D&D is For Nerds - Barovia IV #30 Pieces of Ourselves

Episode Date: February 28, 2026

To many of us Urwin was a kind face and a gentle heart. Anyone in town could tell you a tale of how he was there with a drink in each hand and a shoulder to grieve on. Tonight we remember Urwin not for grief but to bring him to life together one last time. In life Urwin was like a great stone statue and each of us were given a piece to hold and feel his love and remember when he could not be there for us physically. And now, one by one, each of us will share our piece of Urwin. And together we will put him together.If you're still wanting to pledge for the Jarren's Outpost Board Game you can right here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

O'y, lads, did you miss out on the Jaron's Outpost Kickstarter and wish you weren't such a big doofus? Well, fear not. Late pledges are now open and they'll be open for a little while, so just head to Kickstarter search for D&D for Nerds or Jaron's Outpost and slam that late pledge button. Though you may not see Vota for miles around, you can consider yourself trapped. The mists that encircle us are like prison walls.

And who is the warden of this prison, you ask? None other than the wonderful, the terrible, the powerful, Baron Strad von Zaravich. And the only way to leave this place is to kill him or die. You're an idiot, Pip. I say, as I take a step into the snowbank. You don't step into the snowbank. You step back into Barovia.

You're perhaps the dumbest man alive. Ah! Sitting on the top of a building, a raven. It takes flight westward, which you know is the direction of the blue water in. I bring up my hands to my snout, and I start rubbing furrows. I start rubbing enough to make fire, and I walk, I march toward the blue water inn. As you open the doors to the blue water in, no, you actually don't get to the blue water in. En route to the blue water in, you are interstate.

by Danica. Danny, I say. Danica. How does she look? Danica, it looks, you can see there are clear marks down her face where she has been crying recently, but she isn't crying now.

Okay. She, looking at you, at first, you don't read the expression on her face. And then as you get closer, you see she very nearly is about to cry again, but stamping that down, she grabs you, and once again, you're not 100%. You may flints.

Yeah, it ends. She grabs you and drags you in to a tight hug, and then it's like the damn bursts. She starts sobbing and wailing into your shoulder. I'm so sorry, Danny. I'm so sorry. He should have let me be squished. The dim...

How comforting. The dim light of day does little to change the surface of Lake Saravitch. A black sheen surface stretches towards the horizon, but does not end at it. At the lake's edge, a man standing up could easily see trees on the opposite edge, stretching up to the top of Mount Baratok. Best not to waste daylight. Keening's voice breaks the silence and causes ripples to cascade across the water's surface. Kribut, can you take point on this one? Elaniel, Keening, Iona and Mark Willett,

watches the little frogman waddles over to the edge of the water. Sticking his head beneath the surface, they continue to watch with curiosity, turning to concern until... The coast is clear. Elaniel gives a nod of assent to each member of the population. party as she hands a leaf. Place it on your tongue. Bite down, but do not chew.

One by one they do as commanded. Then, the entire group begins walking across the water's surface as if it was solid ground. Every now and then, the group stops as either cribbit or elanial searches below or above the water for problems. None show themselves. Mark Willett speaks. Does anyone else think this is, don't. Eventually, the quintet reaches what feels like the center

of the lake. Keening, giving the area one more look, nods at Elaniel. You and Crivet, head down. Then he hands them both one end of his lasso. One pull will haul you up. Two pulls will come down and get you. Elenial smiles at him

and nods back. The unspoken understanding of how impossible them coming down remains unspoken. Then she turns to Iona. The two embrace. exchanging a kiss and a few words of encouragement. Come back up to me. Cribut and Elaniel hold their breath

and spit the leaves out of their mouths. In an instant, they slip beneath the waves. Danica, half drags, half is carried by you, back into the blue water in. You can see sitting around the table are a bunch of familiar faces, just locals of Valachi, and a bunch of less familiar faces as well.

new folks who have come through. Okay. Danica moves around behind the bar. Once again, well, she seems still unsteady on her feet. She uses the bar a bit to steady herself, and then she pours both of you. You see, she reaches up for the nice wine, and she pours both of you a glass.

The others have, the others will be returning soon. They have a purin from, Ravenloft has said he would send word of Hector's condition. Okay. Everyone's all right? Everybody's okay? Yes.

Everyone of your... Yes. Everyone still is fine. The lodestone in the lake was cleansed with or destroyed, sorry, without issue. But Tarpos, she is arched druid now. Tarpos marches east with a host of druids Elenial is worried that they might have hostile intent against her or the dusk elves

Yeah, that could be there Yes Peace is current but tenuous The dusk elves and Valakai are still not friends But Keening Keening has been keeping the peace as best as he can I suppose if there's one more lodestone And I owner and Elaniel have been

destroying them and tarposs always wanted them cleanse maybe she's trying to do something about it but also i don't know if that strikes me as particularly topos is there a tree outside adam yeah probably it might be about to do something very embarrassing give me a second i step outside the blue water and put a hand on the tree danica standing at the back door which is the one that you went out to to get to the tree danica watches as you put your hand on the tree and What else do you do? Tapos? Nothing happens.

It's Pipp. Hello? Nothing happens. I'll turn back to Daddy. Sometimes this works. It works for Hector. Right. Because he is the trees, kind of, so you can...

Do they cast the spell when they do it? I don't know. Right. Probably. Hey, I take my hand away from the tree. Probably, yes, they cast some kind of spell. I thought, maybe now that she's after Drew, you might always be listening, but I guess not.

Never mind, that was embarrassing. We go back in and drink my drink. That's delicious. Some of the best wine you've ever had. This is sort of like, you know, 50 gold a glass type wine. It's very nice. How does it compare to the mead I had? It's, even compared to the mead, it's pretty good.

Actually, it's a Wizard of Wines, wines. Okay. And even, you know, at its worst, the Wizard of Wines' Wines were pretty good, even by non-Berovian standards. Yeah. I like realizing it's a Wizards of Wine wine, wine. I like finish it, but I'm like, no more. Save that for a special occasion. It's open now.

It's either drunk or goes to waste. I guess, Danny. She pours you, she's pouring heavy glasses as well. Danica, you feel like. your relationship with Danica is probably, right now is probably the best it's been since about a year ago. I swallow. I swallow a lot of, not my pride, but a lot of emotions down. And I do a thing that's extremely hard for Pip.

Tell me about him. Let's talk about him. Erwin? Yeah. Let's chat about him. What kind of a guy was he? How did you meet? Let's start with that.

We met, he is, well, we met here in Valakai. His family, he is of the Matukovs. I married in. It was quite some time, if you ask him, before he told me of the Weaver Ravens. But if you asked the rest of the family, he rushed in. but they are slow to accept people and to try to be careful where they can

secrecy of course why him why him yeah why him you're an eligible bachelorette Danica I remember for the same reason Pip that you choose many of the men you choose they make you feel like a better person

yeah Yeah. You know, I once told somebody that my heart was kind of like a locked vault, but I'm beginning to think that vault has pretty terrible security. Danica continues on. It was a whirlwind romance. We were young teenagers. He was not allowed to leave Valachi. It is dangerous, even more so. for our kind and I was a rebellious youth I was allowed to leave Atta my parents did not mind

so long as I did not stray too far from the city walls but I heard that he was not allowed outside the walls and I on our second date I'm not tricked she laughs I smile

but he did not realize where we were until it was too late. I see. And then, you know, once we're outside the walls... No prying eyes, yeah. Well, it takes, you know, once we're outside the walls, the prying eyes disappeared at the forest line.

It was a nice night sitting underneath the three canopy, trying to guess at what stars looked like. We tried to do it every year to just find a place somewhere quiet where we can guess at the stars. We see the moon, well enough, as you're aware, and we always used to, at the full moon, sorry, at the new moon, when the night is the darkest,

that is the time when we would almost feel like we could see the stars. He was very, she swallows, he was very hopeful like that, so the best in people. I think and I think you know yeah I do he was brave

yeah well I mean you know God willing Danico maybe you'll see the stars for real one day

I can point out the constellations I know that's the funeral yeah I said a similar sentiment

that as we go through this life we we are like we are like a statue slowly crumbling, but it is not a bad thing.

As we pass other people, we give pieces of ourselves to them, and they give pieces of them to us. And I feel like the hope I feel, not just of the stars, but of a free Borovia outside of the thumb of, and she does the gesture for Strad. I do too.

Free Borovia is that hope of mine is is his. I suppose, even on the darkest of nights, the stars I saw were him. That's beautiful, Danny, I say. And if Hector's doing his job, God's willing. You'll see him every night when you look into the sky.

Danica nods softly. The doors open and the rest of the crew. Oh, Tiny has been following you this. entire time. Just letting you know. Makes me so nervous. Third glass of wine. Funny little insect mandibles.

The doors open and everyone else spills in. Keening, who was the first in. Keenning actually maybe pre, like got in maybe a full minute before everyone else. The doors spill open and sorry, yeah, Keening bursts in. Everyone else takes a little bit longer. My hand grips on the counter. the top, like in nervousness. Keening rushes over to you

and he grabs you and does the exact same thing Danica did. He grabs you and brings you in for a big bear hugged. I hug back. I hug back and I bury my face in his chest. He doesn't cry but you feel his eyes

are wet as he presses his face against yours. How long's it been? It's been three months pippy. Fuck. Fuck. I came back, though. I said a wood. He pulls back and now you visibly see. Once again, it's not full waterworks, but his eyes are very wet looking as he looks down at you.

You can see that scar that he got has mostly healed at this point. He looks you up and down and patting you on either side. He says, you look good, Pippi. You look good. Is there anything in those woods? Not yet. You're, when you, I was scared. Yeah. Me too, if I'm honest.

I considered, I considered leaving myself trying to search for it. Oh, don't. That's not worth it. Don't do that. Pip. Pippie. You're worth it. Fuck, dude.

Everyone else spills in. You see, they, uh, no, yeah, Elaniel sits down at the table, tiny sitting at a table. Elenial sits down next to tiny, and there's maybe like a caraf of water, caraf. There's a jug of water there. She pours herself a water, and Elaniel gives you a little, like, toast. As you, you know, as you're looking at everyone, she gives you a little toast. Cribut takes off his hat and does, like, a big bow when you look over at him. And Iona, you can see, is standing behind.

Iona and Mark Willett, actually, are standing behind Keening, waiting for their turn to hug you. Oh, God. The lodestone, I say, is it gone? Oh, I'm so sorry. Muriel is here. No, Muriel is not here, actually. Sorry. Sorry, you continue?

I like kind of to brush past. Nobody should tell Pipy's worth it. I got so many defenses up against that exact line of inquiry. The lodestone. Is it cleared, destroyed? Elaniel is the one who answers. It is destroyed. Okay.

I think Tarpos perhaps is mad about it. Yes. Danny was saying that she's coming with an army. Well, that seems... She's coming with all the druids that are left. Right. Elaniel gives like a dark smile about that. Sure.

But does that seem like Tarpos? That doesn't seem like Tarpos to me. They march this way. Vindictive. They march this way. We know not their intent. That is all. I tried talking to a tree

and I couldn't get through to her. I don't know if... If you want, I can contact Tapos. If you wish to talk to her. She refuses to speak to me. I think we should just find out her intentions. If she's coming to attack... I gesture to you, to Elaniel.

If she's coming to attack you, then we should know about it. And if she's going to attack anybody else, we should know about that too. Very well. Muriel could not be here. She is... She is heading off to see Pyrin.

We must... speak of that as well and of what Hector has done in Castle Ravenloft. I don't, I think the Dragon, the Dragonborn face does not convey this expression, but

it's like, like a very thin lip, straight mouth. It's like when Muppets make their faces as, like, horizontal as possible. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. What did he do? Hector.

Hmm. You, after your awareness of Pip re-entering, you feel that dagger withdraw as the whole seals itself back up. And then that visage of a man stabbing you disappears. Would you follow Pip? What would you want to do? I guess so in a way of just like, you know, curiosity to see, like, where he's going, that kind of stuff. But after a while, I guess, you know, go back to myself. You realize you've been doing this all night.

the sun has risen. It's daytime. Am I tired? You feel like you should be tired, but you don't feel tired. You don't feel the desire to go to bed other than the, like, you know how you're like, oh, I'm not tired, but maybe I should be in bed. Yeah. You don't feel, yeah, you feel that. You're like, I feel like I should have gone to bed, but also I don't feel sleepy.

Okay. All right. Not sleepy, not hungry. Very good. How far away from Castle Ravenloft is that encampment of, I guess, Candor? That's not terribly far. You could walk over there now if you wanted. Could I have flown if I wanted to?

You could fly, yeah. It's a minute of flying, right? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, as the quote unquote crow, or shall we say, Hector flies. Yeah, you could get there in about a minute. Yeah, that'd be the quickest way down there. Plus will make an entrance. Yeah, yeah.

Hector, you attempt to call upon your wings. and none form. Oh. What happens? What happens? Oh, I guess, like, if you force it? If you're... So, there's something there, but when you call it as wings, it doesn't work.

When you try forcing it, it reacts, but not the way you were expecting. Radiant light spills forth from your eyes and mouth. You... This doesn't harm the stonework, but you can see a... searing, like a It's like someone power washed part of the castle. Okay. Yeah, if someone had been standing there,

they would have taken radiant damage. That's very funny. Stop that. Yeah. You have this power instead now, Hector. You're a walking man from now on. Yeah, you don't fly, you walk. Yeah.

Okay. You feel like, you're not 100% sure if this is some, like something has changed with your connection to Penaia, or maybe this was Lady Borizzi turning you into a weapon. Oh, no. I, um, head back down. Uh, I guess I, uh, would I pass, like, say, um, any, like, guard servants, that kind of stuff on the way down to be like...

Castle Ravenlofts are live with people. I cannot... You pass people all the time. All right. I just want to grab one of them. Could you please send up a very large mug of coffee and some... Do you have pastries? Yes, we can do pastries for you.

And some pastries. What sort of pastry would you like? What would she like? I don't know. We have... And then the person does this big sigh and you can see that they're about to hate what they have to say. We can do right now, because it is near midday. The chef at hand is a gnome.

So we can do gnomish scrolls. Gnomishes. Obviously. And then they just list like a bunch of different baked goods, but they're all gnom. Yes, whatever it is you can grab. Just a couple of things. The sweetest thing you have. The sweetest thing we have.

Yes. And a big mug jug of coffee. I shall send that to. your room? Yes. Very well. Thank you very much. I head to Gretchen's room.

Okay. You head to Gretchen's room. But hang on, before you get there. You, perception check. You turn a corner Hector and someone slams into you. It's a, you can see some sort of like, like a, not a bellhop.

What do you call them? Like a, like just a kid. Someone no older than, no older than like 13, who looks like they work here, maybe it's like a chimney sweep or something like that, they're a bit sooty. As they bump into you, maybe like a small cloud of soot comes off them. Sorry, sorry. That is right. They look around very quickly. Can you help me, please?

Sure, what is you? You can hear. Yeah, you can hear, dum, dumb, dumb, dumb, heavy footfalls running this way. Yeah, sure, what do you need? You could see they're cradling something in their arms. Take this. He hands you a small lockbox and then sprints past you. I put the lockbox in the pocket.

If I can fit it. Or I just, yeah. One of the castle guards turns the corner. You can see the castle guard. He's taken his helmet off and you can see it's like he's in a kind of a state of disarray. He looks almost half dressed. His armor certainly is not placed on correctly, and he's not carrying a weapon with him right now.

Have you seen a small boy? What do you do? Thief! A little thief is what he is. You get a good boy card, and you clock, there's a hesitation before the guard says thief, and you get the impression that thief is what he is being accused of, but not necessarily what he is done.

Okay. Thief? I described like a boy, but it looked like he worked here. Yes, he works here. Right. He was thief, you say? He is stolen from me. Do I still get the same, like...

Yeah, yeah. You feel like... You feel like it's more complicated. Stolen, I think there's a little thing you're not mentioning there. If you don't mind me saying. The guard, you see he like brushes bright red. And then he says, and then he sprints past you.

I then I just call out a different direction to where the kid went basically. That'll be a deception check. You trick him and he goes in the wrong direction.

You head back to Gretchen's room? Yeah. Well, back to you head to Gretchen's room. You see, your room is next to Gretchen's room, you see that kid is waiting out the front of your door. Hello.

What did you take? It was the kid seems a little awkward about it, but you press him. He looks at you and he gets the impression that he can trust you. It was some effects, personal effects, of my mother.

Oh, right, right. That man was a stepfather of mine. My mother, his wife, passed away recently. I'm sorry to hear. Very sorry to hear. Thank you. And she, we disagree on who should own some of her old personal effects. All right.

Well, as the next of kin, I believe, this is. Do you hand the box? Lock box? Yeah. He, the kid takes the box. Thank you. No worries. Good luck, kid. He nods, and then he wanders off with the box. I knock on Gretchen's dog.

There's no response. Very gently, and I gently open the dog. The curtains have been dragged across. The room is as dark as it can be. You step in, you can see on her little side table, not side table, there's like a little table where you would take meals. On that table, you can see there is someone has already brought in a tray with food and drink. You can see that the food and drink has not been touched.

Gretchen lies in bed, and as you open the door, she gives a big, and she rolls over to her other side. How are you feeling, Gretchen? You can also see there's a bucket next to her bed. This is a side effect, I think, of having two-gad-time. I once was told by an uncle that is, I guess, punishment for having, when you condense such an incredible night into, say, like a four-hour period, The backlash sometimes hits like a horse in the face.

May I recommend drink as much water as you want, strong coffee helps, have some pastries coming up. You should have a little something. I'm lowering my voice if like that's at the start of that conversation. I assume you were kind of already being gentle, but Gretchen nonetheless, shushes here. I'm being extremely gentle. I maybe, except if there's like a basin of water,

or something like that. I'll get a face of water. I get like a towel, just dabbing around the forehead. Be okay, for a few hours. There's a knock at the door. I open the door.

Piran, dressed as a waiter, is standing in the doorway. He has your food. Thank you very much. This time, instead of an elf, he, using makeup,

has made himself, disguised himself to look a little bit more like a human. You can see part of it is like this pretty kind of ostent wigg that is covering his horns.

Thank you very much. I will leave this in here for her. Then perhaps I have a few questions to ask you. She wants to step into my room. Pyrryn nods and follows you into your room. Lay down the thing to be like, you don't have to, of course, have any of this, but I recommend a little something.

Call out if you need. I head over it. I head to my room. Pyrin, looking at you. So, a few things. First off, I have sent letters as best as I can to the parties that we spoke of. Second off, I have contacted the rest of the group.

And I'm so, Muriel has come with me. She wishes to speak to you. Of course. You'll have to meet her outside the castle grounds, though. Yes, of course. The group weren't happy when I informed them of what happened. but they understand that you are, you know, you were under a bit of pressure and also maybe they don't understand your full workings and whatnot.

What did you tell them? I think they just want people, well, look, I guess it's partially, I suppose that's why Muriel's here. She is going to speak to you and she's just going to, I think she just, the group, the party, your generals, just want to know what you're doing. Right, why, I suppose, so that they can, you know, enact your plan. Right, of course.

So the Candor army, we have them on side. Sure, yes. I wandered down and had a little walk around this morning outside the exterior of their camp. Very Cantonese, quick, industrious little things, aren't they? Popped up so very, very quickly, almost overnight. They're dressed like, I don't know. don't know if you've noticed this. They're dressed like Cavendish. Yes, but

like not quite. No, pretty much exactly. Exactly like him. Well, not, I guess it's a different colour. Yeah. I wonder if they're from his era. One must assume. One must. Well, they suddenly have his like, and then Pyrin, like with his hands, gestures.

It's just like cowboy moves. No, he gestures like rifle, basically. I think there's With those I think this Strads Army is roughly around about 300 men

Hopefully This will be enough firepower Well they outnumber Strauds army Yes I think they're Marines Specifically Work together To stop the invasion

I ended up having a conversation With Tarpos I think that might be a problem Well That was another thing They wanted, the group wanted you to talk to Tarpos. Right. Try and have another conversation with her,

but I do not think she's happy with the Kandonis army coming. Why not? I don't know. She did not seem to care that a butcher was coming to invade. Look, I'm going to be 100% honest with you. I understand this is a destiny thing and you can't change this. Look, if you want, I'll be completely honest with you. I don't understand truths.

I don't get them. I do not understand them. Same. They keep saying things about neutrality, about how well we feel. I'm for the trees. I'm for the trees. But also if they get cut down, that's what was always going to happen. I speak for the rocks.

I don't understand. I'm a druid. I'm like, oh, perhaps we should protect the trees. And she's like, I don't care about the trees. I'm trying to meet them on their level. I have no fucking clue. It's insane. I do not understand.

It seems to be like, oh, it'll either happen or it won't. And that is it. They don't want to interfere until they do. But even then, what are they fighting for? In a group, it is incredible that in a group with a woman who wants me dead and the great general Mandarin, if I had to cut anyone, it would be her. She comes with an army.

Yes, an army that if we say the wrong thing, and often that it might be, I would think, is the right thing, they turn on us. I don't understand. All I'm saying, you cut her from the group. and Gorob and Lushin leave with her. Peryn gives you a big shrug like, what if? I mean, it is a two-frey. It's a three-fur.

But if we do, then they are, would they be against us? And they are very powerful. My understanding is that she has about 50 fighting druids left. 50 druids? Yes. That's not a lot. Don't get me wrong. You know, a druid, especially, I suppose, in the four,

forests in the slavish woods, I suppose, 50 druids would be worth their weight in gold. I guess. Just, in an ideal situation, we would try to get all these allies, everyone here, to fight together for a common goal. If that not is fighting strad, surely it should be to protect your home. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's crazy. I have some good news, though. Aside from, you know, Muriel wanting to talk to you, us asking for you. Them, I don't really care. Them asking you to talk to Tarpos.

I do have some good news. Yes. I sent out messages to where I could. Krezik said that they would send 250 soldiers. Valakai said they're going to need to do a head count to see who's alive to send. Kutri will be sending 100 adventurers and 100 guards, split down the middle between the Berger Master, the two co-Berger Masters units.

That's great. So in addition to the 2000-ish-Candinese and then whatever Strade can provide, and then finally, perhaps this is something that you wanted to do personally as well. So I got a message. I wasn't expecting this. I sent a little messenger to Argon Vosthold,

where the paladins... The undead paladin. Yeah. And I got a message back. They want to speak to you. All right. I will speak to them after I speak to Muriel. And after you speak to Tarpos.

Or before. I foresee many annoying conversations in your future, Hector. I look at him with wild eyes and be like, Perrin, do you realize staying in Borovia? You've developed divination powers. It just came to me. Quickly, fetch Madame Eva. Tell her her successor.

town. I will send a raven post haste. Pip Mandarin. As you head outside with Elaniel to have a tree call with Tarpos, the group informs you of what they know about Hector. What's she done up there? Who would be the one to break this new STU? Is it like I ask that and I see everybody take a step backward? You see an awkward moment between

most of the group and then... It's going to be Kribert. Somehow I know it. Partially because I imagine everyone taking one step backward but Krippet not knowing that's what's happening and being left in the forefront. It's a owner, actually.

Iona... Iona steps forward and she says Hector has made some deal. Deals, yes. With strad. God fucking damn it. We do not know.

the exact nature, but rest assured on this and now obviously you dear listener plus Joel and Jackson, the two of you know better than this, but this is an update that Pyrrion is not aware of and

thus the group is not aware of. Iona continues he has made some dealings with Strad but we can rest the sword with this at least. Hector has not been bitten Okay, well we know that

We know that much But certainly He has been It would seem Taken on the Strad's wing I was afraid of that Somewhat We don't know the nature of the deals

No But this deal has allowed Some Cantonese soldiers To enter into Borovia What Candonese soldiers We do not know any of the exact natures of this yet, but there is a hole out.

The Cantonese got it jealously, or have begun construction of earthen works. Cantonese interpresent. We have reason to believe that we should speak to John Cavendish about this. He might know more. Of course. Was he acted Cantonese? I don't know if anyone here knows the answer to that question. The

fucking Iona looks at Elaniel Elaniel looks at Keening Keening looks at Mark Willett Mark Willett looks at Krippett

Just don't pay attention half you're from that part of the world You're actually the only one who would really know that He's a knight of the cloth Right? That's that kind of general area Maybe actually you know what The person who pipes up It's Danica.

Yeah. Danica, who maybe has had a few conversations with Hector, would definitely have found out about this, unless Hector you're trying to keep your origins secrets. No. Your nationality. I would say Danica would definitely know then. Danica says,

Hector has told me in the past that he grew up in Kandor. I must assume he is Kandanese. Certainly he is a knight of the cloth of Kandor. So he made some deep. That is very peculiar. Giulio. Iona continues. We, as I said, do not know many of the specifics of this deal.

Pyrrion was only able to furnish us with what he can. Another thing that you must know about Hecht there is that he has been gravely wounded. There is an incursion of some sort to the north. Invadeus from one of the other dark places. they captured Hector as I will not use the exact words that Pyrin said but Hector once again to filter Pyrrion's words

Hector did something stupid I'm not surprised in service of a Nazia a noble act but it's got him in trouble he is well this time I know not what words better to use than Pyrrins but he has been quote unquote

Frankenstein I put my snout in my hands Puren said you might know better is that you fought such a creature Back at the Abbey Yes In Creswick So Hector

Probably trying to save a life Probably trying to save a cat Finds himself Taken It was a woman A knight A fellow knights of the cloth He was taken to another dark realm.

For... And experimented on. Yes. Yes. Okay. And turned into a Frankenstein. It would appear that part of the nature of Hector's dealings and Strad's dealings and this new development with the Cantonese is all connected. Is all connected to this invasion.

Okay. We must mount some sort of defensive operation. Pyrin is contacting the other towns, Krezik, Kuchery and what. not to call forth aid. It would unfortunately appear that our leader, Hector, has decided that Strad is the devil we know, and these invaders are the devil we don't. Right.

Okay. Oh, actually, Iona, sorry. You know what? Yeah, Iona says Strad. Hector, when that happens, it's like a little alarm. bell goes off in your head. Hector spends what?

Three months with Strad? Not even. No. He did not spend three months with Strad. He spent about 16 hours with Strath. I put my snout in my hand.

He was imprisoned in Boccia to the north for about three months. Okay. And how How did he escape? By himself or? I would have, though, I did tell Pyrin about your sister.

And I would have given, and I would have given, now that I'm thinking about it, if way of contacting him, I would have given Pyrin if he could have mentioned that he would have got this letter to you or potentially,

I would have given the, well, from my perspective, an unbroken sealed missive from your sister. Iona, you can see, Iona's got a lot on her. There's a lot of emotion in her face. Just get it out. Let's get it over

and done with. I don't know. Well, yes. So, um, as to who saved Hecddddd? Would you have told Pirin much about being saved by Stratt? Um, probably. I think, yeah, if Pyrin asked. Is there any details? Actually, just let me know. Are there any details

that you would not have told Pyrrne? Probably not. No? Okay. That's fine. Yeah. Well, Iona explained. Yeah, Iona says, in addition to this, I'll let, I own probably furnishes you all the details about Gretchen and the werewolves, so you learn about that as well. The more I learn, like at first, when they say,

Hector's making deals with Stroud, Pips got one hand on his snout. And then when they say he's brought the Cantonesean for some reason, another hand on the snout. Then when, oh, he's been in Borgia, blah, blah, blah, Gretchen, the were wolves, Pipp sort of turns around. I assume we're up against the tree. Yeah. And I just, maybe at a turn around, maybe I just go ahead.

first into the tree, like kind of just forehead to bark, go on. Iona continues, explains how after you left Hector, he traveled with Rahadin across, kind of like dealing with the werewolves, finding out about the Bortchon incursion. Probably, I would imagine, Pyrrion would have furnished a lot of detail about this, so Iona just doesn't say much about this. but the time in Bordshire, you learn a bit about, like, Borezzi, Madame Borezzi, yeah. You learn a bit about her and the, like, huge host that is coming down this way

in addition to Madame Borezzi's, like, control over, I think, I think someone in the friggin' Discord mentioned it or described it as nature punk, which, yeah, yeah, yeah, Iona explains. Okay, sure. And then this is where Hector has been for this longest time And then, yes, you know, less than 24 hours in Castle Ravenloft And Hector has decided to align with Strad against Madame Borizzi There is one final thing

And I know not You're aligned with a go-gash for a little period time And now I'll jump up there your fucking throat That was, you know, we had a bigger threat to deal with. Yeah. You have effectively the same threat to deal with. There is one more thing, and I know not how you will receive this information. It can't be any worse than what you've already told me.

Your sister... Excuse me, go on. Your sister is in Madame Borizzi's employ, unwillingly so. But she's... remained in Bortcher? She is with the host coming this way, we believe.

She had a letter to pass on to you. She passed it to... She saved Hector's life. He owes her a life debt. But that is my reading. Not necessarily Hector. Anyway.

She passed the letter to Hector who passed it to Pyrin, and now I pass it to you. She passes you a folded note. They're like... I like, I like...

Take it from her as though it's poisonous. Yeah. Like, by... It is dripping. And then I'd like to unfold it and like, like it's about to explode, hold it away from myself. In what looks like blonde. Is it legible?

It is. It's legible. My God, if it went for the fact that the ink, quotation marks, if it weren't for the fact that the ink has run, it would be a perfect handwriting. A child falls sick with a fever, so their mother calls a doctor, a priest and a witch to help. The doctor and mother go in,

and the doctor gives the child medicine. Then the mother asks the doctor to leave and is alone with the child. They come out later and say the child. child still has a fever. Then the mother and the priest go in, and the priest prays over the child. Then the mother asks the priest to leave and is alone with the child. They come out later and say the child still has a fever. Finally, the mother and the witch go in, and the witch rubs a healing pultus on the child. Then the mother asks the witch to leave and is alone with the child. They come out later and say the child is dead, who killed the child. My dearest brother, my dearest brother,

I know how you love riddle so. I will explain the answer after you have guessed. Please save me. Your beloved sister. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Throw it on the ground. I wish I hadn't seen that. Okay.

The Cantonese... Let's talk to Tarpos. Let's talk to Tarpos, I say. I put my hand on the tree. Well, my forehead's already on the tree, actually. Elaniel puts her hand on the tree as well, and you feel as the... Your hand is physically on the tree, but then in a moment, in an instant, it feels like you can sense a presence on the other side of the bark. A hand tentatively reaches out for your...

then stops. You can feel hesitation, and then Tarpos answers. Hello, Tarpos? Pip. You're coming, you've got an army? That's what people are saying. Bring druids. Right.

To what end, if I might inquire? Cleanse stone. Oh, well, that's good. That's good. I look at Elaniel. Elaniel, you can see, is gripping the tree tightly. and Elaniel says, you know where the stone is? Elaniel, you can destroy it after.

No, destroy. Yes. Only cleanse. Cleanse it now. And then when we're done and out of here, you two figure out what you want to do then. That seems like a back burner problem to me. Back of the stove. They ignore you and begin arguing with.

each other. All right. Are you, they're just going back and forth at each other. It's not looking like it's getting anywhere conclusive. I guess, I say, trying to cut through, whoever gets there first. How does that sound? There's a brief moment. Both of them stop.

And then you can feel, both of them are about to pull away, and then you feel keening, put his hand on the tree, and he leaps into the conversation. right, let's all calm down. Pippi, can you get me a drink? Yeah, of course. I'd get you a glass of water Scotch or something.

Scotch would be lovely. Okay. I disconnect from the tree, put a hand on his shoulder, and then I'm going to head back into the blue water in. When you put your hand on his shoulder, he brings his other... Yeah, he maybe does the exact same thing I just did. When you put your hand on his

shoulder, he brings up a, as if he still had his other hand, realizes, and then grimacing, what was it? Okay. I head back into the blue water in and pour him a scotch, but I'm going to take my time because I know I'm not wanted for that conversation. Sure. Danica on the other side of the bar says, you were always better one-on-one. Yeah. Well, I mean, it just doesn't really seem like it matters, right? now. It seems like there's this order of

operations everyone's ignoring, everybody's rushing to get in first. But you cleanse the loadstone that it does the same thing and then once everybody's out, you can destroy it. This is like a separate conflict they've had the whole time. I mean,

I feel if anyone were to understand this, it matters to them. Yeah, you're right. You ignore what they want and they will ignore what you want. You're right. You're right. You got to pick. Well, I did, but then it didn't, didn't, you know, I picked Destroy.

Did you pick? Oh, for the lodestones, I suppose. Oh, Danny, you bitch. Pip, there is much of the art of diplomacy you have yet to learn, I suppose. But you claim not to be a diplomat, so I. suppose no one can hold that against you. Yeah. Did you end up talking to John Cavendish?

No. Perhaps you should have blown things up after you got to talk. Yeah, probably you're right, Danny. I was just... You know, I didn't expect... She pours another... She pours another glass of wine for each of you. I drink heeding scotch.

He didn't really want it. You know, I didn't expect... I thought heck to... would make the wrong choice. That to me is unsurprising. I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly. 16 hours is not a long time for him to change sides. But as I have heard people point out, Pip, you aligned with a go-gash very quickly.

Well, that is true. I didn't see any other way. And I guess Hector's seeing it the same. It just sort of seems like the very next person, the most recent person, the most real. person that comes to him with a problem and he'll do his best to help them. You've got to have some level of discernment between the things that, the people that you're helping. I just, I just, you begin to become aware that standing behind you is tiny, completely silently,

and cribbit who is furiously writing. Hey, at least I help people. You're not here. I look at Cribut and Tiny. You become fast friends with the two of you? They look at each other, then look at you, and Cribbett leans in, and in a stage whisper, Crivet says, I know not what this one's name is.

Oh, it's tiny. Tiny. Yeah, his name's tiny. He flips to a new part of the book and starts writing. Do you want something from me, Tiny? Tiny continues to stare at you inscrutably.

Okay. I guess our next step, I say, wearily, is cleansing the lodestone because if we've lost Hector, which maybe we have, then that will at least

weaken strad, but then maybe if you're going to have to fight them. Fucking hell. You have Elenial with you now. If you take her, she will destroy the lodestone, which will,

of course, infuriate Tarpos. Yes. But if I align with Tarpos, that will infuriate Elaniel. It is frustrating that Tarpos is the one whose one is not permanent, but she is the one further away. Yeah, that's true. Unfortunately, Pip, I think one of the lessons of diplomacy is that a situation at compromise that makes both people mad means both people will be mad.

Yeah. Perhaps sometimes it is better to side with one and then have only one person mad or two. Yeah. But how do you balance this? With Elaniel, I have a great debt, possibly the greatest debt. A debt that truly, frankly, I can never make up for. Tapos has an army. That is a question of morality versus practicality and pip.

I mean, you're not much of either Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly. Well, look, let's chat to Cavendish at least. That's something I can do. I step back outside, I'll pour another scotch. Before you step back outside, Keening steps inside. And he's got like a, he's very shocked expression.

There's someone who wants to meet with you.