High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #17 | Illuminating Truths (Part 1)

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

Rowan and Xantheus are stricken with a terrible curse and must find a way to cure it! ANNOUNCEMENTS: HIGH ROLLERS LIVE in LONDON! We're hosting our first ever High Rollers show in the Adelphi Theatre in London on the 17th September 2024! Tickets live now: https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/high-rollers-presale/ Love the podcast? Give us a glittering 5 star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/high-rollers-dnd/id1401508198?see-all=reviews --------- 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. It's time for High Rollers. I didn't want to do more of the Avengers theme in case we hit copyright. Okay.

Hey. Hi. High Rollers. I didn't want to do more of the Avengers theme in case we hit copyright. Oh, right, right. Okay, okay. Hey! Hi. High Rollers live tour! Kind of the first one. It's not a tour. It's not a tour. It's like the preliminary tour. It's one show.

You need two shows to make it a tour. One show. It's one show. So we need your help. We need your help to make it more. It will be a tour. What if, maybe, one day, you know, we can say it's like a special preliminary tour

of one show only. Just say it's a show. One night only tour. One show. General Sale is now open and is going at a steady rate, but it is now available. You can literally go to the link. I'm sure there will be one in chat that goes right there to find tickets.

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at the London Adelphi Theatre. West End. In the West End. It's right by Charing Cross. We've already seen a huge amount of the High Rollers community are arranging meetups. Everyone's making really exciting plans.

We've got some people coming in costume. It's going to be a really, really fun time. It is going to be a set in Ulthea with the current campaign characters and all of that good stuff as well. And there will be more information coming. Get them ASAP. Yeah, love to see you.

Make sure you come and check it out. Like I said, the best way is if you can come and see it, come and see it live. But yeah, we will hopefully try and get it up on YouTube. ASAP. It depends on a lot of things. It might not be up right away, but we'll try and get it up. Nothing beats being there live, though, does it, mate? Nothing beats being there live, Chris Trott.

You're quite right. I'm going to not shout. The majesty of the theater. You cannot compare to the majesty of the theater. I love the German language. With that delightful comment, we are going to play the intro and we're going to crack on with today's episode of High Rollers. Hell yeah, give me my D20s back.

Let's go. Welcome back to Althea, the Dragon Empire. Our heroes were rewarded with the deed to a large building and its surrounding land in the town of Ashen Rest. However, they quickly learned that this abandoned building had its own mystery. A spirit called the Scarred Lady haunted the building. After investigating the nature of spirits and the history of the former inn, the party decided to try and confront this spirit at night. During this investigation, Ophelia was possessed by the spirit and a battle ensued. As the spirit learned more of Ophelia's abilities and powers,

the rest of the party attempted to calm her down or reach Ophelia's mind. But fueled by Ophelia's mystical blood rage, the spirit was in full control and lashed out, severely injuring some of the heroes, as well as unleashing haunting screams that cast a dark shadow over the minds of Xanthius and Rowan. Meanwhile, Ophelia battled against this possession within her own mind. Struggling to regain memories and assert herself, she eventually managed to calm the spirit and convince her to return to her body and let them

help her get justice. With the battle over, the party slept to recover. However, the uncomfortable conditions of the broken inn and haunting dreams left some of the heroes in better condition than the others. In the morning, Xanthius and Rowan checked the Broken Everlight outside of the Inn and discovered it contained a prototype of the strange device that had been used in

another streetlight and caused energy from a fiendish planar realm to enter the material world and possess the living. And that was pretty much where we left things off last week. Yeah. With Xanthius and Rowan making the discovery of the sort of prototype disc in the Everlight outside. It's like a four-year-old thing, this one.

About four years old, yeah. Okay. It looks very much the same. You deduced that it had the same purpose, but it was perhaps too strong. Like it hadn't been designed properly. It was maybe too strong or was not quite completed. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And that is where we left things off, I believe. It is a brand new day. Forgive me. Let me see what the weather is like. Okay. Oh, the crucible of fate. Is that changed by seasons? It is.

It is. I have tables for seasons. Okay. It is a pretty bright, no, you know, there's not a strong breeze. There's no, like, strong wind or anything like that. It is a spring morning, so it's not warm, but it is dry. Maybe a bit overcast, but no wind or rain or anything like that. Cardigan weather.

Yeah, indeed. And indeed, Crucible of Fate time. I need everyone to roll a d6. Let us generate the pool. There's no way we're going to get as lucky as last time. Can I use a Genesis dice? No. I don't know why you have them here.

We had a full six last time. Nope. All right, so that is a... What have we got, Katie? A two, that is a dice for me. A two, a dice for you. A two, a dice for me. One.

A dice for me. Oh, no. A three, a dice for you. A dice for me! Wow. Is it going to be the exact opposite of last week? Let's find out. A two!

A dice for me! Do we have to do Ophelios? No, it's only when people are here. Fate really swings, doesn't it? It's now five and zero. Fate is against us. And as a reminder, like, you know, you guys, we have different uses of these. Most of the time they're used to bolster things like ability checks.

I can use them to bolster ability checks and damage rolls and things like that as well. Can also spend them to create complications or add things into scenes and stuff like that. I imagine that that might get handed. Cool, sure wish we could spend some. Wish you could. Well, maybe I'll spend some and then you can have some.

Oh, hopefully. Well, actually kind of. Yeah, maybe. So my question is, we currently have you all, I believe Xanthias and Rowan, you'd gone out, you'd got this disc, you'd come back in to show the others, basically. You got coffee and cakes. I believe that's right.

You did because you inquired at how long ago everything had happened. Yes, when the Everlight was broken. Yes. We just keep going back to the spot. You had discovered that it had been broken before. The lamplighters had come along, repaired it. Yep. Around the time that...

Of that repair. Is when Kavon had gone, you know, left the inn, and then shortly after that was when the spiriting, the haunting began. So Rowan's working theory is the repair is when they put the tampered device in. Yeah. That made Kavan all naughty and negative.

And got bad and stabby, stab, stab. His wife. And. Sad. Skedaddled out of there. The presence of the ghost is still. They are still present in the inn. You have basically calmed Tyria's spirit for some time.

For now, yes. And even the spirit herself made it clear that she grows unstable. This is like being four years as this undead spirit, wracked by pain, wracked by the torment of what she went through, it is probably likely that she will relapse into that unstable, kind of angry spirit mentality. But you have bought some time. A couple of other things.

We did also make it very clear that to fully kind of free her spirit, you will need to, you know, basically find a way to put her spirit to rest. That might be you don't know what's involved with that. But I did say that... Again, we've got work and theories. Work and theories. But if you do manage to do that, that will count as a level up. That is a quest, and if you complete it, your reward will be a level up. Okay.

And you will also then be able to build and use this building to your heart's content without any worries about this spirit. Like, you will be free to do as you wish. Okay. Yeah. I mean, working theory for that is get Kavon back, find where he is,

because I guess if he was being manipulated by the lanterns or the lights, how do we approach that? That's a great question. Yeah. But was it you? I think what happens afterwards. We've seen kind of what that looks like with the halfling lamplighter. T.

Yeah. Well, we've seen a version of it, you know, with the demon manifesting and taking control. Obviously, I'm probably not exactly the same because I feel like if that was the case, everyone would be talking about the big demon following him around. Yeah. Well, I think you did also discover that the light that you had gone to repair with Teresa

that caused your initial awareness of all this, I think when you took it to see Blackwing, Blackwing reported that it was broken or was somehow non-fucked. Something had gone wrong with it. It wasn't meant to do what it did. That was a with it. Like it wasn't meant to do what it did. That was a new version. No, it was meant to do what it did,

but it did it in the wrong way kind of thing. It was a malfunction. I mean, it could have been a shapeshifter. Like it could have been some kind of doppelganger shapeshifter that took the place of Kevon or something like that. Could easily be. So I feel like we have several things in play. We could find out what actually happened to Kevon

because we don't know that he actually went to Kael's car. No, that's just what people say. Yeah, let's break it down a minute and let's actually have this conversation in character as well because obviously this is a conversation. Well, I think we would be delicate, or at least Samtius would be attempting to be delicate. If the ghost is still lingering within the place,

I don't want to say, oh, we need to go find Kevon and Kevon might have been manipulated by the lanterns, and that's why he murdered this person. Like, it would be not quite what I want the ghost to hear, so if anything, I would leave the tavern to have a chat

like this, but yeah. We could have a little garden tea party. Is the garden safe? Yeah, the last time we were in the garden, it attacked you and almost bled you out. Because someone walked through the garden to Ophelia, and they were fine. They weren't hit by the vines.

Ophelia, in the morning, Ophelia went out to the sort of, like, little shed building, the outbuilding. Yeah, and she wasn't attacked by anything. She slept there. Yeah. It was a scarred lady that was doing all that. Certainly the presence, yeah. That's what I mean. What's the range of a scarred lady that was doing all that. Certainly the presence, yeah. That's what I mean.

What's the range of the scarred lady? She's able to break the lantern outside as well. That's true. Let's go back to the coffee shop is what I'm saying. The only business in the nearby area that is okay. We could find another establishment. Yeah? Let's walk around the area.

If you wanted an actual full meal, you could head back to the Grumpy Hog, which is in the centre of the main plaza and things like that. Gruff was prepping all that fish that you caught last time, and so probably would be grilling it and cooking it up as well. Yeah.

Where are you grilling it? Save some money on food. We had a long rest yesterday. Well, you guys had a long rest. We didn't recover any. I feel like that's something we should look at. We'll get to that in a bit. I feel like that's kind of important.

Yeah, because we were hit by some kind of haunting that lowered our wisdom and con by one. And it's not gone back. And it hasn't come back, and we didn't recover HP in the long rest. Nope. But, yeah, we'll see. Yeah, and the way to think of that is that you both remember

these terrifying nightmares that you had during the night. It's why you couldn't sleep. You didn't feel rested from it. Those nightmares showing you horrific versions of yourselves, playing on your fears. But even now, when you wake up, like, in the sort of broken, abandoned inn that you currently are in, the shadows in the corner, you, like, glance at them

and they almost seem to, like, twist and, like, almost seem to have that droning kind of call to you. You're way Percival. Yeah, there's, you definitely find that your minds are still unsettled this morning. Then Rowan would encourage the group to maybe leave the house, and then we can discuss our next plans.

Maybe we just need to take a walk, get some fresh air, maybe we'll feel better. Um, Xanthius. Yes. Do you feel... Oh, I feel awful, frankly. Foggy, just, bleary. Really, really bad.

I feel... Yeah, I mean, I've not felt great in a while, but this is... Oh, this is up there. I mean, what do you... If you're feeling the same, do you think it's to do with the ghost? Do you feel... Groff's not hearing this bit it's to do with the ghost? Do you feel?

Groff's not hearing this, but he's in the kitchen cooking. Do you feel? As I'm handing cake over. Daisy's already had, like, two pastries and a cup of coffee, so she's just like, I'm fine! I feel sick! No, no, no, no. She's just jittery. Bouncing off the walls.

Sugar rush and caffeine. It was a haunting experience to be in that house, and I think it's left a bit of a deep scar for me. Well, that's why I'm thinking let's get some fresh air, get a walk, get a good meal, just rest, relax, talk about what we need to do next. I can go for a walk, let's go for a walk. Should we go all the way around the town?

Should we explore something that we haven't explored before? Not all the way around the town, no. We've got all day. We can take our time. Let's find where Gruffydd is with the fish. I hear banging, like there is the smell of cooking fish in the back.

The kitchen of the Enticing Devil that you're currently in, obviously is no longer functional because it's broken, but there is a fireplace with a chimney that looks like the smoke. you've like set a little fire going you're like campfire cooking but in this abandoned house yeah pretty much that so you're like looking at like these roasted um grilled grilled sorry yeah grilled uh like ruby ruby fish basically that were caught yesterday someone suggested surely that they're called red herrings. Herring is a sea fish

I believe. But it could be a red trout, you know, something like that. Beautifully scaled, kind of like pink, almost like salmon pink, but it's a different type of fish. But yeah, kind of roasted on sticks, like you've got, this is like

campfire cooking, yeah, basically. Are you imagining the Tears of the Kingdom cooking music? Dun dun dun dun dun! That's very Pokemon. Same thing in it. You're done now. Boop boop boop!

We don't need to do it. Tom does. But yeah, you guys can find Gruff no problem. You are not skilled in cooking, are you, Gruff? You don't have proficiency in cook's utensils or anything like that? That's what he does, though. No, you can't do...

You can... Well, no, you catch fish. Yeah, I catch... No, I mean, like, in role play. In role play, yes. Not reflect on a sheet, but... So that means if you could just roll with intelligence for me, please. I just imagine it's just, you know, pretty basic.

Yeah. It's good for him. I don't give a crap what you kids think. 18. I don't care about my sheet. I don't care about stats. I'm really strong. Minus one, 17.

17. Actually, a surprisingly good, decent-ish meal. The fish is... Well, well no it's good at 17 like um the fish is cooked to perfection it's nice and flaky the inside are nice and soft um a little bit of whatever seasoning you can probably not much you probably have like a little bit of salt in like a pouch or something like that that you sprinkled on it um but enough to count as a uh what i would call a kind of hearty meal. So you guys do get to all have four temporary hit points.

That you start the day with. Any hit points you had from yesterday you would obviously lose, and then you would start today with four temporary hit points. And that does still... Are we... Are we good yet? Are we good? No. You've got four temporary hit points. I don't think a good fish meal is going to fix this.

No, not this. I just mean, like, the haunting and the, you know, I just feel. It's not a curse-lifting fish, is it? Yeah. I don't think it's a curse. The magical grilled it. I think we just need to go for a walk and. Got it, grilled it.

Just have a glass of water. Just dehydrate it. Yeah. Maybe. Could be. Just eat some magnesium. Guys, will you drain your water skins, Antheus? Still feel bad.

God damn, what is this? It's a cold. Have we got a cold? I can tell you this, I am not going to a doctor. We talk about all these grand adventures, you never talk about someone just like... I mean, yeah, you did have Crumble Belly in the last one. I feel that if you are going to

Ulfea is the campaign where it's more likely I wish you guys were a little bit more superheroes kind of thing in this like if you go wading around in like filth

and like with cuts and things on it I'm gonna have you roll like checks to see if you catch diseases and stuff like you know absolutely

I'm not going full like gritty Warhammer fantasy kind of level of things you just die at your old age could be could be you get magically aged enough maybe I will I'm not going full gritty Warhammer Fantasy kind of level of things. Just dies for old age. Could be. Could be. You get magically aged enough, maybe I will.

But yeah. So definitely going to be more things like that. And in fact, yeah, very much out of game knowledge, whatever is affecting Xanthius and Rowan is definitely not just. Is it noticeable physically for other people? Not right now. I would say they can see that you're tired. they can see that you're a bit worn down. Yeah.

But maybe if this progresses or if it gets worse, if it does, you don't know. You don't know anything at this point. I'm playing it up. Is it obvious for Xanthius that it's not? You are both aware that something is not right. Okay. Are you being melodramatic about it?

Well, yeah, it's just like man flu. Like, you know when I Oh, I feel so bad. This is the worst I've felt ever. I mean, keep in mind that like, if it was just you didn't get any hit points from long resting, that would be one thing. The

reduction of your con and wisdom, like, you would notice that, and that reflects both a kind of detriment to your physical health, your con, but wisdom is also your mental health. This, like, you would notice that, and that reflects both a kind of detriment to your physical health, your con, but wisdom is also your mental health. This is like, like I said, like, shadows are kind of, like, out the corner of your eye. Did something just move in that shadow? You've kind of got that stuff going on, right?

This has put my perception down to seven. Yeah. So, like, not perception, my wisdom, sorry. What did I say? Anyway, so I'm feeling real bad. Yeah. So I would say that you are both aware that something about that encounter

is definitely stuck with you. You can interpret that however you like as characters. That's your choice as role players. But yeah, the sun is, you can hear the bustling sounds of ash and rest begin to kind of make its way. You finish eating your lovely grilled fish sticks. And yeah, it's about...

Wonderful breakfast. This is perfectly cooked. I've always said you've got to start a day with a good breakfast. None of this sugary stuff that you guys seem to be eating. I don't know what you're talking about! It's like... Case in point. We just needed a good kickstart, I thought.

I thought it would help. I thought the sugar might help, but I still feel dreadful. It doesn't, it just, when we're at our rights really. You both are looking a bit pale. Sleep well? Not, no, frankly, no. I don't know if it's the tavern or. Did you have nightmares?

I had nightmares. I did, yes. Oh, I dreamt of home. Come here, Xanthias, let me feel your forehead. Okay, go ahead, I mean, it might feel Come here, Xanthius. Let me feel your forehead. Okay, go ahead. I mean, it might feel warm anyway. Warmer than normal? I would say it feels colder than usual. Oh, it's not human level, is it?

Wait, I'm feeling a bit clammy. Clammy? That won't do. That simply won't do. Sticky. Sticky? Well, I'm going to go wash my face then. It's about 9am, for your reference.

Generally in Ashen Rest, people don't tend to have, like only very wealthy people would have private bathrooms or inns would have private bathrooms. Most people would go and use the House of the Rose and use the baths there as their day-to-day bathing and getting themselves clean and stuff like that. I'm all about your forehead. Let me reach.

Okay. Same thing. Probably would feel a little cold to the touch. Like chilled. You don't have a control, though. You didn't feel my forehead in the past. This is the first time you've ever done that. I almost put my back out reaching out that high.

It's the same temperature as my hand. Oh, okay, great. Well, that's useless to us, actually. Yes. Science is out. Well, I mean, if we wanna just explore the city, we need to talk about what we need to do next anyway, I suppose. What are our priorities?

I think it would be a good idea to find, and he has a quick look around at the walls, find the other person involved in this. Yes. Shall we? Let's go take a walk and we can walk and talk. Maybe. Ophelia, who is present, is just going to say,

I think I will remain here because if anybody, just in case anyone comes along, we don't want them upsetting Tyria. So I will keep things secured here for today. Now, Ophelia. Yes, Rowan? That little building next to the Enticing Devil. Yes? Are you going to spend most of your time there?

Well, I think once you all leave, I will probably come and spend time in here. Perhaps Percival and I can begin clearing things up. Well, Percival can clear things away. Are you making a little ritual? Shrine? Well, that, I think, is something we need to discuss at a later date, but certainly it would be a perfect space

for me to set up for my own uses, but we can discuss that later. I'm wanting to. Rhiannon, I'm not making decisions for Rhiannon, but... Well, if anything happens here, then do send for us. We'll come back as soon as you need us. Yes, of course. But no, I think

at least, certainly for today, Tyria seemed... I mean, Daisy and I spoke with her, and it seemed that she is more at peace, at least, for the time being. I think that she will be fine for at least a day, but... Well, if anyone's going to keep an eye on her, best it's you. I think that she will be fine for at least a day, but. Well, if anyone's gonna keep an eye on her, best it's you. I think it best it be me, yes.

Okay. And honestly, Percival is kind of unnerving me at the moment. I heard him shuffling through the hallways through the night. Just the shadows. I guess he would've stayed with Ophelia, right? Sometimes, you know, where he doesn't need to sleep, so he might have been clearing up

while Ophelia was sleeping. Yeah, he opened my door very, very slowly last night. He's a constant jump scare for Rowan right now. Okay, well let's head out and talk about what we need to do next. If you could, whilst you're out, if you could acquire some tools, things like a hammer, nails, I could always have Percival start to repair some of those. I thought you were going to do it. Can you imagine?

Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Yes, picking up some tools. If that's what he needs. Well, just anything. Like, right now, there's not much we can do with things here, but if we got some tools, he might be able to do some things whilst we're...

Maybe we can go talk to the guilds. Can you imagine? No one gets that one. So, that's my way of making sure that I don't have to worry about Ophelia for the rest of today. But yeah, you guys are free to head out. Where are you heading?

Are you just wandering? We are. Let's just head north. I'd like to find another place in this vicinity that's a nice sit down place. Just an alternative to a latte fun. I was gonna suggest we actually go back to the baths. Yeah.

We could go back to the baths. You two boyos look like you could do with a treat. A treat? Do we have actually- A little bit of relaxing. No. Do we have the money for a treat right now? We're a little bit tight on funds.

It's not very expensive to do the baths. That's true. It's not too much. You're looking miserable as sin, so let's go. It does sound nice. Thank you. Let's go there and take some. Take stock of what we have. Have a bath.

Exfoliate. They can re-braid your hair. Oh yes. It did look great. You make me look very pretty again. It has been three days. I am due for a haircut. That's things I do for you. All right.

Your reference image with you. Got my reference. It's about 9 a.m. You begin making your way heading into the Heart's Way, which is kind of the core of Ashen Rest. It's where most of the shops, most of the shrines, and things like that are located. You make your way out to the great plaza and you can see that there is um it's probably a little bit late the queues are just dying off at

the baths like most people would have come a bit earlier to have their like morning routine there's still a few people it's still quite busy um but you make your way inside um and you see the familiar uh features of the two rabbit wild hearts, Reverend Mother Aurella and Reverend Father Danderly, as they are conducting services. Aurella is actually doing like a courtier's makeup, like she's helping apply a bunch of makeup to a dwarven lady who looks like she's maybe going about important business today.

But she gently waves and kind of gestures you in. Danderly approaches you and he's like, Oh, hello, welcome again. Hello. Are you looking to use the baths this morning? Oh, we would love the bath, actually, yes. A nice, relaxing bath. We do, I mean, you've helped us before,

so we're more than happy to let you use the baths. If you'd like any other services, we might ask you for a donation today, but the baths you're more than welcome to use. Thank you, Father. Yes, of course. Help yourself down. He does kind of look a little bit curiously at Rowan and Xanthius, but he just doesn't, he's just like,

if I do say, you look a bit run down, gentlemen. Have you been sleeping well? It's very important. I had nightmares. You might be aware, after we last saw you, we did in fact go visit the Duke, and he granted us generously the enticing devil tavern. The eyes kind of go wide. My goodness, that cursed place.

Oh, yes. We're dealing with that curse. Stayed the night there. I've heard awful things. I've heard that there is a spirit, and it's, well, it's supposedly the people that were there before were devil worshippers and things like that. It's all true.

Well, maybe not all of it. The haunting, certainly. We had to deal with that ourselves, and since then we've not been feeling ourselves. Really? What do you mean? Just sort of feeling unwell, unnerved? Oh! Sorry, I thought a shadow was a face. Really? What do you mean? Just sort of feeling unwell, unnerved? Oh

Sorry, I thought a shadow was a face Oh dear Just off In all ways, off Frankly Like the shadows are coming out to get us And he looks towards you and you gruff Daisy He's like

You two, have you felt the same way since this encounter? I'm fine. I'm in fine fettle. I've had way too much coffee. These two, though, these boyos, they had a bit more contact with the ghost lady than we did. You see him grow concerned. Dandily's normally quite a sort of very jolly and sort of happy-go-lucky,

quite frivolous individual, and he kind of grows a little bit concerned. He's like, well, I'm not quite the... I'm not as connected with divine magic as my sister is, but I've studied and I know a few things. And, you know, encounters with creatures such as Undead or the Plains or Vaultspawn, they have a nasty way of leaving lingering malignant auras,

things that can be quite dangerous. If you'd like, I could examine you to see if there is anything... What would that involve? Just some simple spellcasting and some rituals. It will take a little bit of time, but... Yes, I'll happily make a donation for that. No, no, just for the checking. There's no need for that.

You know, part of being a priest of St Typhine is we care very much like the Church of the Sirens. We care about your souls and we care about your spiritual well-being as well as your physical. You know, especially here in the House of the Rose, we care for one's appearance. Such a noble cause. That's very sweet of you. Very sweet of especially here in the House of the Roads, we care for one's appearance. Such a noble cause!

That's very sweet of you, very sweet of you, Ralph. If you think it necessary, then I can't see why not. Yes, well, come with me then. Let us, before you go into the baths, let me take you to one of the, one of our sort of chambers where we perform sort of rituals and things like that. Can I ask what kind of spell casting we're talking about here?

Well, it will be to detect if there are any powerful auras of magic or sources of magic within you or around you. Anything that is lingering or connected to your soul. You know what, I believe whatever Rowan has is...

That sounds good for both of us. Certainly what I will have. I think I just require a bath for now. But if you identify anything with Rowan, then please let me know. Of course, yeah. Hopefully the bath will be just enough for me. All right, well, I can only do one at a time anyway, so perhaps go and enjoy your bath with the others.

And Rowan, if you come with me, we can investigate. Sure. And you are left alone. How do you keep going away with this? If you come with me, we can investigate. Sure. And you are left alone. Yeah, you guys... How did you keep going away with this? It's very reasonable. There's no reason for anyone to think that he's got anything more suspicious going on, right?

I mean, Gruff is staring at you. Sure, that's a Gruff problem. Having seen the hands and all that, Gruff is like... All right. Well, in fact, I'll leave that as Gruff, Daisy and Xanthias make your way down into the public baths. This time, because the last time you guys were here,

you kind of had them to yourself. In this case, it's kind of like going to a public spa. There are people always around you, right? They're mostly keeping to themselves. If you've ever been to... Obviously, none of you guys... Well, Kim might have been to an onsen in Japan. It's very public, so you just go in.

People are just chilling. People are very, some people are naked, some people aren't. Some people have like coverings over them. But it's very public. Like it's not like a little private, you can have a quiet conversation in, right? Groff is naked. Sure.

Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. But what I'm saying is that if you wanted to talk to Xanthius, keep in mind that you're not really able to have a private conversation in the baths. Also, have you noticed that when you're in water, you can just speak to someone on the other side of the pool? It carries over the water. So you can really hear people.

Really? What are you talking about? No. Have you not done that? What? If you stand on the water. When you speak underwater, it makes a bubble of audio. No, no, no.

It carries the sound. Really? Because remember, sound is vibrations, right? How do we used to talk to France?, no, no. It carries the sound. Really? Yeah. Because remember, sound is vibrations, right? How are we used to talk to France? It is, though, you know? Before we got telephones. Anyway.

To the water. Just making the point that if the conversation happens, it would... I mean, I've also consistently been saying, like, we'll just take a walk and I'll feel better.

I just need a glass of water, I'll feel better. You need to convince them, not me. I'm a denier of science. Oh, you don't need to convince Daisy. You need to convince Ross. Daisy's fine. Whilst you guys go down, Rowan,

Dandalee leads you into... Honestly, it would feel a bit like, you know, one of those massage rooms in a spa where it's got, like, low lighting and there's, like, soft music and it's got, like, incense and things. And there is a, like, a bed. It's, like, lighting and there's like soft music and it's got like things and there is a um like a bed it's like a stone kind of plinth but it's got like a big cushioned top to it um and he says if you just lie down um and i need to just instantly oh okay Can you make a wisdom saving throw for me? Sure. Yeah, can you fall asleep?

14 minus... Oh, God. Minus one, I think. Yeah. Yeah, let's go with that. Yeah. It is you lay your head down and, yeah, like, being so tired, you immediately try and fall asleep.

And then within minutes, you... You know in a dream, you don't really remember you're in a dream. You are back in that inn and the darkness is closing in on you. But you're so big and now the walls are pressing up against you and crushing you and you can feel your bones beginning to crack like stone foundations. And the roof is cramping your neck and you're being compressed by the inn itself,

almost feeling like somebody is crushing the life out of you and you can't breathe and then you wake up in a song are you all right um i must have drifted off i'm sorry you did but it was only for a moment and are you all right you're like you're sweating you're like dripped in sweat um i dreamt i was being crushed like the walls are coming in on me when when you say the walls are coming in on you you almost look and the ceiling of this room almost looks like it's dropping the foundation's secure yes of course they are and then you look again and it's fine but it almost looked like the ceiling was coming down on you and then it's

good sworn let me prefer i think you i think we need something something is clearly wrong here sometimes um when we encounter these sort of powerful uh magics they can leave a lingering thing but let's let's do this and he begins performing a ritual he begins lighting several candles um he begins chanting um reaching out to saint typhine um speaking about love and speaking about embracing who you are and these kind of messages in their prayers and things like that. And there is this incense that fills the room, a very soft kind of almost rose petal incense that fills the air. And the music is soft, kind of playing in the air, almost illusory music.

And that almost brings you a sense of calmness, Rowan, especially for you with music. Yeah, I focus on the music for sure. Yeah, and that music definitely, like, uses you. You don't fall asleep, but you feel your body relax for a moment. And then you see Dandily, his ears kind of flop down, and he closes his eyes, he holds a hand over your chest, and you watch as almost rose petals

almost, like, begin to appear from his hand and fall over you as he begins to almost like hover his hand over your body from foot to head and as the rose petals fall they disappear and they turn into light as he almost begins casting this

and he's ritually casting effectively detect magic at this point a sort of version of detect magic at this point. A sort of version of detect magic. It tickles a bit. Oh, I apologise. It won't last too long. After about ten minutes, he opens his eyes,

and you see that there are little tears in the corners of his eyes. He's like, I'm very sorry. There is something. Whatever you encountered, a great sadness and a great fear, whatever this spirit that you encountered, it has sort of left a shroud over you. And there is a curse upon you.

A curse? A curse, yes. I do not believe it intentional. It is almost by mere contact with this creature, part of its suffering, part of its fear has stuck to you. This sort of curse, you will, I believe you will struggle to find peace in sleep, and it may eat away at your mind. It will play tricks on you and...

That's already happening. Then it is worrying. If this curse is not removed, there is a great chance that you will perish. If your mind is damaged by this curse, it will break and you will not be anymore. You will likely become another spirit, a shade, a haunt. Now, my sister, we can remove curses,

but it requires expensive components. You did a great service to us before. I think that we can reduce that cost, but we would still require... I wouldn't want to put you out. No, no, no, you helped us. We owe you for the service you provided to us before. But we do require...

It is a certain type of blessed mineral. The mineral is normally acquired in mines and things like that. Traders often carry it. We can send for it. But it does cost some money. You will need to acquire it. It's a silver powder powder and then it is refined through a blessing process.

Refined silver? Yes, refined silver powder. We will supply some of it. Normally this spell costs 300 gold pieces to cast, but we can provide at least 200. But that would only work for one of you. It would need to be cast twice. Does your bath need an entertainer?

We do, but I feel that you would probably not be able to make enough coin in the time. This will happen every night, Rowan. The longer, every night you try and sleep, your mind will potentially degrade further and further, your body too, and you will find no rest. You will not, you will find no rest in sleep whilst this curse is upon you. Poor Xanthius. It's a curse of harrowing. Harrowing? Curse of harrowing. It is one that we are taught of. I've never encountered it. I've never encountered,

my sister either, have never seen this magic in effect, but we have learned of it. It is taught to us. It is found in especially beings connected to death and fear. Demons, undead, that sort of creature. I'm boned, dude. I'm done for. Thank you so much for your help. No, please, come. If you can acquire 100 gold of this refined silver powder, we can perform at least it once. Other... The House of the Rose, we do not have a lot of wealth.

We tend to give back everything we make or it goes into the running of the baths. Other shrines here in Ashen Rest and the Church of the Scions, they are likely to have more of this material. They might be able to even cast a spell without this ingredient. Some spellcasters are powerful enough to do it with different ingredients or different abilities but we would require it. They may be able to help you. They may have more of this resource, but unfortunately we just don't.

We just do not make enough money to be able to... Could you point me in the right direction? Of where to buy it? Of an alternative. Oh, well, in all of the town you have the shrines of all the different saints, the Shrine of the Heron, the House of the Heron, the House of Making, the Brightshadow Cathedral, anyone, but there are also sometimes magicians,

mages who are able to remove curses as well. It is not simply the work of the gods. Sometimes those who are just very skilled in magic also have this ability. But I'm afraid I could not point them to you directly. Like I said, I am not even much of a spellcaster myself. My sister is, but not I. Oh, right.

I'm more of a scholar, really. Well, you helped me today. Of course, it is awful to see you suffering and to know that you are experiencing this. It's not all bad. Could be worse. He looks at you kind of a bit sternly, as like you put on a brave face of things,

but fear is... The mind killer. Fear is something, fear is an ugliness that we always face. You can put on the brightest smile, but it will not always hide the pains. That is true. Come, enjoy a warm... Find comfort in small things now. Have a warm bath.

Let's get you rested as best we can. I need to find a good pebble. If that helps you, then so be it. Come, and he'll kind of help lead you out of the room and take you down to the baths to meet with the others. But, yeah. So what's that? 100 gold.

They can supply 200 gold for both of them? It's 300 gold total. Oh, okay. That's per casting of the spell. Right, okay. It is, and I know some people are going to be like, remove curse doesn't have a material component. In this world it does.

Does now. Does now. Yeah, it's 300 gold basically to cast remove curse in this world. And two times refined silver powder. It requires 300 gold's worth of refined silver powder. Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. All right.

But like I said, other, like, you might find, like, powerful divine spellcasters may just be able to cast it innately, and they might not need to use that material. But they might ask for a favor, or they might want you to do something, or make a promise, or anything like that. But yeah, this is going to cost 300 gold each or unless it's at the baths unless you get it and then it will only you'll be a hundred each no that would only be for one casting so before 400 okay um okay all right we do not have much money. No. We do not. Well, how much do we actually have combined? I've got like 60 on me.

Like, I think, 100 or something. You know what we should do? Rock, paper, scissors, and then that'll cheapen the deal because one of us dies. Yeah, yeah. And then we'd have to pay for one. I think rock, paper, scissors to the death is a good way of doing that.

Then it's only 100 gold. Yeah. To be honest though, Xanthius has other problems as well, so I think just let Xanthius die and then roll. Bye. Yeah. To be honest, though, Xanthius has other problems as well, so I think just let Xanthius die and then roll. Bye. You're going to blow up anyway. That would be a bad idea. Well, I was doing anything.

If you would like some suggestions, like things like how can we raise a lot of money in that time, you can always ask and find out stuff. We've got some goals. We've got some jobs and quests. Goals to kill. You can certainly try and find out stuff. We've got some jobs in quest. We've got some golds to kill. You can certainly try for things like that. There is also, they might be able to find more jobs

here in town that pay more money. I mean, we had one job that covered that cost. You could also potentially go and borrow gold from certain people. Take a loan. Take a loan. Also, we don't have a mortgage. Getting gold's one thing, we also need to actually get refined silver powder as well with it.

Well, that was to order it, right? And then we'd have to wait for it. They could order it, I guess. You would need to acquire it. If you want to get it cast at the baths, the Everdells, the Reverend Mother of Everfiley, need you to supply them 100 gold of refined silver powder. They actually don't have enough,

so you would need to go and buy it and bring it to them. Other places, like there are, the baths is not the only kind of shrine silver powder. They actually don't have enough, so you would need to go and buy it and bring it to them. Other places, like there are, the Baths is not the only kind of shrine or temple. There are other shrines and temples in Ashen Rest. They may have this silver powder that you can either buy it from them, or they may be able to cast the spell for you. So...

We can shop around. I think we need a second opinion. To be honest, I don't believe it. Sure. Santheus. Oh, yeah? I'm assuming Rowan would tell, you know, as you get down and you have this discussion. Open book.

Yeah, I figured, like, so that we've all got the same information, right? If... In fact, actually, Daisy as well. Daisy is a rogue, but you're not like a rogue with strong criminal contacts, are you? You're not like a, yeah, okay. Just wily.

Yeah. In that case, don't worry about it. No, she's not. Yeah, don't worry about it. She's just... Why? You know of at least one organisation that lends money out? I'm not working with them.

Just saying. Is it Daddies? No. Just saying. That organisation is very prevalent around the Empire and that is like one of their main things that they do is they loan money to people. Are they active here?

Maybe. Nah. Not they active here? Maybe. Nah, not bringing that up. Okay. Maybe go to the church, see if they... Bright Shadow Cathedral, that was gonna be a good suggestion, aye. So you say Curse of Harrowing, was it? Harrowing.

Harrowing. Yes. Okay, good, good, great. Just another one. And if it keeps going on, we're going to perish. You're not going to perish. We'll sort it before it gets dangerous. I think we should go to the cathedral and speak to the- What are we going to do if Santhius dies?

What are we going to do if Rowan dies? Neither of you are going to die. Okay. We haven't picked our rooms for the enticing devil yet. I won't allow it, okay? Good. That's the last I want to hear of this, okay? I'm very mean. Because if you give up now, there's no point, is there?

I'm not giving up. Exactly. Not for him. Exactly. We've got Rowan looking after us. Not Rowan, your Gruff. I'm Gruff. We've got Gruff, I'm sorry, my mind tatters.

It's been a long night, it's okay. It's been a long night. We've got you looking after us. Is there anything that would help? Feel better? This bath is helping. I mean, kind of. Rowan is naked.

Do you want to go see the toad? The toad. I'm worried about the prophecies. We don't have a lot of time. If this makes them worse every time they go to sleep, we really need to not waste time on a toy! He'll keep his spirits up, it's not a waste of time. Ruan's bottom lip is quivering.

You think it's a toy? It's okay if you have those feelings towards the Clever Tomb. I don't judge. Whatever you suggest, Gruff, I'll follow you willingly. So you think we go to the temple. We'll go to the cathedral.

That's the next stop. We'll have a bath, then we'll go to the cathedral. Okay. In Gruff's head, he was just imagining pushing everyone under the water and holding them there for a little bit. Wow. Really? Really intrusive thought.

Oh, wow. Just super intrusive. Some backstory coming out. Just for some quiet. What would you say to Xanthius? I've seen the face of a man who's drowning. I've seen the faceive thought. Oh, wow. Like, just super intrusive. Some backstory coming out. Just for some quiet. What would you say to Xantius? I've seen the face of a man who's drowning. I've seen the face of a man who's drowning. Yeah?

Yeah, you never questioned that, did you? No, I did not. Never questioned that. As you guys are... He's killed a man. While we're in the bath. Yes. When Rowan was getting seen to and stuff like that.

Sure. Is there lighting in the baths? Yeah. It's very soft, gentle lighting. Is it similar to the Lamplighters Guild style of lighting? It is, because we fixed the thing in here before. Any magical lights look like they are probably, you can guess that they're probably provided by the Lamplighters Guild.

Other people can create magical lights, but they seem to have the ability to make them permanent. Like, they are probably, you can guess that they're probably provided by the Lamplighter's Guild. So. Like, other people can create magical lights, but they seem to have the ability to make them permanent. And you can see they're not exactly the same as the ones outside. But there are lights in here that are, like, kind of artificial lights. Like, they've been built with a metal casing and they have got, like, a magical light inside them. And there are some here in these baths, yeah. So this was actually why Gruff wanted to come to the baths. You would also notice that right as you came into the baths, right outside the entrance to the baths

is one of the lamplighters ever lights. Yeah, the standard ones as well. I'll probably catch you like looking around. Oh, you don't think. Oh, I do think. Well, okay. This is where we first started having trouble, right? And it was strange.

Well, I thought it might have been just the lamps outside that potentially caused it, but if they're here as well... Look at them. Inside every building, too? Well, you're the magical one. Can you feel an aura, or...? No. No, nothing.

I mean, I... You just looked at me and then decided no. Well, I presume, do I feel an aura? Are you checking? I mean, there is no ability to just, you would have to cast a tech magic. You have to cast a spell if you want. But passively, I like it. There's no arcana check to know if there's magic in the air, right?

That is what the detect magic spell is for. You can go up to the light and physically open them to see if it has that disc in. You could do that, but there is no just natural magic. You're going to do it. There's people in here. There's not guards, but there's people. There are definitely, because you guys have been having these conversations,

and like I said, people are hearing snipp, hearing, like, snippets of stuff, and so they are kind of, like, occasionally, but they're also having their own conversations, right? You said anything about lamp lighters. No. You just said, are you thinking, and then you were looking at. Yeah. You think what I'm thinking?

Daisy, you would probably, and Gruff, actually, because you guys have got fairly decent passive perceptions, you do hear that other people are, like, you know, in their kind of hush conversations, you hear people kind of say it's like, oh, did you hear about the lamb lights? Oh, can't believe it. God's hauled them away this morning. There's like conversations that are going on, like

people are talking about something. I'm going to wander over to a light. Okay. You have to like climb out of the bath, it's like set on the side. But you're just like stood on the tiled sort of like outer part of the bath. Doff, please. You have to climb out of the bath. It's set on the side. But you're just stood on the tiled outer part of the bath. Do a big shake. Puff up. Like a big puff ball.

Yeah, you can go up to one of these lights. It's encased in a metal framework. You can see that it's kind of been sealed shut. There is a magical light behind the glass. It's very similar in design to the lanterns outside. Can I open it, or is it in there? No, you can definitely try. You know what to look for,

like if you're trying to find one of these devices, but you've not done it before. So this would be an Arcana check straight up, just a straight Arcana check. Rowan and Xanthius have done it before, haven't they? Yeah, Xanthius has done it before. Rowan they? Yeah, Xanthius has done it before. Rowan hasn't, but Xanthius has done it. I have terrible Arcana, but that's huge.

Hey, look, that's what rolls are for. I'm just watching a naked lion. 15. 15. Rip open a lamp. You succeed, but I'm gonna spend two of these to have it so that somebody notices what you're doing. Two? Oh. Okay. That's because also I want to give you guys some. Yay!

I figured that if I have to like anything, if I want to make an adjustment to a scene, I have to spend two, right? Like if I want to add a complication to it. I think two is a good cost for that. Yeah, have someone spotting it is pretty like bad. Like having like, so this is like a complication, right?

So you get what you want, which is you go up, you kind of have to like pull it off and you kind of pull this light apart, but it's very obvious what you're doing. You're like. Oh, he's not. He's not trying to hide it.

But you pull it off and you would find a smaller version of a similar looking disc device. A very, a smaller version has been put in here. You see a couple of people and like, there's this one, maybe kind of a bit more of a burly looking man. He looks like maybe a bit of a wealthy merchant. He's like,

I say there, sir, what are you doing? You're breaking the lights. No, I'm examining them. I'm going to put it back in a minute. I don't think, I don't think the Reverend Mother and Reverend Father would appreciate that. You shouldn't be messing with something like that.

Are you a member of the Lamplighters Guild? No, but I've worked for them. But are you an engineer? I've witnessed some engineering. You're avoiding my question, sir. He's kind of raising his voice. No, I don't think you should put that down immediately. Well, I was going to put it back.

Do you want me to put it back or do you want me to put it down? Put it back. You should put it back. OK, I am. That's what I was going to do anyway. Good. I'm glad. I would have gone faster if you hadn't interrupted. Well, you didn't know what you were doing, did I? You look like you're up to trouble. What are you doing? What's that thing in your hand?

I'm examining the light. What for? The last time I came here, this place was full of cursed monsters, and I wanted to check that they hadn't damaged the light because it wasn't looking as bright as the others. Give me a deception check. It's half true.

It's half true, it's not fully true. Fake dice. Yeah, you can spend one, absolutely. What was your deception? 18 plus six plus 1. So, 25. Nice. He's like, oh, all right then.

Totally good. Fine. Excellent work. Thank you. What was that about lab lighters that I heard? Did you say that guards were involved? That's terrible. He didn't say that,

but somebody else will look over to you. A human woman will look over to you. She's like older. She's maybe in sort of like her late 50s. She's got like her half, her graying sort of hair tied up in a bun. She's got like a little wrap around her head. And she's just like,

oh, no, that was me, dear. I don't know if you're, I don't think you're residents here, but yes, there was a bit of a kerfuffle this morning. Apparently, I saw the High Marshal and that young authoritor, the Orc, Zaran Tekis, they went to the Lamplighters Guild and perhaps a few moments later, they came out with a number of them sort of cuffed

and they took them off to the forge. Do you know any of the people that were taken? No, I don't know them in particular, but they were all members of the guild. Something has surely happened. How curious. I wonder what's going on over there. Yes, yes, it's caused quite a commotion, yes.

And they sort of like her, and she's kind of just like, yes. Probably some investigation. I heard that there was, did you hear, and, you know, she's kind of just like, yes. Probably some investigation. I heard that there was, did you hear, a few days ago, there was a murder up by the House of Making, the Shrine to St. Massara. Some thieves broke in, and they killed one of the priestesses, and then they fled the city. I imagine, and this is Aaron Tekes, was involved in all of that. Sorry, did what?

The House of Making. That wasn't us! Hang Making. That wasn't us! Hang on. It wasn't me! The House of the Making, that's not where we were installing the lights, was it? No, no, we weren't. This is a different place.

We haven't been. Another shrine, right? Yeah, this is the House of the Making, the shrine to Saint Misara. Am I back at this point? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we can say that you come back in, just as Gruff finishes putting the light back the way it was.

You see the merchant waxes his moustache and it just goes back to his conversation and is very much put aside. But he will remember your face and that you were doing something to the lights. I am a big naked lady, man. It's very hard to remember more than that. I don't know how you would forget that. Very hard to miss. Well, that is just horrible news. I thought this city was a safer place.

Oh, it generally is. That's why it's caused so much of a stir. Yes, and this authoritor, that handsome orc man, that handsome young orc, he was investigating these murders, and now the Lamplighter's being arrested, and all sorts. Oh, my goodness.

I thought the Lamplighters were very well-conceived. Oh, they are. They are very much oh my goodness. And how long ago was this one? I thought the lamplighters were very well-conceived. Well, well thought out. Oh, they are, they are very much, my dear. They provide all these wonderful magical lights and they make all sorts of wonderful engineering and magical devices. You know, they started off as simple lamplighters and generally they weren't very well regarded in the city.

They were sort of one of the poorer guilds. But then, yes, they had this family of dwarves who had all these ingenious ideas and they started making these magical lights and they would charge people a silver penny or something to have them in the area and people were very glad for it. It's much safer to have the lights on.

But yes, now they're working. Apparently they're trying to look at building machines and arcane devices that can help with all sorts of other things, not just lights. They're thinking of renaming themselves to the Artificers Guild. I see. The Artificers Guild. Sorry, I'm a little bit caught on this grisly murder you were talking about.

How long ago was this? Oh, it must have been over a week or so now, I think. But yes, some criminals apparently, they broke into the shrine, likely thieving and stealing something from it, and they caught one of the priestesses and bless her, she was caught in the act and was killed. They were caught, but I heard that they escaped

and ran off up north somewhere. So this is the... I'm trying to piece this together. It might be totally unrelated wasn't wasn't the um unless it was a relic that was then taken to the mind the lightless the light the hand of the lightless pilgrim yeah was one tiny cobalt there was there was a it's not the group i can't remember if it was stolen from Ashen's Rest though it was people were no so it wasn't mentioned

was Ashen's Rest mentioned I don't think the location was mentioned at all I remember there being a thieving and also a killing

and Priestess was killed oh yeah yeah yeah you're right you know what it's all coming together you guys got there eventually you got there eventually

you got there eventually it wasn't Ashen's Rest I've got it written down as an ashen rest. As it comes in, this is a bit of clarity in that, yes, that she's talking about

the murder of a priestess, which is what led to the events in Burnell. Right. And then so forth, yes. Hey, calm down, YouTube comments. We got there.

We got there. But yeah, you've got to think from this person, this regular civilian, from her perspective, it's like, oh, a week ago there from this person, this regular civilian, from her perspective, it's like, oh, a week ago there was this crime and the authority was investigating.

Now a bunch of lamplighters have seemingly been arrested in broad daylight. So to the normal citizen, they're like, oh, is it connected? Yeah. Yeah. But whether or not, you don't know. Not in the way you might think.

But yeah, so she happily sits there and gossips and sort of tells you some bits and bobs about that. Yeah. Rowan is brought back in and rejoins the group. I am thoughtful about the situation. Yeah. That's all caught up. Yeah.

Okay. So what did you find? Are we leaving, actually? I think probably, yeah, as we catch up, we're probably wrapping up and going out, right? My fingers are getting wrinkly sure

more pruney I can grip the water floor okay well you enjoy that Owen but I think

we're probably just crawling on the floor I'll crawl around trying to be a lizard

um yeah by the time you went to the bath you've sat there and had the bath and things like that um we're probably looking at like maybe 10 30 11 a baths, you've sat there and had the baths and things like that,

we're probably looking at maybe 10.30, 11 a.m. You've spent a couple of hours sort of travelling and then having your baths and having these conversations, the ritual, that sort of thing. By the time you get out of the baths, we're looking at just before noon, 11 a.m.-ish. Yeah, the baths have cleaned you up. You definitely, for Rowan and Xanthias,

it hasn't helped with this kind of sense of dread and this kind of lingering feeling that's kind of clung to you. And now that you know what it is, it's a bit more, you kind of almost can feel it like a shadow that's been stuck to you. And no matter what you do or what you think of, your thoughts keep getting distracted by these images of fear, images of horror, things that you don't want to be true.

These kind of elements kind of keep playing on your mind as you do so. I'm trying to keep my mind away from it as much as possible, just distracting myself with tasks and stuff. Sure. Right, I think... Yes? Well, I'd quite like to talk to this Zarantekist again,

but you two are priority, so I think we get you up to the cathedral quick smart... OK. ..and see if they have any other options available. Yes, I mean, what is it? 300, 400 gold to get it solved there? I mean, there's nothing close to what we have now. But there might be someone who can cast the spell without needing

the powder. True. It's worth a try. What was it you found in the lantern there? The lamp? Oh, it's exactly the same as the other ones. Exactly the same. Cursed. Cursed, great, okay. It's got the same little disky. Right, so not only are there any lamps in the

streets, but also in the magical lights inside every building too. And that's why I think there are creatures. Well, not every building, but I'm curious if they're in the baths, although I suppose that's where most people gather, but it would be good to find a way to actually track these things. Well, it manifested as creatures, right?

Yes. So unusual activity. It was causing a malignant aura, causing water magic to become these angry spirits. Now, before we go accusatory, is there a chance

that they're just harnessing energies from different planes and it's a difficult thing to accomplish? And if it goes wrong, then these things manifest, rather than they are doing it on purpose. Well, attention still needs to be brought to it either way. If it's accident or if it's malicious,

it's still having a terrible impact in bringing horrible creatures around citizens. I think we should tread carefully with us believing that the Lamblighters are in on something and doing something evil. True, but if the cost of a single light is a demon summoning or spirits or something like that, I prefer a torch.

Or murder. They have to be aware of this, at least. If they're trying to cover it up, then there's something going on. It's not as much they're covering it up, more they're carrying on with it. Well, you can see they've even adapted the design from the one outside our inn to these other ones.

They've adapted it. It's different. So they are aware to some degree if they're adapting it and making it whatever, smaller, better. The adaptions I... Like, it's not... Was it that they were enhancing it or more that they were actively trying to correct it? Hard to tell, like, just from examining comparing the two yeah um very difficult to

tell exactly what it is you just know that the more recent one the one that teresa was supposed to install um is just more refined in how it processes it's more subtle the prototype one that you got from outside of the inn that was more crude and more direct, it isn't as subtle in the way that it functions. The one from the bathhouse and the one that Teresa was supposed to install, they're meant to be very subtle, siphoning off small amounts of negative emotions. The one with Teresa was malfunctioning and it was almost grabbing too much,

and that seems to be the same as the prototype. Like, they were grabbing too much at one time. Right. Which was maybe causing a more pronounced effect in return. But the one in the bathhouse is almost perfect. Like, you can see that it doesn't have any flaws like these other two do. And this one is...

Again, based on what Blackwing told you in your own examinations, Antheus, you think that this one works in a very subtle way. It probably just, like, sips, pulling away a little bit of negative emotion, maybe making somebody a bit more irritable or a bit more paranoid or a bit more jealous or a bit more angry than they normally would be.

It's very subtle in the way that it pulls out this information. So it's still very much purposeful then. Yeah, it's still doing it. The device is doing it for sure. That's what the device is designed to do. It siphons negative emotions from people, sends it to the twin pits, one of them, and then it's sending something back as well.

It's almost channeling something back. Yeah. Okay. It could be just energy. It could just be energy something back. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. It could be just energy. It could just be like energy to create a light. You don't know. You could be right, Rowan. I've only done very quick examinations.

You are not on after the story. I don't know how this works. Just from what I've presumed from the samples that we have so far. Now we have another one. Maybe that will benefit even further, me having another check. But again, this is not my forte. I think our neutrality will just benefit us in getting answers. I mean, in the eyes of the lamplighters,

we are still very much neutral. That's why I mentioned it to the Duke. In a means to make it look like we hadn't discovered anything had gone awry. Unless he has said anything. Are you making your way to the cathedral while you have this conversation? Yeah, I think so, yeah.

You would get there. We shout most of it as we're walking past the Lamp Lighters Guild too. Sure. Around about 11.30, you arrive at the cathedral. You've missed morning service, so the cathedral is actually relatively quiet. Quite honestly, most of the people who are here now are probably tourists. They're travellers who are like, let's go see the cathedral.

Oh, isn't it pretty and lovely? Now we've got a house here. Oh, tourists. Tourists. Oh, God, everywhere. You do see a few acolytes kind of milling around, having discussions with people and things like that. And you also see a figure that you haven't seen up close yet.

You maybe saw, a couple of you saw them from a distance, but you see, moving around the cathedral, having kind of hushed conversations with some of the acolytes and some people from town. These look like actual townspeople. You see quite a tall orc woman dressed in white and gold robes of Pyrrhus, and she wears symbols of Pyrrhus,

the goddess of the sun, one of the two scions. She has this golden blonde hair tied up. Her skin isn't green. It's more of like a kind of dark browny orange. And you see that she's wearing like these very loose fitting robes that show off a lot of her like body, her arms, her legs. And you can see that her body is covered in lots of these scars. And with orcs, their scars glow. They have these ancestor scars that kind of contain this light and almost an entire half of her body so one breast and most of her chest is glowing on one side it looks like it was a tremendous wound long ago and she's actually missing that breast and part of her body and now it's almost glowing

with light like it's almost pulsing like a heart and you can see it in the way the robes have been cut almost showing it off she does have a few little pieces of armor, mostly ornamental, like a gorget around her throat. She has braces and greaves on, but also keeps a lot of like loose flowing robes and movement. She looks a little bit older. She's probably sort of in her sort of like 50s, but still very tall, very athletic, very physically fit. but still very tall, very athletic, very physically fit. And she is holding a host here. And you suspect that this is likely the main priestess of Pyrrhus.

Gruff actually has met her, well, seen her before because he attended a morning service. That's what I mean, yeah. You've seen her at like a distance kind of thing, yeah. But I don't think you've actually met her. But he knows that she's the high priestess because she held the service. Yeah, so you would definitely know that this is the priestess. I don't know if've actually met her. But he knows that she's the High Priestess because she held the service. Yeah, so you would definitely know that this is the Priestess.

I don't know if you've got her name yet. No, no, no. Just attended her service. Yeah, but you can definitely tell that that's who she is. And she seems to be having some discussion with some townsfolk, with a couple of the acolytes. So approachable. Yeah, definitely approachable. You maybe hear a little catch. You catch a glimpse of their conversation just like just make sure that

they have whatever they need um to perhaps a slight very slight kind of yes make sure that they have everything that they need um and she kind of notices you ah welcome ah your faces are not unfamiliar to me uh welcome you have come in the hours of our Scion Pyrrhus, but I believe that you know my companion, Brother Savarin, the Speaker of Secrets, the Priest of Mele, quite well. Yes, we gave our secrets and attended the ceremony. And I believe you have done more than that.

You have done a great deed for the town of Ashenrest. Some business in Riverside, I believe, with some creature that was summoned. You brought the young halfling woman here. How is she doing? She is fine. She has gone with the brother Savarin, informed the High Authoritor and the High Marshal

after you spoke with them and they came and the Miss Lavendale has gone with them. She was being questioned by the Authoritar and the Marshal. I am concerned that it is always possible that she may be connected to this business of whatever is going on, but I also am worried about her soul. But I believe that we have you to thank for preventing this terrible outcome. We merely did what was right with us in the situation. We merely did what was right with us in the situation. There is no merely when it comes to doing what is right. You do what is right by any means necessary.

This is the nature of Pyrrhus. We must embrace our strengths, embrace our bold actions. Do not think to... Do not diminish the great that you have done. Well, Priestess, I will now boldly announce that I have a curse of harrowing. And I also... A curse upon you both. Yes, we have attempted to cleanse the enticing devil

with which we've been granted by... Give me insight checks, everybody. I think my insight's lower now as well. 60. Yep. granted by, give me insight checks, everybody. I think my insight's lower now as well. 60. 16. Four. I am spending one of my fate points, by the way. Sure.

Natural one. Okay, nat one. 16. 16, 16 for me. 16. Four. Four, so we got the. 16? Four. Four. So we got the 16 highest so far.

So that'd be, okay. Daisy and Xanthias, there's definitely a twinge of disgust, I would say is probably the best one, when you mention the enticing devil. There's definitely like a reaction there of like, ugh, that place. You have attempted to deal with the spirit that haunts there. I have sent many acolytes to try and deal with the spirit

and it has proved tenacious. Yes, we have learned much of its story and have attempted to cleanse the place of the... And by doing so you have become afflicted with a curse. Seems like it, yes. Bold indeed. Please, call me... I am Sunsword Ilkara Lightheart.

That is a fucking cool name. Sunsword. Sunsword Ilkara, I-L-K-A-R-A. Lightheart. Wow. And you can definitely see that surname is likely not a birth one. It's like a title that's been given to her because of... Very fitting.

Very fitting, like, yeah. Like, the orcs probably gave her that name because of the ancestor wound that she carries. Is Sunsword, like, a rank? It's a title, yeah. So, like, Arden Savarin, the priest of melee that you met, I think I just called him High Priest before. It's not a retcon because you wouldn't have known this,

but his title is Speaker of Secrets. Okay. So he is Speaker of Secrets Ardyn Savarin. She is Sunsword Elkhara Lightheart. Yeah. And she is, I have it within my power to help banish these malignant, otherworldly, dangerous energies. And it is, of course, to protect your soul that we must do this.

There is not a complication, but there is a small requirement that is needed. I am able to perform this ritual but I would require something in return. Is this the silver? No, no, I believe that I can provide that. It is more... Pyrrhus does not grant her magic to those who simply buy coin. It must be earned. Okay. You will need to prove yourselves. I'm willing to attempt to prove myself, but forgive me the actions in the...

You were talking about the good we've done. Yes, indeed. Santhius. I just... You can't speak like this in front of the High Priestess. Show some respect. She's a representative of the Scions. I was just... What more would speak like this in front of the High Priestess. Show some respect. She's a representative of the Scions. I just... What more would you like us to do? I'm sorry for this. Oh!

I... It is fine. It is fine. It is a matter of... You have done good deeds, of course. And I am very grateful to them. But you ask for something. Pyrus does not give freely. I cannot provide this magic without a service. A service in the name of the people, but also a service in proving your purity and strength.

I will send word to you. I will need to consult with the light above, and she will instruct me as to what would be required. But I will send word to you. But you will need pay, no gold, provide me nothing more than this duty. I will only be able to provide it for one of you, however. Oh, for God, however. Oh.

Oh, for God's sake. Are you thinking I'm going to make this easy? This is fucking... You're going to make it easy? So 100 gold for one at the baths. Yes. And then the requirement. Yes.

Well, I guess you'll know where to find us. I can send messengers to around the city, around the town. But you own this enticing devil, I believe. The duke granted it to you. Yes. The land, yes. I would like to think, I would hope that you will not make the same mistake that its previous owners did,

and you will reconsider if you open an establishment its naming. It's likely to be our residence. Ah. Well then... We haven't fully determined what we will do with it just yet but... And we're all going to live there. Consider the name. I would con... I would suggest you consider it very wisely. But yes, I will pray to Pyrrhus and think of a fitting... ask her for a fitting service that you may provide

in exchange for her blessing to remove this curse upon you. But also, I would highly recommend that you go and speak with the High Authority about this matter involving the lamplighters? Yes, well, we intend to follow up as best we can. It's just, uh... It's dangerous to know that weak-minded individuals are within this place, corrupting souls. We think weakening the fabric of our society. weakening the fabric of our society.

Man, I don't know about you, Gruff. I do not like this person. I don't like Gruff at all. Gruff is like, this is, you know, a church leader. Yeah, and also like, you know, Pyrrhus as a goddess is a kind of goddess of battle and war and light is certainly the kind of figure that would give you strength and power when you need it and heal wounds in battle but he's not i would say like a very kind goddess like you have to earn the strength that she gives you right um but yeah like yeah and i think gruff like being quite a religious person

you know that like yeah anybody who is a devout follower of Pyrrhus definitely is like, you don't get nothing for nothing. You've got to pay for it. Maelior is probably the softer of the two. Pyrrhus is a lot more hard. She's like a commander or like a trainer. It's like that kind of mentality. Well, they're fire.

Yeah. Fire can burn. Well, if you would like to message us or whatever it is to let us know about this requirement, then be the first to know. A service. A service. Do you have an idea of what this service may require?

I have asked before when people have come seeking the Lady of Light's blessing. before when people have come seeking the Lady of Light's blessing. Sometimes it is to defeat a creature of some nefarious means. Sometimes it is to perform a pilgrimage, to provide, to recover a stolen object, or to provide service in many different ways. Okay. I cannot say. Until the goddess speaks with me, I cannot say. Okay. I cannot say. Until the goddess speaks with me, I cannot say. You may, of course, speak with the other... the priests and acolytes of the saints.

Their powers tend to be lesser. They require gold and material components and things like that. But they may be able to help you. Yes, well, we are still looking around. I fear maybe a pilgrimage might be just beyond our scope right now with this curse. Then let us hope that that is not what Pyrrhus asks of you. I hope so. Very good.

Oh, I don't like her at all. I do not like her at all. Thank you for your time. You are most welcome. My time is one thing that I am happy to provide, seeking spiritual guidance or assistance. I also, it has been very pleasure to meet you, to know that we have brave souls

willing to fight against the darkness. I wish you luck. Saints and Scions be with you. Saints and Scions? If you'll forgive me, it goes back to whatever she was doing before. I don't know what it is, man. It's something about it.

Yeah, I hate it. I don't like it one bit. That's fine. You don't have to like it. It's just a nice amount of sinister. As you go... It's sinister, isn't it? There's something sinister.

I don't know. I think she's been pretty up front. But then that's gruff. That's gruff. Well, what did she go back to doing huh she resumes a conversation that she was having

oh okay goes back to stabbing what I don't like that she's like oh she goes back to stabbing that's what I'm saying

oh she seems an innocent one the fact that the church had it out for people because they named a pub wrong and they didn't like the name of the pub but isn't that

the gisellic tree Is that the only thing? That's religious zealotry, right? That's what it is. As you guys are leaving Bright Shadow Cathedral, you actually, a kind of out of breath courier

is coming up the stairs into the Duskrise District and seems to like, checks a piece of paper, looks, like, checks a piece of paper, looks at you, checks a piece of paper, and then comes running up to you, a little bit pot-bellied, like a little halfling, got a little bit of a tummy. He's got big, curly, very hobbity kind of hair.

And he's like, Oh, I've been chasing you ever since you left the baths. Really? Yeah. Take a breath. Thank you. I've got a message for you. For me or for us?

All of you. All of us? Yeah, I've got to get him. He's going to be back. I'll let you give you a second. Give me a minute. Okay, yeah, yeah. Do you want me to rub your back?

No, I'm okay, I'm okay. Okay, okay, okay. Normally I walk. I don't do a lot of running. Why did you choose to run this time? Well, because it's important. I got paid. It's expedient. It's expedient delivery.

It's very important, I was told. Would you want me to just take the... No, no, no, it's fine. And he pulls out of his little satchel. He's wearing the uniform of the Kyrian, which is like a courier service and the newspaper and things like that. And he pulls out a very hastily written but sealed envelope. Okay.

With a letter in it. And he's like, I didn't have a name, but I had a description, and it matches you lot. And I was told that I'd find you at the old haunted inn. And I went there, and you weren't there, and there was a lady who said you went to the baths. And then I went to the baths, and then they said that you had gone somewhere, and then I saw you, and you were making your way up here, and then they said that you had gone somewhere, and then I saw you,

and you were making your way up here, and I was right far behind, and I've only got little legs. That's a wild gnoll chase. Don't say gnolls. Sorry. Why not? They can hear you.

They can? Yeah. Anyway, I apologise for his phrasing there, but thank you for finding us, finally, and thank you. Out of curiosity, what was the description? It was physical description. It was a big, little lying man with black fur.

He's dressed from ice heart, and there was a big half giant, a yacht near, and he's wearing green, and he's got a big fancy loot on his back, and he's got Martins on his arm. And then there was a cauldron lass with a lovely little dress and corset thing and bright hair.

And then... It doesn't say that on the envelope. Oh, OK. And then it says, sorry to know but you. And then a gold dragonborn gentleman described as you were. That's a good description.

It comes from Guildmaster Tobias. Just gentlemen, OK. But, yeah. And it says on the letter... Guildmaster Tobias. Just gentlemen, okay. But yeah. And it says on the letter... Guildmaster Tobias. Yeah, on the letter. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to actually make you a letter. But it says,

to the brave adventurers who uncovered this problem, is what it would say. Do we know Guildmaster Tobias? He's the lamp... No. No, you've got it, yeah, you remember him because he was ahead of you in the queue at the Duke's audience.

He is one of the guildmasters for the Lamplighter's Guild. Ooh. Mm, interesting, interesting. And it's actually sealed with the Lamplighter's symbol on the wax seal. And you put a curse in the envelope and just sealed it off. That's right. And sent it. And you put a curse in the envelope and just sealed it off. That's right.

And just sent it. Ah! Not another curse. Yeah, that's it. Well, thank you for delivering this message to us. If you'd like to, I mean, do you have any more deliveries today? I've got plenty of deliveries here.

He is, make an insight check for me. Okay. Anybody can make one, by the way. That is 11. 11. 20. 20 is 11. 11. 20. 20. Four.

Six. Six. Daisy and Xanthius, he's kind of lingering because it's kind of customary that you pay him like a small amount of coin as a tip for delivering the message. Is this an Althea-wide thing? Yeah, it's like generally couriers are like, you get paid to deliver the message

and then you kind of get another payment for receiving it. But it's kind of like a discretion, it's like a tip. He's like waiting for his tip. He's like a valet. I'll give him a stick of gum. Yeah. Thank you very kindly, sir. I don't, I don't. It's very Home Alone, I like it.

My apologies. Daisy probably wouldn't do it because she would never have had that money. Or had a courier before. She doesn't know what tipping someone is. But he's definitely like... After the journey you've taken, it seems only fitting that you... Three silver? Oh, that would be most kind of you, sir.

Yeah, that would be really kind of you. Is that more than normal? You don't know. You're tipping what you want. You're tipping what you want. You're tipping what you want. I said three silver. Go take a letter to that gold dragonborn. It gives really good tips.

When I said three silver, I was like, that seems low. He'll up me. No, he was like, absolutely fine. Here you go, three silver. Thank you very much, sir. That's very kind of you. I do appreciate it. Oh, that's very nice.

Made my morning. Thank you very much. I've got lots of deliveries to make now. Bye-bye. Okay, off he trots. I think that was a quite good... You realise that... He's probably used to getting bronze coins.

Yeah, a lot of opportunities for bronze. Three silver is like, I'll have that. I know that the gold value... It probably costs like three silver to send that letter. Oh, shit. I just know that the gold value is like heightened in this universe. Yeah. Well, hey, he's happy.

He did a lot of... He chased us all around town, so it only makes sense. Yeah. Where do we want to go to open this up? I kind of wonder if we should open it in the presence of Zarantekis. If we go and find him, yes. It seems like the High Inquisitor is investigating all of this, and we should probably tell him of our findings

with the disc and everything. That's true. Where did they haul off these people from the... Did you say the forge? They went to the forge. Yeah. The forge. The forge.

Which is the barracks. It's like the keep where the... Is that accessible, or is it... It's where the bounty board was, if you remember. Ah, okay. On the way home. How could you get a letter and not want to open it right away? I really want to open the letter right now.

Well, I mean, it would be good to know what's in there, sure, but... Graph, graph, graph, graph, graph. Can you sense any magic coming from it? No, I don't do that. Okay. It's a detect magic spell. If anyone can detect any magic, now would be a good time. Anyone?

Nope. Good. Great. A party that doesn't have it. This could be evidence. This could be evidence, so I don't want to. That's why I'm not putting my hands all over it. Two fingers on the corner, that's all.

You put... Finger and thumb, even. I'm not opening it now. I think you're right. Let's open it in front of Zarentakis, but we just and thumb, even. I'm not opening it now. I think you're right. Let's open it in front of Zarentakis, but we just need to go find him. You know what we should have done? We should have used the Curia to send a letter

to Ophelia updating her on these matters. I mean, we're basically heading back that way already. All right, we'll let her know on the way. There must be a more expedient way of communicating with people than chasing them around here. Across water. Okay. Shouting really loudly across water.

There is that, but we don't want to shout too loudly. So you guys are going to make a way to the forge? We just rolled lots of things. It's the weather. It's changing. It's changing. Are you making your way to the forge to try and meet with Zarantekis? It seems most prudent on the way. Most prudent?

It would behoove us. Yeah, it would behoove you. I've been playing a lot of Dragon's Souls. About midday, you begin making your way towards the forge. It means that you have to pass through the main plaza again as you make your way down there. You definitely would notice, sat outside the Grumpy Hog enjoying a lunch, you would spot Sister Inquisitor Maladie

and Sister Inquisitor Benedicta, who just kind of give you that very casual, like, good morning wave and are just watching you go. Daisy doesn't wave back. But you see, like, a Benedicta especially

would be more like a, sort of probably, like, doesn't call out, but is, like, waving at you, like, oh, good morning or, like, good afternoon. Maladie's just sort of watching as you guys walk past. I wonder if they have any ability to remove any curses.

Do you want to go ask them? No, not at all. No, I don't want to speak to them again. As you guys arrive at the forge, you can see that there's a bit of a hustle and bustle about the place. People are being sort of ferried to and fro. There is a guard out the front, and in fact, you actually would recognise this guard.

It is Cadet Bliss, the Typhling that you met a long time ago. The stew of you. Yeah, oh, hey, hey, how you doing? How's it going, everyone? Well, yes. Hello, Bliss. Hello, Rowan. Oh, yeah, bring it in.

She kind of gives you a hug, this kind of... Stamp. Seems a lot of commotion today. We heard there's been things going on this morning. Yeah, I would hope you've heard. I've heard that you guys are kind of tied up in this. Would you believe, Bliss? Yeah, I know, right?

After all of that in Burnell and now in this as well. No. What? I cooked your stew with a bunch of cobalts. Oh, brilliant! Did they like it? It was good. Oh, great.

I'm so happy. I'm glad you've been practising. It's the best thing I've done in Ashton's Rest. Oh, brilliant. I love that it? It was good. Oh, great. I'm so happy. I'm glad you've been practising. It's the best thing I've done in Ashen's Rest. Oh, brilliant. I love that. That's great. Yeah. Anyway, woodcuts. Sorry, yeah, so, yeah. What? I mean, you might be aware we were gifted the Enticing Devil.

The haunted place. The haunted place, and we spent the night in it. I didn't know that. That's both awesome and also terrifying. Right? Somehow both of those things, exactly. Yeah. No, I meant all this business with the lamplighters. I heard that you've accused the Lamplighters Guild

of being cultists or something. Oh. So this is just... That's just out there. No, no, okay. Well, it was... So, well, other people don't know you by name, but they said that this group of adventurers came into town

and that they took a Lamplighters Guild... One was a half giant. Yeah, and they said that this group of adventurers came into town and that they took a lamplighter's build. One was a half giant. Yeah, and they said that one's a big giant, one's a gold dragonborn, and one's a lion man from Iceheart. And then they said that there's this weird-looking death lady. And then they just sort of said, and a nice cauldron girl.

That could be anyone. That could be anyone. They don't know that's me. Exactly. And where does this information come from? Well, they said that, well, basically, we got a report in, and, you know, early, like, yesterday, this was, like, the middle of the, you know, early morning,

just before the Duke's audience, old marshal, the high marshal comes in, he gets a squad together, him and the high author, high author and her apprentice, Tekis, they all have a big meeting. They go stomping up to the Pharos, the Lightlighters Guild,

and they're there and they start tearing the place apart. They start, you know, they're working with the Guildmaster. They pull people in. And the whole time,

I'm hearing these rumours that, yeah, this bunch of adventurers come in. They said that there was a fight down in Riverside and some big smoke monster got summoned by like a cultist.

She, like a little halfling cultist, and she summoned this smoke monster and was trying to kill everyone. And you guys stopped her. And then you went and told the priest and then he told the marshal. And it's, yeah, I mean, it's, I don't think everybody knows,

but like I've heard about it. Okay, well, I mean, rumorsours spread quite rapidly, it seems. I'm a little concerned about this letter now. Yes, we were hoping to meet with Zarantekis or... I mean, yeah, I'll let them know that you're here. I think they definitely want to speak to you. I mean, probably the High Authority actually would probably want to speak to you.

We do have the thing from the light, don't we? I've still got the other two as well, actually. Yeah. Were any names released for any of these people? Oh, no, that wouldn't be released. No, that won't get released for a while, just in case. Even I don't know the exact people that were brought in. I don't know their names or anything like that.

Because, I mean, it's not too wild for people to expect or identify these mysterious people as us. It's just I'm more concerned about the halfling you were talking about. I don't think their name should be released. She's not a cultist. We never said it was her. Well, listen, she was brought in with the rest of them and she's been questioned by the authoritor and the marshal and everything else.

I don't know. They've been talking, like, apparently they've and the marshal and everything else. Like, I don't know, that's, they've been talking, like apparently they've been having conversations with the duke, they've been speaking with the sun sword and the speaker of secrets. Like, this has been a big deal. Like, a load of people yesterday, it was like meetings all day yesterday. And like, this is a big thing, right? You should go and speak to the high authoritor.

I'll let her know. Give me a second. And then she runs off and she's like, can someone come and cover my shift? I need to take some people to speak to the high authoritor. I'll let her know. Give me a second. And then she runs off and she's like, can someone come and cover my shift? I need to take some people to speak to the High Authority. And you see a couple of guards like, Bliss, yeah, fine. And they come over and they swap places with her.

And she's like, right, come with me. Is anyone else extremely concerned that we may have started something that we can't go back on? Yeah. You get led through the forge, through the main courtyard. You can see a few soldiers are doing training uh things like that here um you can see that there's a stable with a few drake mounts and stuff in it and you are led into a tall fortified kind of keep building

um you are led through several rooms there's guards posted everywhere and you are eventually led up into a very fine looking office with a window that looks out onto the city, like a reinforced window that looks out onto the city. The office is very well furnished, but the desk and chair that sits in the predominant place in front of the window is actually sized for a halfling. And sat at this desk, currently in a conversation with Zarantekis,

and sat at this desk currently in a conversation with Zarantekis is a, best I can describe her, is like a grandma halfling. Like she's got grey curly hair. She looks a little bit like Miss Marple or like a kind of Agatha Christie. You've seen her before in the Duke's audience. She's wearing the sort of uniform of an authorita, which is a dragon's head outline with a draconic eye, very prominent. And she's kind of sat there. She's taken off her hat.

She's taken off her big coat, but she's sat there in a little vest and trousers, and she's currently poring over papered reports, and she's scribbling a few things down. And she's like, come in, when Bliss knocks. And she's like, oh, hi, Bliss knocks. And she's like, oh, High Authoriter, my apologies. Private Bliss, I've brought those adventurers, the ones that we've been talking about.

And she's like, oh, excellent work, Private. Yes, I was hoping to send word for them, but wouldn't you know, look at this. Blessings upon us, they've come to speak to me. We thought it would be apt to seek you out. Wonderful. Well, please, come on in. Come on in. Bliss, would you mind fetching a few chairs

from one of the other rooms, from one of the meeting rooms and bringing them in for our guests? Let's fetch some tea and water and some snacks and things like that as well. Let's get everyone comfortable. I believe that you know my apprentice, Zaron. And you see Zaron Tekis kind of fold his arms,

very handsome, young orc man, long coat, sort of leaning up against the bookshelves. It's just like, we are familiar. Hello again, Zaron. Hi! Hello. Well, wonderful. Isn't this lovely? Well, you've been quite busy.

Quite busy indeed. Yes, I suppose we have. Apologies, I think we might all be a bit shaken. At least I am quite busy. Quite busy indeed. Yes. I suppose we have... Apologies. I think we might all be a bit... At least I am quite shaken. Shaken? What for? Well, we didn't really expect news to be spread so quickly around the city. Oh dear. Well, you did cause quite a

stir. I mean, the Speaker of Secrets contacted me urgently. The idea that there could be a cult of planar worshippers, that causes quite a stir. Forgive me, I've not fully introduced myself, have I? And she gets off her chair. Do-do-do-do-do-do.

And she's small even for a halfling. Like, this is like a grandma. Like, she's probably, in a human year, she would be in her 70s. Right. So she's even smaller than a halfling because she's kind of shrunk down a bit um but she looks up at you with the most bright inquisitive curious eyes like bright blue eyes she's kind of got all the curly grandma hair face is just leathery wrinkles um and she kind of smiles um and you can see that several of her like teeth

are actually like missing but not because they've fallen out, but they're broken. They were broken a long time ago, and she just never got them replaced. She has scars on her neck. You can see that this is probably somebody who has probably seen her fair share of fights and things like that as well. She has a wand tucked into her belt and then a little short sword as well. And she's just like, I am High Author eramina with uh willowthorne eramina willowthorne eram eram e r e r e m i a eramin eramina sorry m i n a eramina eramina

willowthorne and i am the high author for north vale a pleasure so why don't we have sit down Vale. A pleasure. So, why don't we have a sit down and you can tell me all about this all these matters. What was her surname, sorry? Willowthorn. And that is actually when we're going to take our first break because we've run over a little bit.

But yeah, we will take our first break here. Let's have a chat with Willowthorn. Just have a little chat. Let's just spread news. See, I love playing Groff because Groff is so straight and narrow. This is the natural conclusion to him. It's just stuff is progressing quicker than I was expecting. I guess Groff expected that because we took the...

You took Teresa to the Bright Shadows Cathedral. I said he was going straight away. Man, he loves to gossip, doesn't he? Well, he told us. He said he was going to away. Man, he loves to gossip, doesn't he? Well, he told us. He said he was going to go. His name is... Literally told you. No, he said, I'm going to tell the High Marshal,

the High Authority and the Duke in the morning. He said. Not everybody else. And you had a whole... That's all the people that are in the room with us. I wasn't there that episode. Anyway, we are going to take our break. We will see you in five minutes.

Yes. We'll see you then. Take care. Bye-bye. Thank you. Goodbye.