Dice Shame - 2-131 | 'Start from Scratch'

Episode Date: February 27, 2025

Imagine your best game of D&D. The shocks, the twists and turns, the moments that can’t be caught because you just had to be there. That’s Dice Shame.Join our DM Jo, her husband Harlan, their brother Alex & their friend Nic as they experience those unmissable, gut-wrenching, heart-aching, joy-filled moments.This legendary AP releases a brand new episode every Thursday morning at 1:20 am!Content Warning: animal death, swearing, violence, claustrophobiaPart of the Rusty Quill Network Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I never... I'd never see anything like that happened before. If I wasn't behind that door, I would have been in that beam as well. What the hell was that thing, Red? This was always going to be the case, no matter what. And it's not going to end until we take down those fire giants. Our story's not over. And our journey's not over, and our job's not done. I think we should march right through the night.

Back to Feldbar. We can head back to Felbar, but that's five days away. Oy, lad! Show this lot the difference between a contender and a bully. Welcome back to Dice Shame. This is Season 2, Episode 131, start from scratch. MVP this week belongs to two people who have meant the world to this podcast, Rob Dielbald and Alex Nersal. After over two years for Alex and nearly five for Rob, they've decided to step away from

realm of Feroon and we will miss the warmth, humor, and characters they brought into this dark and shadow-filled world. Thank you, Rob, for all your years of making the show what it is. And thank you Alex for stepping up and into some monumental shoes. You'll both be missed. If you miss their voices, be sure to check them out at Woodbine, wherever you get your podcasts. All right, should we play some D&D? Yes, let us play some D&D. Ah yeah. Having just lost Jack and Mari, Doran, Red, and Wim, the three of you, are sheltered where you had been previous to the scouting mission. In a copse of evergreen trees near to iron slag, hearing the thunder of fire giants,

in the far distance. As they arrived at the campsite, there's still like the shapes of the five companions where we were sitting just not even an hour ago in the snow. And Doran looks at the

spot where Jack was sitting. Jack! He's gone. He's gone. He was... What the hell was that thing, Red? That was... That was...

That was the Vonningdard, that was it. That was the thing that Jack was researching in the library, that the fire giants were trying to build. They did it. That was it. Whim signs, well, now we know what to tell Citadel Falbar. We do. Yeah, yeah. What do we tell them, Wim?

That our friends died? What the hell's going on here? What are we even doing? Red, we can't do this Red walks over to a stump by the cold fire that's long since had an ember

and he sits down and just sort of looks at his hands his open hands on either knee I I tried to reach for him when he went as if I could have caught him

I'd reached out and tried to try to pull him towards me if i wasn't behind that door i would have been in that beam as well and i would have been dead just like him and red's eyes are filled with tears as he kind of looks at dorin i thought that magic users were stronger than that red i never i never seen anything like that happened before. Whim sits down in front of you in the snow

Doran and she puts a hand on your foot and then she signs I have. You have? I've seen people die in terrible circumstances

usually at the hands of Clarion and it's always hard. But you are heroes. And this is your destiny, right? Right. You're right. And a hero,

a hero falls like a hero. She signs, Doran, you've been in many battles from what you've told me anyway. I know. You've had friends fall before. You're right. This just felt a little different.

Red looks up to them and says, I could have stopped him. I could have pulled him back, still staring at his hands. If I had just reached out a second earlier, or maybe if I hadn't forced to me, to do that illusion. It was such a stupid idea. The door opening

in front of him. Maybe I could have stopped this. Whim goes over and hugs you, Red. And Doran painfully climbs from his knees up and walks over to Red and

picks him up. Red. There's nothing you could have done. And there's nothing you did wrong. That was, that was just his destiny, I guess. It could have been me saying the same thing. It could have been, it could have been any of us deciding to do this. We went in as a, as a, as a team.

We stood as a team and we could have died as a team. It was just, it was just where he was standing. It was just where he was standing. It wasn't you, it wasn't me. Come here, buddy. Reds throws his arm around you. And Wim, a three-person hug. Yeah, full-on, three-person hug.

She signs, we've saved each other's lives. This isn't the end of our story. It's not. You're right, Wimmy. You're right. Red stands back. You're right. It's like you were saying earlier tonight.

Look, death is a part of life. This is a... This was always going to be the case. no matter what whether we died to a giant or a whatever the hell that thing was or in our beds at the end of this adventure in our 80s or Fador and however old you dwarfs get to be probably 500 yeah whatever but it was always meant to be and just the way went for Jack just gonna miss the guy I guess me too but you're right we all die and he'll always have a place here in your in your coat pocket do you do you have

oh here in my heart red oh right right right right yes he'll always have a place here yes well i guess this makes sense now red reaches into his pocket and pulls out the piece of paper that he had read earlier today but was hesitant almost scared to show the others and he turns the paper around to show Wim and Doran. It says Red loses something important. Oh. And he folds it

and tucks it away. He was important. I... That's an understatement if there ever was one. Whim tugs on your sleeve, Red, and then she signs the portable hole. The portable... Oh, oh, yeah! Red pulls out of his pocket

and looks down at it. like a soft piece of cloth oh I forgot I still have this that's I it's probably full of some great memories of Jack in there yeah all of the artifacts and antiques he would collect yeah yeah he never wanted to part with it yeah oh you bastard it huh you bastard it huh red tucks it away Doran looks around again looking back from where they came I thought she would have been here by now. Wim signs Mari? Yeah.

And then Wim signs, she's long gone. No, no, no. She's got to be around here somewhere, I'm sure. And he starts looking around, is it looking for an animal, like something scurrying, like she could be anywhere. Come on, Doran. You know, you know she's not coming back. Oh.

I guess. I guess I kind of do. you, Red. Whim looks up at the sky, and then points at the moon. Yeah, that's the moon, Wim. And then she signs, no, like the wishing moon. We said that it was going to be us three forever. Hey.

Oh, yeah, that's right. Hey, yeah, yeah, you're right. Red throws his arm around Dorn and Wim and looks up at the moon with her. Hey, hey, you're right. look what happened to Jack was a tragedy it was

but he took on this mission just like all of us and and he didn't die for nothing Mari Mari never wanted this Oh Mari She got caught up in something because

she re-bumped into me But look Our story's not over And our journey's not over and our journey's not over and our job's not done. No, no, no, you're right. And it's not going to end until we take down those fire giants. Hell's yeah.

And it's not even going to end there either. Hells yeah. Because after that, we're going to go and we're going to take down a storm giant. Well, frost and cloud first, but yes. Well, frost too, and cloud giants, and then we're going to take down those storm giants. Damn straight! That's right. Look, look, look.

We might be down a man, or two. But that doesn't mean we're lost completely. No. Yes, Jack was the brain, but we can make do. Gwynn looks doubtfully between Doren and Red, and then signs, maybe we need backup. Well, hey, come on, you got to give me some credit here. And Dorn pulls out his journal. Nice.

That from day one, he's been keeping maps. Yeah, that's right. Not realizing it, maybe you look over at Doren and realize that this is a very thick, wrinkled book at the stage. What is this? Is this your, your cartography that you were practicing? Yeah. Well, I've been keeping track of everything. I mean, look, redneels down next to Dorn. You have been

these, like, moving pieces of map and, like, unfolding to see, like, impressively detailed sketches of the landscape. Diagrams of monsters. There's, like, misspelled names. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Name spelt, and then scratched out, and re-spelt, and scratched out. Oh, I just assume that you were writing poetry.

Dorn, this is, this is really impressive. This is magnificent. Look, look. Thanks, Red. You have Brand as well and all the Bombarian holds and is this the eye of the world? It is, yeah. Wow. And it seems

kind of silly now, but I guess it's kind of good I asked Jack so many so many bloody questions. Hey, I'm sorry I doubted you. That's all right. It's all right, Red. I doubted you too. You got this. Look, we both got

this. Between my, Sensing of the giants and my directional prowess, and moreover, my ability to hunt. Stunning shots by archery. Yeah, well, and your soldier background and your penchant for clearly taking notes and whims overall sense of power, we've seen what you can do, and your positive attitude. That's right. We can do this. We can. Red stands up.

Okay. All right, that Von and Dodd is heading somewhere. Yeah. It's not just going to be marching through the fields, burning down small villages. It must have a target of some sort. Yeah. My guess is probably something to do with chaining up a bunch of dwarves. And you know what?

The longer we stand here, the more time it has, I think we should march right through the night. Back to Feldbar. We can head back to Felibar, but that's five days away. What about this? And Red points to a small town that's much closer on one of your maps. Oh, I don't remember putting that down there. Sure. Uh, what's that say?

Dead shoes. I think that's an N. Oh, dead snows. Dead snows. Look, I mean, if this is to scale, that's only about two days away. It should be. It's pretty good. If that Vaughn and Dot is heading to Feldbar.

Oh. We're not going to be able to get in front of it in time to warn them. But if we can get to Dead Snow and send a raven. I mean, hell, if it was Jack was here, I'd say we could send a magic letter, but... Oh, God. Unless you have the ability to do that whim. Whim shakes her head. So, if we hoof it to Dead Snow, I mean, we could probably make it dead pretty quickly.

Do our Lord of the Rings run? We're like the three of us, including a dwarf, are like, she's running the whole way. Legulus 16-year-old girl. All right. And Doran, like, tightens his boot laces. All right, so we head to Dead Snow. We send a raven to Phelphal.

Let them know that the Von and Dodd is awake. if I remember correctly Jack sent a message from here saying that we were here so we need to get in touch them quickly because if they send a force out here they're going to intercept that Vaughan Dodd and be killed Yeah

Wim signs and then what Well and then what Yeah what happens after Well Well once the Raven arrives They should have enough time to get an army together To you know Face this Vaughn and Dodd

outside of the, well, probably in the fields outside of the Silver Moon Pass. Yeah, I mean, that's about the best plan we got right now. And the dwarves said they would aid, so, so yeah. I mean, that thing's going to need an army. Listen, when we get to Dead Snow, we'll send a raven to Adbar as well, where Chaos Hammer came from. We'll send ravens everywhere. Whim draws the shape of the bridge that led up to Citadel Fellbar

with the two gates at the front, thoughtful. And then she nods at the two of you and says, I think they can hold. Listen, that fortress would be the best place to defeat this thing. It's naturally fortified. What did you say, Doran? Yildem Feren. That's right. Yildem Feren.

You do. Yildem Farn, yeah. Use the natural defenses of Feltba. That's right. Okay. That means dead snows the place. Let's get there. Time isn't on our side, so let's go.

And with that, the three of you depart the scene of this tragedy. You head south across the silver marches. Two days travel takes you to dead snows, a town built in the shadows of the southern range of the Rauvin Mountains, and afforded a milder climate than you would expect. It's the 13 of Tarsok, the fourth month of the year, and the sun is hot on your shore. shoulders. This settlement looks safe enough to recoup, reconsider your next steps, find a raven, whatever you need. In fact, dead snows would afford a generous place for any adventurer to rest their weary bones. Built around the ruins of an impressive abbey, this settlement appears to host

a wide spectrum of people. As you cast around for an inn or tavern, you observe a variety of races and creeds, halflings, dwarves, humans, a couple of dragonfolk. You even catch sight of another Tabaxi in the crowd. The buildings are a charming ramshackle combination of ancient stonework and modern construction. As we walk up to the city, Red's just kind of talking to the others absent-mindedly. Yeah, I mean, well, there's just no woods, you know? No woods. Telling me. You think you know someone. You think you know someone. Yeah. Here one second and gone the next second. Cowardly.

Very cowardly, yes, yes. You think you know someone, and then he goes and gets vaporized to death. Yeah, he just up and died like that. Jack? Yes, Jack. I mean, you can't really blame him by the same time. You can kind of blame him, right? Yeah, he was a magnet for that sort of stuff.

Oh, yeah. I mean, geez, if it wasn't the Von and daughter, it would have been destiny. Whim signs, he really should have taken Torin up on. his offer. I'm glad we can joke about this now. Two days heals all wounds. You know, I can almost hear his voice in the back of my head saying, You don't even know, Red. Or something like that.

Yeah, he used to make me feel real small. Anyway, hey, this town seems awfully tough looking. I wonder if we could find some more help, you know, someone to fight beside us. Hey, we don't need help, but... Well, you never know. Yeah, you're right. Let's find somewhere to send a Raven.

Yeah, there's a nearby tavern called the Harvest Rune, and on the sign there's a little icon that's kind of known throughout the realm as... It's like a post office type icon. Like, hey, you can come here and do all your business. Needs in one. One stop. All right. Look, the Von and Dodd is coming.

We need to be quick. But look, I'm beat. We've been running for two days straight, and I think... I think it makes sense to at least rest up here for the night and then head out first thing in the morning, as long as we get these ravens out, ASAP. Of course, absolutely. One of us can send the ravens, and the other two can go find somewhere to rest our heads for the night. It looks like they can do it all here, so let's head inside.

The Harvest Room Tavern. And Red enters the Harvest Room. Inside, it's a cozy place. The warm afternoon sun cuts diagonal slashes of light across the tap rooms, tables, and occupants. Wim walks up to you and stands beside you Red and sort of nudges you. What? She points at your back pocket. Oh, oh, right.

I didn't check it yesterday. Not after, you know. She nods. But, I mean, yeah, I guess I have to check it eventually. And Red pulls at the piece of paper. It says Red finds the missing piece. Oh. I don't own any puzzles anymore.

A stout woman behind the bar nods to you and says, Ale or rooms, or both? Both. Oh, Red puts the piece of paper away. Ravens would desperate need to send a message, actually. Oh, you can do that here as well. Excellent. Come on over.

It's a bit urgent. And not that we're trying to rush you, but we'd love to send the message immediately. Fastest birds in the north, I guarantee it. Excellent. What do you need? Here, parchment? Yes. Please.

There's like a little writing desk over in the corner. Yeah, perfect. Doran picks up the quill and parchment and says, listen, leave this with me. The Dwarman kinder like this. As Doran writes it, Red sort of turns to the bar maiden and says, Sorry, what was your name? Matild.

Matild, look, we're happy you send a raven, but just out of curiosity, you don't have any mages in town that could send a message faster than Bird. We've been pretty privileged, frankly. as you can see, red sort of gestures to all of his, like, magic items. It's been a while

since we've had to use the physical mail. I assumed you were here for Al Hamor. Who? Adventurers like yourselves often make their way to dead snows

for the tournaments. Oh. You are likely to find some mages there, I'm sure. Oh. No fighting in the pub, mind. Keep it to the arena. No.

Fighting. No. Fighting. No. No. No mages here would be able to send a letter faster than the Ravens, but... Like I said, you can probably find some mages at Alhamore. Look, lady, all I'm asking...

Matild. Matild. I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but, you know, we're part of the reordening. I've heard that kind of story a thousand times. No, no, no, not like this, okay? Listen, my friend and I just came from the north. A little place named Iron Slag, okay? we're a giant Colossus vaporized our friend in front of our eyes

and that giant Colossus is heading its way possibly to sit at El Feld Bar which is five days away from here so if there's a way that you can send something faster you better do it because we're the people who are going to be stopping the giants of course dear I feel like you're not listening to me whim she's not giving me the time of day whim is sitting at the bar and she's got a slice of pie in front of her Damn it.

You said giants? Yes, we, my friend Dawn and I, and we're tasked with, we're here to stop the giants. That's our job. It's ordained by God. Oh. Like that other woman. What? All right, uh, here it, here it is.

Um, I'll just read it back to you, make sure it seems straightforward. Uh, chaos hammer. The Vonnegut is real. It's a colossus of impossible magnitude. Gather all the forces you can It's headed southwest Anything else? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine Hold on, what did you say about her?

Oh, I've heard this story before Hold on, what story? The Giants, being destined, something about ordaining Yeah, that's what we're on Yeah, she's in here all the time Who? Someone comes in here that has told that story before

Hey, maybe it's Mari. Is she blue? What, blue? Is she blue-skinned? No, she's not. Damn. Listen, I just, I've been kind of tuning her out for the past couple of ten day, actually. Couple of ten, hold on, someone's been in here for the past couple of ten day,

talking about the reordening and giant kind? Yes. Well, where is she? She points out the window at this building. It's a huge building that dominates the center of town, these ruins. Reds sort of like slowly starts walking towards. the door. Al-Hamor.

Al-Hamor. Um, okay, well, I guess that's enough. I'm going to put here, um, meet us between the pass of silvery moon, and prepare for battle. Okay, uh, please get this to Citadel, Feldbar immediately. Ascending on your fast as Raven. Wim pats her pockets and hands over a gold piece. Thanks, Wim. Stuffing the rest of the pie in her mouth and hopping off the bar store.

Matild scoops up the gold coin and nods at you. At least you've got some decent currency. That woman I mentioned only ever seems to pay in little emeralds. It's the weirdest thing. Yeah, Red opens the door and steps outside. Wim follows Red out into the daylight. Yeah, as Doren steps outside of the tavern, he sees this raven take off with a loud caw leaving the loft.

Red's sort of walking like he's in a trance towards this large building. And he turns as Wim joins him, and to Doren, who's walked outside now. You sent the letter then, Doren? Yeah, what's going on with you? Are you? Good job. You're not, you're not charmed, are you? And he slaps you on the face.

What, no! We need to stop slapping each other. We're even now. Never really know. No, didn't you hear what she said? Doran, Wim. The lady in there, the bartender said, there's a woman here who's been here for the last few 10-day,

who was speaking about. giant kind and the reordening. What? Whim signs, well, you guys aren't exactly quiet about your mission. Well, that's what I'm saying. Is this an imposter?

Is this an old friend? It seems odd, doesn't it? The ruins of the abbey are, like many other buildings in Dead Snows, built on top of, and extended into areas of new construction. If you mentally remove the modern

brickwork and wood, you can imagine this ancient grand abbey that could have housed hundreds of loyal worshippers. As you move towards it, you can imagine this open courtyard, fictitious monks moving through an elaborately carved portal into the church grounds, and then beyond which would have stood a chapel and cloisters, these tree-shaped columns housing upper floors, the modern structure, which you now know is called Al Hamor is clearly devoted to some other pastime than religion. However, its attendees seem no less fervent. In fact, you can hear the sounds of a loud crowd coming from inside. Amid the roaring and jeers of a crowd enjoying a spectacle, Red, Doran, and Wim, you shoulder through the foot

traffic and make your way into this strange building called Al-Hamor. Past a merchant hawking banners and noisemakers. Through a tall archway, you come to a large ancient church building whose roof has crumbled to ruin long ago.

Most of the noise seems to be coming from that direction. Wow. This is what she was talking about. It's like a violent club in here. Like a dancing club, not like a physical club. Yeah. Red sort of turns to Wim.

Whim, like, puts up her fists and then gives you kind of like a puzzled look. Like, are we going to be... No, no. We're here to find the person who said that they knew what was going on, right, Doren? Oh, what's that? Oh, yeah, yeah. Maybe it's some sort of, I don't know, fight club. No, no, no, no, no.

The bartender said that someone came in there and they were talking about the ordaining and the giants and all that kind of nonsense. Oh, right, right, right. Yeah, right, right. Come on, we can find them. Maybe I can ask somebody. So you think someone else has been joined the mission, or you think they're just lying? I don't know.

It could have been Maori for all I know. Oh, what if it's, what if it's Kraloth? Crayloth's dead. Oh, right, right. Wim grabs your hand red and your hand, orange, starts pulling you towards the big building. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, let's go.

Well, let's see the fighting games. They must be competing for who's the best. adventure. Yeah, killing giants. Red says loudly, like trying to see if anybody reacts. It's the ordning. You make your way through the crowd. No one seems to be paying you any attention.

So many giants out there. Whoa. This is clearly the fighting ring of Al Hamor. Red, red, look, look. The wide space of the arena is ringed by wooden bleachers filled with people intent on the action before them. Huge chunks of the ruined abbey litter the center of the fighting space and bear the signs of many hundreds of battles waged here,

scorch marks and arrows stuck into the masonry. There's a special viewing platform that wavers behind a shimmering barrier of protective force and overlooks the battlefield, several wealthy-looking patrons lounge and comfort atop their perch. And a scent of street food wafts its way temptingly towards you, something sweet and hot mixed with a tangy, savory smell. Yeah, giants and fighting's not important and you smell that.

What is that? That smells delicious. Doran's jumping, trying to jump over to see behind the crowd of people of what's going on in this ring and manages to find something to climb up onto. Maybe maybe like a old broken piece of a wall. Sure. He climbs up on it and peers over into the ring. Doren, you make your way up this broken piece of column that's leaning against the wall

Only space enough for one person up there But you make yourself comfortable Doren? I just want to see Who's fighting? We're not here to watch the fight Oh gosh, and he looks to Whim Are we here to watch the fight or what? Whim nods at you and then looks over at the food vendor

Oh my God, fine, you get food I'll get proper seats Excuse me! Red pushes past the people and tries to find some open seats. Yeah, Red, nearby, you find a space that's just big enough for the three of us to sit down and take in the action. Over here, Doren, and Wim,

get me two of those and one of those things, the ones that smell sweet. I got a picture of me climbing on soapboxes of the back peering over. But I guess I could have just sat in the studio. Standing on people, ooh, oh, oh, come here, get down. Yeah, Dorn sort of climbs down

and goes in sits next to Red. But listen, as soon as this is done, we find the person. Okay? Yeah, yeah. Whim! Over here! Red stands up and, like, waves blocking the people behind them.

Wim makes her way towards you. She's got some sticks in her hands, it looks like, and a basket of something. And she shuffles her way towards you through the crowd, accidentally bumping into the woman that's sitting right beside you, Red, as she makes her way to her seat. Nick, who are we looking at?

You see a woman who even seated, you can tell, is fairly tall. She has these honey gold eyes and dark ash-brown hair with the sides of her head shaved, but a long lock of hair braided into a ponytail behind her head. She is wearing a cloak that covers most of her. It's like a three-quarters cloak. But if you were to look down at her boots, you'd see that they're well-worn, but also well-kept. Like, they've seen a lot of travel, but they are regularly maintained. They're cared for.

She has olive-colored skin, and she sits kind of staring intently at the fighters that are entering the arena. And she seems like she is paying exceptional attention to those individuals. specifically, and the ones that are kind of lined up in the area where the fighters wait to come in. As Wim brushes past you, she bumps your knee, and then she mouths the word, sorry, sorry. And she makes her way to her seat. She gets just a slight nod as if this woman is unconcerned, and her attention is laser-focused back onto the arena. Here, Wimmy, here! And Red, like, reaches across this lady's, like, right in front of her face and, like, holds his hands out, welcoming whatever weird sticks that Wim's got. come on sorry lady just food you know who displays it smells great he's incredibly rude people

next to this poor woman doran's like i don't know red uh i wonder if we could find uh find another fighter here someone that uh someone that could help us on our quote oh yeah you were you were saying oh there's fighters down there look like this look those people take a look at that one as you watch a halfling crouches behind a toppled column in the middle of this fighting arena his breath is coming Fast is chest heaving. He's dressed in dark leather armor with a bandana pulled up over his nose and mouth,

and he's digging quickly through his bag, working by touch and looking over his shoulder at the same time for the other contestant that is prowling around looking for him. As we watch him, this halfling pulls out a vial and applies the contents of it to a long, thin blade. It's poison. He's put poison on his blade.

What do you mean? Is he allowed to use? Are you allowed to use poison? I don't know. Is this thing to the... Is this to the death? Red like nudges the woman next to him. Is this to the death?

It's like spitting pieces of like bread on her. Actually, Joe, is it to the death? Is this a... Sometimes. Uh, okay. Usually not. Usually it's until one party concedes, but sometimes it's to the death. Oh.

The woman very kind of nonchalantly just over her shoulder to you says, it depends. Usually just a concession. Oh, what's concession, Doran? And then Doron Soror leans forward. So you mean, they can kill each other? It's not illegal. It's not outside of the rules.

You take your fate into your own hands when you step into the ring. Dorns sort of looks at Red. Wow. This is like the real battles on the battlefield, eh? Try this stick, Red says, and holds it up to Doran's. It's got this, like, crystallized hot sugar all up the length of the stick. and it's just like pure candy essentially. I was hoping like underneath it would be like meat.

Yeah, and underneath there's like like some rib meat, like some kind of like stringy delicious dark meat. I want stringy sweet dark meat. This is far too sweet for me, red. Oh, I'll have it. You eat it. Just then, a formidable looking human in a fiery red cape stalks through the rubble in the halfling's direction. The human holds a heavy-looking sword in one hand

and a cruel metal hook in the other. Oh. He's got thick cords of scar tissue from a terrible burn marking the sides of his face and he sneers at the crowd as people start jeering at him calling his name in a mocking tone.

Wrangle, Wrangell. Oh, he's in for it now. Look, that wrangle guy's going for the little thing. The little hathling. The woman next to you is up on her feet, just heckling the hell out of this. She's shouting, come on, bad match, bad match!

Is it a bad match? The man spies his quarry and sprints over, reaching up over the felled column with his hook and catching the halfling around the arm, trying to drag him up and over. The halfling squirms loose, spins, and lets fly the poisoned dagger, which clatters harmlessly off of Wrangles Perry.

A brief chase follows. The halfling is much faster and more agile, but clearly is tiring himself. Oh. The woman stands up again. She puts her two pinkies into her mouth, and she lets out this high kind of lilting whistle. And she shouts out. Can you break us off a piece of the high lilting whistle? I can't do it.

I can't. I'm not able to do it. Sound effects got this. Sweet. basically it starts to almost sound like a tune but before it gets too deep into that she cuts off the whistle and she shouts out oh lad show this lot the difference between a contender and a bully and there's just something the words though she is shouting it just it cuts through almost all of the sound and there's almost like a compressing a momentary compressing of

air before everything kind of goes back to normal. Huh. Yeah. Yeah, you tell him. And it's like the two of you share a moment. The halflings face snaps to you in the crowd and you lock eyes. And then you see his breathing slow. And again, he puts his back to some rubble and composes himself.

Does Red see that? Nick, is your character trying to be chill about this? or are they just doing their thing? I think they're doing their thing. I think that she is appalled at the fact that these two are fighting each other. This is not fair. It is not a true test of either one of their skill.

And so I think that she is of the mindset. If someone's going to give me shit for this, I will take that fight. Okay. What is it mechanically that you've done? I have given this little halfling spite. Oh, you actually cast something. Basically, what I've done is I've given this halfling the help action, and when he next

hits Rangel with an attack, Rangel will have disadvantage attacking him. Oh, that's metal. So it's basically, it's not a huge difference. It's just giving him a little bit of bolstering while also diminishing this other guy, leveling the playing field a bit more. Let's see a real fight. Nice. Fabulous. I love that.

Red hops up. Hey, what did you just do? I saw you point and some weird little air bubble cut off the... What was that? It was just a bit of help for our friend. Help? Which friend? The big guy or the little guy? The little one.

All right, fine. Red sits back down. Turns the door in. I think she just kind of cheated, maybe. I don't know. Put a finger on the scale, at least. Who? This one. Fighter woman next to you. It's fighter woman. Yeah. Well, Red said smack up.

Hey, what's your name? I think she looks at you and... Were you being quiet when you said cheating? Her finger on the scale? No, probably not, no. Okay, I think that she looks at you. She doesn't answer your question. Instead, she says,

Do you really think that they would have put these two together if someone didn't already have their fingers on the scale? Doesn't this seem a little bit unusual? Surely there have been bets placed. Well, now, Red Lake looks towards them, looks back towards her. Hey! And sits back down, and she says to join. Wait!

She didn't tell me a name. Dora's not paying attention. Dora's standing on his seat, and he's shouting, Hey, hey, hey, that little guy. He's not doing too bad. He's looking back at Red and this new person that's a new friend of us. I'm perplexed. Red stands back up and turns to the woman.

What do you mean they put the finger on the scale? Do you mean these two isn't a fair fight? Look at them. Does it seem like a fair fight? I've seen little guys do big things. Hey, if you're talking about fair fights. Doran's really getting into this match now, watching this like half-link start to tip the scale a little bit the other way.

Yeah, you watch as this halfling stooped down and grabs a handful of sand from the floor of this Coliseum and whips it in the eyes of his bigger opponent and then jabs a dagger into his leg and then takes off running again to get a little bit of distance from the swinging vicious hook. Yeah, look at that. He's doing all right. I don't know, Red. It's not exactly an unfair fight or unfair or whatever that word is, But it's not exactly, you know, it's not exactly fair either. Red squintz's eyes at you. What's your name? I think names can wait. Yeah, they can.

My name's Red. This is my best friend Doran, this is my best friend Wim. We're from out of town. Wim hands you a little basket full of fritters. Oh. Would you like a fritter? I do love a fritter. And, yes, I assumed you were from out of town.

It seems like your first time here. Yeah, yeah, especially with all that scale talks. So you think these two people aren't fairly matched, and you're sort of evening the scales. I like to see a fair fight. I like to see what people can actually do. Hey, you know what? Me too. I like you, names can wait.

Red sits back down for the time being. You actually get a chuckle. I think you get a chuckle at that. Again, not paying attention. Doran's still watching this fight. You know, if you're talking about first. fair fighting, I'd be happy to jump in there with the little guy. I mean, it's one thing for a thick dwarf like me, and he sort of pumps his chest with his fist. And then it's another

thing for that little skinny halfling in there. I mean, look at the guy. The only thing he could do is wriggle out of the Rangel's fists. They're doing like a little bit of a cat and mouse around a pillar, like running circles now, and Rangel is getting closer and closer. He lifts up this great sword and takes one heavy chop down and Rangel just barely misses the halfling

who scoots out of the way and again launches a dagger over his shoulder missing but making it out. The crowd gasps. This is quite a fight. So you're from here then? Is that the case? No, not originally.

Oh. Just now now, like, focus again in on the fight watching these, these, like, very close calls. Mm-hmm. Another gasp comes up from the crowd as Rangel catches the halfling's foot with his hook and trips the halfling, who's now on his back.

This is it. He's going to get it. Crab walking backwards through the dust as the human raises his sword to make a final blow. Well, I can't look. There he goes. If he starts to swing, the sword down and it looks like it's

absolutely going to connect. Then just from the stands, again, standing up on her feet, this woman just shouts, fuck off! And it rings out. And if you're looking closely enough, you can probably almost see, like, sound waves.

This very kind of material thing that echoes out and pushes it makes its way directly towards Rangel's sword. And what happens when it connects? The sword goes off of its target. Wow. She is casting silvery barbs on this attack.

So as this sword comes down, it's moved from its trajectory by your powerful shout and clangs loudly off a piece of broken masonry as the halfling again rolls out of the way, struggles to his feet and runs. You get another glance from this combatant's ring, but this time it is not the grateful look of thanks from the halfling, but the man glares over his shoulder at you and then runs off in pursuit of his quarry again. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Look like you saw that one. And Dorn sort of leans over across red, nudging you with his elbow.

Overhead, the clouds begin to darken and churn. It looks like the good weather is not going to. last for much longer. It looks up and sort of sits up and stands next to the three of them. Hey, have you been here before? Did you get her name, Red? I think that she pushes her way towards the edge of the arena

and she leans in and she says, boy, Rangel, my name is Tamil Seyal. Come and find me after you finish with this little one. And if you kill him, believe me, you will have me to answer to.

And then I think she just storms out of the arena. Wow. Well, that was a name. Yeah, did you hear that? Tamil. Yeah. On her way past you all, she says, she looks at Wim and she says, thank you for the frittes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wim smiles at you and then looks down and surprise a little bit, realizing that you've just secretly deposited a little gift in her pocket. And then out she goes. Man, she seemed tough. And with that, the sky begins to open up. Fat drops of cold rains start to churn the dirt ground. of the arena into mud and the crowd begins to uncomfortably shuffle in their seats starting to put up their hoods and pack up their things a little bit after a few minutes of this a female dwarf

with a spiky red pixie cut and dressed in a shiny golden suit takes a prominent position atop the viewing dais over this arena and with a magically amplified voice she addresses the crowd Unbelievable, truly wild stuff, ladies, gentlemen, friends of all genders and persuasions. Unfortunately, we're going to have to cut this match short. Thank you once again from the bottom of my purse for spending your day with me, Carilla Jetstar. It seems the heavens will cooperate no longer with our afternoon plans, wild, absolutely wild. But I hope many of you made good on your wagers. Please remember that the 20th this month is the Day of Ashes, and Al Hamar will be

hosting festival instead of contest. So get your bloodlustated tomorrow. The next day and the rest of this 10 day. No blood will be spilled on the 20. Tip your vendors generously and have a fantastic evening. Red pops up, dawn. Let's get out of here before we have to tip the vendors. Yeah, I guess.

They'll kill each other with metal and wood, but a little rain. Gotta love entertainment, eh, Red? Yeah, hey, that's probably the person we're looking for. Karina Gemstar. That's totally someone with a big mouth that probably talks about everything. But let's see if we can't track her down and ask her these questions about these giants and stuff. You know, Red, despite whatever people think about what they're doing here, you never really know who you're going to meet, who you're going to run into. Yeah, but what do you mean?

I'd like to go and talk with that tough-looking woman we just spoke to you. That looked like someone who might be able to, you know, face some of the challenges that we face. Did you see the biceps on her? Yeah, but Tarin. and Red sort of like sits down to next to Doran for a second. Look, Marie was also a random person who joined us, and, you know, she ended up not really wanting to be a part of it in the end. Do we really want to bring on another fighter just to leave?

Yeah, and he sort of looks back again toward the direction where Tamila went. I guess, you know, it's just nice to see that sort of enthusiasm, you know, in a colseum such as this, during those fights. And, you know, it's just sort of nice to see that. And I guess I wanted to find out more about that person, simply because they looked like they were tough as shit. All right, I'm exhausted anyway. Look, why don't we head back to the bar?

We can at the very least ask Matild for a description of the person we're looking for, because I realize now that was a major error in my plan. That's one part. And we can ask Matild where? your new friend might have gone. Maybe she'd recognize her. As you go to move towards the exit, Wim stands to follow you out

and then remembers, shoves her hand in her pocket, and pulls out the gift that Tameel left for her. A shiny green emerald. Just never understand, will they read? No, they may not, but look, this is our way to tell them.

What better way then? through song. You could never know what it's like. Never, ever. Watching Jack Die can turn a heart to ice. You can say that again. There's a cold and empty feeling

I've got to say. Watching my return around a tucktail and run. away did you think that we would all give up there's giants to defeat we have to kick their butts oh yeah we'll find another fighter to make our move you think you've left us in a lurch but boy have we got things to prove and don't you know that we're still standing we've got shit to do we're gonna take the giants to the mat and kill some dragons too probably don't you know that we're still standing even though we do regret sing it from the

heart brother that though the wizard died and the genasi flied We ain't done yet. Oh yeah! Come on, Doran! Oh, kick it up! Kick those feet up, Redd. Woo! See if you can hit that tree this time. Ha ha!

Once we never could I hope to win, the Giants, well the Giants nearly had us pinned. But Jack took the heat in a real dark way, and Maury finally made her mind up. I'm sure she's far away. And don't you know that we're... Don't you know that we're still standing and it ain't over yet. Get in here, Temeel.

A new fighter here in Dead Snows and she's quite the threat. Oh, too kind. And don't you know that we're still standing and will until we've done the job. It's called karaoke. No, we may want to rename the horse so it isn't Rob. Wait, there's a horse. We're still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Come on, Red Sing. We're still standing. Yeah Yeah Let me in Ole Miss We're still standing Yeah Yeah yeah

Come on Tamil It's Tamil actually Yeah, we're still stand The Col Yeah yeah Elton Doran Give us a solo Red Woo!

Here we go Yeah Oh Like this No I think you're supposed It's a lot harder than it looks Oh God

How do you play this thing Ah Hell's Red My third keeps Getting stuck in the strings Oh yeah We're still standing, guys We got lots to go

Ain't done yet It's gonna take a lot more than them To bring us down Hoohoo! Oh yeah All right All right How do we Do we get a CD or something

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