D&D is For Nerds - State of Grace #8 Ser Grace Alone

Episode Date: June 28, 2025

In the dungeons beneath Fairburn Point Ser Grace, the realms most celebrated adventurer, was forcefully bonded with an entity beyond mortal comprehension. For some such an incident would spell tragedy, for Ser Grace, however, he saw only opportunity. Now the wheels are in motion for something big, something terrifying. A thousand plans, two thousand eyes, and all requiring a personal touch.Such is the State of Grace.To find out how Ser Grace bonded with the Inky Black check out Search for A’Helm. To learn the history of Ser Grace you can listen to the Fall from Grace Trilogy: The Hag, The City, The Dungeon as well as the Tieffany and Pop campaign Return to Grace. Ser Grace last appeared in The Adventures of the Greyhill Free Company and to hear more about the happenings on at Fairburn Point you can listen to Cult & Worship and The Lonely Tower. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oi lads, did you miss out on the Jaren'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 DNDs for nerds or Jaren's Outpost and slam that late pledge button. ACAS powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. The ocean is vast, beautiful, and lawless. I'm Ian Urbina back with an all-new season of The Outlaw Ocean. The stories we bring you this season are literally life or death. We look into the shocking prevalence of forced labor, mind-boggling overfishing, migrants hunted and captured. The outlaw ocean

takes you where others won't. Available on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com. Blink, Sir Grace the Merchant Traveler. Ear to the ground, friend to all on the road, everybody's ally. Blink, Sir Grace the Fighter, King of the of the pit building strength vanquishing foes Preparing blink so grace the wise woman providing solace blending a comforting ear hearing all blink 2,000 eyes a thousand plans and all requiring a personal touch This is the state of grace if Ada a

spy If Ada, a spy for Kandor, is killed by somebody from Blue Beach, Fairburn Point and Sir Grace remain innocent. I mean, obviously I can do it, but... How much do you trust me? I don't trust people, I trust money. Well, I mean money I can get you. Five million gold coins. Would I have anything close to that

in the treasury right now? It's a lot of money that he's asking for. Yes. If you end up capturing that dragon's horde, you will probably be net positive. Okay. But. That's a big if.

That's if. Yeah. You have that money to give him, but it is a lot of money. Okay. If you don't get that dragon's horde, you're going to be really hard pressed on money. The trick is I've already played my hand with Cutter. This is not really the kind of request or favor you can walk back. But if Ada were to tell Kandor what is happening here, even if she were to give them an inkling that something was amiss,

I presently do not have the forces to take, not even close. Even diminished as Kandor is, if that army wheeled around and came here, you'd be done. Yeah, yeah. I just extend a hand and I spit in it too. He spits on his hand and shakes it. Well, then we have an agreement. Payment first, obviously. Once the money's on my ship, it'll be easy.

Simple even. I was always a traitor to the Blue Beach independence cause the records will show this I have Forged many things in the past in fact won't even really need that much forging on this one in any case some of my Lesser officers weren't happy with that and I came here to turn myself my ship over to you but these officers weren't happy with the yes. Yes didn't want that a struggle ensued and Poor Ada. Yes shot right through the heart. I'm sure it's a tragedy. It really is say it's a yeah a real crying shame. He

Snaps his fingers and a couple of his personal retinue standing at attention fan out throughout the castle looking I well, I will have to make a show of Instructing servants to start loading the treasure and the gold onto his ship, but I begin the process basically already. All right. Okay. Fuck. What a day. What a day, dude. It's not getting better.

I'm letting you know that right now. It's not going to get better. So after the deal is done, after the personal bodyguards fan out and start searching for Ada, John Cutter just kind of begins casually talking with you. Are you, I mean, I understand you're very busy, so you might not necessarily be listening very much. So his voice kind of starts just droning.

It's a deep baritone voice that he has. In the presence of this esteemed court, presided over by the ancient and mighty dragons, we gather to pronounce judgment upon the necro-wizard Norton. Let it be known. And Ratan the Shameful does a big gesture, and hovering above him, a cage appears. A portal appears in the cage, and like he's being shoved from outside, from some forces shoving him, you see the Necro Wizard Norton stumbles into that cage. Okay. And the portal closes behind him. I, uh, as Captain Morlock Brush, I lean forward in my seat. It's a huge auditorium that you're in right now. I don't know if auditorium's the right word, but it's a...

not semicircle, a nearly complete circle with a little gap for people to enter... dragons to enter and exit. But on the stands all around, everyone gets a great view of the Necro Wizard Norton. There's many boos and jeering. People are not happy to see the Necro Wizard Norton. He is, as he looks the exact same as when you saw him last, as when you saw him the time before that, as when you saw him the time before that, stretching all the way back to the first time you ever encountered the Necro Wizard Norton, he is, as he has always been, a human, a male, roughly kind of like, you would say maybe like swimmers build.

But instead where a head would normally be is just a skull hovering in the air. He wears a deep purple and red robe, which is a bit tattered and mattered right now, presumably because his accommodations have not been particularly pleasant. Yeah. You can see he is bound at the hands and his hands are balled up in fists. You can tell there's a obvious magical presence to the manacles that are binding him that are presumably forcing his fingers curled into fists to prevent him from casting spells. He's also gagged and bound by the hands.

Does he look, I mean I know he looks rough because he's been sleeping rough, but does he? Just his clothes look rough. He looks about as ever. To the jeering and to the yelling, he slowly, the eyeless socket slowly scanned the crowd and then very briefly stop on you. That's bad. Fuck off.

Firstly, Norton stands accused of the heinous act of dragonside. He did knowingly and with malice of forethought slew the venerable dragon Eldrath by means of exsanguination draining the from his noble form. Boo, boo! The dragons, all regalia, all like kinda the myth of dragons is being shattered right now as they're booing like you would at a stage show or something. Second, the accused is charged with the attempted murder of two other dragons Dracothar and Velloron Dracothar presumably Dracothar and Velloron stand up in the in stand up in the stage and they get like extra

Aggressive towards the Necro wizard you can see one of them is quite clearly very badly healing, but very badly hurt. Yeah, okay. Through the use of dark and forbidden sorceries, their lives were spared only by the swift intervention of our kin. Third, Norton is charged with the desecration of sacred dragon relics, having defiled the ancient temple of scales in his quest for forbidden knowledge." The crowd, the boos kind of die down and everything gets very serious at the mention of the temple of scales. the Temple of Scales. All the dragons here are very subdued and very, very, there's like a nervousness, a

disquiet in the crowd now. Something occurs to you, Morlock. They said Temple of Scales in common. There's no, there's not a draconic term. Can I scan my knowledge, including the Goo Dragon, including um, uh, verse in generics. Can I scan to try and find any mention of that or any knowledge of the temple of scales? This and generics has been pretty thoroughly hollowed out. Yeah. There's not a lot of verse and generics left. Unfortunately, you to goo a dragon is a bit different to goo a person.

Dragons are so innately magical that anything left of a dragon will fight. Or it just inherently, it's like, it's always trying to fight off the infection, if you will. So there's not a lot of verse and generics for you to access, unfortunately. The Temple of Scales, you know it is sacred to dragons for religious purposes. You know rites are performed there. Maybe as verse in Jeterix, you have a vague memory of becoming an adult there. Oh, interesting.

Like it's like a spawning pool maybe. Something like that, yeah. The reason why it's called the Temple of Scales and not something in Draconic, you're not sure because that would be, it's a very Temple of Scales and not something in Draconic, you're not sure, because that would be a very complicated piece of knowledge. Fourthly, the accused is charged with the unlawful necromantic experimentation of Draconic spirit summoning for his vile purposes, thus disrupting the eternal rest of our ancestors. Fifth, Norton is charged with conspiracy to incite rebellion among the lesser races, seeking to turn them against the draconic Order through promises of power and dominion.

Lastly, the accused is charged with the theft of precious dragon hordes. A voice calls out from the stands, a dragon calls out, what of Versin Jeterix? What of his disappearance? His death? Who but the Necro Wizard? And the dragon points an accusing hand at the Necro Wizard. Yeah! Who but the Necro Wizard could have caused this?

Where is our kin? There's a bit of calm is called for. Ratton the Shameful gets the crowd back in order. Lastly, the accused is charged with the theft of precious dragon hoards, having stolen artifacts and treasures of great value from our sacred caches. These grievous offenses committed against all dragon kind and against the natural order must be answered for." And then Ratten looks at the Necro Wizard. What have you to say?

Everyone goes quiet. The Necro Wizard, his gag comes loose, magically so. Ratten the Shameful does a little gesture, comes loose. There's a quiet moment, and then the Necro Wizard putting up both of his, well, his fists, he puts them up to get attention from the crowd. It was not I who slew Verson Jeterix. Uh... Who slew Verson Jatterix! Ha ha ha ha ha! But I know who did! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Sir Jordan Grace!

Again in the castle at Fairburn Keep, in the mines beneath the, in the dwarven mines, in the lonely tower, and here just a brief pause of everybody as we wait to see what the dragons say. There's a long quiet moment. Ratten the Shameful seems very taken aback. He wasn't expecting, maybe it's crazy, he wasn't expecting that the Necro Wizard would contest any of the charges. As I said previously, this isn't like a trial to determine guilt.

No, this is what are they going to do? Yeah, sentencing. Why did he do that? Jordan Grace has never been a unjustified enemy of dragons. Why say this? The NecroWizard scanning around his eyes, his sockets, once again, rest on you. He should have to answer for that himself. His motives, I'm sure, made sense to him at the time, but unfortunately, quite a blunder. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Falls forth the tis doc the scribe okay the scribe comes over and the two of them ran the shameful and the Tis doc are beginning inspecting the cage you can see that they're casting a spell they're trying to find They're trying to determine something right now to like sense a motive or like to see if he's lying well

Scanning through a bunch of the different people, maybe Jindabine again jumps in. Jindabine jumps in with a voice and you're like, I think I know this. Jindabine says, yes, zone of truth, the zone of truth, the dragons are disconcerned. They know that he did not kill Verson Jeterix now. I don't think Jinderbine is the Necro Wizard, do I, Adam? How could he? Uh oh. Hmm. I have become very paranoid.

Okay. Fuck. Well, I can't stop the Zone of Truth. I'm not going up against a hundred and three hundred sixteen dragons, so I... Ratten the Shameful. ...let it play out. Yeah. Ratten the Shameful says, we shall have to take a recess while this new matter is discussed. So grace, this is troubling indeed. Okay.

The dragons begin slowly filing out of the court. The cage that holds the necro wizard remains where it is. If I go up and talk to him, I mean, right now Sir Grace is, he suspects that the necro wizard knows that he's here in the form of a Moloch brush, but I don't want to go over there and confirm it for him. You know what I mean? There's a bunch of... So the dragons file out, but a bunch of kobolds remain.

You can see they've got little batons. They're quite obviously guards. Okay, okay. They're just here to keep an eye on the Necro Wizard, it seems. Okay. I am going to... Just again, under the guise of just like I'm here as an official to just learn what's going on. I'm mostly here for the high priest. The high priest. So I'm just going to go and mingle basically to just get a sense of how the dragons feel about this and what they're going to do.

And if I can in the most subtle way be like, but a zone of truth is just what he thinks. It's not, he believes it's true. That doesn't mean it necessarily is true, right? All right, you're starting a whisper campaign. A little bit, I think I have to, I think I have to. But I'd like to do it with the affectation of like a, like a kind of not very intelligent, you know, like I'm just-

I'm just asking questions. Yes, yeah, like, oh, I don't know how it works. You know, like I was given to believe that that a zone of truth was just what the individual under the zone of truth believed to be true, but it wasn't a sort of inherent truth. But I mean, I don't know. I'm not very magically inclined.

I'm a druid. Doing that, you make your way through the group. Yeah, you start a whisper campaign and you can see a lot of the dragons are like, oh yeah, you know, that's very true. I mean, just a thought. Just a thought. Shut the fuck up. But wouldn't it, if I was the Necro Wizard

and I wanted to implicate somebody, surely my greatest enemy is who I would pick. Just a thought. I'm just asking questions. That argument doesn't hold as much water. No, no, no. I don't say that. I don't say it. Just the first one. Just the first one. There are a few dragons who are like, well, yes, that is presumably what he thinks, whether or not it's true is another matter entirely. There is a very frustrating group of dragons though, who are like, well, who would know Jordan Grace better than the Necro Wizard Norton? Yep, yep, yep.

I cannot fight 316 dragons, Adam. I don't have it in me. I'm extremely busy right now. You watch as the conversation, so the recess, there's a like a murmur among the dragons and you can tell there's a conversation. Yeah, you can tell there's a conversation that is happening that is it kind of, it's moving its way through the crowd

and it's avoiding you. You watch sometimes as you and the high priest approach some dragons who are having a conversation, they'll kind of like stop talking or change the subject. Do I think, I mean, I don't know if this would be possible to tell, but do I think that's because they just see me as like, I am the only non dragon or cobbled here as the same with the high priest or do I think it's because they are hiding yeah suspicious of me in some way you can't tell unfortunately I think the problem is that the dragons are so if I was like to use a familiar or something to try and

eavesdrop on the dragons they They're so magically attuned, or that there's so many of them. Yeah, that it would be pretty impossible for me to do it without them realizing. In fact, it would be, it's kind of like more suspicious. Well, there's nothing I can really do to change their minds without instantly implicating myself in some way. They know as well, I suppose, that I

am here on behalf of Fairburn Point. And if they know their shit, they know that the current region is Sir Grace. So I'm lucky enough that I got away with my previous whisper campaign without that arousing suspicion that I'm, I'm just going to call it. I'm just going to go back to my seat and try and act like everything's normal. Your seat back in the big auditorium? Yeah. I'll just gonna cool it. I'm just gonna go back to my seat and try and act like everything's normal. Your seat back in the big auditorium? Yeah, I'll just go wait there. You get the impression that the recess, You think- Is it probably gonna be the end of the day?

It's the end of the day, unfortunately. Okay. It feels suspiciously like it might be the end of the day. Maybe you wander back, not realizing that at first, you wander back to your seat, sit down, and you just watch the cage is slowly rotating, but the Necro Wizard is not. And so every now and then just watch the cage is slowly rotating, but the NecroWizard is not. And so every now and then the NecroWizard in his rotation and you could tell he's...

I'm the only guy in the auditorium now. You can feel the socket, the eyeless sockets looking at you. Okay. Well, okay. The dragons are avoiding me, but are they avoiding me entirely? They're not, no, they're not outright avoiding you. You can just tell there's a conversation that they are not having around you. Well, that's okay. Can I try and listen for a conversation regarding, because I did this prior to him being brought out and his crimes being listed, and I'd like to do it again now that this has all happened.

Where's public favor turning in terms of sentencing? What are they going to do it again now that this has all happened, where's public favor turning? In terms of sentencing, what are they gonna do to him? You can tell of the faction, the splintered nonetheless, but of the faction that was like, let's kill him. Some support has been drained from that as a bunch of the dragons. Some dragons were like, well, verse in Jedarix as well, two dead dragons, we gotta kill this guy. Some of that support has waned, but it's also waned because some dragons are like,

well, something's going on here and we can't start killing people till we know what. Fuck, okay. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Where will they put him if they don't kill him? If they imprison him or something? I guess I don't know. He came out of a portal to another plane it looked like.

Can I connect two dots for you? So he came out of a portal from another plane. Ratan the Shameful was the one who brought him out. Ratan the Shameful has another plane where he keeps his horde. Okay, so he's in the ratten dimension. He's in the shame dimension. He's been in the shame dimension. He's in the shame field.

Yeah. Okay. I think across the many different minds that is Sir Grace, one of them to one person, it occurs, maybe Jinderbine again. Yeah. Ooh, keeping him in the plane. Yeah. Why would he be? Yeah. Okay. Oh, Jinderbine again. Ooh, keeping him in the plane. Ha ha ha. Yeah. Why would he be?

Yeah. Okay. Oh, Jinderbine, why do you sound- Why do you sound exactly like the Necro Wizard? It's very- It's my cheeky wizard voice. Let's hope that's all it is. Okay.

So they're keeping, they're keeping the NecroWizard in Ratan's shame plane to be brought out. Okay. And that's a, is that a library? It's like an ancient library. It's a giant library. The Kano Alunus. It was once a, you're not sure.

Oh yeah. The records don't really state what it was before that, but he didn't make the plane, he found it and it was empty. Hmm. They couldn't be working together, could they? Riding in the Necro Wizard? No, that's a scary idea. Well, I mean, he's keeping him in his library and like.

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Acast.com. Where would the, I guess the necromancer is highly magical. I'm just wondering where he would have got the information to figure out all of these special, you know, the temple of scales and stuff like that. That's why I'm like, well, if he's in the fucking rat in dimension, it's a big library. I don't know. That's just something to think about. So I'm going to put in the back pocket.

Maybe I need to know more about rat in the shameful dimension, but where am I going to learn? Cause presumably if they imprison him, they'll just send him right back there. So where are they going to, where could I learn about that? Do I, I've exhausted the dwarven like record hall, haven't I? You haven't exhausted it, but it is, it's a lot to get through. The way the dwarves kept records,

I think I've said this already. Yeah, it's like on big tablets and stuff. There's no like, oh, go to this section to learn about magic, this section to learn about. It's chronological, is that it? Archaeology, yeah. Yeah, okay. It's one thing after another.

So you... It would take a long time. Yeah, it takes a long time to filter through because you're starting at year one. Yep, okay. Well, that's something to think about anyway. Okay, I guess I just wait to see what the sentencing is, really. Maybe if you're still scanning around, Jinderbine jumps in again. He's got a lot of things to say about this, I suppose. Yeah.

He unlocking the door to where that ancient evil is. Mm. He ponders and ponders in such a way that you hear it. Yeah. Well, I suppose we could speak to someone who was there when Ratan did what he did. Dragons aren't the only things that live for long times, Jinderbine says, looking at the door to where the ancient evil lives. Okay. All right. We gotta just open got some steps. We got some next steps.

Fabulous. So scattered. All right, I well, I guess yeah, I I'll wait till that Ancient Evil is unlocked and we'll- Well, it's unlocked and it's ready for you to- Yeah. Well, so, Captain Morlock, you wait until it gets dark. And like I said, the recess kind of turns into end of day.

Yep. You're there until it gets dark, looking into the... Every now and then, as he turns around, looking into those black, shadowy pits where eyes once were in the NecroWizard skull. Your surroundings get darker and those eyes remain as dark as they ever were. It is very hard to see without light, but dwarven eyes can cut through that with dark vision. Perfect.

As Agate Shieldmold, you make your way back to the main, not encampment, sorry, the main archaeological dig. Like excavation, basically? Yeah. to the main, not encampment, sorry, the main archeological dig. Like excavation, basically? Yeah, the main part of the dig, back where Jinderbine is slowly peeling away or looking at protections and whatnot. Some of the dwarves there, as you approach,

one of them asks, where's Nyla? I, she fell into a crevice. I don't know what happened. She was right behind me. Oh, did I fucking whiff it? God damn it. So, Grace, you are so scattered right now. You forgot to put emotion into it.

Okay, let me do it then. She fell into a crevice. I lost her back there. She was right behind me. The last word comes out and you're like, fuck, I should have sounded sad. It's like, I go from that to just instantly crying. Oh There there may be the dwarf that you were talking to is maybe so taken aback by that

Yeah, while they clock it as being fucking weird. Yeah, they're not gonna say or do anything about it right now You just see a dwarf several dwarfs. So you You see several dwarfs make a mental note of that. Yeah, okay. They're probably, look, hey, maybe. Everyone knows that you've been acting weird lately. Yeah, yeah, yeah. People don't know why, that's fine. There is immediately a search party gathered

to go collect the corpse. Great. Really good stuff. Fuck! Okay. You need to lead the way. Actually, you know what, okay. Um, now. You need to lead the way. Actually, you know what's right? The director, a search party is being gathered,

and pretty quickly the director is there in front of you. Director Thorncast. Explain to me, lead the way, please, take us back to Nyla, and explain to me every step of the way. Is is she did you hear is she okay? It sounded like such a deep crevice She's gone forever

There can't be anybody Back ever again. Oh, man. You're in such fucking stress right now You're in such fucking stress right now. Of course they were gonna try and get a body. I just thought, oh maybe I should have said she went missing. I should have said, I don't know where she is. I shouldn't have said she was in a crevice. And they're fucking dwarves, so they'll figure it out. Okay, this is fine.

This is fine. How close to completing the- He's done. You can get through that door right now. Have I got every dwarf on the search party? What do you mean? Like how... Oh, not every dwarf, no.

How many people are left behind? Barely a skeleton crew, to be honest. Actually at that door, no one other than Jindabine. Yeah. But how many people, how many potential combatants... Say Adam. Yeah. A gal was thinking about waiting till everybody's down in this crevasse and

then causing like a cave in or something. It's not, unfortunately, it's not the, what's the third Batman, third Nolan Batman movie? The Dark Knight Rises? Yeah. It's fortunately not every cop in Gotham going down. God damn it. Okay. That's fine. There is a sizable portion though It's you know, there's no one such a sizable portion that there are huge parts of the dig when no one is is right now

But if the dig is let's say 50 dwarves in total. Yeah, you would say maybe 35 are currently searching for that. That's not bad You would say maybe 35 are currently searching for Nyla. That's not bad. All right. As I lead them through the tunnels we went through. And you explain the story. Yeah. I say, you all know.

You do a better job this time. You remember to put emotion in. You all know that Nyla and myself have been, you know, our relationship, you know, such that it is, has been complicated recently. And I brought her in to the caves to just have a talk. And I wanted to get somewhere private, which was stupid of me. I should have just spoken to her there. But as we were crawling through these tunnels here, I just heard the sound of her.

I, she just fell. And I tried to get back down the crevasse, but I didn't want to perish myself. So I'm going to lead you to it. You lead them to the crevasse itself? Well, when you get there, the director puts a hand on your shoulder and says, you shouldn't have to. If she's alive, we'll find her. She gets another dwarf to walk you back. You go, we'll make a cup of tea or something like that.

We'll find her, all right? Thank you so much. She's gonna be all right. Yeah. I'm sure she's. Maybe, maybe she survived, I say. Maybe, you know, she was a hardy lass. Stranger things have happened and worst case scenario, she grabs one of the other dwarves. There's a lot of clerics here. God, if God's above,

if that, if you know, if that's how it shakes out, I'd be so happy. If we can find a body today, it might be fine. Thank you, I say. I put my hand on her shoulder. Bring her back if you can. We will. We will. I swear it to you.

Thank you. I turn around. Get a little worried. A lot of people saying things and then it manifests an entity here. So you're a little worried about that. Careful. Easy now. All right.

I'll head back to Jinderbine. When you get back to Jinderbine, the dwarf who's walking with you says, Jinderbine, I think we're done for the day. I'd actually really like to just throw myself into my work if that's okay. What's wrong with you, Agate? Agate, all of the strange stuff that you have done up until this point, it's like the rubber band is just stretched a bit too taut and it's snapped back at you. What the hell is going on with you?

Throwing yourself into your work. Agate, you loved Nihila more than you loved anything. People change. Not this fast. During the first round of each combat, you have advantage when attacking a creature that hasn't taken a turn. Nearly rolled and You hit Agate. You deal a d6 plus 3d6 sneak attack. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Agate with a little flick the dagger's in your hand and with a second flick it's underneath this dwarf's neck. A look of shock and betrayal and then life leaves their eyes. I'm so sick of these bleeding hearts. For the love of God, tell me some good news, Jinderbine. We can enter now if you want.

Let's do it. This body's about used up. The two of you turn around and Jinderbine, placing two of his spidery hands on the doors, gives a little push and the doors swing open. As you are about to enter into this dark, awful place, maybe one last thought of, why does Jinderbind sound like the necroism? That's fucking weird. And both of you wander into the

dark cavernous space. As you found out earlier, this is the mine, or it was once the mine for this place, but it has not seen purpose for that in some time. You travel down a long winding path, corkscrew type path,

down. You can see there are many offshoots where it would lead, a tunnel would lead into a, if they found like a particularly rich vein of ore, they would have caverned out certain areas. Yeah, cool. But Jindabine is leading you ever down deeper into this place. He seems to be very confident that he knows where this entity is. Just the darkness and giggling every now and then. What's so funny? Why it's all funny isn't it? I honestly could not tell you what's

funny about this situation. It appears to me to be deadly serious. The magic, it's everywhere. Can't you feel it? Can't you sense it? No. The ink, the black within you, so, so prevalent on everything. Then this, the magic of intention, it tickles the mind, delightful. Sure. Like a fine wine.

Sure. Better, better even. Sure. Like a fine wine. Sure. Better. Better even. Okay. When we approach, when it senses us, it will lash out. But I can hold it off for a time. Do you wish to speak? Question it. I will be talking to it. I can provide you some time. It might not be very willing to talk. You might have to offer it something. And I would caution against lying to an entity of intention. I don't even know if you can. What kinds of things will it would make for a good offering? The life of a gesture to agate shield mold?

Well, it would want something that, well, it would probably want what it has a bit more. I assume it's already looking or already achieved what it wants. It clearly wants gold, but I don't think coins is enough. I just gave 5 million gold to John Connor. It'll have to do with something other than gold. Jindabine shrugs. I don't know if it will. Well, it'll make do. It happens very quickly. Very suddenly, even with dwarven eyes, it's difficult to see down here.

It's so dark. The darkness is like an oppressive thing. Before you can react, before you know what's happening, Jindabine flicks his wrist, his spidery hand splays out and then BANG! A giant black tendril, not inky black, black like darkness is black, strikes a force field that Jindabine has conjured. The tendril retracts. Restrain it. I don't think I need to. It's quiet, he says.

I wasn't expecting that. How interesting, how, how interesting. Something going right for once. In the darkness, it's impossible to really make out its shape, but in the darkness, you can tell. It's maybe 10 feet away from you And it's big and it's quiet and it's still it seems to be waiting I need information and the name I have your name is Zephyr, but I'm given to understand that's not accurate

Zephyr is the name the dwarves gave. I am Greed. Greed, right. Well, Greed, I'm given to understand you lived at the same time as a dragon. I have always been. Since there were two, one has coveted what the other had the dragon's name is rotten the shameful you know of him I know of all dragons helpful what What do you want? Gold. What else? Diamonds. Now. Treasures. Yes. I could give him...

I don't have Mom Ran's hoard just yet. I could give him that, but then I can't refill my coffers, which is a real problem. You want what you do not have. You want what others own. What would that be? You want a death. You see a conjured image of the Necro Wizard. You want power.

You see an image of the Lonely Tower. You want power. You see an image of the lonely tower. You want... There's a sly laugh almost to the next word. More death. You see an image of the gallant rider. You see an image of Ada and Puglese. But most of all, you want change. That is true. All of this is in service of change. And you're telling me you can offer me that? Or are you just pointing out what I already know? Your barrier does nothing to stop me. I am on both sides of it. But a deal can be made. Money, gold, diamonds. I want it all.

Now obviously I don't have that kind of treasure with me. Would the location suffice? You will bring it to me here in this place. You will bring it to me, here in this place. And in exchange, I can give you one. This magic of intention, you make a deal and you may not be able to back out. Yes, I thought as much. This is a being of pure intention, though it seems to believe itself to be, you know, sort of one of the foibles of people kind. I do not know the extents of its power.

Magic of intention is interesting, but in some ways unknowable. It could be powerful, or it could be all powerful. Where do you go when you leave this place? I search. For gold? No. For what? For all. That's not helpful.

It thrums a little bit, the darkness, and you see an image of a person. You don't know them. Who's this? They want desire. You want this person? They do not want or desire. I find that hard to believe. They are pure content.

It hurts. Well and this person... It looked like just a guy. You couldn't see anything special about them. This person is alive today. Yes nearby. Their presence offends me. A lot easier than giving you gold or diamonds. It considers for a long time. I had not thought to trade this. Life is cheaper than gold. If you can bring them here. I know nothing of this person. I cannot be in them. I cannot see in them.

But they are near here. I'm going to succeed in each of those endeavors. It appears you've got nothing to offer me, which is quite disappointing. But I do still want that information. The greed, you see you've planted a seed in it. Speaking about bringing this person, this content person, it thrums, the idea that it nearly,

that you were nearly gonna make this deal and then you pulled away. You can see the embodiment of greed is very upset about that. Maybe actually bang! The Jindebine has to do the little flick again as it slams itself into the shield that he's conjured. This is on you.

I want it. You're offering me something already have it I want it. I want it. I want it. I need it bring me him Bring me him. What do you want? Hmm, it'd still be a deal wouldn't it? I can tell you I can tell you how to get To get to the Necro Wizard. You want this information, yes. Yes, I can tell you. Seems to me though, if I think about it,

that you want this more than I want what you have. Bang! The entire place shudders. Jindabine gives you a worried look. Seems to me I have you. Bang! It slams again. You don't have you. Bang! It slams again. You don't have me. Bang!

Bang! Bang! If I think about it, if I really put it in perspective. Jindabine does, there's no laughter to Jindabine. The cheatering stops. Jindabine takes a couple steps backwards. You feel fear in him. I have the opposite how pathetic you are

I say to greed bang bang bang crash Jinderbine's forcefield finally cracks and agate shield mold you are wrapped in greed wrapped in Greed's tendril. Who are you? Jim the Vine flees. As Sir Grace sitting across from John Cutter, what a baby. Sorry.

What were you saying? Sir Grace, Oblivion comes for Agate Shieldmold. This is not a new sensation for you. Snapping back your, your, not your attention, sorry, your mind, your ego, if you will, snaps back from Agate Shield mold as that form is destroyed instantaneously. And on its way back, as it's

snaking back to your body, it is distracted momentarily by a new, different oblivion that comes not with the destruction of a form, but merely the perception of the world around it. The tendril you have sent out to control the entities at the Lonely Tower, you can see that it has reached the end of infinity and stares into the nothing. Okay. Would you like to engage with that? Yes, yes I would.

That feels like it requires my attention right now. You have reached after an infinite amount of time, you and the inky black entities that you are in command of have reached the end of an infinite staircase. And at the end of an infinite staircase, which took you an infinite amount of time to surmount, you reach the amount of time to surmount, you reach the end of things, you stare into an infinite void of nothing. Even for your changed, your altered perception of reality, it is disconcerting. What little humanity is left within Sir Grace does not like to look upon the void.

Does this seem like, because ostensibly we are still in a tower, does this seem like the next level of the tower as well as being the end of all things? You think the one is the same, yes. Okay. I suppose we have no choice but to step into it. You step off the last step of the infinite staircase and you step into oblivion. You are in oblivion. The end of all things. Time has ceased to matter in this place as does space and distance.

What's the first thing that comes to Sir Grace's mind? In Sir Grace's mind, there's a chance to rest. There's a chance to cease a kind of constant battle that he has been having his entire life. How does Sir Grace perceive this rest? Is it like being able to lie down in bed? Is it the shade of a nice tree? I think if, and if I'm getting this correctly, Sir Grace will manifest whatever is coalescing

inside of him, then all of a sudden the landscape would change to the end of like a great battle. Okay. And there would be like a tree in the centre of it and so Grace, bloody and weary and dressed in armour probably, would, this is just where his mind, when he thinks of the calm and he thinks of what oblivion might mean, this is what he would picture and he would take off like his helmet and place it at the base of the tree and insert a spear into the ground and then sort of sit and survey the combat and the carnage that he just witnessed. What was the battle? I think that the battle is, I mean, it's psychological, but it's

So Grace is kind of becoming a little lost in this moment. Yes, yes, absolutely. The battle, I would say, the other combatants, the people that are dead, or other adventurers, I think there would be archetypical barbarians in furs. There would be wizards with their robes splattered with mud and gore. There'd be archers peppered with arrows,

that kind of thing. Is anyone else alive? I don't think so. Okay, so Grace sits, I suppose, doesn't stand alone. Do you... Maybe Cinder, which would be the spear, even though Sir Grace doesn't carry Cinder at all, Cinder would be the spear and it would go sort of dark as he implants it in the ground. This battle, is this a specific battle that Sir Grace is recalling?

No, I think this is a spiritual battle that Sir Grace is manifesting. You sit there for some time, you'll probably have enough time to, Sir Grace has enough time for his mind to wander a bit before anything is, any actual, happens to him so he has time His psyche I suppose has time to manifest something else before something happens to Mull. Yeah, I suppose then

What would happen is that from amidst the corpses of? Great adventurys kind of like almost not visible prior but suddenly manifesting Undead skeletons would rise right? Yes skeletons that look not dissimilar, but definitely not identical Possibly on the breeze somewhere Like like the tinkling of a wind chime the laughter for the Necro Wizard, but these skeletons represent a sort of more vague evil, I think, in Sir Grace's mind. And they would rise up again to be fought, as though they weren't taken down in whatever battle this was. Would these, so if these skeletons could just rise and wander about, but they could also see Sir Grace.

Oh, that's absolutely what they would do. The skeletons would rise, they would clasp in their bony claws, their rusted weapons, and they would make for an assault on Sir Grace. Alright. Who I suppose, sitting against the tree with a heavy... ...would pick up his helmet, place it back on his head, hold Cinder to the heavens. Cinder! And then... Cinder explodes with flames? Engage in combat. Alright, well let's go to initiative then. As Sir Grace fights his own psyches.

Oh no. This is really the risk of assaulting something like the Lonely Tower. We really should have figured out some kind of contingency plan for this happening. Getting lost in one's own dreams. Absolutely. It really needs to be some kind of self-destruct that can activate on these tendrils. A ACAS powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Basically sounded like a multi-level marketing scheme, but for drug trafficking. So my name is Yaroslav Paskov, better known as Slava P, and I just pled guilty to a charge

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