Dice Shame - 124 | 'Friends in High Places'

Episode Date: February 24, 2022

Travelling south to Silverymoon presents some much needed hope but a new set of problems... Comedy, action and a whole lot of shaming come together in Dice Shame, an Actual Play Podcast of Storm King's Thunder by Wizards of the Coast! Join our GM Jo; her partner Harlan, his brother Alex & their best friends Justin and Rob as they tackle the daunting world of Faerun in this legendary adventure module! Dice Shame is a podcast that welcomes its audience to the gaming table. Like the games they play at home, they try not to take themselves too seriously. The show aims to be entertaining, inclusive, and irreverent, while still taking the rules (somewhat) seriously. Join us every Thursday morning for brand new episodes available on all major platforms including; Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and more! If you haven't checked it out yet... what are you waiting for?!? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eve Ho, let's get to it. Wow, that was a lot heavier than I thought. At least we don't need to carry that. Doran, look out. There's another one on your left. Did you see what he did to that spell? Roll it on. We're the dumb stupid place. Red and Doran are right.

Going with an open mind. Where can we get a drink in this town? Oh, guys, hey! You're sure you don't need a hand. One for a party. He's on us, everyone. And everything will go back to normal. Can't one of you magically lift things?

Hello, Eve. Hey, Mom. Welcome back to Dyshame, Episode 124, Friends in High Places. MVP this week is Habsiavibvijer, who wrote us a glowing review on iTunes about how much we inspire them in the way we play. Thank you so much, friend. Thanks, Habibizsizegovina. Invictuscon is back. That's right. Invictuscon, 2020 is an online convention. for fans of Dice Shame, Malevolent, and Invictus. Join us the weekend of March 25th for RPGs, contests, panels, and more.

It's going to be so much fun. You have to be there. If you'd like to join an RPG, head to DiceShamepodcast.com slash InvictusCon and find out when signups are open, plenty of games to be had. Best of all, it's 100% free. Free! All right, should we play some D&D? Let's do it.

With the three giant artifacts securely back in your possession, the shield, the boulder, and the broken mask, you look out upon the rushing icy river with renewed purpose. The wreckage of the airship still smolders in the distance, but your attention is toward the tasks you have at hand. Silvery moon lies ahead of you, some significant distance to the southwest. But Red's inability to become lost, and Jack's unerring sense of direction mean that you will make your way wherever. you are determined to go. The strange hairy creatures known as the Corrid, having deposited you and your belongings

on the riverbank, have turned their backs to you in favor of continuing to salvage interesting pieces of the wrecked airship. So long, friends, thank you for, well, I guess, letting us barter with you. Showing you how we do it down south,

Red says the big thumbs up as he climbs into the boat. Well, it was certainly kind of them, too, Let us get our stuff back from the wreckage. Kind. They raked us over the coals. Yeah. At least we're here and moving forward.

We do have transportation again. It's not flying, but it'll do, I suppose. I just can't believe we met Corrid. Those things are super rare. Like, there are only a handful of people on the surface have, like, interacted with them like we have. That's kind of cool. Yeah, we're cool.

Dorn, why don't you get the left flank? Cranath, are you okay with the right? Jack and I could do the rowing but honestly we're not Of course Of course You just told me what to do

All right I'll be at the bow And Red climbs in And steadies the boat As the others climbing What size of Stephen Are you using? So we're using Sort of the smallest boat

Which is the 10 foot long one That we rode down the river anyway But it fits for comfortably Which I imagine allows space For our various accoutrement And pets And pets Come on, Shale

who's like been quietly plotting along behind Red walking on her own now. Plotting and plotting. And plotting. Yeah, the camera just pans to her and it gets like a dun dun dun da. Come on, buddy. Their weird little alien eyes do like a hypnotized. Oh, she loves me so much though. It's not even funny.

She's like got her little claws open for like daddy to pick her up. She's like, okay, okay. Yeah, and Red will get in the bow and begins. guiding everyone as we move down river. Your journey downstream is a rough one. The river only runs because of its swift speed, and at times chunks of ice crash violently against the side of the magical boat. You're sprayed over and over with freezing water as you encounter patches of especially coarse rapids, and soon you're all soaked to the skin and rhymed with ice. Gripping the paddles is difficult with frozen hands, though necessary, as you need the oars to push off

rocks that threaten to put a hole in the bottom of the boat and to avoid the worst spots as best you can. I kind of picture red up front with Shale, like, pointing out and directing. To the left! To the left! Harder! Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, too much, too much. Back, back, back. Okay, keep it forward. Keep it forward. Uh-huh. Yeah. And Doran, with his, with his oar, is pushing away chunks of ice as they come towards us.

But glancing over Doren's shoulder at Crayloth, who's managing the other side of the boat, what's Krayloth's demeanor? Like, is he panicked, like sort of red, and I imagine Jack is a little bit, and same with Doren. You look over at Kraloth and you see him very stoically paddling and being very efficient with his strokes and almost all of his strokes are completely uniform. And it doesn't look like there's much on his mind. And then at the snap of a finger, he is shouting something to red or laughing. And it's like a sudden switch, like zero to a hundred switch of him looking like he's completely stoic to having lots of color and animated. And it's actually in one of these moments where you realize that Kralath looking right at you, Doren, Doran, look out. There's another one on your left.

Oh, thanks. Keep it tight, boys. Having stared far too long at Kraloth, I put my oar back in the water and really start focusing again on paddling this boat and making sure we don't crash. Jack is mostly trying to keep Kieran from leaping out the boat or getting caught on a rock or doing something. So he's doing a lot of wrangling a wet, excited puppy who's too smart for his own good. And thinking about what's next on the journey. He's sort of given to faith that with Reds piloting and the brawn of Kraloth and Doren, the ship stuff is handled. And so he's sort of lost in his own thoughts about, you know, going to Silvery Moon

and then somehow trekking up back into the woods to find Barone as well and just kind of casting his mind forward in time and wiping the odd splash of frozen water off his face. at particularly shallow or treacherous spots you are forced to get out and walk the boat folds up easily enough but the giant artifacts the boulder and the shield they are large and heavy and too cumbersome to fit inside the bag of holding

how do you accomplish these portages I think red noticed them first obviously and he's like slow down slow down hold act hold and as we come to a stop sort of near the side he sort of turns it looks like we're going to need to walk it this time

everybody let's get out I feel like Doran jumps out of the boat not necessarily doubting red but then walks further down the river to realize that like yeah it's starting to get ankle deep at this point and there's really the boat's too heavy to continue on yeah I guess you're right poking around

in the water on the plus side as soon as we get out and move the artifacts off. Red just says, Stave in one, and the boat folds up. So, Lace, we don't need to carry that, he says, as he sort of looks down. We're sort of just on an offshoot. It's still icy, still cold,

but it's sort of that transitional weather, you know, where as we look around, some of the trees are clear of snow. And I kind of picture us in a half-moon clearing with the woods all around us, enough that we can sort of trudge along the river and find another spot. to land. I don't think we should venture too far into the woods. Red says as he eyes the tree line.

The sooner we can get back on the water, the better. Yeah. And maybe Doran's standing eyeing the artifacts wondering how the hell we're going to like move them. I guess we could, uh, roll the boulder. Could we? Would that damage it? He looks over at Jack. It's a giant made artifact that's lived this long. I think if a little scuffing is going to break it, then we'd be in trouble. I just don't worry about coming across two trees too close together to roll it through. Why don't we make skis? Some kind of sliders that we could put it on and pull it. It might be easier.

Or to bargain. Yeah. That's not a bad idea. Sort of use a way to drag it so that we don't actually need to carry it. That's awesome. Well, a question, how deep is the snow? Like, could we just put the boat on the? the snow and drag the boat like a sled?

You could if you were in an open plane. Oh, but it's pretty dense forest. Yeah, there's forest and rocks and it would be... Plus, I think it would just be too awkward. I think it would be too awkward because where there's trees and snow, it's usually not as deep, and so you've got like... Does it make the most sense to fashion something then and maybe just drag it? We can keep it upright and Red sort of steps back measuring with his hands.

And again, the rarity of Red getting to show his guild artist in your... You know, it comes out again as he sort of eyes the tree lines for the types of trees that he could cut down. I don't know. It might not be worthwhile, but if we wanted to, I could probably fashion something that could keep this thing upright. Would allow it to fit between trees a little easier, a little bit of rope and we can pull it along behind us, thoughts? Well, either that. Hey, can't one of you magically lift things? Like, isn't that one of your spells?

All of us look towards Jack. Just one of you? It's possible, but there's a limit to how. far that'll get us. Like we're, you know, if we're talking about just from here to over there, I could maybe levitate it 10 minutes, maybe 2,000 feet, something like that, but going beyond that, we're going to need a better idea. So I don't know how far till the next time we're on the, on the water again, Red. And Red sort of hops on to what I imagine is like large boulders, a couple hundred feet down the river that are blocking it. Red sort of skips off and climbs onto

those with the rushing water beneath them and he spots down the river to try to see where it opens up again. It's clear as far as you can see, but this is a winding river. You know what? It's only a couple hundred feet. I think we can just carry the thing. Heave-ho, let's get to it.

Jack says, and then looks to all the stronger people in there. There's a disingenuous that he doesn't catch until it's out of his mouth. I think Red sort of gives him a look and arches an eyebrow and says, Jack, I think if we all carry it'll be easier. Of course. Yeah, yeah. No, I'm here to help.

And then Doreen kind of, you know, goes and stands in front of it, kind of does a squat and motions for you guys to kind of push it up onto his back, you know? As a stout little strong dwarf, I feel like, you know what, I might be able to carry this boulder on my back, you know? All right. At least 100 yards. Like if Doren thinks he can do it, sure, let's try it. Yeah, bend over, Doren.

Let me shove this hard thing in your back. Maybe I'll spot you and just keep a. Be the motivating force there. Maybe Kralath and Redd and I can balance it on your back, and away we go. Yeah, I'll just stand underneath it. Hey, well, this might help as well. Doran, hold still, hold still, before he put it on. And Kraloth steps towards you, and he blows some sage over Doran's beard.

That little bits fall in. Oh, hey, that smells pretty good. I'm going to cast enhanceability on him for Bull's strength. And so the target has advantage on strength checks and his or her carrying capacity doubles. So I don't know what your carrying capacity is, Doran, but you might just be able to throw it in your sack. Roll an athletics check for me. I'll just roll an athletics check, yeah. With advantage.

That is going to be a 26. Wow. Nice. I rolled a 19. Hey, all right. Based on that, can I carry this boulder, do you think? At least 100 meters? Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Maybe it's a little bit difficult to get up on your back just because of its size.

Yeah. But once it's there securely, you have no trouble. Doran's like, come on, Doran, I'll guide you. And Red starts walking in front of Doran to sort of guide him towards the next area of the river. Jack takes a moment to walk over to Kralath before we follow and just says, do you have all the components you need? I just want to make sure maybe if you needed something for your pouch, I just noticed how you cast that spell and you didn't use your holy symbol. So I just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed. Oh, well, I mean, I'm always channeling into my holy symbol, whether I have it in my hands or not.

I think I'm okay for now, but I'll definitely let you know if I do find something that I need. Thank you, Jack. Maybe when we get a moment, we can just take stock. I just want to make sure you're taking care of yourself. And Jack kind of pats him on the back And let's catch up Kralov follows All right here, right here

And Red throws the boat on Stephen too The water as it Flops out And Doran sets it down On to the boat Wow, that was a lot heavier than I thought But not impossible And he kind of looks at him

You did it, Doran, good job Oh, your back is bleeding, bud How much do you think that was, Doran? Probably about 900 pounds 900. There's no way that's 900 pounds. If I had to guess, well, look at me. And Doran stands and kind of holds his biceps. Look at this.

Look at this. And he stands there doing mussely poses for a little too long while nobody's really paying attention. You're built, though. Like, you're easily the strongest member of the party. Oh, for sure. I'm a strong dwarf. I'm strong even for dwarves.

You know what I'm saying? Look at those muscles. I'm like a very strong dwarf. You're so strong. In fact, Doran stands there facing the woods going, I'm a strong dwarf. I'm a strongest dwarf. Look at these.

We're all like in the boat looking at Doran being like, Don't what the hell are you doing? Come on. I'm all vainy. Look at how vainy I am. Oh, I'm coming. I'm coming. A day passes, and it's much of the same.

You know, maybe you guys make camp. overnight on the riverbank, and then you head off again the next day. And you still find yourself having to brave these rapids to deal with these large chunks of ice, and it gets exhausting. During one of these portages, where you're walking beside a shallow area of the river where the snow and ice have closed up over the water, a strange pale shape with a massive wingspan circles over. overhead and flaps down towards you.

I think Red draws his bow and seeing it coming, says, Everyone get ready, something's coming. It's another one of those mantacores, Doran says. It was definitely that Perryton, the legendary creature we fought a while ago that flashed in Jack's mind as he like dives for cover. As it gets closer, it appears to be a construct of some kind, fighting against the wind like a kite, made of folded parchment resembling a griffin.

It lands on its folded paper legs in front of you, shakes its wings with a crisp snap, and unfolds itself into a sheet of giant-sized paper covered in violet runes. Each ruin illuminates and quivers lightly, as a familiar voice speaks the words translating in common for your ears. To my small friends, it is I, Zephyros, lately of the Korin, archipelago. Far away as I am, I continue to mark your progress on your quest. Take heart, little ones. Though your recent troubles seem a great setback, I am told that all is as it must be. I can't help but marvel at the zeal with which you attend each new challenge. For my part, I have learned some news of the storm giant court.

Queen Neri is dead. Sarissa, the youngest daughter of King Hecaton and the late queen, has assumed the worm skull throne in their absence. It would appear that the storm giants have a new ruler, at least for the interim. This development has not swayed annum, and I continue to feel the deep gnawing that I know all giants must. The ordaining remains broken. There is much that remains to be seen. Harken closely to my words, you are not alone in your quest.

attend closely to the path you are on and do not stray and even when it might seem like you are alone remember that you have friends in this world of which i am one and always the wizard zephyros as the last words of the message are spoken the parchment folds itself in half then in half again faster and faster until it becomes vanishingly small and disappears into nothing. I think Red sort of stands agape looking at everybody equally stunned and is the first to speak, as his tradition.

He says, I can't believe that Saffros is keeping an eye on us. It's almost comforting. I know, right? Did you see what he did to that spell? What a neat twist. I taught him that one, but he's changed. it in some really cool ways. I've got to think about that some more. How, huh?

Dorn Kraloth, Red says, stepping in front of Jack. I can't believe that Zephyros is watching us. It's comforting in a way. I suppose. And Kralov walks to where the letter vanished. Well, it is certainly a little

bit comforting knowing that we've got, you know, our giant friend. Thank you, Doren. Looking down upon us, Red. I agree with you. It's, um... I mean, it's It's been so long since we heard from him or saw him. Part of me thought that, I don't know, maybe he never made it to where he was heading, or maybe he just forgot about us.

It's reassuring to have friends, especially giant ones, that are in our corner between Harshnag and him, and frankly, yeah, I want to start counting our friends. As he said, having friends in this world is important, and Red sort of takes a beat and looks at everybody. I think it's what keeps us strong. And we need strength, he says and takes a half step towards Kralath. We need strength right now, more than anything. And that's not just the strength of Doran, and he touches your rippling muscles.

But it's the strength of our bond, guys. More than anything, we need to stay strong together. He's right, we're on the path right now. We're on a path towards something greater. And I think we all feel the bit of sting of it. But also it's a gift. that we get to put the fates in our hands and that's an honor we need to have

have the right head about. And I suppose part of it too is Endorin looks back at the boulder and then unknowingly also looking right at Krala. We've certainly faced some difficult challenges but for every step backwards I mean I suppose we are taking steps forward, too.

You're damn right, we're taking steps forward. We picked ourselves up. We're dusting ourselves off. We're moving downstream. We're going to Silvery Moon to see Jack's mom to find out what's going on, maybe get some help. Who knows? Yes.

Yeah. We can do this. Yes, of course, we can do this. We will sort out the ordaining, and then all will be well with the world. And everything will go back to normal. Ah, yeah. I don't know that I go that far. It'll be fine, Jack.

Yeah. Maybe it hasn't been that long. It's like a month or something since we heard from Zepros. It's good, Jack. Jesus Christ. But I get the sentiment. It's just Jack's a pedant. And take the sentiment.

Take it. Take it. Take it. Take the letter in Jack's face. It's positivity. It's been like two months. Yeah. I mean, I know how long after that he got back to me.

But I forget that. So, you know, but... And Kralov steps towards you, Jack, and he has a wide grin on his face, and he says, Red and Doran are right, and so is Zephyros. If we keep on moving, we take steps forward, we'll get to Silvery Moon before you know it, and then we'll be able to put a rest to the ordaining. It'll be okay. Yeah.

Come on. Follow me, Jack. You guys are going to love Silvery Moon. It's way better than Everland. I'm going to hate it, he says to Doran. Jack does not get us at all. It's just people walking around with books And just shushing any noise

That's Red's like interpretation Like if Jack loves the city It's a city of a library A library city of Silvery movie We all have like little internal visions Like Doran's like We're gonna love it there And he looks up and there's a bubble above his head

And there's like all these dwarves walking around And beautiful people and women And he's like And Red looks up and the bubble sort of pops And it's just a bunch of yeah People shushing each other and he's like, I'm going to hate it there. Well, if you've made up your mind ahead of time, I'm sure you will.

But if you go in with an open mind, I just have some really great memories of the place. Oh, yeah, like what? Yeah, like what? I don't know. It'd be so fun as a DM just to make Silvery Moon like the dumbest stupid place. We're the dumb stupid place. And Jack starts going through his catalog of memories of Silvery Moon, and they're all like really just, they're not moments of the city as an adult. They're all just like his glowing memories through the lens of nostalgia of

being a kid whisked away to your mom to do something incredible and mind-boggling and magical and then like shoved back to water deep where everything kind of sucks. And so of course he thinks, you know, it's lovely. But as he goes to try and like find a memory to get everybody excited about he can't find anything that they're going to like. No part of Silvery Moon that he's experienced is a thing that maybe even adult him has a ton of experience with. He's been here and there for a bit, but not like real silvery moon. Look, Jack, I'm sure we're going to love it. I'm just kidding.

At the end of the day, like I said, I'm excited to meet your family. I'm excited to, frankly, to give Doran a bath. I mean, get him a bath. I don't want to give you a bath, but hey, and that letter revealed some information, too. Queen Neri's dead. Sarissa is on the worm skull throne. I mean, you know, from what we've learned at the Oracle, you know, the information of the dragons that's influencing the court,

doesn't that mean Sarissa might be at the behest of some of these winged friends of ours? He looks up to the sky ominously. Jack snaps his fingers and has like a little hierarchy family tree kind of thing pop up in front of us and got a big X over the queen's name. And I think the king is missing still, right? Like there's a big question mark of like, where is King Hecaton? And, you know, showing the youngest sister ascending to the throne. there's almost a bit of Jack's memory updating itself

as he remembers all the things about this family that he doesn't think about that much. I wonder how the queen died. Yeah, Red says he takes a bite of beef jerky. I don't know. Maybe old age. Hey, what time is it? Red looks up at the sky and then to Jack.

We got a couple more hours before the sun goes down. We could get a little further downriver. Yeah, all right. Red says it picks up his corner of the boulder. Yeah, Jack braces himself on the other side and waits for someone with the combined strength better than Jack and Red to be a, you know, the solid center on this.

Yeah, Doren, you know, takes his position in front of the boulder. Okay, roll it on. Here we go. Dorn, we talked about this last time and we're not putting it on your back every time. This is our 17th portage today. You're going to break your back.

I'll never. I'm so strong. Look at the bulging muscles. Jesus Christ, fine. Fuck it. Every time he doesn't. Listen, he talks about how awesome he is. Just wait to layer that night where I'm like, my back.

Oh! And you'll never be able to shut me up. By the way, Jack, this thing's a bool, but does it do anything? I mean, it's a nicely polished stone, but does it have some sort of purpose besides being heavy? And round? I mean, I think it's more of a religious significance, I think. You know, it's sort of a ceremonial thing. I think they wanted something, you know, with a little gravity even for stone giant, or even for, I think it's stone giant, even for stone giants and Jack's going through, you know, I think it's, you know, it's a little bit, I wonder if, you know, it takes the four of us to heave it up. I wonder if they were sort of amongst themselves thinking about what it is to lift or to commune or to commune or stand with it on your back for how many hours can you stand to have a experience communing with Annam or the other gods.

There are also some runes decorating the surface of this specific boulder that set it apart from any random stone that you would find on the side of a river. Hey, look, that one's illed. Maybe it faced the fire. I'm pretty sure there's a ruin in my back. All right, let's go. Red leads everyone to the next riverbank. The small stream that you've been following since the Skypony's Spirit Mound finally empties out into a series of frozen over lakes. It would seem that your river road is no longer able to carry you forward. The lakes are dotted with rocky islands,

and within the first hour or two of traversing this new territory, you encounter a temporary settlement on the ice made of tents and even a small log shack. Enlisting the help of the ice fissures you find there, you're able to hire a sled and dog team to help you move the giant artifacts over the frozen lakes, and they helpfully direct you towards another. river that will lead you on through to Silvery Moon.

The Rauvin River exits the lake system to the west and is broad enough that it no longer threatens your travel with treacherous currents, but whose banks extrude ice out into the water, such that you travel through a wide gap of open water that runs down its center. I tell you, I didn't think we'd be back on a dog slut so soon. Just like up north, huh? At least there's no blizzard to get lost in, right? I was going to say it. at least we could see ahead of us yet.

Mm-hmm. Oh, this beautiful open water where it's smooth, paddling as he dips his oar into the water and you hear that. Oh, that's so nice. Don't worry, Kieran. You're every bit as good as those dogs.

They can't do half the stuff you can. Don't worry about it. Thanks, boss. Altogether, you travel in the folding boat for four days and nights, arriving in Silvery Moon on the final day of the year, the 30 of Nightall. It's late afternoon, and snowing big, gentle flakes, though it feels warm enough almost to loose the cloak at your throat.

The sun streams down red and gold from its perch near the horizon, and the light catches the pale gem of silvery moon and makes it sparkle dramatically as you approach on the river. Jack, it occurs to you that the color of the city is different than you know from your memories. you recall silvery moon to have a lush, verdant cast, but then you've never been here in the city covered in snow. It's desaturated now, the only green coming from dark pines, spruce, cedar, but it's no less beautiful than you remember from the warmer months. 800 years ago, elven craftspeople coaxed quarries of light stone to spring forth with tall spires and elegantly curving bridges.

trees were trained to grow amongst the stonework or else the stone was somehow set within extant trees such as the interrelationship between mazenry and horticulture here and as you drift on the Rauvin through the river gate and nearing the docks the character of the city reveals itself shyly though people move through the streets in numbers equal to those of Everland or Yarder there's no riot of noise it's tranquil pensive, secret.

You smell the light amber scent of wood smoke. A distant temple is ringing with some unearthly choir. You have made it. Welcome to Silvery Moon. Wow, it sounds beautiful. There's people singing.

Yeah. It's so peaceful. I thought I'd hate it, but it feels like a warm blanket. The snow has a nice effect as well. Kind of, everything is so quiet. Yeah. You come up to the docks There are other vessels here that are tied

They're gently nodding and bumping at each other tied to the moorings There's a woman at the docks That tries to help you tie up your boat She's trying to steal it No, no, no, it's all right, everyone out And Red hushes everyone out And then just folds up the boat

Jack stops on the last step before getting out Almost nervous to experience Silvery Moon with these people In case like his perfect memories of it are to be changed in some way with a, you know, new experience. Well, now get out. Sorry. Just lingers there and I'm like, come on, Jack.

I'm waiting to fold up the boat. Sorry, yeah, well, let's go. We'll heave these things off and away we go. And then I fold up the boat. And I put it in the bag of holding. Silvery moon. Pretty cool. Pretty cool.

So what are we doing with the bull and stuff? Great question. They're right there. And I point, they're just rolling on the dock. Oh, no, oh no, right into the water. Perhaps there are some dock hands who can help us find a place to store this in a warehouse or something. Yes, old man. Yes.

Sorry, woman. Can you please help us with these large, heavy objects? We need some place to store them and roll them and somewhere safe, preferably. We certainly have storehouses. Oh, you're so much younger than you seem from afar. Your voice is very strained from a distance, but up close, you speak pretty normally. I'm very impressed with your range. You know, I can, I can just lift the boulder and Doran kind of like...

Yeah, we know you're strong. God, but at this point, Doran kind of like awkwardly, like, walks over it. It's clear he's strained his back at some point. I could just lift it again. It's okay, Doreen. You put a stone diet to shame. No, no, I'm okay. I'm okay.

I'm okay. I'll do it. It's fine. I need, you need me. Doran, listen to me! Your sexuality and strength is too powerful for a town like this. You need to tone it down. Otherwise, we'll be cast out.

You think so? Trust me here, you're too strong and bulging with muscle. Yeah? Oh, yeah. Look at these lean elves. They're all wiry and elegant. They're just not used to you. They're going to be intimidated.

Look, this old woman is intimidated. Yeah, yeah, good point, good point. Okay. Yeah. Yes, of course, we all need help moving this boulder, especially me. Where can we get a drink in this town? You do have drinks in this town, right? Yes, where is your cheapest pub?

The woman at the docks points towards a tavern nearby that has a sign above the door that says the roses thorn. Oh, is it nice and cheap? It is extremely... Frugal? Affordable? Cheap? It is affordable, yes. Brilliant.

And you have a place that you can store this large, round object for us. Yes, we can keep this rock safe for you. A rock. If only you knew how much we went through for that rock. No problem. To the rose! Is this a mostly elven town, or is it a mix? I mean, it is a mix, but it is largely elven.

Okay, cool. I'm buying the first round, boys, and Red leads the way and kicks open the door to the tavern. I love how whenever you guys go to a new town, you're like, forget what the thing is that we were coming here to do. Let's go drinking. Best place to learn about the local culture and cuisine. Hey, hey, Jack, I bet they have one of those tarts that you love. What are they called? The, uh, melon tart.

The Gazette. Oh, yes, that's right. Galette. Galette, that's it. We'll get you one of them. And Red. Who had kicked open the door, but now it swung shut again, turns around and kicks the door again. again. And Doren, in a very jovial sense, you know, after stepping into the door, uh,

turns to Krali, hey Kraloth, what are you going to have? And then looking at Kriath, almost immediately, in almost an awkward way, loses his smile. Ah, what, what are you going to have to drink? Dreoth. Kralov is looking around. He doesn't seem totally present and goes, oh, oh, uh, uh, what am I, what am I, what do you mean? Well, I just mean Nothing. I mean, where are you gonna have to drink, Kralath? Oh, um,

uh, uh, some ale, I guess. Yeah, um, I'll, I'll have an ale too. Um, and and we'll cheers over it. And I feel like you already see Red at the bar who's like, which basically brought us to the river north. And after that, we, uh, portaged a few times and arrived here.

And we're still thinking about how oh guys hey and he's like talking to the bartender already telling them the entirety of the life story that they've had and there's three drinks like it's been like 30 seconds not even and red's already got these things and the elf behind the bar i feel like doesn't even care he's just kind of like yeah okay not a rude way it's just like totally this this this energy that he's bringing to this bar which is so still is like very awkwardly juxtaposed have you been here before jack not to not to this place and jack kind of casts his gaze across the horizon trying to from this angle identify which of the towers is his mom's and can't quite make it out and steps inside no uh um a lot of

time has been spent sort of maybe not not in you know i don't get to see my mom very often so it's always been sort of very family focused you know it wasn't a lot of time to go explore the city oh oh i see um so yeah it'll be fun to see it with you guys I mean, and the spices in the Silvery Moon food culture is got to be interesting. I can't wait to see what you make of it. The spices. Ah, yes, yes. Definitely, I'm looking forward to those spices.

Where should we sit? Sit right here at the bar next to me. Red says he kicks the three chairs over. What the hell is taking you guys so long? It's taking you like 10 minutes to get from the front door to here. And these drinks are getting any two minutes and 36 seconds. Hurry up. And peckeries, when you say peckeries, he says, like, talking to the person behind the bar, is it like cute or smoked?

And every time Kralath, like, goes to step forward, Doran, like, awkwardly goes to step forward at the same time. And then, and then there's like this moment of like, oh, no, no, no, you go ahead, please, please. Jack goes in first to join Red. Jesus, there you are. Sorry. It's been a dog's age, and he pats you on the back hard and pushes a drink towards you. We just keep doing it, you know, and there's like this awkward moment where, yeah, yeah, yeah, finally. Finally, Kralov goes and he sits down at the bar.

It is late afternoon. The sun is low on the horizon. And the tap room of this tavern is fairly full, although not with any patrons, nearly as boisterous as the four of you. There is a table occupied by several people playing cards. The cards that they're playing with are oversized and very colorful. The tavern smells, as Jack mentioned, of exotic spices and someone who is sitting at the bar farther down seems to be eating this meat that's stuffed with something that you can't really discern. The glasses that you're drinking ale out of are golden in color.

And this is my friend Jack, as I was telling you about. Now, he's been here alone. Do you recognize him? I don't know. Have you been here before, Jack? We're not here specifically. Well, now you have. Hasn't he? Tell him he has. It's true. What a place. It's great. It's nice to be here. Welcome to the Rose's Thorn. Can I get you anything else? Yeah, we'll get four of the peccarines. And then four more, just your standard ale, please. That's right.

A bottle of wine, maybe, for the table. Just so they can try some elven wine. For the table. I love it. Absolutely. I hope we get to drink some, too. Red or white or... I mean, if you've got Elverquist, 100% that would be the... Red. Definitely red.

Yes. So red, white, Elverquist is what... They say it's distilled from sunshine and rare summer fruits. It's the best wine... It's the most elven wine experience, I think, that I've ever had, and I just think it would be fun to share it with you. Is it red? I typically like things that are red.

I wonder why. It's hard to... It's flecked with gold. It's a experience unto itself. It defies you. Sure, a bottle for us, but also bring me some of that red stuff that you mentioned,

because that sounds fun too. You guys settle in at the bar, I suppose. Yeah, just sit at the bar. Yeah, the Elverquist comes on a special platter. There are four specific goblets that are served with this drink. And as it comes out of the bottle, sparkling like Jack mentioned,

and also kind of smokes a little bit. My God, what does this thing take you home at the end of the night, too? How much is this, by the way? Don't wait about it. I did ask for cheap, and I give, like, the bartender, like a side eye as if we're being duped, which I know we're not,

because Jack requested this. This one's on me, Red. I sort of take the bottle and, you know, make sure everybody's got a glass and, and to Silvery Moon with Friends. What a way to experience the city. Thanks for making it here. with me. I'll toast a friends. I will also toast a

friend here. Yes, yes, a toast. Making the next checkpoint on our travels. Cheers. Way to say it, but all right, Red downs it. Yeah, Doran Downs it too. And then goes to pour another from the bottle. Jack takes an appropriate sip. That was great. So, what kind of games you got around here? Let's get some energy going on. Remember Yada? And Red like turns around to the open bar, which is silent. He He, like, waits for anyone to pick up his energy. No one does.

And then he turns back. Yeah, it was great. I don't think there are any drag king bars in silver moon. Yeah, that's okay. We don't need to go there. Tell me this place has a pulse, Red says to the bartender. What do you guys do for a little bit of energy? Gambling, excitement, racing, fencing.

What do you guys do? If you are seeking entertainment this night, we have some religious service at the temple next door to celebrate the last light of the year. Oh, my God! Red slams his drink down. A temple to whom? Coral and Laranthian, probably. Although there's a bunch of temples here. It's a very, it's a very diverse city. Have you got any underground fights? We want to see fights, Doran and I. Well, I was going to say underground temples or, you know, that sort of. Oh, Jesus, God. What it's going on with you guys? Well, underground fights would be good, especially

an underground temple. It is the temple to Mistra. Oh, who is this? Oh, the goddess of all magic. Oh, wow. Magic. She controls the weave that runs through us. It's how we all connect with our,

with the power that is at our fingertips. So no great underground cities is what you're saying. Or fighting. Underground fighting. Or fighting. Don't discount that because I would be down for that. Well, I meant underground cities with fighting in them. You know.

Well, good, good. Lots of dwarves, right? I am not a tour guide, unfortunately. This is just my bar. Right, right, right, right. What is your name? Keenon. He already told me when I walked in.

Oh. Keenon Aaron. Right, right. I'm sorry. At your service. Cheers to you, Keenon. And another cheers to everyone in the bar. And Doran's trying to pick up Red's energy and drive it into the bar even harder.

Hells yeah! And he stands up on the bar stool and he turns to the rest of the bar and holds up his beer wobbling. Jurs really loudly. Maybe three or four times. This is like a place of Elvin construction, right?

The furniture is like made of like these graceful pieces of wood that like criss-cross and you know what I mean? It's like latticework. Like finally carved everywhere. Yeah. 90% of the people in here are drinking tea and coffee.

Like, to me, I picture a guy in the corner reading, and he's, like, looking at us over the top of his book. Like, the guy at the end of the bar who is eating dinner, like, waves at you guys as you're like, come on, everyone, let's party. And he's just like, hello. And first rounds on us, the cheap stuff, none of this big, flashy bottle get whatever's nice and cheap. He's on us, everyone. Red Lake waits for the applause, which none comes. God, Doran, maybe we need to start a fighting ring here. Maybe.

That guy looks like he's asking for it. Doran jumps down and then hold his back. Maybe not quite yet. Doran, are you okay? You're heading yourself? No, no, no, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm sure you don't need a hand. I could quickly heal you. If something's wrong.

Mm-hmm. We'll enjoy our drinks. Yeah. Red sort of leans forward. For some reason, I imagine Red, Jack, Kraloff, and Doren, like, sitting in that line. And Red sort of leans forward, as Doren leans forward in the other side, they catch eyes and sort of with a defeated look, lean back. Yeah. Jack, how are you handling this, like, raucous energy from your friends?

It's comforting. Like, that's normal. Having Red and Doran be raucous, no matter where you go or what space you're in, that feels pretty apace with what's happened for the rest of whatever. So that actually is kind of like a comforting rock in the fact that there's just swirling chaos on the wings. And it's like, all right, that's kind of normal. That's a normal thing happening in a bar that's too quiet for them. This is normal. This is fine, right?

Like, this is going to be okay. Look, this place is kind of a dead duck. Maybe we should just go see your mom. Yeah. I mean, we could. It's kind of late now, though, and, you know, it's the end of the year. Maybe we, uh, maybe we wait till tomorrow. Are you avoiding? Hey, are you avoiding? I want to roll insight on Jack. Do it. Ooh, that's a 19. Oh, yeah, Jack is definitely reading at least a little apprehensive. Everything about this is not normally how he interacts with his mom. Like, normally she shows up out of nowhere on an arbitrary day and like invites him along on something and magical. It's just kind of been their relationship ever since he got bored with being married to his dad and left him in Waterdeep

forever ago. I don't know if he's ever in his life been like the one to be like, I'm going to show up at your house now. And Red picks that up. And he looks at you and he says, Jack, she's going to love that you came. She is going to be so excited to see you. And more than anything, as we've said, friends need friends I promise you this the minute we walk in that door tonight she is going to be a million times happier than she was

before you arrived I promise you that she's your mother and you're gonna feel better too well let's let's go then sure just because this place is dead and Doran looks around and then I feel like both times

that Doran and Red say dead they articulate it to the room Like they turn around, they're like, because this is dead, maybe we're... Yeah, yeah, and I do articulate it. This place is completely dead, but we can totally make a party out of it. Can I hear one for a party? Yeah! And Doreen just chugs his beer back.

All right, let's go see your mom. Yeah, let's get the fuck out of this. Jack reaches down and Pat's Kieran on the head and stands up and he's like, yeah, it's, I mean, it's the last night of the year. Let's go see family. You're already with family, bud, and I throw my arm around, Jack. Yeah, yeah. The red light of the setting sun catches your backs as you head east, away from the riverside, and into the city. Its buildings are tall.

Some seemingly climb up the sturdy trunks of trees with spiral staircases and bridges connecting limbs to the upper and lower floors. The longer you examine some detail of your environment, the more of the more of the more. an intimate picture you discern. A tree reveals itself to be a dwelling. Some root hides a city bench upon which two elven girls are quietly sitting, training a sparrow. And above that, a balcony is carved from white stone, and there's a woman curled up in furs reading a small book. But it's almost impossible to see it all at once. You have to really focus, and then you realize that the rooftop of the shop nearby is actually a staircase. leading up and underneath that there's someone inside behind two almond-shaped windows cleaning

them and then he disappears. The whole city feels like a dream that you're descending into. Jack leads you through these streets with a sure stride. His mother's home is almost under the canopy of a temple to Shalia, a tree that is visible from some distance within the city. Its leafless limbs are strung with cool yellow light and cast a romantic glow for blocks. Kimara Lelithar's home and study is reached by ascending the wide arboreal stairwell on the side of a building whose sign proclaims it to be the second quill, rare tomes and scrolls. Up two more flights and around the corner partly sunk into the side of a giant cedar tree. A small tower sprouts like a delicate ivory mushroom.

dim light emanates from windows that pierce its silhouette. She might not even be home, but I guess we should probably knock now that we're... She'll be home, check. Everyone's always home, and Red pushes forward and knocks. As you reach the door, as you go to knock, it is opened by a tall elven woman. Red screams in her face. Oh, you scared me. She has long Auburn hair pulled back with elaborate braids and wears a cream.

cream-colored dress. Her complexion looks like moonlight, unmarred by any mark of age, and luminous. And despite this ethereal beauty, she undeniably bears a resemblance to Jack, something about the cheekbones, the eyebrows, the way she searches each of your faces before landing on her sons. Her eyes are dark and deep. Hello, Eve. Hey, Mom. And who are these? So this is Red and Robin, and this is Doran, and this is Jack, and this is, oh, sorry, you knew. Crayla. Sorry, I'm all flustered.

Normally, I'm the introduction one. Let me, yeah, yeah. I am Lady Kimara Layla Thar. Please come inside. And she steps aside from the doorway and nods just one time inviting you in. Well, hello, and Doran steps in and puts a hand up into her face, you know. as a handshake. It's very nice to meet the mother of little Jack over here.

I think Jack's blushing. I don't know if it's a cringe or a blush, but there's definitely something with Doran trying to stumble through that that he's reacting to. Red steps forward next and says, sorry, normally I do the introductions. And then you ask Jack who it was, but there's sort of a banter we have where I always introduced. My name's Red, Renheaded Robin.

It's pleasure to meet you, and you do look a lot like Jack. You sort of Jack with long, long hair. Jack, have you ever thought of... No? Okay. Doren, I'll go wait by him. You have a lovely home, and Kralath walks in and extends his hand as well. She looks at you with a face that kind of drops into a serious expression.

She takes your hand and shakes it. please come in. I think Jack steps and gives his mom a hug and sort of feels a little bit of relief for a moment. Hey, Mom, it's good to be here. She smells just 100% like you remember. And her home is so familiar to you and yet so strange,

the things aren't where you remember them being, but the possessions are all the same. She's been accumulating them over an age. There are plants sitting on top of Curio cabinets that trail along the floor. There's a set of antlers that adorn the wall above her writing desk, piled high with books, a scroll cabinet, and a cozy fireplace. It's not a cluttered living area, comfortable pile of pine logs stacked neatly beside the hearth. And she leads you over to a small dining table set with high-backed chairs,

and she gestures for everyone to take a seat. I feel like Red is, like, explaining the misunderstanding to, like, Doran. Like, he's like, but when Jack did this. I know. I know, Red. But, no, no, but I wasn't trying to. It's just. Red, you're always introduced.

I mean, but it is. It's not only me. It's not that big of a deal. And Red sits down. Tell me, Eve. What brings you to the city? Eve, why does she keep calling him, Eve? I don't know.

Shut up. Ewebben. It is his Elvish name. Oh, you have good ears. It's like she can hear everything we're saying, even though I'm whispering it to you. Mind you, we're like, within, shut up. Okay. We're on a quest.

It's been a long year. Let me start from the beginning. We have much to talk about, of course, but that can wait. It is the final night of the final day of this year. And I saw that you were coming today. Oh. Though I did not foresee your companions, I thought that you were alone. And she turns around, and you all follow her gaze to the stairs behind her, to the footsteps coming down, and to the man that the footsteps belong to.

Jack, it's your love, Torin. Oh, how nice. Thank you once again to our wonderful Patreon supporters, Christopher Ryan Evans, Merlin, Mitchell Cadwell, Alex Reed, Michael and Brianna Weber, Colin Burkart, Daniel, Doug, Gray, Jackie and Rain, Jessica Orrett, Jonah Goldman, Melanysian, Lars, and Marie Kanishki. See you soon!