High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #19 | Blood and Shadows (Part 1)

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

The "Boyos" investigate Guildmaster Morris while Gruff hunts down a cure for the Curse of Harrowing! ANNOUNCEMENTS: NEW MERCH! We're excited to announce the launch of our Heroes Miniatures! Thanks to Only Games and My Mini Factory, you can now add our characters to your tabletop adventures in either standard 32mm or 250% scale! Take a look and add us to your collection: https://only-games.co/collections/high-rollers A massive thank you to DM Stash for sculpting our incredible models. In the month of April they're celebrating their 3 year anniversary with a huge 70% discount for subscribers! Browse their catalogue and join the community here: https://dmstash.com/patreon 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/event/high-rollers/ 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. 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. Peanut butter and bacon biscuits? Has HomeSense always had all this great pet stuff? Oh, and Dad, look. Huh?

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Deal so good, everyone approves. Only at HomeSense. Oh, hi, it's Trots squeezing in here with some incredible news. We are super excited to reveal that we've released our first set of Althea merch. We teamed up with MyMiniFactory and OnlyGames to produce a set of hero miniatures based on our awesome character artwork. Sculpted in exquisite detail by the incredibly talented DM Stash, you can add the heroes of Althea to your campaign

as standard 32mm scale miniatures, or if you want a display piece, you can get them at 250% scale. I actually printed these out at 800% scale for the studio, and honestly, you have to see them to believe them. The level of detail is unbelievable and we're so incredibly thankful to everyone involved for making this possible. So please if you could check out DM Stash's catalogue if you haven't already using the links

in the episode description. Becoming a patron will give you monthly drops of their incredible minis, props and terrain that have outstanding quality. And right now in April, they have 70% off their entire store because it's their three-year anniversary. So what better time to get them printing? Thank you and enjoy the Heroes of Althea. Last time, our heroes were approached by the Tifling warlock Caliphras, who offered a gift to make up for their last encounter. They briefly discussed the idea of asking Caliphras to help with a plot involving the Lamplighter's Guild, specifically to obtain two pieces of Felite, a metal from the planar realm of demons and devils. But ultimately, the party decided that the cost and consequences

of doing so were not worth the risk. The bulk of the party then went to meet with Tobias Leto, the elderly human guildmaster of the Lamplighters Guild, who invited them to dinner. Tobias wanted to reward them for the job they were unable to complete previously, and offered 600 gold, and tried to convince them of his surprise and horror at the idea that a demonic cultist had infiltrated the guild. Their other guildmaster, a halfling woman named Janja Cooper, stormed out of the meeting, furious at the group for their accusations and refusing to believe that they themselves were not involved. Tobias asked the party to try and locate his missing friend, the chief illuminator of the guild, Morris Goldsite, before he was arrested by the local authorities, fearing that Morris had been compromised and may be being forced

to act against his will. However, Daisy was unconvinced by his words and believed the guildmaster to be performing his shock and sincerity. Meanwhile, Gruffydd of Tremorro seeks help for a curse that has befallen two of his friends and is set out into Ashenrest alone. Gruffydd. Actually, I've just gone back to Isart. I've ditched the crew and I've decided to go back north.

Toodles. Okay, bye, Kim. Bye. I can't believe it. This is how she exits the campaign. I'll take the me off the stool. Yeah, you should do. Gruffydd.

Where would Gruffydd be heading? As the rest of the team head off to the Pharos, the headquarters of the Lamplighters Guild, where would Gruffydd immediately be heading towards to try and seek aid? So I guess his first thought would be returning to the cathedral to check in as to whether or not the Sun Sword has had any progress on what kind of, I guess, penance or what job needs doing in return

for caring for these two. And yeah, I guess depending on the success or failure of that, he would either set out to start doing that or visit one of the other temples to try and get more there's multiple that you've not necessarily all been to as well at this point um as you are making your way the sun is setting you know it's evening time when they went for the dinner you kind of split off the lamp lighters are out activating their ever lights and there is uh you can't help but kind of feel a sort of hint of uh worry maybe uh as you see them going around activating these lights which you know have caused a few problems um, as you see them going around activating these lights, which you know have caused a few problems.

But as, you know, it's getting darker evening time, and as you're making your way, you see a figure that you recognize and immediately brings a kind of sense of, I think for Gruff, a sense of excitement. Because you see out on patrol is Sir Gryold Stelai, the Dwarven Knight. No way.

Who you encountered at the gates when you first arrived here at Ashenrest. And still dressed in their resplendent half-plate armour. They have a huge crossbow over their back and a warhammer slung at their side. And it looks like he's on his own, but he's patrolling. You can see he's kind of, like, you know, waving to people as he goes by,

but he seems to be out in the town, wandering around. And he sees you. As you guys are kind of, like, making your way, he looks over towards you, and with sort of a quirk of his head, he kind of rubs his dark black beard, very ornately dressed, braided with fine jewellery, his long hair kind of slicked back and tied back as well. He nods in your direction and begins walking towards you.

Oh, my dear. Okay, keep it calm. Keep it calm. And when he arrives, and I think I remember what his voice was, but I might be getting it confused with somebody else. I think he had quite a northern voice when I did him last time. I don't think he was Scottish. I just remember it being dreamy.

Yeah. He will... No, it was Scottish. Oh, was it Scottish? I'm trying to get confused. It was Scottish, right? Yeah. Okay, it was Scottish. Because I distinct it Scottish? I'm trying to get confused. Okay, it was Scottish. Because I distinctly remember being like,

Mark's got a Scottish accent. I was trying to remember because I know I've mixed it up. I hate crying. Listen, I think my Scotland's not bad. You do good. It's a lot better than my Welsh and it's a lot better than my Irish. I can't comment. Slash American.

Hey, my LA accent is fine. My American is great. But he will look over and he'll say, Hello there. I remember you. You were at the gate, right? Hello. My name is Griffith.

I'm from Tremorro. I was at the gate recently with a group of travellers. Not just that. Any kind of thing, he's like, not just that, but if I remember, I'm slipping around, hang on, give me a second, because I had a different accent in my head prepped. Say hello, I'm... No, because that's what's throwing me off,

is Kim doing the Welsh, and that's getting to me. Do you want me to shout at you in Scottish? OK, yeah, we Glaswegian, eh? Well, that worked. It did work. Disgusting! Disgusting. Disgusting.

He's a bit more dreamy and sort of, hello. Oh, there we go, yeah. Ah, there we go, aye. And he's like, aye, no, I remember, actually, and if I'm not mistaken, you were involved, there was been some business down in Riverside and you dealt with some sort of beastie, some demon or some such. I heard about it from the Duke and the Lord Marshal.

Oh, the Duke's been speaking about us. No, I've changed it now. This business with the Lamblighters Guild and the demons, the Duke's a little worried and that's why I'm out here. I'm just doing a bit of patrolling, make sure that there's no more of those creatures appear in the city. But I have heard about you and your companions. You're not with them tonight.

You're on your own. I was... Well, two of my boyos, they've succumbed to a curse, so I was trying to find, if I could, you know, find further advice on how to lift it, maybe start trying to make the process myself. Oh, blimey. He's like, aye, curses, magic.

Well, that's a little bit over my head, I'm afraid. I'm just a humble man with a bow and a hammer. But I wish you all the best with it. Anyway, I mean, it sounds like quite a noble thing to be helping your friends and things like that. Where are you going? I can accompany with you a the best with it. Anyway, I mean, it sounds like quite a noble thing to be helping your friends and things like that. Where are you going? I can accompany with you a short of the ways. Oh, I wouldn't want to take from your time.

I've got to patrol the town as a whole anyway, lad. I might as well walk with you a wee bit. I'm heading up to Bright Shadow Cathedral. Ah, well, that's certainly a place if you've got spiritual curses and magic. I mean, there's certainly some people to go and see. I know that there's an odd elf who comes and visits the Duke from time to time, lives in a tower near there as well. He's...

Black Queen. Ah, you've had... We've met. You've met? Curious individual. That's impressive. Even I've not met the elf. They're very secretive, keep themselves secluded.

Only really deals with the duke. But they know more. The duke sometimes speaks with this elf on matters of magic. If his son isn't around. Obsidius is a mage and studies arcane and magic of that sort as well. Knows a little bit. And of course all dragons know a little, but I wish you all the best.

And what brings you to Ashenrest anyway? And he's kind of having this conversation, you're kind of like, you know, it's conversing as you're walking, right? Yeah, exactly. We're in West Wing. That was a really old reference. Hello, my name is Graff.

I suppose the Scottish is throwing me. Soz. It's fine. Hello, my name is Graff. I suppose the Scottish is throwing me. Soz. It's fine. Hello, my name is Gruff. I came here, actually. I left my village. Oh, so griold, if I may be so bold. Please.

It's been my lifelong dream since I was a wee cub to become a knight. And he kind of, like, laughs. And he's like... And he just lets you continue. There's, like, a kind of, like, laughs, and he's like, and he just lets you continue, but it's like a kind of knowing sort of like... But I haven't been able to leave my village when I was a young'un because duty to the village and, you know,

and to my partner and my community and my, you know, my kinsmen. But now, you know, now that I'm older, everyone encouraged me to leave, and so I finally thought I'd set off, and I may be a bit older, a bit, you know, heavier that I'm older, everyone encouraged me to leave, and so I finally thought I'd set off. I may be a bit older, a bit, you know, heavier in my years, but I heard that there is this order called the Order of the Loyal Hounds that accepts older. Aye, aye, indeed. You're well informed then, Gruffydd.

That's indeed the case, yeah, the Circle of the Loyal Hounds. They're an interesting nightly order. They're not, um, they have a draconic sponsor, but their, uh, duties are more to their beliefs,

uh, rather than to a certain draconic Lord or lady like the Knights of the realm, like myself, or a holy night dedicated to one of the churches or the, the saints. Um, but indeed, yeah,

the circle of the, the loyal hounds, they're, they're a good lot. I've got a lot of admiration for them and what they do. And to be, you know, to be elderly and to be older of your kind is very different to, it is a greater risk, you know, being a knight when you're young and you're full of strength and vigor, I mean, that's to be expected to a certain degree. I mean, I was a young man when I became a knight, but to do it later in life, to seek it when your body isn't quite as strong

or as tough as it used to be, that's admirable. That's brave. You have my best wishes with you. Thank you. I won't lie, I think I strained my back a little bit in our last fight. If I'm me, you say that it's always been your dream, and obviously we've all heard the stories. I mean, you know, I grew up on stories of knights who used to,

me and the fellow kids that I used to hang around with when I was a wee boy, you know, we'd sit under the bridge in Emberford and tell each other stories of famous knights and things like that. But I find that stories and that very few people want to be a knight just to be a knight. What is it specifically that drives you? What is it specifically that makes you seek out? I mean, it's not easy. And you'll be in mortal danger and fighting beasties and sometimes even against other people.

You know, it's not always vault spawn. Sometimes it's bandits who are just desperate. Sometimes it's people that just, you know, a duke or duchess doesn't particularly care for. You know, it's not always an easy life. A yes maybe is coming from a small fishing village. A yes maybe is coming from a small fishing village. And sometimes, sometimes he looks around and looks at his staff hoping that Saren doesn't hear. I mean, he knows that it's just a photographic kind of, you know, representation.

Sometimes fishing can be quite challenging. Cold and dark and wet and the bites aren't coming your way. And I would always think there was a ballad, a ballad that came to me. Kim cannot remember the name of the knight in the ballad off the top of her head. Sir Isabel. Isabel. The ballad of Sir Isabel.

And he nods and there's like a no look and you see the big heavy crossbow on his back, and he's like, oh, one of my favourites too. There was a travelling bard who came to our village, and the night that he put on the show and sang of Sir Isabel, oh, I was a young cub, but my mind, I was there. I was travelling alongside her. I was there fighting the cyclops.

I was there. I was travelling alongside her. I was there fighting the Cyclops. I was there defending the weak. And it just always held something in my heart. Even when we, my sons and my children, were born, I looked at them and I thought, I need to do something. I'm not enough. You want to be part of the world, to be a greater part of it. Aye, because if the danger's on your doorstep, then it's too late. It's true.

And I never felt strong enough or good enough to protect my own, my children, my wife, my village. But I stayed with them because, you know, we need everyone, all hands on deck. But it was only in my later years when everyone was a bit more grown and settled and my wife said it's time. Well I wonder a true thing of beauty to have a partner that supports you in such a dream and sends you off far from home. I've never been to Iceheart but I know it's very far away and very cold and if I remember the people there are very tightly knit to to to see you off to let you go and travel the world that's a that's a great

show of love that is uh and he kind of gets a little bit misty-eyed and he's like well I don't have a part of myself but I know a little bit of what it's like to have that feeling of inspiration to have that drive you know for me it was me, it was meeting Duke Ignatius. Oh. Yeah. The first time I met that dragon, I knew, you know. It was funny. We were guarding a gala.

I was in the army at the time for the local lord of Emberford, and he was hosting some draconic do and things like that, and I was on guard duty. And out of all the dragons that came, you know, it was a big deal. There was a lot of wealthy people and things like that. And I was on guard duty. And out of all the dragons that came, you know, it was a big deal. There was a lot of wealthy people and things like that. And then he arrived, you know, as a dragon. And then he became, you know, the tall...

Nice and fat, yeah. The audience reasoned... Handsome fella that he is. And out of all of them, he was the only one. And he came to every single soldier. And he asked us who we were and our rank. And he shared stories with us and he took us aside and said have a drink you know you're on duty and he really he cared about us soldiers you know

I think it's because of you know I was not I was I was not born yet but I heard about the the war against Galvasar and the the man the dragon that he was you know he was uh he's a fighter and he's a soldier and I think think he appreciates that in the like around. And I just, once I met him, I couldn't get him out of my head. And I left Emberford and I traveled north and I came here to Ashen's Rest. And I said, oh my Lord, please, you know, let me into your service. And I thought he'd make me a palace guard or tell me to join the army or something like that, be his armorer or something like that. And he said, well, he said, young man, if you wish to be a knight, if you wish to serve me, I can think of no better way than as a knight. So prove yourself. And I didn't dream of something

as lofty as that. And so I said, I said, aye. And I said, what's my test? And he gave me one and I went off and it took me a while. And it's, you know, it cost me from time to time and things like that. But I'll never look back on it. It's a great deal. That sounds positively dreamy. Oh, well, you know, for a young dwarf who grew up as a bridge rat, you know, that's, it was quite a dream.

But still, it's, like I said, it's, it's... Being a knight is no easy thing. There are times when you have to question what you believe in matter of what you represent, you know, the vows that you swear. It's no easy thing to break a vow and to go against what it is. You know, there have been times when I've really had to second guess, you know, what I am and who I am and everything else. when I've really had to second guess, you know, what I am and who I am and everything else.

You know, do I disobey the orders of my Duke to do what I think is right? Or do I do what he's asked me to do? Or are there ways that, you know, there have been times when I fought a great beastie and it's a case of if you let that beastie go, it might cause harm to innocents. But if you fight it now, you might lose good men and women that are fighting alongside you. And what do you do in that situation? Do you run? Do you flee? Do you put your own life on the line? What does it mean? And it's not always an easy decision, but that's what being a knight's about. It's about making hard decisions. Sometimes you've got to sacrifice what you believe for the greater good. I must admit I never thought of that. It's easy to get swept up in the legends and the stories, isn't it?

To think it's all just slaying cyclopses and pretty maidens and pretty men. You know, it's easy. Well, also, you know, I heard about the loyal hounds from another traveller and he told me that their tenant was protecting the meek, infirm and vulnerable and I'll be honest, it seems quite straightforward at the moment. It does, aye, it does. But, and I hope, Gruffith, you do indeed become a knight that you never have to face those challenges.

But you'd be surprised. You know, protecting the weak and the infirm. What if one day you come across a miser who's old and sick and he's been paying off bandits to rob people on the road to make his riches? What do you do? He's weak. He's infirm. Do you fight him? I think that one's going to keep me thinking for a while. I think, and I don't mean to disparate you. I only mean to prepare you. I very much

appreciate your wisdom and your counsel, Sir Griot. He just, like, waves his hand. He's like, ah, I like talking. It's very rare that I get to talk with somebody who I think can understand. You know, when I'm on duty or if I'm in the presence of the Duke, I've got to maintain a certain sort of appearance and reputation.

It's rare that I get to just talk man to wild heart, you know. So it's nice to have these conversations. But when he points up, he's like, we're at the cathedral now. I'm not really a god man myself, but I'll leave you to it. I've got to finish up my patrols. If I could give you a little bit of wisdom on my own. Please, always. These lights, some of them,

the ones that are summoning these demons, they feed on negative emotion. So if you're near one of these lights and you start feeling, well, I couldn't imagine you feeling anxiety, but if you start feeling anxious or het up or, you know, something's wrong, get away from the light. Good to know. Thank you very much. The Duke, I've not had too much. He's just asked me to, you know, make sure the city's safe, go out on patrol and keep an eye on things and stuff like that. I didn't know too much. He kind of looks at you for a minute. You know

a bit more about this business with these lights and the guild and things like that. What do you think's behind it? Do you think it's just some cultists? I mean, I've known the Lamplighters Guild and they're very ambitious. And I'm always wary of people that reach beyond their means. Do you know what I mean? I definitely think there's something going on in the Lamplighters Guild. I definitely... Exactly what you think think someone has been too ambitious and from evidence we've

found it goes back a number of years you know at least as much as four maybe more than that but there's definitely something bigger going on and i heard now that um apparently one of the lamplighters gone missing and i'd be very curious to know what they have to say in this. But there's definitely something going on there. Well, you're a good man, Gruffydd, and he kind of reaches out a hand to shake your hand. Big paw, and his little dwarven hand. And he just says,

you need to, if you and your friends get in trouble, set for me. What an honour. Thank you for your time. Not an honour at all. Warrior to warrior, that's all it is. And he'll sort of, like, give you a nod, and then he departs. You can see he definitely has that look of, like, he kind of,

in fact, roll an insight check for me. Natural one. The graph is screwing. Natural one. Yeah, like, insight check for me. Natural one. The gruff is... Natural one. Yeah, like, he takes a moment, he looks up at the cathedral, and then he just looks away, and then he just goes on, and he just waves, he's like, good evening, goodbye, good luck, and then he heads off.

I think as soon as he's out of sight, and gruff looks around, he's just going to go behind a bush and hyperventilate. Big cat man just hyperventilating from a hairball from everything else. You know what? That's the crossbowman. Oh, from the Rooftops. The secret crossbowman.

The vigilante. When he's off duty. Maybe he is. The inside check, you missed him saying, send up a bat signal. Right, yeah. Damn it. Damn it. Briefly going to cut back to the rest of the crew,

because I think that we had sort of reached the end of the conversation with Tobias. Pretty much, yeah. But if there was anything else you wanted to ask or say to him, he's certainly pretty much if there was anything else you wanted to ask or say to him he's certainly pretty much done um now that we're not at the very end of the episode in which i would throw this down the money is there yeah i suggest that we don't take it that was my suggestion i don't want everyone to just jump on board and say okay we'll do that because you know time's running out how would you communicate this are you openly saying i would we shouldn't take this money i would say to him sorry i've lost my voice i can't figure it out anymore say something xanthiusy oh there it is hi i'm xanthius um we're not voice actors some of us tried to be for a while so um... Yeah, I would literally just communicate and say the...

I wouldn't want to take the money at risk of it impeding the investigation just in case that something goes awry. Are you saying this in front of Tobias? You still have a connection to me in my head. So you're saying, in front of Tobias, you're basically saying, we don't want to take this money in case there's some problem with the investigation? He'll just sort of be like, what do you mean?

What kind of problem could there be? Rowan puts the... He's like half gripping it right now, and he's not putting it down, but still touching it. We don't know where the investigations into the Lamplighters Guild will take the authorities, and it's probably in our safety to not separate ourselves as much as possible, but...

Neutral. Neutral. Neutrality. Not to imply that the authorities are investigating you, of course, or even Janja. Yes, that is... Well, this is where my confusion comes from, my dear boy. We have nothing to do with this nefarious business,

and you took a job, and this is merely... This is an extension of goodwill, simply to say, you know, if it were not for you, this whole affair would not come to light. An extension of goodwill that we can accept once we reach the other side of the investigation. Well, it is your decision, yes. Very well, if so be it. Maybe a down payment.

If this is just my suggestion... Two of those. If you want to take it, if anyone else has any... The back and forth of the conversation is where I'm picking it up, putting it down, putting it down. I suppose you just want to avoid a conflict of interests. I suppose, if anything, were to come our way. I don't see how, my dear.

You are the ones who exposed this ugly business. I mean, the Duke and the authorities know that you are working to put an end to the whole matter, as am I. Surely this is... Our interests are all aligned. Here it is, the work of these cultists who are up to no good, and certainly they are not in any of the senior members of the Guild. This is the affair of some low-level employees

who are disgruntled and have been brought in. Likely there's some mastermind out there behind all of this who's been brainwashing and indoctrinating our members. Cultists under the name of the Lamplighters Guild and money under the name of the Lamplighters Guild. You can see the connection there. Well, it is your decision. If you don't wish to take the money,

then it's no problem for me. I'm just confused, is all. I think Davey's grabbing the money. What? Do you want it? No, I didn't say, I was just confused is all. I think Davey's grabbing the money. What? Do you want it? No, I didn't say. I was just going to say, well, Morris is high up in the guild. I too truly believe that Morris would not do this. He is being forced against his will, or he has been misled,

or perhaps he's already dead and somebody's impersonating him. Heaven, by the scions and saints forbid that that is the case but I've known Morris for all of my life. I would never dream of him being involved in such matters. He is a pious man. He would always attend service with me

and he is a firm believer in the scions and the saints. I do not believe for a second. Rowan wants the money. Oh. Are you taking some or all? You're going to take one of the platinum bars, so 100 gold.

Yes. It seems that your friend is, I mean, certainly, this was a reward for you as a group. If you wish to take some individually, by all means. I can hold onto it if you want. I think it is only fair. There were five of you, I believe. Five? Yes.

I cannot stop. I suppose 100 gold each, and then another 20, I suppose, if you wish. I can break out the 100 into a 20, if you wish. No need. So are you taking all of it? Yes. You're taking the whole 600? A whole lot.

All right. Okay. I just wish to voice my concerns. Can I communicate? Can I communicate back? Yeah, yeah, yeah. In my head, yeah, yeah. You can talk.

Basically, the three of us are in a call. We're in a group chat right now. We're in a group chat. Rowan is like slack-jawed, looking at Tobias. Hello. Hi. Can you hear me? Yes, hello, yes.

Hello. If you wish to take the money, take the money. Well, I'm thinking. Okay. It's a good amount of money, but if we have an issue with neutrality, we can always hand it in to the High Authorita. Um, yes, I suppose, but.

For now, we'll keep it safe. I'll keep it safe, don't worry. You're not gonna spend it, are you? No. Well, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to, you know, lift your giant curse. That's true. We do need to remove that. I need you alive, Sansers.

I need you alive. We may need money to do that. We may need money to do that. Yes, you're right. But if this is the money we wish to take and we need money, then we'll take this money. I'll give it back if we don't need it. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Slack jaw the whole time. Yeah, I imagine. He's kind of, like, looking around. But it does kind of, like, Rowan's, like, looking slack jawed, but, like, he's assuming that you're all having this, like, hesitated moment, because that can be quite rapid,

the conversation mentally. He will say, well, it is your choice, yes, by all means. As I said, it is your choice by all means as I said it is offered freely I offer it as a reward for your excellent service we will get to the bottom of this thank you

you can trust in that please if I can encourage you to do anything please find Morris find him before even if the authorities are able to my fear is that they will assume

he is part of this and I may not give weight to my theory that he is being sort of enforced into it all. He's not... Obviously, he's a dwarf. He's a bit longer-lived than I am, but he's not a young fellow,

and I can't see him doing anything like this. I assume this is all new and very current. You haven't sent any of yours to look for Morris. He literally vanished yesterday. He's been gone all this morning. Sometimes I get my timelines muddled up. It feels like it's been weeks since it happened.

That's not what he said. He said he vanished a day before the incident. Then he would say that. That's not him being duplicitous. That's Mark forgetting what Mark said. Liar! Throw it down! Hold it!

Yeah, he would say that whenever he initially said that Morris disappeared. Because also the authorities changed to try and find him, yeah. Okay. The incident. Rowan says in his head before he says the next line, I'm about to lie. With utmost urgency, this time tomorrow, we will set out and look for Morris. Please do, please.

I'm afraid we could leave early. Well, if you want, if you need access... I'm totally going to go tonight. If you need access to his chambers or anything like that, if you wish to search those, I can arrange that for you for tomorrow. But like I said, there was... I remember him saying something about some ruins, perhaps, or perhaps he might head to Feros, or,

I don't know, you'll have to, maybe you can speak with the guards and find out if you've seen him. Underneath an archway. An archway, an archway. Don't, these ruins are to the south, did you say? The south, east, across the Ruby River. Yes. A place called the Ashen Citadel,

it's amongst the Ashen Hills. Okay. Thank you for the wonderful dinner. You're more than welcome, I'm sorry that Janya's mood sort of soured things, but I'm very grateful to have met you, and I'm very grateful for your assistance in all of this. Suspicions are running high from all sides, I'm afraid.

It is completely understandable. I would really like to maybe just have a conversation with Janya and just reassure her that we're doing everything we can. Do you know where we could find her? Well, once she left here, if she's not in her own personal chambers, she may have headed out into the town or some such, I'm afraid. I wouldn't know. You could ask the guards if any of them have seen her. But if she's not here in the tower, I imagine that she's gone off somewhere else.

Well, we'll do our utmost best to get to the bottom of this. Thank you. It would be much appreciated. If I were a younger man, I would be more involved. But I'm afraid my years are slipping away. And he sort of weakly gets up and sort of like goes to shake hands and and sort of like nod to you all um and then yeah lets you uh he says like oh the guards will escort you out when you're all ready this weekly thing i i is it maybe it's cruel to insight check the movements of an old man no i'm not absolutely not yeah where are you inside check

maybe he's like you can make an insight check on anything. Be close to the door. Are you... So insight is like reading his body language and things like that. Perception would be like, you know... Spotting if he's got something. Spotting if he had like, you know, is it like a cane and he's like, you know, something like that.

But if he's old as balls, history? It'd be insight. Like if you're trying to read his body language to determine if he's putting on an act, it's insight. Son of a sign, religion? I'm going to roll. This will either be persuasion or deception

because I don't want you guys to know which one. Okay, but I rolled a four. A four? Yeah. He looks pretty, yeah, I mean, like, his skin, he's very, I mean, he's clearly in, like, maybe his, like, 70s. Yeah. His skin is quite wrinkled.

His hands are a little bit shaky, maybe arthritic. He's definitely... You don't think he's faking that. Like, you do think he's quite elderly and quite, you know... Yeah, I was wondering if he's... Yeah, making an appearance of that. Okay, fair enough. Sorry.

Sorry. When Tobias said that we have access to Morris's chambers... Yeah, he can arrange it for you. He can arrange it, so he's not going to give us a key or anything now. I mean, you can ask him. Do you have a key to Morris's chambers? There will be a master key to all of the rooms in the tower. I can have a guard fetch it and open the doors for you, if you like.

If you intend to look in there now, I mean, that would be quite... I'd be quite gracious of it. Why not? We are here. Yeah. Yes, of course. He'll, like, reach out. Mateo!

One of the guards comes along and he's like, Yes, Guildmaster? Could you go and fetch the key for the tower and let these fine folk into the chief illuminator's chamber? Perhaps they can find something that the authorities missed earlier. You know, it is worth the shot if we can locate him. Oh, of course, Guildmaster. Please, if you wouldn't mind following me,

I just need to go and fetch the key, and then I'll come and open the door for you. And if you go, the guard will take you down, takes you down a few flights of steps. You know, the Farras is this incredibly tall, beautiful tower. It's maybe like seven or eight floors. He goes down a couple and finds a very, you know, decorated corridor. There are like paintings of like various guildmasters and things like that throughout the time. And he leads you to it, opens it up,

or sorry, goes and fetches a key, comes back and opens the door. But he keeps the key, opens it and lets you in. And he's like a young, I'd probably say, he's probably human, like God, maybe in like his 20s. And he's just sort of like, yeah, please help yourselves. On the journey down, sorry,

could I speak to, are we still in, what was the time? An hour. It was like four hours or something, wasn't it? An hour. One hour, yeah. This communication ability you have, Daisy, how far away can we go with this? Are you able to reach Gruff, is the question I'm asking.

Good question. I think you need to see them to establish the communication, but then once it's established, it's like any distance, I think. Long. Yeah. Let me just check. I'm just wondering. Gruff's on a date.

Gruff's on a date. If it'd be best to, I mean, we can investigate the place now. One mile. But one mile. But you need to see Gruff to be able to activate it. As long as you're within one mile, choose two creatures you can see. Right, okay.

Yeah, no, we can, maybe we can come back. I can go to a window and see if I can see him, just stand there? You could try, sure, you could try. If that's the rules, I don't know how this works. I need to see Gruff, otherwise I can't really think clearly enough to, yeah. I'm also kind of getting used to the ability

of making sure what thoughts actually go through into the, it's interesting, this. Hello. Hi. Rophelia, you're watching these three just like looking at each other and like you're just... This is what we're...

Walking and thinking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I've done it with Ophelia before because we connected to the scarred lady. So I will just say to Ophelia, oh, we're... The thing. But I can't do it with everyone.

So... I'll keep it secret. Let's have a look around. If I can't do it with everyone, so. I'll keep it secret. But I haven't said anything. Let's look around. I was just wondering if we could get Gruff. But that's no problem. Sure. And his burgeoning perception.

The chamber. You wanna fucking throw down? The chamber that you guys enter is a quite disorganized, kind of messy workshop and bedroom, basically. There's a sink that's been built in a small faucet, maybe just for washing hands and your face, getting ready in the morning, that kind of thing. A bathtub, a little bathroom set off to the side.

But it's, yeah, mostly like a messy workshop. And you can see probably dozens of unfinished diagrams some of them being screwed up and thrown thrown away there is a large bookshelf full of books on alchemy and studies of like engineering and architecture you know this is kind of like a scholar's room mixed with a little bit of a practical workshop there are artificers tools so you see like all these gems oph, you would probably have the most experience with something like this because some of the artificer equipment is very similar to the blood jewel crafting stuff that you remember the Countess learning.

Very different, obviously, but there are some elements here. You see guides of magical runes and the ways that they can empower certain objects. You remember some of those the Countess using and things like that. There's a similarity here. Not quite the same, but similar. Jewel artisan. Yeah, yeah. With this, it seems to be more things like metalwork and glassblowing.

You know it more for, like, jewellery and gemstones in particular. And then there's the unique aspect of the blood gems and things like that. Sangrenite-specific limbs. But with this, it's more tailored to blacksmithry and glassblowing and things like that, but very similar, like some of the similar tools and stuff like that. The room looks like it has been sort of searched through already, but yeah, you guys tell me. What are you doing?

What are you looking for? I might investigate areas that seem like they're still tidy. Like I'll look for areas that seem like this may not have been rooted through. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. I give me, so Rowan's going to be, that's going to be, are you physically like searching? Like are you touching walls and like moving stuff? That's going to be, that's going to be, are you physically, like, searching? Are you touching walls and, like, moving stuff? That's an investigation check, if that's the case.

Eight. Eight for Rowan? Okay. What's everyone else doing? Because I'm assuming you're doing stuff whilst Rowan is doing that. I think Ophelia will go and look through all the instructions for all this artificial stuff. Yeah, see what he was up to, see what he was making.

And so you want to speak specifically what were they being used for? Yes. Cool, that's going to be an Arcana check. Cool. Oh, man. Seven. We're back.

Check. And then what are Daisy and Xanthias doing? I would like to look through any handwritten things on the desk. Basically, I want to check through his notes and see if I can like, is it all in the same handwriting and stuff like that?

Because I want to see if there's something that looks like someone else wrote it and put it on his desk. Gotcha. Framing him kind of a thing. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, great. So that would be, yeah, it's probably going to be investigation again to rummage through the notes

and find things like, you know, notice a forgery and stuff like that. Three. Three of fate. Oh, shit, we didn't do that. We're out of fate today.

Crucible! No fate today. No fate, but what we make. D6 from our river running. I didn't realise that. If people would like to, I mean, you've rolled them and you know they're quite low,

but you can add them. It was a natural one from my first one. It would have been different. Is that for your fate roll? No, sorry. Five for my fate roll. Oh, five. Okay, so that's one for you guys.

I also, for fairness, won't use one on my next roll. Okay. Oh, you can do, because everyone should have had them. Six for Daisy. I did a six today! You got a six for Daisy, so that's another one for you guys. I have a five.

Another one for you guys. Oh, my God, we're going so well. Oh, Jock's making a face, though. I got a six! Oh, hey! I knew you were going to double-luff me. What about... I got a three.

A three? That's one for me. It's not a shout-out. Not a full house. Not this time. And Mark gets a three. A three. That's one for me. It's not a shout out. Not a full house. Not this time. And Mark gets a three. One for Mark. All right.

It's a two and four. It's a two and four. Okay. So you can use them. Again, like for all of you guys, like if Rowan wanted to add one retroactively, you absolutely could do. I got an eight.

I don't know if I... I could swing it. Nah. Okay. I mean, you could get it up to a 14, potentially. I think I'll, in this, instead of investigating room and tussling with stuff, I imagine it's quite crowded right now anyway,

I'd be talking sort of passively, like picking things up, putting them down, but I want to talk to, I guess, the guard and... Mateo. Like, say, what do you know about where he might have been going? We know he might have been going south. So you're kind of like, yeah, you want to use your charm and persuasion to see what information you can glean, this sounds like.

Yeah, and I think I would involve others into the conversation as well. I don't think people are completely locked into their activity. No, but in terms of the game mechanics, this is going to be Xanthias making a persuasion check. Sure, yeah. Sort of like, how much can you charm this guard into revealing things maybe either he shouldn't

or he doesn't realise. Yeah. So yeah, it's going to be a persuasion check. Every now and then, like, touch my lips. What if he taught me, huh? Persuasion. Yes. Boom. Yes. Boom.

21. Nice. We kiss. I'll go through that in order. So Rowan, you spend a fair amount of time rummaging through. You go and things like you check the bathroom and the bathtub. You check under the bed. You check a bunch of these places that haven't already been disturbed.

And it looks fairly normal. You don't really find anything out of place here. I'm not very good at this. Yeah. At best, you can find that some clothes are missing. Look like they were grabbed in a hurry. That's about it. I've got it.

You've solved it? Some clothes are missing. Okay. Ophelia, you might recognize some of these tools and equipment, but their exact purpose and what was being created here eludes you, unfortunately. This is just too dissimilar to what you're already used to. At best, you can definitely tell that there was some,

there has been some work on maybe like a some sort of lantern or light but how exactly like it could have been it might not even be connected to the discs it might be like just you know looking at new ways to make the lights and things like that um you find some strange kind of like series of like ringed lenses but you just can't make any sense of it and you like there's no no immediate information comes to mind unfortunately um daisy you rummage through uh the the notes um it all looks to be written in the same hand you don't see anything's been forged here but also the notes and diagrams none of it really relates to the lanterns the everlights or

any kind of like discs or anything like that it's actually more like prototypes for things like here's a music box that can record messages and things like that it's like experimental things you look like these might be like ideas that morris had for expanding the lamplighters guild into other areas um so like yeah a music box that can record and play back sounds, a system to transmit messages, things like that. Like it's kind of like, you know,

ideas that he had, like sketches. The only thing you would find is this does not seem to be a comprehensive list. Like definitely this is not everything that was here. Some, you know, books and journals and diagrams have been taken and are no longer here. You can find racks on the wall where journals should be

and there's empty spaces, right? Very noticeable. Xanthius, you end up mostly talking to Mateo. He's a young man. He tells you he's not been with the guild too long. He was hired on as a mercenary guard in the last year. He says that he quickly rose up in the ranks mercenary guard in the last year okay um he says

that he you know he quickly kind of like rose up in the ranks he's quite a dedicated guy uh and he says like wow the truth uh the truth be told so i i knew a little bit of mr gold sight in terms of where he might be it's difficult to say he rarely so rarely left the pharaohs he was always working in the workshop, either here in his personal study or there is the larger workshops downstairs for the illuminators and the chief illuminator. I know that he would often need supplies for various matters and he would send out assistants to go and buy things. The only other time that he really left the Pharos was to attend the cathedral for church services for day services

he was a very devout follower of Pyrrhus he and Gilmaster Tobias would go quite frequently together they've been friends for a very long time yeah he mentioned that like he there was some research he wanted to do outside of here, but I'm not really sure. I was mainly asking how long have you lived in the area?

Apparently there are these ruins that he was last said to have... He mentioned something about that. Yeah, there was the Ashen... There was some ruins. The Ashen Gate, it was... All I really remember about it was that it was destroyed during the Oriat insurrection, when Galvasar and the traitors tried to rebel against the Empress.

He sent one of his most powerful lieutenants to try and attack Kuldra. He sent one of his most powerful lieutenants and hordes of these creatures that had been warped by the metal. And he sent them, and it was the Duke and an alliance of the Duke and some Draconic allies and forces that fought. And in the process, the fortress, which was the Ashen Citadel, sorry, not the Ashen Gate, the Ashen Citadel was destroyed in that battle.

He always used to mention that he would say things like, he imagined what sort of finds might be buried in the rubble or beneath the ruins and things like that. Maybe there were fragments of the gold dragon or maybe there were relics that were dropped and things like that. Do you understand the significance if he is looking for... No, I think he was a very intelligent man. He was always interested in magic

and things that could be used to empower his inventions. You know, he was a very pious man, but he was also very ambitious and he was very driven to find new ways to he said that he wanted to make the Empire a brighter better place with light I just recovering relics of this material doesn't sound like it'll bring brightness to the Empire I think he was wondering if maybe there'd been something left behind like essence you know like far as I'm not a mage,

but I know that sometimes magical creatures and spells leave behind an essence, and that can be used for powering spells and things like that. I mean, I don't imagine that he would have ever tried to get involved in anything too dangerous or heretical. It's why I'm so surprised about all this business with these lights and this demon and things like that. From what I could hear, it just doesn't sound like something... I'll be honest, sir, he was a bit of a nerd.

I see. He was bookish and had a terrible cough and his lungs weren't very good. He was quite elderly for a door. He was getting on in years. In your professional opinion, not a suspect. I certainly can't see him being directly involved. I see. But also, like I said, he wasn't the type to really leave this place and go anywhere else.

He talked about places, but I can't see him doing it. I don't think he was quite agoraphobic, but he did not like being outside. Okay. Apart from going to church, which he would do routinely. He was very devout. I know that him and Tobias and the Sun Sword are all very close.

They've known each other for a very long time. While we're talking, friend to friend, what about Tobias? What about Janja? Oh friend what about Tobias? what about Janja? Guildmaster Tobias he's like

ah Guildmaster Janja there's a bit of a kind of like hmm but with Tobias he's like Guildmaster Tobias has been amazing he personally asked me to be part of his own guard

and like thanks to him I've been promoted I've made a lot more money now I can support my family like he's been great to me he always tells me that i remind remind him of when he was younger and things like that he's been sort of a you know

a bit of a grandfather to me and he's kind of like quite you know sincere and smiling and bright and things like that um and jenya well gilbastard jenya she's very sour, to be honest, sir. And he kind of looks around. He's like, she bites our head off if we do anything. And she's so protective of the guild's reputation. And she has a hatred for the Stonemason's Guild. And she doesn't like the church, which Tobias and many of the others are very devoted to. And she's just a very prickly person like any little thing sets her off and you have to be on you it's like walking on eggshells when you're

around uh well apologies if this investigation has made her grumpier than usual i'm thankfully not on her guard duty tonight so not something i have to worry about um thankfully i'm looking after guildmaster tobias this evening so i am not that is not my problem okay anyone else i've got it the clothes are missing nice that's where i come in okay i see if there was anything aphelia wants to do or say? Ophelia would probably want to ask the guard. So what do you know about the Sun Sword? I know that Tobias mentioned he was very fond of this Sun Sword.

Well, I know that they've been friends for a very long time. I mean, since she, I mean, she's, you know, a lot younger, almost like a daughter to him, I think. He speaks of her very fondly. They're very devout. You know, she's, you know, I've only really known her as the, you know, she's been the sort of head of the Pyrrhus church, you know, for a long time since I was a teenager, really.

I don't really remember the priest who was before her, but she's very devoted to Pyrrhus. You know, she's very stern and strong, but as a warrior, you know, she's supposed to be quite powerful and, you know, being like a representative of the goddess of the sun and the sunsword herself, you know, it's... She's imposing, but I don't hold any ill will against her or anything like that. And Tobias and her are, yeah, very close.

They've been friends for a very long time. He bought her property, didn't he? I remember Tobias saying he bought her house for her and things like that. Oh, I didn't know that. No, unfortunately. But, you know, just in conversation, like, you know, I've escorted him and the chief illuminator to the cathedral, and it's very friendly.

They hug. They greet each other very warmly. If I sort of see him as a grandfather, I think, yeah, to her, he's a bit of a father figure. They, you know, sometimes, he kind of, like, thinks for me. You did get 21 on your persuasion. So I think this guy's, like, quite warmed up to you as a crew. And he's like, he, like, looks around, he's like, I have heard

like she came over for dinner once and they were deep in their cups and things like that and i mean the followers of pyrus and the scions can be quite vocal with some of their beliefs um but you know they've they've talked about things about you know how they sometimes talk about how the empire is it could be so much better, and that there's a lot of corrupting and weak elements in it and things like that. And Tobias wants the Guild to be a source of illumination and education,

and the two of them seem to agree quite fondly on that. I think they disparage a lot of other people's religious beliefs, They disparage a lot of other people's religious beliefs. And he's like, kind of, they think that that should not be allowed in the Empire. I mean, this business with the stonemasons and the empress being a goddess and all of that, they were not happy about that. And they weren't shy about vocalizing that either. Interesting.

But not that I want to say anything bad about the man. Like I said, he's been very good to me and everything else, and I would never disparage a follower of the faith or anything like that, but just something I picked up on. I think the way that sometimes old people get carried away with things, the youth of today and all of that. It felt like that. They have a very outward reach. I've said exactly that to us.

Multiple times, actually. The youth of today. Gets carried away. Easy life. Old mind, grumps. Don't know how good they've got it. Those Empress cultists shouldn't be allowed to say what they're saying. It's that kind of business, you know.

Friggin' Zoomers. We should bring back a life of piety and smiting. Back in my day, we smoked. We smoked. Smoked every day. Let's get Old Testament on these bitches. Smoked nerds every day. But yeah, unless you guys have got anything else.

Ophelia, we just walk on the ceiling. Sure. Spider walk on the ceiling. Sorry, is there... Are you speaking up here for any more clues? Seeing if there's anything around? She does that sometimes. It's really weird.

Yep. I don't really like it. Ophelia, I don't like it. It's quite wonderful when you get used to it, darling. You should try it. I don't think I can. Blood rushing to your head. I feel dizzy.

It helps me think. How tall are these ceilings? It's a dwarf's room, so they're not that tall. It's like ducking out of a... Yeah, I mean, Rowan probably would be like, yeah, you'd probably have to walk around Rowan. Excuse me, Ophelia. Sorry, excuse me, sorry.

My hair's just crushing over you. Well, while Ophelia's getting a different angle on things, did anyone pick up anything interesting? You said the clothes were missing. I would have picked them up, but the clothes are gone. Really nice handwriting. Nice handwriting. That's all I got.

Clothes are gone. I'm sorry. Although there are some books that they've taken, but I assume they've taken them for the investigation? Mateo will say, no, those were gone. Like, they were missing. You know, the authorities also pointed that out, that there were things missing,

and they wanted to know where they went. Are there any, like, noticeably uniquely crafted, like, wooden boxes or storage chests or anything like that that seem like very personal items? No. Is there a door behind the book? You go up to it. Try and, like, pull out the top of all the books.

The books fall on the floor. You just pull out a bunch of books. No, no, no, just the top bit of all of them to try and trigger a trap door. You spend a good 15 minutes doing this. None of them seem to activate some sort of secret. I read a book once where there was a trap door behind a bookcase.

I read that one too. It's good. It's so good. I wanted to check. So, no, there's none. What was the name of that series again? The Lusty. I know.

What was it? What was the name of the book series, Tom, seeing as you've read it and you know it so well? I can't recall. I think I might need to make a history check. I don't think you do. I think you would know it. No, I can't remember it.

Oh, can't be that important then. Can't be that important. It was good. Not that good. The. Can't be that important, then. Can't be that important. It was good. Not that good. The bookcase bookcase. Oh, yeah, it was the murder mystery. You read it too, Ophelia. That's the kind of name, like,

Richard Osmond would call one of his books. It's the murder mystery. The bookcase bookcase. Bookcase bookcase. This could be the mysterious case of the bookcase. Yes. The mysterious bookcase of the book, yeah. To be fair, Agatha Christie wasn't much better

at coming up with book titles either. She'd named a lot of dumb shit like that. The mysterious affair at Stiles, because it's about a murder that happens at a place called Stiles. Genius naming there, Christie. Murder on the Orange Express. Guess what happens? Someone dead on trains.

Might as well be called someone dead on trains. Oh, no. Right. They got in through the bookcase, killed them, and that's how they got out, and nobody could figure it out. How devious. I just had to check, you know, because if we found him behind the bookcase,

there's not, oh, my gosh. Spoilers, by the way know, because if we found him behind the bookcase or something... Oh, my gosh. Spoilers, by the way. Sorry, if you wanted to read that one. I was going to read it. So sorry. But to answer Ron's question as well, yeah, no, like, no, like, chests or, like,

anything that, you know, somebody would use to transport things in, none of that's here. It's all, like, permanent fixture, right? So, like, there are wardrobes and chests of drawers and things like that but there's no like you know big antique chest or anything like that but there's no like backpack no satchels no looks like it's all all been taken in a hurry okay there's nothing that you any of you have found i think our best lead is to head to the the ruins itself well, I think we should find Gruff first.

We should, yeah. Yes. Yes. He's gone. Because I feel like we haven't heard that's blasphemy or you kids these days in a little while. I haven't heard. And it's kind of unsettling, actually.

I haven't been called meek, infirm, or vulnerable in a while, and I kind of miss it, you know? So is the plan, what's the plan? Head back, go wander around until you find Gruff? I imagine we would know from Gruff telling us, Gruff probably would have told us where. I imagine you would have just said, we'll meet you, we'll meet you back at the inn tonight,

or something like that. I think I said I was, from the last episode, because I watched it the other day, Mark conveyed I was going to go and find out more about the curse. Yeah. But that's all. I think it would have been a

let's all meet back at the inn tonight kind of thing. Let's all meet at the inn tonight. We'll head back there then. Yeah. Back to the inn. Nice. Gruff, going to throw it back over to you for a little bit. You arrive at the cathedral.

It is already late, so as you arrive, you're kind of hoping that you will encounter Ilkara Sunsword as her duty, like her shift is normally during the day. It's now becoming nighttime, so it's probably going to be taken over by the melee congregation. But as you arrive, the cathedral is surprisingly quiet and empty. It looks like you're kind of in between services,

so most people aren't around. You step inside, there's no acolytes or anything around. It's big and empty and open. You know that there are side chambers and things like that, but you don't see anybody when you immediately come in. I'll probably call it hello. No response. No.

He'll probably make his way through the cathedral, kind of make a sort of a quick prayer at any fonts that he pass, any altars he pass, and then head to, like, where does he see a door? Yeah, so, well, you came here before when you brought Theresa here. You know that to one side, Priest Arden and the Maelia congregation

have their kind of path. So you assume that the other half would be where maybe the sun sword would be and there are like these two divergent hallways that then probably go into stairs and go into other parts of the cathedral you make your way over to that side and as you do there is a door slightly ajar

with light coming through and you overhear the sun sword you just very briefly with your perception or your passive perception just hear, do not let yourself give in to the same weakness you condemn. The light must act where shadow will not. And then there is silence, and then you hear footsteps. See, other me would cast, you know,

would wild shape into a cat or a mouse or pass without a trace. But Gruff, being Gruff and being devout and believing that the church and the scions is the truest thing that he knows, will just wait. Yep. The door opens.

Dressed immaculately in her white robes is Ilkara Sunsword, who kind of steps out and is quite startled to see you there. It's just, oh, forgive me. I did not realise that anyone was here. It is normally quiet during this time between the services. How can I help you? Forgive my intrusion. What is this voice?

That's fine. I was just... I wanted to speak to you again. I was just wondering if you heard any further word from... Yes, you and your friends came... I'm very concerned about the boys and... I have... I did spend some time in prayer today,

in meditation, asking Pyrrhus for guidance. And I believe that these cursed individuals, your friends... They're cursed. There is... You said that you encountered this curse whilst you were fighting spirits, yes? The ghost of Tyria. Yes, and it projected a sort of terrifying fearsomeness that caused this curse to fall upon them. A scream. Very screamy.

There is weakness in our hearts. Moments of fear, jealousy, bitterness. Pyrrhus believes that one must be strong and we must face our weaknesses and we must overcome them and be greater than them, be greater than what we fear. Very wise. I have not a vision of such, but Pyrrhus has sort of...

Pyrrhus has informed me that these two individuals need to prove their strength. And if they do, and make an offering and pray to her, then they will be rewarded. And this curse will be removed. There has been talk lately of a creature that roams the hills across the Ruby River, a being that goes with golden light and demonic fire, a creature corrupted by the foul taint of crown

steel. Such things should be destroyed without question before their corruption grows and spreads. If they slay this creature and burn its body till nothing but ash remains and pray to Pyrrhus in dawn's light and scatter those ashes, I believe the warrior of the sun will cleanse them of this curse. Sounds like a very fitting, a very fitting task. Do you know what kind of a creature it is? You said bathed in golden light. The reports of it are fragmented. Some describe it as a hulking thing on four legs with spikes and horns and spines and such. The only thing that it is common, some describe it more as like a large predator,

a cat or a wolf or some such, prowling around. But one thing is certain, it glows with golden light and has a sort of inner fire. Those who have managed to escape it have only barely done so. It normally chases and pursues sort of in a wild rage. I believe the matter is being brought to the Duke's attention, and normally he would send one of his knights to go and deal with it, but I believe with the danger to the town from this plot that you and your companions discovered,

I may not be able to send anyone. I believe that the knights are being withcauled to deal with matters here. Where did you say it was again? It is across the Ruby River in the hills. Which is pretty much where we were thinking of. Well, there's hills to the north and hills to the south. Oh, I see, okay. So you've got, and you would be familiar

because the Rustwale Woods near Rust End, there's hills around there, but then south of that, there are the Ash Hills where the Ashen Citadel is. That's not where we're going. So there's, it's either, well, it's either go north or go south. Sure, yeah, yeah. It could be in either one of those.

Okay. Um, okay. I thank you in either one of those. Okay. Okay. I thank you for your guidance, Sun Sword. If I may as well, perhaps a bit of penance on my part. I overheard a bit of what you said just now about bringing the sun, the light to the darkness. I wondered, was there anything I can do to help with that? She smiles. You are pure of heart, and I see a great strength in you.

I think you should encourage your friends to end this curse, take them across the river and find this creature, and do not worry. Myself and many of the great servants of the Scions and the Empire will take care of matters here. You should focus on your friends. Okay, just know that if you ever need a paw, you have mine.

That's very considerate of you. Big toothy grin. She just nods her head. It's Orc, very serene and polite. And we'll just sort of nod her head, put a hand on your shoulder. Go with the light of the sun and the blessing of the Scions. Scions, Saints and Scions be with you.

To you as well. Yeah, nice. The rest of the gang, you guys are making your way back. It's quite late by the time you as well. Yeah, nice. The rest of the gang, you guys are making your way back. It's quite late by the time you guys are making your way back after the dinner

and investigating Morris' room. We are talking like in the middle of the night when you guys are making your way back. Ashen Rest is very quiet. You're not sure if like, no curfew has been imposed, but maybe talk about

demons and ghosts and things like that have been sort of circulating around, and you don't see too many people out on the streets or anything like that. I know we've not been here super long, but is it quieter? It's quieter than what you would expect, yeah. And you begin making your way through. And, like, I've always described Ashland Rest, you know, outside of the big plazas and the main roads,

a lot of the places here feel quite tight. The buildings are quite tall, you know, two, three storeys high at least, kind of enclosed around you, and you cut your way through various kind of little alleyways, making your way back towards the inn, towards the Enticing Devil. Yeah. As you are making your way down one of these streets, you see, and keep in mind, they're everywhere, so it's not uncommon to see the Everlights as you go. As you are making your way down one of these streets,

you see, and keep in mind they're everywhere, so it's not uncommon to see the Everlights as you go. As you are making your way down, there is this kind of sense of foreboding which comes over you, and you see ahead of you one of these Everlights begins to flash and flicker and green smoke begins to

billow out from it. And that smoke begins to form into creatures. Oh, okay. As you see, that's new. You see a number of alien-looking humanoid shapes,

half their faces turned into a rictus grin with a great horn coming out of their back, wielding these kind of almost like sensual-like flails that give out this noxious plume of smoke. They kind of morph and warp into form out of this smoke that billows out of the light. Ooh! There they are.

The ones, the phosphorus ones, dead. Whoosh! The what? The phosphorus. The phosphorus? Ah, dope. What a cool name. Why am I not the Phosphorus?

And that is where, if I could please have everyone's new miniatures. Our new minis, yeah. I'll keep Gruffydd for now. Yes, if you can keep Gruffydd for now. So what kind of order, who's going to be at the front as you're making your way down the street? Just us chill walking, right? For the sake of it on the battle map, imagine there is a row of houses here,

so that it's completely blocked off. But for camera purposes, that is... So our escape is... Well, if you're going to escape, you can either go back or front, or you've got down these alleyways as well. I feel like in general, if there is no specific order, Rowan keeps forgetting that his stride is bigger than everyone else's. Oh, sorry.

Daisy gets distracted really easily, so she's probably tagging along behind. Yep, behind Rowan. Also, her legs are short. At the front as well. She's keen to get back for some wine. And then what, Xanthipp's at the back? Yeah, I've been just walking in group with everyone else,

rather than behind. Yep, so like a little group of four like that. I imagine we were all having idle conversations. Great. And like I said, you see this group of figures kind of form in front of you. And then you immediately kind of glance back, hoping that maybe that would be a way to flee.

And you see the Everlight behind you pouring the same green smoke out as more of these creatures. Okay, okay. No. How many from each, sorry? We are going to find out in a minute. Okie dokie. The phosphorus.

Phosphorus. Phosphoratu. Phosphoratu. Phosphorus. On both sides. Oh, this is quite a few boys. This is a lot of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ahead. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Just dumping. Just dumping. Just dumping these boys. Dumping mad beasties. Dumping beasties. As these things billowing out like smoke, as the smoke hits the cobblestones, it takes on these humanoid forms. And again, you now see behind two of these demonic-looking warriors.

And they are clad in armor, but the armor is almost like chitin. It's not formed into plates or chain, but rather these great slabs that have almost just been bolted to their chests. And they wield these grotesque, poison-spewing censure flails. They each have as well a number of more bestial-looking creatures with them that are almost like dripping with ichor and sludge. And they just point, kill them! And that's where we're going to roll this time. Cool! Do you want me to roll? Yes, please, kill them. And that's where we're going to roll initiative. Oh, boy.

Cool. Do you want me to roll? Yes, please, Gruff. You are going to arrive, but you are not going to get there until after things have kicked off. I am going to roll the initiatives and get my stats in our break.

We're going to leave it there, and we're going to join back in, and we're going to come back in. No, I want to do combat now. Nope. You're going to do combat after the break. That's going to be it for part one. Join us in part two

for our guys to have this demonic ambush. We'll see you then. Bye! See you next time!