High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #10 | Fortunes Foretold (Part 1)

Episode Date: February 6, 2024

The gang explore more of Ashen Rest and pick up some bounties! Support the High Rollers on Patreon and get early access to Podcast episodes, vods and more: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters) and Jolene Khor! Check out Jolene Khor and all her wonderful work on High Rollers on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WX3ICiTmf4GpHwImnQMs6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Welcome back to High Rollers. Our heroes have spent a day exploring the large, bustling town of Ashen Rest. Having secured accommodations, and after a strange meeting with a mysterious elven mage in their tower, the group decided to make their way to the Dominus Ignarum, the Ducal Palace, in order to arrange a meeting with the draconic noble of the region, Duke Ignarius, and present to his Draconic Majesty the favour they had earned for their heroic actions in the village of Burnell. Unable to meet with the Duke directly, the party met with considerate Orgrim Eddath, who after a bit of convincing, told the party to attend a public audience with the Duke in two days time and present their favor then. As night

fell upon Ash and Rest, the heroes decided to make their way to Bright Shadow Cathedral and attend the evening ceremony dedicated to the goddess Meilir, during which Xanthius, Gruff and Rowan each wrote and burnt a secret as part of the holy ritual. Gruff then met with a holy knight, a Tifling called Mourning, who was unable to provide more information about the Circle of Loyal Hounds, but offered to aid Gruff in other ways if they could. And as Mourning arrives, and another full day before the audience with the Duke, the party still have time to continue exploring the vast town, as well as get themselves ready for the public audience.

And we are basically going to jump to a new day has arrived. Hell yeah. You have all slept. The four of you who are currently here are all sharing a room at the Clever Toad in the inn. It is a... Fine. It is okay as accommodations, which means that you don't get

any benefits uh any additional benefits but you do long rest as normal um so there is going to be some custom rules in resting in in this campaign where if you rest say in an inn uh you can rest normally and you get all your your spell slots and hit points back if you are resting out in the wilds the quality of your rest is going to depend on how good your camp is and how secure it is and things like that. The person who is not here, Ophelia, but for reference, because she is staying in a much nicer accommodations and has had like a nice bed and a nice meal,

would start the day with inspiration. That is going to be, but the inspiration goes away at the end of the session. Okay. So it's like a temporary kind of thing. So it goes away at the end of the day. I didn't think it was going to give us inspiration. Yeah. So that's how I'm going to handle it.

So an inspiration in this case is going to be a reroll. It's not going to be like you have to announce it to gain advantage. It is just going to be you can reroll an ability checker and attack roll, same thing, that kind of thing. Okay. But the way it's going to work is it has to be used by the end, or by the time you take a new long rest, basically. You don't keep stacking it or you don't get new ones.

It is just a thing. But it gives you a reason to splash a bit of money, stay at nicer inns and things like that, or maybe one day, when you have your own accommodations, building them up and making sure they're as fancy and as comfortable as possible. Nice beds. Investing in nice beds.

A water bed. Things like that. I think that our place should get extra benefit because we've spent a lot of money on the Clever Toad. The Clever Toad provides all the benefits it's going to. It has enriched our lives. And that is purely for you and your character to decide, Casey. There is no mechanical benefits.

I feel inspired by the To benefits. There's a lot. Feel inspired by the toad. You had a lot of important information in that recap, but you forgot the last premonition. Oh, of course. Which I didn't fully write down. But it starts with, Rejoice for the dragon shall give great.

And I don't know what the other word is. Probably head. I literally, I didn't know if it was appropriate, but you just went there straight away, so. Great boons? I don'tipedia will be on it they're on it i'm not i'm not recapping the clever toad promotions if you don't write them down that was an important point in there was it for me it was okay um but yeah how early in the morning is it getting loud and raucousy and they it doesn't it doesn't get loud and raucousy? It doesn't get loud and raucousy in the inn, necessarily.

I mean, there is always the sound of movement. You can hear the Taric clan moving around, attending to rooms that are being vacated, cleaning, preparing. There's no breakfast or anything included here. You have to go and pay for your own and things like that.

You are basically just paying for the room um it is not uh nothing is included um but yeah you can hear them moving around but really what time you get up i mean keep in mind you are all sharing this room like it is basically almost imagine like um four single beds in a large common room you do have like your own trunks and things like that to store your own equipment in but it is a shared room. Are there four beds? Yes, I just said that there were four single beds, Tom. I literally just said that. You heard the trunks bit.

I heard the trunks bit. Yeah. But no, yeah. I was trying to figure out if there was anything going on throughout the night with old Danny, but I don't know. There is nothing I'm going to tell you, and there's nothing I have to tell you. You're unburdened from your secrets now.

I guess it's up to you. Do you imagine Xanthius sleeps quite peacefully or is this, you know, there are still dreams, but they're just not DM dreams? I'd like to believe so. Sure. You had a nice time in this new city

with new friends. Met an elf. Great. Tried to kill him. Well. Talked him down. But yeah. No special dreams.

Great. Nothing unusual. I dream about scorpions. One thing I would like to do is have Daisy, Rowan and Gruff make perception checks for me, please. Xanthius is a demon. Very perceptive. Are you?

No. 15. 15? 11. 24. 24? Oh, God in heaven! The tables have turned.

What about Daisy? 11. 11. I'd say that Rowan and Gruff are the only ones to notice this, because Xanthius... I mean, you tell me. You can retcon this. I don't imagine Xanthius wears gloves to bed,

and your spell only lasts an hour. That's true. So when you wake up, unless you are going to... I think Xanthius cocoons in that duvet, that blanket. All right. In that case, I would say Gruff is the only one to notice then. But Gruff, you would see that Xanthius is... I think we said, was it your right?

Was it both? No, it was one. It was one hand, wasn't it? Yeah, it was the right hand. It was the right hand. Xanthius' hand, and Ophelia has seen this, and the audience have seen this, but this is the first time Gruff's seeing it,

is almost blackened as if it's been burnt, and it almost goes down right to the wrist, and you can see that there are these lines, it's glowing, like you catch it, like as he shifts the blanket, you just catch a glimpse of this, but it's enough to kind of capture it in detail. Lines of fiery red, golden light kind of spilling over it.

Cracks, almost like the skin is burnt and cracked, but seemingly unaffected, like not in pain or anything like that. Long, quite the nails have become talon-like, you know, like a dragon's. And then you just happen to see that before he, you know, begins getting himself ready and things like that. You would see that. And that is very obviously different from when we first met. From when you first met, yes.

Yes, very much. That is, and we are talking like a glimpse as he's moving, you just happen to be looking in the right way, with a 24 is pretty high, you catch the sight of this unusual hand. And then I imagine, Xanthius, you are quite quick to, the gloves on, get dressed. Yeah, if imagine, Xanthius, you are quite quick to the gloves on, get dressed.

Yeah. Cover yourself up. If it is out in the open, it's for a very, very, very short time. Like, even if I was caught while I was asleep or something.

That's what I imagine. It's as you're waking up, basically. Gruff's up maybe early because we know that Gruff wakes up very early. He's maybe even snuck out for the morning service

and like, yeah, come back. Yeah. Oh, for service? Yeah. Or service. Yeah. You still wear a shirt and stuff when you go to bed, so your chest is still covered up, so we didn't see anything there. Cool.

Underwear? That's up to you. Nah. Just shirt cocking it? Shirt cocking it? Winnie the Pooh. Winnie the Pooh in it, yeah. Donald Ducking.

Yeah. I think while everyone, if, while we're all kind of, everyone's getting ready, like, if Santheus looks over at Gruff at any point. No. Okay. No, I mean, I wouldn't be aware. It's just, like, us getting ready for the day.

I think we're all probably having, like, idle chat, right? Mm-hmm. Maybe Gruff's bought you guys some buns. But, yeah, if Santheus happens to look over at Gruff, Gruff is just gonna give him a big old wink. I feel like Gruff is just constantly staring down Zan. It's a friendly wink. It's not a staring, it's just a friendly wink.

That's hilarious. Also, I love that Gruff has basically taken on everyone's secrets. Yeah. At this point, yeah. I mean, Gruff just provided baked goods. Gruff can have my secrets. I love you. Would probably have cost about two, three silver

to buy enough breakfast pastries and fruits and foods, things like that. Per? No, I'd say three silver for the four of you would be enough. We're not talking a super big meal or anything like that. And it sounds like Gruff is providing that. Probably if Gruff is out. Okay, you're paying? Cool.

Never mind. Because I imagine Gruff would have woken up early, gone to the morning service, on the way back, picked up some fresh pastries and brought them to the room and saw this and then winked um a couple of interesting details then um so because yeah gruff is actually up before sunrise um so definitely is out long before anybody else um if you did go to the morning service gruff um there's some information you would have seen um because yeah they i mean very much like the big ceremony

that you went to for Melia at night, at dawn, in the morning, there is a big service to Pyrrhus, the other scion, the other goddess of Ulthea. This is actually a little bit busier than the ceremony you went to. Like, there is just more people in general. Lots of people doing the same as you, going to the service before maybe going on to their jobs or going on to their other business during the day.

And you can see it's quite crowded. In fact, it's so crowded, you don't get to the front. Like you're kind of like near the back. Very difficult to see. You don't see the Holy Knight of Pyrrhus, maybe because they're like amongst the crowd. You don't see Mourning, the tiefling knight that you met before. But you would see the High Priestess of Pyrrhus. because they're amongst the crowd. You don't see Mourning, the tiefling knight that you met before,

but you would see the High Priestess of Pyrrhus. She is a orc woman, and she has deep, dark, brownish, orangey skin. You can see the glowing scars that the orcs of Ulthaea have. Her armor is cut in a way that it is almost left, parts of the skin are left exposed to show off the scars. Almost, you know, very proudly showing these glowing scars to the world. Dressed in a resplendent golden plate mail with symbols of Pyrrhus and the sun very, very predominantly there.

Sorry, yeah, the priestess, her robes, sorry, not armour, would be cut in that way. I'm getting her confused with the night of the sun. But the priestess's robes are cut in a way to show off the glowing scars. They are a sort of pale yellow, the robes themselves, with white attached to them as well, very much conjuring images of sunlight and the sun. And she speaks in a husky tone.

You don't catch her introduction. You kind of arrive as people see. And most people seem to know who she is, but she conducts the ceremony. And the morning ceremony is more like a meditation where you burn secrets. This is almost done, there would almost be a rigorous part of exercise. So it's almost like, you know, in Japan Japan when sometimes the corporates get everybody to do exercises as part of the company morning? China, yeah. And it's the same thing, right?

In this, the priestess actually leads everybody in very basic yoga-like breathing exercises and stretches as they talk about preparing your mind and your body for the day, that the battles of Althea come in many different forms. You know, there is a kind of sermon about how, you know, the fishermen and the smith all have battles of their own, and the pyrus looks on all of these battles in the same way as if, you know, they were at war and things like that. And there is this kind of element of mixtureing physical activity

with mental meditation as you go about that kind of ceremony. And then, yeah, you make your way back. You pick up some things from a local bakery. Ashenrest is a busy enough town. There are at least lots of small businesses, places that you as adventurers probably wouldn't go to, but you pass by several small bakeries and a little grocer with a little stand out in the market square

selling fruits and vegetables and things like that. And you can pick up a few things for you and your team as you get back. Lovely. Just a bit of extra world building. Because you did go to the nighttime ceremony, so I wanted to make sure you understood that there was a morning ceremony as well. Yeah, I just feel like Gruff being in a city after a while would be just catching up on services.

And we've established that Gruff is a religious man. He is a faithful you know um acolyte of the scions you know this religion of of the empire um or at least one of them um there is only one all others are nothing but blasphemous i would say that as you are returning and i imagine that rowan foran, you are woken up, not by like an innate clock, but almost feeling the rhythm of the town coming alive. Like there is, it's not that you can feel the heartbeats of the people,

but the stone is echoing with the footsteps of people going to their jobs. The earth is reverberating this melody, this kind of drumbeat as it comes to life, like a heartbeat kind of awakening from a slumber, beginning to rise and build as people go to their business. And you can feel that even through the stone and the wood of the inn kind of reverberating into you, almost kind of wakes you up, this sound, this song of the town itself. And if there's anyone that's still a slow riser

at this point, you've probably woken up by Rowan's voice as he opens, like, if there's curtains to a window. Yeah, there'd be curtains, yeah. Yep, yep. Ah, wonderful morning. Good morning, everybody. Oh, morning, Rowan. I hope you all rested extremely well.

I was hoping for another hour or so, but... Oh. I'll keep quiet. No, I'm awake now, I'm awake now, Rowan. Will you sleep? Are you sure? He starts... Okay, oh.

Sausaging you in. I had to live a fight, but okay. It's fine. No, I, you know what? I'm awake. I'm going to go see where Gruff is. You were tucking him into bed, right? It's a strange heat just like

Yeah, just like a strange warmth as you're wrapping Xanthia's up. You ought to be careful. Why is that? You might be coming down with something. I put my huge hand on your forehead. Oh! Your forehead feels fairly cool. Uh, Gold Dragonborn, Brunholt. My apologies. I'm fine. I feel fine.

How do you feel, are you good, good, Wesley? I feel wonderful today. Great. A great unburdening, that surface was quite something. Mm, where's, wait, so you say Gruff's gone? Yeah. He's not in the room with us. Open the door at that point, like, let me try Gruff's gone? Yeah. He's not in the room with us. Open the door at that point. Like, I was trying to do it gently,

thinking you'd probably all still be asleep. Ah, good, fuck me, I didn't practice my voice. Hello, my name is Gruff from Tremorro. Hello, my name is Gruff. There it is. I'm from Tremorro, a little bit. Hello, Gruff. Good morning. From Tremorro I'm from Tremoro. Hello, Gruff. Good morning. From Tremoro.

You say this every time. Good morning to you, Lord Xanthius. That's how he enters the room. Hello, my name is Gruff. From the village of Tremoro. Good morning. We know, we know. Good morning.

Good morning, Gruff. I got some pastries and some fresh bread for you all. That's lovely. Daisy is immediately like, oh my goodness, best day ever. Daisy's awake to the smell of bread. But her hair is like, it's like really frizzy and like just all over the place in the morning

because she's had a really good night's sleep and is like super comfortable because this was like a really nice place for her. Yeah, because I mean, I I guess traveling around a bit, Daisy's probably used to camping outside, but an actual proper in-bed is probably something a bit of a luxury. You've had it now and then,

but not that regularly. The pastries that Gruff has bought, by the way, here in Caldra, be probably a lot of cinnamon-infused, kind of sugary, cinnamon- like treats and things like that. Probably like almost like a slightly spiced jam to go with the bread as well. A lot of like hot flavors and things like that and kind of spices, strong flavors here in Caldron. You keep talking, you saucy bitch.

But that would be the kind of thing that Gruff would probably be able to acquire quite easily on a sort of run through the town. So like a little spread, not too much, like probably a little glass pot of this jam and kind of like pastries and things like that. A few fruits as well. Fruits being a big thing here in culture. Like they've got fertile land for growing like grapes and different fruits and things like that, oranges and that kind of stuff.

I'll say I untuck myself from this titan sausage I've been put into. And that's where I make the mistake, right? Where a hand is visible there or something. I'm too preoccupied with pastries to notice. Just crumbs everywhere immediately. Have you even gotten dressed? No, Rowan's in, like, dad pants.

Right. You know? Just, like, white pants. White fronts. Just white fronts. Pretty baggy. Medieval white fronts. Kind of baggy.

Not... Yeah. Well, they were cleaned at the... They were cleaned. Yeah, they were cleaned. Patched. A bit patched. Well-loved.

Yeah, they're a bit thin. A little bit. Bit Well loved. Yeah, they're a bit frayed. Warm thin. A little bit. Bit of mileage. Yeah. This might be a very personal story. I had to throw away a pair of pants the other day because there was such a giant hole right on the ball sack. It was like perfectly on the middle bit underneath,

like on the gooch. The only part you need. And I was just like, how have I worn these? How have I not noticed? I had sweatpants, like tracksuit bottoms, and I thought they were fine, and then I was like, I got up and Ted was like, oh no. Oh no.

I'm just like, I've got to get rid of these. You've got to go. Just remind me. Just a gooch hole. Gooch hole. There's some things that Mark comes out with. That and crying into a pot noodle. It's just...

Tron's really strong. He really has some... Have you guys not had a spring clean out? I feel like they're gone before they get to that point. I wasn't prepped for it. That's how you get them. You gotta take them by surprise. Slowly wearing them away.

Are you gonna go home and check all your undies now? Now. You should. That's a hint for everyone. I'm only wearing this shirt because I've worn out the room. by surprise. Slowly wearing away. Are you going to go home and check all your undies now? Now. You should. That's a good hint for everyone out there. I'm only wearing this shirt because I've worn out the nipples of this.

Underneath it's got holes. Like glass coats. It's so cold. Oh my God. Okay. Where were we? Just having breakfast. Just having a lovely time.

Yeah, imagine Rowan's in like, those Y-fronts and a vest. Like a classic white vest. Remind me, did you guys, I think you only paid for the one night, didn't you here? No, we paid for a few. You paid for a few, okay.

I think we did, didn't we? Oh no, we paid for a few. I don't think we paid. You did, you did pay for one night. It was the luckiest who paid. Oh, you paid, yeah. 20 gold for the room for all four of you, so. Okay.. You did pay for one night. It was the luckiest who paid, wasn't it? Oh, you paid, yeah. Yeah. 20 gold for the room for all four of you, so. Okay.

Yeah, you paid for one night. So freely, it was like 20 gold for one person. I think it was one night because I didn't anticipate that we'd need to stay for any longer. Okay. Yeah. So you do have like the kobolds, the Taric-Taric family would have told you

that there is a sort of checkout time. I mean, you can just go down and be like, actually, we need the room for another night and pay more, but there is probably a point. Yeah, we probably would. The dukes thing. Yeah, you know that you've got at least one more day that you've gotta spend here in Ashen Rest. And then you need to think about what you're gonna do

once you've got the duke's favor, I guess, like what that plan is after that. I know Xanthias kind of briefly talked about it with everybody, but. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can pay for another night of the room for four of us. Sure. Daisy would, having had a very comfortable sleep,

feel like... A fine sleep, I think, is... For her, it was great, because it wasn't outside. Oh, OK, true. Average. Average at best. It's premiering. Was it similar to... Oh, so garbage, then.

Well, yeah, but we've established... Nova Hotel. Remember the last place you went? I had a light in my eyes all night. Yeah, because you pulled the curtain off the wall. The audience have no clue what this is about. We need to move on. I ripped the blinds off the wall, is the story.

And there's a car park outside shining a bright light directly into my eyes all night. And he didn't go to reception and be like, hey, I need a.m it was really it was like two they have night managers you've ever seen the meme picture of lemmy just it was i said yeah i didn't rock star it i didn't like rip the thing off the wall and throw tv out it was already bust when i tried to close anyway i don't need to explain myself to you guys. Anyway. No, so Daisy's very happy with it. She had a great night's sleep,

and the fact that the Clever Toad is in the same building and is a really fun thing. Yeah, we're staying another night. I've paid for it. So if you've marked off the Zorin God, when you go downstairs, you can see that the Taric Taric family, they only greet people who come in through the main entrance. So when you just come out from the back room

into the sort of main bar, you do get a couple of like oh they're kind of like nodding your direction the cobbles are kind of running around it is dead like down here there's maybe a couple of the local laborers who are just having their breakfast here um and they've like you know just come in with like you know they've got like little tiny little breakfasts and they're having maybe having like um cups of like hot tea um but there's no like rowdy drinking or anything going on there definitely is still some cleaning up from the the night before going on um and you can see the clever toad machine sat there currently unintended um uh but yeah they take your money they're happy to let you have the room for another

night and they'll just uh kind of move it on and and uh and be like yeah yeah yeah shut shut shut daisy will scribble down in the book say good morning to all of them okay yeah you go through they'll just kind of move it on and be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, shush, shush, shush. Daisy will, cheer please. They'll scribble down in the book. Say good morning to all of them. Okay, yeah, you go through all of them. I believe that there is 24. No, if we pass them. Yeah.

She'll say good morning to anyone within the vicinity. What are their names? Huh? What are their names? Do you ask their names? Yes. Yes. Okay. Do you ask their names? Yes. Ha ha ha ha!

Okay. You would see in the bar area, I'm gonna see how many kobolds there are. Oh, there's only three in the bar this morning. Now you're all low. So there is Malak Taric. Okay. There is Sarik Taric. Okay. There is Saric Taric.

Yes. And Peric Taric. Okay, so Taric Taric, Biscuit Taric, Iskut Taric, Ixil Taric, Uren Taric, and Zini Taric aren't here. Yes. Thanks, High Rollers Wiki. And what was the big one? We didn't get the name. We just heard that he...

Oh, it was the big one. Yeah, there was someone wandering the halls to keep, like, security. Did we see that guy? I mean, you've not, yeah. You've not seen him. Okay. Were there any noises?

And Taric Taric is the... Matriarch is the head of the clan, the family. Did we hear any noises from, like, adjacent rooms? You probably wouldn't have heard noises from adjacent rooms, but you would have heard from the main common room. Like people were drinking until the early hours. It was quite rowdy. You would have probably heard that

going on for a little bit. But this isn't like a completely run down place. Like there's enough padding between you and the main room that it's not gonna prevent you getting to sleep or anything like that. There's locks on the doors. Like the doors are all fairly secure. It's distinctly average as a place to stay.

With the exception of the magic tote machine. For a second. With the exception of the magic tote machine. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And yeah, you have this is, we're probably looking at like, you know, Gruff went out, came back.

You're probably looking at like a good solid like 9am right now. And you have a is we're probably looking at like you know gruff when our came back you're probably looking at like a good solid like 9 a.m right now um and you have a full day you know that the duke's audience is tomorrow and you were told to get there as early as possible and also something that you might want to consider as your sort of operations for today is and xanthius work this out you made a check last time to know that it is very common for the guilds of Ash and Rest to kind of pay people to hold a place in line for them. And it is a kind of first come, first serve, like whoever is in the queue to see the Duke, you have to hope that he gets through people's business

and has time to make for you, or you get there early enough to secure an early spot. So something to consider maybe for today is if there's anything you want to do to help with that process. And that happens at the Ignorum? It happens at the Dominus Ignorum, yes. It happens in the Duke's chambers.

So if we go to the central plaza, we'll be able to see if people have already started to queue up. Oh, yeah. Even before the day has even started. Yep started to queue up. Oh, yeah. Even before the day has even started. Yep, yep, yep. Okay, cool. But there are still plenty of places.

There's a lot of places in the town that you haven't been to yet. There might be things that you guys want to go and do. I throw it over to you, team. Rowan wants to do things. Friends. Yes? The world is ours today.

We have one day to make the most of the luxuries and the pleasantries that this place offers, but also we need outfits. Sorry? Hm? Outfits? To meet the Duke. So we are going shopping. Were we not? Bloody hell. To meet the Duke. So we are going shopping. Were we not?

Bloody hell. Well, you seemed... Ophelia was very excited. I'd love to take you shopping, especially you grub. You basically told them that they had to. Yeah, I'd remembered that. Literally yesterday, so. But as a fellow cauldron.

I do understand, but I also acknowledge Yeah, I'd remember that. Literally yesterday, so. But as a fellow cauldron. I do understand, but I also acknowledge that they've put in a lot of effort. They've had a nice bath. Look, Ruff has braids. My braids are still in. They are still in, I'm impressed. Thought they would've slipped out after, you know, whatever.

They were done by a master of braiding. They'll be there for a decade or two. If also just a personal thing. Okay. I wouldn't mind visiting the Oracle Kiva at the Coil of the Empress, just so we know exactly how tomorrow's going to go. More premonitions is what you're hoping for?

Yes, I was giving a solid piece of advice. Well, I don't know about solid. What do you mean? Well, it's like I said to you before, you have to be careful. The followers of the Coil of... Not the Coil of the Empress, the... What was the call again? Sorry, Mark? The Imperial Flame? There is a belief, there are people out there called the Imperial Flame, worshippers of the Imperial Flame, who are a, it is a religion,

it is not officially a cult, but it is a religion that believes that the Dragon Empress became a deity when she was killed. She ascended to a deific position and can grant divine power, divine spells, divine magic, that sort of thing. And the Church of the Scions believe that they're just a bit... The Church of the Scions have maintained the belief, and this has always been the belief, that the dragons have their own kind of where their soul goes to, that the draconic souls are not ascended, they don't become ascended, they don't become saints,

they have their own thing, and that they don't grant power like it is for the scions and the saints are the ones who grant divine power to others. But because the Empress is so beloved and the goddesses, apparently the scions, have not said whether or not they agree with this, there is this kind of uneasy cult, like nobody wants to commit to saying heresy or it's okay. Like there's this kind of stalemate of like... We're just going to ignore it.

Yes, there's currently a kind of like... Oh, bless their little hearts. They can believe what they want, but the real gods, the real power is in the scions and the saints. The Empress was an incredible woman, an incredible dragon. She did amazing things.

She was very powerful, but she's not a god. What would I say? You got some advice from someone who follows, follows belief that might not necessarily be true. Okay. Well, we've got so many premonitions from the Clever Toad, we'd easily know if this oracle is a lie if it doesn't line up with the clever toad Or vice versa You go the other way

The opposite way sort of that It could be now I dare say it. What if the clever toad? Okay, please don't say it You're right He needs it Leave him Well we could definitely visit that place but I would certainly like to spend some time having the conversation and figuring out exactly what we want to get from the Duke as well

I mentioned this yesterday Is this something we can ask for? Again, maybe I thought we just get what the Duke decides we get. Possibly. But it probably is worth, if the Duke were to be very generous

and ask us what we want. To have a plan, yes. What do you want, Xanthius? That's what I was hoping to have a conversation about. Figuring it out, you know? What do we do with the reward we get from the Duke? Who are we? What are we doing in Ashen's Rest?

What is it we can offer? What do we do? Well, I'm here looking for the Circle of the Loyal Hounds. Okay. And the knight that I spoke to last night, the Holy Knight, mourning, said that they might be at this tourney that's coming in a few days. So I know what I'm doing.

I'm going to the tourney and trying to find the knights. I don't really know that I need something from the Duke. Sure. As a reminder, the tournament is in ten days' time. Ten days. It's the beginning of the next passing. Well, it would be nine now, though. Yes, it would now be nine days.

Yes, that's correct. Time. Time. Time has passed. On the first of Bronze Glow, is when the tournament takes place, you are currently on the fourth late moon of Stormfall. Or as I know it, as a dragon. As a dragon, yeah.

As your anus. That's the one. Tuesday. I remember it. I remember dragon. As a dragon, yeah, Asuranas. That's the one. Tuesday. I remember it. I remember saying Asuranas. Right. Asuranas. Fourth late moon of...

You are currently on the fourth late moon of Stormfall. Stormfall. Stormfall. And the tournament is on the first of the first moon of Bronzeglow, the first day of first moon. Bronze got that one. Yeah. Listen, I've made a calendar. I'm using it. First of the first moon of Bronzeglow. The first day of first moon. Bronzeglow.

First day of first moon. Listen, I've made a calendar. I'm using it. You can release a calendar. I was thinking, I was thinking how to design it for you. Yeah, I've got like a, I've got it in like a spreadsheet format, just like a simple table,

but I can draft it up and send it to you guys. I might draw one for you. Sure. Okay. Well, I think we all could have guessed. Could have guessed that one. But what about everyone else? What do you want, Daisy?

I don't know. I'm just here. As long as I have a place to stay and some food, I'm happy. So. Well, let's say, for example, tomorrow the Duke offers us a sum of gold. Obviously, we'd split this between all of us evenly. That makes sense, right?

Yeah. What would you do if you had an amount of gold not too dissimilar to that that we received in Burnell? Again. So far, all I've done is buy food. You'd buy some more food? Maybe some clever toad prophecies? No.

No? No. It's only a pawn. Fine. Yes, but I just have an image of you getting a large lump sum of gold from the Duke and then spending it all on the toy. I'm not going to spend it all, I'm going to spend the vast majority of it on food. Yeah, no.

Oh, I see. It's a toy. But I'm allowed to spend it on food, though. Oh, that's useful. See, useful. Basically useful things. Rowan is nodding. If I could get a nice new dress or something, that would be nice, too.

But, and not to discredit your purchases, but in service of what? What do you want? Who are you? It's a big question to be asked. I imagine that, Daisy, you've lived a life of just survival and going from place to place, right? Have you ever had a moment to sit down and think what you want? What a big question to be asked.

By the slightly sweaty, frenzied dragonborn. Wild eyes. Definitely has so many secrets. What do you want? What do you want? Do we wish to reside in Ashenrest? And I say we, I think... Oh, not me.

You're leaving? Well, I go wherever the circle of the loyal hands go. Of course. I don't think they have a fixed base of operations. Okay. Okay. So after tomorrow, is this farewell? Other than the turning?

After the first of Storm. Bronze glow. Bronze glow. As Irenas. Rowan just freaked out a little bit. Well, I don't know. I don't know where it'll take us. You can only take one day at a time and see what comes at you.

I don't know. But my goal was, when I left Tremorro, was to become a knight. Yes. So it depends. That's a good goal. It is. It's a really nice... Because I just want to be safe.

Safe is good. Safe is good. I don't need people asking questions. And by that, I don't need people asking questions. And by, I don't mean you, I mean, like, people in the cities, like, Techis and stuff. Just wanna be safe. Speaking of, didn't Techis say that there was a sister Inquisitor coming? Yes.

Yes, quite soon. So we should be on alert. I would very much not like to see that person. Oh, we have nothing to hide, do we not? I can't fully recall. They are on their way. That's for your characters to remember. They are, but we don't...

The exact details of what was said and anything else. We're simply giving them the information we've already given Techus, which is everything that we've done so far. Right? Yes, I mean, if it is... That's what I thought. If that is to then be fed forward to the Duke to then assess what the favor might reward us,

I don't see why not. Does that make sense? No. Was that English? No. Was that Althean? No. I don't know what you're talking about anymore,

but I don't want to see the sister, the visitor. Why not? Because I might not take kindly to someone with the abilities that I have. Gruff thinks back. Memories of a voice. Spooky voice in head. Daisy's voice speaking to you in your mind.

The radiant blades that you've seen Daisy conjure and throw at enemies. Such magic isn't, you know, magic isn't outlawed here in the Empire. But it is often a case of the question of where that magic comes from. Arcane magic that you study or that you are born with, totally fine. Divine magic from the saints or the scions or even to an extent the dragon empress, if such a thing is true. Blasphemy! Is generally accepted.

If powers of these natures come from the planes, the realms beyond, the realms that snatch away your soul and make you an immortal soldier forever, then there is a problem. I wonder if this is something Rowan would understand. Or there are also other sources, not just the planes, of where dangerous magic can come from as well. Very famously, you know that the crown itself

is like seen as a, anybody who worships the sovereign or worships the crown, that is seen as a heresy. Sorry, Tron, you were gonna say something? I was wondering if Rowan would understand or piece that together. I don't think any of you would instantly, like none of you would be able to know that Daisy's powers come from a planar source.

She could quite easily be a sorcerer or a mage or a cleric or some form of like that. You just wouldn't know that. But if she's, if, obviously, if there's a concern there, I will leave you guys to make your own interpretations. You don't need to make roles and things like that. But there's no way to know. If somebody casts a spell,

there's not really a way to know for sure where that power comes from. Okay. Unless you're trained in detecting certain things. Because there are spells that let you detect the presences of a planar creature or detect if somebody's touched by a fiend or a celestial or something like that. Such spells do exist. Okay, okay. Rowan's not gonna push it.

I can tell you at some point, just maybe not yet. It's just a bit scary, and I need to stay safe. Groff in his head is just like, he's looking at Xanthias, he's looking at his Anthea's, he's looking at Daisy's, thinking about Ophelia, he's having a look at Rowan, yeah, no, that's all right, and just a little thought in his head is just like, who have I ended up with?

But I promise it's not anything bad, it's really nothing bad. Just...different. Yeah, it's different. Listen, lassie. No, wrong word. Take a minute. Get yourself back into gruff. Get back into the gruff voice.

Nice bit of gruff. A little bit of gruff. Think of good, sweet Daffy. Daffy. Daffy and... Tom Jones. Yeah, Tom Jones. The only Welshman in Bristol at this point.

Listen, Daisy. I'm not here to judge. And I'm not here to push. You tell me when you're ready, and if you're not ready, I don't need to know. Probably. Well, it's nothing bad, I promise. It's fine. You've got a little bit of jam on your face.

I was saving It's fine. You've got a little bit of jam on your face. I was saving it for later. Are you really leaving tomorrow? I didn't say that. But it's implied. I don't know, Rowan. I'll come with you. I'll be a knight. Well.

We can all be knights together. I mean, I don't think a knightly life is one for me, personally. No? I can see it for you. Yes. Yes? We can make you a knight and we'll figure it out. You could be a knight's...

Squire. Squire. Possibly, but again, like, that's... That is Gruff's goal, and if Gruff's goal takes Gruff away from everyone else, then I, it probably would. We can all move with Gruff, right? What's your goal? I, you know what, I enjoyed helping the people of Burnel.

I enjoyed helping the people of Burnham. I enjoyed helping the people in the baths. I think we work well together. And we can make some money doing that so that we have enough money to live here and we just do nice things for the people and then it's all good. Okay. How do we help people? We can help Gruff find the people and then it's all good. Okay, how do we help people?

We can help Gruff find the people that Gruff needs to find and then we can go from there. Yes, and if we have to move from town to town, because Gruff has to move around, we go with Gruffus wherever. Is there anywhere you want to go? Wherever you guys are but you've ended up here

yes on your own until meeting us I presume where were you heading? well I was looking searching now I've found everything I need. This is it. Well, somewhat.

What were you- We can get round to that. Oh, another secret. Not so much. Maybe. Yeah, okay. Right, does anyone here not have any secrets? Put your paw up right now.

Oh look, it's my paw. No, you put your paw, you put your hand down. Put your claw down. That's it. Okay. There you go, boyo. Oh look, it's just me. Open book.

I don't really have a secret. I just, I want to explore and search more of a thing that happened to me. A mysterious thing. I eat my pastry. Okay. You just keep shoving them in so there's no time for you to talk. They've got a hand up.

You literally just went on a thing about how you didn't want to say things too soon. Or do you have a question? And people find out things about you. That's a secret. It's fine, though. And it was something that did happen to me and I didn't really have any control over it. Right. I don't know how to parse that. You say those words Daisy, there's almost like, you can kind of almost feel a bit of guilt from Nim. When you say that you didn't have any choice over there, is that kind of like, because you do have that kind of touch to their emotions and things, and there is

like a touch of guilt almost, and regret. But now I think it's a good thing okay well now i'm confused good thing in my head potential thing zero secrets enigma and uh and graphs open a book ophelia is where's everything as you said drinking As you say that. Drinking, probably drunk. Let me check in Katie here one second. Sorry, yeah. I'm going to just say in my head, should I tell them what has happened? Because the Sister Inquisitor,

if they get here and they don't know. We should just avoid them. We don't, this gruff is already suspicious and they are clearly devoted to the gods of your world. I think that they would not react well to knowing who I am. You should not tell anybody. We don't know if we can trust these people. I don't know if I can trust these people.

OK. I'm sorry, little one, but... It's fine. For both of our sakes, we can't give out too much information. I just don't know what to do if people come asking questions. We will do what we have always done.

We will hide, we will fight, we will protect ourselves. I will protect you, as I always have. Okay. I'm sorry. No, no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I did make the choice initially. It's fine.

You were young. I wouldn't be here without you, but... You did not understand fully what was happening. You were so young, but I had no choice. But still, we are together, and I am glad for it. Me too. So don't feel guilty. I will try.

We will work it out. It's fine. There's a sense of agreement. And also, I think we can at least trust two of them. And that is the lion and the big giant. I trust this Gruffydd. They seem an honorable warrior, and that I can respect.

But their faith in your world and your gods troubles me. The giant... There is an otherworldliness to him sometimes that I don't fully understand. He speaks softly and he has kind heart and words, but there is a strange energy about him. One I have not felt before.

But perhaps in time let us learn more about them. Okay. That's fine. But I think that we could win them all over anyway. Even if they didn't know. But I won't tell them anything yet. Keep an eye on them. Stick to the shadows and listen in when you can.

Let us gather information, like when we do when we assess a village, if it's safe for us to go in. Think of them as a village. We must assess to make sure that it is safe. Okay. On it. You feel that kind make sure that it is safe. Okay, on it. You feel that familiar soldiery tone come back into Nim's voice, but yeah,

Daisy sort of stares off into space for a minute. I think we recognize that, yeah. She's just eating her pastries. I feel like Daisy's probably quite used to talking to Nim in her head while stuff's going on. Yeah, I think that you're good at doing motor, like things like eating or walking or drawing, but there is maybe an ever so slight distant look

as somebody who's concentrating on something. Xan, you're right, we should meet up with Ophelia and then make a decision as a full group, getting all of Ophelia's ideas and thoughts together in a long monologue from Ophelia of her thoughts and her personal ideas. A full 30 seconds speech, perhaps. This is where he brings out the script from Rean. Maybe I do. Maybe I haven't. You don't know.

Yeah, so do you guys want to head out of the Grumpy Toad and make your way over towards the Clever Toad, head to the Grumpy Hog. I always get them switched around. And yeah, you guys make your way out. Moving through the town, you move through the River District,

Riverside District, back towards the Central Plaza, and yeah. Very much, you've made this journey a couple of times now. Kind of used to it. You make your way into the Grumpy Hog, where you can see Ophelia is basically finishing her breakfast that was supplied with her room.

I thought you were going to say the first bottle of wine of the day. No, no. No, she is enjoying a very bloody looking cut of like a steak with sort of like, you know, some eggs and things like that and bread and is drinking them, you know, with water and things like that. And she's just personally sat there. Oh, hello, everyone. Yes, hello.

Don't mind me. I'm just finishing up my breakfast. She's got a table to herself. Oh, she always does. Of course she does. A big table to herself. Yeah, she's in that space she's in the in the best window booth again that everybody's too scared to approach her with um uh rowan gets out a squished pastry that he pocketed and offers it to ophelia oh thank you

rowan that's very sweet of you just went out very early in the morning oh well that's very lovely my breakfast comes included so i but that's very lovely. My breakfast comes included, but that's very kind. And she says, Percival, save this for me for later. Percival just sucks it into the sleeve of the big fry robe. Don't know when that's going to be again.

Just lands on the floor. Yeah. If you guys sit down at the table of Ophelia, you do see Hogrim Hawker, the pig wild heart, very Porco Roscoe kind of vibe to him, with a little mustache. He looks over and kind of nods and makes his way over. He's just like, can I get any of your drinks? Anybody want anything while you're here?

Are you just meeting up with your friend? Just anything from the bar or what? Hot tea or, oh, sure. Well, we are planning on heading out very shortly. We're just wondering, we have time to kill right so to speak um what would you suggest someone like us new to the city uh would go do i mean i'm not a tour guide mister well no tavern keeper but you know we get a lot of people come through here most people are either coming through because they want to you know they want to do some shopping or they want to go to a couple places we

got a few nice merchants and vendors and things like that here. People come to visit the cathedral if you've not been up that way before. The bathhouse, the House of the Rose. Some people come here to see the other shrines. If there's a tournament on, people go to the tourney field. I mean, they've got the big towers as well.

If you've not seen the Pharos or the Coil of the Empress, they're pretty impressive. You can go and see those. But, I mean, Ash and Rust is kind of a trader's town. We get a lot of people coming and going. I wouldn't say there's really anything to go see. I mean, tomorrow the Duke's doing a public audience. Sometimes you can go and watch that.

Yes, that's where we go. If you've never seen a Draconic Noble before, you go up there and you can see and watch that. If you've never seen a Draconic noble before, you go up there and you can see the Duke himself. Do you happen to know of anyone that might need assistance with anything? We'd like to help. Oh, I mean, oh, okay. Are you like freelancers or mercenaries or something?

Travelers, that kind of thing. Just trying to make it by. Well, if that's the case, I'd recommend you swim by the forge. It's actually, and he points south. Southeast. My direction sense is very weird. He points it that way.

The forge is the local garrison here. They have a bounty board out the front, and some people post jobs if they're looking for things like that. We found it! But that tends to be more sort of mercenary work, you know, proper bounties or people looking for guards, things like that.

I mean, if you were looking for, like, little old ladies who've lost their pets and things like that, I mean, sometimes people come in and if I hear anything like that, I'll let people know, but as far as I know, there's nothing like that. If you're looking for actual, like, mercenary work, but as far as I know, there's nothing like that. But if you're looking for actual like, most of every work, yeah, the forge have a bounty, bounty master and bounty board.

I think that's something we could be, no drinks though, thank you. I think that's something we could help out with, right? Knights, fighters, warriors. It does sound awfully like work. Ah, there it is. That's true, but we're not. No offense, working behind a bar, we're not working a field, we're not... No, I suppose...

...ferrying materials from one place to another. I might have to think about it. It's helping. Helping? Yes, that's the... Ah, I see. Maybe... It's being nice to people. You see Ophelia starts thinking about it, but... Maybe she's not available today.

I spent it all on gambling. No, it's a case of I don't necessarily want to take full control of Reeve for a whole session, so... Well, you know what? Bye, Ophelia! Look, I will have a think about it. And if you find anything interesting, and maybe if you can't go and do it today,

if you need my help tomorrow, maybe, but I need to just think about it and pray and consider. One thing that could be useful, maybe Percival would be a good lad for the job, is we need someone to start queuing. Oh, my gosh. Why did we not think of... That's a perfect idea.

Oh, yes. Yes, I suppose I could send Percival to go and just wait by the gates and sort of hold a place for us. Because if we go in first for the Duke's favour tomorrow, Duke's audience, that's good for you. Yes. And if you send Percival, well, you can just stay. Well, he can just wait there the whole day.

I suppose I can just stay here. Spend the day in prayer. I might go to the baths. You could. Would you be okay without Percival's assistance throughout the day? I can't. I'm capable of...

Oh, no, no, it's fine. It's fine. Just, you know. Yes, I suppose. I mean, I don't need to send him now. I mean, I could send him later on in the afternoon or this evening, couldn't I? I mean, if he's... Because he'll be there before anyone else. I don't need to send him now. I mean, I could send him later on in the afternoon or this evening, couldn't I? I mean, if he's...

Because he'll be there before anyone else. I could even send him at night. Can I ask the barkeep when people start doing... Hogrim? Yeah. People will be there from before sunrise. People, if they've got business, the guilds will send people...

They'll hire people to go and wait from just before sunrise. They'll get there as early as possible in the morning. And they'll be waiting there all day, so... What time should we get there if we want to be the first person? Why don't you just meet up with Percival? That's right. What time should we send Percy there? To get there?

Well, I mean, it depends. If your fella here is happy to just sit there and wait for hours, I mean, yeah, you could send him whenever you want. I mean, I don't know. A very patient man. Yeah. Do we want him? happy to just sit there and wait for hours. I mean, yeah, you could send him whenever you want. I mean, I don't know. A very patient man. Yeah, do what you want. Three in the morning, four in the morning? I mean, sure, if he's happy to do that.

I mean, I've not seen the guy speak or move. I don't know, but yeah, sure. He's very patient. Yeah, he's very. Yeah, must be, some sort of monk or something. Yes. And Ophelia's just like, yeah, something like that. Percival, is that something you wish to do?

Percival looks at Ophelia and says, you're happy to do this, aren't you, Percival? Just nods. In his head, he's going, damn it! I died for this! Assuming he can think. But yeah, no, Percival happily just nods his head. Well, that is a very good idea.

Full of them. Is it worth us finding out what these big guilds are and if there is any hint of them sending people forward? Well, there is the Lamplighters. Just getting information. Yeah, Hogrim's kind of like standing over the table because you're kind of half asking him questions and stuff anyway and he'll say, yeah, you've got the Lamblighters Guild

the Carpenters the Masons and the Blacksmiths and the four major guilds There's also the Merchants Association which is kind of the all the different other types of merchants and artisans kind of all working together

Thank you very much. I mean, if you've got any more, I can point you in the directions of some of the guildmasters and things like that if you want, but I don't know who you want to go and speak to, but... All of them. All right, okay. Just in case. Well, the head of the blacksmith's guild is an orc

by the name of Hera Agaran. She's up in Greyforge. They've got their guild headquarters there. The head of the trade association is a fellow by the name of Patience. Patience Zanti. It's a Nalanari. Patience Zanti. Patience, as in...

Oh, Patience, sorry. Patience Zanti with an X at the front. Thank you for spelling that out for us, Orgrim. You then have... I mean, the Lamblighters have got a... There's three guildmasters, but speaking to them is probably very difficult. I'd recommend you just go to the Pharos

and ask to speak to somebody from the guild. Like, their headquarters is the Pharos. And then the Carboners' guild is down near Riverside. Got to find their thing. And, yeah, if you just go to their guild headquarters, you can speak to somebody there, same thing. Cool. Thank you, Hogrim.

Oh, and the Masons is the Coil of the Empress. Yes, that's cool. So Kiva's a good one to speak to, huh? Oh, Kiva, that's the Oracle, they say. They say that she can read fortunes and see the future and that kind of stuff. She's not the head of the guild, no, but she's connected to them.

The Masons Guild and the followers of this Imperial Flame seem to be pretty tight with each other. Well, that could be a good start. Yes, yeah, we could look there. Or we could help out with the... The bounty board. Bounty board, that's the word I'm looking for, yes. By the forge.

By the forge. Well, Rowan really wants the bounty. Do you want me to... I don't know if you want to update your map with certain things as well. Yeah, you said it was what? So the forge is number seven on the map. Point seven.

It's just opposite the Coil of the Empress, in fact. So... An Orphean southeast, an earthly southwest. Number seven. So is it just opposite the Coil of the Empress, in fact. So... Oh. An Orphean southeast, an earthly southwest. Number seven. So is it just called the Forge? Oh, yeah, southwest. Southwest. So, yeah, it's the...

Point seven is called the Forge. It's the barracks. It's like the keep, like the garrison keep here. Is there a guildmaster of the the merchants or is it just like a democracy uh yeah that's that's who patient santee is he's like he's the head of the trade the merchants association trade association is the merchant yes yeah right it's kind of like a conglomerate of all the smaller businesses together a unionization if you will sort of it's kind of like making sure that they have representation,

because they don't have a formal guild for all of them, because there's not enough of them, really, so. Cool, cool, cool, cool. Is there anything else? So, 22 is the Blacksmith's Guild. That one is, oh, right near the end. Up in Greyforge, yep. Then building 17 is the Carpenter's Guild.

17 being by the riverside to the east. Lovely. Okay. If there's any other points where you're like, if there's anything else you want to know, just let me know. I think that's it. And there isn't a specific, we don't let me know. I think that's it. And there isn't a specific,

where we don't know the guildmaster of the carpenters? No, no. Just tells you to go to the guild and speak to somebody. Cool. Thank you, Orgrim. I'll buy an orange juice for your help. It's fine, don't worry about it, it's fine. How about a pause?

It's quiet, talking is free, don't worry about it. It's fine. How about a pause? Look, it's quiet. I'm talking, it's free. Don't worry about it. You don't have a clever toad, do you? No, I don't have gimmicks. We don't need them. Okay. That's fine. Yeah, I know.

Ophelia. Yes? You're not going to leave us tomorrow, are you? Well, no, I don't think so. Good. I mean, as far as I'm aware, this is, I need to start making, I need to make a start on my mission, why I'm here.

I feel that this is the right place to do it. And? There's something I want to delve into, but I don't think right now is the right time. I would want to delve into this. We have much to do. We have much to do, unfortunately, Ophelia. I want to delve into, but I don't think right now is... I would want to delve into this. We have much to do, unfortunately. I want to know everything!

You don't seem in the right frame of mind. Oh, OK. Your voice has changed. It's weird. A good start to your diplomatic mission would be seeing the Duke tomorrow, so maybe send Percival down to start queuing in the evening time. Yes, that seems... So we're number one in the queue.

That seems fine. I can do that. We might go shopping for hours. If you go shopping, you have to let me know. I'm coming. Well, shit, I guess we're not going shopping today, then. You can't, like, that's like... I'll just have a go. I just mean if you're going to go off and do a bigger thing, I'm not going to be sitting here bouncing between playing Ophelia and NPCs.

Be a montage. But she will come with you when you go to do shopping. She will come with you. I know Ophelia wanted to get outfits and things like that. Who was it that needed an update? Me. If you're watching from home and you want to Discord message me things about what Ophelia wants to buy, you're more than welcome to.

Or we can just retrospect. Yeah, we'll just do it. Start next time. Or like advice for Grutheth and Rowan from Ophelia's perspective. Sure. That's all this guy. Yeah, at the moment it is, yeah.

All right, so what's the plan? Where do you guys want to go from here? Oracle. Let's go to both the Oracle and to the Bounty Board, because I think the best way to get a lay of the city is to understand its problems. Okay. And helping them, solving them.

And knowing the future. And knowing the future will certainly help in some small way. Oh, with respect to it being potentially a lie. I'm just saying, don't believe, don't go into it thinking this is the exact thing that's going to happen, that it is, you know, they could be wrong.

What is the time right now, Gruffydd? It's not near midday, is it? No. Oh no. Beware of an arch. It's still morning. Like, yeah, it's like 10 a.m. It's literally still morning. Right.

Beware of the shadows as well. I'm going to avoid the shadows. Right, okay. Okay. The crew of you make your way out of the Grumpy Hog this time, and it's not too far. You basically cross the central plaza and begin heading southwest down the main street, down into the Heartsway, what they call the Heartsway,

which is the district which leads from the southern road up into the city. And, yeah, you see on either side of this road these two rather impressive-looking buildings. One, the Coil of the Empress, is a marvellous stone tower with a spiralling design and tipped with beautiful crystals that catch the sunlight and project faint images of draconic shapes all around it. I think I've described this to you guys before. It is the headquarters of the Stonemasons Guild,

but also seems to have become a place where you can see followers of the Imperial Flame. And as you draw closer, you begin to see sort of like people outside with little pamphlets and things like that are sort of talking to people as they come and go, talking about the Imperial Flame and about the Dragon Empress.

You can also see that many of the town's stonemasons are coming here for business meetings and to talk about prices and trade and things like that. And the tower itself is obviously constructed as a symbol of their skill with stonework. It is beautifully carved, a very elegant-looking structure. Opposite, on the other side of the street, which is a very wide tall street, is the forge, a fortified barracks. It is large enough to contain several smaller buildings within it, including what appears to be a stables, although from the walls you can't actually see within. Instead a large gate basically blocks your entry into the forge itself, but outside the main gate is a large wooden board,

upon which there are not many notices. There are a few things. Some of it are, at least one of them is like a generic recruitment for the Duke's army, reminding people that, especially for those who live outside of the town, that if they, you know, military service counts towards a family's tithing for the year. So you don't have to provide, like, you know,

you can instead have somebody from your family go and join the army as a way of not paying your quota for your farm or something like that. It's a way of providing service. But you do see two notices of some important. Oh my god, we actually have physical things. Oh my gosh. And I like both of them.

Okay, you got it there. Bounty's on the ball. Well yeah, you can go and fetch them as you wish. Oh, if only I could read. Can't read. He can. Just not very fast. But you can just go up and snatch them,

and I'll hand them to you if you want. What's this we've got here? Bounties. That one has the words terrible demonic on it. So it sounds like Xanthius goes up, and you pluck them from the thing, and you stand up to read them from the bounty board. And he had a knife stabbed him.

None that have a knife in them, no. They're all very neatly placed up. None of them. This is quite, no. They're all very neatly placed up, none of them. This is quite well maintained. No graffiti. No. Do any of them glow? Have, you know...

No, no magic or anything like that, no. No big exclamation marks above it, no. But, yeah, you can see that. And you can see that there are guards wearing the Duke's colours, the orange kind of tabards of the region, and with the symbol of Northvale, the mountains with the flames and the river in between them.

And they're wearing the heraldry, and they're just stood out the gate. And they do watch Xanthius as you go up to the bounty, and one of them's watching you interestedly as you make your way, approaching it, kind of almost sizing you up as you make your way. Oh, there's two potential bounties we could take up, actually, both of which I think we might actually be able to achieve easily.

In fact, this one, Duke Ignarius offers a generous bounty of 50 gold for the dispatch of terrible demonic creatures known as gnolls, something we have done before. They were terrible and demonic. They were terrible and demonic. Very loud. But we know we're capable, something we have done before. Oh, they were terrible and demonic. They were terrible and demonic. Very loud. But we know we're capable. We've done it before.

50 gold paid by the Bounty Master for each gnoll head. Oh, we'd have to take the heads off. Put that one back. Unless anyone's willing to... Pass it here. Okay, if you're happy to start cutting heads off of gnolls... The lordling doesn't like to get his hands dirty. I don't want to...

Anyway, the other one is the Lamplighter's Guild are seeking skilled warriors and mages for well-paid guild work. We just have to inquire with Alicia Teffio, the Bride Eye of the Guild at Pharos. This one you've handed me says that there's a bonus 200 gold offered for the head of the Gnollbrood Shaman.

The head again, then? Who spawns these vile creatures. This might be a good way of also introducing not only what we achieved outside of Burnell, but also this other double effect. That's true. We have dispatched... Oh, maybe we should go back and cut the heads off the ones before we kill.

No, that's gruesome. You didn't want to do it just a second ago. I will also tell you that it is a two-day journey back to where you fought the gnolls. But that would probably be the point where, you know, you would need to start searching because this is just, this isn't a, like, there's no location. This is just a, the Duke has a standing offer of, like,

kill a gnoll and bring its head, get 50 gold. Sounds like you're about to say a little song. See a gnoll. See a gnoll, cut off its head. Bring its head, get the gold. I don't know, yeah. I'm sure somebody can make a fun rhyme and song. Kill the gnoll cut off its head. Bring its head, get the gold. I don't know, yeah. I'm sure somebody can make a fun rhyme and song. Kill the gnoll, get the toll.

You've got to get the gnoll toll. Get the gnoll toll. Get the toll to pay for the... The gnoll and... Yeah. It does remind me of a song. Gnoll gold. The gnoll.

Get gnolled, get gold. The gnoll toll The gnolled, get gnolled, get ggold! The gnolled hole. Butter bing. Well, we probably don't have time to find gnolls, claim their heads. They would probably be quite far out from the city. No, that's true. We could go and inquire with the Lamplighter's Guild,

at least, to contact them. Elysia Teffio, bright eye of the guild, looking for skilled warriors and mages. Elysia Teffio. Part of that? Sounds bloody mysterious. It does. We should go find out more.

It says it pays well. Having information on how the Lamplighter's guild functions and maybe who they're sending to kill tomorrow would be quite useful. Possibly. They're just looking Q tomorrow would be quite useful. Possibly. They're just looking for skilled warriors and mages. That's all I know. Right here. Are we skilled?

I believe you are very skilled, Griffith. Why, thank you, Rowan. Yes, you're quite capable in that. You're a knight, you're very skilled. I'm not a knight. But you're basically a knight. I'm really not a knight. You're bouncing notes.

Put it back on the board. I am really not a knight. You've're basically a knight. I'm really not a knight. There are your bouncy notes. Put it back on the board. I am really not a knight. You've taken them. You've got the information. Well, these may not be. We could at least visit the landmine's guild today. Yes. But this one might be in the future.

Okay. We're all together as best friends. No one departing. Quite a knightly thing to do, really, is to claim gnoll heads for the duke. Might put you in good stead for, you know, a knightly order or something. We can always help.

The group of you also can help, you know, you guys would probably be quite aware to your characters, is, I mean, you fought something like six gnolls, 50 gold a head, that's pretty good money. Like, that's pretty good money. That's a pretty generous amount. That's a lot of gold. And then if you do track down

this bonus one, I mean, it's a good payday. If you needed some gold and you had some time and you want to go out and try and track these things down, it probably would involve some element of travelling into the wilderness and just hunting them down, trying to find out where they came from. Their source.

Yeah. Well, what's more, we'd also potentially end the threat of the gnolls themselves. What does it say there? The shaman that summons them? The gnoll brood shaman. And what's that name at the bottom? Logan Grey.

Logan Grey? Do we know a Logan Grey? Okay. You see the guards have been listening in and they'll just sort of laugh when you're like, do we know a Logan Grey? Okay. You see the guards have been listening in, and they'll just sort of laugh when you're like, do we know a Logan Grey? And one of the guards, a half-elven woman, will say, hi, Marshal Logan Grey.

He's the bounty master here at the forge. Ah, my apologies. It's the bounties issued by him. You're bringing any... And she kind of like snickers a little bit. If you do bring any gnoll heads back like snickers a little bit if you if you do bring any knoll heads back then he's the one who'll pay you and these um heads would we just walk them through the town bring them back here i'd recommend you take a couple of sacks okay

something for ophelia and gruff to do have you heard any sightings of knolls uh she looks and she she seems to be a bit more like, when Gruff speaks to her, there's definitely a bit more like, oh, yeah, OK, this guy actually knows what he's doing. I don't want to cut any heads off. Also, you look like a little princely boy. Like, you know, this is a big tall lion man with, like, a shield and, like, a big stick.

I read the notice, my face went green and I suppressed vomiting. Vomit emoji. She looks over at you and she says, well, yeah, unfortunately the last couple of months we've just had more and more of these sightings on the road. We've had travellers attacked, we've had merchants attacked. Sometimes we've caught a couple of them when we've sent out patrols, but they just keep coming,

so we can't find out where they're coming from. That's why I think the High Marshal wants to get rid of the... The High Marshal and the Duke, I should say, want to get rid of this... The brood shaman. Apparently, they spoke with... There's a mage who lives here in that tower up near the cathedral, and apparently the Duke spoke with them, and they said that these gnolls are created by magic magic and they normally have some sort of shaman who creates them

um from blood uh and if we can put if we can if we can stop them then at least this area will be clear for a while until another one of these things shows up but yeah we've had sightings all along the roads. I mean, from the Southern Road, the Northern Road, all over the place. They roam around like packs of hideous creatures, just attacking whoever and whatever they can. Hi, we were attacked by such a pack on the way in. Really?

It's a shame, yeah. If you had known about it, you could have had yourself a few extra gold if you'd known before coming here. Would have been very nice. Six, six of them. Six, we all dispatched them, impressively. That's 50, that's a lot of gold.

It is, yeah, it is. Although I say, if you've already survived an attack by these gnolls, then yeah, definitely look into it. I think the High Marshal and the Duke would be very glad to have somebody take care of this problem. Thank you for the information.

Yeah, you're welcome. We'll look into it, thank you. Always good to have capable mercenaries in the town. You know what? It is, everybody. Always good to have helpful people around, sticking together, working with each other. Like you. Right? Right?

Sure. Well, we are right next to the stone basins, Gero. If you wish to get the future told, or something similar like that. He has asked very nicely several times. He has. Pretty please. You've been very patient.

Why is everyone looking at me again? Because you think it's blasphemy. I didn't say the word blasphemy. You did. You said it several times, actually. I did maybe a little bit about the clever toad. But I'm not stopping you, a grown man. Not big and growing.

From doing what you want to do. I'm just saying, be cautious when you go in. You're very trusting. Cautious. And the Church of the Scions, well, they think that the Imperial Flame are a bit gone off astray, off the wrong path. You know, they believe that the Dragon Empress, Sion's blesser, has become a god. That's quite a big claim.

So I'm just saying, you can do what you want. I'm not saying you don't go in, and I'll come in with you. But I'm just saying, don't take everything at face value. Right. I'll be very careful. Yes. Well, Rowan, you look over, and, yeah, you see this incredibly impressive stone tower

reaching up into the clouds. It's very tall. It's several storeys high, probably about four, five storeys. Massive, sort of big base, and it gets thinner thinner kind of smaller and smaller as it gets to the top um and yeah you look over and there is the stone has this kind of gentle song to it the rhythm of the work stone here it's been worked and it's been shaped much like the little stone statues of the old lady in burnell but this is to a grander scale and there is something within this tower that is almost bringing that music together in an

almost harmony the different parts of it have been shaped and the blocks all brought together and The different parts of it have been shaped and the blocks all brought together and something is unifying that melody. Gruffydd. Hello. You told me not to take anything at face value. But rock value. I'm getting good vibes. Have you ever had a bad vibe from a rock? No. All rocks are good and pure. There we go. It's the people that tread upon them that are bad.

Ah, there you go. There's nothing wrong here. But what if the people... It's pure. You just said, though, the people who tread on the rock. Sometimes. Not all. Most people are good at heart. They try their best. OK, bloody hell.

You have to steer down the wrong path, Not all. Most people are good at heart. They try their best. Okay, bloody hell. Steer down the wrong path. Let us stray. And that's okay. We can bring them back. Right. This stone is beautiful. I can see that. Looks nice. Exquisite work.

Stonemasons are very, very... Skilled. Very skilled. Yes. Let's goasons are very, very... Skilled. Very skilled. Let's go in. I'm very excited. You make your way across straight. Are you all going with Rowan? Yep.

Everyone kind of going with? Anyone want to come up? You guys make your way over, and you're not accosted or anything like that. A few people kind of look your way as you come in. The bottom floor of this tower is all open. It's all arches that just face out onto the rest of the town, and you can just walk straight in. The bottom floor of this tower is all open. It's all arches that just face out onto the rest of the town, and you can just walk straight in. It almost has a slight museum quality to this

ground level here. There are statues of the Dragon Empress. There are statues of famous knights and of the saints and of the scions, and they they're all like exhibits that you can basically go up and visit and look at um there are also examples of architecture there's like you know early early buildings from ash and rest and things like that like uh there's uh exhibits all about sort of like the types of stone what is ash stone why why is it found here what is it good about and there's almost this kind of like museum-y kind of element, like I said to it. There is also a large central desk, like a large round desk, behind which a number of, you know, academic-looking, like, folks sit. They have ledgers. You can see that there are queues. People seem to be, you know, almost

booking in stonemasons to go and work on their projects and they're allocating things. There are people coming in and bringing in trade. You can see that people going about their business. And you also see that dotted around them are several predominantly dwarves. And they all wear deep purple robes, which is normally an imperial color. It's normally worn by members of the Empress's kind of government, like people in like administrators and things like that. But instead of it being trimmed in the normal gray, these are actually all trimmed in gold and silver, and they bear a sigil, where normally there isn't a sigil normally the empress doesn't have a symbol dedicated just purely for her but these all have a flame like a burning flame um

and they come up to you and they are like they're going and talking to anybody who's like walking around and they're like hello there how are you how are we doing today good morning good morning it is a pleasure to be in this beautiful building. It is one that the Stonemasons are so talented. They are so talented here in Ashen Rest. It is an absolute beautiful place to be. What a testament to our history and to the beautiful works that they do. Who might I thank for the unifying energy that this tower brings. Well, I have to say, if you're asking me directly, so I would have to say it is the Empress herself

that you have to thank for it is her energy that is infused here. We are very blessed to have somebody who is connected to the Empress. Kiva. They smile and they say, oh, you've been told about her. I have.

Well, yes, indeed. Kiva is, she's an acolyte of the Dragon Empress and she is an oracle. She can gaze into things and the Empress has given her great gifts. And we're very happy to have her here and the Stonemasons have been very pleased for it. They've, in fact, allowed her the use of one of the top parts of the tower

for her own chambers. Would you like to see Kiva? Oh, is there not a long queue of meetings? Well, people do come and ask to see her, but being an oracle, if she is meant to speak to you today, then you will speak to her today. We'll just take your name up and go up and speak with her. And if she would like to speak with you, then you'll be invited up.

Does anyone else want to speak with Kiva? All are welcome. All are welcome to come and speak with her and have a reading done about themselves, about their future, about their past. Any who are lost, any who have questions or concerns, she seeks to put hearts at ease. Uh... No, I'm fine, thank you. You're good? I am equally okay?

Gruffydd? I can accompany you, it's fine. I am equally okay. Gryffith. I can accompany you, it's fine. Could we go as a duo? Well, normally readings are done on a personal basis. It is for you and you alone. But they could come up after, if they would like. I mean, you're welcome to come and sit up with them until the reading, but normally the readings are done

between Kiva and the person that she is speaking with. Is that okay, Gruffydd? It's fine. Can we all just wait in the waiting room, is that okay? Of course you can, yeah, this is for you, to do as you see fit. Yeah, we'll come with you, and we'll sit and wait with you.

Mm-hmm, great. Fantastic, well, come with us. Well, yeah, they'll say, come with us, and they lead you, and they begin taking you up the stairs, and there's this big kind of coiling staircase that goes around. You go past offices, you go past what looks like to be, like, living quarters for maybe some of the senior members of the guild, and they're these beautiful, like, ornate kind of palatial-looking

rooms that are built into this tower, but again, you go up and up and up, kind of like going to the top penthouse of a big tower. And as you reach the top, it is completely dark. There's no more natural light being left in, but there is this kind of soft white glow that seems to be coming from these crystals that are hanging down from the ceiling on these chains. Everything is sculpted beautifully out of stone, and then they have these thick cushions that have been laid onto stone benches for you to sit on, and there is a large set of double doors

that lead into an inner chamber. You sit down for a while. One of these dwarven men, the one that you've been speaking to, he steps in through the doors, and then a few moments later comes out and says, Oh, well, very fortunate that you came to see us because yes, Kiva would very much like to meet with you and provide you with a reading.

She did also tell me, and I know that you did say that you all were not interested, but Lady Kiva, the guide of the Citadel, has offered and said that she believes she has important things to tell all of you. And that the four of you she foresaw coming to her today

and that she would like to speak with you and perform a meeting. There will be no charge and we would not ask of anything for you. It is your choice. Yes. Individually. Well, what are the chances of that? She foresaw it. anything for you. It is your choice. Individually? Yes. Individually. Well, what are the chances of that? She foresaw it.

Forgive our lion man here. Please, you don't have to make any apologies. This is your choice. If you do not wish to, if this is something that you do not want, that is absolutely fine. But Lady Kiva just simply believes that she was meant to speak with you today. Can I, in my head, ask Nim what they think? Nim will say,

this matter of gods and your empress is beyond me, little one. Your world is, I have so little knowledge of your world. If she is a powerful spellcaster, she may be able to detect my presence, but in worst-case scenario, if it is just her and us, if needs be, we can escape or... ..make our way out, if need be. Um... I am... make our way out if need be. My own curiosity is peaked.

Yeah, that's the problem. Okay, we can try it. I'll try. Have a reading. That would be wonderful if that's the case. Why not? As you said, it's free. Yes. No charge afterwards, no hidden costs. No, of course not, no.

We do normally ask for a donation, but you are under no obligation to provide it. Tell me, Lady Kiva does not know your name she just simply knew you by description and said that she was expecting you today is there perhaps another one who's travelling with you that is not here today a woman the woman that she saw in the pub

with us yes a woman of death a woman connected to there is indeed yes how did she know? Because Ophelia came to the pub with us when Kiva was there. Yeah, but that was someone else. It wasn't Kiva, no.

It wasn't Kiva. That was just a believer, basically. So the lady told her. Now that could easily be Kiva. Incredible. Yes. Forgive some of our scepticism. There's nothing to forgive.

It's perfectly natural. Why us? I don't know. How often does this happen? It has not happened. Sometimes the Lady Kiva will simply agree to meet with people. She has met with merchants. She has met with powerful individuals, heads of guilds, that sort of thing.

But no, it does not happen very often. But let me ask you this. If you had gone to bright shadow cathedral and the high priestess of pyrus had said that she had seen you in a dream and had something important to tell you would you meet that with skepticism no perhaps not it's not me you need to convince. I'm not here to convince anyone, and neither is Lady Kiva. She just simply wishes to speak with you

because she feels she has something to share with you. That's all. It's truly an honour. Thank you. You're welcome. Well, seeing as you were the first one here and seem to be most likely... Perhaps you should go and speak with Lady Kiva first. Oh, OK.

Just quickly, when they go through and the door shuts and all that and we're kind of left in the waiting room, Gruff is very quietly going to turn to Xanthius and just very quietly say, Lord Xanthius. Yes, Gruff? I like you and you're a dragonborn of very pretty words. Well, thank you very much.

Don't speak for me. I apologise. I apologise. I am so sorry. It was not your forgiveness to give on my behalf. With that, as Rowan, you step through the doors, you're led by the attendant who leads you in. They lead you into a very simple room, lots of draped dark fabric that leads up to a central crystal that provides the only soft white light into the room,

all draping, hanging down like sails of a ship almost. And you can see that on these great sheets of dark fabric the outline of a city has been painted in silver paint. A great city, a city as vast and expansive resembling that of Kelskaris. Towers and buildings of all shapes and sizes, and above it all glitters the night sky, and you see that the stars form the shape of the Empress and a draconic image above the city itself. A table with a stone map of Kelskaris is laid out. This beautiful round city with circular walls and its inner walls and the different districts and divisions all divided up and sat behind the table in a chair you see a dwarven woman she appears young and beautiful in a ceremonial outfit of white and gray silver robe as well as a veil that hides her entire lower face, kind of hides from her nose downwards. The grey silver robe covers her shoulders and her upper arms.

She has sun-kissed skin and ash blonde hair that is worn long with braids decorated with quartz crystals and simple jewellery. And when she speaks to you, her voice has this magical quality to it. It sounds so beautifully resonant around the room. And to a normal person, it would be very clear that she's just talking to you,

but she just has this almost mystical sounding voice hello welcome please come and sit but Rowan you have a special relationship with sound and perhaps something that normal people wouldn't ever be able to tell. But you can, because you have such a finely tuned ear, but also the vibrations of the world resonate with you differently. And you realize that the reason her voice sounds so unusual is because it's not coming out of her mouth. It's not a spoken voice. It almost sounds like

it's kind of bouncing around the room like it should, but it's not quite right. And you realize that you're hearing the voice in your head. It's not actually her voice bouncing around. Is she mouthing the words? Well, you can't see her mouth because this veil covers her mouth entirely. Which is strange, but you know that she's meaning to appear like she's talking physically,

but there's just something about the way that you're hearing the voice in your head and the reverberations, the bounce isn't quite right. Okay, not projecting from the right place. Exactly. Most other people probably would never pick up on that. But she just says, please sit down. And she draws out, as part of the table, you see that the stone buildings

suddenly begin to descend and sink into the table and it becomes flat once more. And you see that she has a deck of cards just sat on the table itself. And she says, well, let us begin a reading. And that's where we're going to take a break. No!

Get the cards out! Get the cards out, all the cards! For podcast listeners, Mark has produced an actual deck of cards. I will say, before we go to fully break, these are from... These are from my good friend, Fez Inkwright, who made the Citadel deck,

which is an actual Oracle deck. I can actually show it. To which I've been using. I actually wrote the foreword for this, so that's why I'm using it as a prompt in this. I'm not using it as they are used normally. I'm using it in my own way, but Fez Inkwright made these, and a big shout-out to Fez, who's a long-time friend of mine and Nina's.

And we'll see them in use next time. And you will see them in the next part. So that's it for part one. We will see you them in use next time. And you will see them in the next part. So we will, that's it for part one. We will see you in part two, everybody. See you. Bye.

Bye.