell

before this change. So you're, you definitely recognize him casting a spell before this change. So you're not completely convinced this is notably a spell. But he's going to attempt to pull Chittney back even further into this small corner, this slip in the alley. He's going to, this will be another contest against your strength.

Okay. You got this, Fearne. He made an oof sound. That means he rolled badly. Okay, so that's a natural 19 minus two, so 17. Natural 19 plus four. Oh! That's 23. Tight, tight, tight, tight.

Wow. And he drags Chetney back 20 more feet, and you can see he's pulling him back into the small sliver of the back alleyway, and he's basically preparing for an exit. All right. That finishes his go. Fearne, you're up.

Scorching Ray. Scorching Ray? Yes. All right, what level? Let us do... We can't have him. No, we can't. Just add check. Fuck off! Third level. Why?

He's too dangerous to be in the enemy's hands. Jafar, Jafar! I'll do it at third level. Right! 28. Ooh. Yeah. 13.

And 27. Mm-hmm. So that's the three? At second level, you did it? At third. Third level should be an additional one, correct? Oh, okay, okay. I did three. I rolled three. Yeah, it? At third. Third level, it should be an additional one, correct? Oh, okay. I did three. I rolled three.

Yeah, it's three blasts at level two, and then it's one more ray with a. Oh, okay, that's right, okay. That's a natural 19, so 29. Yeah, so three hits. That's 6d6 fire damage. Whoa! All right, 11.

Gotcha. Three. And a nine. 23. All right. And as a bonus action, Mister's going to, okay. How close is,

if I'm moving up, how close am I to... How close can I get to Chetney? To Chetney? You can move up to him. Okay, let me move up to him. Okay. And I would like to use, if I can, or, well, I don't know if he can get in there, Fiery Teleportation to get him out of there.

Is that through you or is that through? It's through Mister. Mister, so you want to move Mister to him to do that? Yes. Okay. I don't know if he can go through. Figure it out. So what are the specifics of fiery teleportation?

Okay, the spirit and each willing creature of your choice, within five feet of it, teleport up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. So as you dart up. So each creature within five feet of the space that the spirit left must succeed on a dex saving throw as well. All right, so that is a 22 saving throws?

Oh, no, it's only one turn of Bloated Agony. Yeah. So as he's pulling him back into this alleyway and is looking at you and is like, Tuyin sends her regards, and begins to pull you into this small alley. Who, who? Tuyin.

Tuyin. You walk up and approach as Mister darts out from behind, grabs onto you within the net, and in this burst of flame, the net collapses to the ground. You and Mister both appear 15 feet behind. Yeah!

Yeah! Let's go, pastors! Let's do it. O.P. Good boy. Good run, world. Captain. The net collapses on the ground and you see him like. How much damage does he take?

He made a save with a 1d6 plus four. 23, he's a really high dex save. Six. Okay, so three points of fire damage. He's been roughed a little bit. Is that right? Wait, bit. Is that right? Wait, what? Is that right?

The shopkeep? Prison Emporium. My god! The one you stopped. You did this! Zacuse. Wait, this is the guy you fucked with? I think so, right?

You were, I think. The one that overcharged me and I went back and moved. Only one person here knows that, right? You stealthed him by yourself. Yeah, it's just you. But as the net falls to the ground and Chetney's now free and gathering yourself and looking back at him, he's there in the alley

looking at the three of you and he's calculating in his eyes. Does that finish your turn? Early game. This was episode two shit. It's pretty early. Chani, your turn. Is it my turn? It's your turn. Amazing.

I am going to go. Ah, thank you so much! And I'm going to cast Invisibility on myself. Okay. Whoa, he's gone. What are you going to do now? Shit. And yes, I will use my,

I'll just use my speed to try and stealthily... Is there a window on any of these sides of the buildings? Visually, there are windows, but they're all currently closed. Okay. The ones that are noticeable. I'll just try and put my back along a wall in case he sends a Hail Mary down the alleyway, and I'm going to try and stealthily shimmy

back towards the street. Back towards the street, all right, yeah. You can definitely do that. Going behind my allies. Okay, so dart invisibly behind. Does that finish your turn? It does. Orym, what are you doing? Well, I can't remember. Am I able to try to,

there's no breaking out of this, right? I'm just friends at this point, correct? Yeah, I mean, right now, you're mitigating two people that you consider allies that are having a scuffle. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's no try to break out with a save or anything. I'm just in it, so. All right, well, I don't know where he went.

You take care of yourself, Fearne. We got to chat. I just start looking around for my friend. Okay. That's it. That's my turn. All right. The figure, looking at this over, looks down at the net, walks up and grabs the net

and throws it over the shoulder and goes, Yeah, you run, you run. I'll see you around again. And Misty steps. I hope so! Oh, he's gone. Mm. And that concludes.

Oh, but all the map that you made! That's okay. That's how it works sometimes. That's so weird. My gosh. It might not be over. It should have been some Stephen Chow coming from Tresolano. The first of several. Guys? Hey, is he gone?

Are you? I'm here. Who's Tuyen? I think that was that overcharging fuck from a long time ago. What? I got an extra. Can we just check and make sure nobody's looking at the rooftops?

Make a perception check. Check the whole thing, I'm going to smell. Any smells, any burger meats? Any amazing food pies? My Misty stuff is not a natural 20 for 21. 21? Yeah. Visit Night 20. Yeah. Ohizzen had 20. Yeah. Oh my god.

No, you don't see anybody. Okay. What'd you eat? Why'd you eat that? I don't just eat shit somebody throws at you. Hey, let's get out of this. Let's get out of this hour. Walk more towards the street. I swear, it smelled like the most delicious meat pie.

And then he threw this bag of herbs at me and it fucking smelled so good, and it smelled like the most delicious meat pie. And then he threw this bag of, like, herbs at me, and it fucking smelled so good, it tasted like shit. I don't understand. I think that shopkeeper wanted revenge. For what? Well, I kind of... I kind of went back and threatened them for overcharging me for a pair of chisels

with my woven form. How bad did they mark it up? It was pretty extravagant. Why would they want to come after you? Because I threatened their life. And also took the form of a wolf and then ran into the night like a true bad ass. All right, well, I don't know why it warrants what happened.

I don't need to know the details, and frankly, we don't have time for it. Now, are you sad that your new best friend is gone? Is he? Do I see him anywhere? Make a perception check. Yeah, yeah. Go, do your thing. It's 24. 24.

You do faintly see him up on one of the nearby rooftops, just creeping over and watching what transpires. Hey, we never got your name! Immediately vanishes out of sight. Ah, he's gone. All right, we need to find everybody. That was, we all need to get back together in a unit. Are we skipping the temple?

Oh shit, I totally forgot we were doing that. We should probably do that really quickly. I don't know, it's up to you. I can stay invisible for an hour, so let's go. Invisible for an hour? Yeah. Okay, what do you want to do? Well, let's, yeah, let's just swing past the temple,

give it a look and see what the vibe is there. Okay, okay. And then we'll head home. All right, all right, all right. Okay. So you continue trekking onward over to the Smolder Spire and eventually ascending past the various refineries, I just forget.

Mining operations. No, neither does the Prism Emporium. That's okay, I'll just have to cut that thread. Loose ends, kids. Until eventually you rise up to the most soot-encased portion of the city, which is towards the very top of the spire, where all the various exhausts and smokestacks

of the Smolder region rise up to mingle with the clouds and mist of the surrounding jungle. And amongst the various, I wouldn't say homesteads, but hostels and worker and minor communal living spaces. You also see, very notably, a three-story black stone polished apex a three-story black stone polished apex

of almost a triangle-looking building to the point where you can see multiple levels and balconies on each, with a dull candlelit glow in the interior, but opaque, not quite stained glass, but a colored glass in the front. And it stands out amongst the rest and has a symbol of a golden bird skull

that is perched over the main double door entryway. Even just seeing it against, it stands up like a sore thumb against most of the environment here. While everything else around here has that thick soot coloration to it, like brighter colors and nice woods and stonework have this gradual, dirty vibe to it.

This looks clean and polished, though it is the darkest black material used amongst all of these buildings. What a cool material this is. Is there any foot traffic around it? There's people walking by. There's people going to and from work. Most people are hustling quickly, most folks don't.

You see it, often people are walking out, going into business of the day, lost in thought, and occasionally they look up and remind themselves of the perpetually flaring, stagnant red moon in the sky, and then hurry their step. It's a little sad. What are you thinking? Nothing. I want to know how they're reacting here.

Are you still invisible? Yeah. Yeah. I keep looking over and you're not there. Okay. A couple minutes're not there. Okay. A couple minutes, come on. Okay. I'm going to walk to the entrance. Okay. You go to the front doors.

They are closed, but it doesn't appear like they're locked or sealed. Are you supposed to knock or you just go in? I'm going to push the door. Okay. It opens a few inches, just enough where your group will be able to shimmy through.

Hello? As you step in, your voice echoes, hello, hello, hello, hello, through the halls, and you can see the exterior doesn't quite, while it looks like it's a tall, flat front, the hall continues deep into the rock behind it. And you can see it's almost like looking down the ribcage of the interior of a massive whale.

The halls have this natural curvature that comes to a singular point where lanterns hang, and it just seems to go on forever. And then as you focus, you hear the subtle rushing of water, and you realize there's an illusion to how long the depth is. Some of it is the reflection in the water

that's falling a ways down, probably a good 60 or so feet back, 70 or so feet back, 70 or so feet back, and it's reflecting the interior to where it gives that endless hallway illusion. As your voice continues echoing, you can see there are some small benches. You can see there's a pulpit that opens up before it gets to this perpetual waterfall,

and a single figure that's kneeling across the way stands up, faced away from you, in dark robes, turns around. And you see there's a hood and a somewhat sheer veil that just goes across the nose and down in the face that drags across the entirety of the torso and connects to their arms

as they put them out to you. You can see it stretch like this massive, almost full front body veil, where the eyes peek through from underneath the hood. They begin to step towards you. Echoing through the hall. A moment. What brings you to the Duskmaven's sight this day, little one?

I'm sorry. I don't have anyone else to turn to right now. I'm having major questions of faith. I'm having major questions of faith. And the changes I see above have me worried. You are not alone.

And as the figure steps closer and the light that's pouring in from the crack in the doorway begins to spill across them. You can see the hood from beneath it, like a warm, tan skin, hairless human head, just completely smooth, no eyebrows, gentle brown eyes, and a soft smile. and a soft smile as they still approach, arms out, and then fold them in front. Feminine in appearance. I'm no stranger to death,

and I've heard tales of fate. But the things I'm seeing frighten me. What's happening? The skin is tangled. The threads are knotted. The fear that you feel are felt by all. Their eyes wander up towards the roof above and beyond.

She glances past you, Fearne, and seems to glance in your direction, but not at you, almost like they're looking for somebody else that they might feel is present, but can't quite put a finger on it. Are you able to communicate with your god? Are you able to communicate with your god? Are you able to communicate with your god? In ways. There is much sown

confusion, distraction. Confusion. Distraction. And you can see the soft, welcoming appearance on the figure seems to sit into a moment of exposed vulnerability before it's immediately covered back up. They are doing what we all are doing, what we must to survive.

And our fates are intertwined. If they, if she, can see this through, they will see this through, they will see us through it with them. How do you know that? Faith. Do you still feel her?

I do. If differently. It's equally frightening as it is comforting. It's equally frightening as it is comforting to feel a human vulnerability in something so grand. That's actually... 19. Complete open honesty. But she was like us once. So perhaps she has that vulnerability. Uniquely.

Do you know what her name was? There are none who live that do. Because I know there's something with names. What do you seek here in our domain? Solace? Answers? Both of those things. And I guess, what to do next. I do not know if she has the answers you seek as her eyes sweep back over in your direction, through and beyond you.

Wow. For we are in both a period of mourning and a period of... preparation. How much time do you think we all got? Come drink of the waters with me. She turns around and. You? I'm going to. On Fearne's finger. Wait, what? You're going to?

You start pulling her. I'm going to. What, it's just water? It's just water? Is this something weird, or is this just water? They're not looking at you. They're still just walking back to that interior waterfall. I'm going to.

Okay. You have so many notes. I know, and I can't remember a single one, ever. I don't remember where I put any of them. Some of your notes are stuff like, this shit is crazy. Just when I write, it helps me listen, but I don't know, it doesn't make any sense.

This water tastes like blood. Okay. We're just drinking it. We're just going to take a drink. As you approach, you now see there is a basin, like a half-circle basin at the end of the room where the water is coming down. It is cool, it is clean, it is clear.

You can see within the rock here, the ribs of this chamber, as it comes to this M apex in the center, along each of them, there are these, what look like just smooth, intricate designs you can see are these subtle sculptures of just arms all reaching up over each other across them until they join in the center.

That's where these little torches that flicker in the middle, of which's where these little torches that flicker in the middle, of which a handful of them are dark. But as she sits down, they reach into the waters with a small, what looks like a dark metallic pan of some kind, and takes up the water and turns around and hands it out to you. Oh, I mean, I'm not a god person.

I don't know what I'm, am I just, are you, go ahead. Go for it. She's holding in her own hands? It's a small, dark metal pan. Just drink out of it. Fry her. Yep. Would you wash your hands first? Come on, come on. Just wash your hands. Just, just, Fry her. Yep. You should wash your hands first. Come on, come on.

Just wash your hands. Just sanitize your hands. Orym did not expect things to go to this point. He was just trying to vibe check this temple, but he leans down and shuts his eyes and, a little scared, drinks the water. It is very cold. Oh. Okay.

It is refreshing. As you drink it, the cold seems to spread through you. Like when you drink a bourbon that burns through the insides, this is like a chill that spreads. Oh, wow. Spreads, and it's not uncomfortable, but it does cause you to just naturally shiver a bit.

Congratulations, you're perfect. She turns to you. Okay. Do I just, I'll just bend down to it to make eye contact. Do I just bend down to it? Make eye contact? Oh. I'll drink some.

Yeah, she clocks her head curiously at you. I don't know how I'm supposed to. This feels so weirdly intimate and makes me a little uncomfortable. Hands it out over your head, like into space. Lower. Super loudly slurp. It fills the entirety of this echoing chamber,

this holy place with this awful... Oh, oh, oh. Ha, ha. That's an old guy sipping soup at canner's. Yeah. She drinks of it as well. Thank you. Sets it down and she turns and kneels

and just lets her head low in a prayer position. Oh yeah. Mm-hmm. I'm going to think in my head, silently, we really are looking for answers. I'm going to get a prayer. Just feeding the root. Oh.

Oh, oh, oh. Okay. Just feeding the root. Say it twice. Does that seem to do anything when I say that? Do you have to say that one more time? Yeah. Three times. Just making sure to feed that root.

Did someone summon a root? It's Steven Root. It's me. A turnip pops out. On the third mention, the woman gives you this look back over the shoulder, like, what the? Okay. Speech.

Like, there is something meditative about the sound, Okay. There is something meditative about the sound, the hum of the constant gentle flow of water, the cold temperature of the interior of this chamber, deep within the rock, away from the warming light of the sun, and then now the cold sensation in your body. It becomes this stillness that's almost welcoming, inviting. And for a moment, you can't help yourself,

but think, is this the peace of death? To be cold and still and content? And you're uncertain how much time goes by. Could be minutes, hours. It becomes that odd period of meditative disassociation where it's just the sound of the water and the cold and the still, and it's nice. Phew.

Should we come? Should we come? Look down at my hand. Still Invisalign? No, the spell is worn off. Oh shit, we've been here a minute. It should take a while. I turn around. I'm shocked by my hand. Is this individual still there?

They're gone. Turn around. Guys? Guys? What? What? Are we alone in the chamber? Yeah, it's just the three of you. I don't know how much time passed. I can't, hey, you can see me. Yeah.

Oh, oh, because that takes a long time for you to go away. What happened? We should probably go. We should go. He's right. I'm not allowed to put my hooves in there, am I? We should go. That was weird.

It was cold and still, and then I just kind of went, like, in a trance. Same for you? It felt so good. Yeah, it was kind of... I was just, like, so atance. Same for you? It felt so good. It felt so good. Yeah, it was kind of- I was just so at peace. To unplug, yeah. God. If that's how it goes, that's all right.

That's not too bad. I'm not opposed to it. Can we see outside from inside the temple at all? Or is it completely closed? The doors are closed. The doors are closed. Okay. Yeah, we should, fuck. What's the same day? Will you check?

Will you check for Warhammer net fuck? Oh, at the door? Yeah. Yeah, all right. We'll make our way down that long ribbed. Bye, man. Ribbed hall. Okay. I assume charm is worn away. I thought I only allowed him.

You touch your hand to the door, and the doors of the chamber slam open to a deep red sky that envelops the entirety of the horizon around you. You don't see the street. It just drops down into a familiar excavation site. You see a singular tower of black firing a red beam of noxious energy into the sky. The moon itself feels impossibly close,

like it's ominous and impressive above you, brightening. You see in the middle of this beam a singular black orb, and you just hear a scream, a scream that doesn't stop, a scream that echoes across the entire horizon of Exandria. And in that moment, the doors close, but instead of the doors, you just see this massive white mask. And you all come out of your trance,

still kneeling before the water, with the priest who had brought you there, who stands up. water with the priest who had brought you there, who stands up. Well, what? What was that? What was that? What was that? We're in a period of mourning. Mourning for what?

Oh! For one of our own. That was back screaming! Yeah. Oh my god. That's why the torches are off. Hands, hands, hands. Hands are fine. Invisalign? Oh, you don't know. Hands, hands, hands. Hands are fine. Invisalign?

Oh, you can see him. Oh, so for you, though, the spell is still present. Okay. Oh my god. There was a, you saw the red sky and the beam and the? The black orb, the whole sky was red. And then the big white face. Screaming?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How do we help? How do we help in the fight? How do we turn the tide? Fae. Okay. We should go. We should go.

I'm going to reach my hand down. It's got the water from a pool. Yeah, there's this half-circle basin that fills the opposite end of the chamber where all this waterfall, which now that you've closed me, you can see it's falling across a piece of stone that's just pouring across the edge

and then entering the basin. I have no idea if it's proper, but I reach out my hand and catch a little, and then I smear it on the face of my shield. Let's go. Yeah. Dewey, can we put any of this in a canteen, or it's just one time?

She doesn't respond. Okay, I was just saying it because I wanted to share it with the others. I know. I'll probably be seeing you soon, but I hope not too soon. You've only heard that and can't see my fingers. All right. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Of course. We offer solace at all stages of life and beyond. Oh. Thank you for spending some time with me this day. Likewise. It's appreciated. Shit. this day. Likewise, it's appreciated. Yep, we're out. Now I'm going to check the room.

Now you're going to check the door. Yeah, outside the door. Okay, make a perception check. Jeez, you jump scare me. It's a fucking crowd monster. That is a 30. 30. What? You glance out into the midday sun.

It is just a normal day. No sign of the individual that attempts to pull Chetney away from you. Oh my gods. That was so cool. That was so cool. That was so cool. I can't wait to die. That was so cool. That was so cool. That was so cool. I can't wait to talk. That was so fun.

Why was that black sphere screaming? You heard the voice, right? It's still stuck there. That's still him? Oh shit. Let's go find the others. Yeah. Kabuki.

All right. I just heard, hold on to Fearne's flowy garments as they run. Hi, niece. Jenny's feet kicking up and dragging. Tear was in the way. Ah! You all eventually regather within the rooms,

the rooms you had already taken at the Spire by Fire, but you do reconvene after your various adventures for the day. Guys, the craziest thing happened to us. What was it? We just went to Michaelov's. Laudna is much happier than you last saw her. Oh!

And it's like, you know when you put an eight-year-old in a princess dress and they're just twirling it around and just living the fantasy? Pooping everybody? Uh-huh, yes. That's what Laudna's doing with her new drip. This is lovely.

You noticed? Absolutely, the high neck, love it. And it's purple, you said? Yes, like a deep maroonish purple. Yes. Smart, black and sort of flash with black sometimes. Right? I'm sure you've got some bespoke stuff

that you're planning on doing. I know you're, you know. Yes. We'll see how the art turns out. Chetney, look! Oh shit! Oh, I love it! Yes. We'll see how the art turns out. Chetney, look! Oh shit! I love it! Yes. That is so cool.

And Pate is really happy with it, right, Pate? Crowd crawls out of it. Yeah, it's a little bumpy, but you know what? I like it because it's much. Shut up! You're going to make do! Aw. Like a good boy. Miss you, Pate.

Hey, Imogen! Hi. I saw what you did. And he crawls back in. What'd you do? No, shut up, shut up. Shut up. Oh yeah, we went shopping for groceries. Oh.

Did you bring anything back? No, gave it all to Shadana. Oh, that's nice. Lies, I brought one orange. There you go. But what Pat Tay is definitely referencing is that Lutinous is doing little propaganda speeches

across the city. Yeah, he's got little spears, little tiny crystal spears hidden around. You got one? They'll pop up and this one got smashed, but I pull out the crystal orb. He was given the speech that he gave in front of everyone at the key. Got smashed.

Oh, okay. The one that was shattered, yeah. While we're over dinner, I'll try and start mending it back together. Okay. You only get back about maybe a third of it from what you were able to gather because it was scattered a bit in the trance. Can I just inspect it and see if I can glean anything off of it?

Make an arcana check. Okay. So what do we think? It seems that I have advantage on those. Clack is just tossing them out around town. Correct. Which means there's definitely a Ruby Vanguardanguard presence.

Damn, forget it. I don't know shit. I ordered a bunch of Hefeweizens for everyone and distributing the orange slices with everybody. Oh. Oh. Delicious. Hefeweizen. No, you probably moved them.

Also, Laudna, I know that you were upset that we had fun on our journeys and you didn't, so I baked you some things so that you could help enjoy, like, experience what we experienced. So I baked you hot cocoa cookies because where we were was cold. Oh my goodness. And I baked you

a bullseye muffin, which is like a lemon muffin, because we saw a bull. Oh! And I also baked you something called a royal, because we met a king and a queen, which is just like almond meringue and cream topping. Oh my god. Ooh. I take a bite of the royal, because that's also like...

I was worried there would be a menage a trois themed wine. That's kind of like a turducken. Would you offer a condom? Just a tan. Just a tan? Yeah, I can't pick up too much on it, unfortunately. It definitely looks like it held an enchantment, but. I do.

I apologize. Why? I'm... Things were... Why do you... You are so smirky and giggly. Listen! I'm 400 plus years old! What? We're doing great!

There's reason to smile! Are you stoned? What did y'all get into? No! What did y'all do? That's exactly what I'm going to say. Did you have a text again? No, we didn't. We did not. Did you have a text again? No, we didn't. Orym? We did not. Did you partake?

Sort of. We sort of did something together, the three of us. Sure did. Oh my god. Is it just going to? Well, not like what you think. Well, someone was after Chet. Tried to attack him. Normal. And tried to take him.

We stop by to see Ajit. Lots of military stopping here, stocking up, moving on to the Hellcatch Valley. We knew that. Yeah. Couldn't identify Ludinus' old chest duck funnel. We'll run it by mile at a row anyway. Yeah. Then Fearne suggested we run past the Duskmaven's Temple.

That's brilliant. Great idea. Got jumped on the way. Got distracted by a killer meepi. Wasn't a meepi. Turned out to be an ambush. Okay. It was an ambush. That makes sense. Apparently Chet

started a blood feud with a shopkeep at some point. I like that y'all are filling us in when we saw it. Yeah, we were. Were you scrying? We were sitting right here and saw it. Okay. So what was that vision? Yeah.

Do you guys have any ideas of what that could be? I mean, that sounds like the guy. Yeah. The Feather Feather fella? That was with Keyleth that went. Yeah. Do you all know who he is? Um. Yeah, do you?

I don't know. Insight check. Go for it. Yes! Do you know who? We never figured out. I don't know. I think that's Matt's call. I would say likely not. I mean, you would have heard things

about the Champion of the Matron, just like you would hear about historical figures and you know that there's a tie to her, but she never mentions it. And he was screaming? Yeah, it was horrible. Did it sound like him? Did it sound like?

Or like multiple strangers? It just sounded like somebody's screaming. I don't know. I mean, he just whispered when he showed up. Yeah, and I thought maybe the deal was done. Whatever happened was the end of him, but it's ongoing, it seems like. Constant pain.

Yeah. It's awful. I don't know if he's feeling it or if there's a time limit on it, if he's holding out. I mean, it is something with the Matron. He's obsessed with Trump. Remember his notes that said something about what's her name?

There's importance in names and notes. We never talked about that aspect of it, but it felt like, it felt like Ludinus was 20 steps ahead of us the whole time, right? Like, he set it all in motion so that that man would show up. He knew your connection to Keyleth. He knew that she was going to show up.

He ambushed her to get to him. We should talk to her. To Keyleth? Yeah. Yeah, that's where we're going tomorrow, right? Yeah. She's got to be planning something to free him. She's got to know he's in pain. We're not strong enough to do anything.

Maybe. She's wise as fuck. She might have a vice. Yeah. And she can leapfrog us there. Yeah. And you definitely just mentioned and told us that the priestess at the Matron of Raven's Temple said that you need faith?

Yeah. To fix this? Yeah, we asked how we could turn the tide, and the answer was faith. Faith? I mean, did she specify it has to be the Duskmaven faith or just any kind of faith? Faith in the gods? Seemed like just faith.

Do you guys, never really talked about this, but do you guys, nothing? Do you guys follow any sort of anything? TBD. TBD. There's not a fey Realm sort of god that you are into? No. Nothing?

Not even the Moonweaver? I mean, Nana's super fat powerful, but I don't know if she's a god. Which one's the Moonweaver? Oh, yeah, the Moonweaver's somebody else, sorry. I thought she was some, I don't know, like a fey god or something. I'm real hazy on who they are and what they do.

The death one I get, because that's pretty cut and dried. I don't even know what the Changebringer does. The Changebringer? Brings change. Helps you make choices in life and points you on a path. How? You think you've been there for 400 years, Chet? You haven't ever heard about the gods.

No, no, I've heard about them, but I don't have them memorized or anything. Yeah, I mean, they're, you know, I don't have any particular relationship with any of them. There's quite a few. Yeah, I'm a little more knowledgeable about them, but kind of the same. I mean, I don't begrudge them,

but I've just focused on people my whole life. Was the Wild Mother part of your people's culture? A deal? Some. Well, it sounds like we're all going to have to bone up on our god stuff going into this. Might I just suggest that you all, you could all follow the Changebringer.

She's really great. I could try to introduce you. All you need is a coin and some faith. Do you have a pamphlet or? I don't, unfortunately. Pretty cool? She is super cool. Have you ever talked to her yet?

Yeah, you said you implied that you had a moment, right? Yeah, yeah, more than one now. She's real and she really can see us. Undeniably. Of course. And she can really affect things and she really can see us. Undeniably. Of course. And she can really affect things and she really needs us, like this Matron Duskmaven person does and probably the Dawnfather that you messed with.

But should we... I don't know. Are faithless heathens the right people to save the gods? I don't know, am I? Yeah. Well, I think you are, but maybe we should try to learn a little bit more about the gods.

So whoever said we're saving the gods? Aren't we? I'm interested in saving humanity. I'm interested in stopping the- I think that's the same thing. Is it? I think in this case, it is. I don't know about that.

I don't. I don't know about that. I agree, lewdness is fucking terrible, and we have to make that not happen, and we've got people who are suffering, and we've got to fix that. But, you know, I don't know. I need more information before I know what the fuck I feel about this.

A lot of blood has been shed in the name of the gods. A lot. Including what we all just witnessed in the desert. The excavation site. We were a part of it. But that was in the name of the gods? That was in defiance of the gods. Right? Correct.

Still a part of the gods. So they were still the cause. You all had things happen to you that should give you some sort of pause or some sort of kernel of faith. I mean, you fell out of a building and by some miracle are still alive with crazy new powers.

And you were dead and were brought back and you're not dead yet, which is some sort of miracle. You should be. Have you rolled today, by the way? I usually do it when I sleep, but I'll do it anyway. We're okay. See? I mean, every day's a gift. I don't know.

At 400 years and I've never had any kind of interaction or prayed or I've never seen a sign. They literally exist. We just thought of a sign. I know they're real, but I mean, I don't have a personal. Chetney, we just got a sign an hour ago. That was the first time anything that, I tried talking to the Wild Mother

to try to get ahold of you. You did? Yeah, well, yeah, I was just trying to reach out and nothing happened. Did it work? No, I didn't get to talk to Orym. I tried. But, oh, but did you get to talk to the Wild Mother? No, just some air was blowing around. No, it wasn't anything.

That could have been her. No, it was so slight. The first couple times that she explained you talked to me? Drinking the water today, that was something. Are y'all going to worship the dust maven or whatever? No, I'm not sure. I mean, if this is a recruiting class, somebody's making a bit more of an effort than the others.

Yeah, I agree. That one was pretty convincing. It was like, red! Yeah. We also watched Imogen, well, I was a little dead, but we watched Imogen level an entire block of a city with her power, which is far more intervention than I've ever seen from the gods. Well, maybe that was part of,

maybe she was touched by a god. Again, I just feel like, I feel like there's a lot of vague conjecture about the blowing of wind and the flipping of coins and a lot of things that just happen. I've had a life. I think a lot of us here have had a life. And I can count the really good days practically on two hands.

I've had bad shit happen. My first fucking memory is one of the worst things that ever happened to me. One, I fucking watched my parents get ripped to bits One, I fucking watched my parents get ripped to bits in a fucking maelstrom of God knows fucking what. I was dumped into a desert where I crawled until I nearly died

to only be picked up and saved by shitty people, and then threw me in a fucking orphanage where I stayed. And it was more or less what you'd expect. Fought a lot. Shit happened. Made some friends, got out, lived the best we fucking could. Fell out of a window and lost everyone I cared about.

Woke up damaged and in pain that has never stopped since that fucking day. And never stopped since that fucking day. And there were little sections of my life where I prayed and I begged for anything to all of them, to any of them. And the only time they've ever spoken to me was the one who tried to fucking kill me less than a week ago. and the only time they've ever spoken to me

was the one who tried to fucking kill me less than a week ago. So, I'm here to save us. I'm here to save the people who lived here. Hell, I had one fucking word that I spoke to a giant pile of earth that was more responsive and made me feel better

and connected me to something bigger than anything in my fucking life. Just the ground itself did more. So yeah, you know what? I am all for faith, and I'm not going to pick a god. They can pick me. It will be the first one that actually praised me,

and maybe I'll fucking answer. I'll wait. They can fucking beg. And I will listen, which is more than they ever fucking did. Go ahead. Okay. I'll reach out and maybe I can get her to. I pick up a coin and flip it. Oh!

What are you trying to do? She said, fucking die. I throw it and I'm. It's not how that works. It's more of a yes, no thing. I thought the question, do I fucking die or not? And I got a yes.

Didn't flip it the right way. I've read a decent amount of history books. And in the circle of the gods, some of them are outright bastards. But history is littered with stories of their positive influence here. with stories of their positive influence here. That's some of them, not all of them.

But none of you would suggest wiping out every living being on Earth, because some of them are shitty. A lot of them are still good. A lot of them are still good. A lot of them have done good. I think thinking black and white is comforting. It's a little more nuanced than that. That's true. I'm not against faith.

But is it a prerequisite? That's true. I know it's against faith, but is it a prerequisite that it has to be in the gods? Why can't I have faith in you all? Faith in Exandria, faith in the beings on this planet, faith in those that came before the gods. The spirits, the Eidolons, the earth, the Titans. I mean, I think if you have faith in those things, if it's true and you mean it, maybe that's enough, but right now,

the Titans aren't in danger. How do you know? We just saw a fucking god trying to wipe out the last of, like... The Eidolons. It was an attempt to destroy. I'm not expecting you to believe in any one thing over another,

but I think we should all see clearly and not paint everything with the same brush. I don't think it's a question of seeing clearly. I think the ultimate question going forward is we're all going to probably have different opinions on this. And can we still accomplish our overall goals with different beliefs. Sure we can.

Why not? We all come from different places, different backgrounds, different preferences. Some of us are beautiful, the others are hideous. We're all different. You don't have to see eye to eye on that. We've been doing great so far. Had our asses kicked a little bit,

but otherwise, really making big strides. As long as we have an open mind and open hearts, maybe whatever we need to have faith in will reach us. And we'll be able to accept whatever it is. Which one of us are hideous, by the way? Like, multiple? Like, did you have? Duskmaven. All right.

Reach their heart. I mean, I have faith. I have faith in everybody at this table. No, I do. We've all been good to each other. And I think we can all walk to this door at the top. We can, I think we can do this. And I don't think it matters what we think

once we cross it. I'm not going to... I'm okay having this conversation once that fuck is in the ground. Y'all said something interesting. You said the Dawnfather was trying to wipe out the last of the Eidolons? The last of the...

It was more of a... Was it a land grab, or was it intentionally a land grab? It was a land grab. It was very of a... Was it a land grab, or was it intentionally a land grab? It was a land grab. It was very much the... It was very much, this is ours now, and you either leave or die. Yes. Oh.

Did we ever figure out where Pardothis came from? Imprisoned, sealed away. I think that's the gist of it, but I think I heard the words came from off-world. Read or heard that somehow. The initial writings that the Grim Verity had recovered from the Vaults of Vasselheim spoke of Predathos

as arriving from the stars, much like the gods did in the Founding. Okay. Well, there's one problem. We can feel different ways about it. We still have to solve the problem. Yes, we do. We're going to rest tonight.

We have to. Then Ashton has some stuff to pick up tomorrow, and then maybe we go to your person. Let her know what you saw. Yeah. Letters, did you try and identify this vest back in, I can't remember. I'm a little old. We're going to take it tomorrow.

Yeah, but you can just. Is it magical? Was it something that could be identified? You can certainly try. You didn't identify it? I thought we did, and it was just like, a hundred. We could try and identify it. Or one of us could put it on and just see what happened.

A hundred percent. I feel like that's what you on and just see what happens. 100% that. I feel like that's what we wanted to do when we found it, Fearne. Well. That's a great idea. If it talks about siphoning power from fey creatures? Fae and dryads. We should put it on. Point it at Fearne.

What if it kills her? Point it at me. Yeah. It could kill her. But we're all here. We could turn it off. Yeah, yeah. What else are you going to use your identify for before bed? I have already used it today. You did?

Yeah, so we can do it right when we wake up. Okay. Feels like, just from very one-liner knowledge from this vest, feels like, who knows how long. Harness. Yeah. Harness. All the energy, right? It's not a vest, it's a harness.

Oh, sorry, the harness. I thought you meant harness, and you're right. The harness was harnessing. Fuck, I've lost the thread. The Duskmaven shall show you the threads. Chetney was all, Oh, okay, look, I'm just trying it out! I'm trying it out, okay! I like it, I like it.

Try to be the metal. You have faith now? He's sucking energy out of things that aren't gods. You'd look good in a little tight collar, like a priest collar. They had a really cool veil thing that went to their finger. That was a really cool, it was really beautiful. Should I check in maybe on Ludinus or something?

Because I feel like I can reach out and maybe see if I could see what he's doing. How would you do that? Or just check in on somebody. I think I can scry. You can do it? I think I can scry now. Really? Yeah, I just feel like it. I saw Deanna do it and I was like, I think I can do it. Yeah, do it. You say there doesn't seem to be anyone, I just feel like it. You saw Deanna do it? I saw Deanna do it, and I was like, I think I can do it.

Yeah, do it. You say there doesn't seem to be anyone around when you're doing it. It's going to get a little weird. I think we're allowed to. Should I check? I think I've described it. Should I check on him? Let's do it.

Before bed? Yeah. We have his stuff now. It could be easier to get in touch with him. Okay. All right, I'm going to do like a dog trying to find the right part of the circle to sit down. He's very powerful. I don't know how these things work.

What if he can sense you doing it and he goes down? Luna's your Imogen's mom. Oh. Oh. Oh my god! What? Have you had any dreams? What has been going on? I'm an asshole, I didn't ask.

It's all right, no. I had one. Damn it, Nate! You intentionally went into one. I intentionally went into one, but nothing's come to me outside of that. No contact from your mom. You just saw Otohan, I think.

Fuck. Or she saw you. I have perfect memory. Yep. In a minute. I can scrap, too. So if you want to look at two people. Yeah, all right, all right, all right.

Doodles. No, but yours is awesome. I also watched Deanna and I saw it, too. You did? You did? Yeah. Okay. All right, what do we want to do? Do we want to do image and amblage? This is true, it's cool. Are we, we're sitting right around,

we're eating chicken around a table or something? Or are we in our rooms? I think you guys are in your rooms to be having this conversation. Okay, simulscry. Are we going to both simulscry on Ludinus? It's a race. All right.

Or both, or one, I'll simulscry. I'll scry on your mom, or you'll scry on who you want to do. Oh, good grief. Roll ease. Roll ease? Roll ease, whoever gets higher does lewdness. Okay, great. Five.

Natural 20. Okay, so get it at 45. Okay. So who are you scrying on? You choose. Lewdness. Yeah. Fearne just killed herself. I will simul-scry on Imogen's mom. Okay, on Liliana.

All right, as you both pick separate parts of the chamber to set up your scry circle and begin to mark the ritual, and they are different rituals. Here's my locket. I've seen her a lifetime. It's a locket. Describe to me how you, with your more druidic, nature-based, loose-the-eye Dolan,

or spirits of nature tethered magic, how do you set up your scry? How do you want to scry this? How do you want to scry this? How do I want to scry this? Scry, scry, scry, scry. All right, I'm going to sit down and make sure my skirt is just completely in a beautiful circle around me.

Oh yes. Thank you so much. Full bridal photo. Full bridal photo. Jesus. Cast Instagram. I'm going to hold my hands together. Am I doing this right so far? You look great.

I do? Just like Deanna. Okay. Just like Deanna did. All right, I'm going to focus real hard, and you start to see a little bit of faint color of a green, but a bright green. Okay, I'm doing it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it. Okay, I'm staying it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it. Okay, I'm staying calm, I'm staying calm. Shit.

Okay, here I go. Okay. You need anything? Don't distract her. I don't think so. I just have a little bit of gas right now. I think I'm just going to let it go. Okay, okay. I'm going to focus real hard.

I'm going to hold on to one of the pieces of Ludinus's things. Sorry, it smells real bad. And I'm going to close my eyes and just breach out. Oh! You close your eyes and you concentrate. In this dark space, your eyes closed,

for the most part, your magic has come from your natural fey essence and the time that you spent growing up in the fey realm. It's mostly just wantonly borrowing from the flow of natural magics that have always been around you. Kind of just an expected thing. This is the first time that you're really

intentionally letting yourself expand into them as opposed to taking the power for yourself. As you release, you feel this expansion of your consciousness into the plants that grow in the cracks of the stone beyond this building, through the spire itself, through the leaves that tremble at the edge of the jungle trees.

You can really feel the one single thread of life that thrums through all the interconnectedness can really feel the one single thread of life can really feel the one single thread of life that thrums through all the interconnectedness of nature around you. Oh my god, this feels amazing. You focus on Ludinus and take a deep breath. As you exhale, you feel your consciousness come into one single moment and push outward,

and you drift in a gray liminal space with nothing to tether to. And you just float there with nothing to grasp on. I think I'm doing this right. It takes you a bit before you come to realize that you're unable to reach out or connect with Ludinus. Something is preventing you from seeing him.

I don't think I did it right. Was it just what? It was just gray. I think I need to get better at it. Or there's some type of... I mean, he probably was blocking. If I were him, that's what I'd do. He's probably blocking.

Those who are with Prism, you do recall there was attempts previously also to scry on him and pretty much the same. Oh. You probably just need to get stronger. Don't come with that weak shit. I think you need to get stronger. You just need faith.

Yeah. Speaking of. Speaking of. I will light some incense. Okay. Thank god. Put it in my mouth. Motherfucker. Look at that credit tiger. I will take my Changebringer coin

and focus my energy on it so that it glows, and I will try to look through it into the great beyond and see if I can find Liliana. Is that her name? Yeah, that's your fucking name. You don't know my mother's name! Wow. All right, what's your spell DC?

Roll a circle. It's kind of low. 15. 15, okay. It's cut. Okay. You glance into this coin as hard as you can, and you see the image of the change bringer, and her hair begins to flow.

As you do, the texture of the metal begins to become darker. As it becomes darker, it's almost like slipping through a keyhole. You feel your essence and your consciousness, your focused vision push through this coin into darkness. And the darkness turns to redness. As the familiar feeling as the familiar feeling

of a battering red dust storm of a shared dream you've been in before meets your gaze. Heavy wind blasting around you as this cloud of red dust fills the sky above and the horizon, but not all the space around you. At first glance, you see a woman walking, familiar in the coloration of her hair, long and blowing and tattering through the heavy winds.

You see her coat, heavy scarf, goggles on, her face covered as she pushes forward. To her left, about a few feet back, another figure, roll a perception check for me. You should have given me guidance. I don't know if I can do that. Can I guide myself? Probably not in this space.

Okay, perception? Yeah. 21. I don't know if I can do that. Can I guide myself? Probably not in this space. Okay. Perception? Yeah. 21. 21. The other figure also masks, covering their face with a wrapped scarf, themselves walking with a deep cerulean robe,

staff in a withered hand that is black in coloration, the long silver hair of Ludinus Delef, also within this storm, walking alongside her, goggles above his eyes, heavy cloaks over their shoulders, whipping and blowing in the middle of the storm. And you see, just on the horizon,

shapes, shapes in the middle of this cloud. Structures. What are they? Buildings. And with a 21, you can just barely see a shape in the sky. A round body. A round body.

Of a faint, bluish-green coloration. Say it! Exandria looms just beyond Holy fuck! the dust storm above. You pull out from the vision and return to the space. It didn't work.

It took me to some fantasy place where there was a circle in the sky. What are you talking about? Well. This guy. Flat circle. It was a flat circle. No, they're on the, they're on, they're on Ruidus. They're on Ruidus, both of them.

Fuck. What did it look? What did it look like? Same thing, it's red storms, red storm. Just dust. That's it? No, no, no. There was buildings. There was buildings. Were they tall? You couldn't quite tell.

Some of them looked kind of tall. But they weren't homes. They were buildings, structures. It was like they were walking through a street in a heavy dust storm. Oh gosh. They're in the city. That's fucking cool! That's what the dream was that I had before.

There were people going up and down between the two, remember? There were people in the tether. They were going both directions in your dream? Did they trap Rodathos in a fucking city and just ice cream scoop it? Well, if you were to be. And send it up? What's it? Didn't we?

Ooh, fuck. Did they grab a city and send it? Right, remember we learned about this. Yeah. That they maybe did scoop up a super pre-Ark, like Age of Arcanum, and then they just took a city and they made it. Made it the moon. Made it the moon. Yeah. And then went like,

bleh, and put, maybe he was on it. Maybe it was a thing, maybe he was on it. And that was the way that they dealt with it. They're on the moon. Well. Well, I've, well, shh- What did Exandria look like? It was really pretty. It was like a blue marble in the sky.

What? What? It looked like what? It looked like a blue marble, but that was, it was just floating there. I said, why don't you ask the change bringer? If Exandria's around? Yeah. Seems like a waste of a, but sure. Sure.

You have faith, right? Of course I do. Yeah. I'll take my change bringer coin and use its one charge of the day to get Guided Grace. Uh-huh. I will flip it and say, Is Exandria round?

Ah, shit! Yeah, I get as far as saying shit. Go for it. And it is her bright visage and a yes response. Yeah. Yeah. It is round.

Wow. There it is. Big old frisbee. Try to fucking, gah! Fuck! Like a plate. Like a vinyl. Yeah, but you said it was like a marble,

which is the full sphere. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that was just. Next time, is it shaped like a marble? Dream stuff. Fucking marble. Next time, I'll ask if it's a sphere, but I can only do that once a day, so. That's big news.

That is big news. That elevator's in full effect. If we get there, they're not going to be on the ground. We got to get there. We got to ride the train. It sounds like we got to eventually, we're still going to go to your place, but we should probably go to the beam and ride the beam.

And ride it. Maybe it's in the storm, baby. Ooh! We got to figure out how to ride it, though. We might have to be dead or something. I don't know. No, they weren't dead. What I was seeing was people, I don't think they were dead.

But you saw red soul creatures and stuff. Is that what happens to you if you go through it? Those were the Lorians. Mitochlorians? My lord. I think you might be our key to getting up there. I have to swipe the badge. Well, we got to talk to Keyleth.

Are we still going to do that? Yeah, because she can get us straight to ground zero. We'll rest first. She's crazy, because if it's the Mandalorians, are those people who were accidentally sucked up in this little land, and then they just, after 1,000 plus years, turned into flame beings? That's, this shit is crazy.

Rudiosans, Rudians, Rudi, oh, I don't know. Ru-shans? Red, red, I don't know. This is not what I'm. Red, I don't know. This is not what I'm good at, I don't know. Ruidians. Ruidians. You're Ruidusborn. Have you had any weird tinglings? Not a single tingle.

Well, that's not true. Not a single Ruidus tingle. I'm sure you don't mean that. No, no, no, of course. A Ruidus tingle. I'm sure you don't mean that. No, no, no, of course. A ruidous tingle. I've never had a ruishen tingle. Sucks. Holy shit.

Maybe one day. All right. Okay, we sleep. We sleep. We sleep. Okay. You all rest up for the evening. Go ahead and roll for your charges. Oh god, okay.

I'll scare Jules. Come on. We're all good. I hope I can. Come on. Guidance? You're sweet. Guess what, guys? Come on. I had to roll four in order to get enough charge back.

Oh no. You do. What'd you roll? Three. Goddamn it. Okay. I could lie. Well, we have to stay most of the day to get Ashton's hammer. Yeah, so we can go another day.

Another day of the clock clicks on. Yep, and we can check that. We can check that. I'll identify the duck funnel vest. The duck funnel. The harness. Yeah, the harness. I might have done this once already. I don't know, I'll identify the harness.

What's a fuck tunnel? The, identifying the harness. Put this in here. Identifying the harness. This harness, first off, the funnel that looked like it was a chest-based thing, you've noticed at this point that you've been looking at it from the wrong position. It's actually worn the other way around and it funnels to the base of the neck

between the shoulder blades. It is designed, from what you can ascertain through an identify spell, it is designed in the enchantment that's within there, though it does not currently function. It appears to have been either damaged with time or sustained in the crumbling or destruction of Bolaeusmyr, this device would take the essence of some sort of magic

and funnel it to a particular place on the wearer's body. Oh. Between the shoulder blades? Between the shoulder blades and the base of the neck. Fucking spinal cord. This shit funneled down the ley lines? Also maybe reveal a weak spot in Ludinus? That's true.

That's true. What if? He's charging himself up? Yeah, probably over centuries. I also wonder if it's got to be, if it's ancient and it's broken, we got to go see someone who is versed in ancient tech to fix it. That we trust.

If we want to fix it. Or that we kind of trust. I think that's how he would take his youth juice. He probably made another one. I mean, he left all this stuff behind, right? When he had to leave the Savalir, right? Yeah, right. This was like a...

Maybe a prototype? Yeah. I mean. This was like a bug-out bag that we found. Mm-hmm. God, I hate to say this, but did anybody know where Ira is? I mean, that's a great thought.

Yeah. Did we see him get away? We saw him leap off the boat with Xandas. And he was running around doing his thing. Good thing we had a whole other day. You could scry on someone else. Sure. Maybe you could check in with Ira. That's true.

You got two more scrys at your disposal here. Yeah. I cannot believe I'm saying this. Can't we just message him? You go to the allotted time and return to Milo. The first arrival, Milo's not quite done. He's like, come back in a couple hours here. I'm like, almost there, almost there.

And eventually, by the time the sun sets, you're thankful you had an extra day because it may not have been done in the time that you guys were planning to leave. But when you do return, Mylo is jittery, hasn't slept, but has a buzzing excitement about them as you step within the cookhouse and they hand you your hammer back. some excitement about them. As you step within the cookhouse

and they hand you your hammer back. The handle's a bit thicker. It looks like it has a reinforced chamber in the center of it now. And there is indeed, around the grip on the upper part, where the base of the actual hammer head is, you can see the exposed mechanism for clicking in where the rod was installed.

Gotcha. They go, all you have to do, go ahead, make sure you don't hit this accidentally in the middle of swinging it, otherwise it's going to be a major disappointment. But I think it could be useful circumstantially. You look at the rest of the glass portion of the head and you can see the crystal has been

essentially, you're not quite sure the process that they used, but it's been fused with it on the sides, where, depending on where you directionally turn it, either they're faced outward like fins or they're faced forward based on where you want to hit. And the more on the sides of it, it's not enough crystal to completely recreate it, but it's been incorporated into it.

Milo goes, I'm not entirely certain what the properties of this are, necessarily, other than the fact that it's very unique, has a refractive pattern to the crystalline structure itself, which I find really fascinating. But I managed to get most of it incorporated. Did you keep some for yourself just to check out?

I have a little bit left over, but. I took a little for myself, yes. Good, good. I was, yeah. I'm definitely curious. Looking at just a little bit, most of it went into this. But here. I don't know what it does either. This is beautiful.

Thank you. Of course, go. For everything. I don't know if I've ever... Thank you. They punch you in the shoulder. Fuck you, too. I'm trying to do better.

Yeah, you're trying to save the world, right? Yeah. Don't fuck it up. It's 100 gold. Yeah, that's okay. This is good. I need chaos. I have faith in chaos. I throw the hammer on my back and walk out. Okay.

You fuse the cave crystals. I did a lot of weird shit. To your hammer. These cave crystals, you shot magic into it. It scattered it. It refracted it. Sick. And then I also, I need to know.

Which was awesome. You said enough that I don't mind saying it. But also meant you had no control if it wanted to hit an ally. Yeah. I wonder what that switch does. Okay. Turn it on wonder what that switch does. Okay. Turn it on and off.

No, no. Oh god. He created a chaos weapon. Who knows what's going to happen? It got so weird. It's going to be great. But you all manage to gather again before the next night. Is there anything else you wanted to do before the?

Yeah. Anyone else we should check in on? Caleb Widogast. Bell's Hell's here. We survived. Where are you? Do you know what happened out there? What are you talking to?

The die I found at the game center. Roll a d100 for me. Oh shit. Don't die! Did he give you a seven, Kyle? 71. Okay. There's a slight staticky fuzz and no response.

I tried it last night, too. I pull out the trashy scribble. Okay. Nothing. Yeah, no tracks. But worth checking. She's probably on the moon. That was the ask later.

Yeah. It's just a magic eight ball. Just a Scryball. I check my tracking mark on Drixlech. Where is that fuck? Definitely still in the direction of Uthodron. Okay. With the weirdest rose gallery.

You really are an odd fucking group. Oh, I know. You want him to die of a heart attack. No problem. 168. I know. Almost there. Is it a one or 100? What's the death?

One or 100? Yeah. 100. 100? Oh god! All zeroes, yeah. All zero death? One or 100? Yeah. 100. 100. Oh god! All zeroes, yeah. All zeroes? Tripped zeroes, yeah. Wow. Never seen it, never will. We could check in on Ira.

Kind of penultimate. We're just seeing where he is. Yeah, we should check. I mean, I could try to send him a message. If he's close by, it's possible that he'll be able to hear, but who knows? That's somebody I would trust to look at that breastplate.

All right, let me give it a try. Try to send a little message. Does anyone have magic that can make sure he doesn't turn on us and try and kill us all? Other than... That'd be nice. Yeah. He's far more powerful than all of us. Except for maybe you mentioned.

So you're casting Ascending to Ira? Yeah. Uh-huh. All right, what do you say? It's true. We can try spreading it. Ira? Can you hear me? Is this working? Roll a d100 for me.

I'll do it with you. Familiar static lost in the loud network of chaotic magic forces in the sky. He is not close by. Maybe we'll have some luck when we're with the Ashari. Yeah, let's do it. Scry. Let's get there. Scry. Scry on what? You want to scry or are we going to the Ashari?

I'll scry on everyone, then we'll go to the Ashari. Oh wait, do we have to pick one? Who's doing what? All right, I'll do a to scry or are we going to the Asshari? I'll scry on Ira and then we'll go to the Asshari. Oh wait, do we have to pick one? Who's doing what? All right, I'll do a quick scry then. On? On Ira. I'll spin that coin and look into it and see what I can see. You look into the coin and you peer once more

through the keyhole that seems to open, and for a brief moment, you feel like you are about to grasp on Ira as an entity, not blocked like you were before from even trying. He exists out there, but his will pushes you back. He made a saving throw. So not today. To Zephrah! Mm-hmm. Yep.

So we're going to bed. One more time to bed, one more wake up and go. You can just cry if you want to, steal before bed. Anybody else we want to check in on? No, we got to go, man. Try Ira again. Let's do it. Let's just do it. Oh, that's true, we could try.

We'll just try one more time. Okay. What's your spell DC? 18. Okay. Ooh! As you concentrate once more, reconnecting yourself and exhaling your

essence of Fearne into the natural space around you, you feel yourself drift outward and then focus once more and release into the ether of the pulse of life around Exandria. And find yourself deep within a clustered red dust storm. Ah! Not amongst structures.

Not amongst others. Alone and pushing through a maelstrom. A stronger storm than they've set, just trudging through a shaded, intense red. just trudging through a shaded, intense red. Nothing. Psst. No response.

Does he look distraught? Yeah, what does he look like? Hard to tell. Covering his face. Like a whole coat is there, like a heavy cloak is up in his body. You see anything around? He's just pushing around and looking and just moving through. So he's there, but he's not with them?

So he could be doing his own thing. He could have gotten sucked up. It could be anything. Yeah, I see something. I see anything around him, anything he's carrying. Make a deception check. Okay. Looking out for number one.

Respect. 20 total. 20 total. Nope. 18. 18, okay. I know. You watch him for a bit,

and he approaches and you see a dark shape beginning to arrive. He presses up against the shape and gives the side of this what looks like a heavy piece of smooth stone, like a massive boulder that has been just smoothed over by the weather on the surface of this realm. Scrapes his fingers across it,

and then ducks into an alcove. Now, outside of the storm, he pulls his arm back. You see his pure black eyes blink walks into an alcove. Now, outside of the storm, he pulls his arm back. You see his pure black eyes blink, and this long finger pushes dust out of the corners of them, its long ears, and he grins as he turns around and looks at someone.

You see another figure approach. Thick, partially patchwork, armored torso. Material, not quite sure what it's made of, but this muscular humanoid figure of deep red skin with odd textures. You can see where the thick neck is. They're humanoid, but the features are sallow and smooth.

You see the eyes are odd-shaped and the head pushes back. This looks like... This looks like one of the entities that you've seen Imogen bring through, but not ethereal, not energy form, but physical, and it is dressed, and it seems to acknowledge Ira with recognition.

You don't see any conversation. It's like they're conversing without words. Mentally. That's fucking cool. As it gives a nod, it steps back into the interior of wherever Ira is, and Ira begins to follow just as the spell fades. Cool. Shit.

Okay, okay. Good intel. Pass it on. Okay, okay. Good intel. Pass it on. Okay, okay, okay, cool, cool, cool. So are the Mylorians a branch of Gith? Like, are they a- Do they look like Githzerai? Githzerai or Genki?

No, the features are different. Okay. You're uncertain if there is a connection. The one that you saw, the one that Imogen had brought forth was this thin, somewhat spindly, semi-ethereal version. Uncertain if it was an image of, or interpretation of, or just a certain kind.

The one that you saw was solid muscle, though with interesting striations and textures across its body. Were they hot? Were they hot? Sounds like it. I don't know. Was it hot? It sounds Bob. Duh.

All right. Sleep, Zephra, go. Let's go. Okay. Evening's rest comes through unabated here in the chambers. The next morning as you wake up and prepare yourself for the day's journey, you can see six of the Moored Skyships have left. You can just barely see a couple of them on the horizon

heading over towards the Hellcatch. The burning red moon still above, and with the context of what some of you have seen, too, it's odd now to see it from this side having been within its space. But this is the only business to take. You can go ahead and- We other business to take. You can go ahead and. We know what we're doing.

Yep. Yeah, let's go. Let's roll. All right. You set the staff before you, concentrate, focusing on really. Hold on. Hold on, sir. Hmm? It's my shield, huh?

Your shield. And concentrating on my shield, I don't know. Your shield. Concentrating on the shield, you begin to recite the incantation and invoke the staff. You watch as... Make a high, make a high. Ooh. Make a high, make a high. The runes along it begin to glow and flicker

as the spiral of the twisting wood continues up, and as it does, you watch the opaqueness of the crystal begin to go clear, but it brightens as it does. As that happens, you focus on your troop, and all of you feel the breath begin to like it's being pulled out of you, like a vacuum is pulling the breath out of your lungs. Right in that moment where the panic begins to set in,

the whole room stretches. Within but a moment, you all catch your feet just landing on the ground. It's midday. A beautiful cloud-dappled sky. As you glance around on the horizon amongst these beautiful brown and red stones, this mountainscape around you,

you can see clusters of trees and pathways and walkways that weave up through the mountain ranges. You can see the grass fields and eventually the ocean far beyond in an easter direction. But you also see yourself standing on the precipice of a cliff that leads to a beautiful village that is built, woven through the nearest peaks of these mountains.

Pastels of all ranges in color. You see bridges and ledges that encompass the rustic and natural homesteads that make up this community. The very structures and layout look like it's carved from the stone and grown from the ground, like the existence of this village is a borrowed gift from the land itself.

The wind curls through perpetually. Chilly, but welcoming. The sweet scents of natural earth and other smells you can't quite identify draw you in the direction of this village where a tall, bright cherry blossom tree sits right at the precipice to your right. And that's where we go ahead and end the episode tonight.

Beautiful. This place is kind of a dump. Three stars if I mention my guy. Yeah. Beautiful. Oh, Lee. It's only because it's hard to get things. Ooh. Bad parking.

Garbage truck drives by. Yeah. Y'all, a lot happened. A lot happened. Yeah, man. That was wild. Nice one, man. I'm excited for the next episode,

and the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that. But nevertheless, thank you so much for joining us. We love you very much, and is it Thursday yet? Good night. Thursday. Oh, hey, Ashley Johnson here. And I sure do hope you're enjoying the adventure. Remember when you first found out about critical role, was it through a friend or a family member,

or maybe even through the words of a stranger in the review section of our podcast. Many listeners find our show through word of mouth and recommendations. So please consider rating and reviewing our podcast because each review makes an impression that may just inspire someone new to give our show a try and that, more than anything, helps to support us.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure and until next time, let us try to leave the world a little better than we found it.