High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #18 | Gifts of the Tiefling (Part 1)

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

The Green Tiefling Kalifris re-emerges with a gift for the team! 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. That's crypto on Kraken. Powerful crypto tools backed by 24-7 support and multi-layered security. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Non-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. Hello, everybody. It's High Rollers Day. In the words of R2-D2, Woo! Hello, everybody.

Welcome to... I knew it was going to be this kind of day. Hell yeah. Welcome to High Rollers D&D. We do not have a Kim today, but we're going to try our best to carry on without our curmudgeonly friend. Be strong.

Be strong for Mother. Be strong for Mother's parents strong for Mother Clarence. We can do it. Before we get on to the game, I also wanted to say a big, big thank you to everybody who came to see us at Insomnia last weekend. And another big thank you to Jennifer English and Aliana Baranova for joining us

for our special Insomnia side quest. The events of the side quest, as we're calling it, are technically canon, but when exactly it takes place is kind of ambiguous and vague and we'll kind of let you know. But also at some point. At some point. At some point, like a side quest.

When we can get Jen and Aljona back. Well, that was going to be my point as well, is Jen and Aljona characters are now canon in Althea. Just maybe they may return one day. I love them. I hope so. They are very cute. They're so nice. Oh, and you'll be happy to know

that we just received the footage. Great. That was going to be my next point, is that it will be coming up on YouTube and things like that. Soon, TM. You missed out. And then the last, last thing,

and you're going to be sick of me telling you about this until September, because, of course, tickets are still available for High Rollers Live. Woo! Yeah. It's our live show on the 17th of September at the Adelphi Theatre in London.

Good seats are selling quick, so if you can, try and book ASAP to secure yourself an awesome seat and come see us live in London for our very special own independent live show. It's going to be very epic. We're going to make sure that you remember the 17th night of September. Do you remember the 17th night of September? It's the High Rollers Live!

Pretender! But yeah, that is it for all of the announcements. Thank you all so much. We are gonna jump into the game. We'll take it away, run the intro, and we'll get on with today's game. Hello, and welcome back to Ulthea the Dragon Empire. Our heroes have found themselves embroiled in a number of strange mysteries and intrigues within the town of Ashen Rest,

as well as trying to navigate a myriad of curious characters that have taken an interest in them. The wealthy and popular Lamplighters Guild are connected to an infernal plot that involves using magical lights around the town to siphon negative emotions and transfer them to a planar realm of the Twin Pits, home to demons and devils. The abandoned inn the heroes were given as a gift by the Draconic Duke is haunted by the spirit of a murdered woman who cannot be laid to rest. These two events may be connected and likely there are more secrets still to be discovered. As Rowan and Xanthius suffer from the effects of a curse gained when encountering the ghost, they have attempted to

seek help from the local churches and temples. They also met with High Authoriter Eremia Willowthorne, an elderly halfling woman who has requested their help in solving the matter of the Lamplighters Guild. Just as they return to their haunted inn to discuss their next steps, Daisy grows suspicious of a messenger delivering a package, grabbing them as they attempt to move past. The guard's illusory appearance vanishes, revealing a green-skinned and bejeweled tifling called Caliphras, a suspicious figure the heroes have encountered in the village of Burnell at the start of their adventures.

You may now laugh. I'm sorry, but it was the force that you threw at me. Just before the intro finished, trot through his apple pencil at me. He didn't throw it, he launched it. He launched it. You know, he had to go. Can you give it back?

Immediately, before it even landed. For that entire recap, all I had was Rhiannon and Katie with their heads on the table, desperately trying not to laugh, as I had to read through the recap. I think we did a good job. You did a very good job. We could have gone away with it.

No, I can't. You had to open your mouth. No, because I keep visualising the throat. With a pen. Yeah, it really went. But also, I often talk about how I feel that Hyrolis is such an authentic D&D experience. And this is the kind of shit that other D&D shows

wouldn't ever show you, right? They cut this out. They cut all this out. If someone said we have D&D at home and it was a picture of us, I wouldn't be insulted. No, it'd be like, yeah, no, that's it, that's it.

We have D&D at home and it's awesome. You throw pens at each other, you put crumbs in your mate's coffee. Oh no, that's fucked up. Yeah. That was fucked up. So. Still really raw.

Too soon for that. So, you find yourselves out on the street in front of your haunted inn. Still currently the sign of the enticing devil out front. We need to change it. We should take that down. Yeah, we should take that down. Daisy has gone to grab this guard.

Her hand passes through the guard's kind of uniform and is now gripping the forearm of the green-skinned, bejeweled, very fabulous-looking tiefling in this universe, Caliphras, who you've encountered before. And yeah, they just sort of go like, hello again. I immediately let go and go, ah! They just sort of glance around.

You do see them sort of glance behind them, almost looking up and down the street. And they say, well, you've ruined the surprise. I was hoping. Ophelia, you had been given this by the guards. Is she at the door, like, door open? Yeah. Ophelia is stood at the

entrance to the inn. This guard came and said, like, oh, are you Sister Ophelia? Gave you the package and was happy to move on. And then you've seen the others interact, and that guard has now transformed into Caliphras. You ruined it. I was going to leave. It was going to be very sweet.

Ophelia, don't open whatever that is. What have you delivered to us? Why are you here? I'm... What do you think that I've... What, some sort of threat or danger? Well, we have been warned about you. You were also just disguised.

By who? Those delightful sisters that came to see you yesterday. Oh, you've been watching us too. Yeah. I'm meant to drop off my gift. And I couldn't do it yesterday when they were near. You've likely encountered that they wouldn't take too kindly to my business. But yes, you see their form kind of ripples again,

and they take on a much more muscular and masculine-looking form. Their muscles become more defined. They grow a few inches taller. Their hair shortens significantly, and you kind of hear this drop in the voice. Yeah, so what's the problem? Why exactly are you so suspicious? I mean, open it. It's just a gift.

Our previous encounter with yourself didn't exactly go wonderfully. Well, it went wonderfully on my perspective, but I understand that there might be some hard feelings, so that is why I thought I would make a little peace offering. And if I open this, would... Is anything going to happen? Are we going to owe you something for receiving such a gift? You see, like, a little twinkle in the eye.

Oh, I don't twinkle in the eye. Oh, I don't want to ruin the surprise. No, of course not. No, it's just a gift. There was a note inside to explain everything. Come now, I'm not that bad. I understand that, well, you helped me acquire something I needed last time. I thought that the very least I could do was to give you a little thank you. We didn't help you. You did. You stole it. You stole it from us. You stole it from us. You made things very complicated.

Ah, now, do remember I was there to reclaim something that belonged to somebody else. I was actually returning that artefact to its rightful owner. And who would that be? I told you, my client, the Baron. What's in the box?

What's in the box?! I wanna know! It's really not a big thing, but I thought it might be a little token of my appreciation. Gruff, what do you think? Oh, she's passed out. Gruff is just stood there, arms folded, judging Caliphras. Yeah, Gruff would probably say something along the lines of, because I did speak to Kim about this,

Gruff says, like, hello, my name is Gruff, I'm from Kaimoro. That makes sense. I don't know. Checks it. Whatever it is, I don't trust it. I don't trust this one. But if you want to open it, it's up to you.

Ophelia, do you want me to? I won't have any part in it. I won't have any part in it. If it's explosive or dangerous or fire comes out, I can withstand at least an initial blow. Okay. There's no skin off my back. Well, unless you turn around. Unless I turn around and it blows me up in my back. I just want to say, you're all my best friends. And if I die, I'll die happy. Am I dead?

You see what you see before you. That card should be in the lid, that top piece. It should just sit in the lid. For podcast listeners, we have an actual physical gift box. Open up. What is that? Some sort of vial. A potion. Very elaborate, very fancy looking potion vial.

Beautifully made. With a little note. Well printed. I do an arcana check on the vial. You can do an arcana check. That won't reveal exactly what it is or what it does, but you'll be able to get a sense of what kind of, you know, it might be.

Or keyed in. If it is magical. Seven, not great. Seven. Difficult to tell. Generally, to learn an item's properties, you would need the identify spell or somebody to tell you what it does.

With your arcane check, you don't get any immediate, like, you know, sense of any kind of magic or, you know, it's a potion, it could do a number of things. It's just a nice bottle. Yeah, it's very well made. It's like red liquid. It's difficult a nice bottle. Yeah, it's very well made. It's not like red liquid. It's difficult to tell.

The glass is tinted. The glass is tinted red as per the phys rep. This isn't the blood we were looking for last time, is it? He's shaking it, like tapping it. It feels a little strange saying it in front of the person that's written this, but okay. Delicately puts his hands over his ears. Has this very much more powerful frame, but the body language is still very sort of ambiguous,

like sort of, you know, very flamboyant. And just sort of puts their hands over their ears, pretending that they can't hear. They absolutely can still hear. To the brave and beautiful who helped me recover the Baron's property. Well, thank you. That's very nice, actually. Ophelia, don't be taken in by it.

No. I hope this gift, in brackets, which I give freely and without expectation of reimbursement, smooths over any ill will between us. Kisses, K. And there's a little love heart on the K. Well, isn't that just delightful? Just lovely.

Great handwriting, too. Thank you, thank you. A potion. Yes. One of the potions that I believe we were initially going to make a deal on. It is a potion of healing. a very rare and powerful thing. Quite, it's no small cost.

But like I said, I wanted to make sure that there was no ill will between us. I see talented and beautiful individuals such as yourselves to be, well, I would be a fool not to maintain good relations with you. Well, I suppose it seems somewhat beneficial, our end as well. I imagine there's knowledge that you have

that could help us. I, indeed. I mean, I am very familiar with many things and whilst I do have my doubters and the people that don't trust my line of work, I am very well acquainted with matters all across this realm and others. Can we keep the box?

Yes, you may keep the box. It's a nice box. It's a nice, very It's a very nice box. So many things. You see Caliphras kind of shifts back, and now their body, their clothing never changes, only their physical body, but it becomes more lithe and voluptuous,

and the hair grows long and becomes more kind of femme fatale, as she now sort of leans into you, Ophelia, sort of comes up close and just kind of whispers, it really is quite powerful, you know, darling. It's quite a gift. And there's no catch, no nothing in return, just a gift. Just a gift, a thank you. Like I said, the Baron was very pleased that I recovered his property,

and so I thought it only fair that you did assist me quite considerably, Like I said, the Baron was very pleased that I recovered his property, and so I thought it only fair that you did assist me quite considerably, that you are rewarded. We did do a very good job, though, didn't we? We have already paid the cost of this, I suppose. It's just I wish we'd done so willingly. Well, can't all have what we want in life, my darling? Would you like to take a look, Santheus, Daisy?

I mean, is it... You've seen potions of healing, I guess. You have... No, potions of healing are very rare. This is like... You know, this is something we discussed before. So, like, potions of vitality, which you guys have bought in the past, which kind of give you energy and temporary hit points, those kind of replace your standard D&D potions. A potion of healing this world. Now, you guys don't have identified,

but I'm just going to kind of let you guys know. Can you pass me the card, actually, Rhiannon? Of course. For the purposes of reference, we can say that somebody here can work out what this does. Normally, you will need to start getting stuff identified, right? I guess for different potions, but this is a relatively standard. So it's consumable.

It's like everything else. It's very rare. You drink it as a bonus action or as a reaction before you make a death saving throw. Oh, cool. The user regains HP equal to five times their level and they remove any of the following conditions. Bleeding, poison, dazed, paralyzed, blinded,

slowed, charmed, frightened, or stunned. This is more like the classic kind of drink a healing potion, you are back in the fight properly, rather than I got six hit points back. You know, this is a meant to be, you drink it and you are well above half HP, you are like properly back in the fight at that point. A potion that actually heals.

It is a potion that actually fully heals. But like I said, these are very rare. You will not get these very often. At the same time, I'm not going to give you another one until it is spent. Unless you can find the ingrained... You might be able to find ways to make them, for example. Right.

Or something like that. But you're not going to get, like, a random treasure potion of healing whilst you have one in stock. So think about that. It's a little bit metagame-y. I drink it now. But I want to encourage you guys

to, like, not just hold onto it forever. Like, if you're in a position where you're like, fuck, we really need to use it, use it, because then you'll be able to get more in the future, right? Cool. Can we give it to other people as well? You it's it's an action to feed it to somebody else like same as normal but bonus action to drink yourself okay all right um but and also

like i said if you have to be the one carrying it to use it as that reaction when you fail a death when you just before you make a death saving throw so this is that idea of like that heroic moment right you're on the ground you're're bleeding out. Oh, my friends are in the fire, I'm dying. And then you come back in. So remember you do death saving throws at the start of your turn. So if you drink this as a reaction, it means you immediately

get to take the rest of your turn. Oh, that's a nice way of doing it. Do we know how much this thing is potentially worth? A lot of gold. A lot of gold. A lot of gold. A lot of gold. More than we've, like... You would be talking, like, thousands of gold. Really?

Yeah. Well. They're very, very rare. If you want to sell it, you can sell it. Like, obviously, you can do with it what you wish. And this is an authentic, real... Yes? Oh, sorry, she's like...

Yes, of course it is. Okay. Well, it is in... I see it as this. It's in my interest to make sure that you're, that we have an opportunity to work together in the future. And what better way to show that than something that might come in handy should one of you be in mortal peril? And where did this come from?

Did you purchase this? Does this come... this oh i have a supply of things like this i told you before i'm a broker i broker in goods in items but also information and i've amassed a collection of little trinkets and gifts that i've been given and sort of things like that and she's the whole time cliforice is of like, almost like curling around Ophelia, like as she's even talking to the rest of you, like she's almost kind of, not like touching Ophelia, but getting very close and sort of purring,

like as she moves around you, sort of dances around, like very gracefully. And is very obviously not being flirtatious, but is being playful with you specifically, because you're the one who reacted to being called beautiful. Like, she's almost, like, gone, ah, okay. A weakness. Let's go.

But it's definitely, like, kind of, like, gesturing to, like, looking towards the others as well. Is ignoring Gruff. Like, Gruff is just, like, don't trust her. Like, you know, folded arms. It's just ignoring Gruff. And is currently, like, looking at the four of you. Well, I can't stay for too long, obviously.

I don't want to be found out by any of your new friends. We were asked to inform them the moment we encounter you again. Oh, well then I must make a very dashing exit, surely. Unless you wanted to maybe keep us a little secret. Keep one little secret? Just one, Xanthius. And what do we get out of keeping one little secret?

My friendship. And what did your friendship get us? Why do you want to work with us in the future? With, on what? I don't know. Opportunities come by my door, darling. There might be something where maybe I need some strong, strapping individuals to come and... Am I strong?

Yes. To come and help me recover something or maybe help me find something or protect me if I'm being endangered. I think you can look after yourself. I'm good at certain things. I'm not good at everything. Who is?

That's why it's great to have friends, isn't it? You see them kind of shift again and they take on that more non-binary, androgynous kind of persona. Well, now, if there was anything that you needed my help with, you would need to, if there's anything that, you know, my services, if there's anything I can be an assist with, or anything you think I should know, now's the time.

I'm not going to be sticking around here for too long, not with those ecliptic order ladies wandering around. Do we let them know? We do have an issue. We do. I've heard about this business with the Lamplighters Guild at Walfall. No, it's... Quite a mess.

It's the curse of this place that we've inherited. Ooh, a curse. It's quite nasty. Mm, curses can be. Ooh. Curse of harrowing. Curse of harrowing. Curse of harrowing? On two of us. I've heard of it.

Curses aren't really my thing. I might know someone that I could put the feelers out for. It's okay. We've got some. We've got avenues. We have avenues. All right. But if you want me to, I can look into it. Do you know any good contractors or builders?

Well, I do, but I don't think quite for the Monday... I look over at a shutter falling off. The contacts I know for that sort of thing, they're the sort of more... If you were building something magical or something like that, then yes, I certainly would know people. I know a few gallop-der and elementals. I heard broken, maybe you had like a supply of timber or...

I don't really deal with the mundane, my big strong friend. Big green. I don't really have those sort of mundane contacts. If you wanted to build some sort of wizard's tower or you wanted a magic basement that can be blocked off or something like that yes i know people for those sorts of things but i could certainly depends if you wanted your shrine to have some sort of innate magical nature to it yes perhaps you wanted something oh i don't know from oh the graylands or something like that um i might know

a few people who can do something with that. How do you know that? The Greylands? Well, I told you, I'm a broker. I deal with... He, like, looks around, almost play for... Who else knows about the Greylands? Not many in Orthea.

Not many in the Empire, I should say. But those of us who investigate the planar realm are certainly familiar with it. I have a contact who I do business with from time to time. I told you, I'm a broker. I broker relics, information, magical essences. What about the lamplighters? Does your connection have something to do with the evil? Oh, are you suspicious of me little one? Yes! Oh, I love it! No, I've got nothing, no, they're nothing to do with me. I've heard some rumours, but they're nothing, not my business.

What rumours have you heard? Oh, just the things that you've been dealing with. There was some attack. It's maybe some sort of demon or devil or some such. Only really what I've learned from finding out where you were so I could give my gifts. But no, I'm afraid that I've not any business with them, I'm afraid. Nothing going on in the Twin Pits? Oh, I didn't say that I don't have anything going on in the Twin Pits. I have lots of contacts all over the planar realms,

but not with regards to your little problem. Now, I could try and find something out for you, but that would be a work matter, and we would need to talk fee and contract and all of that sort of business. Oh, don't be so suspicious. I'm not a devil. I'm not going to lock you in some infernal contract and trick you.

I honestly thought you were a devil. I apologise. No! I'm a ti... I'm from here! I'm from Ulfheia! I'm so sorry. I... No, it's all right. I'm a tifling. But I... I've made my deal with another plain-art being. But I'm not some devil. I'm not in league. I don't conjure up contracts that are meant to trick you or deceive you. I am a businessman, a business person. I deal,

give and take, that sort of thing. That's all it is. Think of me as a courier, a gatherer. A thief. A commissioner. No! Thief, thief, thief. I'm not a thief. I might know a couple of thieves. Literally stole from us just recently. Now is it stealing if it didn't belong to you? I don't think it counts. That was the Baron's property,

and I told you before you went into those mines what my purpose was. Now, yes, did I turn invisible and follow you and yes did I take the thing from you. You stole it! You stole it! He kind of like gives you a little sort of like well. What did you get from the Baron for you to so willingly give us a quite expensive and rare potion? Oh the Baron and I have an ongoing arrangement. Like I said, he's one of my main clients.

And who have you made a deal with? What planar entity have you made a deal with? That's quite personal. Make a persuasion check for me, Daisy. With disadvantage, because you're being a bit hostile. It's not good. Get ready for the... Forgot to do... Get ready for like a 45.

Eight. Would you... You wouldn't have spent a fate point on that, would you? I don't think. No. He says... And you see for a moment, and I don't think this needs to be an insight check,

I think like Gruff and a few of you have got it, a moment of seriousness have got it. A moment of seriousness for the first time kind of flashes over Caliphras. That's a rather personal story. Maybe if we were better friends, I would tell you it, but... It could go a long way to making us trust you more if we knew who you were associated with. I will tell you this. My deal is with one of the nobles

of the Primordial Islands, the Primal Islands, an elemental. And you can see that whilst Caliphras is like a green-skinned Tiefling, their horns have this very rocky appearance to them, and they're decorated in lavish jewels and gemstones. And anybody can make an Arcana check for me. Sure. What is this?

This is like planar knowledge. But anybody who's got proficiency in Arcana can make a roll. Oh, yeah. I like that. Oh. i got a 12 12. do you not have a proficiency in it no oh okay can i ask nim uh yes yes in fact i'll come to that in a minute because nim will absolutely have an answer for that okay 12. yes um it's pretty obvious to guess given the fact that clifras has told you that they've made some sort of deal with an elemental plane an elemental plane of being a primal island being.

Judging by the rocky appearance of their horns and the gemstones, likely some sort of earth genie, like a Tao or something like that. Okay. They're generally the sort of senior or more powerful earth elemental figure, like some sort of powerful earth Tao. Right. They are the sort of earth genies, basically. Okay. And Nim basically tells you the same thing, Daisy, as well. Like, judging...

Nim would tell you the Prime Isles have the four elements, earth, wind, fire, and air. There are, very much like your draconic nobles, there are a dozen different nobles and barons and baronesses and counts and countesses of that elemental land. It is likely this Tiefling has made a deal with one of the powerful earth genies of the realm. What are the primal islands?

Well, you know the Greylands being one of the primal, the planar realms associated with the dead and death. The primal islands are that of elemental forces. Fire, earth, wind, water. They are born a sort of, I wouldn't call it a sea as such, but they are kind of disjoined by a realm of force. And they are, they war with each other. They war with the other planar realms, but they are also known as traders and diplomats and emissaries. We do a lot of business deals.

Oh, fascinating. Yes. And that is why I'm in the business as I am. One of my services that I perform for my patron is that I help facilitate these deals. And through that, I've built a network of connections, and I know lots of people, and that is where I met the Baron, and so forth, and so forth, and I do services for them. So and so. That makes sense. Yes, indeed. I suppose it is like being a courtier to one of the draconic lords here,

or somewhere from your homeland, perhaps. I'm sure you have courtiers. Oh, yes. Assistants to nobles and things like that, yes. And how often do you use people like us as tools to get to your goal? Oh, that's a very strong wording, Xanthius. Tools? Using people? No, no, no. I make... Business deals. Nothing I would do with you if we were to work together in the future. I would make sure that there is some beneficial,

mutual benefit to us both. You get something, I get something. You get information, I get information. That sort of thing. That's the way that it works. That's how trading is done. It's give and take, supply and demand. But very often I work here in the Dragon Empire. I work with planar beings. It's mainly wizards. They're always after something from the planar realms.

A mote of elemental fire, blood from the Greylands, from a vampiric count, or who heavens knows, some of that material they have in the Lucent Peaks that the Celestials use for their spells and weapons and that sort of thing. Somebody's always after something, and I usually know someone who knows someone who can get it or knows where to get it or some such and Sometimes people want information magic spells rituals that sort of thing

So if there was something you wanted to help with your little Lamp lighters problem. I could try Are you looking for something at the minute? Am I looking for something? No, no my I'm going to take a little bit of the minute. Am I looking for something? No. I'm going to take a little bit of time just to figure out what I want to do next. I've not any emergent orders or anything like that.

Okay. If we did want to find you, how would we? I suppose we'd just call out your name in the middle of the road. I wouldn't do that. Especially not here. Well, that's just it. I mean, I was going to leave it to fate to see when we next intervened. I wouldn't do that. Especially not here. Well, that's just it. I mean, I was going to leave it to fate to see when we next intervened.

I don't really have a way for you to contact me again, so if there is something, I suggest you think of it now. This is a sort of limited time offer until I leave. Unless you find in the future... You know, there are things such as sending spells. You can send those. You know me now. If you have access to that spell, you can always try and contact me if you want it. I'm trying to remember the quest log.

It was get something material from both of the twin pits to see which of the... A piece of felite. A piece of felite to see which one it was. Blackwing could be able to make a device that will track any lights that have been affected by this enchantment. Which Daisy knows and has told people, but doesn't want to bring it up for work with Glyphosate. And you don't have to.

Yeah, no, I'm just trying to remember. The information from the quest log is with you. Yeah, well, for that quest. Yeah, and then the lamplighters, you have dinner tonight. And then there's also any personal stuff. This is like, if one of you wants to be like, can I have a private word, you could. Sorry.

But yeah, Caliphras, they probably, they morph ever so slightly, this time taking on sort of like shorter, almost like coming down to like daisy height. Their hair kind of gets moved up. They bring their hands up, almost forming into sort of like two twin-tailed kind of like hairstyle. But their form is still very lithe and thin and small,

not like the voluptuous femme fatale, but this time just more sort of dainty. Well, I don't have all day. Are you... You want us to keep a secret about you from the Inquisitors. Are you scared of them? Well, I wouldn't say scared. More that I think you would be inviting

a lot of trouble on yourself as well. Because then they're going to try and track me down, they're going to ask you where you saw me, what you you know they're going to think that we've done a deal if you say anything to them and yes it's trouble for me they're going to start trying to find me and all of that and it's just troublesome i mean look i get it they're worried about the souls of mortals yada yada yada, I'm fine, I've accepted my deal, I know what's gonna happen to me, and I'm cool with it. And isn't that my choice? I suppose.

Can't argue with that. I'm like, there's so much that I'm so close to saying that will almost eke into them giving me information and therefore I now owe them. Do we want to have a private word, perhaps? Between all of us? Well, they'll hear us anyway, so. If you want, you can go in your little haunted inn. I will give you five minutes before I leave.

Okay. All right. They cast a spell and disguise self themselves again to look like that courier that they were before. And they go over, they cross the street. In fact, they go to a latte fun. They wander down. They'll literally, they'll be like,

the guard says, the courier's like, I'll be back in five minutes, and then just goes to the little cafe. Okay, well... Giving you five minutes. A powerful ally, for sure, but... A very charming ally as well, I must say. Can we workshop Big Green as like a nickname?

I love that, i thought that was i want to ask tom go back and and play the non-canon card that did not happen big green no no caliphras 100% called him big damn it yeah oh that's real now green giant what about that maybe jolly green giant. Jolly green giant. I love corn. We like small yellow vegetables. Yeah. Anyway. Be honest, how much does anyone trust this person? Oh, not at all.

No, not at all. Not at all? Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all.

Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. No, we wouldn't ask them for any information. If we did a deal with Caliphras when Gruff wasn't here, Kim would be so mad at us. No, this is a message I had from Kim.

Kim specifically said, and I can role play this as Gruffydd, they can do whatever they want their characters to do. Gruff will just not be part of it. But he will also not be mad at them. He's like, it's their choice to do what they want. And Gruffydd says exactly that. Won't be mad at me.

You can do what you want. If you think that that tiefling has got good information and can give us anything useful, but I'm not going to be part of it. He's got a little bit of freedom. I think we should ask Caliphras to kill Gruff. She's OK with it. She's OK with it. Well, looking at the facts of what we have,

I also don't fully trust them, Well, looking at the facts of what we have, I also don't fully trust them, although they are very kind and complimentary, which is lovely to hear. They have a way of getting on to your good side, sure. Either way, we don't have any connections with the Twin Pits or anything like that, and I have no idea where we would acquire metal from there. So, unless we have any better leads,

this is currently our only one. Even if we were to get that, though, how would we then tell people how we got it? Here's some stuff from the Twin Pits, and we've discovered that this is what's powering the things. I can't imagine Blackwing cares too much. Blackwing doesn't care. It's more the Inquisitors I'm scared of.

They're already asking a lot of questions. What? I put it in my loot. It's hollow. Well, sure, but... No one ever looks in the loot. I've got so many snacks in there. Either way, let's say...

Oh, my God. It really fucks with the sound. You've been holding out snacks? A lot of them I forgot many snacks in there. Either way, let's say, Oh my god. It really fucks with the sound though. You've been holding out snacks? A lot of them I forgot that they were there and they're not good anymore. I was gonna say, the loot is starting to, Is it? Mm, stink.

Yeah. I should clean it out. I'll restring it and get it out. You should. I thought it was just sweaty. No. No, it's food? I put meat in there and,

Meat? Yeah. Anyway, we've got five minutes. Come on. Okay, right's food? I put meat in there. Meat? Meat? Yeah. Anyway, we've got five minutes. Okay, right. Focus. If we need hard evidence against the lamplighters in order to assist the Inquisitors with their investigation, I don't think getting any materials from Caliphras is going to help us at all.

We'll need to declare where we found it, how we found it, who we got it from. And they've already said they do not want us dealing with Caliphras. I don't think we can work with them, at least on this regard. If there's anything someone else wants from them... No, I can't say it. I don't want to taint

any of this. What? Don't say that and then just not say it. No, I was just going to help it. I'm sorry. What? You are assuming that you can trust the Inquisitors.

True. I don't, I don't. But what I'm saying is I don't want to get on the bad side of the Inquisitors as well by association of dealing with Caliphras. Well, look at it this way. I guess the worst thing that could happen, if we get on the wrong side of the Inquisitors, we get kicked out of Ashen's Rest.

We maybe get put in prison. If we get on the wrong side of Caliphras, we could be in the hands of some sort of infernal being that they're sworn to. I don't know, this astral presence that they've sworn their service to. The Elemental, yes. The Elemental. Who knows what could happen if we get on the wrong side of them.

So... So what are we stuck? Are you saying we have to deal with both of them? Well, I'm just saying that's where it lies, I suppose. In that regard, it's like prison or hell. Maybe we don't make a decision today. Or none! Or none! We don't have to make a decision, exactly. We don't have to say yes immediately. Yes.

Let's see if our leads can get us anywhere first. As in none of them, but we can do other things for now. Okay, it's just... He really wants it. Well, no. I'm going to clarify as well. If you don't ask Caliphras for help now, they're leaving.

They're going to leave town. You might encounter them again in the future, but that's going to be down to fate. It's going to be down to just luck if you're in the same place, or if you can get hold of a sending spell, and you would have to try and find a way to contact Caliphras or hope that you bump into them again if you don't ask for them for something now,

which is totally fine. If you're just like, nope, we don't want anything to do with you, then that's fine, they leave. Well, at the very least, we can't get the material from the Twin Peaks from Caliphras. That will not work. What if we instead ask for a method of getting us to the Twin Peaks instead.

I don't, no, no. Nip is like, ah! Don't! You just hear like a no in your mind, Daisy. If you do that, I can't come with you and I strongly encourage none of you to go there. Oh. The devil we thought was bad enough,

the demon devil shadow figure. Yeah, imagine that, but times like, more than you can even think of, the number doesn't exist, it's so big. That much. That does sound pretty bad. Okay. No. Or maybe, all I'm trying to suggest is,

instead of getting the thing that the inquisitors would question us about, is instead, you know, go some way... The means of how... Yes. It's a very valid line of thinking. We could. They're investigating the devices that we gave them anyway. What if they discover that... We can say that Nightwing looked at it,

because they know Blackwing. They told us already... Well, we told them that we'd looked at it, because they know Blackwing, they told us already, well, we told them that we'd spoken to them, so we can say they suggested it was from the Twin Peaks, and then we have passed the information on to the city, to the woman, and the Teists and the scary and we can go, here's the information. Wash handies. Haunted inn. So I'm trying to piece together you're saying not to deal with Gallifreys at all.

Well, I'd prefer not to because I just feel like we're probably going to get screwed over massively. Okay. Given that they already stole from us and they're denying stealing from us, but they definitely did steal from us because they were invisible and stole it.

But this is very nice, though. It's extremely rare. They didn't have to come back and give us this. Yes, but it's a trick. It's a big trick. But think about if we, for example, went down the path of returning this artifact that was stolen from us to the Baron ourselves.

What reward could we have gotten from that? They had taken from us, and that's the scrap we've been given. We didn't know that the Baron was even part of this. No, true, but it's an opportunity that was stolen from us. So in that case, they did steal something. I wouldn't say so. Our future. Yeah, we wouldn't, yeah.

I'm in disagreement. Okay. I think that Caliphris was just doing a job. By stealing. Without Caliphris, there would have been no Baron in our minds at all. No. All it was is us trying to find an artifact and save the town. I'm just trying to find a way to make it sound like they're a thief.

They are a thief! And a scoundrel. You sound like they're a thief. They are a thief! And a scoundrel. You sound like a witch. They are a scoundrel! And a dance in your words, your magical words are out. And a feckless dollard, frankly. A dollard!

A feckless dollard. I think there are two things Caliphras is not, and they are both feckless and being a dollard. They are full of feck. They are full of feck, and they are very witted. Riddled with feck. They are full of feck, and they are very riddled with feck. All right, so we need to... I also don't want to get on the wrong side of the Inquisitors,

more so than we already are. I don't want to swear loyalty to a being that I'm... I feel like I would be doing the Greyfriar a disservice. You hear a sort of... Oh, OK. And you see the courier is, like, outside holding his little coffee. Quite good, isn't it? The courier looks at it and says, in Caliphras's voice,

which is a little strange because it's such a different voice, it's just like, yes, the delightful lady who served it to me was rather wonderful. Delicious. So, have we come to a decision? It's very difficult. Is it? Yes.

I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean it to be. It should be quite simple. We're stuck between a rock and a hard place. And often I like to be stuck between rocks. But in this instance, the rocks mean something else. This is an analogy. You've got this right. You're doing very well, keep going. You've got this right.

Usually I do this to song. I'd be very happy to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, but that's just me. I'm sure you would. I love rocks. I pick up a pebble from the floor and just give it to her. My point is... Hold that, it might help. Comfort pebble. Grounding pebble. Comfort pebble. We, you know our situation.

We have inquisitors breathing down our neck and they're very scary, you're very scary, and your dealings are scary. I'm scary? Well, not necessarily you, but the words that come out your mouth and the barren that you deal with. They're lovely and sweet,

but sometimes beneath the sweet surface lies sourness. Oh no, no, my dear, no. Nothing but sweetness, sugar and honey and cream. Okay. Are we sure we're doing it? Are we doing the right thing? That sounds nice. Are we doing the right thing? I feel like I need to, I feel like... I don't know what I'm doing.

Oh, it seems like you're so conflicted. I'm so confused, Rowan. I inquisitors and decide if we deal with you, we have to deal with them. Do you? Why? Because they're inquisit. That's why it is what they do. It's in their name.

Well, but who says that they've got this other problem to deal with? Why do you think that they're going to... What, do you think they're going to come look into your minds to try and track me down, or...? I suppose. I'm sure you're all clever. I think they would do exactly that, actually. But you know that, so just avoid them.

I got on their bad side by giving them a blessing. Well, then even more reason for you to avoid them, surely. They've also scoured my mind as well. Well, then there you go. Even more reason for you not to deal with these horrible individuals. Invasive, plying into your minds and taking offence at your blessings. Why would you want to deal with them? They did take offence at my blessing.

It was goodwill. Just avoid them. You could just avoid them. I'm so confused, Anthea. It sounds like, my friends, it sounds like there is something you would like me to do, but you're worried about these inquisitors being involved. Why not just ask me what you would like me to do? I will tell you what options there might be, and then you can decide.

Give us 30 seconds. Oh, you're pushing it, but all right. We could just ask them about the material. What do we do? the only thing they could reasonably help us with is this Twin Peaks metal Twin Peaks?

Twin Peaks? I call it Twin Peaks it's called Twin Peaks Twin Pits Twin Peaks wait Twin Pits Lucent Peaks

that's where I got it mixed up. The Twin Lucents. Yeah. The Lucent Pits. Lucent Pits. My favourite show. Gotta like. Gotta like.

Gotta like. If we had this material, how would we possibly explain away how we found this thing? We avoid them. We can't avoid the Inquisitors. Why not? You said that's what they do, they inquisit. The Liffers said we can.

We can't. They know where we are. They also talked to the Duke. You can lie. I'm really mad at it. Xanthus is quite good. Thank you. I saw straight through one of my eyes.

If I may, if I may. That was not 30 seconds, go on. It sounds like that there is something that I could help you with. Now, if this thing is for your, this lamplight problem, which I kind of take the assumption that it is. If you were to provide a thing which could help resolve it and you were to say, rather than going to the inquisitors, take it to your duke, take it to the authorities

and those sorts of things, surely they would be pleased with the result and perhaps the details of exactly whom and what and where, those could be sort of nudged to the side, sort of ends justify the means, that sort of thing. And then the inquisitors would be sort of left in a hot spot, wouldn't they? Just a suggestion, just a little suggestion.

It's very good, it's very good. Seems to work. The sweet words. Honey and cream. Why do we like honey and cream? I'm gonna look in my food for some snacks. You just see that, sort of examining their nails, Caulifress will look at you, Ophelia,

and just runs one down their lips, as they say, they're like honey and cream. Ophelia blushes. And then just the tail kind of swishes and looks back to the vampires and Daisy. Oh, getting so tired. I really must be going. I think, I don't know how much more time I can spend.

I think, I think we should do, okay. Since we are undecided, I think probably the safest course of action is probably to say no for now, perhaps. Unless, Xanthius, you're making a face. Xanthius, you're making a face. How else are we going to get it? We may never see Caliphras again until fate. Until fate brings us together once more.

Who knows how long? We have to acquire a material. What material? It's a material from a place that we are not going to disclose as of yet. I would need some information. I need to know what, so I can think about where I might be able to obtain it. And the price. And there would be a matter of fee, but we can talk about that later. I glance at Gruff.

Gruff just folds their arms. I've said all I will. I'm going to go upstairs. Daisy's going to go and stand next to Gruff and fold her arms. Come on, come on, you're getting... These decisions are so tough. Oh, they are, they are, they are.

I'll stay down here to make sure I know what happens, Gruff, I'll tell you, but I'm firm against it. You're firm against it. All right, so, yeah, Gruff is going to leave the room so that there's not the sort of intimidating, like, Gruff angle. Also because Kim said that Gruff would... Daisy doesn't look intimidating in any way, shape, or form. But she's firm because Nim is against this

and has disagreed with this person, so Daisy is like, nope, I can't, because Nip gets bad vibes. But Daisy, how else would we get this thing that we're looking for? I don't know, I'm just, as you do what you want, I'm just gonna stand here. I'm just gonna stand here. We're just talking. We're just talking.

Santheus, what are you after? Tell me. If I, I might not even be able to get it, whatever it is that you're so worried about, I might not be able to obtain it. This might all be for nothing. It's a kind of medal from the place. What was that, Big Green?

It's a good name, isn't it? We need to go and claim it. It's a particular metal. I'm coming up with nicknames for all of you, by the way. Really? Oh no. Looks over at Daisy. Little Ruby. Well, I simply must know. No!

My wonderful bloodstone. Excuse me a minute. Ophelia just turns around. Percival! Percival shuffles over. Ophelia screams into Percival's robe. Percy's quite hollow. He's got a bucket of water.

Even louder. He comes out of his mouth It's echoes. It's an amplifier. Even louder. It comes out of his mouth. Just echoes through the bones. If we were to use your talents in acquiring a certain metal from the Twin Pits. Fairlight. Fairlight, indeed. Do you know which of the two pits you need it from?

It does differ. Oh. Hang on. Out of character, we would need a bit from both to find out which pit is involved. That's how we need to do it. It needs to be the matching type to whatever they're using,

whichever energy it's connected to. We need to assess one each. So you would need it from Diablos and the other as well. Very good. Does it matter size, quantity? Are we talking a small amount? The answer is that it doesn't need to be a large amount. It's just for research.

Do we actually need both? Yeah, you do. We need to figure it out. It would be a 50-50 gamble. But if we got it wrong. If you got the wrong one, it wouldn't do anything. Well, yeah, exactly. But then you wouldn't be able to track the lights.

Yeah, you're right, of course. Like, the thing that Blackwing thinks they can build would almost be like a compass, like a detector, that you can be like, this light's got the same enchantment on it. But also, it might do more than that. It might just detect the presence of that magic. Sure.

You know what I mean? So yeah, we do need both. Um, Caliphras will, you know, they drop the Disguise Self at this point. Ah. Felite is difficult to acquire here. The demons and the devils, the fiends protect it, and the Helian Throne protects it quite severely. It is used in all of their weapons and armor and their various machinery, but... I do know where you could acquire some.

I wouldn't be able to get it for you, but I know where you could acquire it, and I could help make arrangements. So there is some in Althea? Sort of. I know an arms dealer. She was a former succubi that was, the succubi are sort of the favored of the Helian throne.

They're one of the few fiends that can journey between the two pits and they act as emissaries and spies and assassins. This one, well, her ambition was a bit too much and she tried to make a play for the Helian throne itself. The throne did not like that very much, so she was punished and cast out. So she's now become sort of an infernal arms dealer. She trades with other planar realms and indeed mortals here in Althea, trading with devilish and demonic weaponry. I know some places that she does business here, but they are demi-planes, but they are connected to points across Ilmera and the Dragon Empire. So I could, and I know a few people that work with her,

I could set up a deal between Venmira and some other third parties, say that they want to buy some felite, maybe some other things. Then I could tell you where they were going to meet, help you get there. And then you could to help you get there. Then you could

take things that are a threat to ordinary people and make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands. You could steal them, is what I'm saying. You could steal them from the bad people. And don't believe me, I'm not playing a game here. Vanmira is awful. She is one of the worst. Whatever she's trading to whomever, it will not go well for anybody else. You would be stopping bad things from happening, I assure you of that. Bought by assassins and thieves and

mercenaries and thugs, that sort of thing. You definitely wouldn't be doing anybody innocent any harm, I'll tell you that. But the only place I know where we could arrange this meeting, I would have to teleport you there. It's in the Suncrest Isles. But I could teleport you back. Do we want to enrage yet one more person? Do you say that in character as well?

Oh, yeah. Well, that is something you will need to consider. Venmira is... She has individuals. She works with a number of people, and if she found out that you and I did this, it would be bad for all of us. But you don't get very far in life without making the odd enemy.

If it does sweeten the pot a little, I imagine that it would not just be this felite. You might be able to acquire yourself some substantial wealth, some relics, enchanted items, scrolls, that sort of thing as well. If you're going to go about investigating things in Medlin and affairs, it would be wise for you to make sure that you are well-funded, and this would be an opportunity to do so. Dangerous, but an opportunity.

I can't help but feel a little concerned. Mm. That is the only thing I can think of, the only way to obtain some felite without... I mean, sure, give me months, years, maybe I could acquire some, but in a pinch, this is the only way I can think of. Hmm. I don't like the idea of stealing, regardless of where it's from.

Very well. If it's a no, I'll take my leave. I personally don't feel well suited for a... Heist. A heist. Well, you could see it as a heist or a smash and grab. Bust in,

kick a few fiends in the face, some thugs, grab what you can, get out. But it's up to you. It's your choice. I do feel like the risks are potentially too high. And risk mitigation is a big part of this business. If this is not to your favour,

then we will simply part ways and hope that we encounter one another once again. But this is the only thing I can think of. And I would need to know now if you wish to go ahead with it. I'll need to make arrangements, I'll need to meet with you tomorrow to teleport you there. Daisy, I think this is probably best a question for you since we're less likely to be the ones

sneaking around, picking up objects, getting away without anyone spotting them. Well, it's not all on me. Well, it's not all on you, no, but I'm just saying that you'd be the best at it. Well, I don't really particularly want to go to a downy plane when there's lots of fiends and horrible things.

So a no? A no's good, a no is fine. No is good, I'm not putting it all on your shoulders. If I'm honest, I'm erring towards no myself. I'm just saying that if you think you can do it, then that changes things. I don't think I can do anything. I don't know how I'm still here.

Yeah, me too. What about Daisy or yourself? Me. Just to clarify, he's being, he's admonishing himself, not somebody else, yeah. Not Daisy, yeah. I realise how cruel that sounded. I wouldn't take offence. Okay.

It's the same. And shall we take a vote then? All in favour of yes, raise your hand. A very decisive decision it it seems, then. Very well. Well. Regrettably, of course. Oh, of course, of course.

It is a shame. Like I said, I imagine that you would have done a great thing to take whatever arms and weapons and materials that Venmire and her allies have away, but I understand. One must be careful and cautious, and yes, if it is not worth the risk, then you should not do it.

That's the creed I live by. Something is not worth the risk, I certainly wouldn't put myself in danger. I'm glad you understand. Of course, of course. Well, in that case, enjoy your gift and I hope that our paths cross once more. My delightful friends.

Ta-ta, darlings. and I hope that our paths cross once more. My delightful friends. Ta-ta, darlings. Goodbye. Blood's kiss. Bye. Disguise self and leaves. Leaving you with a brief moment. I feel bad, but also Daisy wouldn't play those characters.

Anything with fiends and stuff, she's not gonna walk into it because of Nym. We're already concerned about the enemies we might make just in Ashen Rest. If we start stealing things from multi-dimensional, demi-plane-wandering arms dealers of devilish delights...

I'm just going to do this just to wind up Tom out of character, but imagine the loot you could have gotten. My dude? My brother in Christ? Demon-infused. It's like a whole thing, man. Demon-infused thing. Daisy's out.

Devil and demon-infused weapons. You think that didn't go through my mind? Gallifrey's come back! It might not have been. Might have just been in China. I mean, I don't know. Might have just been in China. Oh, I mean, the risk would certainly be worth the reward,

but, like... Oh, yeah, no, Rhea's yes. That's the thing. Firm yes. Oh, I'm kind of happy. Yeah, yeah, but Ophelia, like... Christopher's struggling being Rowan at the moment. Yeah.

There's just no way that we would have accepted that. I think this is a way of looking at it, right? There's no way that Nim would have let Daisy wander into something like that. One thing we have done is not cut off communication entirely. No, you've said no to this, but that doesn't mean that it's not. We have got a sending scroll. Caliphras knows something we want.

And you've got a sending scroll. If you suddenly go like, fuck, actually we need to do this, whatever. Also, Caliphras has something on us now. They know that we need it. Maybe, yeah. I mean, yeah, maybe. One thing I'm going to say as well is, with things like Nym as well, right? Yeah. We can always make it so that

Nym would be like, well, I'll go for it if you want. If there's something where you're like, oh, I really want to do it but I feel that conflicted. I just don't feel like this is what... When teleporting off of Althea is involved, I don't think that Nym would feel like... Oh, to be clear, it would be teleporting to the Suncrest Isles, and then you would be going into a demiplane somewhere in that city. But you have to go to a demiplane to do it.

It would be going into a demiplane, yeah. Then I don't think that's something that... No, I'm just... I want to make it clear that there's always ways to justify the in-character stuff if you want to. Oh, demi-plane, yeah. Then I don't think that's something that... No, I'm just... I want to make it clear that there's always ways to justify the in-character stuff if you want to. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, like, I don't want you to feel forced by this NPC that you can't do it.

Do you know what I mean? All right, yeah, with that, yeah, you guys watch as the courier makes their way out. You watch them walk down the street, and then they turn towards the far gate, and they are getting out of town. They are not going to be lingering around, especially not with Maladie and Belladicta around.

They are not going to be risking that. What was the name of this arms dealer? They referred to them as Venmira. You didn't get a surname, they just called them Venmira. What if that was a way... No. Go on. Work the thought.

I want to hear it. We know the name of this person. We know they have what we're looking for. We know the Suncrest Isles. We know the Suncrest Isles. If you wanted to, you could have had Caliphras set up a meeting with them directly for you if you wanted to. Right.

You could be like, rather than trying to steal it, could we just try and buy it from the arms dealer? You could try and do that. Absolutely. That would be basically going like, we'll make a, we'll do a deal with the lawful evil, succubus please. That's like rather than stealing from a bad guy, you're

like, no, no, no, let's make a deal. That's better. Like, you know, it's maybe less of an enemy, but it would probably be the less morally good thing to do do you know what I mean yeah what if we just

cut out the middle one yeah you could do yeah if you want to try and do that you can try and track it down that would require you could try

something like sending or trying to find a contact like somebody else who knows them or the contact on the plane spell, things like that. Sending could work as a 5% chance.

Wouldn't the lamplighters know how to get it? Maybe. If they put it in the lamps. They are getting fell out from somewhere. Yeah. Well, they're investigating at the moment. And we have dinner tonight. They've got people in custody, but yeah.

Also, to make it clear as well, the Lamplighters don't necessarily have Felite themselves. The enchantment that they're using, Felite is like a metal that's bound to the Planar Realm, to the Twin Pits. So by using the metal, Blackwing can create something which will track anything which has been touched by that same magic, right?

But maybe they do have Felite. Maybe the Lamplighters do have some deal or something like that, and they have a connection that can find this stuff, or they have a supply of it maybe hidden somewhere. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, maybe we can find out more anyway

at our lovely meal tonight with Tobias and Jaina. Let's take a step back. Yes, take a breather. We're getting involved in grand events here, and we have barely made any dent here in Ashen's Rest in terms of us being here that long. I would say almost the exact opposite.

I mean, we've made a dent. You know what I mean? It's not a good dent. We're dropping the ocean. Yes. But we are making waves. I'm worried that we might be making too big a wave for us to handle at the moment. Maybe we can refocus our efforts

on doing some things that are good for us as well. Such as removing your curse. And removing your curse. And getting a little bit of money so even if we were to go, we'd at least renovate the enticing devil for the next of kin. A legacy. He wants to build a legacy. No, for the rest of our friends to live.

Sure. In our death. We're not, this is not going to be the thing that takes us down. I need to write a will. Don't write a, well, write a will, fine. That's just prudent practice. That's good. Go ahead. It's good to do. It's responsible. I like the idea that

although you haven't spent any time in Goldai, like Gold Dragons and Goldai, there is that kind of like, no, it's fiscally responsible to have a will. It's like that kind of like, everything is like, you should have an investment fund and you should have a savings account before you're this age like it's very like money kind of like wealth driven um by all means write a will if that will make you feel better but like i said this is not the thing that's going to take us down we can get this fixed should i'm just i'm wondering if the duke could maybe help because

you both have been afflicted in something that was given to you by the Duke. Surely this is his responsibility to fix. Are you suggesting we sue? Well, no, I'm just suggesting that this property is in his land and clearly it's

dangerous because you've both been afflicted. Can we get some assistance from? From the Duke. From the Duke to cleanse this corruption out of his lands. I'm just saying the House of Blood wouldn't stand for it. Okay.

You would never have such a. Oh never, never, we look after our brothers and sisters very well in the House of Blood. We're well paid for. Are there houses of ghosts and things? Yeah. Yes, but they're all well looked after. Right, no curses.

There would be curses, but your clerics, the priests of the Gravefather would cleanse that. They wouldn't charge for it or anything like that. They would do that. They would make sure that people are looked after. So it's a great disgrace. Well, we could ask Considerate... The Considerate.

The Considerate of the Duke, whose name is... Orgrim. Orgrim. Yes. We can ask them to see if there's anything they could do to help in some small way. There's opportunities, ways to fix it. Also, we need to speak to the guard that might have seen...

Kavon. Kavon leaving. Years and years ago, sure, but that's something we could do. If we could let them rest by giving them closure, by giving them Kavon, that might end the curse. So we could do that? But that sounds like a big, long journey. Any ideas, Daisy? I just don't think you should insult the duke

by complaining about the giant house he gave us, because I don't think you should make me insult him. Oh, no, I, I graciously accept the generosity that he's given us. It is a very lovely, will be a very lovely property. It's up and coming. Up and coming. Yeah. It's just unfortunate that we've had a workplace incident.

Yes. Have you felt like an accident before? Yes, I don't know if Ashen's Rest have such things. I mean, like, they're generally authorities. Part of their responsibility is not just being kind of like law enforcement, but they are also technically like lawyers. So if you feel aggrieved by somebody, you would go to an authoritor and be like i am aggrieved this person's you know they've ruined my shopping cart or something like that and then the

authorities would investigate and pro a legal case so you could be like let's go sue the duke it is certainly something you can try if that's the way this campaign goes. Oh, man. We've done so right. Objection! Did you see the way that they flew in? I feel it would be a little bit more better call Saul than Phoenix, right? Because it's like a domestic, it's like an accident case. It's not like a murder trial or anything like that.

We're not getting the full courtroom RP. You'd get Saul going, he's like, well, you know the thing, the owner is I'm actually, that's not even the witness. That's the witness down at the other end of the room. You couldn't tell. You couldn't tell, dragon. It'd be that kind of thing.

Well done. Gavin Sayer. Gavin Sayer. The guard who saw Cav on last. We could at least start there. Yeah, you've got, like, a few hours before dinner, like, you need to head off for dinner, so you've definitely got time to go and speak to the guard,

if that's what you want to do. You probably only have enough time to go and do that, like, speak to the guard and come back and stuff like that. Alternatively, we could try and find out some more information about this person. Do we trust them, this Leto? Tobias Leto. Tobias Leto. Yeah.

Or even Janya Cooper. They've been giving up information for the lamplighters, or for the authorities about the lamplighters, freely and willingly, but, again, how much do we trust every lamplighter? They say that. Do we want to find out more about this person before we go strolling into their property?

Maybe that's prudent. You can split, like, this is the kind of thing where if a couple of you want to go off and do one thing and then the others go and speak to the guards, you can absolutely do that, but you're going to get, as individual characters, a chance to basically do one major task before the dinner. Maybe it's worth us splitting up.

Before you decide to split off, because we haven't done it yet, luckily we've not really needed to make any big rolls, but let us do our Crucible of Fate, because if you guys make skill checks, you might want to spend it on this. Okay, yes. Crucible!

So, d6 from everybody. Yeah. Oh! Achoo! Oh! I'm going to start with me this time, and it is a six, so it's a dice for you. Dice for us.

Okay, T. Three. It's a dice for me! I've got a five. That's a dice for you! It is. That's a Katie? It's a dice for me! I got a five. That's a dice for you! It's a two. It's a dice for me! Oh, Rhiannon, it's all even. It's a six. It's a six!

Yay! Look at that. Well done. Three to two. Polite clapping. Three to two. So you guys have got a few extra points. I forget if you can add them to your ability check, so if you're making persuasion checks or insight checks or things like that, you do have them. Spend them while you can add them to your ability check, so if you're making persuasion checks or insight checks or things like that, you do have them. Spend them while you can.

Okay. So you go away at the end of the session, so. All right, who wants to go? Or use them for cool creative stuff as well. Yeah. Find and speak with Gavin because of Kevon. I can go and speak to him. Yeah.

I would like to as well. Okay, Gruffydd will basically say, Speak to him. Yeah. I would like to as well. Okay. Gruffydd will basically say, I think I'm going to leave it to all of you, boys and girls. You go to the dinner. I'm going to, I want to go and investigate some things about the curse that you've got yourselves into

and sort of see if, find if the Sun Sword has come up with something that we might be able to do to help you with it. Maybe ask around some of the other temples and see if they've got ways that they can deal with it as well. I think I should leave this in your hands. And you don't wish to attend the dinner? Well, if I get back in time, maybe.

Sure. We'll see. We'll see how things go. But don't wait on it. Okay. Well, we know that Ilkara Lightheart... Yes? ...can remove one of our curses for money.

We don't have the money, though. It's the bathhouse there. You can spend money to get one of you removed. Ilkara Lightheart is from the Cathedral in Sidna. They would need to prey on it, and there would be some sort of favour or service. At some point, which we don't know about yet. Yeah, if you have more information, that would be very appreciated, Gruff. So you want to speak to the guard.

Try and find him first. So Daisy and Rowan go and speak to the guard. Yep. Okay, Ophelia, how would we find out more about this Tobias? Tobias. Now, do we want to go waltzing right into the Lamplighters' guild and start asking about this guy right now? This old Toby guy. We'll pretend to be Lamplighters.

Yeah. You hear what happened to Toby? Yeah, you can pretend to be lamplighters. Yeah. You hear what happened to Toby? Yeah, you can pretend to be lamplighters. The incredibly obvious foreigner vampire lady and the gold dragonborn, you know, who... So discreet. Yeah, who is like, yeah, unless you've got magic to disguise yourselves

or you actively try and disguise yourselves, you're not going to convince nobody nothing. So how do we find out about this? Toby, Tobias, or Chania? Would Theresa know any of them? Theresa's being held. Yeah, Rhi wasn't there for us for the... It's a good hold. She's being held captive, just so... She's in hold. She's being held captive.

She's in jail. Very warm. She's not being cuddled, no. That's sad. Oh no. Anyway. Here's Wonderwall. And maybe! Yeah. What was the title of Tobias?

Guildmaster. Both of them are the guildmasters. We'll have dinner with them tonight, by the way. Delightful. We've been invited. They've been forthcoming and giving up information about the lamplighters and want to,

for whatever reason, have a dinner with us to speak with us. Because of our job. To kill us. Because of the job we did and that we assisted the lamplighters. I think they want to thank us. Kill us. For our service. Kill us.

Well, then we will have to gladly attend, won't we? And glean whatever information we can out of Tobias, perhaps there, I suppose? If you don't have any specific ideas on how to can out of Tobias, perhaps there, I suppose. If you don't have any specific ideas on how to, like, gather information on Tobias, you can just do it like me and Ophelia are going to spend a few hours just trying to gather information just, like, from people in the town. Yeah.

That is just a generic, like, you don't need to be specific. I was going to do that to be like, where is Gavin now? Yeah, yeah, where is he? Yeah, like, well, that's going to be a separate thing. Like, you guys are going to be able to track down Gavin and it's going to be, like, a conversation between him. Yeah, I think we knew he was still a soldier. Yeah, that's going to be a separate thing. You guys are going to be able to track down Gavin, and it's going to be like a conversation between him. Yeah, I think we knew he was still a soldier.

Yeah, he's a guard, he's around. You'll be able to track him down. For Ophelia and Xanthius, it's going to basically be like a charisma roll to see how much information. It's going to be like a little downtime activity. Yeah, I don't really know any specific place. If you had a specific thing, then we could role play that,

and you might get more specific information. But if you want to just do a generic, like, you guys just go out there and try and gather some intel or some rumors or gossip, you can do that as well, right? Don't agonize too much about, like, what exactly do we need to do if you don't have a clear idea. There'd be, like, a census or something we could look at. Like, look.

Yeah, there'd be records. You could go to the Hall of Records in the House of the Quill. What's it called? It is called the House of the Quill and Scale. So it's the St. Abernour Shrine, but it also serves as the town library and, like, records hall. You could go there and, like, look at, like, it would be, like be things like census information

and financial records, land records, that sort of thing. That would be a good place to check also for Kavan stuff, right, if there's any records and stuff in the town. Find his house. We can find Gavin, but like, yeah. I guess it's only records of this town. Yeah, so what I'm gonna say with that is like, so if you did go

with that, Daisy and Rowan, you would basically find out where Kavon lives and then that would help you in your search. And you will both find him, like there's no question about that. You'll find him either at work or Gavin, sorry. With terms of Kavon, you

could look into that, but I think they I think the authorator already said that you kind of already have as much information on that as you're going to get. He sold the house. He bought the Tower of Havan. He sold it back. He left.

He said he was going back to Kelskaris, and that's kind of the information you guys have, right? But for Gavin, you can easily locate him, and that will be a role-play conversation. Whereas for Xanthius and Ophelia, if you're going to kind of try and, like, gain secret information, or, like, try and gain, like, rumour or something like that,

it would be a check to see how well you can, you know, research the Lamplighters Guild and the Guildmasters, basically. See if there's any juicy goss. Yeah, I think it's worth a try. Anxious Aquila's not a bad idea, I think. All right. Well, I guess we'll treat it like a downtime sure

yeah that's how I'm gonna do it we are gonna so we're gonna take our first break we're gonna take our break so that's gonna be it for part one when we come back to part two we'll jump straight into those two things and then maybe we'll go into the dinner

this evening as well num nums num nums I regret that you should regret that sorry especially as the last thing of part one. Thank you so much.

We'll see you in part two. See you. Bye now. Bye.