High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #13 | Heralds of Doom (Part 2)

Episode Date: February 29, 2024

The party heal their new Lamplighter ally and gather some information from the Saints of Altheya! 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), Monument Studios 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. Protect that lead. That's like 2FA on Kraken. A surefire way to keep what you already have safe and sound. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. And welcome back to part two of Ulfea, the Dragon Empire. Our heroes have gone to Ravenstar Spire to meet with the elven mage Blackwing, explaining the events that had taken place in the plaza

and asking Blackwing to analyze the broken Everlight to discern the nature of the enchantment. The heroes have been given lots of information about the plane or realms, about the nature of this enchantment, and learned much more at that. And now they make their way up into Duskrise District to head towards Bright Shadow Cathedral. As you guys approach, you can now see it is about 11pm. This is the point where there is almost nobody else out on the streets. You do see the glowing lights of the lanterns kind of posted alongside the streets as you go.

Are you still trying to avoid these lights as much as possible? Daisy is like kind of dotting around. Serpentine, serpentine. Whilst Rowan has Theresa, he doesn't want any reoccurring, sure she's vulnerable, so he won't risk it. You do manage to kind of avoid them as best you can. As you get into Dusk Rose, you notice that

the lanterns are more prominent here. And you also notice that stood outside of Bright Shadow Cathedral there are two... They're not full knights, but they are kind of priestly warriors that basically are here to guard the temple at night

the cathedral at night um but also it looks like they are maybe the ones that you know if you have an urgent problem you go and speak to them and then they they confer and and so forth and so forth um it is a female dwarf and a male human who are kind of stood there um as they and they see you like there's there's no approach you can make that you're kind of, you know, not seen by these two guards who are stood right outside the cathedral doors. Yeah. Hello.

Hello, can we help you? Is there, and they kind of see that you're carrying this unconscious halfling. Like, what is the meaning of this? Is this woman in need of help? Yes, a medical attention, if possible. I appreciate it, Isolate. Thank you so much for your...

Yes, of course. Is this... We have to ask, you know, have you tried healing spells? Is this... What is the nature? What is wrong with her? I've tried healing word and all the other regular medical checks. She's still breathing.

She's just in a bad way. We will send for an acolyte to come and meet them. Thank you so much. Well, yes, and you see the male, the human man, opens up the door, steps inside, and then doesn't have you follow. He's like, wait here, and then they go off into the cathedral. After a little bit of time,

this is where I've gotta remind myself of NPCs, because I remember I came up with a name, but I can't remember what it is. Hi, Priest Arden. Hi, Priest Arden, thank you. I haven't updated my spreadsheet. After a little bit of time, you see the doors open once again and high priest ardent the um the nalanari is there this kind of very beautiful radiant uh soft looking masculine

figure um elven in nature but very different to blackwing this is very clearly a humanoid they have like elongated ears but this dark kind of purple or obsidian like dark purple skin um these very vibrant eyes that seem to almost draw you in um kind of appears dressed in not their priestly like ornamental robes they are basically wearing like a simple almost like a night robe um not like a little you know sleepy gown and hat or anything like that, but like a very simple black cloth robe kind of tied around the waist with a little rope belt. Just like, oh my goodness,

bring her inside. Come, come, come inside. Thank you. I appreciate this is a late hour to be requesting aid. Of course, but yes, if this woman, the guard told me that you have tried healing spells and it has been to no effect. What happened to this poor woman? How did you become involved?

And there is a sort of look of recognition, like, I think I've seen you somewhere recently, and maybe more towards Gruff, like, you know. I forget this mane. Yeah, we also saw you speaking with Mourning and, like, was just like, oh. It's just like, yes, bring her inside. And he takes you, he leads you through the empty cathedral,

which is not lit up. It's all kind of darkened there is just this faint twinkling magical starlight that kind of rests in the top of the cathedral almost creating like a soft glittery silver light but it's barely enough to like weave your way through the pews and make your way to um a set of doors that lead into the sort of side chambers against every pew yeah um you uh the high priest on takes you into a side room um which seems to be maybe like a sleeping quarters for like a priest or an acolyte but it's not being used and says like place her down on the on the bed, and tell me what happened. I point at Gruffydd.

Gruffydd can be like, you know, we can give the recount similar to what you did for Blackwing, right? And it will be the most honest account ever. Yeah, of course. You see High Priest Arden's face grows quite grim and sort of worried the more and more thing you go into. Like hearing about the guilds kind of fighting, you see him kind of a bit disproving, almost looking at you guys a bit disproving of like,

oh, getting involved in these guild feuds, tut, tut, tut, kind of naughty children. But then as you then recite the strange influence, feeling this paranoia and this rage and this fear and then suddenly Teresa being overwhelmed by this creature um do you actually say like you think it was like a demon from the plains and things like that okay so when you say that that's did right high priest Arden immediately um makes the sign of melee he like is like oh lady, oh, Lady of Secrets, please save us. This is terrible.

Like, oh, I pray for this woman's soul that she's not been ensnared in their clutches. And you see he raises his hands over and he begins muttering a chant like, Lady of Secrets, Lady of Mystery, please unveil, unveil the truth. over and he begins muttering a chant like lady of secrets lady of mystery please unveil unveil the truth let me know what afflicts this woman what afflicts your steward or your servant and you see from his hands this silvery moonlight begins to kind of fall like rain over Teresa and he says and he raises his hand.

He raises it like into the shape, like a kind of almost like a C shape. He kisses his hand and he touches Teresa's forehead and you see her eyes kind of flutter and she begins to wake up. He... So Rome does a C shape? Yeah.

It's kind of like a symbol of Melia. It's like a half moon basically. It doesn't look very well because um and you see the high priest kind of like leans down like gets on his knees and he like leans to her and he's like what is your name my dear what is your name and she like theresa blinks oh to illuminate theresa lavendale. Am I at the church? Oh, hello, high priest. And sort of like seems to blink and kind of realise where she is. The high priest is like, you're all right.

You're all right. You've had a bit of a fright. Your friends here have brought you here and we're just going to keep an eye on you. Are you all right here on your own just while I speak with your friends? She's like, yes, yes, I'll be all right. I'm quite thirsty.

I'll have somebody bring you some water and maybe something to eat as well, all right? And then he says, all right, very good. And he says, like, would you come with me just outside? And he leads you outside and he, you know, calls over the guard and says, like, can you get one of the acolytes to go and fetch just some bread and water and bring it to the woman inside? And he takes you all out into the main cathedral.

And his expression is quite dark. There is... There was an affliction, some lingering trace of this planar magic. I've done my best to disconnect Teresa, was it, I believe. I've done my best to disconnect her from this influence. And I believe that she will recover. Her health is fine. She's not in any danger of that.

My concern is of a spiritual nature. but my concern is of a spiritual nature. You see how he rubs his hands. When we die, Saint De Thier... Rowan just prepares himself. Here we go again. Fucking hell. What a day. Really examining mortality, aren't we?

When we die, Saint Dathia strikes us with one of her arrows. She binds us to the world of Althea so that we can be reborn. Ophelia, this is all nonsense. Absolute garbage, this man is saying. How dare! Blasphemy! We are tethered to the world by Saint Athir so we can be reborn. One of our greatest fears in the Church of the Scions is...

..individuals who perhaps dabble with the planar powers, who seek them out for power, for cheap gains. They draw the attention of the planes. And they can anchor themselves on their soul. And when these individuals are killed, Dethir is not able to tether them to Althea, and they are taken, snatched by the planar powers to be reborn as warriors and soldiers

in their eternal conflict. I fear that whatever this creature, this demon, that you say was summoned and possessed Theresa, has left such an impression. And were she to die, there is a risk that St. Ithir would not be able to secure her soul. Oh, that's awful. Is there anything we can do?

With guidance. If Theresa is willing to commit herself to a virtuous life... ...avoids the temptations that is associated with the demons and devils of the Twin Pits. For they are creatures of greed, ambition, carnage, passion, power, rage, fear. She is able to keep herself free from these temptations. It strengthens her soul against being taken away and gives Dethir a greater chance of keeping her bound to our world. It will take spiritual assistance,

but of course that is why I am here. It is why we are blessed by the Scions with the powers that we have to help people. To make sure in some cases they do not choose these paths and fall prey to the lies and the manipulations of the planes. And sometimes in this case ones who are innocent of this but have become touched by forces far beyond them. But she will recover. Physically, she's fine. It is the spiritual sense that I am concerned for.

But you did very well to bring her to me. Very well indeed. And I am shocked, I am terrified to hear of what has happened. I pray that Illuminator Lavendale did not know what she was doing and that perhaps this is the work of some nefarious cult that has perhaps used her position to do some nefarious deed. I certainly hope that it was not some ploy of her own. We only have assumptions right now. And we do not wish to assume that the light weaver, Weaver, Lamplighter, Guild. He says it correctly.

Has anything to do with it from a guild sense and that it might be a case of sabotage. Well, it is important that we bring this to the attention of the authorities tomorrow. First light. Yes, that was the guidance we were hoping to seek because we are stuck in the middle of this issue. We must bring this to the attention of the High Authorita and to the Duke, or that this can be investigated. Well it just so happens that we have. We are going to the public hearing as we have a writ.

Excellent, yes. Well, the only problem with that is we've been advised that we really need strong evidence about the Lamplighter's Guild before we bring it up with the Duke. You seem convinced that the Lamplighter's Guild is involved in this in some way. Only because we were sent on this mission and it was the equipment that was embedded within the light itself that we discovered. That is worrying, but the Lamblighters Guild have been a great part of this town for centuries. They have provided a great service. They are close to my sister, the High Priest of Pyrrhus.

I could not imagine that they would dare trifle with such things. Do not get us wrong. We, We again are not accusing the entire guild. Maybe there's some ne'er-do-wells. That must be it. The cults of the Plain Our Powers, the cults of the Embered, are secretive and mysterious and they lurk within our society. This is why we preach vigilance, that good citizens such as yourselves keep open eyes and inform myself, the knights of the church, and our authorities of such matters, for we must root out these cults wherever they may lurk. I think my concern is that maybe if we act too fast,

this cult may get wind of it and... Oh, my son, but if we linger, think of how many souls may be in danger. Yes, there might be more lights that we may need to deactivate. Would you forward this information to the Duke? Would you be part of the church? I will speak with... I will send word to the Duke and I will personally speak with the authorities tomorrow.

Thank you. Most certainly. That's great. Of course. So helpful. Of course. Do not be troubled. This will be resolved. I'm sorry to bring such unholy and blasphemous things to your church, but do you know how to identify a devil or a demon? You are, it is not, no it is a wise question

to ask, son, it is a very wise question to ask indeed from what i know we are taught about the planar realms to make sure that we are warded against them to know our enemy we do not learn about them freely or because we choose to but simply so we better understand our foe i have always been taught that always been taught that demons are creatures of base desire, carnage, rage, lust, greed. They are destructive. They cause suffering. Devils are, and they are, which makes them A simpler foe. Dangerous. Dangerous, very dangerous. Devils are trickier. They are capable of deception, manipulation. Very rarely will they outright lie.

And once their word is given, they are bound to it by planar law, I suppose. But they are very adept at turning situations to their advantage. And when they want to be, they can be as cruel and as wrathful and as lustful as their demonic counterparts. It is lucky that the two pits are often fighting amongst each other, that they do not turn against the other realms. For if they were to overpower the other planar realms, perhaps they would become dominant, and soon their attention may fall upon our realm.

Oh, boy. Well, it seems like someone's attention is on our realm, at least to try and get power over the Hellion throne. Oh, they almost always are. The material world of which Althea is, it is a realm, they covet it, the planar powers. They are greedy, jealous of our world, for it is rich in resources and magic that is rare in theirs. But also we hold the greatest asset of them all,

the one that all of the planar realms crave above everything else, souls, new soldiers. For they have been in a stalemate since the beginning of time. The only way they break this stalemate is if one side were to gather up a huge force of new warriors and soldiers. Where can they find them but here,

in the souls of the people of Ulthaea and Ilmera? So it does make sense that there are more of these lights out there. I am despaired at the idea that any good citizen of the Empire would willingly put at risk so many souls, but this is a matter that must be dealt with by the right people. I will send word to the high authoritor and the duke

and to my own superiors. This is a grave matter that must be dealt with. Can I incite the Archduke? Of course you can. How dare you? I do love the idea that like, is this trot inciting the priest or is this trot inciting Mark?

A little for column A, a little for column B. Well, we'll see what the dice say. See what the dice say. That is a 21. 21. 21. Now, incite is not a lie detector, right?

You can't just be like they're lying or whatever. Rowan is not an accusatory kind of person. No, no. I would say that Rowan, everything, like this priest clearly believes everything they're saying. Like there is no doubt. This is a man of absolute faith conviction. Like he believes 100% what he's saying and he believes

that he has to do everything in his power to stop this happening because there is no worse fate than all potentially all of ashen's rest being turned into demonic souls like and taken off into some demon plane that is the worst worst. Anything is better than that. And with that insight, that's when you realize that like, ah, this high priest, high prince Satan might go to lengths that could put other people, like he's willing to do anything to stop this.

He is so devout in it. And when he said, I will send word to my superiors you would probably pick up on that like that's probably going to be people who are going to come and start asking a lot of questions and he's probably going to do everything in his power to make sure that like this is stopped whether or not that's actually going to be effective or not is another question. Right? This man could easily be blinded by faith. Like if somebody he believes is a true believer and is a truly faithful devout person tells him, I didn't do it, he's probably going to believe them.

He's blinded by faith. Well, wheels are in motion now. Too late. Be at peace. Well, wheels are in motion now. Too late. Be at peace. I will make sure that Teresa is attended to and looked after, and when I send word to the authorities, they will want to speak with her, and I will make sure that that happens. We will make sure that this is dealt with. Please, do not trouble yourselves.

We will make sure that this is done right. One last thing, Father. Of course. Could we, well, those who agree to it, could we have a little blessing? It's been a long night, and I think we could use some calm and some guidance. Of course.

And it is, of course, it is my lady's time. And there is nothing, one of the most sacred duties of Maelia is of dreams it is very much a part of what I do to make sure that you have restful sleep and that the night is a place of safety for you that is my calling come and he'll lead you out into the main uh into the main altar um and uh high princean will conduct a small ceremony for those who wish it,

which is a blessing. It's like a spiritual blessing. So like Daisy and Ophelia kind of maybe slinking back away. Can I sneak away and talk to Teresa? Yeah, give me a stealth check, though. Like how well you kind of slip away. I'll give you advantage because he's, as soon as Gruff asks for the blessing,

like, you can see High Prince Aiden is like, of course, my son, absolutely. 13. 13, 13's enough. This guy's pretty perceptive, but he's very distracted right now. So I'd say, like, you manage to slip away. And you probably make your way back to that room

and you see a servant, like, a simple-dressed, young, probably teenage boy, like a kind of, like, choir boy kind of, like, you know a servant, like a simple-dressed young, probably teenage boy, like a kind of like choir boy kind of like, you know, robe, is leaving, probably having just dropped off food and drink. And you can easily slip inside. But yeah, just very briefly, Gruff, absolutely this is a traditional blessing of Maelir,

and it is a kind of prayer about, you know, the safety of night enveloping you to make sure that the Lady of Mysteries visits your dreams and gives you peaceful sleep and brings you wonderful rest and beauty and things like that. It's a very kind of traditional prayer. And it is a minor blessing in that it will make sure that you don't have any unpleasant dreams this evening

or unpleasant visitations, I should say, as well. Does Rowan wish a blessing as well? Yep. Rowan will sit there and he'll be thinking to himself, I hope you got my secret well. I hope, sorry, it's a bad one. Yeah, maybe. And she digests it nicely.

Nice, all right. Where's Daisy going to slip off to? Or is Daisy just hovering at the back kind of thing? I'm probably going to... I think she might... what's your passive perception i mean ruff did say for those who wanted it 11 you aphelia vanishes you don't know where aphelia's because you got 13 it's the passive perception of 11 right she's on the floor like army calling so you look you look around gruff and rowan are having this blessing and you're like

where the fuck is aphelia? Spider climbing away. Yeah, she's seen you do that. She's going to go... Start looking around. You start wandering this massive, empty cathedral, like looking up at the ceiling. She's just going to... She's just going to doddle about.

Yeah, sure. It means that you can avoid the blessing easily. Where did she go? Right. She's going to jump on and scare me, I know it. So meanwhile, Ophelia, you sneak into Teresa's room, and Teresa's there, and she's like munched. She's torn off, she's not eating the whole bread,

but she's torn off a bit, and she's trying to munch it. She's drunk most of the water, and she's like, oh, hello again. Are you all right? Yes, yes, I'm fine, I'm fine. Teresa, my dear, do you remember anything about what happened during that fight? Sorry to bring it up, I know it was horrendous. No, no.

I remember... And she kind of adjusts her glasses and, you know, she's got these big kind of goggles. She's a little halfling, so she's got little toes and feet poking out. And she's like, well, I remember... The first group we fought from the Carpenters' Guild, and you saw them all off, and I remember I helped you fight some of them. And then I fixed the Everlight, and I had the new disc and the enchantments and the pieces. The new disc. Do you know who gave you that? Well, the Chief Illuminator. He was the one who showed me how to make the repairs.

The chief illuminator. What? Do they have a name? Yes. Of course. It is... I've got to get my notes. I have it. I have it. I have it. It's just in my notes. I've got to find them. Yes, Maurice Goldsite, the chief illuminator. Morris Goldsite?

Yes. Was there anything unusual about the disc? Anything broken? Anything... was it a miss? I don't... I don't remember, though, but, I mean, like I said, it was my first time... This is my first time doing these repairs. But, yes, I had the schematics and I was following his instructions and I had the disc

and I fixed it it was working as intended and I could see the power was all done and then and then the other guild came by and they all rushed us and this most ghastly voice and it was it was telling me that I was going to die and that they were going to they were going to kill me and do all sorts of horrible things to me when they found me and and that I I was going to die alone and it was awful it was saying these horrid things to me. That sounds terrible. And then I must have passed out and I think I must have had an awful dream because I remember sort of flying in

the air and I was fighting the people from the guild and there was this terrible sort of cloud around me and yeah, that was all I sort of cloud around me. Yeah, that was all I sort of remember.

A cloud? Okay, you don't remember seeing anything else, like a figure or, I don't know, a demon, a devil or anything of that description? A devil? Well, that voice. Oh, that voice wasn't anything from, oh, it was awful.

It was, oh, it wasn't human. I tell you that. It was something terrible. When I was dreaming, now that you mention it, it was like I was flying and I was surrounded by this cloud and the people, it was like I was very, and I was surrounded by this cloud, and the people, it was like I was very high,

and the people were so small, and I was throwing lightning and fire and all sorts of horrible things down, but you know what? It was like something was holding me up. It was like something had me in like a claw, and it had these terrible wings, and its face was, it was like a,

it was almost like a pig face, and its belly was, it had like a mouth in its belly, and you can see that as you've asked her, like she's beginning to remember more and she starts shuddering like, oh, it was awful and it stank. It reeked of like rubbish and oh, like the sewers it smelled like. It was awful. Oh, that sounds like a horrible dream you had, a really nasty, horrible dream.

Yes, no, it was awful, wasn't it? Well, I mean, maybe the high priest can make sure we don't have bad dreams. I'll ask him for a blessing or something. Also... Is everything all right? I'm so sorry I didn't fix the lanterns. You're going to miss out on your payment. You did a perfectly good job.

Don't you worry about that. I just wanted to make sure that you're OK. And also, we want to bring this up with the Duke tomorrow.. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay and also we want to bring this up with the Duke tomorrow so I want to just make sure that you... Oh, well, come and fetch me. Of course. Is that okay? Can we do that? But you want to bring it up to the Duke. Why? What, the guilds?

I mean, it's terrible the way they came and fought. Why do they want to stop the progress of the Lamplighters Guild? What is that horrible smoke? The fog? You said the fog, the clouds that came out. For my dream? Yes, we just want to make sure that everything's in place and... I wouldn't worry the Duke with my dreams, my friend.

Not at all, that's fine. We just want to make sure that everything's okay, that's all. That's very kind of you. You've been very kind to me, thank you. That's okay, no, don't worry. Thank you for, you you know holding on and of course being here of course no of course and she's just like sort of like i i think i should probably get some sleep and hopefully rest a bit better but yes come find me in the morning um but

yes no need to trouble the duke we'll we'll get it sorted won't we we? We will, we will. And just, um, your faith is yours to decide. Don't some... there will be questions, but ultimately it's your choice. Oh, oh, well, well, thank you. Yes, alright, I will. Just seems to

seems like your act of kindness to come in and check on her does seem to be well received. Blessings of the Greyfather to you. Another faith, I'm sorry to confuse you. I'm dreadfully sorry. I'm filling your head with so much nonsense. You've had enough.

You've had a long day. Well, no, it's all right. And like you said, it's... Well, I suppose you're right. I mean, I guess I've always been raised that, you know, the Church of the Scions is what we believe in, but I've heard that there are some people who believe the Empress has returned. And there are... Well, you're from another land, aren't you?

I am. I'm from Osseous, yes. And you must have different beliefs and things like that. Oh, yes, the Gravefather, as I brought up earlier, yes. Perhaps one day you can tell me about it. I'd love to. Of course, of course. Yes, I would like that. Yes, thank you, thank you. I'll finish this bread.

Can't leave it uneaten, can I? Oh, no, good bread is good bread. Full hobbit, just like, start stuffing it in her mouth. But yeah, she seems very receptive to it. And you can sneak back out and you probably make your way back in just as the high priest is finishing.

You see Daisy, like, wandering around looking up all the ceilings. She hasn't noticed you. your way back in just as the high priest is finishing. You see Daisy, like, wandering around, looking up at all the ceilings. She hasn't noticed you. But do you just appear next to everyone, or...? Just, like, just appear next to Daisy. No! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Hi! Hello.

Why? Sorry, sorry, I went to go talk to Teresa. Okay, you could have just told us that. You don't need to jump out on me. It's been a tense evening. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't want to cause any alarm. You did!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm alarmed. Teresa remembers a lot, and she said that she can come to the hearing tomorrow. Oh, that's good. For more evidence. Good. I'm sorry, I'm just regaining... she can come to the hearing tomorrow. Oh, that's good. For more evidence. Good, I'm sorry, I'm just regaining, you know, my, You're not being a fight.

I'm terribly sorry. Yes, it all went well. What are you up to? Not looking for you on the ceiling. Oh, that's okay. I just walked. I didn't climb. Okay. Okay. So with that, yeah, Gruffin...

I should have walked back to Gruffin. Yeah, yeah. These guys are, like, finishing up. Like, you've both been, sort of, received this blessing. The High Priest returns, like, completely unaware that you've gone and spoken to Teresa. And yeah, you guys, he's like, well, like I said, please do not worry. We will have this all straightened out tomorrow. I will speak with the Duke and the authorities.

Where are you staying so that if I need to reach you? We are staying at the Clevertoad. Grumpy hog for me, if you need me. Right, all right, well, very good to know. I will send word if need be, all right? But go with the Lady of Mystery's blessing. Sleep well. All right, all right, well, very good to know. I will send word if need be, all right? But go with the Lady of Mystery's blessing. Sleep well.

You've brought me so much peace in this trying time. That is what I am here for, my son. And you just pat your arm, because by looking up. Yeah, all right. And then yeah, do you guys, what's the plan? Betty buys. I feel like we're all dead on our feet right now. Sure, yeah. Sorry, Ophelia, for that, you know.

One day. Yeah. I wish. We are tainting being dead on our feet. So I feel like everyone goes back to their various inns. Crash. Oh, do we need to check on Percy? Yeah, we should actually check on Percy.

And the cube. And then that's the last thing we'll do. So. Oh, do we need to check on Percy? Yeah, we should actually check on Percy. And the cube. And then that's the last thing we'll do. So. Oh no. You guys make your way to the Ducal Palace. You make your way through the town. And it's a fair distance away. Probably you get there probably around midnight.

With everything, the blessing and the talk and everything else. Just drag it on. Very much feeling very worn out, feeling that tiredness and that fatigue settling in. When you arrive, you can see Percival stood in his robes on the road leading up to the Ducal Palace.

Feel free to correct me, but I imagine you wouldn't have said, go right up to the gate, you know, just stand there. Because that might look a bit obvious. But he's clearly waiting for whatever this procession is going to be, this waiting line to get into the Ducal Palace. And as you arrive, you see that Percival is basically moving around the street,

constantly trying to avoid a group of stonemasons and lamplighters guilds people who are basically trying to get hit, like, what are you doing here? This is weird, who sent you? Who are you working for? Questioning this robed figure

that they don't know who it is, and the skeleton is just like, well, the robed figure is just moving away from them, and they're trying to surround him, and then he'll. And the skeleton is just like, well, the robot figure is just moving away from them, and they're trying to surround him, and then he'll turn and run away. But then as soon as they go to leave, he just goes back to where he was. And they're kind of like the street thugs.

They're the lower-ranking members of these guilds, clearly the ones who are sent to go and make sure nobody's going to take our spot, even quite late at night. And they've obviously just come to be like, oh, let's just go scope it out. And there's this, like, figure who's just stood there, and they're like, what are you doing?

Who do you work for? What guild are you with? Just nothing. And then they, like, go to, like, shove him, and immediately, like, Percival backs away, and they're like, what are you... And they're like, hey, come here, and then they to, like, shove him, and immediately, like, Percival backs away, and they're like, what are you, what, and they're like, come here, and then they're, like, chasing him around. But his orders are to stay in that place,

so whenever he can, he just goes back to it. And you guys happen to come along, as they've probably gone away, and now they've come back with, like, some clubs and things like that. And they're like, oi, they're like, listen, you need to get out of here and Percival's just like back to the thing

and you guys arrive as this group of people are making their way towards Percival. There's like five or six of them. Feeley's just like, she's going to just start dashing up towards Percival.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You see this group of people and they're not like, you know, these are, like I said, these are lower ranking members. They kind of turn around and see you they're not like, you know, these are, like I said, these are lower ranking members. They kind of turn around and see you and they're like, hey, who are you?

What's your business? Like. No, what's your business with him? He's with us. Leave him alone. They look at you and say like, well, who are you with? Like, this is, there's an audience with the Duke tomorrow. Yes, we know.

That's why he's here. They kind of like look around. They kind of try and eye you all up. Give me an intimidation check with Ophelia. You can use strength if you prefer, or you can use charisma. Facey-type. I thought he rolled it. Three.

He looks around, he looks at the tiny girl, immediately like not a threat. Looks at Rowan who's like big. Rowan is like trying to figure out which sea it was. Is it like, do I do the sea for other people? What was it? Yeah. They look at that. Gruff they're a bit wary of, like you,

but these gruffs are like, listen, we're with, and you can see that there's two packs of them, there's like three from the Stonemasons and three from the Lamplighters, they're like, listen. We represent the Stonemasons and the Lamplighters. We are gonna take the first spot to speak with the Duke. You don't want to cause trouble. Like, the guilds, we can make it very difficult for you.

Like, the guilds, we can make it very difficult for you. So just have your weirdo in the robe go back with you. My best friend. Take your weirdo, come back in the morning, once we've got our places secured, and then you can come back in. I'm going to step up behind Ophelia while she's collecting. It's definitely like,

I'd say Gruff and Rowan's physical appearance, like you can make another intimidation if you will. They'll give advantage. Yeah, this is very clear, like giving advantage, right, of like two imposing looking figures. Even though she's not imposing,

she's going to pretend like she is. Sure, sure, sure, sure. She's gonna do it. Is there a problem here? Yeah, there is a problem, big guy. That's a shame. That's a real shame. Why is that?

Do you represent someone? No, I just think it's only fair that our dear friend here appears to be first in the queue and it's not very right of the guilds to try and change that. Well there's definitely a kind of like he's like looking at you like you can't be you're not this clueless he's like, it is unfortunate,

but there is a certain way that things are done around here, and we have very important business with the Duke. And so we want to make sure that our spot in the queue is unaffected. And he like reaches in his pocket and he can see you two are kind of these big imposing figures. Like they're definitely not the biggest warriors. He like reaches in, he pulls out a little pocket and he like counts out five gold coins.

And he's like, why don't you take this and take your friend and you come back after we've secured our places. You can be third in line. And he like jangles this little coin touch. Like, here you go, peasant. Here's some money. Rona put up his beefy hand.

Do you have that in bronze? Yes. I look at Gruff, interested. Look, we're not gonna take that long speaking to the Duke. We're not here often, so why don't you just let us go first, get out of the way, and then we can help you save your spot in line right behind us. Make a persuasion check for me.

This is not going to go well. Is that okay? You do this. Fate dice. Fate dice. I keep forgetting. No. They're both going to get burnt, right?

No, no, I'm not spending one. I'm adding one to my buff. It's only six total. Six total. They're all terrible. You see this guy just say, we could do that, or we could just make you take your weirdo and leave,

and then we go first to see the Duke. Listen. Listen. We have substantial backing. You guys, who do you even work for? Are you just here to, what, to see the Duke on your own business? Like, what's that about? Just a job for the Lamplighters Guild, actually. You see the three from the Lamplighters Guild, like, look at each other like,

we didn't hear anything about that. Repairing the lamps. Who are you working for? Who's your contact in the guild? Alicia Teffio. Teffio is not important enough to sanction something like that. Well, it was the bounty on your little bounty board. They like, you see the three lamplighters look at the stonemasons and go,

and they're like, like well if they're working for the guild they can go behind us in the queue and the stonemasons are like hang on we've had an agreement for years david like he's like listen david we've had an agreement for years we go first you go you know you go first we go second and then everyone else comes behind us that we've had that deal for years. And he's like, yeah, but David's like, yeah, they work, but they're doing some work for the guild. So maybe we let them go second this time.

Is the stonemason's going to have a problem with that? And he's just like, you see the other guy kind of backs down. We'll call him Ben. Because I can't be bothered coming up with fantasy names. Ben is just like, yeah, all right, I guess. Fine, they can go behind you as long as we're right after them. And you see the lamp lighters, David. David the lamp lighter is just like, yeah, I think that that...

He looks to your group, he's like, that seems reasonable to me. And you may keep your coin. Oh, yeah. I was like, well seems reasonable to me. And you may keep your coin. Oh, yeah. I was like, well, yeah, of course. But that seems reasonable to me. The lamplighters will take the first slot. You can have the second. And then our friends in the Stonemason's Guild go third.

How about that? And you won't even have to have your poor friend stood out here all night. I mean, he must be cold. He's quick on his feet. I give him that. It's quite weird that he's so silent, but... He's a well-trained individual.

And I appreciate that. I appreciate people who have good people working for them. But let's make a deal. Let's put that on the cards. We don't want any trouble, right? No, of course not. Yeah. And we have eyes on this street,

so we'll make sure that that order is adhered to in the morning. Insight. Sure. Hey, you can give me an insight check. I just don't trust anyone today. I don't trust him. No. 11.

Reading his body language, there's nothing giving away that he's hiding something. There's no tics, no glances to the side, like he's looking at you dead in the eyes. Yeah, it's just nothing. Like, offers his hand out, he's a human guy. What choice do we have? Well, I feel like it's whoever gets here first gets the first spot,

but clearly that's not working. If only the world were so simple. Fine. I might extend a hand. Yeah, I'll take your hand. Shake your hand. All right. See you in the morning.

Oh, I'm quite sleepy, to be fair. I am quite sleepy, to be fair. Kim's just giving me, for podcast listeners, Kim is giving me a look right now. Kim's just like, this is where I want to do. Oh, there was just a feature that he has that I was looking up, but... You can, if you want to do something, but... No. All right.

I will leave it. Do you want to, you could leave Percival here, or you could take Percival back with you. It does seem like these guys, if they stick to do something, but... No. All right. I will leave it. Do you want to... You could leave Percival here, or you could take Percival back with you. It does seem like these guys, if they stick to their word, who knows, they might not. I kind of want to switch places with Percival. So you stay out here all night?

Yeah. Yeah? I mean, technically, you don't need to switch places with him. He can just stay with you. You can just... I want to stay with him. Yeah, if you want to.

At least to some degree. Yeah. Wouldn't be my first all-nighter. No true. The gnolls. Hmm, yeah. Just trying to think. Yeah, you see this kind of little gang

of these guild lackeys kind of make their way... Assessing if we all just leave. If we're all just checking. Yeah, well, you see that, like, basically, they seem to go to a house. Like, they seem to both have houses on this street. And they have, like, windows that look on this street.

And they basically, they go in there, and you can see a light is lit. And, like, one of them one of them's watching the street. Because this is their job. And if anybody if they see anybody walk up they come out and they're like get back there. I'm here.

They literally have that. That's awesome. Are they British? Wait, no. Yeah, technically. I love a queue. Are they tutting? They no. Well, yeah, yeah, technically. Well, yeah. I'm going to love a Q. Yeah. Are they tutting? But they're definitely, like, they're kind of keeping an eye.

They're, like, looking out, like, what are they doing? Are they going? They should be. Why aren't they leaving? You know. You know, you see, like, one of them is, like, they've got one ready to, like, head off to the guild HQ and be like, oh, boss, they won't leave. They've taken our spot in the queue.

Me, me, me, me, me, me. Yeah, yeah. But they kind of leave you guys on the street until I talk so but as far as Rowan could tell they seemed pretty

on the up up and up with that deal yeah we don't really have a choice no I mean you do unless we you just beat them up

you just beat them up and like you know just be like right with my 19 health yeah considering what's already gone on and we don't want to cause any more upset between the guilds yeah i've had a bad evening we don't

really want to i think that's the thing the reality of gruff is he was ready to get fighting or getting like me or something like that but also he just realized i am so fucking tired like i just want to go to bed do Do you do a cat stretch? I do. A big stretch. A big yawn. You know when the cats yawn and, like, it's just, you can see all the teeth on the way back.

Fingers go out. Yeah. All right, everybody. We've done as much as we can. Let's go to bed and maybe a premonition or two. Just to make sure tomorrow's going to go okay maybe a premonition or two. Just to make sure tomorrow's going to go okay. Sure, of course. Just don't stay up all night with that machine.

I don't have enough coin otherwise. Ophelia, are you gonna stay here with Percival or are you gonna go back and sleep? I'm gonna stay. You're gonna stay? Yeah. Okay, all right, okay. I don't trust him.

All right. He's your boy. And he's my boy, I've got to be with my boy. Yeah. Well, you could take your boy back with you, if they're going to want to agree. Yes, they're going to want to agree. Sure, absolutely.

All right, so the three, so Rowan, Daisy, and Gruff are going to head back to the Clever Toad. Yeah. And Ophelia is just assuming that Ophelia's gone to the grumpy... Well, Ophelia doesn't leave with you, I'm assuming. You just stay in the street.

Like, bye, see you later, guys. Make sure you get some rest, Ophelia. Yes, with you, I'm assuming. You just stay in the street. Like, bye, see you later, guys. Make sure you get some rest, Ophelia. Yes, I will try. Great. I'll hold the spot in the queue. I will guarantee we get that spot. Okay. What?

Percival's doing that. I know, but I'm worried about him. I don't want him to come to any harm. Those guild members. We know what they're like. Rough and tumble and all that. Do you want me to stay? No, no, you go get some rest.

You've been carrying around Theresa all night. Your arms are probably very sore. She was very light. Probably very sore. It's fine, you get some rest. I will be here. Okay, I- be here. Okay. Maybe bring a bottle of wine.

All right, we'll do that. Sure. Sure. You can go to, the Grumpy Hog would still be open, you can pop in, it costs you, it would be, I'd say five gold for a bottle of wine, and then you can deposit it with Ophelia, and then make your way back to the Clever Toad. I'll throw the five gold for it. Sure.

All right. Please. It's on me. No, no, no. You're staying in the queue. It's fine. The wine is perfect. No, no.

Hands are in my pockets now. What is the reaction of the guilds to the fact that Ophelia's just camped out with a whole bottle of wine? They are gonna stay in their little rooms, but there's definitely they're like, you know, if we could see, you guys don't see this, but we would see it like

they better remember that we're first. It's kind of like, we're gonna be first. They can stay there but we're gonna be first tomorrow. Is there tutting as well? There's a bit of sort of like, what are they doing? Why is she still there? It's definitely a bit of that going on.

It's like being on my street. Curtain twitches. Neighborhood watch! Nosy neighbors. But yeah, you guys make your way back. When the three of you head back to the Clever Toad, you enter. Hello! Welcome!

As the chorus of the kobolds echoes out. There is something different about the bar tonight. It's empty. There is one, there's a couple of drinkers, but they're basically passed out. But this is the first time you've entered. There are only two or three kobolds working the bar.

Normally there's like five or six. It's quite quiet, it's quite late, and you see a quite bulky, hooded figure sat right by the door as you come in. And you hear a kind of deep, croaking voice. Are you guests? Do you have rooms here? Yes.

Where's your keys? Show me your keys. Oh. Oh. Show me your key! And you see just a faint reptilian-like scaled snout from underneath the hood. Oh, God, it's the one.

It's the big one! It's the one they don't let come out. It's the big boy! What was his name? We don't know his name. Oh god. Yeah, well, whoever has the key. Yeah.

The key. Let's see. Very good. You can come in. What was your name, sir? You wanna know my name? Yeah. The little hood kinda glances around, and he stands up, and he's short.

He's like a dwarf, but he's wide. He's like a dwarf proportions, but you can see he's a swole bold, you know? Swole bold! dwarf proportions, but you can see he's a swolebold, you know? A swolebold! You see these thick, corded muscles with draconic scales, and his colour matches the other Tariks. Oh, my God. And then he pulls the hood down,

and you see this kind of really burly, classic mercenary, right? Like, he's got scars down his face. One of his tooth is, like, he's got these two big protruding, like, fangs. One of them's been snapped off. His horn has been broken off and then reattached and looks like iron

plates have been, like, stamped in to hold it back in place. You can see that he's covered in weapons. He's got a pair of brass knuckles on one ginormous fist. He's got a big heavy like kosh.

And then it looks like he's got what looks almost like a whip as well on his back. He's covered in bits of armor, like scale mail that's been salvaged and cobbled together from bits of leather and bits of metal. It looks very rumshackle.

But his legs are a little bit too... He's definitely like a... Oh, he skipped leg day. He skipped leg day, right? He's got a big chunky tail, but his legs are a little bit too thin. He's all biceps and back and shoulders, you know? And he pulls the hoodiceps and back and shoulders, you know. And he, like, pulls the hood

back and he's like, Now, who's ever asked one? I'm Barrick Tarrick. Hi, Barrick. I'm Big Brother. Hello. And you see the other kobolds are just, you know, kind of like, you know, they're, like,

paying attention, but he's definitely the odd one out of the family. kind of like, you know, they're like paying attention, but he's definitely the odd one out of the family. He's like, I'm sorry if I scared you, but it's my job to look after the inn at night. It's my job to ask questions after nightfall. And you did a great job. Thank you. Wonderful.

I just need to see a key to know that you're staying here. No, I felt worried when you were questioning us. You've got nothing to worry about. As long as you're actually supposed to be here and you don't cause trouble, you don't have anything to worry about. Well, I'll sleep sounder for knowing that you're guarding the inn. Oh, thank you very much, thank you very much.

I'm a good soldier. You look it. Thank you, thank you. Very ferocious. Thank you very much. I try and, you know, I work out. LAUGHTER You know? And then Mama Taric makes sure I get all the best meat, because I'm big.

Very big. Not as big as him. No. He, like, points at Rowan. Do you want to arm wrestle? Yes, I do. I like arm wrestling. Which arm are you going to use wrestle? Yes, I do. I like arm wrestling. Which arm are you going to use? The brass knuckle? I'll take them off. That's very kind.

They're a bit stuck on. I'll do the other arm. They're wedged on. He's worn them for so long. It's like a ring. He can't get it off. He's like, I can't get them off. I'll tell you what. Let's like a ring. You can't get it off. He's like, I can't get more. I'll tell you what. Okay. Let's make this exciting. Honestly, it's already exciting. Whoever wins has to get the other one

a Clevertoad premonition. I love the Clevertoad. I love the Clevertoad. Are we best friends? I think we clever toad. I love the clever toad. Are we best friends? I think we're best friends. Brass knuckle. Yeah, he does it with a brass knuckle. Ow.

But no, he's got like a little table. Yeah. And you see he doesn't have a beer. He has like a little hot chocolate. It's still steaming. Marshmallows? No marshmallows. He has those little meat sticks that the other cobwebs make.

But there's like piles of empty sticks. Like there's like 20 empty sticks on his plate. But he sits down and he kind of like moves things away and he puts his big left hand, he's a strong lad. And he puts his, he's like, all right, we're still free. Of course. All right. It's just a straight athletics check. Yeah. Rowan. Fake dice, fake dice, fake dice. Oh of three. Of course. All right. It's just a straight athletics check.

Yeah. Rowan. Fake dice, fake dice, fake dice. Oh, I'm gonna fake dice. Yes. All right. Do you wanna add the, you got a d6 there? Got one here.

Nine. Nine? Is it that, that's your total? Total. 10, he does. So it's close though. It's like, he's like, I haven't warmed up properly, but you're good. But he kind of gets you down.

Mighty warrior. No, you're good. You've been battled many times. I've had a few fights. I was in the Duke's army for a while, but then my dad got sick and I came back to work here. Oh, you did the right thing. Thank you.

I like the army. They used to take me around, My dad got sick and I came back to work here. Oh, you did the right thing. Thank you. Yeah. I like the army. They used to take me around and sometimes when the bandits got in trouble, they'd send me in first. Barrack the Ball, they called me. Because I would go in and I'd break everything. Like a boulder. Yeah, yeah.

Barrack the Boulder. That's a good name. That's better than Barrack the Ball. Yeah. Iick the Boulder. Now that's a good name. That's better than Barrick the Ball. Yeah. I'll remember that. Alright, second round. I'm gonna spend a Fate Dice, because I've got loads.

Well, you best burn that then. Oh, burn it! Alright, so you're getting a d6 as well. Using all the Fate on a half-wrestle. 14. You are thrown. Oh, I'm sorry. You're Nat 20. Nat 20. Oh. 14. You are thrown. In that 20.

That 20. Oh my gosh. 28 I got. He literally is like, you go through a table, slide along the floor, and then he's immediately, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And he comes and he helps you get back on your feet.

Rowan gets up. I get too into me arm wrestling. And he does the standing up clap that gets faster and faster. No, you're not hurt, are you? No. That's good. I'm emboldened by power. Emboldened.

Emboldened. I owe you a grumpy, I owe you a grumpy I owe you a clever toad you won I owe you you owe me a clever toad a clever toad yeah

I give it my last bronze alright and then we both hobble over to the clever toad to get excited like kids don't you have a wasn't it best of three yeah

he won two rounds oh yeah he won two rounds. Oh, yeah. He won two rounds. Meh. Meh. All right, you clever toad it. Yes, please.

What does the toad say? The toad says... Toad. I've got a big day tomorrow. Prepare. Is this for him, or is it for Barak? It's for Barak. This is for Barak. Because you pay for Barak, yeah. Prepare. Is this for him or is it for Barak? It's for Barak. This is for Barak. Because you paid for Barak, yeah.

Prepare for a great surprise in the shadow of destiny beneath the moon. Tomorrow. Do you understand what this means? I'm going to be honest, no. I don't have a clue. Wait. Best friend, what's your name? I'm Rowan.

I'm Barak. It's a pleasure to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet you. The Balder. The Balder. Yeah. And he, like, looks over and he's like, Winnick, I'm the Boulder now. Barrick the Boulder.

I thought you was Barrick the Bull in the army. I was, but my best friend just came up with a better name. I'm Barrick the Boulder now. Oh, all right. Doesn't it suit him? Yeah, yeah. You can see, you don't need an inside check this, every other kobold of the Taric family is terrified of Barrick.

Oh. Like, they're just like, whatever Beric wants, yes. Beric it. It's just like, yeah, brilliant name, bro, bro, yeah, great name, yeah, brilliant. We'll tell the rest of them. Siblings love you. They do. They're great.

I love them. Oh. Well, it's been a long day. Yeah. I've got to go back to my stool. I've got to go get some sleep. Meeting the Duke tomorrow. Oh, you sleep at night.

I sleep in the day. That's amazing. That means we're both awake at all times. This is a meeting of minds. Gruff's gone to bed a long time ago. Gruff just left the whole space of the room. The kids tire themselves out.

But yeah, you make your way back and fall into a pleasant slumber. At least, certainly Rowan and Gruff, you are... What would be a good dream for Rowan? What would be a good dream for Rowan? What would a good dream be for Rowan?

It would be Rowan gently floating, because flying's a good sign, just over some grass and some moss, just over a lake. I get very strong Studio Ghibli, like you're just gently floating across that grass. That wind is sweet. Taking in the wind and the sounds and the smells of nature. Nice. And that's what you dream. What does a

good dream look like for Gruff? Oh, it's, you know, he's on the sea, you know, the shallows and Iceheart. It's just that pre-dawn as the sun's starting to come up. He's got his bird Serenoneira with him and he's just, you know, just catching that first current and he's just seeing that first glimmer of, you know, a him, and he's just, you know, just catching that first current,

and he's just seeing that first glimmer of, you know, a silverfish, and it's just, yeah, enjoying the clean air and watching the sunrise. Yeah, that crisp, clean, ice-hot air, basically. Nothing like it. Amazing. Daisy. Hello. You didn't get a blessing. No, I didn't want one.

You don't get a nice dream. Oh, okay. Cool. Daisy can dream. You've had dreams before. But you also, and it's not happened often, but sometimes when you go to sleep, when you were younger, you used to think they were dreams.

And then as you've kind of gotten older and you've gotten to know Nym, you've come to understand that they're not dreams, they're memories. A few times when yours and Nym's kind of essences really merge. Because the dreams are always from Nym's perspective. And with all this talk of planes and battles and everything else, this night is one such night.

You are not in your body. You are in the body of a humanoid figure clad in light armour that is a mixture of a pale white leather and a golden crystal-like substance.

Different pieces of it. Very Horizon Zero Dawn, but a bit more kind of put together. Almost a bit Roman legionnaire as well. A skirt rather than like plate trousers, you know tunic a helmet braces you carry a bow and you know you have a gladius at your side and you and your squadron of other celestial beings all with this luminous blue skin glowing eyes sometimes golden light, sometimes white light, sometimes silver, but all with that same bluey-hued, sometimes pink, but very rarely, figures as you are scouting out a kind of mountainous region.

And once this mountain would have been golden and crimson in colour, with the soft pinks mixed in between it, almost like sunset captured in the earth. And the white clouds would have once filled the peaks, but now these mountains have been covered in a sort of black grime, and dark clouds plume from camps that you can see nestled between the mountains, where you can hear the raucous din of demons and fiends.

You can smell the putrid, sulfuric air of their war machines. And Nim and her squadron sneak their way all the way into the camp. You pass racks, kind of crudely put together racks made of bone and sinew. And on these racks are hellish firearms, like rifles and muskets and machine guns, but made of, like, hell metal and hell fire, shaped with their barrels like screaming demon maws.

Racks of these weapons ready to be grabbed by the infantry. But Nim sneaks into this camp, makes her way into the disgusting tents that are made of demonic flesh stretched over bone. And Nim, quite brutally, pulls out that gladius and goes from sleeping demon to sleeping demon and drags the blade across their neck, plunges it into their hearts. And until the moment that her squad is

discovered tries to kill as many of these things as she can until eventually she's caught a retreat is feigned and then suddenly you are running back through those mountains slipping on the grime that thick sludge like fog residue firing bow shots of locks and arrows back into these demonic fiends explosions and demonic shells go flying past as you and your squad retreat back to hide ready to ambush another day and that is the memory that you have instead of a dream Yay! Ophelia. Hello. You stand out in the street.

It is spring, so it's not particularly cold, but it's not warm. Not that it would really bother you. The cold here is nothing compared to the cold of Osseous. But it's just you and Percival on an empty street. You know that these guild members are watching you from the windows, but they certainly probably can't hear you. What do you do? Ophelia just sits down on the ground. Mm-hmm.

Percival, Percival, take a seat, my dear. Have us, have us, take a look. You've been standing all day. Sits down. Bless you, bless your bones, I suppose. Percival, it's been a weird day. Bless you. Bless your... bones, I suppose. Ah! Percival, it's been a weird day. It's been a very weird day.

Hmm. Yes. He just looks at you. I've spoken to people who think they've shown me the truth of what lies beyond, and... frankly, I think they've shown me the truth of what lies beyond. And, frankly, I think they're liars. I think they're liars trying to poison my mind. But... OK, OK, so here's what I've been told, OK?

Not if this sounds familiar. I... They showed me a grey land with nothing. Grey sand, a lake that doesn't ripple, a dark sky, endless, endless undead, gleaming, beautiful undead.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Skeleton does not nod. Good. Does Ophelia have any symbols of the Gravefather, like a necklace or a holy symbol or a maharama or? On her whip, she has a silver plaque with an engraving in Ossian that says,

flesh for the mortal, blood for the eternal, in Ossian, just on her whip handle. It's like a holy thing, isn't it? It represents the faith of the grave father and everything else. Yes. You know Percival is not... Well well whether or not Ophelia knows this but like Percival doesn't act on its own sort of intelligence it follows orders it does what you tell it to and when you

don't tell it what to do it follows the orders it was given a long time ago it's very rare that Percival does something that you haven't told Percival to do or that would be expected for it to generally do to look after itself. But as you say this, and I'm guessing at this point there's definitely some feelings of uncertainty in Ophelia. Even if she doesn't want it to be there, there is that feeling, right? Percival's little bony hand comes out of his robes, and it just touches the plaque on the whip. Tap, tap, tap. And then the hand retreats back in. Yes, my faith is always with me.

I use it to smite the dishonest and bring justice to those that seek to stop me in my quest. I will not be swayed. I admit my judgement has been lax of late and I've been questioning my faith, but who is it for strangers to tell me what I should believe and show me these false images of futures that have not been decided for me. I know my future and I know my place. This is proof enough. Thank you, Percival. You are a wise friend. I'm glad to have your company. She says nothing, just stares. She would just open the bottle and take a sip and just lay on the ground of her back,

just looking up at the stars and just... Given the day she's had, would Ophelia fall asleep? Do you want to make a constitution saving throw to see if you can physically stay awake all night? Health is really low. Yeah. So let's make it a constitution saving throw. I'll say DC...

I'll say DC 12 to just kind of keep yourself awake. Eight. Eight. So you try your best to stay awake as much as you can. You know that you've got an important job, you want to look after Percival. But you lie down, and staring up into the night sky of Orthea, you can see stars twinkling up ahead, and you feel your eyes close, you force them open.

You take some more swigs of wine, but as the alcohol begins to hit your system, and you feel your eyes close, you force them open. You take some more swigs of wine, but as the alcohol begins to hit your system, there's just... And you can almost hear a voice. Sleep. Sleep. Daughter, sleep. Your eyes.

And the voice turns feminine and it almost sounds like the baroness. Sleep, child, sleep. Eventually your eyes flutter closed. You also dream. You stand before a throne so large, stand before a throne so large, like a great monument carved from not stone but bone. Skulls upon skulls upon skulls, the armrests carved from some giant being or beast long since dead, and a figure sits within that throne. Dressed like a warrior king of old, black tattered fabric covered in dust and the wear of ages.

Bones protruding, legs, feet garbed in anklets and jewellery. Around the waist, a great belt. You see a great form underneath, a kind of rotted and faded away great surcoat that once would have been so bright and beautiful, but is now dull gray and black, with just the faded elements of red and green in color. Armor, rusted and pitted, but still impressive and decorative in its construction,

and great skeletal hands grip the armrests. And it all culminates in a great skull face, upon which rests a great crown, black and twisted iron. And in the eye sockets of the skull blaze two pinpricks of red light. And you have seen this figure all throughout your life, displayed on altars, on plaques. This is the Great Father. Child, child, child. His voice seems to change

until it finds one that it likes. Child. Child. I see you. I hear you. You have been shown I hear you. You have been shown life. My great lord, I knew it. I knew I had. I knew I could trust in my faith and you.

You. The figure stands up and takes a step and as it, it almost seems to shrink down to your size. Still tall, like seven feet tall, flesh seems to come back to the arms, creating like this dark-skinned but muscular figure, but the face stays a skull. You see this kind of rippling warrior kind of underneath. My child, you are chosen.

And reaches out a hand. I shall show you what is unseen. Ophelia takes it gladly. Takes it, and the scenario around you, this has all been in a black void, just this throne, and then the atmosphere around you changes and shifts to that dusty gray plane that you did see in Blackwing's vision, and it almost races at too fast a speed, as if you were running across it at great velocity and you see the broken cigarettes and you see the crumbling necroposes and the still

legs but then it's like running as the planet begins to turn and the horizon draws closer you find yourself in the most beautiful city. Old, cold stone, but it is beautiful in its design, and it is filled with undead. But for the first time, you see creatures very much like the Baroness. You see vampiric lords and ladies painting, crafting, dancing, sword fighting. You see spectral wraiths come and go. You see figures wrapped in runic bandages, weaving great spells. Not all is dust. Not for my chosen. It's beautiful.

Life is dull. Death eternal. These. And he gestures to the vampires and the specters and all these other different undead. They have been chosen. When I call for them, they shall lead to the legion. But why waste my time?

I call them when they are needed. I need no tactics. I need no armaments. Time will take from my foes everything. So I allow them their joy, their life, their passion, their ambition, their lust for power. When the time comes, they return to me. Do not be led astray you do great work daughter of Ossius thank you my lord, thank you how can I be of better service to you build me a shrine bring me new flock. Teach them as you know the truth to be.

I will, I will your lord, thank you. She's like crying, thank you. He like takes your hand, like lifts it up like his skeletal hands on like the tears. And then you feel like the fingers begin to like dig into your eyes drawing blood that mixes with the tears they're much better and pulls away and that's when you wake oh my god yes and that is where we're gonna end today's episode I think I want to convert fuck the science Trot's like I don't want any of this daddy Skeletor

listen I know who's playing this character and I I know what this player likes alright it's like listen when you've got somebody who's got a Skeletor shrine

you put a dash of Skeletor in there anyway that is going to be it for today's episode. Thank you so much for joining us. We will hopefully have Tommy Wombus back next week, and I think we will be jumping straight back in with you guys finally meeting with Duke Ignarius.

It is written, yes. Lots of setup, nice bit of chat, nice bit of lore. Hell yeah. That's it for this week. Thank you guys so much for joining us. We will see you next time for Hyrule's Arise. Bye-bye! I'll see you!

I'll see you!