Dice Shame - 83 | 'Paint the Town Red'

Episode Date: May 13, 2021

The night continues and a mysterious stranger gives the group a promising lead... 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?!? Guest Star: Jeff Hays from Soundbooth Theater! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I could go for another drink. I'm having a lot of fun here. This town speaks to Kraloth. Oh, Jack's got some moves. If only someone could keep perfect time. I love Yarder. Oh, that's some beautiful hair you got there. See, Dorian, let's loosen up.

Have some fun. How much do you have? I think he's asking for money, red. Can you guys keep it down there? What's happening? You there. Get up here. You need to dance.

I don't remember the magic word. I think it might have been Stephen 1. And a 10-foot boat explodes into the What the hell? Welcome back to Dice Shame, episode 83, Paint the Town Red. This week's MVP is Chaz, mostly dead, who's been hanging out with us on Discord. Nice to see you, Chaz. Thanks for joining.

If you're listening to this, please leave us a positive review on iTunes or a similar app. There are plenty of options out there, including. including Pod Chaser and even Facebook, where you can tell others just how much you're enjoying this show. As we continue on this journey, we're hoping to do much more. And having you share your love of our little show is the easiest way to ensure we're around for a long time. Seriously, it makes all the difference. All right, should we get down to business? Let's do it. So I was thinking a little bit about how this world treats.

grooming. Oh. Obviously, there are important character decisions of varying levels of blood in one's beard and whatnot, but I feel like everyone at the table has got a little bit of a different style. Cleanliness is important. Not to Doren, it's not. For some of us.

Because obviously, grooming in this world is important. Right. And red would have long claws because he does have like a clawing ability if he does unarmed strikes. But I was thinking. He probably has, like, the pointer and index finger on his right hand filed down. Just those two, because, you know, when you're releasing a bowstring, it would be more difficult to sort of count on your nail, especially if you get into a scrape.

Okay, so Red can't retract his claws like a cat. Oh. No, because technically he's a fox, which I've got a lot of flak online for. Come on, he did. They're like, can to be a fox? I thought they were only feline. Like, this isn't really... Technically, foxes aren't part of the ceiling.

D&D bros, they're just like rules lawyers, you know. Yo, bro. Well, I mean, they're not wrong, but also who gives a shit? Like, to me, it's not a thing that... Guess what? We're using our imaginations. Wait, oh. Game.

Yeah. I saw a fox chase a coyote at the beach yesterday. What? Well, there's a little den of foxes down there, this mom and a bunch of kids. Oh, yeah. So we were walking down around midnight, and there was just this, like, yelling noise. Because foxes yell, and it sounds like people screaming. Yeah.

The whole thing. And so then we're like, is that a dog? And it's this coyote, like three times the size of this mother fox, chasing it all up and down, back on the road to Queen Street, and then back down into the park, and it's like all back and forth yelling at this thing. Wow. Who won? I mean, we didn't hang around a whole bunch and aggravated coyote and fox mom,

so we didn't see the end of it. But it did look like the coyote was nowhere near the den, which is sort of cordoned off to make sure people don't go. So the Fox won? Fox wins. Yeah, one for Fox. Round one. fight. Anyway, what's your intro, baby?

Well, that's not like an intro to me. Yeah, well. Tough. Well, I mean, I kind of brought the grooming thing out of nowhere, and Alex said almost nothing through the entire intro. Well, what am I supposed to say? I got no comments in your fingernails. My name's Alex.

I'm playing Dungeons and Dragons. My intro is this. I want to know when the last time was that, you got hurt. Getting heavy here. That you hurt yourself. We're getting older, so I feel like injuries are more grievous than they used to be. Like, we just took Henry for a little scoot around the block.

Oh, yeah. And he fell off of his scooter, and he skinned his elbow, which obviously... And before he even, like, got skinned, he literally, he, like, fell and he goes like, I don't want a scooter anymore! He's falling off his scooter and yells, I don't want a scooter as he's following. through the air. Midfall. In the last second

before he hit the ground. Regret. Just palpable. Never again. I mean, he's been on it since, so it's fine. No lasting damage. But, like, the injury is gone now.

And it made me think, like... Henry's Wolverine. Regeon. Oh, he has an active regent buff. If we got hurt, that would be... It. Yeah, that's it. Put them down.

Skin your knee past 30 and you're done for it. They shoot horses, don't they? You know, it's... interesting too, right? Because playing Dungeons and Dragons, I mean, you're talking about battles and this and that, and you get all creative with, you know, how your character deals damage and takes damage. You do.

Yeah, yeah. And then, but you go outside and you're like, you know, you're in that mode still and then you like stub your toe. You're like, oh, fuck! You touch a tree and you get a stutter and you're like, ow! It ruins your whole day. Imagine getting like a deep cut from a blade, you know, you're like, wow, pain actually does. Pain is serious.

Pain is painful. Yeah. Deep thoughts with Alex. There's a really cool piece of fiction I saw posted somewhere on Reddit probably. It was just about like imagining being a fighter who like day to day gets disemboweled and then the cleric patches them up and then they go fight again. There's all these like phantom wounds that should have scars that don't. So they're they're aging and they've been cut up in almost dead every single way and yet their body doesn't show it at all and they, you know, have all these nightmares of all the wounds they shouldn't have or don't feel like there's that like phantom limb kind of thing going on. I could see that being pretty weird after a while.

Not just that, but even if you don't have a cleric, in D&D 5th edition, you go to sleep and you wake up and you're fine. True. There's nothing lasting. There's definitely an abstraction there where I think there could be some freedom to lose like a bunch of hit points and wow, that was a close call. It didn't actually break any skin, but my resilience and luck are sure shot to hell. The next one could kill me.

Well, that's fair. And that's funny because a lot of people have said that. And I remember getting to an argument with somebody because they were like hating on fifth edition because of that. They were like, oh, well, oh, so I lose 50 HP and then I'm fine the next day. And my argument was what Rod said.

I mean, it's a, depends which lens or how you want to model it or what feels appropriate in the moment in the story, right? Like it's not a thing D&D spends a lot of time worrying about. And so, you know, you're at a lack of tools to. Yeah, the HP doesn't necessarily mean health. You know, it's your hit points, which can be sanity or, you know, or could be a physical cut or, you know, it's why Doran chose to have a scar and all that. Oh, yeah. So all of that aside, do you remember your real, like, human selves, Rob Alex, Justin Harlan, when the last time is that you actually hurt yourself?

Two days ago. Oh, yeah. What did you do? I was at my partner's place and her bedroom, it's like a sunroom and it's an old, like, 100-year-old Toronto building right. downtown and I learned very quickly at the beginning of the relationship that it was way too low for a person of my size six foot five I learned to avoid hitting my head on it because I hit my head you know several times oh and um the other day I was going to do something funny for Nikki just like replaying you know some funny thing that I did and I decided to back through it I was like

oh yeah I was doing this Nikki and I back up and smacked oh just as I was hard as humanly possible, and there was an audible crack sound. Oh, no. I'm laughing at the perils of being tall, because the last time I've injured, I got this spot, I bumped my head on something, and there's definitely, like, some skin broke and a weird thing in the front of my forehead, but I don't remember what it was. Oh, no. It wasn't until, like, the actual time it happened.

I don't know what I bumped my head on that broke the skin, but being tall is the worst. You know what the worst is when you hurt yourself? Because Justin mentioned that he hurt himself when he was, like, making a joke. But have you ever hurt yourself when you're like? angry or when you're like trying to prove a point like nothing nothing is worse when you're like doing something and you're like maybe fighting or you're like getting heated or something and then you just bump into a wall and then you get like anger at the wall you're like oh god what are you doing here wall that was totally my fault but I'm really mad at you about it inanimate object oh it's so

embarrassing that makes me think of like when I was driving in traffic I would often find myself saying fuck off and come on at the same time going, fuck on, come off. Like, I, like, I can't remember what was going through my mind.

Too much. But I think that the worst way to hurt yourself is just by doing everyday normal things, like standing up or turning. Because it makes you feel like a total asshole.

Yeah, and then you're out for three days. You just tweak your back a little bit and boom. You know, we don't have to deal with that in the D&D world. But it does,

does go to shit. Like, I'm trying to think of the last time I really hurt myself. And I know I did. And I, but I can't. Oh, actually, I remember the last time I, it wasn't really hurt myself, but it's the only thing that's left a scar. And this kind of goes back to what Joe was saying, that like, now we're at the age where you get scars, no matter what you're doing.

A little thing happens. And your body's like, oh, no, I'm going to need another day to just deal with it. And I literally, this is the best. I cut my finger on Lego. Oh, no. Wow. Designed for children. I was like pulling apart.

And, you know, just, it was like a new brick. And sometimes those, like, corners are sharp. and it slit, like, my finger, and now I have a scar. Oh, my God. I can't recall the last time I really injured myself, but my wife, she was meddling with something glass. Meddling. Well, she was, you know, like a glass French press.

Fuck it around. Those meddling wives. The glass would still be all right if it weren't for it. The French press, she was trying to, like, get the French press out of, like, the metal part. I don't know if it was glued in there or what, but she was, like, forcing it, forcing it, like trying to push it downwards out. Oh, no. And she put her finger through and sliced it open.

Oh, fuck. Deep. And of course, I was here. I was at home and she was at her mom's. And her mom calls me and says, um, a very calm tone. Yeah, Alex,

I think you're going to have to come over, uh, and run karma to the hospital. She's got, uh, she's cut her finger pretty bad. So I go. And yeah,

it was like, there's like kind of blood everywhere and, and it was like, wow. So watching that and she got two stitches. And then they said, okay, well, you have to come back in, like, two weeks get the stitches taken out. And she's like, well, my husband's kind of handy. Like, he could just take them out.

So they gave her, like, a stitch removal kit. Hell, yeah, that's so sick. And as I'm doing it, I'm like, holy crap. Could you imagine doing this? And I'm, like, pulling on these and I'm like trying to get the stich cutters in there. You did it, though, right? Oh, I did it. No problem.

Good job, Alex. You're the real hero here. Not proud of you. I felt so, you know, field dressing, you know. Yeah, man. But, I mean, my first day came in, I was like, put pressure on it. Let's go. Stay calm, relax.

It's kind of cool to see how you react to that kind of stuff. Like when it comes down to it, whether, like, you keep a level head, you know? That's true. Justin. I just, you know what? That makes me so squeamish. And I never used to be squeamish. When I was, when I was, you know, in my teens and early 20s, I wasn't squeamish with stuff like this.

But now I don't know what it is. Blood freaks me out a lot more than it used to. Hey, you've. Matured. And this is why we play D&D sometimes. We want to play characters that are unlike ourselves. I feel like Kralath is not squeamish about any bodily excretia. Being near Doren, you're definitely going to get acclimatized to something.

Yeah. Let's wear this human skin. Acclimatized, traumatized, I mean. Atized in some way. I look like a bug bear. Oh, look, I skin this guy. I can wear his head. Anyway, so you guys have like an hour to kill.

Yeah, let's go get some of that fine alcohol. Yeah, it's time to celebrate our new ink. Biarter is a river town. It's almost Venetian in design, where some of these alleyways are actually riverways. And so the night market itself is built around a portion of the docks. It's got quite a bit of waterfront to it. And some of these vendors are actually in boats that are drawn up to the docks and moored. And they're selling food out of the boats.

And they're selling, like, fine silks and fabrics. They're selling animals. I kind of picture it to be, like, a lot of little, like, food trucks type thing. Yes. Fantasy food trucks. Where lots of shops gather. Food carts. Certainly, certainly.

Yeah, food cards. And as you exit back out into the night, again, it just hits you. Like, this city has a very different flavor to everywhere else that you've ever been. is a huge population of musicians especially. But also as you exit out into the night, there's a young woman who's dressed in this gauzy purple fabric and she hands you all a flyer. She says, one time only, gentlemen, this evening, please join us.

And you look down at the piece of paper in your hands as parchment. You see that she's advertising for this dance troupe that's performing at the Monk's Passage. Cool. Boys, one time outly, we gotta go! This is the time! Yeah. You know what?

This is the time, although Jack looks like the Walking Dead right now. Jack, are you still awake? No, I'm good. I'm in. Creloth grabs his mace. He better not be. Let's, um... What? What was one time only?

This thing, come on, and Red Runs. Right behind your eyes. Some sort of dancing show, which I bet there's some good music there. Oh, and I bet there's some good food there. says this as he has his hands full of like cababs and things. See, Doran, let's loosen up. Have some fun. What's the name of the bar?

The Monk's Passage. Do we have to be quiet in there? I certainly don't think so as you travel up through a whining alleyway to a bar that is perched on top of another building almost. It's a two-story building of brick and timber and leaded glass windows. And there's a crowd outside that are all sort of. peeking in the windows and this music is just floating out over the crowd towards you. Obviously, the dance show has already started as you sort of shoulder your way into the bar. The Monk's passage, you see that its walls are lined with this huge collection of different tankards from all variety of places made by all different craftsmen's hands.

I love Yarder, I have to say, like so far this is the most exciting. place we did. I'm so glad. There's some really hairy-looking bartenders behind the bar trying to keep up with the patrons right now.

There's like this magical shield that's hanging over the bar that's glowing this kind of orange light and it's providing most of the light in this main tap room. I wonder if that's how we get a drink and red shoots an arrow at the shield

to make it go. Boom! Everyone cheers. The whole bar. erupts into raucous applause. Hey, I guess that was the right thing that does. People love it during the middle of a show when you make a big noise offstage.

The show has started, but no one gives a shit about the dancing too much. Yeah, I don't think it's like a quiet. It's not a water deep show where you sit, hands folded, and listen. I think it's more like a... We're dancing whether you're paying an attention or not. Yeah, yeah.

It's not at all stuffy. People are whirling around and like... You know what I'm almost picturing? like the bird cage. Like drags? Yeah. Like drag. Absolutely.

Really raucous and like really lively. Yes. This is a drag ball. Oh, that would be so fucking cool. Except they're drag kings, right? Because the majority of the population of Yarder is female. That's right. These chicks are all butched out and, uh, that's so cool.

Vogue all over the damn place. I love Yada too. And I feel like they're dancing not on a stage, but just a bunch of tables that have been pushed together. And the patrons are sitting at the table still. Intermingling with the crowd. It's kind of like a comedy performance as well. Like individual dancers, performers are interacting with the crowd.

Yeah. It's wild. Come on, Doren. Yeah. This is totally the sort of show that would like single out, hey, you look like the weird awkward person by the door. You get up here and do a thing. Yeah.

Exactly. Getting pulled into a thing feeling very uncomfortable. I feel like there's a drag king. Yeah. that's like on top of the bar with a heavy British accent. Yeah. That goes, you there.

Over at the doorway. Get up here. You need to dance. Yeah. And we're all screaming. And then a bunch of people like lift Jack and like crowd surf him toward like towards the dance floor. You're like being manhandled. Do you end up participating?

Oh, Jack's got some moves. He's he can dance actually. Like he's not the most dexterous person, but he's also able to like, you know, hold his own just a little bit. And there's enough loopiness going on in his brain at the moment. Yeah, that I think he gets caught up in it. I don't know that this hour, I think, evaporates for him. Yeah.

I love that. Drink, drink, drink, drink. Dorn and Red keep pushing shots at him. And I think Reds up on a table as soon as possible, dancing around people, not understanding where he is or what this place is, but just loving the energy. Amazing. Doreen is mingling with tons of people and, like, really getting into some groovy conversation with some drag kings.

And you guys lose sight of Krayloth. Krayloth kind of disappears for a while and you've no idea where he is later or something. Red, you are like little tipsy, you've had some shots, and then you feel a presence beside you and you turn and you see a big hulking figure in armor, dark skin, and where it was a bald head, there's just this beautiful wig that is just like cascading down and he's got like blush on his cheeks. It's all the brain. Yeah.

His eyebrows have been done. Kralath, you're beautiful. Oh, thank you, Red. I could go for another drink. I'm having a lot of fun here. Here, I got two on me. I hand two bottles that I've been holding of like... Before that happens, I picture Kralath.

We just have like a brief flash of a vignette of Kralath. You've made your way into the kitchen and you're standing beside one of the chefs with a glass of whiskey in your hand and you're just watching him work and the two of you're chatting. He's like brazing eel and dried dragon fruit together. And the two of you are just like over clouds of billowing steam, hearing this wild sound of the party in the background. You guys are having like the kind of meditative chat about like the pros and cons of roasting versus brazing eel. But I also picture the cook being like real natural, like a natural. You know when you see someone who is just oozing skill, they toss salt like it's

nothing, but it perfectly coats the fucking roast. He's not even paying attention. He's having more of a conversation than he is. Exactly. Everything that feels about this town is so, like, natural. Like, everyone just is perfect at what they, like, not perfect, but what they do, but talented. They're doing what they are meant to be doing. Everyone's just playing jazz.

Jazz. Jazz. It's the definition of jazz. Yeah. It's like the pumped up version of the Doc Ward in an entire city. Without, like, the pretension, I think. Yeah, without the pretension. And I think there's one moment where Kralath is very confused.

Like, he's, this, this cook is going around. and he's grabbing different things and throwing them in. Then he stops for a second, like, mid-thought. And he grabs some paprika, and he throws it in. And Kralat's like, oh, why'd you put that in there? That normally wouldn't go with that. And he's like, because I felt like it. You're not following some sort of, no, no, just felt like it.

That's good. Just like a very simple, like, it just felt right tonight, you know? Love it. I also love the idea that Yarder is a seafaring town, or it's like a, sorry, not a, off river town. Yeah, it's a barge town. Right. So it kind of makes sense that like a lot of them come down to water deep and bring that energy from Yarder to the dockward of Waterdeep, which is why elements of the dockward have a similar feel. You know what I like how you put that. You've really put that into context. And some of the same people work in both towns. It's like a seasonal thing.

So like the dock ward over years has become more jazz musical because Yarderships are coming in and out. So cool. And then Kralath comes out and joins him. But wait, how did he actually get the wig, though? Yeah. Kralath definitely is feeling the whiskey. And he walks out and meets some very interesting people. And everything's just kind of colorful and blurry. And then the next thing he knows. Krayalh goes to look for the bathroom and ends up like going through the backstager, like the prep. Come on, love, you need a dress up tonight. Yes. Get in your reel. And feel it. Oh, that's some beautiful hair you got there. it from your heart. The yarder accent is music.

You look good. You came already dressed up. Who has the highest passive perception? That's Red and Kralath, right? I have 20. So after you and Red have this chat where we see Kralas' new makeover, the music changes, the dance number changes, the dancers change, and you were swept away into the crowd for another 10 minutes, at which point, Kralath and Red, you both catch sight of a woman in

an emerald green cloak trying to get one of her hands into Doran's belt pouch as he's whirling around the dance floor. She's like his dance partner for a time. Then you see her trying to like pickpocket him essentially. Doran's totally oblivious to it. Red spots it. And he just, like, looks to Kralath. Let's do the old one, too. And Red, very obviously, but not to her, kind of walks around the crowd. And you can see him getting on all fours to perch himself behind her. Yeah.

As if for Kralat to, like, push her over. But, like, really drunkenly, and he's like, the old one, two, I hike all they said he walks towards her and gets down on all fours. How stealthy is red to do that? Not, not stealthy. Rayloth stands up and he sees Red go down and he kind of sachets towards this woman and grabs Doren on the shoulder and pulls him back. Hey. And then with his like beautiful like glowing hair.

Lushy cheeks. He's going to just stare down this woman. Make sure he's got full eye contact and he's going to go, uh, uh, uh, uh, wagging a finger at her. And then he's going to cast command on her to leave the bar. Okay. Do I have to make a save? Let me just double check quickly. Just so you know, Red is still behind her on all fools. And he's like, looking towards yours, you're doing this.

He's like, give me the thumbs up. He's like, push her. I got to push, push. Wisdom. 13. So she fails. Yeah, the woman's eyes do that like a little spiral. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And she promptly exits and disappears into the night. And Red stands up. Why didn't you push her? I was in the perfect position. You just had to push her over. I was having fun, dancing. Why did you tell her to leave? You got to watch those pockets there, Doran.

He looks down in his little pouch, and it's like loosened. Yeah, Doran, you had some pocket change in your pocket as changes want to be, and you realize she's probably stolen like a gold piece or two from you. That filthy thief! Oh, well.

She probably needs it more than you. Good thing you guys are watching me, I guess. Hey guys, what's happening? Oh, Kralov pushed this girl over. I was on all fours and she left. We got her. Jack, it's at this time that she realized you guys should probably be heading back to the tattoo parlor. If only someone could keep perfect time.

I mean, there's like a mental alarm set off in his head. You know, he finishes the dance, stumbles over. It's time. Well, it's the time, though. Well, I'm having fun. As this woman leaves, as she's like promptly leaving, like, can I see her? like leaving the bar. I've got an idea

and I gesture for them to follow. She's gone. She's gone. Besides, if you tried that, Red would just walk behind her and get on all fours again. You're like, I have a question

and Red just like, and he like gets down all fours. Doren, almost got robbed and we're gonna be careful and Red tucks the bag of holding in his front and he does a minor illusion of a bag of holding on his back but it's like really shitty.

It's like low red is, you know, 1994 video game graphics. Pixelated. It's like blurry. Polygon. I'm just picturing, but there are a stack of coins,

like drawn on the bag. It's just like, coins, but it's spelled wrong for K. K-O-I-N-S. And when you say, watch your pockets, I feel like there's this like,

quick little montage of like shots of like everything tightening. Doran's belt. Like Batman. Army of Darkness. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Everything's like, okay, nothing's getting stolen off me now.

Batten down the hatches. And then it's, zooms out and he's wearing a big gold chain around his neckercems, I'm good now. Someone's walking off with Ork Splitter. All right, well, let's go then. If we're up to tie, time is up, let's go. Yeah.

And Red walks, like, behind you guys with four shots. He's holding, like, four shots out of the bar. I feel like we all stumble out of this bar in a much better mood than we even entered. It's, I mean, it's getting real dark now. We're coming up on, like, midnight, probably, but the city shows no signs of slowing. The tattooing hour. It's the tattooing hour.

You guys want to get a tattoo? Tattoo? Tattoo. Tattoo. Tattoo? You says pointing to each of you. Did we already get a tattoo, though? No. And Red looks to his shoulder and it's gone. He's like, oh, it looks at the other shoulder and he moved it. He's like, oh, right. There's like this shaved patch. Nothing there.

Hey, guys, look at this. And the tattoo spreads all over his body. And actually, he looks really menacing because it's still intricate. Like, there's still skin underneath it. But it would change the, like, the actual light. skin underneath? Does it color your hair? No, so I still have like red hair, but underneath, instead of like that sort of pinkish hue that makes it all seem brighter, I suddenly look with red eyes, like this dark webbed skin underneath and red hair, I suddenly look like demonic. Yeah. And then I quickly shrink it back down. You're like Darth Mall with hair. For real

gross. Yeah. Like a furry Darth Mall. What's a Darth Mall? It's a big hair. It's Disappointment. Place to go shopping. With lights off. You head back to the tattoo parlor where Burke Hart has set up some room divider type screens, like those folding screens for a bit of privacy. Is that him? I point to the guy we've already talked to.

That's the tattoo artist. I suppose we just kind of hang around until we... I got this. And I walk over and I get on all fours behind him and I just go, shh to the guys. Red's drunk. The tattoo parlor is darker now than it was before. There's no other patrons inside, but you do see that the patron, Burke was probably talking about, is getting disrobed in the back.

He's taking off a shirt and he's showing like a darkly muscled torso that's criss-crossed with pink scars, and he sort of turns his head and you get this like severe profile. file of a large nose and a strong jaw. He's got a shaved head. And he, like, takes off his breeches. He's down his, like, on the panace. He's, like, beefcake-style, like, big guy. He rivals Kralath for size, probably.

He's about six, five. And he pours himself onto a stool and just sits there patiently. And the tattoo artist beckons you guys. inside. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, and we step in and kind of crowd around. Good to see you again. So, uh, this is Bros. What's his name? Brose. Gray Les.

What's his name? This is Brose Gilney. Brose, uh, I was telling you about these guys. Brose looks up at you. He's got these startling amber colored eyes, like a honey brown color. So, uh, what is it I can do for you, gentlemen? Red looks longingly towards Krayloth for the symbol for him to get behind him on all fours. He's like nodding, waiting for approval. We're looking for, well, we found one of these, and I'll snap my fingers and have this coin floating the air above my hand. I'm just trying to figure out what it's all about.

Hope when you could point us to the right direction. He extends a hand towards your illusion and kind of like spins it almost, like interacts with the image that you've created to like look at both sides. Right. Yeah. Very interesting. Can't say as I know it, but I do know a guy. Listen, there's someone who walks in the shadows, someone who knows a little bit about everything here, someone who knows how to get what needs to be gotten, if you know what I mean.

I think I know what you mean. He keeps his own time, keeps to the shadows, but I can see if he'll meet you. Maybe tomorrow morning. Why would you do this for us? Money. Let's put it that way. How much do you have? I think he's asking for money, right?

Why does he need money? How much do you want? I'll take ten. Ten thousand. This cat's had a little too much to drink. What cat? Yeah, we've got you covered. Why don't we settle up this tattooing session for you?

You don't worry about it. That's on us, and we'll meet you. tomorrow morning. Where do you want to meet? Unless it's a magical tattoo. Yeah. That'll be 12,000 gold. I'm not going to go anywhere near the guy, but I'll see to it

that he meets you. Down at the docks. Tomorrow morning. First light. Does this guy make you uneasy? No, no. It's just I can't vouch for you. All right. Thank you. I appreciate it. Don't say that you heard it from me.

I didn't hear nothing from nobody, but I'll be by the docks at first light. I'll even remember your name. We'll meet you on the dock tomorrow, bud. Red wanders off. So this interesting, potentially questionable man has given you a place in a time to meet, to learn about this coin, and you've got about six hours before you have to be there. We'll call it around eight.

I'd love to find a bed. Yeah. Now let's party all night. Sleep into tomorrow. You know? Jack needs some rest, that's for sure. I would love to, but I think there's what I want, and then there's the smarter thing to do,

and that would be for me to get some rest. Come on, Kralath, we can tear the night apart. And Kralov brushes a strand of wig hair out of his face, Ed says, I might be down for a few more drinks. I was expecting you to be like, no, go to bed, right? Of course of reason. This town speaks to Kralath in a special way. Yes, yes.

Back myself into a corner. All right, let's do it. Won't be the last time, I guarantee you. There's a inn nearby called The Mary Serpent. Okay. That's got a beautiful painting of a sea serpent on the side of it, kind of mural style. And it looks clean, but it's not jam-packed with revelry that you guys imagine you'll be able to get some decent sleep in there. You're welcomed by a woman, an elf.

Good evening. Hello. Do the doors lock here? Do you allow hunt lords? Um, what? I got it. Don't worry doing. Do your doors lock?

What? Do your doors lock? Of course. Your bedroom doors. I feel like Red's just eating a pretzel. No one knows where he got it from. But for some reason, he's in this giant pretzel, like giant, like two-hand pretzel, just in the back of these three. She's like, yes, the doors lock.

I'm sorry. Are you staying here this evening? Well, we'd like a room. With four beds. That could be pushed together. And I put a hand hard on Dorn's shoulder in support and, like, not. That's all we need from the night with four beds that can be pushed together. Yeah.

I definitely intend for Jack to put up the Liam and's tiny hut around the four beds pushed together such that they all fit within the 10 foot, whatever. Smart. It's wicked. He's needing that extra security tonight. That's actually a brilliant idea. I never thought about that. Oh, this room's empty.

It's like a bubble, though, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that that someone in the room next is just sleeping and then there's like, half bubble like cuts into their room and they're like what the fuck it's like this bright purple

glowing I almost feel like it's become a ritual to be like red what color should it be tonight blarpal it's accidentally encompassed like some of the

belongings of the occupant of the room below like their coat rack is now in limine he can't get them he's like trying to leave ow wizards are rude

fuck cool yeah and I think red follows you guys up and he's just like yeah I want to make sure the room's good. Noon Red crawls into a bed. He's like,

just want to make sure it's comfortable for later. And he's asleep. And Kralov laughs as he begins to get ready for bed and parts with his new look for the evening. I feel like he puts it on something and like preens it a little bit. You know, like he like sets it on. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Like keeps it nice. He's kind of fascinated with this hair. I've never had hair before, Doran. I've never had it. Really? That's right. I'm kind of envious of that beautiful. to yours. I think it's called alopecia.

Oh. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with it. What? But it wouldn't be, would it be called alopecia? I mean, it's... Madgeepisha. Alopecia is hair loss, having, you know, clinical no hair. Yeah. He just was born with it. There's nothing wrong with it. He's still beautiful. Absolutely. Awesome. So it's like, I mean, Jack would know. It's like 15 minutes to dawn. And sits bold up right. Oh, it's time. We should go. It dismisses the tiny hut.

Let's those poor people get their stuff. How's Red feeling first thing in the morning? Red's, like, not even moving. He, like, rolls over. He's like, where the fuck are we? Hey, come on, buddy. We gotta go.

Nah, I'm okay. Hey, remember? We gotta meet a mysterious stranger by the docks. Kralath, please cast cure wounds on me. What, uh... I'm wounded. Where is the wound? Can you show me?

Everywhere. And, yeah, Red just rolls out and flops and, like, stretches very cat-like. And he acts very cat-like in a hungover morning. You, uh, you, in an attempt to get him excited about something, to get his mind off of his hangover, Krayat says, hey, you, uh, you bought something last night, uh, something that you were really excited about. What was that?

Oh, yeah, this. And he pulls out the folding boat. I don't remember the magic word. I think it might have been Stephen one. And a 10-foot boat explodes into the room. What the hell? It's like on top of Doran. Oh, God!

Why don't you put the boat away? Okay, hold on. It's heavy. This is ridiculous. Everyone just take a second. There are two command words. One of them makes it fold up. One of them makes it goes 24 feet larger.

And I don't remember which is which. There's knocking on the door. Can you guys keep it down in there? What's happening? Hold on one second. It's either Stephen with the next number. or Stephen, with the number after the next number. We need to figure out what it is.

Probably Stephen the number after the next number. Red? Vote? I understand that they happened in an order. Do you think you would have given the commands, Stephen one, and then... Don't say it. Uh-uh, three, and then, uh-uh, two. You're right.

Would you have gone out of order? No. Stephen three! And the boat falls back up. A tiny little box. And I quickly tuck it away as the door opens. What the hell is that? It's a boat, Doran.

A boat? Yeah. What do we need a boat for? We're late. We got to get out the door. Everybody gets your stuff on. We got to go. It's almost done.

There's many uses for a boat. Come on, kids. Yeah, Red is woken now. He gets dressed quickly. I feel like the proprietor is out in the hall banging on the door. Yeah. They're just getting dressed. They'll be right out in a minute.

Jack's standing with his stuff outside. Red gives him 20 gold. Sorry. There's like a hole where the aft was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the guy who had the bubble in his room is like leaning into. it like what the fuck is this and then you can hear other people downstairs

I can't get my coat and then next person next door is like where the hell did all my things go and then everyone files out and red comes last and he's like you gotta get some of these boats out of your rooms and we all leave there's gotta be that beat where this poor Elvin woman was just like

adventureers yeah just like sweeping up the wistfully thinking of closing this whole place down Pirates and thieves sure but fucking adventures, stay out, charge a premium. As we leave, Doran looks up and sees the sign that he missed on the way in that says,

no magic. No magic, no axes, no familiars, no service. And then someone's scribbling on, no, Tabaxis, circling it. Shoots you like a really mad face as you leave. Hi! So it's like really early in the morning. It's pre-dawn. Yeah, and here's what's up.

Yarder is quiet. Businesses are closed. Streets are empty. There's no one out right now. You hear the sound of the rivers now that it's a loud sound, just muffling your footsteps along the stone streets. A sound that you didn't even realize was there last night through all the revelry, and it's quiet.

The sun is just starting to rise. Where are we? We're at the same town. This is what happens when bar towns become, you know, when it goes into the daytime. Hmm. Really? Reminds me of home, to be honest with you. This is what your home's like, Doran?

Well, in the morning, you can walk around and hear a pin drop in the main halls. Huh. And at night, you can't find a place to sit. And it's so noisy, you can't hear yourself think. Well, it was sort of like it was last night. Oh, I'd love to visit your home someday, Doran. I don't know if you'd actually enjoy it, to be honest with your Kralath, but... What, drinking and feasting late into the night?

You never know. It's different how dwarves do it, but... There's a lot of blood involved somehow. Oh, regardless. It's a beautiful day. Yeah. You head down to the docks to find that of all the rest of Yarder, the docks still have some activity.

It seems like this being a barge town, barges are being loaded and unloaded, arriving and departing all hours of the day. But this isn't the typical raucous sailor atmosphere. year. People look hungover. They're moving slowly. It's kind of got like a late night vibe somehow, but it's first thing in the morning. Is it still snowy? I mean, it's still the end of the November analog. The Rotting. So there is some ice that's accumulated around the edges of the riverside, but it's constantly being broken up and churned to ice flows by the boats.

People are bundled up in warm weather clothes. But those people who are busy loading and unloading these barges have kind of stripped down to lighter clothes. And yeah, you guys wander the docks looking for someone who you might need to meet with. That's when you spy someone familiar. He looks a little more well-fed than when you last saw him. His clothes are maybe a little more worn, but the shine from the pompadour in the early morning light is unmistakable, and he turns towards you, as catches sight of you, and he says, isn't it the night stone four? Wait a minute.

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