Dice Shame - 21 | 'So Help Me'

Episode Date: March 5, 2020

Our heroes seek out a Dragon expert in the City of Waterdeep to help combat the Giant threat... 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.

Oh my God, is that a dragon? Hard to decide whether today is worse than the day with all the death and stuff. Here's what I'm thinking. To, of course, get your autograph. That way, I see a break in the crowd. You could shut up. So it's going to be that kind of, is it? Is it dangerous?

No, it's just so annoying. Redden is never really interested. This is like a smaller, shittier version of that. Hmm. Oh, it was the same architect. A smaller, shittier architect. Welcome back to Dice Shame, episode 21, so help me. This week's MVP is Timmy from Podchaser, who gave us a five-star review on the podcast.

Thank you, Timmy. Couldn't have done it without you. Thanks, Timmy. If you're enjoying this, check out our friends of Dice and Myths. Their podcast is a series of storytelling adventures focusing on the connections and struggles of real people in a fantastical situation. The goal is to share the stories that need to be heard the most. It's a wonderful show, and they're so passionate about what they do. All right. Are we ready to do this? Yeah, let's get to it.

So help me. Welcome to episode 21, everybody. Whoa! Hey, yo. Forever. Forever 21. It's been a whole week before we've come back to Waterdeep. Magic items

I know What was it that we got last week? We got the decanter of endless water Endless water Chime of opening The chime of opening Jack do you have any ideas How you're going to use that decanter?

A pool party Pool party Sound like is it poo party And you know shit fart Would love to come to that poo part You know sometimes you just need to make a Place where I'm welcome I just need to make a bathtub

For a shit fart So you're so excited Wash the horses with your decanter I'm excited to break at this chime of opening on something that Joe really doesn't want us to open. You know what I mean? Like some like really great magic chest and I'm just going to be like, click.

That door requires a key which you don't have. Click, bling. No, I'm excited. I think the chime of opening is like a, not a game breaker, but it's definitely a door opener. Well, you don't have a rogue in the party, so. Truth. So Red just did something sneaky in a graveyard.

No one knows that. Well, so Red had this. this lovely moment where he rolled insight last time and saw a little bit into Jack. And I wonder if Red coming back, Red is never really interested in anything civilization, not in this way. This is the only thing Red's ever, like, presented to be interested in and want to invest in. And I think Jack would want to take a moment and just see, like, just ask him, hey, so what's up with the graveyard? And just like point blank. Right, as Red's strolling back to join you.

Hey, so what's up with the graveyard? It's just a beautiful place, really. And I got a 12. Versus your deception. 22. All right. You totally believe them. It really strikes me that it, that, I mean, it is, it's really wonderful.

I'm just, you don't take, you don't pay attention to things like that. So I'm really, I'm really interested to find something that connects with you. That's, that's really neat. You just don't know me yet, Jack, I say, as I walk past him. Your fingers together like Mr. Burns. Have we seen any tobaccoxie around? Other than Red? No.

They're pretty rare. What brought you to Waterdeep? How did you get here, Red? Well, I mean, it's a long story. We got time. Fair enough. Where are we going first? Let's decide, and then we can talk while we walk.

We're heading to, uh, I think the dragon place? Shazloth Yarghorn. Yeah, we're going to see Shazlok Yarghorn in the northward. He's a dragon expert. Is he a dragon? I think he's going to get us in touch with the good dragon. It's not impossible. Um, yes.

So as we're walking, I'll answer the question. and say, yes, well, as Tabaxi, obviously, we come from far over the seas, and we try not to send too many of our people over here, typically because we are artisans and traders and such, but I was the first of my family, really, to sell arrows overseas. Well, Khranov knows most of this. We've talked about it many times. So you came, you just came across the sea, because that's what Tabaxi do? Well, truth be told, I came here under the guise of selling arrows. At least that's what my family believes. They thought I came here to Fletch in St.

Eleanor's, but the truth is I just wanted it out. I wanted a bit of adventure, and that's why I'm so happy I met you. I'd like to roll inside. Sure. This is what he always does. Oh, a natural one, you fucker. Oh, shame.

Not even know of the shame to do. And that's all you'll need to know. And you believe him. That's quite a thing. do, you know, to pick up your life and travel across an ocean. Yes, but, you know, as Tabaxi people, we're really not that attached to the families we can. I mean, I'm one of 40 siblings, you know, I don't even know some of them. Fair enough. Fair enough. So, you know, we're meant to do that. Did you know it was Farron you were coming to? Until recently,

there was a whole different continent over there. You know, Jack, I didn't even know the name of the continent was Faroon until, I think Krayloff mentioned it in passing. I saw it on a sign. And what a sign that was, buddy. Can I, right? ride on your shoulders. Oh, sure. But wait, yeah, where are we going anyway? This dragon thing. Yeah, where is that?

It's in the north. Northward. Oh, North Ward. Oh, we should have swung by there on our way in. I was recently in Europe with Harlan. We went to, like, Berlin. New cities and just being there full of people, you don't know, living out their lives. It's like this really impressive, awesome feeling where, you know, you could get lost,

but that's kind of exciting too. just, I really want to impress upon the listeners that Waterdeep is a huge place. It's a, it's a very metropolitan place. And all these people bustling around, like our PCs are not walking through empty streets here. Like, they're having conversations and, and people are busting between them as they're chatting and they have to, like, duck out of the way because a noble in a riding horse who's got too much pomp and, and they're just so snotty that they just charge at full speed through the streets on their riding horses and you guys

have to kind of scramble out of the way or be mowed down. Are you kidding? Red is like guiding us through on Crailat's shoulders. That way I see a break in the crowd. It's like this tabaxi head of bobbing above. It's beautiful. Like the variety of shop fronts and there are people selling

fruit in the streets under these colored awnings. There's like a baker hanging out of a window going, Maurice, love I get! Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's breaking Jack's heart because every time he sees a street or like a coffee shop or a place that he's been with Torin or something. And that's all he can sort of see in these streetfronts. He's walking around with these folks and they're just not the same. No. We're definitely not the same. Different. Just different.

How are you doing, Jack? I mean, he's had a rough day. Hard to decide whether today is worse than the day with all the death and stuff. But. So it's coming up on dinner time by the time you get to the North War. which is like, again, in the north of the city, back where you started your day this morning, they have to cross all the way across the city, the sounds of the harbor are distant. The northward is a place that clearly houses the respectably wealthy and is a series of landscaped neighborhoods, home to villas, townhouses, and upscale ins. There's like a tapas restaurant. Oh, Mediterranean.

Is it Mazdican tapas? No, there's not much of that here. You'd love it. This beautiful yellow fish, yellow fish from the she. Oh, I see. We call it the she, not the sea. The she? Yeah.

Oh. You see across the skyline a tall stone house with a mage tower in one corner. Well, this is the place that Maxine told us about. I guess let's just go up and introduce ourselves. I don't see why not. I mean, it's middle of the day. Now that we're here in Waterdeep, you know, grounded in the space, very familiar with where this tower is in the city.

Do I have any sense of the history of this tower or the place? Do I know anything about it? Do you know anything about this person's mage tower? Yeah, or this tower in general. Mages, I mean, I'm pretty tapped into the mages of the city. Roll a history check. Would love to. 28.

This mage tower was built to kind of emulate one of the more affluent mages that you know in the city? The black staff. Blackstaff. He's got a whole tower. This is like a smaller, shittier version of that. Doran, you know, Blackstaff. Yes. Clearly, they're aping the style.

Hmm. It was the same architect. A smaller, shittier architect. The original architect set a trend and then maybe, yeah, maybe, this is a knockoff. Yeah, or it could be the same one, just ran out of resources. Are there plaques on any of the buildings? In this neighborhood? In Waterdeep.

Yeah, of course. Okay. So is there a plaque on this building? No. Okay. I'm going to knock on the door. You hear from within. We're here.

The sound of a couple of dishes knocking over. Hold on. Just a minute. I think there's a little of cats in there. Can I try the door? Yeah. Is it open? Yeah.

Yeah, I think I'm going to walk in. Red, they're coming. I know. A hoarder lives here. Oh, wow. Yeah. The place is a total mess. Yeah, it reeks of cat piss.

And something else. Wait, I know that smell. Do I know that smell? Is that dragon shit? Yeah. That's dragon shit. Why do you know the smell of dragon shit? Because I've lived in mountains all my life.

A bald man in a bald man in a brown robe comes like stumbling around the corner. He's got a cat on his back. It's clawing him to shreds. And he's like, oh, one minute. Oh, hold on. And he like falls into the next room and then you hear the clatter of dishes again. That's like relics without wings. I'm so sorry. That was very embarrassing. Hello. I'm near Chasloth, Yaghorn, to make your acquaintance hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Red. This is my best friend. Krayloff, Jack, and Doran. So kind of you to let yourself into my house.

It's a, uh, it's a house. Yeah. It's quite a house. How can I help you and make you stay here more wonderful? We could go to a cafe, maybe. Well, no. Talk, no. Don't leave the house very much.

Have you got a dragon here? Excuse me? I retrieve my axe from my sheath on my back. Have you got a dragon here? Put your blade away, boy. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Good idea. Hey, let's, uh, let's, let's, let's talk about this.

Just a bit on edge, okay? My friend Doran has had some bad run-ins with dragons, but put your axe away. We can talk about this. No weapons in the house. Sivoli, indeed, indeed. Look, everything's all right. So, do you have a dragon here? Yes.

There's no problem, then, to put your sword away. Well. An acquaintance actually sent us to Naxine from the watchful order of majors and magistrates. We met her in Goldenfields, and she suggested we have a conversation. Diddy. Oh. Is Biddy good at? I bet.

Do you like her? You know, Maxine was more Jack's friend. She's a busy body. I liked her. You could shut up. So it's going to be that kind of visit.

As we walk past a tall, rickety staircase that leads up into the darkness, a cat falls from somewhere and just lands on all four feet. All of its hair is standing totally on end. Its pupils just slits, and it... streaks into the side room.

Are there any cats around us? Yeah. I'm just going to bend down and talk to one and, like, spend animal awareness for a minute while they're continuing on. Sure, sure, sure. Just to see what its needs are, if it's magically inclined. I kind of want to understand why they're... Oh, my God. Get out of here while you can.

What's going on? Why? Terrifying. Dragon wormling. Whereabouts is the dragon woman? Upstairs right now. You'd best stay on the ground floor. Is it dangerous?

No, it's just so annoying. Well, why don't you and your cat friends just put yourself in one area and we'll talk to it and maybe we can help itself. Okay, well, just keep it away from me. Appreciate it. Streaks away. I don't know if you've heard much news from the area about giants. There's been some really awful events involving all kinds of giants recently, especially like Goldenfields a few days ago, had their second attack, and we were there to experience it, and it was really awful. Is that so?

And that was why Naxine suggested we come and talk with you. Is she had a plan and thought you were the dragon expert who could provide us any information we might need to figure out if it's even possible. In fact, she had a lot of nice things to say about you. Yeah, she would. I'm a very admirable man. Indeed, you seem like an expert who knows a lot about a lot of things. You're very correct and perceptive. Especially cats.

Can I roll insight on him? Sure. What's the deal with this guy? Is he just arrogant and likes the compliments, or nine? Someone else want to try maybe? I mean, you would assume, yeah. I'll do an insight. Sure.

As I'm kind of buttering him up a little bit. 11. He definitely likes you most of all of your companions so far. I'll give it a shot, too, with a 15. Yeah, he doesn't like Naxine because she's got a better station in life than he does, and he's jealous. Yeah, yeah, Maxine certainly seems I've got a cushy gig. Yeah, well, who wants that anyway? Goldenfields is kind of a shit

city. And you've got a tower all to yourself. It's really tall. Doran's catching on to what's going on here. Looks like Blackstaff Tower. Very impressive. Very, very, very. Blackstaff actually modeled his tower after me. Oh, no way. Sure, he did.

Yep. It looks that way. Say, why do you have a dragon wehrumling on the second floor? What do you mean? What are you keeping it for? What do you mean? Is it you familiar? No, he just hangs out with me.

That sounds incredible. You were able to capture a dragon wormling. You must be very powerful. Yeah. Did you capture it or did you hatch it and hatch it and raise it? Oh, I captured the egg and then I hatched it and raised it. You captured a dragon. A fearsome black or red dragon, of course.

Must be. Oh, no. It's a way cooler dragon. You wouldn't know much about dragons, obviously. Definitely not. That's why you're here to talk to an expert like next scene wanted you to be. Well, exactly, absolutely. It's a silver dragon. Did you want to meet it?

I love to, yes. Most definitely, yes. I've never even seen a dragon. Maybe a little bit later anyway. How, uh, what kind of help do you need? Well, mostly we need to learn about the dragon. One question, are there good dragons? Do you happen to know with all of your wisdom and intelligence that...

Of course, dear boy, there are good dragons. Where would you find those? Do you have any examples? Why? Why? Why? Naxine's plan was to unite the good dragons and recruit them to fight against these giants who are rampaging around sort of directionless as the ordaining has fallen apart. The dragons are not going to want to start up another thousand-year war. That's ridiculous. Of course it is. Oh, because you say so. Here's what I'm thinking. There's a dragon in the crypt garden forest.

Name of Old Knobone. She's got a collection of some wild and groovy crystal balls that she uses to cry on anything that moves whenever the fancy takes her. Sexy old beast, if you guys will go over to her realm and talk to her about how you're really excited to kill all of the giants, she'd probably A, not kill you, and B, help you find what you seek. Come here, come here. He heads up the stairs without looking back. What historically old gnaw bones, do I know that name? Have I heard of this dragon before? Am I am I familiar with anything about it? No, this is an old ancient dragon who Naxine wouldn't even know to tell you to go and see. You would have to go and see a dragon specialist to know about this dragon.

I do have a book of lore about old ancient dragons. Nobone's not in there. Okay. Actually, I think Red and Kralov hang back a little. Okay. So, Doran and Jack follow closely up the stairs? Yeah, yeah. He's just chatting with himself about how smart he is and how much he knows about dragons.

So I heard Knob owns a Red Dragon, right? Oh, no, don't be ridiculous. She's a green dragon. Or a green dragon in the forest. I guess that makes the most sense. Of course. Silly little man. Wow, wow.

And what else can you tell us about dragons, oh, wise one? Well, you know, they like being complimented. Very fragile egos, dragons. Oh. He reaches the fourth floor and opens the door to a room that's entirely full of multicolored bubbles and, oh, sorry, closes it and then opens it again and it's a really messy study. He opens a cabinet and plucks out a handful of vials, and he almost drops one and then doesn't. Wow. and hands each of you two potions, and he says, uh, just in case.

What are these? You wouldn't know this because you don't know anything at all about dragons, but green dragons are the poison spitters. Mm-hmm. And if you, uh, get on her bad side, well, maybe you'll need this. Poison resistance, you see. Where are your friends? Oh, they're, uh, right behind us.

I think we've spent the time that he's talking. I kind of want to take a quick look around, a perception, because we kind of just walk through here. So I'm going to do a perception. I can do a perception as well. I'd like to just look for more information about this guy's. 11 for mine. And 17 for me.

As you are looking through the vast and tottering piles of papers and knick-knacks that are sprayed with a liberal amount of cat urine, the great green eyes. of a silver dragon look you directly in the face as it walks out from behind a pile of belongings and furniture. Oh, and I say hello and draconic. Hello. Oh, your dialect is so different. Mine was so guttural and throaty. What's your name? Isor. Isor? What does it say? I hope you don't plan on stealing anything. Oh, in this pile of cat piss and newspapers?

Just thought we'd look around and get an understanding, your friend, the... Bumbling eccentric. Frankly, we wanted to hang back a little bit and catch our breath before moving on to his quite elaborate tales. Yes, well, enjoy. As he turns his back to his tail flicks in a very cat-like way. Ask if he knows anything about where he came from. I want to, but he seems pretty unenthusse to talk to us. Can you just talk to us for a moment, please?

His long neck raises up to his full height. And he turns and looks at you over his shoulder. And he says, what would you like to talk about? Well, we came here because we were fighting giants up on the north. And a very powerful wizard of ours recommended that we speak to, frankly, the dragons. Where did you come from? I don't know. Were you born here?

Yes, in this terrible house. Do you know anything about this old narbones that your friend spoke of? Never met her. Well, we're frankly a bit worried about facing up to a dragon and asking them for help. I was wondering if you have any thoughts or advice on that. The only thing dragons like more than flattery is treasure. Well, I respect that very much. We don't have much time. We should.

Hell, and I reach in and give you a gold piece. He bats it around on the floor like a cat would. Come on, Red. But why? They'll be expecting us. Okay. Bye. Speaking in draconic to our wizard host, obviously old gnawbones must be the common name for this dragon, but do you know they're a proper draconic name?

It's Clageliamitar. That rolls off the tongue. I mean, I admit all I've learned about dragons is from this book, the Parwiken cycle, which is sort of about their interactions with the elves. I'm sure you're familiar. Of course. I helped write the thing. Really? Oh, yes.

Is there anything about Clagelimitar that you remember? Maybe leaving out on the editing, I don't know if I recognized their name in the book at all. I do know that she's a very jealous, dragon, and guards her territory well against other interlopers, that she would not permit even her own kin to stay nearby. And yet, uh, we are supposed to go there and approach her and be friendly with her? Yes. And how would we do that?

With your own charming wit and, perhaps with a... payment. Oh, that makes sense. Definitely don't try to fight her, because that would be fucking stupid. But in case a fight happens, drink your potions and run away. I don't know, I don't know, I struggle with going up to see them because I'm really interested in the dragon. Yeah, Chaz, uh, Chaz, the wizard actually is coming on back down.

Oh, okay, perfect. I'll just wait for the other guys. And I'm like, God, it's a dragon as they come downstairs. Oh, and yeah. So Chaz law is like, oh, so you've met. My pet. Oh, my God, is that a dragon? And I get really startled.

It's okay, it's okay. He's friendly and absolutely beautiful. This is Irizora, silver dragon wormling. Good. Certainly, certainly a beautiful creature, but I don't know if I trust it. And he's all mine. Absolutely incredible. Listen, Chaslov, could I talk to you about something?

Of course, yeah. Oh, all right, I can spare a minute. I take Chazlov aside, and I lean in close, and I say, I didn't want you to have to talk about this in front of the others, but just between you and me, I think it's absolutely fascinating that you were able to get this egg from the layer of a mother dragon. It's absolutely incredible.

I know. Will you be writing a book about this? Oh, it's at the publishers. You know, they're sending it back for revisions. They don't recognize good. Art. I know exactly what you mean. Say, I'm real curious.

You don't have to tell me, but which dragon did you steal it from? And I'm going to use my inspiration. Good call. Oh, nice. And I'm going to use a persuasion on him. 19. Interesting. Very interesting.

Very. This could be really good. If we were to find this mother dragon, we could somehow, invents her to that were friendly. We wanted to talk to a good dragon. The mother of a silver dragon would be a better bet than old knob bones.

Mind you, Chaz did give us dragon poison antidotes. Well, I wouldn't normally tell a lay person such as herself, but I don't think you really have the stones to do anything with the information if you don't mind me

saying. I don't know what I could do. Write my own book. the name of the dragon was clarion Clarion Yes My goodness Where did you find this Clarion The Grey Peak Mountains of course

Well I am absolutely astounded by this You should be Listen You wouldn't happen to have made a duplicate of that book of yours I think it would be absolutely Fascinating reading to have an advanced copy I would be happy to pay you

double and to, of course, get your autograph on this book would absolutely mean the world to me. And like I say, I'd pay you double, even triple the price of the... 100 gold. Let's do it. All right. You stay right here. Well played.

Meta, you know? You have inspiration. You get it right back. Because that's awesome, awesome stuff. Oh my gosh. This dragon, you guys are. fine with a dragon around here like this. It's so beautiful. It's beautiful. It's also dangerous. It speaks in draconic. The dwarf is upset. Yeah, he's a bit nervous.

Look, it's a scary cat. It's eyeing me. It's licking its lips at me. He's only saying that he thinks you're very pretty. I've seen silver dragons like this before in the Grey Peak Mountains. What would you like the dwarf to do? I bet we could get him to do anything you said. He exhales a little bit of his cold breath onto the floor of this awful home and it like frosts over like a six-foot diameter circle where his nostrils hit the ground. The dwarf stands with his hands up against the wall behind him and he's just pressed against the wall in fear now. What are you, what are you guys saying to it? This is not fair. This is, this is, this is, Doran, it's okay. No, I've seen dragons like this. Doran, it's fine. It's okay. I promise you. Nothing's wrong. And I say, in Draconic, to both Jack and the dragon, say,

he's getting a bit too scared. Let's lay off the joke. He is our friend after all. You guys have a nice day. The dragon slinks away. You hear the sound of a panicked cat from the other room. And Chasloff bustles busily into the room. He's holding a tomb. His book is probably four inches thick. It's all of these like totally messed up sheaves of men. And manuscript you can tell this is going to be a pain in the ass to go through and uh he's already signed to the front with like magical i'm imagining like gold glitter gel pen it's his signature incredible chesloth with a like a couple of stars underneath it yeah this is beautiful i will i will cherish it doran you got the gold right no red red i've got us and i reach in i need a hundred

100 gold. You'll be sure now when you go visit old Nabon. Come on back and tell me. Most definitely will. And maybe I'll pick up some tips in here. Yes, you will. Do you want me to store it? Yes, please, here.

You just hold on to that. And I kind of hold them and say, wow, what is this? It's a book and you're welcome. A book you wrote? Yep. About what? About dragons. Listen, as a person who's collected beard hair from a dragon in cloud stuff,

I am so on board with collecting weird knickknacks and trinkets. You didn't pay 100 gold for those. I would pay 200 gold for this book. I am in no way against it. I love this kind of shit. Wow, this is incredible. Yep, definitely worth 100 gold. Okay.

A cat runs into the room directly into a stack of papers that are precariously perched on the side of an armchair and they fall over like almost taking Chazloth out. And he's like, all right. So it was very nice to meet you. I've got a situation on my head. We can see that. Before you even finish a sentence, Doran's like, the door is swinging and hitting. There's a door in shape.

Yeah, there's an outline of Doran on the door, yeah. And just as we go, I would just say to the Silver Dragon one last time, it was really nice to meet you. Take care. And if you ever decide you want to adventure, you're welcome on our party. Cool. So we leave. The air outside is so refreshing.

Oh, yeah, wow. Creelth, what a brilliant idea. Well, it occurred to me that he stole that dragon egg from somewhere. Silver Dragon versus Green Dragon, I figure, you know, might as well have an option. So I asked him where he got the egg from. Tells me about this dragon named Clarion. I don't know if you know of this dragon, but silver from the Frost Peak Mountains or the Grey Peak Mountains. It is the one.

You know of Clarion? Yes. That dragon that was in there. What was his name? Irisol. Irisol. That is Clarion's baby. Now, I don't know if dragons care as much about their babies as us humans do, for the most part.

But if I was a mama of that baby dragon, I would want to know where it is and how to get it back. Minimally, they all love to hoard. And if somebody's taken something from them. And this book, and I hold out the book, and I say, it might be complete bullshit. But he says that he wrote this book after going on this adventure to retrieve the dragon. Like any text, I'm sure there's nine-tenths of it that are fluff, and there may be some nuggets of truth buried there. Can I see it? Of course, yeah.

Can I just flick through and roll like an insight on the gist, like read a random page here and there? Definitely. A lot of it seems to be self-aggrandizing bullshit, but there actually is a thread of a story that you pick up by reading the beginning of one of the chapters. You know, this is actually quite interesting. I wouldn't mind reading it. Did you want to read it first? Oh, no. I'm pretty busy with my studies of giant. I don't have time for me. Honestly, I have all the time. Jack's doing your spell scrolls. You're doing your Kellynbole stuff. Doran is just being awesome. I'll read this while we're camping.

Consider me next in line. Well, I mean, we did what we wanted to do in Water, Deep. Why didn't we head back to the B in the barrel for one last drink? I could definitely use a drink after the taste in my mouth after that place. Yeah, same here. So much kissing ass that all you taste is shit. Yeah. Jack, did you want to come with that? Maybe I'll meet you there later. I was going to swing by somewhere.

All right. And as we walk down the street, you hear Doren saying, man, there was more shit in there than I've seen on shit fart. God, I love that pony. To the bee in the barrel. All right. Are you going our way a little bit, Jack? I'll meet up with you there later.

So Red, Kralath, and Doran, you head to the bee in the barrel. You don't possibly believe that we are going to find a dragon and speak to it. We've been over this. think yes what do you think Kralov? I mean we've seen things that I have never seen before I mean we've seen two hill giants now

They're pretty big I mean I didn't think we would be the one speaking To the dragon I mean we're moving tree Yeah but I didn't think we'd be the one Speaking to the dragon It'll be fine Dorian don't be so afraid Find the wizard and he would know how to speak to the dragons And we like slow down in front of the be in the barrel

And I'm like Dorin it's perfectly okay to be afraid of the dragon a little bit A little bit. But you haven't seen a dragon decimate a town. No, of course not bad. I have. I have. That's true. I've seen that dragon decimate my town.

Clarion? That's the one. I didn't know that was its name. We only called it the silver dragon from the deep. We've kept a respectful distance. And this was almost 100 years ago when I was just a small dwarf. It killed half of the town. I definitely appreciate your perspective.

Maybe it turns out that we do not seek out the help of the dragons. I mean, at this point, it seems kind of like a far-off solution anyways. I certainly hope that we don't have to come face to face with another dragon. But either way, it won't be tonight. Let's kick up in this door. Let's get a drink, for sure. The smell of spiced mead and roast coming from inside of this. place is absolutely intoxicating.

I'm drunk already. The thought of dragons immediately leaves Doran's mind when he smells meat and mead. Just walking into this place, just seeing the layout of the tables and the smiling bartender, all of it just brings all of your memories back from the first time you two laid eyes on each other. This is where I bought the meat that I've made my first bit of jerky. This is where I got my first beer at a bar. And I feel like I've been here before, but I can't remember. Oi, friends. Hello.

Will you have a beer? Of course we will. Come on, boys, and I wrap my arm around both of them, and we walk. Pull up to the bar. Sing in my tune. Why don't you give us three roast chickens, and what are you going to have, Kralath? Well, I'm going to have the spiced meat, of course. Of course you will, course you will.

And Doran will have one of my chickens. Of course. He slides three tangards across the bar. Say, Tobaxi. Yes. What's your name? Red. Red.

Red, what? Red-handed Robin. I put her there, and I reach out. A peculiar look crosses his features. I pull it back. What's wrong, friend? Someone's been looking for you. Oh, who's been looking for me?

Another Tabaxi. By the name of? Well, she didn't give me a name. She? She. She said my name's B. But I know that you Tabaxi like to have long sort of. of sentence type names.

Yes. No, B's all good, then. Yes. Did she say where she'd be? No, she was here about a week ago. Shame we missed her. She said she's been looking for you for a couple of months now.

Yes, that would be your B. To the booth, friends. Thanks for letting us know. All right. I just kind of look at Crayal often. I think we exchange a couple of looks. Cheers! And I like, I like pick up the chicken and like...

So many chickens? Yeah, turn around. And I think we move into a booth and just enjoy. are roast chickens. With Doran and Kralath suspiciously looking at Red, who's now acting rather strangely. Look, if you could do me a favor, friends, I'll be happy to talk. But keep this from Jack for a moment. He's awfully curious about certain things, and there's something that I'd be happy to tell

you in a little bit of time that I don't think Jack would be too happy about. No problem. Doran and Kralath just kind of exchanged glances and eat their food and drink their beer. Back in Jack's world. Jack is heading to the Copper Cup, hoping to find Toran and have a word with him. You look in the window as you approach the fast hall, and Toran is very busy. It's dinner time, so it's like prime time for the fest hall. He's rushing around, directing his waitstaff, overseeing stuff in the kitchen, shaking hands with important guests.

There's a crew of sailors that are really requiring his attention. you see him in his element. There's like a couple of beads of sweat on his brow that he absentmindedly dashes away with one of his rolled up sleeves. And always there is this ever-present smile on his face as he does the business of entertaining and maintaining this bar that his family's had for generations. So there's like this look through the window watching him and his element and then jack swallows really hard and walks into the room.

Horan's eyes slide over you and then register who you are and you see his smile falter for just a second and a blush hits his cheeks and he walks over to you quickly. He's got his arm full of empty glasses that are slick with beer. Jack, uh, thank, thank you for coming back. I'm, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything before. That was really not my place. I know it's not a good time, but if you had a moment tonight, I'd love to talk if that's okay. Uh, yeah, yeah. Can you wait? Give me five minutes. I'll wait as long as you need. Okay.

And he runs back to the kitchen, drops off the glasses. You see him give a couple of instructions to his bar staff. And then he pulls you out a side door into the alley, into the cooling night. I know this is really hard, and I wish we could be somewhere else or live a different life, but I can't stay. I think we're leaving pretty soon. And if it's too hard and you don't want to hear from me, I won't write. I can leave.

But I'd love to still write to you and still be able to see you. Jack, don't do this. I overstep my bounds earlier. No, I, you, that, I mean... Listen, it's your birthday coming up. Soon. I haven't forgotten. I don't think I'll probably see you before then

because you're heading out of town with your friends and who knows. But I got something for you and I would love to be able to give it to you if that's okay. Sure. That would be okay. He hands you a gift wrapped in shiny paper and he says, don't open it now. I'll put it in my bag and we're probably not leaving tomorrow.

I don't know when you're done, but I could stay. I would love it if you would stay here tonight. Okay. He throws his arms around you. You guys share a passionate embrace. Absolutely, yeah. And he looks over his shoulder as he goes back into the bar where all of his obligations are and looks out at you in the street where all of your obligations are.

And he says, I'll see you in a couple hours. I love you. And he runs back inside. Oh, love, tis a wonderful thing. If you're loving Dyshame, please make sure to leave us a good review on iTunes. It helps us growl.