Critical Role - C3E95 Gathering of Needs

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

Bells Hells take time to focus inwards on their grief and their healing, but inner demons threaten the harmony of their bond... We’re excited to bring you even MORE with a Beacon membership! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join  Get unparalleled access to Critical Role with a Beacon membership. Enjoy the shows you love completely ad-free, plus new exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord.   Watch Critical Role LIVE at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on June 15th as Bells Hells gather their courage and their allies to stop Ludinus Da’leth and his planned destruction of the gods. Learn more at https://critrole.com/event/bells-hells/   Witness the Fairelands come to life May 25th for an immersive Candela Obscura LIVE SHOW at The United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles! Tickets are on sale now: https://www.axs.com/events/548570/can...       Twitch Subscribers and YouTube Members gain instant access to VODs of our shows like Critical Role, 4-Sided Dive, Candela Obscura, and Exandria Unlimited. But don't worry: 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 and YouTube Members also gain access to our official custom emote set and subscriber badges. "It's Thursday Night (Critical Role Theme Song)" by Peter Habib and Sam RiegelOriginal Music by Omar Fadel, Hexany Audio, Ghiya Rushidat, Karam Salem, Neal Acree, and Colm R. McGuinness"Welcome to Marquet" Art Theme by Colm McGuinnessAdditional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 AlarmCharacter Art by Hannah FriederichsAnimated Introduction by Kamille Areopagita, Kevin Areopagita, Mark Adams and Peggy Shi 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 

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As always, Critical Role will be available right here in podcast form on Thursdays, a week after the initial broadcast. And now, let's scry into the story and see what mysteries it holds for us, shall we? Hello, everyone, and welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons. We play it.

Occasionally. But before we jump into tonight's episode, we do have some announcements to get through, beginning with our sponsor of tonight, Chipaku. Marisha. Chipaku. With more than 4,000 hand-drawn fantasy battle maps, Chipaku is the best Patreon page to find maps for D&D,

Pathfinder, and any other tabletop RPG. Add depth to your adventure with multi-level dungeons and terrain to explore that pair wonderfully with most virtual platforms. And you can also pair it with this. What is that? Maps by Chepicu. No. For her.

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Play the film, Kyle. Film? Lost in the labyrinthine streets of an unfamiliar village, I encroached upon a crossroads. Enchanted forest or fetid swamp? Why not let fate decide with maps by... Chepicu.

Desperate for guidance, I stumbled into a quaint shop and begged the musty old proprietor for a map. Chepic. His eyes, clouded with age, peered into my soul as his clammy hands passed me a battle map so beautiful, I wept. Then, I thought about bread. I unfurled the visage, its one-inch grid offering hope against the swallowing darkness. Chepicu.

Maps by Chepicu. For her. Available wherever cryptic lady fragrances are sold. Thank you so much for just submitting that to North by Northwest. Fingers crossed! Come on, festival season. Check out the Chapakoo Patreon, the $5 Master Cartographer membership.

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Thank you so much, Marisha. Incredible film, both of you. North by Northwest. Thank you, thank you. Smells like rose water. Our next sponsor is TCG Player. Critters, get ready for mayhem on May 17th. TCG Player is hosting their most hardcore event

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prize, and the winner will also receive a set of Critical Role's Vox Machina and Mighty Nein Universe's challenger decks. I don't know where this came from, but I'm going with it. The sweepstakes close at 8 AM Eastern on May 17th, so head over to TCGPlayer.com and enter now! Thank you, TGC Player, for sponsoring this episode. Thank you. That's a big fan! That's great. Nice!

I want to go down that road a little further. I was thinking cartoons. I should get that checked out. All right, Travis, you're up next. Yes, friendly reminder that tickets for our Bells Hells Live show at the Greek Theater go on sale next week! Oh my goodness.

A friendly reminder that to guarantee access to the Beacon presale, you must sign up for a monthly or annual membership no later than tonight at 1159, 59 PM Pacific. But if you miss the Monday presale, do not fret. We will have tickets available for everyone the very next day on May 21st. And if you missed all of these details, please

reference critrole.com slash events for all of the saucy details. Delightful. Delightful. We're saucy. We're saucy. Saucy. Saucy. Liam, you're up next. Let's talk about some books.

Yeah! I have some exciting. Baby. I went there, too. In my head, yeah. I have some exciting news from Dark Horse. The final two installments of our Mighty Nein Origen series are at hand. The first one.

Oh, look, it's there. Yo, get out of here! Beauregard Lionette graphic novel. It's available now, right now. I thought that blood was splattered on it, but it's just the art. It's mine. I was so taken aback by it that my nose started bleeding on the cover. Matt and Marisha join writer May Cat to unveil Beau's backstory with art by Gilaremi Balbi, colors by Diana Sosa, and letters by Ariana Mar,

with Balbi and Sosa illustrating the cover. Yeah! You can find it now at your local comic shop. Here you go. She's just fighting in a vineyard, like you do. Could be grape juice, could be blood. Yeah, just punching grapes. That tank tall.

I also have Caduceus Clay. This is the last in the series and it's coming up next. So you can find this one at comic shops on June 19th. The inside of this book is beautiful. Oh yeah. Beautiful. But that's all the details I can give you. I can take that. The contents?

It's good stuff? Don't give anything away. I'm not. No spoilers. No spoilers. Right there, right there. Look at that. Yeah, look at that. You can do this yourselves.

It's a spread. You get the book and you look inside it instead of our watch-along. We're going to do real long. Careful. Ashley. Ashley's feeling a way. I'm feeling a type of way, and I'm going to leave it alone.

Laura, you're up next. Oh yes. Speaking of... Hi, baby. Hi, baby. Hi. Aw. Speaking of Bell's house, we weren't. Guess what's happening?

We're getting, you guys, we're getting a gorgeous limited edition signed art print available for reorder right now. Yes! Right now through May 31st, you guys. Nailed it, nailed it. The illustration is the same style as our Vox Machina and our Mighty Ma-

Oh, fuck. Our Mighty Nein fine art prints, it's hard to say, by the same fantastic artists, Matteo Scalera and Moreno D'Inicio. Amazing duo. They are so talented, and the prints are printed on high-quality art paper. Stop it.

And each one that you pre-order will be signed by the cast. That's us! That's us! Yay! Just like the first two campaigns. Yeah, so the pre-orders are available now in the U.S. Critical Role Shop.

That's Critical Role Shop. I don't know. Shop.criticalrole.com. That's the websiteoll Shop. I don't know, shop.critroll.com. That's the website. There you go. Also, you guys, the non-signed versions will still be available for anybody that doesn't want to get our grubby fingers on them. That's going to be later on in the year,

so just wait for that. Fingers are not grubby. There you go. My fingers are not grubby. Laura eats a lot of Cheetos, so you don't want the dust. You might get a nice schmear on there. Sell for more schmear. Indeed.

Like the shirts you sit on. Yep. All righty, folks. Die. For the Queen is here! It's here for the Queen! We're super thrilled to have made a stunning second edition of For the Queen

by award-winning game designer Alex Roberts. This is such an amazing game. I love it so much. Many of us here love it, aside from me, and you will love it, too, if you haven't already. We're so excited to bring this enhanced version to all these new players and an updated version to new players of all. For those who don't know, For the Queen is a collaborative storytelling card game where you each answer questions to weave a narrative of love, betrayal, doubt, devotion, towards the queen as your characters accompany her on a journey. And those dynamics and unique things begin to unfold

as you play and decide on who you are and how you connect to the story. Will you follow a cyber queen, lording her virtual will over the scintillating neon grid? A rugged pirate queen sailing the high seas for glory. Or something entirely of your own imagination. Yes. Can you date the queen? You can definitely decide to do that.

Sometimes many of you can, and that leads to even more tension. But you can find Fit the Queen today at Cryptroll online shops and other friendly local game stores. Plus, at Derrynim Press Guild Stores, you'll find exclusive promo cards featuring the princesses of Queen by Midnight

reimagined as crowned queens. They're super pretty. For the Queen by Midnight! Boss no, boss no. Gimme, gimme, gimme. I'll do that. It's super cool. Oh my god.

That art is badass. It's really amazing. They all will lend their own narratives, I'm sure, uniquely. So yeah, go for it! Mash up our games! We dare you. We dare you. Actually, I dare you. Oh, don't look at me.

Horror! Freya. And if you'd love to play games online, For the Queen is also available virtually over at Roll20. Whoa! It's actually a really elegant conversion that'll be perfect for playing with your long-distance friends, so please be sure to check that out as well. available virtually over at Roll20. Whoa! It's actually a really elegant conversion that'll be perfect for playing

with your long-distance friends, so please be sure to check that out as well. With that, I believe, our announcements have come to a conclusion. It can't be, I need hot boys. No, no, no, no. Hot boy in my life. So with that, let's go ahead and jump into tonight's episode of

Critical Role. Yeah! 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? Ye might.

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 play It's Thursday night There is magic and mystery From darkness our friendship will rise One one thing's for sure, we never give up on the fight Oh, get ready, it's Thursday night SAM and LAURA And welcome back.

So, last we left off, Bells Hells, after returning from Ruidus and reuniting with their old friend, Dorian Storm, are in the final throes of gathering what information, power, and allies they and the rest of Exandria can before trying to stop Ludinus Delef and the Ruy vanguard through their alliance

with the entities that control Kraviris in the service of Ruidus from releasing Prodathos, the God Eater. As such, you've learned a little bit of information about Ludinus not being on Ruidus at the moment, and it seems has had some dealings with an ancient ruin of one of the many fallen cities from the realm of history known as the Age of Arcanum,

particularly a place called Aeor. Some of you may have heard this a little bit in passing history, but more information can be gleaned. But what you do know is it apparently contains some ancient magical technology that is both dangerous as it's being understood and is seemingly being funneled and repurposed through a lot of what the Ruby Vanguard is doing,

both here on Exandria and on the moon above. So Ludinus is apparently present and having dealings within these ruins, last you heard. After speaking with Keyleth and the Exandrian Accord, the alliance of all those who are wanting to stop those responsible for this, you were given, through a series of connections, an escort who had some experience in these ruins.

A mage of somewhat schlubby persona, but seemed to be somewhat knowledgeable in their connection with the Cobalt Soul. They had a lead on someone who is a member of the Cerberus Assembly, who might know exactly where in these ruins, or at least lead you in the direction of these ruins where Ludinus may be.

Then you headed towards the city, through teleportation, the city of Zadash in the Dwendalian Empire. These streets seem to have sustained some recent damage and there was a sense of tension in the air of some recent dangers that seemed to have swept through. But as you plug through the streets, getting to the exterior of an interesting little bookshop and a trinket shop known as Chastity's Nook,

selling all sorts of knickknacks, decor, and very wonderful, smutty, romantic books. You were led to the back room where one of the more recent employees, Irma, had been sitting and reading a book, as this escort mage had spoke a phrase that Bren says his regards, immediately tension in the room built

on what seemed to be a rapid-paced wizard battle, all of you of which rushing in and throwing wherever you can to subdue this figure. In the midst of this fray, your escort, this mage, threw down an anti-magic shell which dispelled the illusion on your target and themselves, revealing themselves Your escort, this mage, threw down an anti-magic shell which dispelled the illusion on your target and themself, revealing themself to be a dark elf mage of some esteem,

and your target being an individual known as Astrid Beck, a member of the Cerberus Assembly and the Archmage of Civil Influence. Here, in this tense moment, as you hold the Archmage back and this dark elf who named himself Essek Thalyss, an enemy of Ludinus D'leth, you are in the right place to commence an interrogation and discover where you are to tread next.

Here, as Ashtrid is held somewhat tense and realizing in the moment, at your disposal, Essek looks amongst the people in the room around him. Well, friends, what do we need to know beyond where he may be doing his dealings? Well, friends, what do we need to know beyond where he may be doing his dealings?

Astrid, do you know where Ludinus is? Do you know what he's up to? Do you know how we can find him? And she sits there, held at bay by a number of you. She grits her teeth for a bit. sits there, held at bay by a number of you. She grits her teeth for a bit. I know Ludinus and his cohorts have been working on something in private, reallocating resources and dealing directly

with foreign factions in secret. Now, I kept my nose mostly clean of the entire affair, and would never have expected his plotting to be so universally disastrous. Knowing the world's sight now falls squarely upon the world, Sightner falls squarely upon the Assembly. Following the solstice, that is why I went into hiding. I am not in league with him. I'm not part of his plan. I just do not wish to be imprisoned

for something I was not a part of. So she looks up at Essek. So she looks up at Essek. It seems I now join you in living as a fugitive, am I not? He just clenches his jaw for a moment. I will ask you again, what do you know of Lutinus's plot and where his dealings are within the ruins?

She eyes across all of you. I was not part of his plan, so I do not know specifically, but I know his research is burrowed deep within Eiselcross. Imperial control of his site has been nearly absolute as of late, causing tensions with the Dynasty and those relations go sour once again. But it seems little care was given

when compared to the scope of his plot. My place with him in the Assembly allowed me a little clearance to inquire into his work, but I do know that he had spent the better part of the last five years within and around the Genesis Ward and beyond. I managed to get a name once from an associate who took a shine to me within his projects at Scouts.

He mentioned something called the Occultist Thalamus. Occultist? Thalamus? Thalamus. I am uncertain what that means directly. This individual seems spooked he had even let it slip. And that's a location? Or something in the general board. So if you're going to look for him, or those who work with him,

that might be the place to start. I don't want to pry. First of all, Essek, may I say, great look. Are you of the Death Dynasty? Not anymore. I am myself. She said you were a fugitive.

Oh, that's so exciting. He shoots a stare at Astrid, and Astrid just smiles back with a shooting grin. What did you do? Keyleth mentioned there might be some unsavory types that she was converting. I just didn't know we'd be in league with one so soon. I love it.

Technically, we're unsavory types, but I feel like maybe that's pushing it a bit. Imogen, do you want to prod anything? Well, it seems like he's going to just tell us, right? He's just going to tell us. Well, both of them really are. Well, come on, Judgy. Look at us.

What, Judgy? I am not the target of this interrogation. No, no, no, no, no. This is just us getting comfortable. You, Sherry. What's this getting into now? Is this beautiful purple man someone you met on your adventures while I was away?

No, I never met this beautiful creature. You don't know him either? No, no, no. You're floating. Wait, is he? He looks down and he's about an inch and a half off the ground. Even with the anti-magic field still going on? Actually, no, with that field,

he would be on the ground. You just have this vibe about you. Where you're like, that's amazing. No, the anti-magic field, he would be on the ground. When he have this vibe about you where you're like, that's amazing. No, the anti-magic field, he would be on the ground. When he's not floating, he's super short. I don't think I can pry into their minds without magic available.

That's fair. Can you help me understand some basics? I was under the impression that the Assembly had withdrawn to the north. Is there still a presence here? Or, and this is addressed to Essek. Yeah, to Essek. Yeah. Essek.

To be entirely honest, I've been not the focus of following their threats. That was my partner's particular interest. There had been some divisions internally that had been rumored about. Some of the old guard, if you will, seemingly swayed some of the newer blood. Though perhaps this one here has had enough

of the wizard's tumultuous past to want to buy into it. Let me see, Aesir just shakes her head a little bit. As far as what I've heard, all of the Assembly after the solstice vanished. Wow. Wow. It is believed that some work and operate within the vanguard. Others, I'm sure, are either helping in secret,

trying to avoid persecution like this one by association. Are they all as powerful as Ludinus? You see, Astrid and go, in our own ways, maybe. Essek goes, No. Not like him. He is a particularly

focused individual. But not like him. He is a particularly focused individual. What's interesting in politics is the ones that are holding quiet power that I worry about the most. The hardest to read. I believe many of us who have had our eye on Ludinus for a while are feeling quite frustrated that we didn't pay them as much mind as we had thought we should.

But it must be a little validating, though, right? You were right! It is very validating. I just wish it was, I just wish it felt better. Sorry, I know this is Astrid. I know we're focusing on this interrogation, but just Essek, you're of the Dynasty, but not anymore.

You're just on your own. When I was in the Empire, they were at war all the time. You guys have a history, it seems, but you're not actively enemies? Is this Dasik? Yes. Yeah. There was a peace called a little over seven years ago, and while there has been no active warfare

and there have been some steps towards better relations. It didn't seem to stop the machinations in the background. The war just went quieter, been more in the shadows, if you will. A lot of that focus was up north, where we're going. Is there any chance that Dynasty is going to show up up north, where we're going. Is there any chance that Dynasty is going to show up up north? He looks over to Astrid, and Astrid goes,

I don't know. It's not my speciality. I've just been helping work with the people in the Empire. Civil influence and all. What is your specialty? My specialty is helping the king and his court present and sculpt the opinion of its citizens. Marketing. Okay. So I guess, I don't know, coming from my background, my immediate question is,

what did you think you were going to get out of him? Not even necessarily personally, but like, I don't know, what the fuck was he offering? What the fuck did you even think he was offering before everything went to shit with Ludinus? Well, Ludinus didn't offer me anything. I've been in my position for a number of years. He's just one of the eight of us,

though the one with the most history. Ludinus didn't ask for your help? No, I think he knew better. You have to understand, when all of this happened, I think those who are aligned with him had been aligned for a while. The rest of us were left in a lurch with all eyes looking upon us.

That is why I flew the coop, as they say. How long were you in the club? In the club? In the assembly? At the top. Better part of about seven-ish years now. Spent a decent amount of time, Ludenus. Strangely, no. People assume the assembly is a very tight-knit group.

Truth is, we all exist, smiling and dealing with handshakes, but everyone's working against each other. So no insight on what makes him tick or any soft underbelly? I think that's what scares me the most about him. He's always been gentle and present

and amiable, diplomatic. I think that's why the court has trusted him as long as they have. But I think that's why those of us who have dealt with the worst, Exandria has to offer a consent. Consents what's false around that mask.

Who was closest to him within the Assembly? Well, it was my former master, but he was put in prison. He's still in prison? I certainly hope so, for all of our sakes. You took his spot at the table? I did. Though it seems that seven years is not enough

to gain the respect of those around you. So you're going to come looking for you? Not unless you say anything to help. Yeah, you said you worried about being arrested. Who would arrest you? Well, the rest of the Empire's not happy that the most powerful mages have absconded If you'd been arrested, who would arrest you? Well... The rest of the Empire's not happy that the most powerful mages have absconded and essentially set the rest of Exansri on this path.

So you're hiding in a bookshop. What of it? You want to come to Eiselcross with us? Absolutely not. Why not? It would be so fun. Yeah, it's probably very tropical. There's sun, you could use it. She looks a bit asic.

These are the sort of companions you keep these days. Essek goes, Not companions. I am to escort them as a favor, but it's all right. So we are travel companions. So companions. Just because someone's funny doesn't mean they're not very dangerous.

Oh, I see there's capability within all of you, and you wouldn't be sent on this mission that you are on if, the voice of the Tempest didn't feel confident in your abilities. Oh. You see, Astrid, given the... She knows. So they work at the behest of the voice.

Interesting. So anything else you wish to say for yourself, Astrid, before we leave you to your upgrade in life? She just clenches her teeth a bit, her fingers flex, and you can see she's feeling gently for any flicker of magic returning, while just keeping focused around you.

I am not your enemy. I am not your enemy. I am not with him. I would not be here, and I would not be so quick to bend the knee in these circumstances. It's only because of an old friend. But if all this goes by and you succeed, I just want you to share how helpful I was. I did not stand in your way.

Is there any other help you can give us? Any kind of hint that will help us in our fight against lewdness? Because there's a storm coming and it's gonna rain on you just as much as us. Oh, I know where. There are also visual learners, so you know, like flip books, puppet shows, anything that can help really just drive it home. We're big fans of puppets here. She looks through her mind for a second and looks up at Essek. Make a group persuasion check for me.

Fuck yes! First roll. Whoever rolls the lowest has to leave. All right, I'll see you later. Oh! 18. 18. 18.

18? Fuck yes. 13, 12. 25. Ooh! Dirty 20. Dirty 20. Nice. 34.

Duh! What? Shit! All right. Nice. 34. Duh! What? Shit! All right. 13. Two, but I'm tempted to just threaten physically. Grr, grr. Okay. I threat time. I guess so.

This is like a rollercoaster ride. Woo! Woo! For all the goofiness that you sometimes present. Sometimes. What do you mean? I know. At this question from Imogen, there is a communal lean on those words.

And you can see Astrid is rapidly taking an assessment of who you look like, but who you might truly be and what you might be capable of. You see this sly grin creep across her face, the scar on her cheek wrinkling a bit as her eyes narrow. As a member of the Assembly, it is important to try and look for any sort of weaknesses in the other members in case any of them go a bit sour or come for you. Some of them are easier to read than others.

Ludinus has always been extremely challenging to read. But there was one little quirk I've been noticing. Not always, but definitely now and then. He would have an itch. A recurring little itch right around the back of his neck. Now, I have my theories. Perhaps it was an illness.

Perhaps some sort of challenged echo of his experimentations. I do not know. Maybe like a heat rash. Yes, it's a common place to get it. Seafood allergy. Yeah, yeah, that's true. But there was one time when he saw it, I noticed him.

And he shot me such a glare. The least important part of your question is and he shot me such a glare. That's the least important part of your question, I guess. So perhaps he's just embarrassed, but this is the first time I ever saw him for just a brief moment look like he showed his cards. What do you think it is, if you could give a guess? Well, I eat trash.

Real quick, since it feels like we're wrapping up, what happened here in Zadash? Oh yeah, the buildings. Everything's quite a mess. I've mainly been staying in here since all of this business transpired. since all of this business transpired. It was safer for me to not wander.

And to her credit, Ivar's been very kind to quickly hire help. So this time you can see, stepping through a small knot in the door, you hear this and you see this little white, fluffy cat wander in and starts rubbing against Dorian's leg. What I do know is that some terrible flaming bird

of black and purple fire soared through the sky and briefly skirted the the sky-lining streets of this town before it was either stopped or set off somewhere else. What is it? What is it? What is it? What? Oh shit. Oh shit.

Essek, my man, with the hair. You can just call me Essek, please. Hella good hair. The Genesis Ward. Do you know where that is? I admit, I've been a lot of places. Eiselcross is not one of them.

I do, actually. I've been there before. Oh. Looks like an asteroid. We should discuss elsewhere, but it is good to know that at least some of my familiarity will come in handy. And indeed, if he is working beneath a Genesis Ward, there are a handful of unwalked paths

that I could consider as possibilities. They've also been there for some time, so any signs of their research would be, well, trackable. Then DM, is Astrid wearing any jewelry? Any, anything that jumps out? Make a perception check. Do do do do. I don't know why I rolled with advantage.

It's the same for both of them. 18. 18. You see she has a clasp on her dark green cloak that she has on. She's wearing simple leather armor that has some really detailed-looking, almost like a thin,

it's not almost like chain mail, but the chains are smaller, that sits underneath the segments. You see she has two rings in the left hand and on the two central fingers, and then she has one ring on her pinky and her index in the other hand. That's all you see.

Nothing around her neck that we can see? Nothing around her neck, no. Yeah, just looking for a locket and sent to family. Mm-hmm. Well, you've been very helpful. She's been kind of helpful. Well, shit. Damn.

But better than nothing. Very well. Is there anything else? Mm-hmm. Is there anything else besides he's got a scratch on the back of his neck? An itch? I wish I could tell you, honestly.

He's extremely careful about a lot of things, and it's dubiously challenging to read past what he wants you to see. So I think that's part of what makes him so unsettling as a figure. I wish I could tell you more, but I've seen him, I've seen him walk his entire time with confidence. And that was the only moment for a split second

I saw him interfere in his eyes. Well, I, for one, am very grateful for your assistance. I'll reach into a little pouch and take out a small wooden circle and just hand it to her. She looks over at the rest of you to be released. A little carved into it in wood, it said, Farts are funny.

She looks at it. I will treasure it always. You better. There may not be a lot left. If things go wrong, are we going to see you out there fighting? When things go wrong. If they come to me, yes.

They'll eventually be coming to anyone, and you should think about that, because one way or another, if it goes wrong, that knee will bend itself. I'm good. We've been on the moon. You got any questions for us? Never mind, it's cool.

Enjoy the gift. She looks at Essek, unbelieving, and he goes. She looks at the wooden coin. Do we have a rock? Sure. Do we have a rock? Flicks it onto the ground. A rock? The white cat's a rock. We don't need a prudence.

We don't need a prudence. Just leave him go. The white cat's curled up behind her leg and she goes, Shhh, Prudence, it's all right. Prudence? Prudence. Cute. Solar. Wait, Prudence is the's all right. Prudence? Prudence. Cute. It's over. Do you know what Prudence is, the cast name? Mm-hmm.

She goes and snaps her fingers. Nothing happens, looks at Essek. Do you mind? Are we comfortable? We feel like we have what we need, at least a direction to go. You're the one that's the expert up there. Do you know where the Genesis Ward is? I do. Well then, yeah, we have what we need, at least a direction to go. You're the one that's the expert up there. Do you know where the Genesis Ward is?

I do. Well then, yeah, we got what we need. I'll tell you more on the way. This thalamus. He goes ahead and washes his hand through the air. You can feel almost like a stale scent to the very vibration around you pass. Ashton immediately throws up an illusion

and retakes the form of Irma that you saw her in. She sits back in the chair, picks up the book that was thrown to the ground and has to thumb through to find her place. What's she reading? Yeah, what's she reading? Yeah. So fast.

I know, you motherfuckers. She is reading, actually, she's reading The Gale and the Raven. Mm. It's the one that sounded appealing, too. Yeah. Mm. Beautiful story. While we should get to this, Iselcross,

I'm sure it's a couple hours north of here. Mm, yes. She's looking at you. It's actually a bit tight. Do you have a favorite book? Not yet. I hate it here, but there's no better way to pass the time, I suppose.

You don't have a favorite book? Wow. You must be fun at parties. I'm quite fun at parties, actually. Oh, sure. In Kataraag on occasion. Oh. Oh. It's like And cut the rug on occasion. Oh. I can do that.

Sorry. I believe it. Not necessary. Yeah. Essek puts on his illusion once more and steps out of the back chamber. You can see Iva standing there like, everything all right? I heard there was a commotion.

Oh yeah, we're just fine. Iva standing there like, Everything all right? I heard there was a commotion. Oh yeah, we were just fine. We were just really enthusiastic about the porn trip. Best of friends. What's your favorite book here? Oh my goodness. Let me start it. First off, Irma, everything okay? Yeah, everything's all right.

They just had a lot of questions and I tripped. Okay. A lot of strange things going on around here. She's clumsy, I could tell. Yeah. My favorite book. I know it's hackneyed because it's been a bestseller for a number of years, but I only have one copy left.

Pulls a book off the shelf that you see has this It's been a bestseller for a number of years, but we only have one copy left. He pulls a book off the shelf that you see has this beautifully broad-looking, orcish, handsome man holding this human woman with her hair blowing. I see you may see. Tuscla, do you know about this one? I've heard, yes. No. Terrace.

This is a third edition, so there's actually an interview in the back from the author. Oh my goodness. It is hardbound, it's a little more expensive, but it is a collector's piece, so if you want one, you have one left on sale. How much?

You have other friends of yours, Irma? No. Oh, well. That'll be one gold, five silver. Done. Two gold. Pretty good. What? Is there another book you can throw in for that extra bit?

Laura Bailey Shininger. Make a persuasion check. Don't give a tip on a book, you know? Just a book. Do You have any erasers you can throw in, maybe some paperclips? Oh, it's a book, it's called Just the Tip, right here. Oh, great. It's got bracelets.

Natural 20. Yay! Dance. Oh, man. She looks at you. You know, if you like Tusk Love, I can definitely give you Guard of My Heart.

It's a bit of a used copy, but I think it'll go in well. I got a bunch of incense here I can throw in. What about a picture book? Like a picture porn. Do you know how to? A picture porn? Yeah. I've heard of these.

Ever seen porn? She steps in the back room and comes back with a plain brown leather-bound book. It's smaller than the other. It's only about that large. Yeah, because you got to keep the cover. It's great. She goes,

This was written a few hundred years ago by an ex-priest out of Vasselheim who had rediscovered himself through a tawdry journey. It's untitled, but, and he flickers it just for a moment in front of you. Oh, it's so hairy. Encloses it. And it's just a number of extremely detailed, slightly cartoony, just a plethora of positions.

I'll take in how much? Some mundane, some magically enhanced. Oh! Nice. The various schools of magic with their runic inscriptions and uses within there. What art? What art? That one's not by you. Oh, prismatic spray.

How much for this? Modal style. Well, you seem to be a connoisseur. Make a persuasion check. I am a connoisseur. Grease. As a matter of fact, natural 20. Shit! What? The best! What's up with you today? You're wearing the porn. Grease. As a matter of fact, natural 20. Why? What is this guy wearing the porn?

Why? I mean, that's just right. You come alive, you know. 33. It's going to be funny if you roll a one. She goes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Beat combat. No more beat combat.

She looks at you, she looks at the book and goes, This is a personal collector's copy. But I've had it for some time, and I'm going to be honest, it's fun to look at, but I haven't had a lot of opportunities to put it to use. Oh. You seem to be on quite a walkabout. She looks at all of us. And I would be happy to put it into more useful hands.

And she just puts it into your grasp. Here's the thing. Do we give vibes? I think we do. I think so. Here's the thing, if you haven't been able to put it to good use yet, I think you need to keep it.

Oh, I know it front to back. Oh, you do? Oh, okay. I appreciate that. You'll take more from this than I would. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, so sticky. Front and the back. Some sides. Thank you. I'm going to give her a platinum.

Why? Wait, what are you talking about? A platinum? You know what a platinum is, right? Yeah. That's 100 gold. No, 10 gold. It's fine, I'm rich. No. Did we ever divide up all the money we were given?

No, we didn't. Chetney just keeps it all. Put it all on him. Okay, just checking. This is art. That's why you jangle so much when you walk. This is art. Thank you.

I will give you 10,000 gold for this. Yeah. You see the illusion-covered Essek, Seth, just behind the doorway, tapping his foot impatiently. Sorry, Essek. This is important stuff, we need it to fight. Yeah, you don't know when this is going to come in handy. You just wait and see it will.

Gotta stay warm in the north somehow. We're bereaved, we need this. Yes. Iva, before you leave, goes, You're all very well equipped, and call me crazy, but I get a feeling that you might be of the adventurous type.

Go on. Mm-hmm. Right? So you travel a lot, maybe? That's true. Are you going at all to the Menagerie Coast? We could. If things go well, maybe we can. We can be persuaded. Why? What did you have in mind?

If you do, I have a friend there I haven't talked to in a while. If you could just tell him I say hi, that'd be great. Oh, sure. Who's your friend? His name's Yussa Arenas. Yussa. Pen pal. It's been a bit.

Hasn't really responded to my letters recently, and I would very much just like to keep in contact and catch up. When was the last letter sent? A while. A couple months ago. Oh, that's it. Okay. Yussa Arenas.

Did Yussa allude to anything in their last letter that would? No, they're just very busy. They're a very busy person. Yeah, sure, we'll remember. They're not one of those prison pen pals, are they? No. Oh. I hope not. All right.

I don't think so. Or should we go calling for them? Are they a government employee? Or they work on the water? No, independent researcher. Tower, Tidepeak, Nicodranas, if you're in the way. Tower, Tide Peak. Only if you're going that way. Anyway. Sure, sure, sure.

Thank you so much for your patronage. She's still clutching the platinum in her hand. And I hope your books come in handy. Thank you much. I think they'll come in very handy. Thank you very much. She goes and takes the coin, and as you leave, you notice, as you're all exiting,

she goes and pulls out a secondary copy of the leather book and puts it in the front. She's like, Oh! Respect. Respect. That means respect. Matter of parcel.

Purseful. All right, you step out, and as it stands there, looking at the rest of you, you said you also need supplies, perhaps? We have a few things we need to take care of in town, if that's okay. Certainly, what is it you're looking to take care of? Well, I'm going to recommend a little bit

of group therapy before we go, and also going to recommend that we supply up, what kind of climate are we going to? What's available, towns, cities? No towns, no cities. It is absolutely freezing. I recommend bringing cloaks, getting heavy furred boots, anything to wear over yourselves

to keep yourselves extremely warm, because it will be very cold. All right. So we're going to need some coats, and I'm going to give you all a pitch in a minute. Where do we want to meet? In a few hours, somewhere around here? No, no, no. Maybe back, it's fine. Where do we want to meet? In a few hours, somewhere around here?

No, no, no. Maybe back. It's fine. You seem to have been for a second. Actually a bit peckish. There's a place called the Pentamarket. Thank you. It's hard to miss the smell of cooking meats. I'm lucky to be there, getting a snack.

Who would come up with a name like that? Okay. Pentamarket. And that's where we can go to get potions and stuff? There is a place I can take you that might have some supplies like that. Great. Yeah, we need health potions.

Do we need gear? Health potions, gear, and some, honestly. I just keep figuring out that it's the weird shit that we bring that somehow always comes in handy. Yeah. So whatever strikes our fancy. If it's freezing, then yeah, I need to get some sleep. Did we ever find any magic?

Magic, this is out of character. Do we find any magic cloaks or anything? Did we find any things to raise our AC? You mean to suck into the funnel? Yeah, like. We've got some stuff for the funnel, I think. Stuff for the funnel, or just like clothing items. Did we never picked up anything like that from anybody?

All right, then we probably, maybe we can buy an enchanted object or, are there like, there's enchanted armor and stuff that like, sorcerers can wear. There is, yeah. Finding some magic shop, something like that. Possibly. Okay. My AC is pretty low.

The one-use cloaks that we had, that we got from Nannamori, right? But those were like mossy. And those are enchanted for that particular region. Like the magic of the region around her was what kind of thing? I think we're going to need, guys, I think we're going to need a little bit of a shopping episode.

I'm really sorry. For the record, that was in character. Thank you. You're having an episode? I phased out and there was this magical fourth wall for a second. I don't know what it is. Shopping. It's right in front of me.

Oh god. I can see you all. Essek's about to turn and he's like, whenever you're ready to go shopping, as you put it, for these particular potions and other, find me in the market. And he goes and starts heading off. Let's go.

Okay, you all. I had you pick up a bunch of shit before we left. Yes. I had an epiph a bunch of shit before we left. Yes. I had an epiphany this morning when I woke up, and thank god we found you. Yeah. So I'm fucked up right now. I'm kind of pretending that none of it happened,

but it's been a weird 24 fucking hours, and going into a place like this, even if you think your head's in the game, your head is not in the game. I've learned that the hard way several times. So we have a thing that we used to do, those of us who came out of the Greymoor Academy, where we would take that part of yourself that you had just lost, that person who filled the thing in, and we would attempt to recreate that as best we could

as an emotional patch. And we did this with art. So I'm going to go make a new fucking jacket. It is time. It's time to start over. New jacket for FCG. I... I recommend, I know it sounds stupid,

I recommend we all make some fucking clothes. And not even necessarily just make them. I think we need to have them made. I think we need to just put a little bit of ourselves into it. The best way to, it's the best way I've found to carry someone with you.

I want a new piece of fucking clothing. I'm with you. All right. And that previous jacket was everybody I cared about, so. I do have to patch up my armor a bit. Let's make some room. This velvet tracksuit won't cut it. Yeah, it's getting a little... What?

Well, you can only explode it open so many times, Chet. Yeah. It's getting a little... What? Well, you can only explode it open so many times, Chet. Yeah. It's getting a little thin. See-through. A little loose. Yeah. You like that? So yeah, let's see. We're seeing those jingle jangles, Chet. Jingle jangles.

All these money sacks. That's function, not fashion. So yeah, let's take a second and figure out who you feel like today and figure out ways of who we want to be to each other. And let's wear it. All right. And we have a bunch of stuff that we can coordinate

if we want to thank you again for doing the runaround. I've picked up some stuff while we were there. Some, I sent you with a whole thing, some leather, some stuff, I gave you a list of bullshit with a whole thing, some leather, some silk. I gave you a list of bullshit. And I'm sure we can find a place around here to help put something together quick, but let's make sure we, yeah.

Let's make sure that we make it something important. Okay. Should we look for a place that We could do that. tailors some clothes? Yeah, like a shop or clothing shop? Yeah, I guess can we keep an eye out for, yeah, anything that has magical artifacts or supplements and also clothing stores.

Okay. I want to try to get my ACF. I don't know if there's any way to do it, but. There's a clothing store that also has a therapist working. Yeah. The license there. All right, so we are roaming Zadash, looking for a shop with some arcane shiz

and armory and clothing. Arcane shiz. Might as well head to the Penta Market. I think in theory, I'm able to traverse urban environments and find weird shit. I think that's something in my character description. So within the region that you are right now, which is the more affluent area,

most of the places that serve anything arcane-related are more like small, like tiny enchanted knickknacks and toys for children, or like little goblets that enhance the alcohol content of the liquid that's poured within for a singular drink. What? I want that.

Made a real idea. Not now, but I should have seen that. Sand pen. All right. God, those are nice. I know, I know. It's a margarita glass, but it has a lid. Yeah.

Is there any lodging nearby that we can see or clock? You do see within this area, there is a place called the Pillow Trove. There's this incredible looking inn, massive multi-story structure with beautiful balconies and the whole aesthetic here is very, very high end. On par with some of the nicest places you've stayed

when wandering Exandria. It's called the Ferry. You also see a place referred to as the, or the signs as the Emerald Curtain, that what you can see is a two-story custom tailor slash, it looks like a tannery that deals in fine leathers for travel, but things that are presentationally beautiful.

So those are two things that catch your eye in this region. In a little bit of asking around for anything magical-related, most people said the Pentamarket would be your best bet, which is outside of this district. So we can leave things here in Mothra. What was that in the first place? The Poofy Pillow? Pillow Trove.

Pillow Trove. The Poofy Pillow. That's a better name Pillowtrow. The Poofy Pillow. That's what it's called. The Pillowtrow. Okay, not at all. That's not her name. Pillowtrow. Are we staying here overnight? That's a different place.

Or are we, I didn't get that information from Essek. I want to know if we can get a place for us to convene and a suite that we can get together and get our shit together. Do they have a base of operations just while we get our stuff. Is the Pilgrim where the bathhouse is? Yeah. I think it was. Oh god, they have a spa. There was a bathhouse elsewhere in this city.

Okay, there was a spa, I remember. Have you been here before? OCC, motherfucker. Actually, no, no. The steam is respite. Thank you. I'm not allowed in there. Oh. Where is the place that the dead person

is in the basement? So you have been here before. No, he's just not allowed in there. Probably happens at Ash. The dead person in the basement? The one that we came and came away with. Spoilers, stop it. Anyway, career campaign. Career campaign. What we doing, what we got?

I see all three at once at all times. Welcome to my world. Matt, question above the table. It does. Above the table, not below. It'll be above shortly. It'll give it, it rises. Were we told,

did Beau and Caleb tell us about Beau being a part of the Cobalt Soul? I feel like she did. I can't recall. I believe in the time that you would converse and a little bit you would know, that probably would have been present at some point in the conversation,

both for the purpose of them being there. So I think likely you would know that, yeah. I think very early on. Mm-hmm. Okay. I don't think Laudna would know to go looking for it, but if we happen to pass the Cobalt Soul, and I notice it, then I might pop in.

Okay. All right, well, that's in another district. Is there anything you wish to do while you're here in the Tri-Spires? Where the pillar trove is? This is where the weather working was, right? Yeah, where the Emerald's Curve is. Okay.

Then yeah, let's hit that first. Okay. All right. We're going to need to show them. We're going to have to show them FCG. Since you're the one who can. So as you approach and enter the interior of the Emerald Curtain,

the scent in here is that odd fresh carpet smell. Like freshly treated materials, like nice, thick, really well-created weaves of silks and fine cottons being dyed. That dye scent as well, that fresh dye that has that earthy meets chemical scent that gently permeates throughout. There is a brazier out front that is burning,

a gentle incense to try and keep all that situated. But you do see within here, there are a number of employees. and keep all that situated. But you do see within here, there are a number of employees. They're all just waiting. There isn't a lot of sales going on amongst recent events. As soon as you enter, they all stand to attention. One individual with a little more presence steps up to you. You see an older human man.

He's got a bit of a hunch to his back shoulders. He has this wide donut of curly salt and pepper hair that fits around his slightly sunburned skin. And he wears a nice green vest to match the Emerald aesthetic with a billowing shirt beneath it. Very, very well-dressed, and as he steps up, Ah, hello and welcome to the Emerald Curtain. You are looking to purchase something, yes?

Yes, we would like to look at your stuff and also maybe order some custom goods. No maybe to there. We're looking for some new clothes. We recently went through a little bit of a thing. We're clearly musicians. We have a friend who just went, sadly shuffled off, no longer be with us.

I'm terribly sorry to hear that. I appreciate that. We want to do something to honor our friend. Memorialize it. Memorialize. Laudna, do you mind? Can you give them a little bit of a visual representation? Oh, yes.

I take out sashimi and almost use sashimi like a mannequin, like a body form. And then around sashimi, I make an illusion of FCG. Hmm. Make them roll on their wheel back and forth. That is quite a trick. Make FCG wave.

Oh, how quaint. What is the purpose of this? Honestly, just so that when we see each other, we can have a moment to acknowledge our friend. And we're going to also be traveling to some interesting environments going north. We're not used to the cold. We're also going to need matching cloaks.

Do we want to do matching cloaks? I think heavy winter cloaks would be good. And maybe if you could just keep that, their colors in mind. Yeah, we've got some stuff I pulled out before. We've got some stuff to work on if you need some things to tie everything a little bit together.

I have a giant pile of materials. And feel free to embellish. All right. If anyone wants to talk to them about what you want. And then... Now, custom work does take a bit of time. Thankfully, we don't have a backlog at the moment, and most of our staff is available. It is easier to retool existing materials

than to create from scratch. So if you might find an item throughout the store that fits your needs with a slight alteration, that would be much more prevalent if you're looking to head on a journey sometime soon. Big fan. Yeah. I actually would just like to purchase,

do you have yellow thread? Oh yes, quite a bit of yellow thread. Okay, I'm just going to purchase some yellow thread. All right. Also, do you have jeweler' tools, by any chance, for a purchaser loan? We do not personally have jewelers' tools, but we have tools for...

I guess it's comparable. That'll do. We deal with filigree on accentuating details. Yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for. May I? For? Myself. To rent, day pass, borrow?

How much money are you looking to spend today? Whatever's necessary, I think, is really the conversation. That's a good answer. Here, yes, that is doable. And we'll adjust our agreement of this order. So what else do you need? My armor has seen better days,

so I'm looking to get it just sort of patched, and also we have some material that we brought with us. I'm hoping to incorporate it, especially this. Keith! Keith! Keith! Keith! Keith!

This young 20-something-year-old apprentice rushes up, this big mop of red hair This young 20-something-year-old apprentice rushes up, this big mop of red hair that almost completely covers his face. You see his nose poking through. He's like, yeah, what's up, Toombs? He's like, Keith? This gentleman here needs his armor repaired

and this material incorporated into it. Do you feel confident since you're training? Yeah, no, I can get it. Great. Do you have a changing room? I don't want to just pull it off right here. Anyway. Points, and you can see there is a curtain rod that wraps around a small platform.

We are such high-maintenance clients right out of the gate, like, in full. I mean, I could start stripping, but the most important part of it is this, and I pull out one of the shoulder joints that was part of Leter's shoulder, and it has three blades of grass on it. I'm looking to have this,

have my leather shoulder guard here removed and have this worked in. Is that something that's in your capabilities here? Yeah, no, I could do that real easy. Cool, thanks, Keith. Of course, yeah. Okay, here's this. I put that in his hands. Oh, wow, so you make metal.

Don't work with metal often. This'll be fun. I'll be right back. I start stripping down, and I change into my last outfit. Okay. I'm going to go through really quick. Let's do a quick roll about, see what we want to pull.

I know a little bit about, we've talked about what you've been through. Yeah. I recommend going that direction. I have some things. Can I see the sack? Oh yeah, I'm holding. And I'm going to reach in,

just pull out that handful of discombobulated shit and just, I want to scan the workers for the most artsy-fartsy looking one. Does that make sense? Oh yeah, oh yeah. That's the style. So he has lavender hair. Yeah, but you beat me to it.

Who's got purple hair? I'm right here. I'm right here. For everyone that's attentive, there's one that seems to be less interested in your arrival. You see a slender half-giant sitting in the back by the edge.

He has his legs crossed. He has this, it looks almost like a thin crown, but it's actually like a silvered laurel that he wears around the back of his head over his ears. He has a series of beautiful tattoos that match his skin markings, but they're almost more swirly and they look elvish, which you've not seen on a half giant before.

And as he sits, he's currently in the process of what looks like carving through a piece of wood. Huh. Yeah, taste. I'm going to totter over to her. I'm just going to comfortably go over. Excuse me. Hello. Hello.

Oh, beautiful voice. Thank you. Can I help you? Yes. I have some things and some ideas. I'm more of an idea kind of person. And I just dump this collection of shit, metal, leather, all the things that I collected from Keyleth

and ran around and scampered with. It's an idea, but I think maybe I could hire you for your help in putting something together. All the pieces are here, I just don't know how to. Damid. Damid? Damid. Dorian, a pleasure.

Pleasure, Dorian. This is quite a spread. Ooh, you see he picks up one piece and takes another, so he's layering them over. There is some patterns here that could be quite neat. Actually, I made a drawing. I'm going to pull out a crumpled piece of parchment and it just looks like a five-year-old's. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's not great. Takes it, looks at it. You get the idea. Takes it, looks at it. You get the eye. Turns it around. Well, that's me. Yeah, I can see that. You know the hair, the tips. Quite a skilled adventurer.

Choosing the word a bit longer than he needs to. Yes, if you're looking for creative freedom to be granted, I am known for my inspiration. Oh, I trust an artist, that's for sure. And I just, it'll be okay if I watched. And I'm going to creep around his back shoulder and backseat drive, look over his shoulder

while he starts to tinker. An audience. It's been a bit. Oh my god. And he goes to work. Ah, I bet he does. Leather's not really my thing, although I did find this little off-the-rack bodice,

which is, I feel like, a little black bodice. New corset. Yeah. I'll take that and the cloaks, and then do you have any dyes? Purple dye. Oh yes, we do have quite some forms of dyes, all colorations of dyes, mixing and matching. We can do whatever you like for the Reptile.

Great. You don't just sell balls? I can get a ball of dye. Oh, you just want the dye itself? Yeah, it's just the dye. Kind of a crafter myself. Oh. All right, I'll put that on the ledger. In this black fabric? That's good, I'm good here. I need to go. They said they're not good with metal.

I'll go somewhere else for that. I'm going to... I need to go. They said they're not good with metal. I'll go somewhere else for that. I have kept FCG's jacket, but I want to work on it myself. That's good. I don't really want to change it. I want to keep all the bits of his smell and some of the charred bits to just remember what he did.

Do you want them to pull it in, or do you want to do it all yourself? I can do it. I'm really, I'm very. You're very crafty. I'm very, I can do it. Yellow threading. She's very capable. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Very capable. Let's have a chess night. I might ask you for some help. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very capable. I might ask you for some help. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. That makes sense to me. Okay. I'm just going to mosey around the store and look for something that's a little more battle-ready than my hot pants that I'm wearing right now. Just based on what I think we're going into.

You don't want to go to the Arctic dressed like the Pink Ladies? You know, I froze my cooch off the last time we were in cold weather. You don't want to go to the Arctic dressed like the Pink Ladies? You know, I froze my cooch off the last time we were in cold weather. I don't want to do it again. All right, what in particular are you looking for? Some pants, but I want to get dark, dark blue ones like FCG's jacket.

Oh, okay. And maybe some, do they sell shoes here? Do they sell? They do have shoes and boots. I want to get some boots, I want to get some pants. Also, I'm looking at Laudna's corset, and I want to get a black corset as well. Okay. Ooh.

String. Let's match. You know. Yes, I will match. Matchy-matchy-matchy. I'll take both of these pairs of pants. If you can do a little dye on that before I get back, that'd be great. I'm going to take those two leather belts.

If you can do, I just need some grommeting on this because I don't have time for that fucking shit. And also, if you have any of those, I'll just take a bag of those. I'm just like, yep. And I'm going to put it on the pile. He's running down with each ledger. He's stealing his eyes like the

cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. And then the cloaks. Everybody gets a cloak. Yeah, cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. And then the cloaks. Everybody gets a cloak. Yeah, yeah, for the cold weather. Also, I'm thinking I might want to change up my dress a little bit to work with these new items that I got, so I'm just going to go in a changing room and switch it out so they can work on the dress

and maybe change up some of them. Hey, Ash. All the associates are running up and helping you gather things, give opinions. You are currently the only clients in here and they are quickly noticing that you have quite the ask and will probably take care of the rest of the week or more. Great.

What are you doing with your old belt? As far as funding goes. Funding. Funding. Nothing, why? Can I have your old belt? Yep, just toss. Thank you. I may have to trade, though.

All right. All right. For what? Do you want me to tell you? Do you want to find out later? Or should I just steal it? Oh, all right, maybe you can just steal it. We'll see. Fair. Go ahead and try.

Flying over there. So leather's your jam, right? Do you have leather coveralls? Maybe fur-lined for really cold environments? No way. I do, it's usually what I work in during the cold. Black leather coveralls, if you have them. If it's a child size, that's okay as well.

He looks over to Toombs, Toombs goes, Child size. I mean, we can always make you more coveralls. It's a number of months till winter anyway. He's like, Okay, I'll get you mine. You know like fabric swatches? Like blue, specifically blue.

Well, it's leather. Like a square, like a pocket square. I dyed the leather. Just a square, like a pocket square. I dyed the leather. Just a pocket swatch, I said. I think we need to get around some more fabrics, Chet. I need a blue square fabric. And I also brought a bunch of fabrics. So you want leather coveralls

with a square of blue fabric? Yep, and then also, do you have leather briefs? They all look at each other. I can make some. Size me up and do your best. You got it, little man. And he comes over and says, he's a tall, lanky,

tall, lanky 20-something who has, you gather he looks doofy and acts a little doofy, but he has an artisan's speed to him, sizing up and taking measurements and working around. As he starts pulling back, leather thicknesses, you can see he's setting out large hides that either have been dyed or not, things that are already dark or he can dye black.

Various thicknesses, there's deerskin and multiple other types that are much more flexible or lighter or thicker for materials and asks you what works best for the warmth of where you're going. Very extensive array and eventually finds something that feels right for you. Indeed is able to get to work on a pair of black furred. Black leather fur line coveralls.

I'll hike them up just below the knees. I'll probably put some chain mail on the arms. Oh, and I like what Orym did. I'll reach in and also take another shoulder piece from FCG. Throw this on the shoulder as well. Right shoulder. All right, starts working that into it.

Okay. Anyone else? We're just spending dollar dollar bills, y'all! I know. I dropped a few things. We're getting a big pile of fur. Yes. I feel good about this.

Aw, this is probably manageable. Toomis finishes up, as all the work is happening, goes and does all of his work. Ends up, pulls out any abacus and starts adding things up. Real bad. All right, so as a totality of your requested accoutrement, we're looking at about

235 gold pieces. Only the finest quality. That includes your travel cloaks as well. No one's got the fun in them. I'm just Imogen here. Just a little Imogen. Oh, just Imogen? Just Imogen. No need to try and get anything else in?

I'm just Imogen. I'm Darlene. I don't know what things cost. I don't normally get fancy clothes. Happy to pay it. Would some extra coin help with the rush at all? This was with the rush included. Outstanding, 235 it is. I mean, extra coin means we might be able

to call in some favors from others. We need it by the morn. By the morning. 250, here you go. Poker chip, shuffle. Yes, yes. By the morning, we shall work through the twilight. Thank you for coming.

The Emerald Curtain appreciates your beverage. He's going to close shop and fucking run. I'm going to take the yellow thread and the needle with me. You got it. We're moving to Tal'Dorei. Pack it up now, go, go, go! Take the dyes and the fabrics.

So they didn't do good at metal. We still need to maybe find an armory and a magic shop. Jeweler. Jeweler. There are jewelers and there are metal workers around here. You can easily enough find materials that can match what you're looking for. So you don't have to individually role play

every small purchase of tiny little details. We don't have to. But I mean, I'm following your lead on this. The magic shop's a quick bar crawl. I'm going to need three more Davids. Well, we'll go to a magic shop. We'll go to a magic shop. But for expediency, can we say pick up some gold chains

and some gold boning, like metal rods? Yeah. Okay. And then we'll have a craft tonight. Yes. And a bolt of fabric. Yeah, we'll go through some stuff. Everyone gets to share their gifts. New blouse. One of the tailors present

does have a specialization in bodices. So they have multiple types of boning. Indeed, they do have some color preference you'd like. Okay. All right. What else are you looking for now? I think now it's to a magic shop, unless I'm wrong. Magic shop? Fentimarket?

Got to get some celibones. Potions. Okay. More celibones. I was just thinking about those. I want those. Yeah, celibones are so cool. You meander outside of the Tri-Spires. Ask around here and there about the best place to find You meander outside of the Tri-Spires. Ask around here and there about what the best place to find magical, enchanted artifacts, relics,

things that could be helpful. Everyone sends you to the Penta Market. There, you immediately are met with the smell of numerous snacks and foods. There are street carts, many of them still closed, but a handful that are still open and trying to call in the populace. You can see there's an air of attempting to recapture

the bustle of a thriving city coming out the other side of a recent bit of struggle and fear. As you begin to step in, you can see one card to the gentleman with a big mustache that curls up the side of his face, this big brush. He's like, come in, come for you. If at all you want pork on sticks, you want beef on sticks, I got you covered.

Come on, all home cooked, it's delicious. And he's trying to give you guys food as the way through, as you, whether you want to purchase or not, you continue past and you can see other figures are barking and. I'm definitely taking a pork on a stick and just giving them a soul.

Easy enough to do. Yeah, same. There are noodle bowls, there are steamed vegetables. Yeah, I want steamed vegetables. Yeah, you just start piling up snacks. Dragon Ball Z eating bowls. Yeah. I mean, knowing where you're going, there is something to taking in the comforts while you can.

And so you enjoy a number of these snacks. Are there pies? Oh, there are pies. I brought two pies. I brought two pies. I love pies, too. They're a little stale. They're arms of pies. But they're not bad.

Eventually coming to the exterior of a building that a few of the purveyors here send you towards. It is a two-floor, dark green painted wooden structure with a lattice window on both front and a sign across the front in gold lettering that reads, The Invulnerable Vagrant. Oh my. Did you forget?

Dude, I was sleeping on it. I totally forgot. That's where we were going! That was the roll up? I forgot! Oh man, I've been waiting for this. Oh my god. As you step within the door, which is closed, but it's not locked, you open it up

and a little bell rings as you enter. Within the corridor, you can see there are tables and cabinets with display cases, many of them empty at the moment. And you can see the light coming through with a few torches. And a figure steps from one of the side halls or pockets

at the sound of the bell and looks in. You see a tall, fear-bald man with a grayish-furred, gray-blue-furred face, looks to be wearing a leather apron over a, this would be like a teal-blue work tunic, gold bracelets around his wrists, a curly mop of brown hair with a bit of gray pressured through it.

Big smile on his face with a ruddy bovine-like nose and the ears that fold out to the side a bit. Looks back, Oh, hey, yeah, sir. It's been a bit. Welcome, welcome Oh, hey, yeah, so it's been a bit. Welcome, welcome. What can we do you for? Yeah, we're heading out on

maybe something that could be a bit dangerous and are looking for- Adventurers? Why, it's been a minute. Yeah, yeah. We're- Oh my god. We have a lot of things out on loan because of the recent chaos, but we do have- What is the chaos?

I keep hearing oblique references. What happened here in town? Oh boy, yeah. You aren't from Orandi, are you? No, sir. No. Okay, yeah. We had a big... Do you know the area well at all? No. No. Okay, yeah, we had a big... Do you know the area well at all?

No. Another figure comes in. Looks exactly like the first, just in a slightly different attire. Goes like, what, we got customers? Oh yeah, no, we're having a story. Just hold back a second. If you want to grab, they're adventurers, by the way.

You want to grab anything that might be helpful in that regard, but you still got it in stock, not partially enchanted, completed projects. Yeah, I got you, no worries. What is happening? And it goes ahead and heads to the back. We heard about a bird? Yeah, big phoenix.

Here's west of here, there's a mountain range, just north of Comorta, Mount Mentiri. Big quake, thing just splitting, too. Big old fiery bird just flew into the sky. It set much of that valley aflame. Began to terrorize a whole region here. Was that other person the same as you? Yeah. Oh, sorry, I should have introduced myself.

I'm Pumat Sol. The other one comes out. I'm also Pumat Sol. You hear a voice muffled introduced myself. I'm Pumat Sol. The other one comes out. I'm also Pumat Sol. You hear a voice muffled upstairs. I'm also Pumat Sol. Hold on. Emerging from the second floor comes down another one who is now carrying what looks like a bunch of sword blanks

and goes and sets them onto the side. Sorry, I didn't know if you were hearing me. I'm also Pumat Sol. They all look at each other. The first one's talking to you. Pumat Prime is actually currently out and about getting materials. Yeah, the Progenitor.

This is where the inside of my head is all the time right now. It's not the weirdest thing we've ever seen, but it's where it is. No, it's definitely not. So the bird, I'm so confused, passed through? Was it defeated? Yeah. So, yeah, a lot of things have been happening.

So it was tearing through, leaving swaths of dark fire all across this entire valley, for the most part. The Righteous Brand armies tried to keep it at bay. Many of them fell. A bunch of folks rose up to try and, well, to stop it. And I guess they succeeded, because they went away. I don't know the specifics since then. They all went away.

That's good. How long ago was that? That's about three days ago. Oh, shit. I mean, it's been raging through here for the better part of two weeks, but not here specifically, like the Empire and beyond. One of the Pumat's back goes,

yeah, it's been real scary around here. We only just recently reopened, so good timing. Sounds like a big bird. There is four of the same man, and you keep asking about a bird. Well, they're not bringing fire on me. A sibling, a clone, magic? Yeah, more of that one. Technically. I said three things

the last one. The correct term is simulacrum. Simulacrum? Yeah. Oh, of course. We fought one of them. You did? Yeah. You've done so much since I've been gone. I know, I'm sure you were doing some shit, too. That's right course. We fought one of my boys. You did? Yeah. You've done so much since I've been gone.

I know, I'm sure you were doing some shit, too. That's right, that's what snowed in us was. Are you made of snow? He's a semi-sacrum. Technically, yeah. What? Oh. Well, as part of the initial enchantment process, and should any of us be disenchanted or destroyed,

we would probably return to snow. But that's not a thing we like to think about often, because it sends us into an existential spiral, and that's our real dark place to go. Things that were created and crafted from nothing, and will return to the nothing. Oh my god. There's a tumor involved, a couple pieces.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Get the clock, though. Get the clock, though. One in the back goes, Were we the first? They all stop and go, I don't know, Pumat. We don't know how many Pumats there have been.

One of the vat goes, anyway, we got customers. Whatever you have in stock. Right, right. Jap, jap. We're going somewhere cold, too. We're going to be seeing some weird shit, so big fan of weird shit, whatever the fuck.

We'll see what we can find. The two other run back, the one that stays there up front, making sure that you don't take anything. This place is too weird to steal from. While you're sitting there wet, you can hear them rummaging through and trying to find things that have been finished

or enchanted or still kept in the back, and he sits there. So, who are you? If you don't mind me asking respectfully. Well, we're the Bells Hells. Out-of-towners. Mm-hmm. Passing through. Okay, all right.

Cool name. Well, yeah. I think so. I would say less champions and more, I don't know. Juckle fucks? Ancient agents of circumstance. Weird times require people to get their shit together. Yeah.

So you're starting out. I appreciate that. Don't worry, chumps. You're going to go ahead and find yourself a realm of adventure and let the winds carry you to majestic heights of glory and all the things the storybooks tell you about. I guarantee it. Thanks, Pumat.

Very optimistic outlook. Mostly just want the sky to chill out. Do you have anything that'll keep us from dying, though? Oh yeah, a big one. Okay, you're looking for imbibables? Yes. I think I know where I can find some of those. Goes ahead and looks back behind the main desk area.

You can see him looking around. Puts a bunch of empty glass vials on the counter. He says, my goodness, we're running pretty ragged at the moment. I've got a couple of things here. He sets what looks like seven different vials on the counter. At this point, the other Pumets come down

and grab me a few things, start setting down a set of leather armor and goes, All right, that's good. Takes another piece, looks at it. No, this isn't finished. All right, I'll put that back. You see they're trying to sift through what's mid-enchantment,

what is completed enchantment, and what has been not sent out in recent endeavors. It pulls back. This leather armor you see is this a beautiful set of heavy studded leather that has a gentle green-blue curved inlay into it. There is a rune emblazoned on the chest that looks like an arcane symbol for,

you would recognize it as part of the Ashark symbols for wind. There is also a beautiful dark gray robe with silver inlay, long sleeves. And there is a jet black rune that is woven into the material on the back. And then the third thing they pull out that seems to be finished is a beautiful harp, black rune that is woven into the material on the back. Then the third thing they pull out that seems to be finished is a beautiful harp, this wide harp that has 12, no, sorry,

10 strings across the side. It has almost a gripped handle on one side of it. All right, is that all we got? Yeah. In about two weeks, we should have some more supplies coming in and we'll have more finished, but if you're looking to show off soon,

this is what we got at our disposal. I got to say, do you guys do custom enchantments? And how long does that normally take? Oh yeah, we can do that. Ah. Y'all looking for the. Ah! There seemed like there was a butt at the end of that.

Well, Prime's gone, and he's the one that has to hone the enchantment. You see, being Simulacrum, we have a limited amount of magical at our capability, and we've expended it all. So we've got to wait for him to come back before we can start any sort of immediate orders. But we can put it on that quarter for you.

When he does arrive, we'll notify you within three to four days and we'll get started as soon as you have approval and initial payment put on file. Oh shit. Wow. We're going to be out of town for a bit, but if we roll back through town,

that's a tempting offer. Please do, happy to have you. Okay, can we go to the room? Yeah, can you give us a lowdown? Ah, yeah, all right, all right. They start laying it out here. Okay, what we got here? Let's start with this robe you inquired about.

This is a robe of the Midnight Rune. This is, let me show you. It lifts out and you can see, where it looks like a plain robe, the sleeves going just past where the middle of the forearm is and then come to a point below. On the inside, the lining of it is like a silver silk,

like a translucent silver silk that seems to flow out in wispy strips. Cool. Across the bottom of it, too, it has slits on the side of the robe where the material flows out and seems to drift with it. Sick.

Says, all right, so well, all attuned to this robe, the wearer, it seems to give them more of a sturdy magical defense capability, as well as keeping her mind a little clear when it comes to unwanted charms or fright that can grab your brain in the midst of things. The cool part, though,

is when the rune on the back is activated because it gives you about a full minute of enhanced magical prowess. It just makes you glow a little bit. So not keeping yourself too subtle, kind of like having a little candle on your back for a smidge of time. You can do that about once a day.

So enhanced magical prowess really, really would only be useful You can do that about once a day. So Enhanced Magical Power really would only be useful for someone who actually has some magical ability. Yeah, not a whole lot of people going to their front line with a robe to hit someone with a dagger. Seen some weird shit, but fair. Yeah, judging. To give you specifics on that one,

for this one, if you aren't wearing armor, your base armor class becomes 14 plus your dex modifier. So it acts as a base armor. Gives you advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. And as a bonus action, you can activate the rune on the robe, causing it to glow a bright red, which gives low light for 15 feet around the back of you.

Interesting. For that one minute, while it's activated, your spell attack modifier and spell save DC increase by two. But you can only use it once per long rest. How much for this? I'm petting it. I'm just petting it on the counter. How much for this item?

This one here pulls it open and pulls a tag out and looks at it. This'll run you about 9,500 gold pieces. Oh. Oh. Good to know, good to know. Looks like it would be worth every penny. What about this heavy-studded, greenish-bluish

leather armor with the little scribble on it? Yeah, this is Zephyr armor. This was actually specifically enchanted by a, what do you call it? actually, specifically enchanted by a, what do you call it? An ambassador of the Ashari from Tal'Dorei. Oh. This we didn't make. This kind of fell into our hands.

It's kind of an antique from about 100 or so years ago. But yeah, this here is, while wearing it, kind of makes you a little more nimble while you're moving around. Helps you keep out of harm to a certain degree. This has another rune on it to invoke or activate, but it's a different kind of magic. This one can call the very winds to your aid for a minute

to help either, well, you can get creative in your mind. Specifically, you can see now, it's white and silver on the edges with a bluish-teal coloration across it. While you have the armor and are attuned to it, you have advantage on acrobatics checks and dexterity saving throws. And when you invoke the rune as an action,

you can cast the Wind Wall spell with it. Oh, yeah. Once per day. Whoa. It is a beautiful old piece. How much are you charging for that one? You find the tag, and that one is 3,500 gold pieces. Okay. And that final?

The harp? The harp? The harp? Yeah, it's an elegant piece. It's beautiful. This one, well, yeah. Well, that magic has been attuned to yourself. It invokes you with the capability of a fine musician. Love out of tune.

Makes you, automatically teaches you to play it. It's incredible. Watch this. And he takes and picks up the harp. I'm not attuned to it, can't show you. Oh my god. But here's the cool thing. Watch this. Hey, Pumat, any one of them arrows over there?

I go, oh yeah, sure. Gives it to him, takes the harp, pulls the arrow into the strings, and he watches all 10 strings buckle against. Shif- It's a bow harp? Like a foot from Ashton's head into the wall. It's fucking cool. That is cool.

That is just fucking cool. I feel like you need it. How much money do you buy? It kind of acts like a short bow. I feel like you need it. How much money do you buy? It acts like a short bow. It's a satyr thing. Nian is a satyr thing. I've had a heart before.

And what's cool, pay attention, and when you look where the arrow is, the arrow has impacted, the wood around it cracked, almost like there was a slight burst of energy, and you hear this through the side of your neck, like there was a burst of tiny thunder. Kinky.

Also has some enchantments built into it. You see these two runes along the side? These are two spells that are baked into it. And with it, you can go ahead and either create a powerful blast of thunderous energy in the space around you, knocking people away, or you can send a bunch of little tiny magical things

to hurt things you don't want to keep around. Specifically, to go through the details of this, because you can shoot arrows from it as a shortbow. Arrows shot from it do thunder damage instead of piercing damage. While you're attuned to it, you have advantage on charisma performance checks. And you know how to use a harp.

And you know how to use a harp? Yes. Like you know. All good say. And you download the skill. Yeah. You neo it pretty quickly. It does give you plus two to attack and damage rolls

with the arrows you fire from it. See? It also has 10 charges, and it regains 1d6 plus four charges at dawn every day. But while you're holding the bow, you can expend one to five charges as an action to cast either Thunder Wave or Magic Missile at a level up to how many charges you've used it for.

Using your spellcasting to use it. A lot of level five Magic Missile? Yeah. Wow. This is, you know, I don't know about harps, but how much does this run? It's 8d4 plus eight. Holy moly!

You don't have to roll, they just anime missile it. What'll that run us? The harp will win you about 8,000 gold pieces. Okay. Damn. So 3,500, 9,508. We also got these vials here.

We got some, since you're going someplace dangerous, we got some healing potions that could be helpful to you. Please. Here, we got a... I know, why didn't we ask Caleb for 50,000 gold? As in... I blame myself. I blame myself. Oh, that's right. I blame myself.

He gave us 10. How much do you want, Titch? There it is. Got three of these, Grant, are healing potions at your disposal right there for sale. Yeah. All right. And then we got a... Do we know what Otohan's Blank does?

Yes. We do. Is someone going to use that? We got one of these little babies here, superior bullshit. We could also drain that permanently. Superior. Oh yeah, we need to drain that. I want to have to drain mine now.

This is the thing, it's like thinking about stuff we can. Ah, that's where it is. Technically, there's another one there. So there are two of the superiors available for purchase. I have a superior. I don't think I've used it. Where did this one come from? I don't think that's. That might be yours.

Because I don't think I had one. We are dumb. We always just put potions in front of us. We should just start putting them in. Because when we move our stuff in. We'll re-divvy it because we can re-divvy. Two superiors and three greater? Mm-hmm.

Well, let's go. How much do the superiors run? Superior's about 2,500 gold pieces. Fucking expensive. And the greater's are 250 gold pieces each. Then we got these last two here. It holds up one of these potions that has like a thick yellow fluid in it Then we got these last two here. It holds up one of these potions that has

a thick yellow fluid in it that has these weird streaks through it, like black material. This here's a potion of speed. And by this, baby, you'll be running all over for about a minute, just getting quick and doing things even quicker. How much is the speedy potion? That one's 3,000 gold pieces. Jesus!

What? Got to run a business here. These materials are expensive, hard to find. No, sir. We understand. Highway robbery! Other one here. The other one has this thick, this thick, molastic material that has a dark metallic color to it.

It does look like it tastes good to swallow, and I can guarantee you it doesn't. But, drink it, and it's going to, for about a minute's time, make you shrug off some of the heavier bits of, well, anything that comes at you. It's a Potion of Invulnerability. Whoa. Whoa. Gives you a resistance to pretty much everything for a minute. It's a Potion of Invulnerability. Whoa. Whoa. Gives you a resistance to pretty much everything

for a minute. That's legit. That's a big potion. That's legit. That one's only 500 gold pieces. How is that only 500? I know! Because it's temporary. It's one punch. But it's a whole minute,

but the speed potion is only a minute, too. But that gives you an extra action every single time. For a haste situation? It casts haste without concentration for a minute on you. Without concentration, that's clutch. And you don't get exhaustion after. Well, it's still a haste spell, so it does still stun you

for a minute afterward. Okay. Or for a round afterward. What's your AC? My AC is 14, yo. What's your dex? So is mine. Really?

For that cape? Is your dex? Someone should get that cape With your dex. So is mine. Really? For that cape? Is your dex? Someone should get that cape. My dex is plus three. You should take that then. That's expensive, though. It's almost 10k. I don't know if we have that much

to get that and other things. We all pool together. You should get that. I'm going to walk around behind the group to Orym, lean over and be like, You like that chest piece, don't you? I see you watching it. It's an antique from home. I know. I saw it in your eyes. How much do you have on you right now? I don't have anything, Chetney has all the money I have.

Assuming he splits it up, how much will you have on you right now? Well, I don't have anything, Jett, and he has all the money I have. But assuming he splits it up, how much will you have? Well, 10,000. 12,000. Five by 10 is 1,000. No, there's not 10 of us. Seven. You split up that, plus I have six silver. Oh.

We have, Jett has all the money. Okay. I could do a little, five-finger discount. I've got, that's not true, I've got fucking wolf ears. You got your own money. Oh, hey, hi, hey. Y'all got a problem, you got to take it outside. No, no, no, sorry, sorry, I'm a little hard of hearing.

It's just that we talk to each other, we love each other, though. Your products are so nice, it's really hard to decide. Other Pumat comes out. Is there a problem going on? I need help, Pumat. Nah, nah, I got it, it's really hard to decide. Other Pumat comes out. Is there a problem going on? I need help, Pumat. Nah, nah, I got it, it's fine. Just having a disagreement.

While the chaos is going, I'm going to whisper even louder. If you want it, and then I'm going to reach in my pouch, and this is no shit, I'm going to take out everything I've had since ExU season one, which is everything but my 22 silver, and I'm going to give Orym 2,500 gold. Whoa. It's every last piece I have.

That's all your money? You just gave Orym all your money? That's it. That's too much. It's also practical, it's the only thing I can afford. Listen, you're not getting the Gucci bag, okay? Yeah. You're getting the Gucci wallet.

And you're like... But only if you want it. Okay? Yeah. We're in the Gucci world. But only if you want it. You should. Okay. It's 8k. Let's talk above the table. Let's talk above the table. It's 8k. I'm above the table. Okay. One.

I've got 1,000 gold on me. I have 3,500. Wow. I haven't bought anything. I've, yeah. I've got 3,800 gold. Wow. I haven't bought anything. I've, yeah, about 3,800 gold. Wow. Six silver. We should try and strike a deal. Yeah, 100%.

Is there anything that we can maybe trade Zs? I know, because if I, I mean, not that it's probably worth much, but I have the Ring of Protection, so I won't need that at all if we get that cloak. Yeah. Because it's... Is it plus one AC?

It's plus one AC. Okay. Oh, it does give you... Do you know what I have? Plus one on saving damage, what? Ring of Protection does actually stack with that, just so you know. Because Ring of Protection gives plus one to AC,

and what this does is if you're not wearing armor, it just makes your base armor higher. Oh shit. What do you have? It's a sword from the fucking moon. Are you interested in purchasing items? Well, I have the, like, a premium class dagger.

Certainly, well, sorts of. So we can, those are super rare. You're the only two on Exandria. Yeah. That's true, that's true. I know, that's what I'm thinking. That's how we get a lot of our stock. We don't make everything here. We make a lot of it.

You trade seeds? But we also take things for trade. We also take things that can be broken down and repurposed. We have this one bottle of Slick Shimmer Oil. Here, take a look. Don't steal it! Wouldn't even dream of it. How much would you part or pay for that?

Hmm. I think I have your Pearl of Power. Hold on a second. He pulls up heavy goggles and puts them on, starts rotating it. You see little runes glowing on the sides as he rotates them. Yeah, okay. While he's looking at it, Might be a good thing. Yeah. Thank you. While he's looking at it,

I'm going to lean over to Laudna and I'm going to go, do you think they have a soul? The, what did he call them? The Pumat Snows? The Pumat Snows. Do you think they have a soul? I mean, or are they just a thing? I mean, we have. That's an existential

sort of question. It's a very, it's a very existential question. But is there an answer? We have to believe they have souls because we have to believe that FCG had a soul, right? He did. Oh, well. That puts my idea in a different perspective.

Wait, what? Wait, I could be persuaded. What was your idea? You're going to try to kill him. Why? This is in your head, I said. This is in my head, I would assume. Well, it's not really killing if they're not really alive, is it?

It's killing. Why is it killing? Because you would kill something that lives and breathes. To take something back. I did not see in and out of the... I'd say that'd knock about 400 gold off your top agreed title on any of these items that come to your perusal. Yeah, here's your oil.

How many did you say? Sorry. 400. About 400. 400, okay. What if we told you we had a few very rare pieces with us? Very rare. Well, please. Hey, boys! Boom it!

Looks like we might have some fancy possible trade aesthetic. So yeah, gather around. Two of those come down? Oh, we got new ones in? New possibilities? I'm excited to see what they got. Yeah, me too. It's been a bit since we've had any sort of intake here.

We've been running thin for a bit. Let's put it down and see what they say before we tell them where we got it. Okay, I rip it free of the vine work on my back and put down the Ruidian Blade. And I will take out the Ruidian Dagger. I have two of them, but I'll just take out one. Oh.

It's interesting. You don't often see glass as the basis of an object. Not quite glass. Hold on. This is good to know. Ah, now this is, no, no, it's not. This might have been residuum. No.

I've never seen anything like this before. Or if you have, we'd love to see where. I'm having a hard time with this one. Do you want, we're the same. You guys are like, yeah, if you have, we'd love to see where. I'm having a hard time with this one. Do you want, we're the same. The other guy's like, yeah, if you don't know, I'm not going to help you either. You don't know, I don't know. Yeah, if you don't mind me asking,

where'd you procure these curious artifacts? You'll never guess. But we'll tell you. Hot boy. Rotten! No, Rotan! I just point out. Where you find him, upstairs? Higher. That's as high as the building goes, roof.

The big red one in the sky. That's right. Ah, you're pulling my leg. I'm a terrible liar. Y'all can look at each other. I mean, we all know it's been getting weird. Hasn't been over this side of Exandria in a few weeks here. So who got this to you?

Who can guarantee this is from the moon? Who can guarantee this is from the moon? You're looking at them. We got back a day ago at best. I unhook the Ryloran behemoth finger yet again from my belt buckle. It's soft. Throw it on the table with a little buckle. It's soft. Ew. Throw it on the table

with a little squish. It just lands. Yeah, no bounce. It's a terrible scent. Ooh. I've got some smaller pieces of armor that I pulled out to... So I'm going to understand you

fresh-faced adventurers here looking to strike your own, went to the Moon of Ilomen and acquired strange glass weapon relics that were left there. Is Minor Illusion a free spell? If it's not, but I can do it again. You don't want to lose you there again? Do you want to maybe? Be able to show them stuff?

Show them what somebody who lives there. I don't mean to make you feel weird on the spot. This is just a lot of... I don't remember how long. We've heard some tall tales in our time to try and strike a deal, and you know. You have to be discerning. I'd be bad at it.

And do you want to do, I can do an illusion, unless you want to do a little mental projection. I can try. Respectfully, we're just trying to make sure. He's going to hear, it's not a lie. We were there. Omyn's like, you all right?

Yeah, here's one of them head talkers. Yeah. Okay. All right, that's impressive. Have you been around a lot of Red Lawrence? Don't even know what that is. Those are the people that live on the moon. You're saying it's all in the head? Mm-hmm. It's just quiet in the room,

just staring in the lens. You sure you're okay there, Pumat? We're talking. Oh, weird. They sit back and cross their arms. The person's like, You're, whatever these rhymins in your moon is thing,

this is, you know, we don't go out too often. We're, we just stay here. You said your Pumat Sol Prime? Right, no. Is out? He's not home right now, yeah. He's off fighting? I don't know where he's off going. Probably getting more materials

or reaching out to some possible beneficial allied guilds in the vicinity to try and get our flow of materials through here again. Makes sense. A lot of high magic users are off doing other things right now. Yeah, now we gather that much. There's a lot of shit going down.

We could use all the help we can get. We've seen some shit. Make a persuasion check. Come on. Get that discount. Come on. Way to go. Woo hoo hoo hoo hoo! Come on.

31. Oh jeez! After this minute and a half of tense silence, as you watch Imogen and one of the Pumat souls soft scanners for a minute. No. This Pumat. Well, I gotta tell you, boys, they

seem to be on the straight and narrow for what they're saying. I can tell you, I don't know the capabilities of these materials you're presenting here. They are very unique at a glance. Because you don't have any historical precedent

for what this glass may be, that doesn't mean it's out of interest to us. We're just going to have to make you a deal. Let us talk amongst ourselves for a minute, if you don't mind, and the three of you just huddle. Yeah, we'll huddle up over here. Feel free to take one, if you want to do a little inspecting on it.

Yeah, I'll go ahead and take one of them. Take a neck, you a mouth. So as far as I can tell. Delicate and real sharp. And very, very sharp. I got you. Tell from inventory, one platinum ring, two gold rings, one gold bar, three sapphire,

three emeralds, 400 gold for the slick shimmer oil, and a bag of roughly 250 gold worth of various jewels. We have 17,655 gold. Okay. I think I still have 1,000 jewels on me as well. Is that with everybody else's money, too, added in? Or is that all of that? That's just a bank of Chetney, baby.

What? Damn, Chet. Interest rates are high. Two platinum rings, that's good. I wasn't up there with you, but he makes a good point. Those swords that you had, that you're trading, are you certain they have no value outside of barter? I mean, they're useful in battle, for sure. They hit a little harder,

but they break a little easier. All right. Yeah. I'll show you. This is, you just read this. They hit a little harder, but they break a little easier. All right. I'll show you. You just read this. Okay. There it is. Low words. A lot of mixed index cards for everything, wait.

Yeah. Yeah. They can be in for a few minutes, looking at the object, looking at each other, talking a bit, huddling. Eventually, they come back into the Cinder Team with the rest of you, set the dagger down, they looked at. Okay, so we've convened amongst the Pumats,

the Council of Pumats, if you will. This is a very unique material. We think we'd be excited to show it at Prime when he comes back. We can only gauge this based on the properties we can glean after giving it a solid once over. We're not certain if it seems to be pliable or if it already contains an enchantment within itself. But regardless, it is a very rare material.

And even at the baseline of what its worth might be, we can gather for each of these pieces based on the size, the dagger at least. We can knock about a thousand gold off of the asking price. Of each item? Per? Try item. Oh, I thought you meant of each item.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, how many daggers you got? Well, I have another one, but. So you got a dagger. That's 1,000. And you had this short sword you got there. That one will be about 1,500. Okay.

Poop hands. Yeah. All three of you go, yeah. Beyond its magical properties, there are no other weapons like this on the face of this planet. You could charge a collector anything you want. Make a persuasion check.

The harp was 8,000? Yeah, the harp was 8,000, and you want the zephyr armor? And then the gray robe, yes or no? 95. If we can get it. Oh, that's good. That's like the myth. Well, with the cash I gave him and a dagger,

you could get your thing. And I've got 1,000. Oh yeah. 23, okay. The penance can look at each other. I gave, Im 2,500. I also have, I think I have 1,000 gold worth of gems, too, that are just miscellaneous gems. I got no more.

I know we have other supplies, but I'm going to. Respectfully, I appreciate what you put forward here. And I think there is merit to what you're saying. But also, and I'll be honest here, it's going to be hard to convince a collector that these are magical moon glass from a person we met that had

a really cool spooky aesthetic and said they got them from the moon. That all being the case, though, you've been very nice, and we'll bump it up a little bit. We'll say 1,100 for the dagger and 1,600 for the short sword. How about that?

Cool thing is, it's true. Ah, I'm not doubting you. Just saying. We have a bit of a challenge to present that info second, third, and fourth hand to possible collectors. Nice ass. Yeah. You don't have anything to prove it, do you?

I hate it. I know, I know. I mean, we could continue to show them shit, but I guess it's all the same story. I'll also say. There could also be a chance that we look at this a week from now and it's all a fabrication and Yifleys does, in which case, respect.

But. You can do two superior healing potions, two greater healing potions. You could get the potion of invulnerability and you can get two of the big three items, but not all three. I also have about 3,900 that I can throw into the mix as well.

Is that worth my 1,000 also? Yep. All right. And then I'll be tapped out. I know where we're going. Can't take it with me. Well, I have 69 gold left, so. Nice. That's perfect. Nice. It's the book purchase.

I can, I personally think that the Potion of Haste is not a good pull for what it is. I'd say no to the potion of haste. You have 3,900 gold? 3,900 gold. How much do you have? 3,500. I have a potion of speed. Oh, you do? You have 3,500, too?

Kids, numbers. I said, you asked me, I said 3,500. A 500-gold magic potion seems like a great, invulnerability seems like a great deal. Yeah, that's a good one. Speed one is maybe not so much. I don't think so. I think 3,000.

Because that's 3k. 3k for big plus or minuses. All three of the big ones, of course, sound amazing. I got no notes there. And healing potions. That'll do it. We have a note? That'll do it. If you have 3,500 and you have 3,500? 39. 39, yeah, that'll do it. We have a note? That'll do it. If you have 3,500 and you have 3,500? 39.

39, yeah, that'll do it. Yeah. So you could get all three of the big items. You get two superiors, two graders, the one invulnerability potion. That would be it. Are you going to rock the harp, Dor? I don't know.

My gut tells me it's a Sayer thing. Like, I really, I really, yeah, but. I don't know. I gut tells me it's a satyr thing. Like, I really, I really, yeah, but. I don't know. I'll fucking use it. Yeah. Yeah, if anybody's not right up on me, I'm kind of useless. I would love something ranged.

You could get some ranged, Chet. I have one of the spells that it has, too. And I'm attuned to a string instrument already that you guys don't know about. To two, I guess. You could be attuned up to three things. But it would be good for Chet to have a ranged attack. That's where you could charm.

I'll also say that it is spells that you also, you can switch spells daily as a bard, right? Yeah. It opens that up, and then you wouldn't be using spell slots. Actually, no. No. Bards are spells they know. Bards are just stuck. Yeah. It's not in spell slots. Chet, with a harp, you can play

Winter's Crest music easily now, too. Oh my god! Do you have an attunement spot, Chet? I do. Oh, wow. I'm attuned to two items right now. And they're not able to combine enchantments right now, the Pumets? See, we are assistants to enchantment.

It's actually Prime that does the bulk of it himself, as he is the endless font of magical prowess. When he returns, we'd be happy to fulfill your order, but until then, we're just more salesmen. So yeah, the harp, I guess, is up to you then, Chet. Chet, I am maxed out on my attunements. I have three, actually. Oh, well. Yeah. Yeah, I'll take it.

All right. It sounds like it's going to, well. Yeah. Yeah, I'll take it. All right. It sounds like it's going to be hard. So the robe goes to the gem. I know, I'd be pretty sure. All right, you're trading this all in, then? You doing it? Dagger and shortsword coming in. Knocking off 2,600 from that Bryce. 2,700. 2,700.

Oh, right, yeah, because I wanted to do that one. Hey. Okay. All right. Yeah, we're doing it. Be solid, be solid. Handshakes, let's go in! The three Pumats go around shaking all of your hands, like, all right, good game, good game, well done, well done. Good game.

There's so much. I only take high fives. So with that, you do get, so whoever gets the second one of these, go ahead and mark it. So you have, since there's one already on the table. Actually, we'll take the third graders' walk because we can do another 250 for that. So what does that get us to?

We're going all in, right? 3k is gone. 3k or 39? I'll take it. 39 on. Oh, 39. 39 just gone. I have all of the other people I got. And my 1,000 is gone. I don't know why I have all of these. And my thousand is gone.

I don't know why I have all of these, because the possibility of me, I have too many, I want to give one to someone else. Whoever wants the Harp of Valor. Harp goes to Chet. Chet goes to Chetney. Chet. There you go, buddy.

Thank you, sir. Zephyr armor, I believe, goes to you. And then the robe of the Midnight Rune goes to? Emo. There you go. Emo chain. You can find them in the app as well. And then the potion of the Midnight Rune goes to? Emo. There you go. To Emojie. You can find them in the app as well. And then the Potion of Invulnerability,

whoever wanted that. Well, you can decide later. Somebody take it there. Okay, yeah. Well, it's a pleasure doing business with you. Appreciate you coming and bringing your patronage to the Invulnerable Vagrant. And should the opportunity arise to come by in the future to shake hands with Pumat Prime,

we'll be happy to introduce you, and I think we're very excited to see his excitement at studying this interesting new element, glass-like material that you've procured from, well, the terrifying and now invisible or not-present Red Moon. What are we off to? Good luck. Whatever you're up to, good luck. Boomettes?

Yeah, good luck. Good luck. Good luck. Thank you. You can't see the moon from here. I didn't think about that. It's stuck over on the other side. Oh, it's stuck over on the other side. FCG.

It would have been proof. This damn flat fucking Exandria. It's so true. Exactly what it needed. Exactly what they needed. They died from that Exandria. He'd already graduated to the pancake theory of there being a backside to the flat.

Oh, you're right, you're right. And we didn't walk, so. He's not willing to take his coin out. It was a dime, I should say. I was going to keep it. For one minute, it gives the effects of the Spell of Haste without concentration. Yeah, we'll take that, too.

Yeah? Yeah, we can grind it out. Sure. I mean, where the hell's everybody going to move on it? Exactly. That's what it's for. Okay. We're about to go to the Arctic. That's what it's for. Okay. We're about to go to the Arctic. The Pumat's helped guide you outside of the establishment. The first one you spoke with leans out.

Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day. Don't catch fire from any massive dark flame firebirds, phoenixes and the like. If you see it, we'll kick its ass. Oh, by the way, if you're going to Labenda up north, swamps flooded. Avoid that.

Merfolk have reclaimed the Legion. The Legion there, there's a massive sinkhole in the middle of the Siren Green forest, and the surrounding trees are going to turn black and lean towards the pit. Maybe avoid the Siren Green as well. What else we got? And so the one who runs back goes like, Oh yeah, Druvenlord's dead have been rising and climbing from beneath the dirt,

so maybe, like, stay away from there for a minute. What's been going on in the capital? And someone's like, the third one goes like, Yeah, Rexxentrum's awesome and dealing with a number of phantom explosions and rumors of devilish entities seen in the shadow of night amongst the street, so maybe, like, avoid the Capitol for a while now, too. The first one goes, Yeah, it's real weird out there.

Ooh, wow. Ah. Thank you, Kumats. Hey, our pleasure, Helth. Helth. Helth. Sorry, was that incorrect? Belth better? No, no. Belth. It's correct.

That was right. Sorry, was that incorrect? Bells better? Bells? It's correct. Bells, right. Okay, well, respectfully, have yourselves a good day. All right. Hmm. I catch Dorian by the pinky. Thank you, that was, you didn't have to, I mean, thank you.

Yeah, sure. Well, I'd just like to see you happy. All of us. This was a good trip. It's a nice challenge. Good trip. Well, do we have enough money to buy an inn? Yeah.

Yeah, what do we have left? I have some gold left that was just little change gold. Yeah, that's enough for a room. We also have our patron, who I'm sure will be more than happy to keep us somewhere quiet, safe, and comfortable so that we don't get them in trouble or embarrass them. There's always some more money.

I go over and I hug Chet. Thank you. You're welcome. Yeah. You're good with numbers, old man. You are. Thanks, Chet. Were you into counting in your're good with numbers, old man. You are. Thanks, Jett. Were you into counting in your previous life? No, the measurements.

Measure twice, cut once. I want you working on that harp tonight. Yes, you should play us some tunes. Maybe Dorian can teach you a few. I would love to do a duet with you. Do you know Stairway to the Astral Realm? It's a classic. It's the first one to learn every time.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. So good. As you're having this discussion, you see the illusion of Seth approaching with a long wooden stick with what looks to be various grilled chicken breast pieces

and various peppers along it, just gnawing off of it piece by piece. So it seems you've been quite successful in your endeavors, yes? We spent all our money. Good. You won't need it where we're going. It finishes the last piece.

We do, on the other hand, need somewhere to sleep, something to eat, something to drink, and I think also any way to actually relax for probably what may be the last time in our lives. Hmm. Ferdinand, I need to have a craft night. Yes, we need a craft night. There's also going to be a craft night.

There are a few possible places here. Come with me, I'll show you. And as you gather as a group to wander from the front exterior of the vulnerable vagrant out through the Pentamarket to find the rest of the evening, we're going to go to break. Oh, hey! New duds, new weapons, new gig.

Oh my. The big episode! Been a minute since we had one of those. Still have got 60,000 gold left. Yeah. For real? No. No. Ashley. Actually. I don't know.

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We've never done this before. Never. Ever. Did she show you her third nipple on her back? Yeah! Don't talk about it! It's really cool. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Professional. Yeah, all right, all right, yes. Ball 33. So, as you crest into the sunset of the day, as jumping to this side of Exandria, it is quite far later. The evening dull change of color begins to creep in as Essek, incognito, leads you

to the edge of the Pentamarket, looking for a place to stay. The first place you stumble upon, the name of the locale is the Lodge of the Eclipse. It is quite a decent-sized inn. You can already hear laughter and conversation from the exterior, as well as some undertones of music playing. Not gently, but definitely more of a fiddle and a drum and maybe a, sure, we'll say jazz flute. Why not? It's fun. Yes, jazz. That sounds like Zadashian music taste.

But as you step into the interior, the smell hits you before anything else. This floor is deeply ale-stained, mixed with the smell of bodies. And it is fairly crowded here. You get the sense that establishments that offer alternatives to reality in these times of strife and fear

tend to be very popular once the end of the workday concludes. And a number of the Pentamarket populace, or folks beyond within the city of Zadash, are here or in the process of gathering at the crowded interior of the tavern portion of the interior of the Lodge of the Eclipse. As you push through the crowd a bit,

Essek leading the way over towards the edge, there's the folks that are running the bar, and you can see there is a clerk desk that leads to a staircase that heads upstairs. And to the right, you can see there's actually a sitting pit with a number of benches set up and some other extension of the tavern tables and a small stage.

The curtains are closed, there's no lights on it yet. But you do see here, with one of the raised, smaller platform, less of a stage, more like a platform, you see three musicians that are playing the atmosphere. They're playing and bantering to each other. Most folks aren't paying attention directly, but just enjoying the atmosphere.

But as it goes up to the clerk, and you can see there's a halfling man, probably in his early 50s or so. Massive, massive mutton chops that are mostly gray at this point, which is streaks of dark brown. You can see his hairline was deeply pulled back to what would be almost described as a skullet at this point.

The hair starts about here and just goes into a long Lord Farquaad oomph underneath. Yes. Oh my god. Yes. But he leans up towards Essek and the rest of you. All right, right, hello there. You're looking for a place to stay for the night? We've only got maybe two rooms left at the moment. A lot of travelers coming through. towards Essek and the rest of you. All right, right, hello there. You're looking for a place to stay for the night? We've only got maybe two rooms left at the moment.

A lot of travelers coming through. I have to go ahead and pay a premium on that. Essek just raises his hand as Seth goes like, We'll take both, whatever you have. All right, well, we got one tiny little room here that's available here on the bottom floor. We've got one of our suites actually just opened up. The patronage came to an end

but earlier this day as they travel on, so quite a large room for a hatchet there. Both of these will run you together for the night's rent, or are you taking them for the week, the month? As it's like, just for the night. Looks back at the rest of you, right? Just for the night. All right, all right, that'll put you at about, you know.

Dry in times, prices are a bit driven up there. She leans forward and says, Please, charge what is correct. And does a subtle hand motion. The fellow beneath just goes, No, right, right, I mean, you know, people need places to stay. People need places to feel safe.

I completely understand. And you all look like you're passing through anyway, so I'll run it down for both rooms at about a gold piece for the two for the night. Oh, incredible. Essek nods and tosses him a gold piece. Is he floating again? No. No?

No, he's deaf. I want him to float. I want him to be purple. Yeah. Well, you don't know about him floating. I want him to be purple. You have not seen him float yet. Yes, I have, Matt.

Liam has! I've seen him float all over the place. Caleb has. Didn't he float briefly when he dropped his? It would have if it wasn't for the anti-magic field. Got it. So he never even kicked into that. Do you think he has the skinniest legs? Yeah.

He misses leg day constantly. Svelte. Mm, Svelte. Oh, wait a minute. He's got Morrissey legs. He's a Svelte figure already. Exercise bike participation. He definitely probably has to do his squats

just to make sure he keeps it up. When nobody's home, he's just like. With their squats. He's just floating, but he constantly does little pedal movements. Also viable. His own little peloton under there. Yep. Time to bake those cakes.

He just shimmies. It's one of those. The two keys are mated up between your group as it takes them in. Hence the finer-looking one that has the sweet number on it and holds it out for your trip. So much.

Oh. Fight me for it. Rollies. Fight me, let's go. Rollies. Rollies. Slow ass. We can all sleep in there, but let's sleep. You get the key. What? What?

12? 17. Shit. Here, Fearne, I got this for you. Oh, thank you so much. Punk ass is mine. And she goes, invigorating. You sure you don't want to bunk with us? I'm so absolutely sure.

I don't think you should sleep alone. I'm fine, trust me. I know you're fine, but we're really fun at sleepovers. You should at least come up and hang out for a little bit. Just for a little bit, just for a little bit. That's not the people you're going to be leading through the middle of the snowy wasteland. The better you know us, the better, you know.

One drink? So much beer. Time. One of you make a persuasion check with advantage. It's a room party. The Imogen should do it. And we're crafting our new outfits. No, no, the two of her talking. Oh, I'll do it, I'll do it.

I'm the one that started that. Can I get it? You know what the bunch does. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ooh, okay. Would you consider that cock or no? No, that's a 15.

No, it's a 15. Why would you cock? 28. 28? Get your ass upstairs right now. That's a 15. No, it's a 15. Why would you count? 28. 28! Get your ass upstairs right now. It's not like hanging out with the people that never worked out for him. We are persuasive. Esther glances over, and you can see

that the stage is now starting to light up and the music shifting as the musicians have trekked over. A couple of others have joined them at the base of it, these two side tables. It looks like an evening burlesque show has begun. That's right. As the lighting shifts, Essek goes, Yes, actually, I would like very much to stay with you for a conversation in your room immediately.

Oh. Immediately. Well, you don't understand what? Not really a fan of the theater. Wait, there's a show happening right now? It's an Upper Lesk show, it looks like. You glance up and you see an emcee. You can see on the wings, a few performers are robe-covered, waving,

and you see an emcee walk up, this wondrous femme-presenting half-elf in this fine suit with a high collar and pointed shoulders. Reaches out and goes, presenting half-elf in this fine suit with a high collar and pointed shoulders. Mine or that one over there? Every time he goes like, Everyone, thank you so much for joining us here at the Eclipse. Tonight, we present to you a fantastic spectrum of performers and dancers.

You can see that as he begins this presentation, some of the folks in the tavern are leaning over and looking, not really caring much. Some are starting to grab their drinks and move over to the handful tables over there. I'm already walking. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Just for an interview.

Yeah. I'll hang at the back with Essek. He leans against the wall with you. Even so, orchestra is beautiful. But indeed, it has a vaudevillian vibe to it. There are some dancers that come through But indeed, it has a vaudevillian vibe to it. There are some dancers that come through, a beautiful, voluptuous half-orc

who comes out with gold across their tusks, the chains that tangle and attach. You can see there is a wonderful bubble dance with an arcane crafted sphere that's semi-translucent, just to give the shadow beneath, as this wonderful water nymph-looking water genasi treks across the stage,

and you can see the outlined shadow. You have a wondrous, muscular, athletic-looking, almost dancer body, human male, dark skin and a bright smile, who is out there doing a silk act as the silk's descended from the top and she begins to carry herself up there and begins to flip around and catch himself into mid-air splits. The audience is into it. A few boats in the back are watching from a distance but also having their conversation, but it is definitely a lively place in here. As you take a moment to look at the crowd around,

you can see most folks in here, as deep into the cups they might be, there is definitely an air of necessary escapism. You can see the sinking of posture. There's a certain energy after people suffer trauma. And you can see a lot of these folks are

engaging eagerly at this opportunity to celebrate art. Essek's still sitting in the back with the image. As much as he's standing in front of it, you can't help but catch him occasionally like. You better say something. The Orym, and maybe all of us, but certainly Orym is chasing that feeling of happiness and crime while feeling everything biting at the back of the brain. I, Laudna, in the front row,

is going to turn around to the people who are chit-chatting and being disrespectful. And I'm going to use thaumaturgy to throw my voice a little bit. I'm going to say, Appreciate the performance in unsettling presence, then. Oh, jeez.

I have to go. One guy gets up and is holding the back of his pants. No, sit down. Back of his pants! Hell yeah. Wow. Brow noted him. Hunk. Well, no.

Yeah, I can't knock that. I thought it was fart, but I was wrong. Dibble. Dibble, I love it. In Essek's head, I'm going to say, I know this seems like a rowdy bunch, but it's been a pretty trying 24 hours. I think everyone needs this. You use a few beats before Essek responds. I understand more than I might have long ago.

In years as of late, I've come to appreciate necessity to carve moments of joy. I think that's maybe something those of us that live longer lives have a harder time appreciating. Mm. So yes. Do you ever get used to it?

It feels a little bit like a betrayal to feel happy. I felt that way for a long time. But I don't believe that anymore. It feels that way, yes, but that's... It's only because so much of our history tells us that pain is... Pain is what gives purpose. But as a wise man once told me, it is not pain that makes people.

It's love. Well, as a wise one once told me, it's good to make every day a smiley day. Don't know if I follow the specifics on that, but I appreciate the... I'll think on that little bitter, I suppose. I think while you two are talking to each other and you're at the back and looking forward, you can see Orym laughing at what's happening on stage, but looking to the right and back to the stage. He just keeps looking to the right. Laudna's going to get up after a minute, swipe one of the bottles of wine on the table. I'm going to get crafting.

Yeah, me too. All right. Oh, you're going up crafting? Yeah, yeah. We're going to get crafting. I'll see you in a little bit. I'm going to give Fearne just a nice hug. I'll see you up there in a little bit. Yeah, I'll see you up there in a little bit. Look at you, you're like a little pink in the cheeks.

A little bit, side of handshake. Roll perception, please. I'm going to let the dice match it. Okay. Okay. What'd you get? Dude, you want to go, what, me first? 21.

Shit, 20. Oh! You're not legal enough to drink here, motherfucker. What were you going for, Ashley? I actually quietly grabbed a little bit of your, as we were hugging, you've got that little lace frill that's already on. Yeah, yeah. I just grabbed some and finished the tear of a piece

and just swiped it off and put it in my pocket. It was already coming unfrayed. It was off and put it in my pocket. It was already coming, I'm afraid. It was. Yeah, just grabbed the thing. It was. I hear a little bit of the tear happening, and I'm like, okay. I make my turn quicker to help it.

As I pass by, I give Imogen a little kiss. See you upstairs. We have a moment. Don't mind the mess. I'm going to get into it. Yeah, they've a lot of mind the mess. I'm going to get into it. Yeah, they've a lot of work to do. I'm going to sit next to Essek before they head up, anyway.

On the other side, so. Okay. So Essek is standing in the back with Imogen behind all the tables. Yeah, so I'm just going to give them a little bit until they're drinking and occasionally look over. Okay. Teddi's sitting in the front row,

legs out, slumping in the chair, baguette in one hand, bottle of wine in the other. Fucking riveted. A baguette? Legs out. Incredible! Doin is right beside him, just, and clapping. Every time they do just a little something,

he looks over at Chetney and he goes, he's trying to. That's incredible! So talented! The emcee steps out after one of the comedy, pratfall, physical comedy performances finishes off offstage. He goes like,

And everyone, we have straight from the glorious evening events of Hopperduke a fantastic performance. We are in for a treat tonight. This is Madame Featheredface. And as he pulls back, No way. Is it? She would be of age.

She would be of age. Not everything is connected. Maybe they are! Oh, I'm your son. She would be working her way through college. She would be a major. Yes, I support that. It's been seven years!

Yes. Every NPC is a cameo. I know. Already teetering on the edge. No. You see a beautiful dwarven woman come out with a short robe that stops just above the knees and shapely, stocky dwarven legs that are smooth,

except for a trail of where the hair on the shins are has been carved into spirals. Ooh. She steps out with these two fans that block her face. She begins to dance to the music. The music hasn't changed from the previous performance, and you see her look over at the musician

and take the stage in his direction. They all look, oh! They change to a slower pace. They weren't paying attention. She goes back into her show. Eventually, as the fans turn and turn, blocking the face with each body spiral into a lift leap and then a down,

these ropes descend from the top of the stage. You can see the two gentlemen off the side, they're handling the wench. She goes and grabs one, and as they pull back up, she lifts into the air. And then as she reaches the top of the rope, she begins to swing back on it, the other hand holding the fans, covering it.

So she leaps from one rope to the other, and as she separates both of the fans, you can see where the beard would be. There's just a mass of beautiful golden feathers that form a beard off the front of her face. Now she leaps towards the other rope. She misses it and tumbles for a couple feet before the feathers pick up and she glides and flies around.

Her beard feathers catcher? Yes! Amazing! Hufford Duke's the best. Yes! Hufford Duke bringing it. Eventually, after flittering around and over the audience, doing a large loop around over the top of everyone,

going through and occasionally tapping someone on the head, coming back and her hand touches the back of your ear and pulls away as one of her feathers seems to wave at you, you think. I'm afraid so. I think she likes you. I think so, too. Lands to a beautiful applause.

And with the finish of this wonderful performer, Haparduke, as their finale performance, the night's burlesque comes to a close. A number of the dancers give a bow, audience cheers, people are throwing copper and occasional silver to the stage. As the curtains close, some of them go back and put their robes on and begin to step out

to mingle amongst the patrons and drink with them as well. The party's still continuing. Those of you who wish to stick around, you're welcome to. You have friends upstairs who are crafting, and as the performance is over, Essek begins to get a bit antsy, like, I will set my room for the evening, and then perhaps we can sit for a bit.

Wonderful. I'm going to head upstairs. Before you go, actually, I normally charge for this, but I heard you talk earlier, and I'm on a side mission of self-discovery. Take a look at this. Oh fuck.

Oh. Looks like a- I'm going to sit and I'm going to try and get it to go. I'm going to burn a rage just to get it to do something interesting. Okay. Oh, I'm going to, just as I'm walking away in Essek's head, he's going to hear,

if you can do it, I wouldn't suggest diving into his head. Almost got trapped in there before. And I'll keep walking up the stairs. Response to you. I appreciate the warning. I totally forgot to say anything about that. Is this some sort of injury that you suffered earlier in your life?

Suddenly, it goes completely see-through. You can see entirely through my head in it, and one of my eyes is also completely see-through. Strange indeed. Perhaps best not to do this in public. And kind of like... It only takes four or five seconds and it goes away. Come with me.

And leads you up to the chamber where the suite has been set. I got shit to do up there, too. As you head into the chamber, he looks a bit concerned and a weird excitement to his pace. Yes, come here, I need to find the light. And takes one of the lanterns from the hallway

off of the hook and just sets it closely. Do you mind? I am at your disposal, please. And grabs the edge of your chin and holds the lantern up and looks into it. What? Impossible. Just lantern down. I get that a lot.

Begins moderately casting an incantation, touching the center of his forehead, and as it does, his eyes light up for a moment. Can't get weird in there, just be careful. I have been assured not to look too deep, but... Hold on. And he goes and puts his hands together, weaves a thread in the air and begins to draw these cursive-looking runes,

and from it, grabs the center and plucks a small, dark bead, like a pearl, and then brings it close to the side of your head. And as he does, the inside of your head begins to swirl like a storm. You feel this tickling sensation in the back of your neck and up through your head. And those of you who are in the room,

if any of you are paying attention to this, since they entered the room, if any of you are paying attention to this, since they entered the room, and as the pearl gets close to Ashton's head, these little spark-like lights begin to swirl within the glass like a cosmic cloud of some kind is just churning inside.

I think we'll have all just stopped what we're doing and then are watching. Yeah. That's new. Indeed it is. Dispels it and the energy can go. I can agitate it again if you want to see it. It's random.

I tend to find it sinks itself in a pour. Are you doing anything to him? What are you doing? Are you familiar at all with Dunamis? No. Who? Dunamis is a particular pillar of esoteric magic within Exandria.

It is a speciality of the Kryn Dynasty and is, in essence, derived from... Where to begin? There is an entity believed within Dynasty Circus to be called the Luxon, that long ago, before the gods and spiritual elements even took this world for their own creation, divided itself amongst Exandria

into a number of artifacts. These artifacts, whether or not the myth holds any particular anchor to it, are extremely powerful sources of dunamantic magic. It is magic that tugs at and manipulates the very fabric of reality. Time becomes malleable, gravity and entropy

become weaponized and altered. The very space of fabric becomes a weave to pull and stretch and fold. It is a very primal and rarely understood magic. Elements of it have been borrowed in other, more conventional practices, but Dunamis, the basis, the energy of this magic is primarily a Dynasty focus,

and my particular lifelong study. What you have, whatever this is, is a unique, organic source of dunamis. Well, and I will assume, given the long conversation from primordial blood to falling out of a window and being put back together from scraps. And that's when,

that's when this kicked in. And just to do it, I'm going to activate the gravity roll with it, and suddenly, the color almost starts to roll. It's pulling us out in. Withdraw us for a moment. Yeah, just six seconds of it. And this just happened after you were reassembled? and withdraw us for a moment. Yeah, just six seconds of it. So.

And this just happened after you were reassembled? Yeah. Yeah, I woke up that way. Do you mention anything about the material that Milo had put in there as part of their process of repairing you? I'm going to think it to Imogen. You can hear it, right? How much do I say? Well, if the voice trusts him, I think we should as well. Yeah, tell him.

He looks a bit spooked at the mention of this liquified, dunamantic power. It seems that the Assembly's machinations have their fingers woven deep into many things, but your very essence as well. So within you continuously swirls the ancient power of the Titans, mingled with the ancient power of the Titans mingled with the very nature of the cosmos.

You are a dangerous entity. People keep saying that. And just for fun, I'll hit one more and hit the rainbow probability sparkles. Now you're just showing off. No, I never get to do this, so it's really nice. Normally and is just. Now you're just showing off. You know, I never get to do this, so it's really nice.

Normally this is just happening when we're beating the fuck out of people. I will tell you two things. I'm getting tired. One, that is a remarkable, very unique thing that you carry with you and are part of you. I would very much like the opportunity to study this some point after all of this, should you allow me.

And two, do not share this with anyone else. I tend not to. You may be one of the first, other than these terrible five. We don't know what the hell we're doing. There are a number of extremely powerful figures across Exandria that would love to take you apart piece by piece to understand what you have and what you are.

Well. There was a time where I might have been one of them. Well, the right people trust you, so I'm going to trust you, and I'm tired of not knowing myself. It's honestly been my biggest weakness. Hmm. You said don't trust me. You should not have trusted me.

Well, shit, sorry. All right. Wait, did you just say don't trust you? You shouldn't trust anyone. I, as much as a word means, you have no worry from me. I am reformed in my dubiousness. Wow. But.

I'm trying to, I don't know, I won't speak for everybody else, but I've been trying to better myself lately, and I will say that I've only recently attempted to redefine my old definition of friendship and love, which was the people you want to trust. And I'm trying something new. Yeah, and to be fair, there are a bunch of people

who want to take you apart piece by piece, who don't have a fucking clue what goes on with you. No, I really, honestly, just, I will admit, kind of attract it. The door bursts open. She gave me a feather! A feather! I told him she probably gives a feather

to everyone at every show, but he won't listen. His friend's fixed with it. Notice me! Special boy. Yeah, it's just for you, Chet. I'm sure it's just for you. Your hay fever is going to kick in at any second. Smelt!

I've smelt it three times already. What does it smell like? What does it smell like? A feather! What do you want me to say, cloaca? My favorite incense. I think Chet's right. I think they had a special connection.

I can sense it. Birds of a feather. Hey, should we? I want to sew. You want to sew? I got to start working on this robe. Don't step on that chamber pot. It's been my dye bucket.

Chetney, Chetney, open your sack one more time. Thank you. I was going to be concerned, but now I feel better. Oh, what are you dyeing? What color? My skirt. I'm trying to get a little bit of an ombre. Do you have paint? Oh, ombre. I want to do some ombre.

Oh, yes, I do! Here you go! You've done some? All right, thanks. What are you working on? I'll join you in that ombre. Aesthetic. Aesthetic, yes. I'm just going to alter this robe a little bit to make it work with my stuff that I ordered.

That's good. The armor, the armor, but I still have it. Laudna helped me alter my jacket. Ooh, yay! FCG. It fits you so well now. Yeah, I think it looks good. I'm just sewing it in pieces. We had to add a few more panels in the back, but he knows.

Pretty good. I'm just putting the sleeves together. I used some bits and bobbles. See, that's so. DM, I'm going to sit and start carving. Okay. Essek has also dropped his illusion now. Orma drops to a knee next to you, Chet, off in the corner.

Can I get into the bag? Are you sure? Okay. I reach in and pull out the Otohan blade. I don't make a big deal out of it. Which one? We're all watching. We know. We're all watching. We're just crafting and staring.

There's two blades. Which ones do you pull? The rapier. Oh yeah, the rapier, like one of the longer sabers. Yeah. I'll be back. Where are you going? Outside, getting some air. That blade's bigger than you.

We can all see you taking Ulan's blade. I hear it. What was the name of the dagger? He may actually be doing something. The dagger was screaming out like 20%. Fair. Fair. I have Bertrand's Old Sword. What was the name of the dagger? He may actually be good. The dagger was screen healthy. 20%. How many things is he going to fall with Sugarglider? Fair. Fair.

I have Bertrand's old sword. I'm just waving a sword around. Oh, whoa, whoa! In the air? Yeah. Never looked so good. Yeah, but believe it or not, I'm going to put it out, and I'm going to stop painting.

I was painting my little mandolin, and I'm just going to start tinkering with Bertrand's old sword, the Gambler's Blade. Oh. That's wonderful. Our first fallen party member. With the jeweler's tools that I pocketed from the store while no one was looking.

Nice. Real nice. Essek? Yes? I saw my mom mess with time. Does Ludinus have a lot of knowledge of this Dunamancy? Unfortunately, quite a bit. You said there are artifacts that contain a lot of power. Are they located in Aeor? It is believed that one either once resided there or may still reside there. But...

The Assembly has had access to one of these artifacts for some time. Mm. And part of that is my fault. So in a way, I'm still paying my pennies. Yeah. In fact, he points to Ashton, part of the reason that is the way it is

is because of what I gave them years ago. You're kind of like his dad. That is the way it is. It's because of what I gave them years ago. You're kind of like his dad. Oh, do not put that on me, please. No, you are not. He goes and begins to craft this weird glow of ephemeral magical energy in his palm, and then he flicks it into the air, and you see this illusion appear of a 12-sided relic that

itself sparkles in a similar cosmic way as your head does. That's pretty. This is a beacon. These are the supposed fragments of the Luxon. It is a mystery as to how many of these exist across Exandria, but a number of them have been long under control of the Dynasty and considered the most holy of relics. They are the most powerful source of dunamantic power in all the world. And since the Assembly has acquired

one or perhaps more, since they have one or perhaps more since they have exploited it in ways, been able to distill some of its power into a multitude of devices. This vial you speak of, they are one of the numerous byproducts of this Assembly's research.

Does that beacon look familiar? Anything we would have seen at the Mellius Key? You do very much recall seeing something of a similar shape and design at the core of the key right before everything fired the bridge off to the moon. I tell Essek as much. I've seen something like it in my dreams. Kind of.

I've... Shit. You know, one of the hardest parts about trying to be a better person is the more time that goes by, you continue to realize how long and wide the ramifications of your actions might be. When you jump out of a window, you try very hard not to blame the quality of the glass. So no harm, no foul.

It's easy to say, but what if you were the one that pushed you out at one point? Yeah, I pushed myself out, to be fair. Well, I put myself there. I got enough blame for us both. Well, that certainly answers a few questions that I've had about how they were able to tether an astral body of that size to our planet. Between the combination of Aeorian technology, Ludinus' knowledge, the sheer volume of magical power

and artifacts at the Assembly's disposal, and the timing of the solstice. The fact that he's still toying with Aeol means that there's something he still needs. Yeah. There's still something there that he requires once. Something left before he can release Pardothos. And that is a very promising thought, yes.

Do you think Pardothos is connected to this Luxon at all? I do not know much about this Pardothos beyond what my partner has told me. It seems like it's ancient, prehistorical. Apparently, it eats gods. So I've heard. And to be honest, they can have them.

But what I do not trust is leaving that choice in the hands of someone like Ludinus Delef. Yes, yes. That's what we've said that. You said it better, but yes. I usually do. You guys are in a really nice way. Well. Knowing that a beacon resides at the center of the key

might give us away, might give myself and perhaps some other Dunamanses that they could see past. Bless you. Gesundheit. I learned that from my partner as well. If I could assemble a few of the Dunamans who can see past my previous infractions, and I have a few ideas, together we could disrupt, theoretically, the beacon that resides in the key. Now to do so would cut them in three and end this bridge.

Wow. Yeah, do that. That would mean nobody on or off. Well, we sort of found a little backdoor onto the moon, theoretically. Mm-hmm. But maybe it's all about timing. Perhaps if you do what you need to do,

if the Concord does what it needs to do, the Accord. We can utilize that as a way to perhaps cut things off should it go poorly, or close the door behind you if everyone manages to succeed. Yeah. I'll put some thought to this.

Well, you hand me those metal pins behind you. Oh, certainly, and he brushes a hand, and they glide over to your grasp. Thank you. I would never stand up again. Do you have a lucky someone back home? I have someone, yes. Yeah? He too has, and is, wrestling with his demons.

I think that's why we found common ground once. But he's kind, and he's smart, and he is so strong. Of heart. Cocoon. The smell. But he, like me, wouldn't be where he is today if it weren't for others to hold him up in times of need.

So, very glad you have each other. Solitude makes for dark thoughts and aimless wandering. I don't know. I got very creative when I was alone. I can imagine. No judgment. Anyway, I should get to rest. I expended quite a bit of magic getting to you, bringing us all here and amongst other endeavors

I had earlier in the day, and I would like to talk to my partner before I sleep. Have a wonderful night. And he, this is the first time you've noticed as he goes to leave, he does not take a step. He just glides out of the room a few inches off the ground. Oh, I missed him.

As he leaves the room, you watch as his image shifts back into that of Seth's and then disappears down the hall. Do you think he casts a spell every time he does that? That is so neat. I want to float everywhere. I think you should. I'm going to cast Fly. That's so inefficient.

And just float. Just go up to the ceiling. Yeah, it's just going to float up. Okay, that works. That works. That's so neat. I'm still a little tipsy. I'm going to cast Fly on Chetney. Go, do it, Chetney.

Oh! Oh, no, no, no, stop it, stop it. Fuck! Sorry. Little bit of Dixie there. You stole Fizzy Lip's drink. It popped into the ceiling, but now it needs to be cleaned. You get nothing!

Good day, sir! As Laudna gets into a rhythm and in a mind palace as she builds, it seems almost seamless. There are times where it's almost like you can see her zone out. She's not really on this plane of existence, or even her eyes are unfocusing

as she's continuing to build, as it's coming at a seamless, supernatural, almost expediency as she builds. Hmm. I met FCG. expediency as she builds. Sure. I, uh... I met FCG, I'm just sewing while I do this. I was paid to go check out something that had gone wrong in a mine.

People were supposed to clear it out, and people that got called, if I recall, it was a long time ago, never came back. Found an absolute fucking slaughter. Everything was a mess, except for one machine who reactivated, helped me clear it out, and was irritatingly nice about the whole process. In that moment, I realized

I found the perfect roommate who would do so much work to keep the place clean and not ask for rent. God, we even supposed to rent one of those flying. Oh. Yeah, I was just thinking about that. God, remember we were just sitting around beating the fuck out of furniture?

Yeah. What a day. What a fucking day. Oh, thank you. I think he was just out there. Oh, you couldn't leave it like that. I know I missed a spot. All right.

I was in a dead pit. You're such a critic. I'm just, you know. I studied art as a child. For a long time, I'll have you know. Oh, now we're mocking each other, are we? So spooky. Meanwhile, outside under the starry night over Zadash, stepping beyond the eclipse,

Orym, what are you doing? Orym steps out onto the cobblestones of Zadash and sees the small miniature park across the thoroughfare and goes and sits down on a bench in this little area and lays the blade across his legs at this sword that he's seen at three pivotal moments in his life.

Just memories flash by, and of course he thinks about the day that he saw this sword run his father and his husband through. And that bleeds into watching Laudna struck down, Fearne struck down, and visions of Otohan

standing over him and just robbing the life from his lungs. And he sees, from his position on the ground, in a cave on the moon, watching fresh cut grass erupt into light. He thinks about all the people in this city and all the cities across Wildemount and Tal'Dorei and Issylra that don't fully understand what's coming. out and tell Dore and Issylra

that don't fully understand what's coming. He just looks at this sword where it really all started for him. He stands up off the park bench and grips the blade and feels the weight of it. It's a little heavier than what he's used to, and the grip is very different. The positioning is very different. He slowly steps into the Zephyr-a-Tongue with this blade,

feeling it out. Over the next few minutes, what starts slow gets a little bit faster, and he's alone in this park and begins moving through the positions. It gets faster and faster, and his arm is starting to ache with the weight of it for how long he is going through the motions, and he begins to sweat. After a few minutes, he just stops,

exhausted and sweating in the night in the middle of a strange town on a continent that he has never been to. He sees lewdness somewhere out there. He looks at this cursed sword, raises it up, cursed sword.

Raises it up. Raises his arm over his head and presses the blade to his back and little tendrils of vine crawl all over it and affix it and seedling and Otohan's blade rests side by side on his back. He just stands there, sweating in the cool Zadash air. Plop, plop, plop. You feel the beginning drops of the cool rain begin to spatter across your shoulders and head,

and run down your forehead, bringing a welcome chill to the heated, sweaty, worked body of worm. You glance up to see a clear sky, if not but a single little plume of cloud that seems to be resting directly above you. I can even still hear the music from the burlesque playing from across the road. I can't help but think of the people just trying to live their lives

in the face of the impossible, and how that's something worth fighting for. And it makes it so that the weight of the blade on my back is not too heavy to carry. I think I just sit on the bench and take a little more time for myself. Sitting on the bench as the rain still patters, the vines of seedling grow out and root into the wood planks of the bench, grow across your shoulders, and for a brief moment, you feel like you could just sit there forever. In that moment, the rain feels warm.

I can embrace. It's been a minute since you felt her presence, but you can feel the Wild Mother touching your shoulders. but you can feel the Wild Mother touching your shoulders. You can feel that weight that presses your body down that weight that presses your body down become just a little lighter as well.

I can think of 50 questions or things I want to say to her, but I don't want to ruin a moment with words. SAM and LAURA say, SAM and LAURA say, SAM and LAURA say, SAM and LAURA say, SAM and LAURA say, I head back in. Okay. I head back in. I head back in.

Okay. Okay. Okay. The rest of you continue your crafting night. Mm-hmm. At this point in time, Laudna has started to panic about the amount that still needs to get done. Relatable.

Yes. The night before San Diego Comic-Con. Yo! I still have four more hours of work to do on this fucking cosplay. The room smells of spray paint. This iron is not working. So I can see everybody else

trying to craft in a fury, so I cast Animate Objects on Sashimi, as well as Sashimi's hut, the house that Chetney made. He gets little legs, like a little bar of Yaga Hut, and little arms. As well as sashimi, and then maybe. You need a little help. Yes. Oh, yes, in the hand! I cast animate objects in the hand, and now we have a handful of

little, like. Oh, I still have this horse that Chet made. Oh, the horse, fine. Everyone, anything. The chamber, pockets, legs, and everything turns into little assistants that we have helping us. And I'm directing like it's Fantasia, and the house is patterned.

I'm like, give me the scissors! Tim Burton's Island of Misfit toys, just going to work in here. Pat Tayshia's person is sort of being like, Oh, that's pretty inspired, my love. Oh, thank you. You glance over and, if you recall, her little fun dead rat, Pat Tay, that she had crafted,

is now moving and talking on her shoulder. Ha, that's a neat trick. How are you making him do that? Oh, it's a really fun thing! Oh, okay, you can stop now. That's just him now. This is my team! Hey, it's good to meet you. It's been a bit normal, sort of flopping around last time,

but now I'm always here. He's a real boy. Oh, is it too late to back out of this now? Come on, Oryan, it's going real boy. Oh, is it too late to back out of this now? Come on, Oryan, it's going to run! Oh, darn! The vacuous darkness inside of the bird's skull just stares at you as you focus and you swear you can see

the faintest little spark of purple flame deep in. Yeah, I assume he's still horny and disgusting. He is. Is he nice? Yes! That sounded like a lie. Well! Hello, Pate. It's nice to see you again. The hand latches onto your hand and just holds on it and skitters up your arm.

I'm shaking! You want a cat latches on? No, no, no! I just wanted to say hello. Hello! Hello! Hello! Hello. Hello. This isn't so bad. I'm tickling him. I'm tickling him.

I like his laugh. He's a bit of an acquired taste. Taste. My turn. He scurries up your arm and starts to tickle on over your belly. Oh my god. Starts gently humping your elbow.

All right, all right, all right, all right. All right, all right. You can take it back, and I'm going to put him on it, and hopefully he shimmers, still shimmies up. I could use a little bit of base health, too, just in wonder, and I put the Ashton toy down. Can we get a little, I need a little homunculi. Yes, I turn the voodoo doll into a little doll.

And they're all skittering around. And sashimi. I'm having my fly spell and flying above. You're just like. Yeah, I'm hovering. It's like an astronaut up in the space station, just drifting. You see sashimi sewing up fern skirts on the back

and the hand is just moving items and holding down leather as I cut it. After some time, I'm going to go out and see where Orym is because I feel like he's been gone for a while. You step out and glance for a bit, just as you see him step out of a bench at a small park across the way and begin walking back towards the inn.

You, as you're heading down, looking at the ground, look up as the rain fades, and then look straight down into Fearne's eyes about 20 feet away. Hi, Fearne. Hey, Fearne. Are you okay? I mean, that's kind of a dumb question.

I know why you ask. You know the answer. I know. You should talk. Quite the heart-to-heart with your old dad. Yeah. That was weird. Thanks for following and checking in on me to make sure I was okay.

That's like breathing. We're gonna be okay, right? Reach up and squeeze your hand. I just pick him up and grab him. What are you two doing out here? Hey! Hi. I feel like it's been so much of them

and not a lot of us. No. Hello. Hello. I'm actually OG Kory. Hi. Join in. Join in. Join in what? Is this a group hug?

Yeah. I have been waiting for this since the moment I saw you. Yes. Mm. Mm! 17 strength. I'm giving it everything I got.

17 strength. That's not bad. A couple of nice back pops and maybe one or two not nice back pops. Boy. You remember when I held a blade to your chest? Told you not to put that crown on your head. Whoa.

That's right. Spoiler alert. I did not put that crown on my head. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here right now. I think about that every day. Every step of the way, I've thought about you. It's been a hard road. How are you doing? Oh, I'm all right. Yeah? For now, I don't know. There's no way to know.

I've never been much for looking forward or back, but this is nice. This is nice. I'm glad we've all found our way. I don't want to be the one to drag us back into the party, but not that it's a party, but. No, no, no. It's the closest thing I've had in a while.

Well, I feel so, I'm going to go back inside, but I'll let you guys catch up if you want to catch up. I don't know if you want to, it's fine. I love you both, and I'm going to go catch some Zs. That means I'm going to go to sleep. Are you a tie-tie?

I'm a really tie-tie. So if you guys want to snuggle later, I'll be there, but I'm going to go back in and finish my dress. Good night. Good night. Good night. I'm not sure she does that when she walks in. The little tail. Yeah, the little tail.

She's about the least subtle, isn't she? No, that's why we are so fond of her. Mm. You know, that day, I didn't want you to put that thing on your head, because I didn't want you to drag yourself down with it. And I have done so much shit since then. It makes it seem

funny that I was so determined. I've never been accused of being wise, but I do think that life will drag you down, regardless of what you try to stop happening. And you have to rely on the mooring and buoys of the people you meet along the way. You can't protect everyone all the time. Look at me. I'm here now. It might hurt to say,

but without you, you don't have to save everyone. It might hurt to say, but without you, you don't have to save everyone. It's the rain, right? You've got rain in your eyes? I try to reach out a lot. I know. But you still got me through. I wouldn't be here without you. And now I'm here with you. Come on. You're getting wet. I'll take his hand. I'll try to pull him inside with me. It's interesting. As you step in the tavern, you look out.

Not a cloud in the sky. Seems like a poor excuse now. There was rain, but it's gone. Gathering back up in the room, you all finish your evening of crafts. As much as you. As much as you feel you can and need to for the evening. Some of you are going off to an early half-drunken slumber. The others probably working way too late into the night

and practically running themselves into exhaustion, but just barely missing the cusp until eventually morning comes calling. Thank lord now, before you continue on. Yeah. She's probably the last to fall asleep. She finishes her way too ambitious build. And her eye

catches Otohan's sword on the back of Orym's back. She's unnerved by that. Makes her eye twitch. She hates it. It's a dark memory, my dear. Oh my god. To keep something filled with such terrible memories so close.

The wound will never heal. Why is he carrying it? It's cursed. Maybe it's not Otohan that drove it through you. Maybe the blade drove Otohan that drove it through you. Maybe the blade drove Otohan. Wouldn't be my first foray with weapons of consciousness. It's conscious?

Do you think it could turn Orym? I don't know. Tell me you do. I'd have to hold it first. We certainly seem to be mingling with a lot of members of the Cerberus Assembly. You were one of them, right? I was, once upon a time.

Did you know Ludinus? I did. What do I need to know? He does not have friends. He surrounds himself with tools, things to be used. And the minute their use is gone, so are they. Solidarity can be exploited.

Starting to learn he doesn't have many, many allies. It's funny. Few who spend their time in the Assembly ever do. Must be exhausting having a life filled with fair-weather friends. Maybe. But it's certainly a path to get things done, if you're smart enough. You should help me more.

We made a deal. You should give me more, and I'll help you. I creep towards the blade on Orym's back. How asleep is he? I mean, he seems asleep. He's been asleep for a few hours. He's been asleep for a few hours? Yeah, you do know that he is pretty...

Perceptive. Perceptive and aware of things. Just got to beat a 15. Just got to beat a 15. I think I got to beat a 15. Just got to beat a 15. I don't pry the blade from his back.

Is it still wrapped in the vines on his back? Is he like? The vines are what hold it to his back? The vine hilt that I tear every time I remove a blade. 15. It's way higher. I'm still crafting right,

so everyone, once again, room party vibes. There's still activity going. Well, you said at this point when everyone else is going to sleep. Everyone is asleep, but I'm still doing last minute stuff. Yeah, you're, of everyone here, you're the one who leads Sleep the Least in general.

Last one up at the slumber party. There's still, there's still... There's just all your little things helping out. Little noise, little, you know. Yeah, last one's like, shut up! I don't pry it, but I do do a little...

I just run my finger along the blade. Yes. You run your finger along. For anyone who would probably be seeing this, not that anyone is, it probably looks fucking insane. Yeah, you were like. Over his body. Yeah. It were like. Over his body. Yeah.

It's like a spider over a fly that it's bound in its web. Little fly. I've got to run. So the blade is covered by the vines, but there are parts of the hilt that you can touch freely. As you run your finger over it, where your finger runs along it, you see this faint trail of purple,

like a blade that had been heated, but it's a purple hue instead of an orange, and it just fades slowly after. It hums with power, with history, with lives lost and blood spilled. This blade was made long before Otohan welded it. Tell me. Is it sentient? You have to wield it for me to know.

You have to wield it for me to know. Try and grip it a little stronger without removing it. Okay. Make a sleight of hand check. 16. With advantage. With what? 16. I'll sayight of hand check. Sixty. With advantage. With what? Sixty. I'll say, actually no.

You'd be sleeping, so you're at disadvantage, so it's half your passive perception. And for Fearne, you just used half my passive perception. That's what I'm saying, yeah. So for half your passive perception. Which is 33. No, half your passive perception. I know, the full is 33.

Yeah, sorry, sorry, so it so 33 halved to 16, right? 16 and a half! 16 and a half! Yes. His passive is 33. Right. So if you want to roll a sleight of hand check. Okay, I just have to make sure.

You just have to do the 16, right? I need to roll a 10. My passive perception is 11. You got a plus nine. That's a very high perception. I know, yeah, that's a real high five. Mine, too. That's great.

You can roll higher than a 10. I can roll higher than a 10. You can do it. I'm just wondering if I can stack the deck even more in my favor. Here's perception. Here's what I'm going to do. Okay.

Before I do this. What am I going to do? Nothing beats a good solid night's sleep with some blackout curtains. I'm going to cast Darkness on the room. Magical Darkness. Oh my god! The room fails to complete undying.

I can see through it. Does that help my odds? This is a touch-based perception. It is attached to his back. So this is whether or not you can try and grasp the blade and manipulate it without him feeling it. So the darkness doesn't aid that, but it might aid should anything ensue afterward.

Do it. It has to be physical. It can't be like Mage Hand. I mean, you can try Mage Hand it, but you then have to wield it after. And when you say, when you say wield, I've got to remove it from his person. Right, and hold it in your hand.

It would be the equivalent of how you have to spend an hour to sit with an item to attune with it or understand it truly. Not that long, but the same kind of like you have to have the weapon to understand it. And it's entwined with these vines. The vines have built a sheath around it, and I imagine wrapped over the hilt as well.

It's not slide-out-able. It's like break glass in an emergency kind of thing. So it's all spidered over the hilt and all down the blade. That's pruned. Now mind you, if the vines are withered. So you don't steal my idea. I know, I knew where you were going.

I knew where I was going. No, I knew where you were going. I knew exactly where you were going. I take my spindly hands in the back of my fingers, and I just run it almost like an exacto knife, like the sharpest blade, down the vines and cast Wither and Bloom on the vines.

That's fucking cool. Sorry. Let's go, bitch. Go ahead and roll damage for the Wither and Bloom. Just to the vines. I know. Don't let anything happen. Okay, okay, okay. I won't let anything happen. So this would be you essentially casting Shut up, fucking Willingham! Just to the vines. I know. Do it, do it. Okay, okay, okay. I won't let anything happen. So this would be you essentially casting

the spell. Shut up! Fucking Willingham! I love everything this is. I love everything this is. Do it, do it, do it. Do it, do it, do it, do it. Five. Okay.

So Wither and Bloom is a radius from a point in space. 10 feet. So you will be essentially maneuvering it to the top to come down and catch the bottom at an angle. This is going to be a challenging incision. Much. Yeah.

Yes, I just need the- To not hit me, but hit the vine. Correct. Yeah. So what I just need the soak. To not hit me, but hit the vines. Correct. Yeah. So what I would like you to do. You know what? Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. I'm bargaining! Well, I've already done it, huh? Yeah. I can't backtrack.

Never mind. So go ahead and roll. This is the best. Roll an arcana check for me. Because I could have theoretically blighted them. An arcana check? Yes. Okay. Could have blighted them.

I could have blighted them. I should have blighted them. I should have blighted them. It's okay. It's okay. 11. The first thing that catches your attention, Orym, is the feeling of air being pulled from your lungs and this burning sensation along your back and shoulders.

You come to consciousness, to blindness. What do you do? Do I, am I damaged? You take five points of necrotic damage. I should fucking blight it, those damn fucking blades. Do I, am I damaged? You take five points of necrotic damage. I should fucking blight it, those damn fucking blades. So I'm feeling both dark, strange pain.

Correct, and then you come to consciousness and shoot awake and see nothing. Do I feel the weight of a body of a large spider-like woman pressing on me? There's no pressing on you. I wasn't touching you. So no. But of course, you see him shoot awake. Then I would spin up onto my legs

as I pulled Seedling out, and I would do a full circle with the blade. Okay. Yeah. Ah! You gotcha! Why did I decide to spoon? All right.

What are you doing, Laudna? Okay. Roll your d100. You see him shoot awake, and then while you're loomed over. Spider climb and climb to the ceiling. Okay. I mean, I wouldn't wait. It would be as soon as I felt like I was being drained.

Here's what I'll do. Yeah. Because this is also realization. The moment it takes, because you wake up with the pain, and then it takes a moment to realize that you're blind and then going into that motion, while she sees you even come to consciousness. So I'm going to have this be a contested dexterity roll from each of you.

Well, I mean. So just roll a d20, and add your dexterity modifier. He's going to be better. Just add the modifier. Just the modifier. That's not a save. Correct. So I rolled modifier. Just the modifier. That's not a save. Correct. So I rolled a 19. 10 total.

A 19. Go ahead and roll an attack and damage. So I'm rolling to hit still, yeah? You are. This is to see if the blade catches up before she can leave. It's in darkness, though, too. Right, so you have disadvantage on the strike. Okay. Okay, so that is 17 to hit.

Shield. So you strike outward into nowhere, Okay, so that is 17 to hit. Shield. So you strike outward into nowhere and your blade hits something, but it scrapes off of it, like you hit a stone wall or something. And as soon as I feel that, then with the second two attacks on my attack action.

Make two more attacks at disadvantage. Spider climb, spider climb. I understand. He's pursuing you as you're pulling away at the same speed. You're both essentially. 21 for the second. What's your AC with shield?

14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. That's one hit. Okay. 21, 22, and I would unload all, once I feel someone fucking with me even further, I would press both. So 21, 22, that means this attack two and three hit.

Correct. So roll damage for each of those. I will make the, I'll make it a pushing attack. So that's five plus six is 12 plus... So that's 18 points of damage for the first, and you have to make a strength save against. Push back 10 feet.

Later. No, I don't want to update the software. Yeah. Oh no. Ooh, no, I fully fail. Okay. One heavy swipe catches you and sends you flying back 10 feet into the wall. A loud impact of wood,

which starts to wrestle all of you from your slumber, and all of you can't see. Your next attack. That's attack two, and I hear my opponent smack the wall, so then I make the third attack. I slice the air, and the force goes out from Seedling. Oh, sorry, that's five plus six, nine, 12. We'll just call it there.

I'm not going to add a superiority die to it, so that's another 12 points of damage. 12 points of damage to you. I need you to make two concentration checks for me. For what? For maintaining darkness. Okay, that's fine. First attack was 17 damage?

It was high teams. Yes. Yes! Yes, it's got to be over 10, right? Correct, yep. Yeah. Okay. With my modifier. So the strides go through, you heard the impact, still can't see anything. Okay. With my modifier. So the strides go through, you heard the impact, still can't see anything.

Okay. Now, skitter, skitter, skitter, skitter to the roof. I am up. Is that the end of your? That's it, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's it. I'm just holding my grind. You hear shifting and movement. Pop up. With your passive perception,

because it's really high in your conscious, you can gauge the sound of movement and skittering out at an angle up there. Are we awake? The rest of you are starting to come to consciousness. I Mage Hand the sword. Okay. So you use your action to cast a Mage Hand.

Yeah. I need you to go ahead and make a roll d20 and add your spellcasting modifier. This is to beat the strength of the vines holding it to its back. Wouldn't the vines have also hit the blight, though? Yeah. The vine, she's just pulling.

Yeah, the vines are gone. Just go ahead and pull. The vines aren't gone, they're just withered. Okay. Spell attack or spell? Just add your charisma modifier. Okay. 16. Eas charisma modifier. Okay. 16.

Easily enough. Yeah. In the shadow, as you do the strikes there, and you prepare, you hear the sound going. All of a sudden, you feel the blade dislodge from your back. Oh my god. So you pull it towards you.

Mm-hmm. You have it in your grasp. Oh my god. I say in my head, tell me! Yes. It must be destroyed. Can I? This will protect Torum.

I think that's six seconds by now I would attack again. Yeah, go for it. Still is a disadvantage, right? Correct, because you still can't see. Okay, so that is 19 to hit. I'm going to fuck this. I don't know if shield lasts one round. Shield lasts for one round, yeah.

So I'm giving you the option to cast shield if you want. I roll, I got a 19. I'm on the ceiling. Right. I can send a slash through the air. Yeah, seedling can shoot air blades out for 15 feet. What did you roll? 19. Or is it a line? 19 is my AC.

Or it's just a single leg. What's it? 19 is my AC, so no. I take it. Okay. Actually, hang on, wait. Well, you're already moving. Okay, so let's make it a trip attack. Six, 13, 14. Again.

22 damage, and you have to make a strength save or Fall Prone. How does that work with Spider Climb? I'm on the ceiling. In this instance. Can't trip me. I'm on the ceiling. Well, just like tripping you is knocking your feet off of the floor, knocking the ground,

knocking your feet off the ceiling would still cause you to fall. I don't know if I agree with that. Oh, that's actually pretty good. It's probably still not good enough, though. 14. 14. Given the fact that Spider Climb

is an adhesive-type scenario, I would reduce the DC of that, given this instance of the trip attack, to situate for that. So what's the DC on it? 18. 18? I think she'd probably stay as the trip attack for this one, just given the spider climb. GM's rules, GM's rules.

I know, but I think the spider climb is like a magical adhesive. Okay, that's fine. It holds her there. With a still 22 points, you need to make a constitution saving throw. Okay. Ooh.

Wait, plus my? Constitution saving throw. My constitution. Wait, plus my? Constitution, saving throw. My constitution. No, fails. The darkness vanishes. As you all are grabbing your equipment and getting out of bed, you're looking around. Orym, you're getting ready to do your last strike.

You look up and you see, up in the corner, crouch climbing across the ceiling, skittering Laudna, eyes wide and black. You see her clutching in her hand, Ishtar. Ah, I have seen her look hungry over enemies before, and I will switch to bonus action, and from Seedling, send out a Grasping Vine to Ishtar to pull it back to me.

Okay. Seedling sent out a Grasping Vine to Ishtar to pull it back to me. You bitch. Okay. So. You bitch. Who's a bitch? Okay. Oh my god. So.

But we're friends. Buddy! We've been crafting. What's the DC on the vine from the... Yeah, I know what they're like. My Mod Podge. It's your own goddamn mod podge. 14. 14.

All right. Grasping Vine is a spell, correct? Mm-hmm, it is. Counterspell. Oh shit! Your vine strikes out from the blade and then halfway through the air just turns to ash. Oh, cool!

There's a door slash window here. There is. I Mage Hand open the door. Or the window, what's easier? From where you are now, they're both equidistant. My turn's not done yet. Correct. Okay.

I imagine I've ex- There's no more, even though I only used one of three, I think switching to bonus action expends the following two attacks, I would assume. No, you can divvy up the attacks between maneuvering. I love it. Good to know. I then spring off the ground

and swing Seedling at the sword, no longer at disadvantage. That's a 25 to hit disarming attack. Okay, let's go ahead and roll damage on that. 22. 22 points of slashing damage to you. Okay. And you have to make a strength save again

to hold the blade. That's not my thing. That's not my thing. It's got to be in that 20. It was if you didn't. No, negative. The blade sticks into the wall over by the window.

Action surge. Kick off the wall over by the window. Action surge. Kick off the wall towards the blade, grasp it, yank it out, pick up and roll, and hold it, aimed at Laudna, just breathing hard. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I got my sword back. Okay. So using the action surge to go into a dash action,

you rush back and pick up the object as part of the pick up object action at the end of your turn, now holding Ishtar in your hand, the rest of the room now come to consciousness. You see Orym, blade in the hand, faced up towards Laudna, who is on the ceiling as they both stare, breathing.

My turn? Yeah, I mean, if anybody else wants to jump in on this, but. What's happening? I drop down. From the ceiling, which is awesome. That's so cool. I cast Phantasmal Force on Orym.

Okay. What is that? So Orym, I need you to go ahead and make an intelligent saving throw for me, please. Okay, is this versus being frightened? No. No. No, okay. La dee da dee da.

This is a save? Yeah. 20. Okay, he saved. Yeah. Okay. You want to tell me what the fuck is going on? You're not safe. I don't feel very safe.

That sword will corrupt you, just like it corrupted Udon. Excuse me? Get involved, anybody, at any time. I'm trying. Laudna, what makes you think that? I sensed it. You sensed it?

It's an evil presence. You sensed it, or? I sensed it. Well then, Orym, put the sword down. Why are you attacking her? Why are you holding it? The audacity of you walking into this room No. Why are you attacking her? Why are you holding it? The audacity of you walking into this room, holding that blade, wielding that blade.

It should be cast into the depths of the Lucidian Ocean. You want to wield it. I'm going to need a little more clarification than that, Laudna. What more clarification do you need? I am telling you, it is a cursed sword. You saw your husband speared upon it. You saw me speared upon it.

And you think wielding it is the correct choice to make. I think putting it through the gut of the man who caused every single thing you just sighted happen makes sense to me. Why do you need it? You have seedling, you're perfectly well equipped. You're right.

Why do you want it? It vines back on my back. Why do I need the help of some dark force? This is starting to feel a little hurtful. Can we just take a minute here, please? Orym, if Laudna says that it's a corrupted sword, maybe it's not safe to carry it. I can be convinced.

Let's have somebody look at it. But I need convincing. Somebody that can identify it. Maybe Essek can do it. Maybe we can go back to Pumat. And you know what's not very convincing? Is being attacked in the middle of the night. I didn't attack you.

Pulls down his shirt, and there is a black bruise from the spell that she cast on him. It was a mere incidental. I was trying to remove it from your sheath. Did you attack him? No, I attacked his sheath. He's wearing a sheath. You missed. I was withering the vines to remove it.

Trust me. I was trying to remove it from the vines to remove it. Trust me. I was trying to remove it from the vines. I'm going to gently walk over to Laudna. I'm going to gently put my hands on your shoulders, and I'm going to lean into your ear. Start with, I'm sorry, and I let go. And I stand just to the side, but in front of you, and I let my eyes go off of you.

I am just going to be taking a, clearly a defensive stance for you from him. But I just wanted to put that in your ear. Clearly a defensive stance for you from him, but I just wanted to put that in your ear. Start with, I'm sorry. You want me to apologize? For hurting him. Nothing more. Nothing else.

Everything else is on the table. I'm fine to be wrong, but let's just talk about it. Let's let that be the opening gambit. I didn't mean to hurt you. That's the truth. That is the truth. That is the truth. But I find it to be quite a mockery

and a slap in the face that you walk in with it on your back without any consultation with the rest of us. LAURA and SAM and LAURA and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM May I? Maybe you can give me the sword. FCG taught me how to identify, so I can. You know how to do it? Yeah, I do. That's great.

You'd be able to tell. Please do. I will place it on a table in the room next to Fearne. Want me to do this? Of course. Laudna? I don't need to be a boy.

I need us to be able to work together. I'm just going to go stand next to Laudna? I don't need to be a boy. I need us to be able to work together. I'm just going to go stand next to Laudna. Kind of behind her, just a little bit. Sort of lean into Imogen for contact and support. I hold her. I stay to the other side. Shoulder. I'm going to...

I'm going to cast Detect Thoughts on Laudna. Oh. I sense that, correct? Not yet. Not yet? No, surface thoughts. No. Instincts and pushes? Do you want to share with Imogen

the quick and dirty surface thoughts that are on Laudna's mind? Yeah. It was. Laudna feels 100% justified. This seems a little out of character, Laudna. You know you can always talk to us. You don't have to do things in secret.

Time felt of the essence. Do I sense anything? Can I insight check? Sure, make an insight check. Do I get an advantage because I detected thoughts? In this instance, what are you trying to read for? Then no. Okay. 21. It says combat cameras. Shit, There it is. It's combat camas.

It just got real. Oh man. Yeah. Chet's just out. Brought to you by friends. Please don't. Nothing like the sleep of vino. Are you asleep this whole time?

I like this whole thing, you just keep hearing sleep after you have been on the farm. SAM and LAURA, ROBBIE, and LAURA, ROBBIE, and LAURA, and LAURA, and LAURA, and LAURA, and LAURA, Oh my god. In your head,

you hear, Was this all you, Laudna? I acted in my own volition. I take responsibility. Okay. Fearne, what are you doing? All right, I'm just going to walk over the table. I don't want to touch this sword.

I never wanted to touch this sword. I hate this sword. But I'm going to pick it up. And run out of the room. Bye, Sarai! I'm going to get rid of you! I'm going to get rid of you! Through the window.

What's the plan? I'm just going to gingerly pick it up and just look at Orym and Laudna. On Orym? Yeah. By accident, but yeah, I didn't mean to. Yeah. I legitimately didn't mean to.

I should've fucking cast Blight. It's more direct. Blight would've done it. Blight would've done it. It's all good. Right now, it's interesting. I'm fucking with her. I'm just like, sphere.

Yeah, I'll just pick it up, I'm going to look at Imogen, and cast Identify. Okay, you're casting it. Is that the spell you took with your? Rogue. Rogue, yeah. Hell yeah, okay. Oh man. Indeed, this is Ishtar, the Summit Blade,

a legendary saber. You can feel within it a long history of death at its edge. It is a bloody blade. The very edge of its darkened metal itself is almost stained a rusty red. You're uncertain if that's by design or if it's just clung onto the generations and generations of life.

It's cleaved down. It's a dark blade. Can I tell from that if it feels like there's a sentience to it? You don't sense any sentience from the blade. You just sense the history. Okay. There's a whole bunch of information

that wouldn't show up, too. Yeah. Yeah. So that might be somebody else. Chet sleepwalks to the middle of the room and uses Grimm's Psychometry. Did you sleep through all this? Yes. Oh man, the tense moments punctuated by.

Yeah. Well, I... This... Yeah, I... This... Yeah, I know. I love my other face. I mean, this blade feels very dark. I can't tell if there's any... This is a history of taking a lot of lives.

It's very sad. I don't know what else to say. I'm curious what Chet had to say about it. I would think that. I'm going to go over to Chet. Yeah, you wake him up. He'll procure that. Kick him with my hoof. Hey, wake up!

Who kicked me? Me! Wake up. What time is it? It's not time to get up yet. Are we leaving? Just for a minute. No, no, no, no, no. There's a little bit of a problem,

little bit of an issue. Can you look at this? Use that thing you have. Use that thing you have, Chet. The thing where you see geometry and stuff? You beautiful mind it, please. I take it. I took psychometry, too, and I was like,

Oh, you're real. I thought you just bumped your boob. That's payment. Boob pump. I'm here, I'm here. Okay, just checking. Still squishy. No way. No way!

I'm not saying! I will fucking slap your face and ass awake if I have to. I kick him again. Get on Chet! I will fucking slap your face and ass awake if I have to. I kick him again. Get up! Ow! All right! Chet! Cast Grim Psychometry. Okay.

So go ahead and roll your history check, I think it is. Yes. History check. Bye. Only if it's relating to Fiennes, Fae, or Undead, which it is not, so it's a straight point. That blade is awesome. That's a mean blade.

17. A 17. Yeah. Clearly cursed. You grasp the blade in your hand and you see flashes of sparks of the hammer shaping it. You see the one finishing its blade edge with a whetstone, meticulously crafting it. They hold up the blade to inspect it

and smile as they're run through, and the person behind them grasps it, the one who asked it be made. You then see flashes. One, two, three, 10, 20, 50. Life after life after life being cut down. Soldiers of different historical armors,

every facial expression, that moment of facing one's mortality before their life's thread of fate cut thin. Splashes of blood. You see different hands grasping it, hearing laughter and joyous bloodlust. You see now gauntleted hands holding it, stoic warriors in large-scale wars,

just tearing through line after line of warriors. You now see the hand of a black leather-wrapped assassin leaping from rooftop to rooftop, cutting the throats of mothers, of children. You see now another point in time. You see someone walking into a throne room. You see an audience with someone of importance. They're get up and aesthetic, feeling wealthy,

a guild head or possible royalty. Within a flash, the blade is through their throat, the sound of their heads smacking wetly on the floor next to you. You feel hundreds of lives lost in a matter of seconds. As those flashes continue through, it begins to slow down and you feel people wandering through hallways.

You see the edge of Zephrah. You see Zephryn soldiers being cut down left and right. You see the blade sinking itself into Keyleth, but her blasting back. You see the blade carving through Fearne, through Orym, Giladna. You see the blade carving through allne, through Orym, Giladna. You see the blade carving through all of you and you.

You live in a matter of seconds, the dozens of lives that were ended by this, and you come back to consciousness. A murderous history. Long. That's it. Oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Fear. Fear. Fear. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Fjord. Why not the fjord? Next time you're doing that in the fucking bathtub. Oh god. That's so funny. Put on the bloody bib. That'll make you feel better. I'm going to put it back down. Wait, no, shit! Shit!

I kick him again. What? Stay up! What? What? That was horrible. That was the longest one yet. I'm getting so much better at it. I guess my power's growing. Don't you close your eyes.

What? What'd you see? That blade is just death. All it's ever known is death. And pain and suffering and so many lives. Indiscriminate. We all fell to it. Keyleth. It's horrible.

But there's... There's no, what'd you call it? Sentient? I wasn't lying. I just didn't know if it had a life to it. It's cursed. It might be cursed. It's certainly really good at what it does, and fucking hell, that was a...

You already got crackers? I still got some steamed vegetables from earlier. Some steamed broccoli, it'll be real good. Yeah. No? A little okra. I'm not sleeping, I'm just listening. Well.

Well, it's certainly caused quite a rift already in the group, so... I don't know. But now that I'm awake, what's the rift? Oh, Laudna tried to steal it from Orym because she said it's cursed and needs to be taken away. And it's a terrible fucking blade. And Orym was wearing it.

I get why. And I guess you attacked him in his sleep. I didn't mean to hurt him. Accidentally. It was dark. But you think it's- It was very dark, Laudna. I was dark. It was very dark, Laudna. I was scared, I swear. Yeah, I woke up, I couldn't even see anything.

It was like when you close your eyes and then you open them, and it's the same thing. I use Mage Hand to crack the window. Check. You got an apron that never stops bleeding blood. Laudna, I don't even really need to touch on the weight that you carry. I've already made a deal with Fearne's grandmother

to help us do the things that we have to do. Then give it to me. I will take it in and destroy it. I was felled by this blade. So was I. I walk over and fucking close the drafty-ass window. What do you mean, take it in? What do you mean, take it in? What do you mean, take it in and destroy it?

You mean use the harness? You can do incredible things. All of you can. And it was only a handful of hours ago that we were talking about how impossible. Why do you need it? It will be to handle Ludinus. I don't have... Whether it's in your hands or in my body, what does it matter? We're both fighting Ludinus.

If I take it in, it's destroyed. With the harness. Yes, it ends the cycle. Well, anyone could take it in with the harness. That sounds like some antics to me a lot, now. You can carry it in energy, or I can carry it in the hand. If the blade let me take it in, why do you care so much?

Does anyone want to tell her why I care so much? You wield a blade gifted by the voice of the Tempest. And you want this wretched thing? It should be destroyed. Its energy repurposed. Blades for my family, first. Second, I'm not giving up the blade that my family gave me. I'm saving the other one for him. I'm three feet tall.

I'm quick. That's what I got, Laudna. I'm three feet tall. I'm quick. That's what I got, Laudna. Push-ups. Practice. That's what I got. I open my blouse and show the wounds that Orym left on me. I left a bruise. You left these gashes.

Do you all have this debate? I woke up in the middle of the night, in darkness, being poisoned. I already apologized for that. I open the window. I'm sorry I hurt you. I was acting on instinct. As was I. I think, quietly, Imogen,

tell Fearne to stand by the window. I'll say that to you in your head. I just want to go in my head. You do? My life is not about revenge. It is about making sure that we finish this. I open the door. If I do it, or if you do it,

I don't love what you did, Laudna. I don't love what you did, so we're even. Is that the sword on the table? Yes. Uh-huh. I'm going to hold Laudna's hand. I grip her hand. I think you should keep it. It's just a thing.

I'm so tired of things having control over us. You two are friends. It was his to possess and you tried to steal it from him. It was not his to possess. It is just a thing. Its history doesn't shape us. Our actions do. And your actions tell me that you do not have enough trust

in your friends. You do not know what you speak. I do not. You didn't watch him. You didn't watch Odahan cut down Ladna. Or Chet, or Oram, or Fern with that blade. Would it have mattered if she caught him down with a hand ax or a stick from the street? It was not the thing that did the action.

It was the person. It does not matter. I made a change of the Sword. I'm going to hold it. I'm going to try to pull it away from you. What are you doing? You know Dorian, you're right. Will you tell me?

This is half not me. No. You tell me, Delilah. This warlock shit is hard. Here, make a wisdom saving throw for me. I love this, I love this, I love this! That's interesting. Drop it.

Drop it. Stop fighting! Leave it. I'll use this Path to Die. Come on. 18. 18. 18. You feel the presence of Delilah's want

pushing through you. That hunger, that drive just pushing to your fingertips. Lana. But she does not have control. The choice is yours. Let it go. Why? Because I don't think it's you that wants this.

You shouldn't be allowed to have it. Were you supposed to walk around, following Orym with this blade in our vision, a constant reminder of the pain that we've all suffered from it. Why not destroy it? I don't love it any more than you do.

But I think Dorian's right. It wasn't the sword. It was Otohan. It's a symbol. I don't understand why you want to take this sword and absorb it if it's so cursed. Why do you want it to be a part of you? I release my grip. Onto the table.

Can I make a suggestion? If you look over, just spinning in my fingers, is Scream Needle. It's no sword. It's a sword. But maybe it's a half measure? Orm keeps the sword, though. I agree it's his to do with as he chooses.

Laudna. He's lost more than we have, and I trust him. But I also trust you. Thank you. But do not ever speak to me about loss again. And I leave. Okay. I'm going to follow, because I've lost her before in this exact situation. Where are you off to, Laudna?

I still have Spider Climb on. I go out the fucking window. Oh, she exits through the window. Yeah, why would you use a door when you could use a window? Fearne, just so you're aware, Laudna skitters across the ground, up through and out the window. Can I try to... Can I try to close the window and stop her?

Sure. You know what? Both of you roll initiative real fast. Just the two of you. Oh my god! Ah! I love this shit! So taste. Roll initiative, you said?

Yes, roll. I do initiative modifier. 13. 21. Shit's up. You go to grab the window, and as you do, she skitters out. I'm going to cast Fly and follow her out. All right. You're like, and as you do, she skitters out. I'm going to cast Fly and follow her out. All right. You're like, and then

Imogen follows after. You skitter up the side of the building. Shit, shit! The moonlight coming down, you scamper up to the rooftop. Oh, is there a dagger? That's right. You climb up to the top of the Lodge of the Eclipse. Here, the light of Catha is still

coasting down here in the moonlight. You stand on top and you hold in your hand Scream Needle, the other blade that carved its way through you and your friends. Form of Dread. Describe to me how your Form of Dread operates. It's just a lila.

You fly up. As you float above. You look down where Laudna stands up. You see the high collar emerge. You see the pointed shoulders and the dress fall to the ground as energy, dark tendrils, swirl off across the ground. As for a moment, you swear you just see Delilah

standing there with a dagger in her hand. So cute. Just floating above and looking at her from behind. Laudna. Take the dagger, I spin it, insert it into my chest. The blade strikes in, and as it does, you.

Do you pursue? Do you just stay there? What do you do? I watch it happen. You watch it happen. As she turns around towards you, the blade in the chest, you do see Laudna's face within, clutching the blade there the chest. You do see Laudna's face within, clutching the blade there and where it hits. The glimpses when you get of Laudna's face is

profound sadness. From where the wound of this blade is, you see this purple light, like a pulse. A second time. Now when it emerges, you see tendrils of deep purple energy rise out of the wound and grasp the blade. You watch as it pulls itself into Laudna's torso. Where it vanishes, you see that remaining

somewhat twisting tether of purplish energy, like tiny fingers trying to grasp and move. And as it draws in, you hear an exhale that is not Laudna's. Can I float down? Mm-hmm. And stand in front of her? Mm-hmm.

What do I see? Do I still see Delilah's face, or do I see Laudna's face? You see Laudna's face up close. It's still Laudna. You see her hair, you see her dress. What the hell's going to happen? I thought it was going to be shenanigans.

Fancy. I think I'll stab myself later. That's Family Ties episode ever. Yeah. Jeez. Where you see Laudna, the shadows of her blouse, of her outfit, drift into the outline of Delilah. The collar is still somewhat translucent,

but it is present. You see, almost like a shadow cast across her body that takes form around her, like she's in a Delilah cage. Can I reach out and put my hands on either side of your face? Why? Why, what? What? Why not? Why'd you give her more power?

It must be done. For you. For us. The fate of the world. What else do I have to give except for myself? I said. Okay. You didn't have to do this. We fought so hard.

I love you. I love you. I love you. The collar folds away. I love you. The collar... folds away. I love you. What makes you think that might have changed? I love you. The shadows withdraw. Why are you looking at me like that?

It yields more power than you, um... than you let us to believe. I didn't lie to you. I've never lied to you. I've never lied to you. I've never lied to you. I love you. But you used to love me. I'll always love you, Ladna. I just don't know what to do with it.

I've always been a lot. Fun's scary. Mm-hm. Still more fun than scary, though, right? Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it.

I'm just going to hug you and hold the back of your head. I just bury my face into her hair. Here on the darkened rooftop, under the white pale light of Catha, on the eve before you leave into the unknown, frozen wastes of the north. I didn't mean it. I know. You hold each other in pain, in love,

in concern. That's where I end tonight's episode. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Oh boy. Fuck, Marisha. Ooh! Ooh. Ooh! Ooh! Yes!

My face is so hot. I agree. Uh-oh. Warlock shit. Warlock shit. Yeah, you know what this is like. It's a horror movie. Yeah.

Yeah. Wow. I just want to go to an alien dungeon. God! Well, here's a fun bit here. What a... What did I get? But what did I get?

That's so fucked. Are you already wearing the harness, though? Or is that a lie? No, she don't need it. You just fed it to Delilah. She was lying! I never lied to you. She was lying about the harness. I still maintain,

Laudna has it loud. Laudna has it loud. It's not Laudna. I said with the hardness, and you were like, yeah. Yeah, that, too. I could have sucked it in with the hardness. Oh, that's true. I could have sucked it in with the hardness. Oh, that's true. I could've sucked it in with the hardness. No lie. That would've been an easier route.

Fine lines. Uh-huh. Every day, you remind me how much of a fucking danger you are to yourself and others. Not Imogen, you. I mean, not you guys. Not you guys, just me. Just you. Damn. Could've taken it in by the hardness. Y', not you guys. Just me. Just you. Damn.

That's what it is. All right. Could have taken it in by the harness. Y'all could have been there for it. It would have been a spectacular show. That's true. Well, here. I'll go deep into my notes here, but we'll go ahead and end it there.

We'll pick it up next week. Thank you all so much for joining us. We love you very much, and is it Thursday yet? Is it Thursday? Good night. Bye! Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Critical Role. If you enjoyed the adventure, please leave a rating and review wherever you stream the Critical Role Podcast Network.

Your story might inspire another listener to join the journey. Be sure to tune in to the next adventure. Until next time, this is Taliesin Jaffe. See you soon.