Critical Role - Council of Heroes | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 26 Part 1

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Part 1   The Schemers contend with the aftermath of a miracle while the Soldiers and Seekers secretly return to Dol-Makjar...   New Episodes Release Weekly on Thursdays. Learn more about Campaign 4 at https://critrole.com/campaign4/     GET MORE CAMPAIGN 4 WITH BEACON We're excited to bring you even MORE Campaign 4 with a Beacon membership! Get access to exclusive shows like our behind-the-scenes Critical Role Cooldown and ask the Campaign 4 cast your burning questions directly through our LIVE monthly Fireside Chats. You'll also receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant ad-free access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to everything Critical Role!   OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN 4 CAST GAME MASTER Brennan Lee Mulligan Laura Bailey as Thimble Luis Carazo as Azune Nayar Robbie Daymond as Kattigan Vale Aabria Iyengar as Thaisha Lloy Taliesin Jaffe as Bolaire Lathalia Ashley Johnson as Vaelus Matthew Mercer as Sir Julien Davinos Whitney Moore as Tyranny Liam O’Brien as Halandil "Hal" Fang Marisha Ray as Murray Mag’Nesson Sam Riegel as Wicander "Wick" Halovar Alexander Ward as Occtis Tachonis Travis Willingham as Teor Pridesire   CREDITS Produced by Maxwell James, Steve Failows, & Kyle Shire Set Designed by Shaun Ellis Production Designer: Noxweiler Berf Character Art by Loren Hontanilla Edited by Taylor Burke and Emily "Stevie" Stevenson Critical Role Announcement Playhouse Editor: Vinny Celesti Opening Title Editor: Paul Foyder Opening Title Colorist: Peter Koocheradis Window Effects by Christian Brown Graphic Design by Aaron Monroy & Jordyn Torrence Dol-Makjar art by Daniel Jiménez Villalba Miniatures Painted by Payton Keo Lacebal Opening Title Theme by Neal Acree Campaign 4 Key art by Hannah Friederichs Additional Art & Design by Hannah Friederichs   Episode QC by Catherine Zimmerman & Paula Flores Assistant Editor: Gianna Gencarella Post Production Coordinators: M Swing & Bryn Hubbard Closed Caption Editing by Margaret Dill, Nikki Kindelberger, Courtney Knewtson, Danielle Lackie, Eleanor Smith-Dufresne & Alice Tsoi Post Production Supervisor: Tal Levitas   HEALTH & WELL-BEING 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why, hello there. I'm Brennan Lee Mulligan, and welcome to Campaign 4 of Critical Role. Thank you for joining us on this journey as we explore Aramon, a world of fractured kingdoms, tumultuous rebellion, and sorcery that rises from the graveyard of the gods. You're listening to Part 1 of this adventure, with part 2 arriving this upcoming Tuesday. Our episodes typically arrive on the Critical Role podcast network a week after our initial Thursday night streams, on Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch. But if you'd rather listen to a full podcast episode of Campaign 4, right when it airs, without any ads, consider becoming a Beacon member.

You'll receive access to exclusive content, discounts at all our online Critical Roll shops, pre-sales for live events, and so much more. Start your seven-day free trial today at beacon.tv. Now, without further ado, let's begin this episode of Critical Role. Welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role. Oh, we're back, baby. Less than a dozen miles outside the walls

of Dolmachiar. Coming on the Kings Highway from Timney, our soldiers look out and see the exact roads that led you from here a little over a week ago. When you left as swiftly as you could in the dark of night, to avenge the death of Fiasi Fang and to rescue Talcedomere Pride Sire, a stone Nama, lion folk warrior,

frozen in the back of your carriage, has accompanied you long days of travel, and you are finally back where your adventures began. Almost. Tyranny and Wick, you have just completed looking into this bleeding set of Holy Orders where the name Sharavi came to in blood, Katagan, Thimbel, and Teor.

I believe that you've been out of the carriage, as you said before, trying to find a secret way into Dolmachiar. If we could begin with our first rolls of tonight, how would you guys be trying to find like a smuggler's path into Dolmachia? I feel like I would know of one. Yeah, I think roll with advantage if you'd be so.

Okay. And we can make that either, you can roll, investigation with advantage, or I would allow perception with advantage. Or at least making sure that all established ones haven't been compromised together. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That is...

First roll of the campaign. First roll of the campaign. Hold on. 15. 15. 15. Okay. You see that they're probably the best path forward is taking the back roads through some alpine farms and villages and heading up towards one of the water gates above.

of Dolmanchiar. There's a big sluice where the River Vroche comes in, and they basically have a large gated dam there for flooding so that if there's rains in the mountains, it doesn't ruin the city. There are some paths that go down that way that are so inconvenient that they're usually very lightly guarded. But you probably have to talk your way past one gate guard there.

But it's so inconvenient that there's no traffic. It won't be like going through the main gates, like on the Duvalmar Pass. On a 15, I think that's probably the path you would choose to take in. And the nice thing is if you get through that path, it's a straight shot to the Arcanod and two where you want to drop sit off with Boler. Right. What do you guys think? Sound good? Sounds good to hear. I assume we're still under the blanket. That was yesterday, I think. And I'm still wearing the tracers of oak and perch. Oh, aren't we hiding? Yeah, you should definitely.

be hiding. Oh, if people see you in the city, it's bad. We were hiding out of the blanket. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Great, great, great. Do you think they can hear us in here? Oh my God, stop farting. That's my breath.

You guys have, Wick, what have you done with the holy orders that you took from Lux? Well, so when we last left these holy orders, you had just had that vision. I don't think you guys. She had that. Yes, Tyranny had seen the name of Sharavi bleeding through the orders in blood.

And only you were able to see that. Did you tell me? No. Cool. You have not said what you saw in those holy orders. Okay, copy that. About complicated feelings about it. So in that case, you are left with this strange wonder

around the protection from evil and good spell and know that there is something up with these holy orders, but you can't exactly say what. But it. Did I at least see she had a reaction to it? Insight Deception. I'm gonna do a retroactive insight check. I'm gonna use my new dice and I'm gonna do it this way style.

Oh, Nat 20. Oh, God. Nat 20. Five. You want to see you with five. Tyranny would never steer you astray. But you know what you know. There is something magical in these holy orders,

something that you can't describe that pings some weird sense of confusion or distrust. There's some magically nefarious working upon these holy orders. It's a clue, and we will get to the bottom of this mystery. Absolutely. Additionally, Teor, you have gone over the letter here from Jeff, but only with Cadigan on your watch last night. You have not had an opportunity yet to go over with everybody else.

Yes, I would bring this letter forward, because I think more minds are better than two. And I would read the letter and pass it around and see especially if that means anything to thimble. I think this was a letter meant for him. The Ozzy, but that was never delivered to him. Shadow. That's a name I would know that was like a... You've heard that name used to refer to the Ozzy in the past, yes. It's obviously in some sort of code. You'll have to keep your mind malleable.

You've already read this out loud. Yep. Okay, I know. But you, oh, I'll read that out again. Oh, yeah. Okay. If all has gone well, you have the stone in hand. That's the stone of night's on, right?

We'll need this deal. And you said you can convince her to reshape it into an anchor. If not, anyone in the family can make plowshares. This all sounds perfectly normal. Once it's done, the next step is to bring it to the field. Our wings are leading a charge against the border to draw the locals away from the site. Where did you get this letter from?

This was from John, the big owl. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That hot shot I mentioned will meet you there and help prepare the arch from steel to stone. Please try to temper his confidence with pragmatism. Yes, I know you are precisely the wrong person for that. Still. Remember, until a stable trinity of bridges are built,

it is vital that the blood be protected. I trust that you have disguised it well. Blood. Bridges. Yeah, from down here. It sounds crazy. There's more. With any luck, the next time I see your face,

we will have undone the damage of our first attempt. More than one door will be open to us from there. Until then, I search for suitable anchors for the remaining four. We may need more hands soon after. Professor. Did Jeff say where he got it from? Jeff. I don't think he did.

No. Say it was for Fiazzi. Professor. Professor. Professor. Do I know a professor? You do not know a professor. Is it Murray a professor? Murray is a professor.

But why would Murray have sent a letter to Fas that would have gone all the way outside of the city? That's so stupid. Who's Murray? Murray works at the... Murray works at Ben Teverel. She's got giant tits. I don't think that I met her. I've ever met.

You would remember her. I would remember her. Hmm. Well, even if she's not all a professor, academics keep a small circle. All those nerds grouped together. They do. Maybe we should talk to her. Yeah.

Yeah. This might also describe what that stone does. What is the stone? The night's song. I don't know. It was really important, though. I mean, that's the way that elf chick came after it, right? Plowshares.

Bridges. Blood. We are very good soldiers. Does anything sound like familiar? out of here. Give me investigation. First roll a campaign. First roll a campaign.

Here we go. Natural 20! Oh, my God! Hey! Fuck! Wait, why did I ask for a roll? Oh, no. I'm ruined, dude.

I'm fucking ruined. Of 40. I think, I think on a Nat 20, Give it to me. Pick three of the words. Pick three of the words in the letter. Okay, okay, okay. Which one should I pick?

I mean, I have my favorites. Okay, which ones are your favorites? So I would love to know what plowshares are. Can make plowshares. That's clearly a code. I think wings are operatives, but an anchor seems to maybe tie it to one person or one user. And it's saying they need more anchors.

So like, said you convince her to reshape it into an anchor, and then it says, more than one door will be open to us from there to us from there until then I search for more suitable anchors for the remaining four. Yeah, four would be good. Like the one, this one, with any like the next time, I see your face, we will have undone the damage of the first. And the stone can be shaped into an anchor.

So the stone of Nightsong, something can be done with it that can turn it into. A thing. Okay. This is what a healthy marriage looks like. Okay, I think we should know who that hot shot is that I mentioned that we'll meet you there. We should know who that person is, right?

And or professor, that's another good thing. Right, right, right. So you want to do hot shot? Yes, you two are solving the Sudoku. Flowshers. Blanket. Hot shop plowshers, you want to do plowshers? We're hotboxing.

I'm not saying with marks. I feel like I should know what the anchor is. Go for it. Raching. Who is the hot shop? What is an anchor? We're looking over the letter. Scan your members as much as you can't.

The three terms you were asked for were anchor, hot shot, and wings. No, no, no. Plashers. Plashers. And not professor. You want professors or plowshares? No, no.

Professor, Professor, Professor. It's just you wrote the letter. I would rather want to know a professor, but you said plowshausters earlier. I did. Professor. Please. On a Nat 20, which is, I can only say for you at home,

don't ask for rolls if you're not prepared. Oh. Oh. Thinking back, you remember being out, out, you were in, this was many years ago, you were in Venatus and you were grabbing something, you were grabbing like noodles at a place in Venatus in the Eternal Night with the Ozzy.

You were off investigating something. And this was probably about like five years ago, five or six years ago at this point. And you were talking to this friend he had there there named Pasquard Valmante, who was an educated erudite man and they sort of shared a laugh about something. And Pascal was basically saying this thing of like, he was making a note about arcane studies.

And he was saying, anytime you find a prophecy, anytime you find a secret scroll or a gem or anything in the ancient past, it's never going to do anything helpful because things forged in the ancient past were forged to create the order of the ancient past. Right? So any spell created by the shapers was kind of,

do something to shape the world into the shape that the shapers wanted it. So he was talking about the importance of sacrilege, the importance of changing and warping things to be different than their intended purpose. Because he was like, you're busy saying like, oh, you cannot turn your back on power. You must have the power to change the world that you see fit. But, you know, the purpose of a tool can be changed. And you remember Theazi smiling and going, swords reshaped into plowshares.

And you remember that term plowshares, that was just an odd thing for him to mention in that moment. But that term plowshares in the context of arcane objects, and specifically arcane objects that have been changed or altered. And I think, correct me if I'm wrong, Laura, did Thimbel ever get a chance to interact at all with the coffin way back at the funeral? At the Osse's funeral?

I don't think you did. Cool. Then that's all you know about plowshares. The second thing is Hot Shot. You remember there was this young lizard folk sort of like enchanter artifice. He had a accent from the sunset mountains. He sounded like he was from the same place that Murray was from. His name was Bogri. And you remember him showing up in Dolmachiar, bothering Thiasi and being like, like, you remember. You remember. You remember. I remember like meeting up with the Ozzie in a park just like normal like making the rounds. And Tiazzi being like you, like you go to the Pentevril, the help you want that at the penteveril and you remember dressed in these kind of like thick canvas, like dark canvas overalls with a box of like Smith's tools and stuff like that and a wide like straw hat, this almost like crocodile lizard folk that you know how dinosaurs have the long tail that balances them out behind them, that kind of lizard folk going, I don't want to go to the Pentebra,

I don't need to go to the Pentebra, they got nothing they can teach me there, okay? And you remember Fiazzi turning around and being like, all right, hot shot, if you're so fucking great at this, and that name sticks out in your memory. And then the last one you said was, I believe, anchors. Professor.

No, Professor. She changed the last second. Changed at the last second. Oh, because I said anchors instead of plowshares, but you gave me plowshares and we'll take it. Okay. It's fine. Plows here.

Professor. Professor. Right? Yeah. But you already told me I didn't know who professor was. So it feels like I shouldn't do. I'll do anchors. Do anchors?

Great. You remember Theazi talking to you about the... This was after the Reaper's Day. Where do you think Thimble was when she first heard from another fairy or like, or did she feel it in her body when the doors to fairy closed? I think we all felt it. What did Fimble spend that day doing, that first day, that the connection to Ferry was severed?

She flew outside of the city. She spent it away from urban life, trying to feel that connection to nature and feel any magic in things outside of industrial. Outside of the city, in Tintazzi wood. Tintazi is the forest right outside of Dolmock Yards. It's where Hal's hallowed round is. And you just felt that all of the magic of that wood had gone so far away. What had felt like it was alive with wonder and promise

just felt dead. And returning back towards theater, this was about eight years ago, getting back towards where you were going to meet Thaz, you heard him yelling at the top of, lungs angry at someone. Then why wasn't it anchored? Why wasn't it, Mara?

Why wasn't it? Upon entering, do you think Thimbel would have given him privacy in this tense interaction with someone you didn't know? Or would you have joined it? What's that? No. You would have stayed away? No, I would have gone and tried to like stay away.

So, but I would want to see his anger. Walking in, you see him there. a young human woman dressed in a kind of simple leather vest and leather breeches, barefoot, dirty feet, with what looks like some woed or like paint in like deep purple under her eyes, sort of almost like ritual. And this like beautiful ghost-like,

like white hair coming down her face looks out, looks back at the Ozzy, as the Aussie turns and says, just bad hit on a caravan, headed out before. I'll talk to you later. You see the woman looks at you wordlessly, turns around and heads to the balcony, turns into a falcon and flies away.

That's what a net 20 will get you. That's new. The woman did that? Yeah. These are memories. At the time you had no context for it. You know, this was one. want to, you know, by that point, you would already, you know,

there's like you and The Ozzie had kind of separated some of your like spheres of influence. But you do have that memory of him shouting at that woman, Mara, her not saying anything, just flying away. And was that common for me to see anyone do that at that point? You'd seen Druid's Wild Shaped before. Okay. Yeah. She gave Druid vibes.

Yeah, very much so. And I'd say too that that probably wasn't the last time you saw her. Uh-huh. But the Ozzie tended to have like a tense relationship with her. It didn't seem to want you guys to like, communicating. Communicating.

Okay. But then the And in the context of the letter, does it make any more sense now? Let's read it again now. No. Slow in this time. What you see is those terms,

more so than describing something mechanical and precise, you just hear these words echoed through the halls of memory into your and theasi's life and how much you kept apart from each other for reasons of safety. You look at this. You look at this and feel meaning, like looking at a table of puzzle pieces,

where everything is right side up, everything has been prepared and put together, it just hasn't been assembled yet. And I think it is very clear that whatever Theasi was attempting to do in this last year or two, you guys going and getting the Stone of Night's on. This is so much bigger than he let me know.

Tisha, him sending his brother's former partner to Venatus with a young penteveral student to get this coffin. There are a lot of pieces on the board moving very fast. But yeah, you see these things connect and resonate, but it is not assembled in your mind yet. I'd like to know more about the noodle place and the Eternal Night that was mentioned.

Can we do that next? Because I feel like... Yeah, yeah. Once... I could go. for some noodles. Imagine that's, I'll just flip it on one ramen. That's kind of what it was like, yeah.

Hungry for noodles. You venture forth to the city of Dolmacht Yard. And we'll do the rest on tonight's episode of Critical Hall. Good evening, friends, and welcome to the Critical Role Announcement Playhouse. Yeah. Before we get into tonight's episode, let's come and go for some announcements. A little change of

A little change of pace here. We just announced our new Daggerheart mini-series, Age of Umbra Saliland. This new standalone series kicks off July 9th with me in the GM seat and a new group of characters adventuring in the dangerous, blasted lands of a dine world. Our players are Laura Bailey, Abu Bakar Salim, Jennifer English,

Vico Ortiz, and Zachary Ronaldo playing an extremely eclectic mix of misfits, outcasts and survivors, as they wander the wastes in search of answers. They'll travel off the edges of the map to a new land rife with secrets, wonder, and terror. And while Age of Umbra Salo Lans is completely standalone, you can dive into the world ahead of time

by watching our original Age of Umbra series or by reading its campaign frame in the Daggerheart core set. You can learn more now at daggerhard.com slash Umbra. Teravis, I'm glad you can join us back at the table. I believe you have some now. Yeah, well, we have not mentioned. I'm not sorry, I'm gonna stop, I was like,

it's like, Fleming or Belgium. It's something awful. You guys, we got brand new Dagger Heart and Age of Mumbra merch. Umbra. Honestly, can we get some Mumra? Age of Mumford. You can head over to the critical

shops and grab the new Age of Umbra umbys, dad hat, a black dad hat with umbys, embroidered in a super cool, heavy metal inspired style designed by Elena Harris. Alina Harris, excuse me, there, then there is the Age of Vomba T-shirt. Will you hold this up and make it amazing? I shall. Look at this punk rock shit. Yes.

It's so good. Look at that, featuring gorgeous art of the season one hero standing atop a massive mountain-like statue by Anthony Jones, aka robot pencil. And finally, the dagger heart duality dice set is also here. The full set comes with 10 sharp-edged rhombic dodecahedron domain-inspired dice with swirling white, reds, and glittering colors so you can mix and match to build your own perfect duality set. Go grab yours now at the Critoral Shops, get Laura back in here,

because I am not as good at this as she is. True, thank you, Shabbos. Marisha, you're up next. We cannot wait to see you all in Atlanta next week. For our first stop on our Echoes of Exandria live show tour. You can join us on May 26th at the Gath South. What's happening today?

At the Gas South Arena as Bell's Hells, including Robbie Draymond. Robbie Raymond. Yes, Robynne. Delve undersees to combat a growing evil in Maelstrom Kingdom. Plus, we will be at Momocon this weekend, leading up to the live show, so stop by and say hi.

For all the details, check out critworld.com slash events. Thank you so much, Marisha. I believe that concludes our announcement. That's great. I had someone the other day, by the way, be like, his name is Draymond, right? It's Robbie Draymond, and I'm like, no, we just fuck with him.

Yeah. And they're like, it's actually Damon. It's working. It's working. His name is Robbie Damon. I mean, I have him is Robbie Draymond in my phone. That's his name. This is good.

Manifestation, folks. We bend reality to our own Mandela effect. But with that, let's go and jump back into the world of Aramon. All right. Folks, it's my delight and privilege to invite us to. And a big, all heap and help in a critical role. We got, what an adventure do we have in store tonight.

We're going to pick up, oh, don't do that, don't do that. Last we left off with our schemers, you had just prevented the assassination of King Augustus Valian of Timeney. and our witness to an assassination not being prevented, but instead canceled by one Fotarkianessa Halivar, who appears to have resurrected herself with the beaming power of the light. Azune, you look down at the ground,

still slick with blood from your sister, who you have healed, saved her life, and she has vanished using a dangerous spell glare to disappear in this moment. Hal, you've rushed across the Arcanod at the gala celebrating soon-to-be opening night of Cothera, your play at the hollowed round. Looking out and forward, you see essentially,

you defeated this minister in private combat that no one even knows that happened. They'll just see a shattered library. And you guys watched as an invisible spellcast, vanished. You guys watched as Myelid and I are vanished, but the dominate person was broken on King Gus's Druid advisor. The Hounds of the King are back up. And I think you guys see in this moment the crowd looking at the radiant appearance of Yonessa Halevar descent as Philonius drops to his knees in reverent adoration of his mother. Yonessa Halevar looks out and says, all shall be made whole.

The beam reaches us all in time. This act of darkness and wickedness will not be allowed to stand. And you see that she reaches out to King Gus and heals him back to full health. Gus looks at her as people begin to weep and applaud. You look out and see some of the bystanders here.

Many of them seem touched with a true religious zeal as they have witnessed a miracle. And for the first time, since the age of the shapers have witnessed a resurrection occur. King Gus looks and she says, death has no place on the path of the righteous. And you see that Gus looks, the Philonius says, She has returned!

And a cheer from many of the faithful, and some hail of our soldiers goes up. And Gus turns to look and says, no place in the path of the righteous, and walks wordlessly away from the Fotark towards his fallen knight at the threshold, who was referred to as Carr Brady. The one near where we started our battle.

The one you started your battle, who was at his throat slipped by in his ass. Okay. Gus just moves there, leaving the interaction with the photo. Okay. I'm studying. I am, I feel like I need to roll for where my attention is in a way. What was his name? Cal. Cal? Car Brady. Car Brady. Car Brady's for Car Brady.

Thank you. I'm staring down to the blood of where my sister was. And I'm, as this is happening, I'm, uh, I'm going to rub my hand onto, on her blood. I want it on, I want her blood on my hand. Yeah. And I smear it on my face. And if after this I see Gus moving past me

towards where his fallen Carmarid is, I watch him. I know, I already know that he is a war veteran. Reni's, yeah. I'm studying how safe he feels he is, or if he's still got his head on a swivel. Give me insight. He has not sheathed his sword

and a shield still in his hand. I'm gonna stand back a little bit. I want to kind of observe him for at least a little bit. I want to observe his demeanor and in comparison to the crowd. The crowd, looking around, You see that Janessa Halivar has already moved into, she is an incredible speaker.

And she says, good people of Dolomakia, those gathered herein to celebrate culture, stories, the fabric of our shared world. You see here she looks at you, Howe and smiles. Oh, you're disguised. And I would say for the last 60 seconds, I have actually been subtly backing up, and backing up and backing up.

So that I'm, like the rear of a group of our hired hands who are here with us now so that I'm not in a conspicuous spot. Give me deception or stealth, your call. It'll be deception. For deception, it is a 22. You fall back, you still have the mask of Osgra on. You see that Philonius looks out and says,

Mother, what has happened? You see, she says, myself and good King Augustus were targeted by those who wish to extinguish the light and deliver this world into the clutches of demon kind. But we have seen

that even those of the pit can remain pure. I am not frightened. Good and faithful people of Dolombo. There will be more to come. We will uncover who has done this hideous act. But for now, my son, see to it that these people are kept safe. These assassins did not act alone.

We will find their conspirators at once. And you see that, Philonius says, everyone, masks off, no one leaves. You see that he looks over to you and says, he looks, sees you, Azune is in the room. He goes, and walks over, puts a hand on your back and says, Oh, Einfossen puts you in charge of security here tonight. Yes, I requested. Good, good, good.

Security, yes. There was indeed an assassination attempt on two very important people tonight, and I'll wave Varon over. Varen walks over. Yes, hello. We, as the security detail, I'll turn to Philonius to emphasize that word, we, as those in charge of the security here, therein, we need to have a small group with Janessa. I will organize another group to escort Gus. We need to make sure that these two people are safe at all times. Philonius, you have my word. This will not happen again here. Go ahead and give me persuasion. Do I take it? Do I keep it? Yes, I will, I will, I will.

It is a good moment for me to use my heroic inspiration and re-roll. I'll take that. That's 15 plus Resolution. That's 21. We got an 11. I got, no, I erase the 11 with heroic inspiration. 21 now. 21 now.

You see, Philonia says, Roger, you see, he turns for a second. On 21, he leans back to you and says, stay close bar. I want you to know. You have friends looking out for you. And he leads out, Varon splits off, Baron says, do you want me with Gus?

Do you want me with the Fautark? I want you with the Fotark. Be very careful. I don't trust any of the Sunderred Houses, as you know that. I understand. I'll take Gus. All right. He peels out and goes off with them.

Philonius and the Fotark. You see, the Fotark turns and says, Andrea and kneels by the acolyte. This bitch. What is she about to do? She puts a hand on her chest. As people look and you see that someone says, can you, can you, a member of the creed

walks in and collapses and is weeping there. And goes, Andrea! Andrea! You see that she goes, her task lies elsewhere now. She has returned to the light from which We all come, before the light, shaper and mortal alike, bow in reverence. It is a pity that she has been called back to the source.

So young, she says, Philonius, and he takes Andrea's body and they begin to walk out into the grand hall with like all the party guests. Wow, that's crazy. I. You four for the first time, You can see Goss is with his crew just over by the entrance. Some of your Magpie's head over and are like surrounding him.

These guys right now just have a little costume of like Arcanade security. They're not wearing any of their bird stuff openly. Right. They do have the gold, right? They have the gold. It's all, each one, it would be very hard to figure out that that is not anything. We know what it is. But before, this room begins to clear out and you see that rushing in, Horandes Einfossen comes in and says,

Lieutenant Nayar, you can, you're just the man for the job. Can you detect what may have happened here? I will certainly get right on that. Any arcane marshals that are out there, send them here. I will do so at once. I want to have been running a lot of... This felt like bad theater, and that felt very rehearsed. Did I get any...

I want to inside check the fuck out of that performance. Give me an insight check, yeah. And you just shut up out of nowhere to us. We didn't expect you. 13. 13. You all knew that I was in the room with him. Y'all, I told you all.

Oh, back, back. Okay. The, I think on that role, you're looking, and you can have whatever gut instinct you want. But I think that, you know, when you're watching bad theater and you're like, this fucking sucks, and then they do something, and a roar of applause comes from around you, and you're like, am I missing it?

Oh. And for the record, I am applauding the whole time. The vibe of that applause is up to debate, but I am definitely going along. It's a miracle. I gotta throw into detail too. So the moment that a voice rang out saying like, nobody leaves, masks off, I'm at the back of a group of men

and I'm instantly all the alarms are going, whoo, whoo, what, because I don't wanna have anyone catch me out in this illusion. So I'm on high key alert watching things unfold. The moment she goes to, to do her grandiose healing of this woman on the ground and all eyes are obviously on this thing. There's no verbal to it.

I cast minor illusion and the illusion is of me flipping my, I've done this 100 times on stage, flipping my cloak up over me and the illusion is the cloak I'm wearing coming off to reveal Hal underneath. And that cloak goes onto the ground and sits there and I leave that illusion hovering on the ground that no one's paying attention to, but in case one person saw, they just saw

some guy throw off and then by the time we catch up to this moment, I'm like, what happened? Hell yeah. I'm Clark Kenting it. I love that, go ahead and give me deception. Yeah, 24. Hell yeah. Quick change and Hal is standing there.

And how all the Hal's been doing tonight was, standing in the gala, and then he walked somewhere, and the next time anyone saw Hal, he was with the crowd watching the goings-on. And I'm with, I assume, like, 50 other people going, what happened? What happened? Coming up behind all this. You see that Elity runs up with Shadi and Hero

and goes, Hal, is everything all right? I don't know yet. Stay close to me. Stay close. Who do I have eyes on as part of our team? You are no longer invisible, correct? Correct. So I think you've got your whole team in the room. You see Hal with his family. Azunea is headed over to King Gus.

Boler has been watching the photarch like a hawk. I'm gonna start with Boler and Murray taps her nails against her teeth and goes, we need to have a team meeting immediately. And I'm going to then systematically try and deliver that to each of the schemers. You deliver that to each of the scheme? Yeah, it's like message after message.

Just like you see Murray in the corner just kind of like tapping her teeth. Great. As she's trying to get everybody. You grab everybody as fast as you can. I would tell my girls, I turn to hear and say, Find your mother. I want you guys to head out for the night.

Just go home, we'll figure things out. If you see anyone in the troop, tell them to leave with you, all right? You see that Shadi says, yeah, I'll get the whole troop out of here. We'll get everybody out. That party's over. I will approach King Augustus as in detail. You approach King Augustus, the last thing Hero says to you, she says, she says, Dad, sorry, and she runs over and she says,

Professor Magnessen, Master Lothalia, I checked on it. The records room is in a bit of a state of disarray, and I may need some extra time on that project. I think that's understanding, or understandable considering the force measure that just happened tonight. Okay, thank you. No pun intended.

Fuck. I would actually say, you just lock it up for the night, if that makes sense. Don't touch anything. I would prefer to figure out what happened there. Honestly, hero, it's a crime scene now, so lock it up. Okay, yeah, I'll go lock it up.

And you see that they run on. I catch them again real quick. Come here, come here, come here. Hey, hey. And I'll just give each of them a quick kiss on the forehead. All right, off you go. Love you, Dad. And they all head out.

You guys are left here. The room is drastically thinning out. People from the Arcanod begin to come in and under the guide. of Barron and some of these other people begin to get the bodies examined. Other art, you see Grotto and Dala and other people from the Arcane Marshalls

who are investigating. You have a moment approaching King Gus. I'm still studying him. He still has a weapon in hand, still kind of on alert. Great. I will say to him, Your Majesty, I think it's incredibly important for you to make sure that you have not just your own retinue, but some of my men around you, myself included,

don't leave here just yet. I want to leave with you. Give me a persuasion check. Oh, eight. He looks and says, don't leave, eh? You're the one providing security here, is that right? I'm part of the security detail.

I've got some notes. I will gladly take those notes. If you will be patient, I'll be right with you. I don't need any security, mate. And you see he looks around and says, actually, scratch that. He looks over across the room and goes, you. Hi.

Do I recognize you? Yes, sir, you do. Were you at the seven stars the other night? Your memory serves you well. I'll never forget a face. I reach out, yeah. He puts his hands out and gives you a handshake. He looks and says,

oh, and you see that he reaches out and grabs your healing potion and hands it back to you. That's some quick thinking you go there. May I ask a question. To me, young lady, you are an absolute stranger. Young lady, didn't you? And yet, you saved my life. Forgive the impertinence, but to what do I owe the honour?

Are you from Timony? No, sir, from the Sunset Mountains, but I think we might be aligned in more ways than you could possibly know, and I think it would behoove you and many other members in this room to maybe have a moment, to compare notes. He looks and says, I'll be acquitting myself of Dolmachiar as fast as I can,

but I'm very interested. in anything you might have to tell me. I owe you my life. I'm to take. You see that he leans down and puts a hand on Car Brady's head. This night is probably 19 years old. And he looks, he goes, Sir Car Brady, Brutana Servo will.

Tonight will be for Sir Car Brady. Here, here. Come find me tomorrow evening at the Manor of Harving Boasprud. He's a timidish merchant. Manor of Harvin. Harving Bo Sprit. Bo Sprit. Harving Bo Sprit. We've heard his name. That's where he's staying.

Yeah. He looks at you. He looks at you. It says, are you a warrior? No, you vanished from all sight. How did you do that? You broke something on my chest and I was done for. I am a professor and a bursar at the penthevril,

but, you know, honestly, I would like to think that all women are warriors in our own way. Yes, I agree with that, actually. Well, you see he turns over to Martin and you see Martin looks up at him, smiling, and says, the hulms of the king, O view, and allegiance, that cannot be measured in but a single life, but all our lives to come.

And you see that he looks and says, looks up at the king and says, I have been saying that having some wizards around would probably be a good idea for some time. And the king looks down at Martin and says, yeah, point we'll taken. I'll see you tomorrow evening at Busbred Hall. See you then. It's a date.

and he gathers up, he gathers Carr Brady, and you see his druid sort of saying last rights, and they move from this. You see, actually, I think he turns to you one last time, Azune, before you leave. Because he saw whatever happened with Maiali and seems like very suspicious of you in this moment. But he turns and says, says,

I do not think I shall soon return to Dolmachion. See to the security of this place if you can. You are the first member of the Revolutionary Council, of the government of this city that has approached me with anything like urgency. This place is rotten to the core. And if this is the height of what the Revolutionary Council has to offer, you can color me unimpressed.

And you see that he, having just survived an assassination attempt, walks out of here. Do the security that I assigned to him, do they go with him? Yes, they escort him. You see, they'd say, we'll escort him out of the point. Okay. And walk with you.

Your guy's victory in that battle was so schemery that Gus does not know that Hal or bullet, like. I haven't even taken off my mask yet. Yeah. The only person Gus really saw, or actually was Murray. Yeah. And I really don't want anyone to associate me with this event at all because of how public facing I am.

Yeah. Yeah. You guys are left alone, just the four of you. My office now. Yeah, I'm more exhausted. Really cool. Be on a sugar crash. Are we alone here? You get to your office and are alone, yes.

Okay, I was gonna say, because we're not alone in the room. There's nowhere to, no one to even look at it. You're up, your office. You're off, your office. There's four entrances to this room. There might be some arcane marshals that I assign to like do some investigation. They're going to find probably the stuff that, you know, if they'll find the invisible spell,

there was telekinesis on the doors, they'll find, you know, all that stuff is going to come out. The glyphs are here. Yeah, the shattered glyphs are there. The different, alchemical stuff. There's no way they brought anything that they didn't want us to find. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

But things, uh, that's good. You retired to Bel Air's office. Close the door behind us. Hell of a night at the museum. Yes. Being angry. So much. So much.

None of that was real. You all know that, right? Do you all know that? I mean, I just started the beginning. Suspecting it. I, when I saw that the Votar goes down, I thought for sure that maybe I could, I could reach through and I could see,

and I was seeing everything. It was like I could see the grid. I could see the weight of space time in this moment like I had before in the past. And I picked a... picked a timeline. I reached, I reached for her thread, and it wasn't there.

She wasn't dying. It was all a ruse. Do you hear what I'm saying? It's so hard to describe. What was the order of events? Did Gus get hit and she was caught in the crossfire, or were they there for her? It appears to have been an attempted assassination

on both of them. Both of them. She was in on this. This was her grand scheme to make it look like they were both targeted by a third party force, but it was not. She was a part of this, and so was felonious. Was she hit by the bolt that went at her? Was it a, it was a, it was all an illusion.

It was all a ruse. She did sacrifice her attendant. Her attendant. That was real. Yes. That was real, but everything else was false. But she did it so that she could have an alibi. This was a genuine attempt on Gus's life.

You're sure about this. Yes, I could see it. I could see for a moment time slowed down. I could see the death. I could see all of the threads of all the death around us, but hers was not there. Because she wasn't near death. She wasn't near death at all.

Just because I'm having that day, I would have reset one of my spells because I can do that. Telepathy, I need to dig if you don't mind. I don't trust this. I'll allow it. Yeah. I go all the way in to see if anyone's been rummaging in there

or if you, I want to see every moment. You have to believe me. I feel insane right now. You all have to believe me, please. When anyone dies, when a timeline is set in motion, A stitch in the fabric of reality is placed. There was no needle in thread with her. Hmm. I believe you.

I believe you too. I see it. Does he, what does he see? Can he see? Like, I know it's like, this was my importance. You guys, you're guessing detect thoughts? I have detect thoughts, so it's not like, but like so I can, it's just sort of a.

You're not, it's not probing. You're just, and Murray's being very forthcoming. You see the grid that Murray sees, that feeling of a tapestry, of, weight and vibration and a gem-like ringing throughout the cosmos. And looking through that, you see Murray attempting to, Murray has the ability to push fate in some ways, is aware of events of huge things before they happen.

And so therefore reached out as the photarch was dying to discover that that event was happening visually. It was happening to the naked eye, but it did not exist in terms of destiny, which means it wasn't really happening. She pushed for an invitation. She pushed for so much. It was so unusual, and I didn't think about it.

I was just so distracted and irritated and... It's full sundered-house's shenanigans happening, and she just created a room full of zealots. Yeah, what a spectacle. What a spectacle. What is happening here? What is happening here? With you. I have telepathy up.

I'm sure this is a fucking, like, explosion happening. I'm not prying. Yeah, Azzanah, you still have the blood on your face. Yeah. I feel, I mean, if you're digging into my mind at all, then you definitely see that my focus is split. I'm trying to keep up with you all, trying to move forward, with piecing together some sort of plan strategy.

We're working together, and then it feels, It keeps getting pulled back to blood on the floor, and this person disappearing. You called her your sister? Was that your sister? That's a conversation for another time. It doesn't... I think that's a conversation for right now.

Very distracted. There's enough that we don't know, that if we can know it, let's please know it. Well, I don't know. Yes, that was my sister. I haven't seen my sister since the day that I... Since the last day, saw my parents. We were gifted an opportunity away out from a different future, a dark, horrible future.

We were handed to a group of mercenaries. We were children. I didn't make the cut like she did, so they abandoned me, and that's when The Ozzie found me, but she stayed with them. and she still, I saw her face in it. I saw something that I hoped I would never see in hers or mine if I were to meet her again. I saw the same hunger and desperation that I saw on my parents.

And so I don't know who they were. Was that group of assassins? There are a lot of players in this game. I ran into a Rogosian down below. Got into a scrap, lost them. Would I have recognized that the language that they were shouting was Argosian? Argosian.

I didn't know the Argosians were aligned with House Halivar. Well, I mean. Are they? Or they just hired hands? A lot of pieces. There's an alliance that can be made between them. If Halivar is what we overheard earlier, King Augustus's accusation that they're fomenting

some sort of, I don't know, uprising or something something, through their creed, Timony revolted against Argosia. And that's very appealing for Argosia to align with someone that wants to go against King of Augustus, but I don't understand. Could have been a gig, could have been revenge, could have been both.

I wonder how much they were fully aware of the plot. Or if it just looked like if House Halivar was just opening the door for them. I don't know. If they're smart, they would have used their own people, but they're zealots that would probably would have wanted to use. That's exactly what I'm curious about.

A real. They would have wanted it to look real no matter what, and they would have just assumed that their hired hands would be idiots and leave. Anyone that wants you to make a history check? Yes, sure. And also, just so you know what's bouncing around in my mind, I've already been comparing Yanness's behavior

to King Augustus and kind of comparing and contrasting that, but there's also, I know how a mercenary when a mercenary is hired to do a job as opposed to someone who has conviction in the assignment that they're about to deliver on? Is there any way to kind of get that feeling? Yeah. Okay.

3020. 11. Dirty 20. You remember in speaking to Demidas way back. He had mentioned one of the things he overheard the night he was working at the Plas de Vinos was a, he mentioned something about them talking about in our Goshen delegation at the Stalkeep, at the Einfazana estate in Dolmachar, that the Argosians were staying there.

And that's where Raminah Roundtree works at the Einfazan estate. As, what do you roll for your insight? 12. 12. It looked pretty professional. Everything you saw there looked pretty professional. It didn't, you know, like there was a lot of maybe the executioner, right? But you don't know, like,

It could be that it was a gig, or 12, but you don't know. You all begin to hear booming and shouting from the main hall up above, from the actual Gala hall. Booming meaning a voice speaking out. Voices, yeah. No.

No. Well, go get changed, obviously. I grab Azune really quick, and I kind of grab him by the collar, by his lapel. No one's gonna be. Believe me, it is my hick-ass word against the foetard of House Halivar. You understand this? Yes. The only other person

who could potentially corroborate your story is your sister. I don't know where she is. I don't know how to find her. Better fucking figure it out, Zune. How, Murray? I will help you. She's the only one. She's the only one who caught out of here. No one's gonna believe me. I'm creeping out into the hall to try to listen.

If you help me find my sister, I will do anything, anything you ask of me. Attaching the wig as I join you. I have another idea. Then I'll tell you about that later. I agree with Bollaire. I'm in this, I have been in this ridiculous, like, Carnival Venetian crazy dress,

so I'm gonna, like, take corset off and kind of get a little bit more comfy. Hell yeah. As you head out, sorry. There's one thing I want to do. I'm going to collect those broken. and glyphs. Yeah. Good idea.

I'm making sure I'm leaving with every one of those pieces with me. Give me investigation. Come on. This is deliberate, my guidance myself? Yes, you can. Okay, first the guidance. Four, yay.

Come on, baby. Yeah, 24. You grab every single one and I'll tell you what you don't grab. There is no black crossbow bolt in that room anywhere. The one that was shot at the Fotark is gone. Fucking new.

How out in that main gala hall, you look out and see the whole attendant, minus your family and your troop that's gone home, gathers as the fallen acolyte is laid out on a table. The Fotark standing above her looks at the whole gathering here and says, honored guests, fellow citizens of Dormak. the Lux Andrea Tivoli was a kind, loving woman who walked always in the light, and now she is gone. This very night, king of an honored ally, a constituent kingdom of the Revolutionary Council, almost lost its monarch.

and I myself was struck down. In death I saw the truth, plain as the light of day. I do not know whom these attackers were, but I know the weakness that must exist for this to have happened. For these killers to walk in the light of day here in Dolmachia, far from grace has fallen the gray tower. The Revolutionary Council has allowed lawlessness, warlocks trade souls openly in the street. The dead walk beyond these lands.

And the Council does not have ears to listen nor eyes to see, for this violence to have befallen us. Their guests, members of the Chambers of Lords' advisory, visiting royalty, there is no shame. shame in failure, but there is great wickedness in holding on to power when one is yet too feeble to wield it. Oh my God. I call today as a member of the Chamber of Lords advisory and pronounce my edict as a motion of no confidence in the Revolutionary Council and that they have failed in their duties and responsibilities. I pray for the people of this city, this land, and this world. The light will reach.

I will see that it does that none of us might walk in the darkness alone. And that's where we're gonna move to, oh, that's where we're gonna move to the seekers. Let's get our seekers down here. Can I leave my schemers with one last word? Oh wait, one last word for the, one last word. As we're sitting on the outskirts of this

and hearing all of this, I will quietly mutter to them, I know there is a lot of bitter. Old bitch did not count on you and did not get her fucking way. So take some pride in that. Woo! Yeah, I was gonna see you're gonna. All right, all right. You can tell, I think, Hal,

that is a weaker sauce than if Gus was dead. To quote the grape bard, you'll find a way to massacre them all. She's gonna go and fucking tear up some pillows and break shit. Riding out of the Eternal Night, you guys travel as fast as you can by horse and ride back to see Castle Torch, once again come into view.

As you approach, the gates open wide, and entering into the courtyard, you see none other than Sir Tomveld Kersingblad walk up, who you had sent north with Aronessa. He walks out. and he says, hey. Julian, Sir Julian, how is it going in the Eternal Night? And did as well as we could.

There was some. Oh, no. And you see he looks at Gaia. Ceramai valiantly gave their life to keep me and my companions safe amongst a challenged interaction with some dangerous creation at the hands of Hustogonus. We also found the remnants of head ranger Beares's troops. No. The entire battalion?

Not entirely, but a vast majority. What has happened? The dead in the night? What help? Who has... There is much to discuss. We will discuss. He gestures to a carriage in the courtyard. a carriage of house de venos is here. And you see he says, Lady Mother awaits you in the keep.

I brought Lady Aranesa north. We had written out no more than half a day when we encountered the rescue party coming for her. Those, there is more to let her say, but there has been an attack on the Golden Orchard. You're mother is here. It is better for her to explain. Very well, thank you.

I'm gonna go give him a little cheek pat. You did good. Thank you. I did my very best and is your son? Alive, but not there. Oh! I am still the second best drinker at Castle Turch. I'll show you a trick or two later.

He smiles and says, I'm glad. Okay. And he leads you up the keep where you see Captain Luca, and by the fireplace, you see there is a tall, beautiful woman. Just a cascade of curling, dark, black hair, falling about her shoulders, wearing a deep forest green gown that fades into, like,

Autumn red. She looks forward and looks up, this is your mother, Maya Davinos. She reaches out and hold to, and it just starts sobbing. Just hold her. There's a long moment of pause. She pulls back her face, tears streaming down. Are you with him in his last moment? I was. We had a disagreement as we are one to do, but I saw intent for amends on his face before he was taken. So take solace at least in the knowledge that he left us with family in his gaze and with reconciliation in his heart. We'll miss him for the rest of my days. Is he, do we know where he's... his, where he is, his body.

Unfortunately, we... It's fine. We had to... It's fine. I do. Many things they have taken from us. She looks out and says, I now a lady of the old path.

And for these others here? These are your companions? Oh, Octis Tricornis. The lady Aranesa warned me you might be here. I am. Very sorry. Condolences are perhaps in order for you as well, although we seem to have taken it better than many. To a certain degree. Well, we have much to discuss, no? You see that she flits a hand at Captain Luca who looks up and says, we will discuss the Barragard and what was discovered there later and leaves, and Lady Maya is just here holding court with you. she looks at you and says,

The orchard is fallen, destroyed, no more. We were attacked by many Toconos soldiers, monstrosities, and the horrors we saw there, I cannot describe. The orchard was unmade, but the attack, the attack was unsuccessful. they were slaughtered. We repelled them.

I do not know for the life of me why they attacked. It was a suicide mission, a fool's errand. Perhaps to destroy the orchard, I don't know, but without the Lady Aranesa there, the magic of the place became unstable, and that was it. Is there anything you know

that might illuminate this for me? I'm going to put out my hand. Hello, I am Valas of the Bournevale. She bows to you and presents her hand to you. As I take her hand, I want to insight check her. Yeah. And I want to see if I...

I cast guidance. Oh, thanks. Cool. I want to see if I feel true mourning from her. Mm-hmm. Give me your insight check. Let's go with this one. Oh, that's so cool.

Oh, shit. No. It's okay, you can add a D4. What's that? It's a nap. It's like we never left. But what if you add the D4? It could be so different.

The D4 will definitely make a difference. Let me just, let me just see. Give me a second, Brown. That was so definite and it's rolling. It just went one. Sometimes it knows. It's a four total. Four total?

Four total? This lady's fucking lying, man. Oh, my God. She's fucking lying, dude. This lady's, she's not sad. Look at how mad she is. You can't be mad and sad. You can't be mad and sad.

I know. Uh, the, uh, O for T, I'm trusting ladies. You see, she goes, you have ventured into the eternal night. Is there anything you have learned of what the Tacinas may have done? Why they chose this time to undo decades of alliance and treaty and seeming to dash it against the rocks for a senseless attack that was repelled, though at the cost of our home?

Mother, we have begun to untangle this tangled skin that they have left in their wake, Haustokunas. We don't know exactly what they're planning. It seems that even the rest of my family is at odds with whatever my father is planning. You see that she looks out and says, Hmm. Julian, I have taken up enough of this keeps business. Let us walk the pair of pet to you and I.

I wish to speak with you. Of course. Anyone who wants to give me a perception trip? Yeah, 19. 19. 23. 23. Tasha, on a 23, you look out the window. and your druidic senses tingle,

and you hear a distant sound of feathers, wind. Nearby, somewhere on a hilltop nearby, you hear a massive eagle landing and smell a familiar scent of like old plumage that Altradler the eagle may be nearby. I was going to say, you definitely see me go, Allredler.

Just mysteriously looking out the window. Before you go, my deepest condolences for your home. I was only there once when I was small, but it was beautiful and I am sorry. Well, you must understand Lord Takunis that the Golden Orchon is our second home for the Divinos. We lost our ancestral homeland in the Shepers War, the eternal night,

swallowed it up. But it seems with each generation we lose a new home. So thank you for your kindness. If I may ask, where were you when this horrible thing happened to your husband? Where was I? Veles.

I was in the orchard. Where were you? I was with your son. Oh. So you were in a whore house? Veles. Maybe you should wander back to whatever abbey you crying. You have so many thousands of years on which to do it. We have much to discuss.

Can I do a little inside check? I just want to see if this is a familial trait or she's projecting a little bit. I like this energy. I'll be so on it. I get it. I trust her now. You see she looks at.

Yeah, exactly. She looks out and go ahead, give me insight. 16. This is your first time meeting Maya Davinos. She'll kill you. Okay, all right. She'll kill you. Great.

And I say that as broad, if her personality was a billboard, it would have big black letters going, she'll kill you. Great. Great. I'm actually pretty good with that. You see that she walks out and says, but if I can answer any other questions for the authority that I suppose died 70 years ago that you don't actually speak for anymore,

let me know. And she says, I think for the first time, Just time, Julian looks to you from across the way with a very first time a look of, I'm sorry. You did it, you got the first real apology. You don't see it, but under the veil, there is a very slight smile. She leaves with Julian.

The three of you are left in this chamber as well. Captain Fadren is outside, but you also have just noticed Aldrather, yeah. Aldrether's here. The bird? Mm-hmm. Why? Which means probably people from a shone garden.

Great. Wonderful. Okay? You're... No, no. Sorry. No, you're doing great. Uh, I'm gonna go see a...

Drew, a bear about a bird. Yeah. Do you want to come with me or do you want to take... No, I don't. I definitely don't want to come with you. All right. We should consider whether or not, um... Well, the de Vino's sort of family resemblance, makes it a little hard to want to share information.

But I wonder how much Maya was thinking about what the goal for your family's attack was. Repel it at what cost, did they get access to something they were looking for. Sorry. No, no, no, no, you're right. Yeah. It just didn't feel like a good time to say it

because she was being a very big bitch. Yeah. You know? Yeah. It may have been that the attack was They're willing to sacrifice a lot of people to get something. They have a tendency of liking to do that. Yeah, I'm gonna.

Okay. Druids. I don't think I need to have my presence shoved in their face more than they want. They like you now. We like sternly, but we like. All right. Come on. And I beat feet and like kind of am hustling over to go. You guys head off. You guys head in the direction of Aldrardler. Julian, you begin to walk the pair of pets. A wind begins to blow over the trees.

The sun begins to set. Your mother looks out, beautiful. The house of Royce is fallen. Callowin is dead. I don't necessarily. brother, he will do his horse, which is very kind. Sister, the druid referred to it as Raith's touch. It is a curse or something along this nature, but my understanding is, if we cannot discover the arcane focus with which the curse was generated and destroy it,

that she will live out the rest of her life in under this year. She is vanishing. What is she? She is at the orchard. Or I should say, she is where the doors to the orchard were. We are currently, the orchard. There was blinding lights, butterflies in the air, and there was no Royce present.

Callowain had been off gallivanting on his horse. Word had reached us. He was taken down by one of the knights of Saramai, and horse came running back, druid spoke with it, and let us know that he's dead. The bracers were pulled off his body. Fairy horses escaped from this table. There was a... Thousands of ferries are now homeless, aging, and they cannot all be easily repopulated there. and the entire garrison of the orchard is now homeless. And you remember that the war of Axson Vine was fought because Royce replaced itself on its vassal houses. We will now have a redux of that, where we will have to once again take homes from our vassals and use them as our own. and all of the betrayal and strife that that brings.

So Alba is resting. She is, it begins in the extremities. So it will be not long before she cannot grasp things in the material. I understand, Mother. You don't have to go into detail. I am trying to explain to you what has happened to your family. I understand, but I understand. I cannot change it with what you say other than finding what is responsible, which I will do.

No, no, no, you can't change it now, Julian. The past ten years, as we wallowed in absolute irrelevance, Alba's hands are missing. Yours is completely immaterial and there is no ring on it! That's what keeps a family safe. You think I'm lying? You and your father have the exact same mentality. He obsessed with virtue and you with family honor. The work of keeping this family safe happens with midwives and marriages, not on a battlefield.

So, with Callowin dead, the last Royce is a 44-year-old woman who refused to remarry because her husband, a traitor-pig criminal who turned his back, and the noble houses didn't have the decency to release her from that union. So now we are left discarded, disrespected, disemboweled, betrayed, ruined because everyone loves an adventure more than doing what is right. Is Lady Aranesa safe?

Of course. She is back with her advisors looking to to and fro trying to be so kind. Oh, we should listen to the falconer rebels and what they have to say. We should heed this. I will rush to Dolmachiar and try to rescue the man

who disgraced me in front of the world. Has led our houses into obscurity, irrelevance, and danger. Now, I know there is one person she will listen to, and that is you. So what you are going to do, Julian, is you are going to find a woman from Einfassen, Kormoray, from the Derridae Consortium, wherever you want,

and you are going to marry her, and you're going to do it as soon as you can. And what you are going to do is you are going to tell Aranesa, in whatever words she will listen to, that she will wed either old Lord Kormoray or find a way to kill Cordelia Einfazen and Marietto. Royce is over.

There will be four sundered houses in not too long. And we need to find somebody to swear our allegiance to that can actually do the job of keeping us safe. I will do everything in power to do what I am good at. And I take the gauntlet from behind

of my dead father and throw at her feet and say, that is killing Taconas and not doing what you tell me. She looks and says, then you will cast us into the reaches. You will cast us into oblivion.

You know who waits for us there? Kill a hundred Taconas. They will merely wait in the shadows for you to join them. Then there is no way for us to win regardless or you sit here and do nothing except for run from place to place. We are trying to make a difference.

Life wins, for death, Julian. You deal in death that is their game. We can try and put my seat into hundreds of women and they'll be waiting in the shadows to kill every child before it is born. It's not your... It is fruitless until we cut them off at the throat. I've already done it twice. Do not stop me as I'm rolling with momentum, mother. I will cut them down one by one In when none of them left stand, I'll return and I'll give you your fucking child. As you cut them down, do you imagine it will bring my husband back? If I don't do it fast enough, maybe they'll do it.

Is that what you want? This castle filled with commoners. They all have swords, and they can all kill Taconas just fine. You have something more than a sword. You have a name, and if you won't value it, then it is truly already lost. You're not nothing of family, I know nothing of sacrifice. You are a selfish, spoiled brat. I'm just glad Alba won't have to see it.

And she turns to pick up the gauntlet off the ground. It is good to see you too, mother. She holds the gauntlet, turns to you, and walks the other way on the parapet. Do in this moment. and stands there and goes to find out, but there's somebody who can get a message to her. Heading from the parapet, we are gonna move to Tysha and Vailas.

I bet they're having a better conversation now that they're alone, you know? Maybe it's just like the tension of them. Maybe, maybe we just, we just, she's probably really loving with him. Yeah, yeah, I get that. It probably was just the energy that we were bringing. Our vibes.

It was our vibes. We have strong vibes. We do. And that's good for us. Yeah. Sorry, I'm still really. She's so good. Maya Davino's, yeah.

That's great. Oh my God. Have a baby. Get married and have a baby. Here's how you cheat death. Have a baby. The only note I took, Cordelia Ein Fosse. Mm-hmm.

Vailas and Tysha, you guys head out from Castle Torsh into the sunset and walking up, you see two figures walking down a small path from the hillside, meeting another figure in a small glade. You see Amit a toadstool is speaking with Hannon of the Circle of the Hunt, both here at Castle Torch. And you see there is a young lady in a deep blue cloak who removes the hood. And you see Ingrid Einfossen out here, speaking to Amida and Hannon both. Before we get there, you good with Hannon? I'm fine with him. Okay.

I don't know if he's good with me. Yeah, he does want to kill you. What's the thing he called you? Well, yeah, he's not good. What did he call it? No, we don't have to bring you to him. No, I... Menelos, which means flower doll.

I think it's something that... The followers of Salandry, especially the sisters are called. Because we just follow her blindly, I guess. I'm sorry for him. That's not nothing. You don't have to strike. You guys approach this small gathering, and you see that Amida turns up and goes, Warao, Tisha.

Hi, hi. Just see. The lady Einfoss turns and says, Oh, Miss Loye, Valis, hello. So sorry we had to leave without... What are you doing here? I... She looks at Amida and looks over at Valis and says,

I am... Is Sir Julian here at Castle Torch? Or Lord Taconis, Lord Ardice? Oh, uh Amida turns and says You can share with And you see she goes Ah, oh I

Um I I have I know that you left in rather a hurry When Arctus's oldest sisters Arrived at Castle, Clip and Blick Oh did they? I don't know if they are related

It's just for me it was like Either a coincidence or It's like oh The Ladies Petra and Raya are here And then it was like, oh, Lord Julian is gone. He didn't even say goodbye. O'Wayn, I would see him next time. Fair.

He is like that. Apologies. Continue. You see in this moment, she's on a knife set. She's not sure if she's safe to talk about why she's here with you guys. Just nudged you. I think I, like, give you the little elbow and cast guidance. Do something.

You're safe with us if you want to tell us while you're here. Give persuasion. Be so good. Here we go. You chose me. You got this. You need a comfort girl, for sure. You got it, Charis.

You got it. You got it. You got that D4. Your charisma's so high. You got this. Yeah, you're charisma. What are you saying? Okay, okay.

Okay, that's not bad. What am I adding again? Persuasion. Persuasion. And a D4. Oh yeah, and a D4. Okay, this is gonna be good. This is gonna be good.

Seven. Okay, great. Okay, great. We'll be get. Twice as good as last. Dirty 20. Dirty 20. You see, she looks and says, that he's very kind.

Well, I suppose it is safe to say because, of course, I'm in the company of spiritual people who wouldn't keep a secret. My family does not know that I'm here. I came to the Shongarten. because my father, Lord Otto, has made his way west for a meeting of the centered houses to occur in Dolmachia. The meeting is scheduled for this, for Traders Day, this coming Traders Day. and she says, and I asked him if I should come along, he said, he said there was no need, it was strictly business, and I said, it might be nice for me to meet some, in any case,

I asked if I could send, if he was sending a bird to the Golden Orchard, if I could send a message with it so that the patient would not have to make two trips. and he said he wasn't sending a message to the Golden Orchard, which got me thinking why his house Royce not been invited to a meeting of the Sunderd houses. It's strange. And then I was thinking about all the things I had heard from you. And I was thinking, oh, this feels, oh, the men were released,

the Royce soldiers were released after your departure. Thank you. But I went, but we're not bringing them to the... And so I wanted to come and talk because at the same time, my mother was petitioning for me to come to Dolmachia because one of the people putting the meeting together is a young Lord Etherand Taconas.

And my mother was saying that I should really get to know him. Oh. And so I found the druids and have taken matters into my own hands because I have met. I feel, actually, of people that I have gotten to know, I have really gotten to know, Ethrin Taconas. I don't think there's any more getting to know him that I need to do. And so, jump on the bird, come here real quick because. I am seeing I am of the house of the Western wind

and I can see where the wind is blowing and I Oh my God And so She's great And so We have to We have to make some quick decisions

About who gets informed about what so that I can have a different life than the one that I see fast approaching. Yeah, okay. That's how old is she? Fascinating. Is Ingrid? How old was Ingrid?

I believe Ingrid is maybe like a year younger, or around Octus's age, I think. So it's 20-ish. 20-ish, yeah. 20-ish. Okay. All right. And in a world where you've met Etherand and you think Julian is a better option,

I need you to meet more people. She's just going to start with that. She says, what? Sir Julian is extremely handsome. Oh, yeah. That hair. Okay, let's be clear. Very good hair.

Have you talked to him for more than five minutes? Yes, he has like a... Well, how many minutes is more than a few? Greater than 12. No, I don't think we, I don't think we hit 12. But it's been like three to five, like a dozen times. Yeah, he's solid in the three to five. I get that.

Anyone's great in three to five. Have you met his mother? Not, Etherin Tacona's not. What's it? Have you met his mother? No, the lady Maya Davinos? Yes, she is very, she has a similar, when I look at Julian, I look at him and I,

There feels like there is something inside that is like a pain that is, that he has had his heart broken, and maybe that, and maybe the reason that he can be a little bit hard to be around is something. You can fix him, I get it, I get it, I get it. We've all done.

I wield the might of giants, I can fix him. No, I know, I know. My first great love was an actor, I get it. I get it. How? Yeah. Yes. Oh, yes, okay, yes. Yeah, we love a project.

Like a juggler? I think he can juggle. I'm looking at the octus-shaped hole. And it's right. Regardless that, yes, so, but... He is here. We should talk. Okay. It's good that you're here.

Okay. But for other reasons also. Oh. I like that you're taking your future in your own hands. That's very good. Yes. I have struggled often in my life to be as I should, which is demure. Don't do that.

I have been trying and can't. Yeah, don't. Good. Reject that. You're fine. Well, I am being counseled in matters by a member of the Circle of Ancients, and I will consider the spiritual advice to be pressing indeed. Correct. So I should go speak to Julian to, I think I have been too subtle up to this point. And the time for subtlety is at an end.

I presume, given your successful mission to the Eternal Knight, that he is in a courtly state of mind. I cannot imagine a better time than now. I truly can't. I think this is the moment. Yeah, actually. Look, the sun is setting, it's beautiful. He hasn't seen a sky that wasn't pitch black in so long. You know what?

I think go make your move now. I shall make it at once. Yeah. See that she, B-lines for Castle Torch. Oh, to be young and 20 again. Amida. Ahmaida. Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,

After that, sorry, wait, Vailas and Tysha, after that, you look at Amida and Hannon. See, Hannon looks at you and says, it was cruel. What was cruel? It was cruel. You know what was cruel?

You being like, I'm here to fight, I'm here to have trees in my ribs and fight undead all day. We just fought like a billion undead. Where are you, little Hawk, man? I was taking care of my circle with the news of what you have wrought in this place.

Okay, you're not a messenger pigeon. And we had to kill a lot of undec without you. Well, you're certainly back now. Is the young Lord Taconas within Castle Torch? Yes. All right. Amida turns and says, I was just giving the young lady Ingrid a ride on Altraud.

That's the only reason? No, no, no. I wanted to come and talk. Yeah, okay. Look, I just sent her off on something that I'm going to be quite upset that I'm going to miss, because we have important things to talk about. But I was just checking to make sure you weren't like, yeah, this is what I do now.

Amida nods and hands you a small birch barked scrawl. She says, I spoke to your grandmother. You have been called to Dolrungia. I'm gonna read this, not right now. Is there anything that you have to tell me of what transpired in the endless night? You saw, and read so many more document.

Can you give a download? Yes. So many things. I tell everything that I can. Yeah, if you guys wanna just tell me if there's anything you keep out from your journeys into the Eternal Night. Unless I see you dancing around something,

I'm doing the obnoxious thing, like you tell him and then occasionally cutting you off and adding a thing a little too soon. And I feel like I would give as much information, sort of looking at Tysha for guidance of knowing that she trusts. Yeah, Tisha's not going to hold anything back. So with that, I'm putting it all out there. I think you spend the better part of the evening just unload.

It's like a circle of druids and a sister of Salandri here. It's a tense thing. You can see the druids sort of soften as they're going over it with you. There's one thing. I'll roll in front of the board. I'm going to roll a nature. You know what? I will leave off the Hawley.

like the locate object with the like Holly twig. That'll be the one thing I don't mention unless, like I'm not gonna cue it. If you don't mention it, I'm not saying anything. Okay, I think I would hold that. Okay. So everything about the Taconas and what they are doing, I was about to get up and roll

and a Bria sniping the last one. That's the mark of a great, that's the mark of a great, except that one, the one that you're thinking about. I do think, though, that I would, I think after some time after talking, I would feel, I think comfortable enough knowing that they are druids, that this is the time where I would bring this out for inspection.

The Holly? Yes, the Holly. Okay. We're rolling. We'll roll. We will roll. I was like, I'm gonna let you have one secret. You're looking for a, I think you're looking for a 12 or higher.

Okay, okay, okay. Come on. 17. Oh. You see that Hanon looks at that. He goes, he said you felt a location spell on it, someone's crying. He looks and says,

I've made no mystery of my feelings towards your order. The question you need to ask yourself is, given its secrecy, the sisters of Salandri are known by a tiny handful of the world. I mean, it's obvious that you're faithful, but not what your actual order comprises or means to most people. How did Primus Tacinas know?

that there was a Calcidian artifact in that abbey. Where would that have been recorded? He hands the Holly back to you and says, I don't think the secrets of the abbey are given up except for willingly. And he hands it back to you. There's no way. They are a convincing group.

And keep in mind what we saw that compulsion, if one of your sisters would resolve to say nothing, would resolve to say nothing in life. There is a point in a transition in which they can compel many kinds of service. As you meditate on that, Phelis, we move to Octus inside. I don't look surprised.

It's Dr. Tolter. Yeah, I think you're there with Dr. Talter. But you also, you see that Dr. Tolter has gone over everything with Captain Fatron, so goes over with him what happened to the Barrow Guard, so that gets disseminated out through the Barrow Guard. And she comes over to you and says, well, wouldn't adventure.

Great. I got my wish. Captain Fadrin mentioned to me that they can, because she was no longer a member of the Barrow Guard when she died, that Dame Ceramize remains should be remitted to her family. Right. They don't, that was not

made clear to them. It seems that Dame Ceramaias may have been exiled here, so it's not clear that her family would be receptive to... Okay. So you're left with a bit of a puzzle, I'm afraid. That's fine. I can think of something.

Walking to the chamber, as you see Ingrid Einfausen walks in. Oh, my Lord Octus. Hi. Hi. It's very good to see you. I was going to speak to... I'm not here for...

I'm not here for any reason. What a strange thing to say. No, no, no. That... I'm here to speak to Julian. Ah, he is speaking with his mother right now. Okay. On the parapet.

I'm choosing to say that they don't want to be disturbed. You see she says, all right, I will go and see if there's a window. And you see that she walks out. Wow. Dr. Talter turns to you and says, I suppose after today I'll go back to the shadow light waypoint and head back to the totality. Is that what you want?

Well, I was here pursuing a prophecy that was false. Right. And they've instead discovered untold. Tannisar really should be explored. And the totality could, could, there are a lot of things to be learned there. Why is there?

I was just curious. You had a taste of adventure. Oh, I was miserable. Yes. I was absolutely miserable. I saw death up close and I wish to never see it again. Then you should probably go back again.

I don't think that your condition is the most exceptional thing about you. You experiencing a fraction of what you've had to endure, I fell to pieces numerous times, and you uncovered the riddle of a place whose entire reason for being was your family seeking to harm you. That's doing an academic final exam

while being injured. It's, it's, it's, it's extraordinary. And I find you extraordinary. Thank you. I think it's just born out of not having a possibility of doing anything else. If you ever need me, I'll be at the totality in Arga. We would love, and if you ever want help,

if you ever want to discuss the condition. Yes. As soon as I am done, running for my life. I'm sure I will want to have time to actually think about what's happened to me. The totality is very safe. We have, oh, God, we're funded partially by the Taconas.

Yes. I'm putting that together right now. Oh, that's awful. Yeah. Oh, God, they're everywhere. Okay, okay. Oh, I'm not going back to safety. I'm going back to more problems.

Oh, no. Okay, okay, okay. I will endeavor to keep you safe. Don't, um. Say anything about me when you get back? Not for me, for you. How are we supposed to do good... Yeah.

How are we supposed to do good work? I don't know. Do we have to... In secret. Oh, there's someone you could speak to who could help. Okay. I assume there's still the pentevral. Murray Magnetian.

All right. They are definitely not helping the Taconas. I will reach out by manners clandestine and secure. Yes. Thank you, Miller Chaconis. Welcome. Get back safe. You're doing great with the magic.

Give me an insight check. Oh, terrible. One. Great. That one. Incredible. Not for the first time in his life. Octus Takanis lets a woman with a crush on and walk out of the rain.

That's where we'll take our break. 100%. And that's where we'll leave our story. for now. Part two of this episode of Campaign 4 drops this Tuesday. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you soon for more Critical Role.