High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #47 | Heart and Hearth (Part 1)

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

The gang are beset by a pair of dragons just outside of Ashen Rest! Luckily, they're both dragons they know. Unluckily, they're both dragons they know. We're now using the 2024 edition of D&D 5e! You can support us on patreon/twitch/youtube to gain access to our update video talking about our thoughts on the new system and the changes you will see in our game! _______________ Boost your Charisma with some HR merch! https://highrollersdnd.teemill.com/ Add official High Rollers Minis to your TTRPG collection here: https://only-games.co/collections/high-rollers Bless your table with the Clever Toad Dice Set: https://dispeldice.com/collections/high-rollers Enhance your bath time experience with the official Altheya themed DiceBombs at https://geekyclean.com/! Check out https://www.highrollersdnd.com/ for all the latest HR News! 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

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attempted to recover after the intense battle and consider their next move. As they left the village, Xanthius set it ablaze, casting fiery shadows and trails of smoke behind them as they began to navigate the hills and plains back to Ashenrest. On the journey, they encountered Rodri, their pack beast, Baranth and Percival, who had travelled overland separately, and continued on with their journey without incident save for a strange Elven musician who had camped out on the hills and shared stories and songs with the party. As the group reached the broken road that links Gildi with the caldra via ash and rest,

a pair of shapes in the air quickly drew their attention as Lord Obsidius and Lady Emberissa flew down to meet them. Obsidius, furious with the party for sending a letter via Captain Nathaniel and the Earthworks Company which detailed everything they knew. And Barissa, however, seemed more concerned, her eyes searching the group for something or someone. And that is where we begin once again today. I'm right here. Or, some when. Don't worry, Barissa, I'm right here.

Somehow. Some when. Some whom. But yes, we find ourselves on this long trade road. So it is like a cobbled road. It is a trade road, it has been paved. You know, probably somewhere in the far distance there are the occasional wayside in for travelers and things like that.

But you are out on sort of the middle of nowhere really. There are large hills with forests to one side and then back the way you came are the beginnings of the Ash Hills There are large hills with forests to one side, and then back the way you came are the beginnings of the Ash Hills, where you begin to see the land itself change to that golden color that has been familiar for the last 10 days or so,

as you've been traveling. Before you, in their humanoid forms, stand Lord Obsidius and Lady Embrys, and Lord Obsidius with his black and red sort of horns and scales showing on his dark skin. Lady Embrys, slightly lighter colored, but still heavily tanned in her beautiful reds and golds. And yes, I believe that literally Obsidius

had just finished speaking quite harshly with Gruffydd, furious about this letter that had been sent, probably once again reciting his points of just like, you do not realize the things that you said in that letter, what they implied, what could have happened if anybody else had got their eyes up on it. It is you are fortunate indeed that our father did not read this letter that it was brought to me directly, that no others read it or perhaps sold it elsewhere.

Do you understand what could have happened? Rowan's just looking very sheepish. Daisy's hiding behind Rowan. Yeah, the eyes kind of casting around, probably lingering on Gruffydd, as Gruffydd was the one who said, it was me I sent the letter, like sort of, do you understand what would have happened

if anyone else had read this? I take full blame for this. This is not some danger that you can shelter you and your party from, Gruffydd. I understand that you wish to protect the others, but this was not just your decision, I am assuming. I'm sure that all of you, any of you could have spoken up. And he looks at you, Xanthias. You need to be far more careful. You especially. I cannot vouch that anyone else in my party

knew what I was doing. He kind of grumbles. Embarasser, Ossilus, enough! Is he alive? And she looks around. Yes, my lady. You see this immense breath of relief exude out from her.

Where is he? If I may, it might be a bit of a shock to see him. Her eyes blink. There is a moment. No need for insight rolls on this, there's a hesitation. That seems to strike a deep fear. But she then shakes her head, no, I need to see him, I need to see him. And you see Lady Verithera, my lady, he is in the wagon, we are trying to make him as comfortable as possible, but I can talk to you a little of what has happened.

And it's like they've seen her for the first time, right? Even though she's this enormous, like, you know, sort of eight foot tall, you know, dragon lady who's been accompanying you, they're just completely, they didn't even notice she was there. And you see them sort of both sort of, oh, we're in the presence of another dragon, like even though a younger one,

and Obsidius doesn't really care. He's just like, some young kid, I don't care about that right now. Embarissa's a little bit more like, you are, who are you? I am Lady Verithyr, 14th daughter of the archdragon of Mistwald, a pleasure to meet you, Lord and Lady. She sort of bows her head, and Embarissa is like,

will you show me him? Of course, and she takes Embarissa to the back of the wagon. Meanwhile, how's Amethyst doing? Oh, I am pissed with Obsidius. Yeah? I am so angry with him. Yeah?

Like fucking, almost on the knife edge of saying something, but I need to be more careful, like he said. But telling Gruff of all people to know that place? Oh. So how obvious is it that Xanthias is biased? I mean, I don't think it's all too subtle. Are you trying to, no?

I'm like, there's a- There's no need for an insight check, is that what you're telling me, or is this like- I mean, it's not like I'm full on glaring at him, but- Are you trying to suppress it? I'm suppressing saying something. Okay. But he's clearly like tense and like,

he is not looking too kindly towards- Obsidius doesn't even notice. He's oblivious to whatever you're feeling. It almost probably caught in his own fury. I'm stood there like Arthur right now, my fist be clenched. That was perfect. We'll say like Gruff, you know, he kind of, he stands, he faces Obsidius and he's got a very kind of strong posture,

but you know, friends knowing him will see that his tail is drooping and twitching a little bit. His ears are perhaps a little like... Airplane ears. Flatter, yeah, yeah, yeah. And is this like anger? Is this like I'm being admonished? Like what is the kind of game with profit?

I think a mix of both. Like he's angry because this privileged man child is cheering him out when it's like the safety of like, you know, he thought this was important and doesn't quite understand the machinations of all of this and the politics of all this but also like yeah big dragon shouting at him it's kind of a scary yeah you know yeah and also Gruff strikes me as the person who does respect or like respects that this is like this is a lord of the land like you are trying to be a knight

like you know there's probably an element here of like Gruff strikes me as This is a Lord of the Land, you are trying to be a knight. There's probably an element here of like, Gruff strikes me as a person who would respect their position. And yeah, being told off by a senior almost, right? And this is the thing. Lady Verithera busies herself with Emmerissa, and as the rest of you, as this is happening, you see her being led to the back of the wagon

and the door, the back door of your wagon, it's a covered wagon, is sort of opened and you just hear it. No! And she just, you see Ambarista just fall to her knees and just is like holding her hands to her mouth and you see tears like welling up in her eyes. It's my fault, it's my fault.

What's Rodri up to? He's happily munching on some grass at the side of the road. He's just like, yeah, he doesn't know what's going on. He's like, oh, we've stopped, great. I love stopping, I love rests. He's having a whale of a time. Just looks to his left, seems Obsidious,

Santheus and Graf. So Obsidious will look on the group, like the thing which, what's happening with them Marissa is like at the back of the wagon, right, and she's moved off. Any of you, if you wanna go and interact with that, you absolutely can, but Obsidious kind of like catch you all, what exactly happened?

The letter that you sent said that this cult was gathering crown steel. What happened since then? What has happened since you sent this letter? We discovered an underground fortress that was... The one that's Rowan's vision. Yes, we found the location. The reclaimers had taken it as their own

and were using it to store and hoard crown steel and use it to pollute the water supply. Lady Verafira and poor Ser Eldrach were being held captive and were being forced to consume crown steel against their will. That you hear like another sort of like gasp of, oh no, like from Embryssa. She's hearing this like as you're retailing it, like.

Dragon hearing. Yeah. Lady Vyrothyrr was able to fend off his effects, but Ser Eldrach was not so fortunate. All of you, it's not subtle. I think Obsidius' anger is kind of not letting him be his usual kind of calculated self, and immediately he looks towards Varithera, worrying. When you say that Varithera was being affected

by this as well, he's like, do I need to worry? Varithera, she managed to conceal it by creating an extra pouch, pocket, and managed to, you know, throw it back up again, so it wasn't actually affecting her at all. She didn't consume. None. It all came back.

Very well, please continue, Sister Ophelia. So we encountered these reclaimers. We fought the majority of them in a very tough battle. But we managed to succeed, thanks to Lady Varithyrra's help, and we escaped. What of the Crownsteel? The Crownsteel is still in the location,

but we have removed it from contaminating the water supply further. Hmm, very well. It will need to be recovered. It cannot remain there. No, we could not risk taking it on the road with us, for either we would be discovered with it, or it would start affecting us.

There's also a lot of it, very large amount. I will deal with the Grounds Deal. It is extremely dangerous. I must, I understand that you are a being with immense power and strength, and you come from an extremely powerful family, but this situation is worse. Sister Ophelia, perhaps Xanthius has not explained,

but I am very familiar with Groundsteel and its effects. I just worry that I want you to understand, well, I know you understand. What I'm trying to say, Lord Obsidius, is that this situation is bigger than I think we even thought it would be. Going into it, facing it head on, it's incredibly dangerous. And now there are reclaimers possibly, or who knows where more reclaimers could be.

You think that there was this cult, not all of them. You think there are more of them. There was a village above ground, above this secret lair. Yeah. Possibly worshipers, worshiping this crown steel and if there are reclaimers there, word could have spread, there could be reclaimers all over Ilmira.

Hmm. They did like to hide in ruins, structures that were around. They could hide anywhere. I have not heard of these reclaimers before, but they would not be the first cult or group that sought to gather ground steel in this way. You are wise to be fearful of this wicked metal.

And these reclaimers, it is good to know that that threat still exists. We must make sure that they do not get hold of these gifts once more. These, this, this metal. We must make sure that they cannot achieve their goals. If I may speak. Of course. Lord Obsidius. The village that we came across,

it was actually quite well established in ruins and there was evidence that people evacuated before we arrived there. On top of that, I found this, and I present the prophecy of Daranax. He takes it. The tome. He opens it. And with an alarming speed. You can tell he's not just flicking through it, he's reading.

But I fake him. Like... HE LAUGHS Troubling. Flicking through it, he's reading, but I... Faker. Like... Shh, shh, shh. Troubling. It is clear that what perhaps was once the acts of some followers of Galvassar have become this religious cult. They follow meanings.

He kind of shuts it. He hands it back to you, Gruff. He stops, and you can see he's thinking. He takes a moment, raises a hand to his chin. There's no beard, but he just strokes the corners. You can see there's little bits of scale almost along his chin, he's kind of rubbing those. His eyes do occasionally glance towards you, Zanthias. Yeah.

That was perfect. He looks at you with an intensity. And what happened with you, Xanthes? Remember, there are enchantments placed upon you to alert me to such events. Oh, you can't lie, boy. We're supposed to hide that we know. We knew.

Yeah, I know we know, but are we supposed to hide it? So you already know, then? I would prefer to hear it from you. You already know? Just waits. If this enchantment works like you say it does, like you say it does, like you say it do, then you know what it does. You know what I did.

You know what we had to do on your mission to save Eldrake. He doesn't say anything, he just stares at you. I'm not gonna say anything, I stare at him. Sure. So if you're staring off for a moment, his frown deepens. I'm also kind of glancing towards Emberissa as well, because I know she can hear this conversation, right? Yeah, she can, yeah.

She definitely seems absorbed in, like, Verithera is kind of whispering to her and speaking to her as well, but she probably can hear. Maybe, like, she reacted to the thing about Ser Eldraak, because obviously she heard his name, but again, you don't know how much of this she might be comprehending, right? Like, she can definitely hear it. How much she's his name, but again, you don't know how much of this she might be comprehending, right?

Like, she can definitely hear it. How much she's paying attention though? How would you know? How indeed. Daisy's gonna... Yeah, anybody else? ...wander over to Emberissa and... You sneak away.

...pat her on the shoulder. Oh yeah, well, even kneeling down, I think Daisy's arm would probably just sort of reach an arm, but she kind of, you feel like her hand like enclose over yours, and with teary eyes she looks at you. And it's strange because like whenever you've seen her, she's this powerful, very regal presence,

and seeing this immense, and you know that she's powerful. She's an adult dragon, she wields magic and strength beyond that of most creatures, and yet in this moment, you see this terrified, hurt, guilty woman. There is, like, I'm not even gonna make you roll inside, you can see she feels guilty. And she just looks at you with these pleading eyes and just barely manages to sort of whisper,

thank you. There was no way that you could have known. And it's very clear to me that he did everything in his power to resist this, and even towards the end, when we were finishing up our fight, he was very brave and did what needed to be done, and he's part of the reason that we got out of there. The kind words definitely seem to crack more of the composure that she's barely holding together.

He just, he just wanted to prove himself. I thought the quest would be, I thought that it would make my father recognize him. He did it because he just wanted to be part of our family. I thought that it would make my father recognize him. He did it because he just wanted to be part of our family. Can I look at him? My boy, my son. And she's like staring at the, you know, the arm's being bandaged,

but you can still see the corrupted horn, the eye, you know, the patches of flesh. And yeah, she's just absolutely broken, heartbroken by this. And she probably hasn't even seen it yet, whoever's got heart-worn, but she's just totally focused on Ser Eldritch right now. but she's just totally focused on Ser Eldritch right now. He did incredibly well, and this is not anybody's fault,

really, how could anyone have known the extent of what this could be? We didn't know the extent of it when we went in. It's a horrifying situation, and it's nobody's fault. She is nodding, but she says, but my father despises crown steel if he sees Eldrake like this. Lady Verithere is just like,

my lady, it is not, it is severe, but it is reversible in time. It will cost vast amounts of diamonds and gold for the ingredients to perform the spells that will remove the sickness from him, but with time and resources he will be all right. Thanks to these adventurers, they found him before... before it reached a state where it could not be undone. There is a certain level of corruption where it cannot be reversed. But this... Eldarac can come back from this.

But it will take a long time and many resources. Anything you need, anything you need, child, I will provide it. See, we have time, it's okay. And he's alive and he is still him. He's himself. Despite the appearance. She nods, she sort of places,

she kind of brings you in, but places her head against yours. It's a little hard with the horns, but she kind of places her head, thank you, Daisy. And seems to genuinely appreciate, yeah. I'm just looking back at Sam Theussey. Sam Theussey's still having a staring contest? I'm like, no.

I think that hearing, because you all hear this conversation with Daisy as well, that's probably like hearing his sister in this state, it's enough for Obsidius to like break the stair with Xanthias. He kind of looks away. In an edgelord way. In an edgelord way.

In a shadow of a head. No, good enough. Yeah, Harry'd flick it. And then he pulls a gun and goes on his motorbike. There is an element of Shadow of the Hedgehog. I hate to admit that, it was not in his original design, but having seen the film, I was like, oh fuck. I didn't know we shot a shadow of the hedgehog.

I'm just saying. I'm just saying. He's not a true dragonborn. Fake. I think you're the fake dragon around here. You're comparing yourself to me. You're not even gonna do my face. I'll make you eat those words.

God. I'm sorry I brought it up, I'm sorry. We got a nice serious emotional moment. You know Tom can't let that sit for too long. No, no, no, no, no. He's got a shout in the head so I mentioned Zero. The 12 people listening to this are like, hell yeah. The 12 Sonic fans.

Ha ha ha ha! Obsidious will dramatically look away. He will just say, that conversation is not over. This is a dangerous path. You have now all seen the consequences of this metal, the power it wields. That is not even to speak of those.

It seems that these reclaimers from your descriptions did not have the means to properly process the crown steel. In its raw forms, it is weaker, duller, but when properly processed, it can be far worse. I must go to this place. We must recover the Crownsteel or destroy it or something. And I wish a report on everything you know of these reclaimers. I have my own agents that I will send out to see if I can learn more of them, where they are, who leads them.

This name in the book, I will take that and use that to begin the search. He pulls out, he kind of waves his hand in the air in a small hole, in like, sort of a tear in the air forms. He reaches in and pulls out a scroll case, which a map, he pulls out a map from. Rowan, could you please indicate where you found this place? Oh, yes.

Easy. Here we go. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah, he's pulling. Throw it down. I'm assuming you point out the location that you remember it to be.

With one sort of long, like, taloned finger, like it's got like a long nail on it. My finger? Obsidious. The tip of it heats up and he just circles it with like a bit of heat on the map. And then he rolls it up and puts it in like his shirt of his humanoid form, closes the hole with a spell, some sort of portable

sort of magic bag of holding spell or something. I will go there to investigate, to consider how we deal with the Crownsteel. deal with the Crownsteel. Do you need accompaniment for that? We only ask, is it wise to maybe have some others just in case, because we've seen the effects of this? The difficulty when having others is that, much like the letter, it broadens the risk

of being detected by people. If the wrong people, I could summon guards from the city, from my father's town, yes. How much do I trust those guards? Not to sell that information, to pass it on. This is a game of shadows. I do not trust many people. Neither should you.

There are forces, there are factions and powers in this empire that would kill all of you and all you hold dear for this knowledge. I do not wish to risk that knowledge. Crownsteel is difficult to transport. I cannot move it through magical means. I certainly cannot place it into an extra dimensional space that would cause irreparable damage. Perhaps I can summon some agents of mine that I do trust.

If I may, Lord, Lady Verithera and her companions were originally tasked to purify the area, so they know of it, Penelope Baranth, and they are honorable people. Lady Verithera will look up like, oh no, why are you bringing me into this? She wanted to go back anyway! She does say that, she'll say like,

my lord, Obsidius, yes, my desire is to return to the place that the Crownsteel, the sickness, is in, so that I can begin rituals to purify the land, but also... And then she looks at Ser Eldraac and Lady Emberissa, but I do also need to help Ser Eldraac. And she sort of thinks, and Emberissa will now sort of turn around to the group like,

I cannot take him back to Ashenrest. My father cannot see him like this. But I have an estate in Kelskaris, in the city, that my father does not go to, he does not know of it. It is my personal residence. I will take my son there. Lady Verythira, she would call Verythira, she would be like, little sibling. I need your help, do you?

I must, I cannot leave him like this. And you see Varithera is sort of torn. And then she looks down, and you see Penelope's just like, be trying to like, no, she's like, don't perceive me, I don't want to be seen. My apprentice, I could teach her the spell, and she could accompany you, Lady Embarrasser.

She is young and she is not as powerful, but I could teach her the spell needed. It can only be performed, it can only be performed, there is a long amount of time before it can be performed again. It will give Penelope time to learn and practice. And you see Penelope, he's like,

my lady, I don't know if I'm good enough for that. And she's sort of like, oh. He's like, you will be fine, child. You know what you are to do and you will have time to practice. And you have been looking after Settledrack on the journey anyway. You are familiar with what has happened and I trust you to keep a secret. And I'm sure you will not let the Lady Emberissa down. Oh no, I wouldn't do that, Mamber!

She's just sort of like panicking a little bit. The Emberissa will just be like, I would give you anything, little one, to help me. Like, little Penelope. She's like, oh, I guess, I guess so. I don't think I have a choice. I guess, yeah, I go to the big city. I've never been to the Chelscaris before,

but sure, I'll go if that helps. And then Varithar is like, that would allow me to go back and begin the rituals with Boranth, and I will summon some of my other acolytes and apprentices who are druids. They can help me with purifying the land, and I can help Lord Obsidius figure out how to deal with the Crownsteel, as Graffat suggests.

That way the circle of trust is limited to those who already know. Yes, that seems agreeable to me. I will need a couple of... just a night to teach Penelope the spell, which she must know. But then after that I can go back to the village and the lake. We could help if you need more hands, more people, because we already know all the things and stuff. I am not certain how you would be able to help me, Daisy. What is required now is... I do not feel that you would have

the abilities to help me with this. And besides, I think it best that Xanthias does not return to that place. I agree on that part. You should head back to Ashenrest. I believe that my sister has promised you rewards, that you have well earned, and if you present my advice to you,

speak with my father, Duke Ignorius. Present him with this cultist book. Tell him that there was a threat. A cult was attempting to gather crown steel. That they pose a threat to Ashenrest and North Vale, but reveal nothing of Ser Eldrake, reveal nothing about what happened in that place, and his eyes glance towards Scythias.

what happened in that place and his eyes glance towards Zantheas. But instead form it as a potential threat. There is a cult, they have something to do with crown steel, some ancient foe. This daranax was a foe of my father's. He was a dragon that led, was responsible for the Battle of the Ashram Hills. Connect those two, my father will agree that there is a threat and will reward you for it, as promised, I think. But my advice is, do not tell him that there is crown still present. Do not tell him of what happened with Eldrake. For my sister's sake, if nothing else. And he kind of like looks towards Amber. This is a strange look on his face.

You'd need insight check if you wanna kind of pick up on what that might be. Someone likes the goss. Seven. Seven. Insight. I have cat hair in my mouth, that's fine. Nice. 18. 18.

17. 17 and 18. It's a genuine look of like, he knows what will happen to Eldrake if Duke Ignarius finds out he's been corrupted. And it would break Embrace's heart, because it would be bad. And so he's like, when he's saying don't speak

of what happened to Eldrake, that's from a very strong care for his sister, half sister. My lord, forgive me, if Ignarius asks for your whereabouts. I will be returning to Ashenrest here and there. I will travel between the two. It is not unusual for both my sister and I to be about other business. I will simply tell him that I'm investigating something.

Perhaps I will even say that I'm working with you to investigate this cult, but it is not uncommon for us to leave the place. Embarissa will turn around and say, and I will say that I wish to spend some time in the capital. That, again, is not unusual for me. I often go there for diplomacy and politics. It will not be uncommon for me to spend

some large, lengthy amounts of time there, months at a time. But I will accompany you back to Ashenrest, for I have promised true rewards, and I will see to it that you get them. May I ask, did you, and she looks at you, Gruff, you found it, a shield? Yes, my lady, I, I, hello, my name is Gruff.

The village in Trimor, Xanthias, what have you done right now? Yes, my lady, yes, my lady. I didn't want to interrupt, but. Oh, I was preoccupied, Griffith, thank you. May I present you with heart warning? She takes it, and in her hands, it's big, but she's still a lot taller than a normal human. She's like nine feet, it's not like that.

It's like, she's only like. What is it, the shield for ants? And she places it close to her heart, and she hugs it basically. Thank you. I would like to keep this. But I will make sure that you have your award as promised. This was...

This will help soothe things with my father eventually, when perhaps the truth will need to be told to him, but not for some time. There really is no rush on rewards or anything like that, my lady, we just are grateful that you... It will be a small trifle, my dear. It will be a small thing to make sure you get what you deserve. But yes, we will head back, will be a small thing to make sure you get what you deserve.

But yes, we will head back and then perhaps could I ask you, Varithura child, would you stay with Eldrach for until we get back to the city? Keep him asleep and peaceful. And then when I leave for Kel Skaris, I will collect him and I have means of getting him out of Atreus' rest and transporting him to the city, unseen. And then you can accompany my brother back to this... horrid place that these horrid things happened. horrid place that these horrid things happened.

Lady Embryssa, sorry, I also have Eldrax Halberd as well. Oh, she'll take that. Sorry. His arm. It's his arm, do you want it? It's his arm. Don't mind that. The ice stick. Just probably something like that.

She will gladly take the halberd. Thank you, Sister Ophelia. This has been Eljax's weapon for many years. It will bring him comfort and still have it. And like, beat his weapon. Indeed, thank you. Yeah, and she will take that as well. And yeah, with that, Obsidus is sort of like,

right, I'm done. I'm like, he seems to have cooled off. Perhaps it's the red dragon part of him. That fiery temper was like a burst of fire, and now it's sort of cooled, and the pragmatic black dragon side is coming back out now. He probably asks more like tactical questions. You know, he asks like,

did any of these cultists have strange powers? He kind of goes back into researcher mode and he begins making mental notes about everything you tell him about the battle, the chosen, anything that you reveal to him basically. And he begins like making these detailed sort of like notes about this cult, things to look out for, symbols, how they were dressed, what sort of equipment they had, anything that they said,

these kind of more present tactical matters. Probably avoids talking with Xanthius, though. He has a liability. I've left that circle of chat now. I'm out of here, fuck this guy. Xanthius has left a group chat. Fuck this entire guy. What you talking about?

Man, I, oh my God. He, I swear to God, I'm gonna kill that man one day. Wow. Wow. Podcast listeners, for the last five, 10 minutes, Thomas has been clenching his jaw. He's been very, yeah. My jaw clenched, Thomas has been clenching his jaw. He's been very furious. My jaw clenched,

butthole clenched, fist clenched, ain't no part of me unclenched. I need to loosen up. This is a fun, chill time. This guy's dead. Good luck with that. Good luck with that, man.

I just need another like 16 levels. I need to be level 23. A few relics. Couple relics down. Some crown steel down. A little bit more crown steel, that would help. I'll microdose some crown steel. Go back to that pile, just throw yourself in it.

This guy did not say thank you once. I'll microdose some crown steel. Go back to that pile, just lay yourself in it. This guy did not say thank you once. Nope, he hasn't. They're gonna get married. That's how I see this. I'm gonna kill this guy or I'm a fucking... The two binaries. The group is encouraged that you continue

back towards action rest to get back safety. With this plan of then Varytheor of Citizen Baranth will head back to where it was and begin their processes. Meanwhile, Embarissa will then smuggle Sereldrak to Kelskaris, where she can basically help him recuperate. As you continue on the journey, now you're on the road, and now you have two very powerful dragons. I'm not gonna worry about any random encounters

or anything like that, because it would be silly. I'd be like, a wolf comes out of seven wolves, and Barisa just destroys all three of them. Destroys all three. Wait, but the pearls! The hat! Oh no! Oh! Yeah.

I love the idea that some traitor is just trying to sell stuff. So, like, you don't just pick a roadside trader. No! Would you like some nuts? When you... I'm just imagining the wolf owl and then... Ooh! Well, it's like the Tom Scott vape thing.

Ooh! It just disappears. That night, when you go to camp, They just disappear. That night, when you go to camp, you can see, you know, the two dragons are, you know, they are probably having a quiet conversation, just the two. Lady Verithera will approach you all.

My friends, I would like to just take a moment. I wanted to express my deep gratitude for rescuing me from that cult, preventing... I'm not sure that I could have kept holding out as long as I did. I was doing what I could, but if they had kept me there for months, I would have been far worse than poor Eldrach.

And also because your actions have helped the hills as well, you have helped the land itself. You've brought hope to those lands. They are now free of this corruption, a sickness, that would have made it something very evil in time. Balance can now be restored and perhaps one day people can live amongst those hills once more. From the ashes something new will be born. And I wanted to give you a symbol of that. And she pulls from like, she has this kind of leafy tunic kind of thing.

She pulls five flowers. These are, those of you who are from Caldre would recognize these as a sort of local flower called a fiola. Okay. And they, you can see that they were once, they were probably picked from the ash hills because there's still remnants of the black, red, and gold coloring to them, but they've been purified.

I used my magic to purify these and enchant them, so they will not wither and die, but I wanted them to be a symbol of what you did here. And she presents to each of you these Fjolas of Renewal. Ooh! Oh, thank you! Oh, my God. These are magical boons, so these are a one-use thing.

You will also find them in D&D Beyond. Ooh. Does somebody want to read out the description for me? There's a little description of the item at the top and then the effect. This Fjola flower was picked in the Ash Hills but has been purified and enchanted by the green dragon Lady Verithira.

I have not been spelling that correctly. I have not been spelling that right. It has a vibrant orange and glows with soft wiss of fire. When a character is at zero HP and must make a death saving throw, they can spend one fate and immediately roll up to three hit dice rega- bleh. They can spend one fate and immediately roll up to three hit dice

regaining that many hit points. Oh! Once used, the magic fades from the flower. So it's like a one-use thing, but it's like when you're at 0 HP and you're making death saving throws, instead of making the death saving throw, you can spend up to three hit dice, roll them, and then you get that many hit points. To represent the idea of renewal and that from this place,

life can bloom once more. That's the idea. One each? You get one each, yeah. They are one use only though. Wow. The magic will remain enough that the flowers themselves won't wither and die,

but the magic of the effect is a one use only thing. And then, you know, enough that the flowers themselves won't wither and die, but the magic of the effect is a one use only thing. And then, you know, enough that you could put them in your jet, like, you know, on your cuff, or like in your hair, or whatever you wanted to do with them. Um, uh. Oh. You could also eat it.

I'm not sure how that would work, but I'd figure something else. It just works for everything. It does, suck it. It's just a catch-all joke, except for podcast listeners who get just the noise. I think it's from context, the noise makes sense. But yeah, she gives one of these.

So this is just a small thing. I do not have many riches, despite being a daughter of an archdragon, I do not have riches or things like that to give you, but I hope that this will serve as a reminder of what you have done here. We also owe you, Lady Verithera, are you? Not at all.

Well, thanks to you, we were able to hold back those cultists and make it out in one piece. I'm sure that you would have fought bravely and finished them off without me. I am not one, fighting and killing is not in my nature. There are many green dragons who can, but I find it very distasteful. It makes me very, I feel very sick and I shake

and I seize up, I cannot think, when there is much violence happening around me. I was not born, I was meant to heal, so... Oh, I'm sorry, you were trapped in an environment where you had to bear witness to that horrible thing. That is horrible. I think seeing what it was doing to Sir Eldritch, I needed to do something.

But yes, a little something. Well, thank you very much. It's extremely kind of you. Smells lovely. Yes, I find them. They are a pleasant flower here in Caldera. It reminds me of camp smoke and the warm hearth of a fire. I find it very welcoming.

If you like these flowers, if you ever visit Mistwald, it is a land of beautiful nature and many beautiful plants and flowers, Rowan. I think you would like it. I'll be sure to add it to my list. You should visit, yes. And I will try to send word back home that should you ever go there, you would obviously, please, feel free to let my family know

that you are friends of mine and that you have saved my life and that I will send word that you are to be treated as guests if you ever visit my home. Thank you very much. You're very kind, thank you. Of course. Xanthias, may I speak with you alone? Ooh, of course, Lady Verithera.

Sort of like, would you walk with me, just out amongst the hills for a moment? Okay, is it like night time now? Yeah, it's like night time. Okay, cool. Like a little night time walk, like Sun's just saying. She will walk with you, little cousin, she would call you, because you're a dragonborn, she's a dragon,

so she kind of calls you little cousin. Okay. Just like. Find her. That's what she would call you, whether you like it or not is up to kinda calls you little cousin. Okay. Just like. Find her. That's what she would call you, whether you like it or not is up to you. Probably little shit more appropriate. Daisy's dead.

Number two on the list. That wasn't Daisy, Daisy was gonna say that. Oh me, bitch. I'm gonna transcend realities. I wish to speak with your little cousin because I cannot ignore what I saw. Of course. Down in the lake.

You carry the sickness. Yes. Yes, a secret that I'm really failing to keep. I feel that there was not much you could do in that incident. No, I tried my best, but... You did. And your friends helped pull you back from something which... In the history of our kind, very few have resisted its lure.

You should be proud of yourself and grateful to your friends for being able to do that. I am. I want you to know, by the way, I do not seek this out, nor did I seek it out to begin with this sickness. I don't intend to use it for anything but the best intentions. Then may I ask, how did the piece become trapped here? On a- Suggestions to her chest for podcast listeners. I know that, this is Tom speaking, not Santheus,

I know it's really difficult to tell. Cause I know that she's like green dragon, that's a different nation. I'm already spooked by political intrigue as it is with Gildai and stuff like that. I'm not gonna be super forthright with it. But I was attacked by someone with a crown steel weapon attacked by someone with a crown steel weapon.

And it awakened some kind of magic within me that is currently holding it at bay as best it can. But unfortunately lodged that shard within my chest. And this magic, that is what keeps it there. I've seen that it sort of covers the wound. Yes, it tries to, and stops anyone else from feeling its effects. I was going to ask, none of your companions have felt the effects of it?

No, not, well, if in a very, very small way, maybe, but I don't believe it's escaping that cage, so to speak. May I see your arm? Yes. She'll like, she like holds her hands out like she wants to like. I think at this point I've got like, it's not even close to this like leather glove

that I had before. It's wrapped in bandages. You've tried to hide it as best you can. She kind of takes it and slowly, gently unwraps the bandages. You've tried to hide it as best you can. She kind of takes it and slowly, gently unwraps the bandages. And there is this very soft, there's no harshness to her movements. This is a doctor almost examining, but not in a scientific way, in a worried way.

More like maybe like a mother attending to a child who's hurt their knee or something like that. Like she turns it over, gently sort of like squeezes in areas just to like see if there's reactions. Can I ask how you're able to resist this so well? It is green dragons. We are connected to life, but also to dreams and hope and there is not much for the Crown Steel as I understand it. I have only learned a little.

It tends to affix itself to certain desires, certain emotions. It is why that in the Oriate insurrection, although I was not born yet, I have studied history, it was primarily gold, bronze, a few red dragons and a few black dragons, a few blue. The silver and the green dragons were not as affected by the lure of it as much. Gald-Vasar struggled to convert many of my ancestors to his side because there is not much for the crown still to lure us with.

Hmm. But there is also a personality element to it. There are reasons why not all of the gold dragons joined Gald-Vasar because not all of them desired the same things that he did. I have no ambitions for power or influence. I just want to help people.

I wish to help heal them, whether it is a physical sickness or a mental sickness. I wish to heal the land. I feel very connected to the animals and the plants of this world, to Althea. But perhaps it is just willpower, perhaps it is... I am not of as much interest to the Carrianne still. I am not a useful servant for it, perhaps. This, and she holds out your hand... It is progressing, but slowly.

You are still early in the stages of corruption. Sir Eldrach is maybe twice, three, four times what you are at. three, four times what you are at. I mentioned to Lady Ambarisa that there is a way to revert this process, to heal the sickness, the corruption. There are spells that can do it. These spells are normally used to cure diseases or poisons, magical ailments, curses, that sort of thing. It seems to work on crown steel as well, corruption. or poisons, magical ailments, curses, that sort of thing.

It seems to work on crown steel as well, corruption. To remove, wait, to remove all that's happened to my arm or just to lay it? It would, I'm not sure if we would be able to save your arm. Perhaps, it is still early. It may go back to how it once was. But it would also think of it as a poison running through your system. The arm is an immediate effect, yes. But it will also affect your mind and your heart as well.

Ew. Ha ha ha. As it does, the poison lingers. The spell thins it until it is gone. Now, it cannot remove too much corruption at once. To do so can be deadly. To remove too much corruption in one go could cause your body too much... put too much pressure on your body, on your mind,

it can tear you apart from the inside. It is why I cannot, it will take me months, if not years, to heal Ser Eldrach, but it will in time. But it is costly, it requires vast amounts of magical ingredients to perform this spell. I only carried enough with me to cast it once when you were first able to subduce a Eldrake in the cavern. Okay.

But with you, with this magic containing the shard, I do not think this magic will work on you. Not until that can be taken away. It might work, but it would quickly come back. So I need to remove the shield that's protecting everyone else from my Crownsteel. And the shot itself, which would be dangerous medically as well. There are spells that can regenerate. Looking at your

chest, I think that there may be damage to your lungs and heart that are being kept going by the Crownsteel. But there are spells to regenerate that sort of damage, but you would need to have the shard removed first before those spells would have an effect, and the shield as well. I don't suppose you know of any safe ways to keep my body going? There are potions, boons, trinkets that may be able to help, but ultimately whatever this magic that is shielding the shard,

protecting others from it but also keeping it trapped within you, that I do not know anything about. Until that is removed, my guesses are only limited. I don't believe I have any control over the shield itself. It's my magic, sure, but it's untouchable by me from what I can understand. And I'll be honest, I haven't really wanted to tempt fate with it. No, I understand that. You may find, though, that it is your magic.

It is likely an automatic response from your mind and body, wanting to contain this thing. It is subconscious. You could perhaps learn to control it in time, but you would need to dedicate yourself mentally to override that desire. It would be like trying to tell your heart to stop beating, or your lungs to stop breathing. You can hold your breath, but eventually your body will desperately want to take a gasp.

Do you know what would happen to my body if I got rid of this protection? Would the corruption spread faster or? No, I don't think the corruption would spread faster, no. I think that it is spreading through you at a steady rate. Normally, one needs to either ingest or be in the close proximity of Crownsteel to be mutated and corrupted by it,

but you are carrying it with you every day. It is like you are sleeping next to it every night, carrying a piece of it around your neck. For you, I do not think it would spread more quickly, but it would, without this shielding, affect others. I think. Those close to you. I just wish to share what I have learned, and what I... Also what I guess.

I'm still new to all of this myself. I learned a little, but only what I was taught early age and then what I saw with the reclaimers, what I have managed to deduce on my own. But should you find yourself, if the shield is disabled and you can help, you can gather the reagents, I will heal you as best I can. you can gather the reagents, I will heal you as best I can.

I appreciate that. And for your honesty, what is this spell out of interest? It is a modified, there is a spell that is commonly called Greater Restoration, but this is a sort of modified version of it that is known to the green dragons. I can teach it to Penelope, and perhaps in time I could teach it to your friend Rowan.

Seems to have a strong connection with the land, as does Gruffydd. I think I could teach it to the two of them in time. It is a variant on it. But it's mainly the material cost. It requires vast amounts of diamond dust, but also other rare ingredients as well. Medicinal plants used to purge toxins and disease.

And normally something clear and pure. I, for example, used magical water that is gathered in Mistwald. Okay. But seek me out when you are in the place, perhaps when this spell can help you. Thank you. I apologize from keeping it from you,

but I'm sure you understand. Why, of course. You do not need to apologize, little cousin. It is, you are trying to protect yourself, and it is a daint, and Lord Obsidius, I do not like the way that he looks at you or I, but he is right that crown steel is a terribly dangerous thing,

and that there are powerful forces and people out there will stop at nothing to get it. The peace that you carry, I think, is, it's a very pure peace that makes it very strong. Be careful, little cousin. I'm doing the best I can. And thank you for all of your assistance. Of course.

Now let us get this back to our friends. God damn it. God damn it. She starts walking back with you. Yeah, I'll stay out for a bit, just a little bit longer, just to absorb it all and. Sure, if you wanna be on your own, she'll leave you on your own for a little bit longer, just to absorb it all and... Sure, if you want to be on your own, she'll leave you on your own for a little bit.

She makes her way back to the camp. What's everyone else up to? Anything anybody else wants to do? Rowan's tucking into the supplies, seeing if he can rummage together Nolan Crowe's steel-infused foods to kind of make up for his... Well, you put a bunch in Rogerie right now,

you have the wagon back, you can absolutely put a little meal together. Trying to rekindle up for this. Well you bought, like you put a bunch in Rogerie right now, you have the wagon back, you can absolutely put like a little meal together. Trying to rekindle that. Okay. Kind of get the spirits lifted a little. Okay, sure. Give me a roll, like a cook's tools roll.

So this would be proficiency plus intelligence or wisdom. All right. 13 plus, let's go with wisdom, 15. And then plus your proficiency on top. 18. 18, that's actually pretty good. You put together, what kind of food do you want to put together, what is this? It's gonna be a stew. A stew.

Just kind of all Roman, they know. Bridge four stew. Bridge four stew. I don't know where I got the name from. Rock stew, yeah. Yeah, you put together a beautiful stew using like, maybe you've got like, because it's been traveling for a long time, there's probably like a lot

of the perishable stuff that you had is no good, but you've probably had like some like, dried mushrooms, you find some like local kind of like herbs and like herbs and spices, maybe like some potatoes, things that could last a fairly decent journey. And then maybe like some grains, like maybe not quite a risotto, but you put like some sort of like,

you know, grains that swell up with the juices and add like a nice bit of texture, almost like a meaty tuber or something like that goes in there and stuff as well. And yeah, you make a wonderful stew for the evening. Everybody can have three, you know, five temporary hit points that will last until you basically have another long rest, which is, well, actually, let's say you cook this each night.

Yeah, we already had 10 from the bards. Then 10's enough, and you still got 10. So there is no effect, but it's very nice. It's very nice. It's very nice. So yeah, you actually have 10. Not as good as a story. Well, that was a mystical magic story from a magic man, a magic elf.

From Orphaned Bart. Mothman. Mothman. Mothman. Trapstick. Mothman, can't breathe. Oh no. Trapstick. It's a reference to the Mothman movie, which I've seen like twice,

and for some reason that scene sticks in my head. It's okay, the three Mothman fans. Yeah, loving this, hell yeah! Cringy's like, yeah! Anyway, yeah, you cook a lovely stew, it's a lovely evening, Penelope is happily just tucking into it, so good, mwah, mwah, just like happily eating away.

Slow down a little bit, come on. Big bowl, slaps it away. You want to make more? Yeah, you will have a lovely evening with Roman Stu. Anything from anybody else? No. If not, we will jump ahead a couple of days as you all arrive back in Ashen.

Oh, haza, we did it. Nali. Daisy. I would like to, on the last day as we're going into the city... I want a dog, Mark. What? OK. What do you mean? OK.

OK. Oh. OK, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can I get a little dog, please? I don't want to really advertise it. I feel like this dog is like Daisy's emotional support on the road. It's been a hard time.

Keep in mind, once the dog is summoned, the dog exists. No. It doesn't go away again. Dog's for life. Dog is for life. Not just for travel. I'm aware we're getting close to home again. Okay.

Now the way that I'm gonna do this is because like the items, all that's registered is that you can create a dog using this little magic medal. I like to imagine that when it's as you think, what is the first breed of dog? The sausage dog. Oh right, it's a small, a versed hound, versed hund.

It's like a long hair one. Yeah, yeah, like a curled one. Long hair included. Yeah, a moth. Yeah. But it has to be big enough that like, because it has stats and can fight, so it's not like a tiny sausage dog.

It would be like a fairly chunky big one. What's like an Althean sausage dog, I suppose. Yeah, it would be an Althean sausage dog. He's not gonna fight. Okay, all right, fine, all right, in that case, if he's not, because you can have him fight, is the point. He's just my friend. Right, in that case, it is a tiny sausage dog.

I'm just gonna hide it in my bag for a night. All right, okay. I love my sauce and dog. How good is Grop's sense of smell? What's your passive perception? Passive perception is 17. Yeah, you definitely noticed Daisy's got a dog. Like, as you're walking along,

like, you probably noticed Daisy's bag, like, wiggling quite a lot, and, like, a little bit of fur sticks out of, like, the flap. LAUGHTER SNIFFS Does anyone else smell...? like a little bit of fur sticks out of the flap. Does anyone else smell? No, I cleaned recently. What was it me? I don't want it to be me. It better not be me. Probably me.

It's all right. None of you have bathed in quite some time. Do I want it in your check, Grog? Like it's been at least seven days since you left, because you got a nice clean when you went in the water. Oh true, yeah. But it's been seven days since then. We've gone past a river on the way into Ashen's Rest, though.

I've been face down in that river. You could, the last day before Ashen's Rest, you could go have a little dip in the river. Yeah, I figured he would wash. Do you think we should do something about him? He's fine. Do you think we should do something about him? He's fine. Do you think he's okay?

He's just emotionally regulating right now. By dying, I think. If the bubbles stop, we're getting him. Yeah, like the last day as you pass the river, you can like, yeah, the river is used. Like people do go and like wash clothes and stuff. Cannonball! Huge water wave. can like, yeah, the river is used, like people do go and like wash clothes and stuff. Cannonball! No! Shhh! Shhh!

Huge water wave. Shhh! And now he's like, Ahh! Tidal wave. Like face down on the river, you face down on the dirt. Ha ha ha!

Ha ha ha! Boom! Oh! Ha ha ha! There was a lake here, right? Ha ha ha! It's now just like this tight. It is a, the Ruby River is actually a massive river.

And it's quite fast moving, so it's probably the kind of thing of like, you can wash it in, but you can't just like chill it. Yeah, he's like, you have to run after Zanthus. Like, all the way. Remember when you pulled me from the river? That was just yesterday, we washed. Anyway, do I smell?

No, of course I don't. The Ruby River also has barges that go up and down it quite a lot. It travels a lot of the trade. Knocked about. Face down. You can still go and buy them, but what I'm saying is it's not like a little tiny river.

It's not peaceful. It's not relaxing. When I broke both my legs going down the river. When I had to fish you out. It's like lying down on a motorway. Yeah. It's a little bit like that, yes. Remember when I died offscreen?

A river motorway. River M25. That's how it feels to be onscreen. Maybe not the M25, but like a busy A-road. Okay. Like a two-lane busy A-road, right? But yes, so you do manage to get a bit of a claim. As you are sort of nearing Ashen's Rest,

Gruff, you notice the wiggling in the back. Yeah, to answer the question, no, we don't smell. Daisy, do you have something you'd like to share with the group? Secret? Daisy, how could you? I know, it's fine. What is that, Daisy? Someone's shoes squeaked. I can hear it's fine. What is that, Daisy?

Someone's shoe squeaked. I can hear a tiny heartbeat. Why do you hear the heartbeat? That's really creepy. A little bit of fur flops out and is going back and forth. I rolled a one on its stealth, by the way. Where did you find it? What is it?

This steward. Is it a fire, what's it called? Fire stove? Fire stove. He's got a little orange ribbon tied around him to match the ribbons that Daisy has. The Stewart. You didn't get that from the Ash Hills, did you?

You got it from the coat. Rowan bursts out crying. Oh! He collapses. He's dead. It's just overwhelming for Rowan. Are you keeping that for food? No!

Ophelia! I'm just wondering why he'd have a small, furry, daisy-sized- My friend! Wait, you got that from the coat? Yeah. You used one of the things? Yeah.

Coat dog. I needed it, okay? I needed it! It's been a hard time. Oh! Can I pet him, please? He's really nice. I lose.

It's so soft. Stuart. Stuart. Stuart is very soft. Oh, good little puppy. Oh, my God. Can we keep him forever? We're keeping him. He is just, it's not an option. We need to find a star. It's okay though, because he's been Oh my god. Can we keep him forever? We're keeping him.

He is just, it's not an option. We need to find a star. It's okay though, because he can be my best. He's incredibly precious, I love him. Yes. See? Yes. We're a giant like eight foot dragon lady. He's like, ooh.

Do you have enough food for him? Yeah. Yes, we do. I get all my snacks that I've been carrying, just like, lint. And we're almost home, and then he can be home, and he can stay in the inn. Are you walking him every day?

Look at his little legs. He's only small, his legs are like this big. Wait, how long have you had him? Have you been training him? Yeah. With what? Where have you been keeping his, um, leaveings?

The animals do little leaveings, don't they? Yeah, along the way, it's fine. Oh, oh, a trail. I mean, Daisy's stealth's good enough that she probably just slips off every now and then and nobody notices and like- I've been walking this dog for like two days. So that's where you've been going?

Sneaking off and then coming back. You didn't notice, don't pretend you noticed. No, no, I'm not pretending, I'm, no. I'm not slick. Stuart's fine. I'm just face down in the river. Stuart's been having a really nice time. First, Rodri, now Stuart.

We could talk to Stuart. We could talk. Not today, it's probably too much excitement. It's probably party-worthy for Mark to come up with an entire character. If you would like to speak to the dog, you can do whatever you like. That's the beauty of this game,

and my burden as the dungeon master. It's true in 2024 now, how to speak with animals at all times. Yeah, they're an excess nice world war building great. Anyway, Stuart. How are we spelling Stuart just out of interest? You gotta have a fantasy spelling. It's gotta be like S-T-Y.

S-T apostrophe A-R-T. Stuart. It's gonna be the fan art then. How does he react to a big lion man? This dog is the chillest dog. So how does a big cat react to a big line man? This dog is the chillest dog. How does a big cat react to a dog? Airplane ears. You're like doing the sideways hops.

Back just arches, back. Grub kind of looks down at it. I pulled my neck. You alright there Belle? There's like an injury at the table. What is wrong with you? I'm a certified first aid or do you want me to do some first aid? Oh no, we're gonna have to, high role is it's gonna have to pay out for that.

Nah. Have you been injured at work? Does HR have an HR department? Cool, injury lawyers for you. I RP too hard. Stop making a laugh, you're gonna make your neck worse. How did you injure yourself? I did a cat impression at a D&D table.

I roleplayed too hard. I did it, I was like being a cat. And then I was like, neck just went. Oh, fuck. Oh dear. Carry on. Can you roll it? Like, yeah.

I'm all right, I'm all right. No, she's done, she's done, that's who she is. Most professional stream. I pulled a muscle in my neck. Into herself playing D&D. Yeah. Yeah. That's when you know you're getting old, dude.

I know, yeah, I'm older you. Rolling, and like, ah! Ah! Ah! You're getting too big to laugh. I RP'd too hard today, Kat. Too hard. Sure, let me just check my stick.

Ah! I gotta take two weeks off work, guys. I roleplay too hard. What was the situation pretending to be an angry cat? Are you okay? I'm fine. I don't pull the muscle. Do we need to sign you off work?

I'm fine. Do you need to work from home? Yeah, guys, I have to go. We had to retire. Get some Tiger Balm or a heat pad to your work. Can I get a neck brace then? Next week. No, we'll get you a dog cone.

Yeah, a dog cone is great, yeah. Oh my god. Right, anyway. Anyway, sorry. Thanks to the real Rob. Graff looks at this fucking dog. Just, there's a moment. And then he just starts sneezing furiously.

Oh no! Oh yeah, G. I love that. Choo! Choo! Choo! Um, yeah. Do you want to, how bad is it? Is it like rationed like hives or is it just sneezing? I dunno, should I roll for it?

Constipation? Yeah, go on, yeah, give us a roll. Also, that was not a damn sneeze. If you get in that one, you are like definitely allergic. I'm not allergic to that. I'm not allergic to that. I'm not allergic to that. I'm not allergic to that.

I'm not allergic to that. You're not definitely allergic, but it is like your nose is dripping, your eyes, I'm gonna say you have disadvantage on like any checks. Wow. Yes, Joe. Wow. Can I not lie to you?

Because you're like, your like eyes are swelling up, like you're watering, like you itch, like under your fur, you're like really itchy. Use some anti-estimine. You said, should you roll for it? As a potion. Yeah, you could, yeah, there'll be like a, like you can go to an alchemist

and get like anti-allergy stuff. Fuck off. Put that down. He just got out the demon gun and was like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He just got out the demon gun and was like... But which one are you pointing at? Well, I'm sorry I got into this, Gruff.

The group has chosen the tiny dog. We've only had this dog for like three minutes, but I will kill everyone in this room and then myself. I understand. Yeah, I understand. Yeah. Oh. Oh. Sorry, Gruff, I'll keep him over here.

I'll keep him over here. Maybe in time you'll build up an immunity to it. With a two? Yeah, it'll take a while. But yeah, you. Can you make him speak, though? So we can ask him how he is. Not right now, Daisy.

Not right now, Daisy. No! He can't even open his eyes right now. It's just like... It's just, it faked you so quickly. So puffy. So puffy. She pulled the dog out and you immediately just...

Boom! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Not right now, Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh, I thought I was getting a cold. This is it, this is the point, often it's just all affected. Lady Vera Theorok has cure wounds,

which gives you a few hours to breathe. Oh, I can breathe again. It's like having a menthol. It's like a big hit of menthol, you're like, oh, I can breathe and see. Sweeter. Cure wounds, oh, I can breathe and see. Sweetie. Wounds also known as albus oil. The size of this dog compared to Rowan's

probably pretty hilarious, right? Yeah, it's tiny compared to Rowan. No! Stuart loves it, though. He loves the big heavy pet. Oh yeah, STU or STU? W, S-T, STEW. Stu-art.

Oh, Stu! A Stu-art, like Rowan Stu. Yum yum. No! My favorite. Ophelia sees it and immediately. Fast food. Anyway, you, this all happens on the last kind of day

as you're making your way back into Ashen Rest. You head through the city gates. What you would probably do is, cause you bought this wagon, didn't you? Yeah. You bought Rodri, you've actually bought him. But there's no way for you to store... Like, you can't house him at the inn, there's no space.

We can. We can gut out the shrine. No! I think... No, there's not enough space for him to live there. I thought we had a discussion. We bought it, and we could store it at the place... That is exactly what I was going to say. The same with the wagon, right?

You can store both of those things at the little farm, at the place where... That's exactly it, I was gonna say. The same with the wagon, right? You can store both of those things at the little farm, at the little stables. You drop them all off. You probably would have to, with Sir Eldrack, basically, maybe Lady Embarista takes care of this, is a case of like, hi, Stable Boy, here's a lot of gold, don't look in the wagon. Just leave it there, don't worry about it. Just leave it, just look after Roger,

but don't look in the wagon. Don't let anyone go near it. So it's probably an arrangement that can be made there. And I'll know. Yeah. And you guys make your way back, and as you turn down the street, heading back towards your home,

it is the first time that as you're making your way there, the roof has been fixed. The windows have all been repaired. The shutters have been fixed. Oh, they're all windows. They did carry on working good. It is the, all the works that have been requested, the room, the internal changes,

everything has been done to your specification. And I believe that a new sign is currently hanging outside as well. I don't think we decided on like an image for the sign though. Just a name. So for now there is maybe space for a sign, like a symbol or a piece of art if you'd like one. Just toriel it. Yeah. So for now there is maybe space for a sign, like a symbol or a piece of art if you'd like one. It's just Tyraelite.

Yeah. But for now in beautiful, sort of calligraphic, beautiful kind of illustrated font, Tyria's Rest. Yeah. With a little space under it if you wanted to add something, like maybe Daisy could paint something on there or something like that. But there are new, they are not magical lights,

they are sort of normal oil lanterns, like Scons is outside, the iron fence has been repaired, the hallway round, it's been cleaned, and when you step up to the door, looking inside through the windows, you can see a beautifully lit interior, everything has been polished, repaired, creating a lovely downstairs, single room tavern, basically.

You can see Theresa is sat in a lovely plush armchair by a little fireplace, and she's reading books. And she's just happily sitting there reading books, doesn't kind of notice that you guys are back yet. You can see that the shrine is still adjacent to it. Everything has been patched up, and the inn is now lovely and fixed. Providing you with a beautiful, beautiful home.

Very nice. Finally. That's beautiful. As you are making your way back there, Obsidius probably flew back to Ashenrest after he left you on the road. Varithera will basically be attended to as a guest. That's Stuart, that's good.

Lovely little Stuart. Verithera will be attended as a guest of Emborissa's at the Dominus Ignarum, but she probably would ask, could Penny come and stay with you at your place, basically, because she doesn't want her to be overwhelmed. So you still have Penny with you. What might be quite nice is if we're trying to play it down and say I'm so sorry if it's in a bit of disrepair,

the roof is damaged. Oh! Wait a second. Whoa, this looks amazing! What are you talking about? I did the repairs. Wait, the spooky ghost lady that you were telling me about, she's not still here though, right?

She's not here anymore? No, no, she's gone. Okay, good. Oh, ghosts are really scary. I couldn't be sleeping in a haunted place. That'd be too frightening. Do you like pastries? Yeah.

Do you like coffee? What's coffee? Or chocolates? Really? I love chocolate, but I don't know what a coffee is. Well, we'll have to go try, won't we? Yeah, okay. Right. We should get sponsored what a coffee is. Well, we'll have to go try, won't we? Yeah, okay. We should get sponsored by a latte farm.

For just being a customer. It's just like. Do they have a loyalty card? Do you like pastries? Well, have I got the place for you. You can certainly, you can see Maeve is bustling. It's probably about midday, so it's quite busy, but she sort of sees you, and she kind of is like, oh hey darlings, come in.

She kind of waves you down to come in and you queue up, buy some pastries, buy some coffee. Your neighbor's not an eyesore anymore. Yeah, she will, hang on, give me a minute. Irish. Yeah, that's what I was trying to get here. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey I know it's a beautiful sight now, isn't it? I can't believe it.

You've had workers in there for the last few days. It's beautiful. That lass that you've got in there, Teresa, she's lovely as well. Kept coming in every morning, reads her little books, buys a few things, gets a few sandwiches and things like that. She's lovely.

Great. That's good to hear. Should go catch up. Yes. So are you going to be opening a tavern or something there as well? I saw the sign hear. Should go catch up. Yes. So are you gonna be opening a tavern or something there as well? I saw the sign outside. Yeah, you're going down.

Mm. No, don't say that. Don't. I was gonna suggest that maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement. We're gonna absorb you. Where I could sell some of my goods there. You know, I'll bring it to portray,

but then you can split the revenue or something like that, you get a small cut for selling them on my behalf or something like that. Permanent pastry supply. Coffee, you have to, but it's your supply, you can't eat your own supply, dear. That's the first thing you learn. Bring extra.

I mean, I'm sure I can throw in some extras in that in the morning. But yeah, I can bring those over and you can sell those to any customers and things, once you've got things up and running, the morning. But yeah, you can bring those over and you can sell those to any customers and things. Once you've got things up and running, of course. Didn't even think about business, but yeah, I guess. Well, if you're gonna have a tavern, you gotta be thinking about business and things like that.

I just saw the sign, it looks, I mean, I don't know, are you gonna do a tavern or? We haven't really decided yet. We just wanted a place fixed. Spick and span. Yes. Somewhere we can actually live comfortably. If that comes up, if that is something you decide to do,

I'm sure that there's people around here, but enjoy, enjoy your lovely new home. I tell you what, I've put in a lovely banana bread in there for free. Think of it as a house for free. Banana bread? Hell yeah. You think too good to ask me.

Banana bread, bro? Hell yeah. Hell yeah. All of Xanthus' worries and fears, he's like, crown steel of cities? I got banana bread, bro. It's cured. It's cured.

It's bound to turn into hell. Hell yeah. Hell yeah, dude. Sorry, it's fantasy. No, I gave you thanks for the work you do. Hell no. What banana bread do? Hell yeah.

That's a weird ending. Weird that. Can we get a break? That is going to be the end of part one. Banana Bread Bro Hell Yeah is going to be the end of part one. Thanks very much everybody. We will see you in part two. Bye bye!

Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye!

Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye!

Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! Bye! from and don't know what to do. What's your most meaningful relationship with just your dog and some peanut butter? Complications of the heart are serious business,

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