High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #49 | A Maiden's Kiss (Part 1)

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

Tyrea's Rest and the entire team gets some big upgrades while Xantheus experiences some... changes! _______________ 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

Pickaxe. This episode is sponsored by EE. There's nothing more frustrating than an interruption. For example, if your wifi were to go down and you're in the middle of a game, it's incredibly frustrating. But you could try the new wifi 7 from EE. It's got higher speeds and a more stable connection. Even when everyone's online and you're further from the hub so the whole family can happily

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My biggest passion is music. And it's not just sounds and instruments. It's more than that to me. It's a world full of harmonies with chillers. From streaming to shopping,aya the Dragon Empire. Our heroes have returned to Ashen Rest and they're newly renovated in Tyria's Rest. Exhausted after their adventures in the Ash Hills, they have taken some time to attend to personal matters and developing their presence within the town. They spent some time talking with Duke Ignarius about their quest, but on revealing the nature of the Reclaimers, the Corrupted Dragon Daranax, and the crown still involved,

Duke Ignaris revealed a furious, tormented rage, leaving him to his grief and anger. The party returned to their own business. Gruffydd of Tremoro sought out Sir Nora Kell to inform her of his knightly quest progress, which he honored and is prepared to send him onto the next part of his journey. It is a little bit of a kind of down time interlude

between events and we're gonna continue that today. There's still a few little bits and bobs to sort out. I've gone away and done some, made up some stuff based on conversations that we had. But first things first, let's just get that pool of fate ready in case it is needed. Oh yeah, all right. What?

A Decept please. Watch it dry needed. Oh yeah, alright. What? Come on. A deceptive ladies. Watch this dice. Okay. What have we got Tom? I got a three. Oh, a dice for me. I got a one. A dice for me.

One. A dice for me. A two. A dice for me. Oh no, this might be a total lockout. A dice for me. Oh no. What a bad week! What?

Is this the first time? I think it's the first time. I think it's the first time. Hoo hoo hoo! I had a circle block out on our side, but not that. Well, I might have to find some ways to spend that. Maybe introduce some exciting complications, perhaps. Or have some interesting twists.

Why not? Twimps. We could just leave the twimps. Mayhamps. Mayhamps. I twimpsed around. That's? Twimps. We could just leave the twimps. Mayhamps. Mayhamps. I twimpsed around. That's one of my favorites. Twimpsed.

Twimpsed myself around. Take am-peep for myself. I wanna be, if I was an animal, I wanna be one of those cats. Yes. Like one of the twimps cats. They're so cute. Twimpsed.

Yeah, very good. Right, a couple of things. So we are in the sort of, we mentioned last week that we're gonna be taking about two weeks of downtime here. You are exhausted from your adventures, it's gonna take you time to recover. And at some point in during those two weeks, and I have a specific date in mind,

after about the first week of downtime, the events of our live show at the Adelphi Theater, the Volant Vault, is gonna take place, which unlocks our new sort of shift to the 2024 rules, and maybe also alters a little bit of magic in the world and has some other effects and bits and bobs like that. A few people did some bits and bobs. We had like some sort of loose ideas of downtime

and bits like that from last time, and I have some updates on some of those things. So, let us deal with, ow, actually this is very exciting. Before we do all of that, I need something from Xanthias. Because tracking time, time has passed. I need a constitution saving frame from here. Okey doke, a constitution save. Whatever for?

What for? No fate to spend. No, I can't fate these. As a reminder, I have a plus seven to my con saves. 15? Success. Oh, OK. And these get, I think they get harder and harder over time

as well. Potentially. We don't know. We don as well. I don't remember. Potentially, we don't know. We don't know. I don't know. Ooh, actually is that a success? Ooh. Because your type of crown store is quite high.

He did chomp some. It is. I did chomp some too. He did chomp some. Does that mean a disadvantage? No, the chomping has its own effect, but. Oh. That's dumb. I can, don't worryping has its own effect, but... Oh, okay. That's done.

I can look it up. Don't worry, I've got my notes here in my wiki. I feel like I rolled a 15 last time, and it might have been a barely then as well. Oh! Legast? Not a success. Oh!

Shit, okay, so I'm already on quite a tough... Yeah. Tough DZ to beat. Type is a quality of... the purity is of quality type, which means that the DC is higher. Yeah. So what does that mean for Xanthius? Well, well, well, well, well. It means I get more and more expensive.

So now that the knowledge of Xanthius' crown steel corruption is apparent, I'm not gonna hide the information from the rest of you. But obviously this is for Xanthius. Even Xanthius' Crownsteel corruption is apparent. I'm not gonna hide the information from the rest of you. But obviously this is for Xanthius. Even Xanthius might not know this has happened yet. Your Crownsteel corruption, Xanthius, has progressed. Oh! Okay, and last time it took my arm.

I will tell you that last time you were at rank one. You have been at rank one for most of this time. Okay. You have now progressed to rank two. Oh, okay. What does this mean? You do not gain any further Crownsteel mutations. Oh.

Your floor does not get worse. However, one thing that Crownsteel does is it manifests in the physical body and the mind. And this is represented by, as you reach rank two in Crownsteel Corruption, you have some choices to make. You gain a plus one to Strength, Dex, or Con.

Your choice. Wow, Strength, Dex, or Con? I mean, I guess I'll go Constitution. Okay. What is your lowest score out of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma? Wisdom. That is minus one. Oh shit.

Oh shit. Oh. This represents the Crownsteel making you physically stronger. In a way that you have not necessarily control of, but is adapted to the power of the Crownsteel. This represents the crown steel making you physically stronger in a way that you have not necessarily control of but is adapted to your goals and your ambitions. Clearly, Zamtheus, by choosing constitution, you have some desire within your character

to be stronger, to be more durable, to be hardy and tough. to be hardy and, you know, tough. The minus to your wisdom represents this madness setting in. Crownsteel warps the mind, it plays on your paranoia, it plays on your perhaps ability to listen to reason in the case of losing out on wisdom. Your charisma is fine, so you have this great sense of self and purpose, but you are now more easily distracted,

you are more easily led astray, as perhaps paranoia and other things get to you. Are you now a different modifier? I am a different, I'm not a different modifier for constitution. But your wisdom is now. That's now put me at a 19. That is annoying, because the stats that we have on screen

are now already redundant, which I made last week. But my wisdom has gone down now to seven. Minus two. So we're minus two. How's that perception, bro? My passive perception is eight. I am flighty. Like I just, holy shit.

So wrapped up in your floor that only you know, and then fly to you. Like I just, holy shit. That's rough. So wrapped up in your floor that only you know, the floor that you've chosen, so wrapped up in this slow descent that yeah, you are losing track of the world around you. Oh my god, I am descending into madness. This does mean, this does change things because it means there is now a longer exposure time

between saving throws. So you will have longer between these corruption saving throws, but they get harder and harder as they go. No physical manifestations, no... I would say that there, yeah, there's no obvious ones. I would say that maybe some of the, you know, there is more now on your arm. That was kind of a consistent thing, right?

It's a consistent thing, yeah. Maybe like ever so slight things, but nothing to manifest as a mutation, I would call it. So this could be like maybe there's a ring of red in your eyes, a very faint, or a ring of gold, or something like, some minor adjustments. Maybe one of your scales on your face now has a little bit of black and red crack to it

or something like that. Very slight touch, but. So is it noticeable that this has happened or is it such a slow building? Slow build, I would say that for Xantheus, Xantheus doesn't realize that this has happened. Cool. Well, that was exciting to start the session off.

Okay, great. You'll be good. You can't see shit. Right. Where am I, what's going on? That does change a few things. Okay, great. Good. You can't see shit. Right. Where am I, what's going on? That does change a few things. But, right, moving on. That was just...

Um... Ha ha ha ha. A couple of things. So, let's talk about some stuff that you guys wanted to prep from last week. I believe there was a plan to do something with the necrotic wood that you recovered in your battle against the haunted tree

as you were trying to lay Tyria to rest. I have some options for you to consider, Rhiannon. You have been spending some time in the shrine, maybe in prayer to the Gravefather, meditating on what you could use with this, perhaps consulting some books that you've brought with you about rites of necromancy and things, and Ossian rituals and things like that.

Perhaps using the mirror to converse with a figure back in Osseus. And there are two options for you with this wood. You could have it made into a wooden statue of the Great Father for the shrine. And what this would allow you to do is spend at least one hour in prayer before the statue, make an offering of 100 gold made of incense,

fresh bone dust, and blood, and you can choose to bless either yourself or another creature within the shrine and grant them resistance to necrotic damage for one week. Right? Or, and I have a feeling this is the one you're gonna go for, you can use the wood to carve a necrotic heart. This wood is shaped into a black wooden heart for simile,

which can be put into the body of a skeleton or a zombie to make them a more advanced form of undead. If the undead is destroyed, the heart can be recovered and the undead rebuilt over a week by expending 500 gold and finding a suitable body. I mean, that's cool. That first one was rad. The heart, what that would do is it would,

let's say you put into Percival, it would grant Percival bonus hit points. It would grant him additional intelligence and charisma. It would grant him the ability, he would basically become like a ranger's familiar for you. Where you can have him act, you can command him to attack and do things as bonus action on your turn. Basically become like a minion companion

for the party basically, so you can use them in battle. As a skeleton, he can be equipped. You would physically have to equip him. He already has a suit of black chainmail that he wears, that you gave him, but you could give him weapons and armor, and he is trained in simple weapons and shields and things like that. So you could use that.

He would also gain the ability to speak. Oh! Because his intelligence would be raised and magically he would be able to converse. Well! Whatever the first one was that we don't even remember anymore, Necrotic Heart.

Necrotic Heart! So it would be, part of your downtime, you would be carving this heart yourself. You would have to infuse it with rituals and things like that. The first use you don't have to spend any additional gold on, but if Percival is destroyed, if Percival gets to reduce to zero hit points,

you can't heal him, you can never restore hit points to him. Like he cannot, like you could maybe like mending spell like bones back on, but I'm gonna say like healing him is very difficult. But once he's reduced to zero, he basically crumbles, but his essence is bound into the heart. So as long as you can keep the heart, you can then go get another skeleton,

put it in and basically remake person. Oh! That's really cool. Yeah. Yeah. Classic skeleton sprite death animation. Yeah. Turns to dust and then like you tick the heart and then. That's really cool.

Technically it would also work on like a zombie if you have like a fresh corpse. I could have two. You could, like you could keep Percival as Percival is. You just steal that essence. Into a potion, we sell it around Ash and Rest, everyone becomes your thrall. I don't know, ignore what I just said, I don't like that.

How would you give that to her? I don't think you can distill a soul into a potion. You could. Build an army! Yes! Yep. Okay, I think, yeah, the statue of the great father's pretty cool and all, but the heart might just... The necrotic heart is...

I think the necrotic heart might just trump it. Yeah. I will also say if the heart can be tromp it. The necrotic heart is. I think the necrotic heart might just tromp it. Yeah, I will also say if the heart can be destroyed, it is just made of wood. Yes. So there is a chance that the heart itself can easily be destroyed.

If the heart is destroyed, that's gone forever. Can the heart be put in a cage and put into the thing? It would be, I would say, it's magically suspended in the body. So if it's in a skeleton, it's like magically suspended in the body. So if it's like in a skeleton, it's like magically held in their chest cavity. If you were to like build like a metal cage and stuff around it, I would say maybe that interferes

with the magic. Right, because there needs to be a risk to it as well. But you can armor the skeleton, like you can put, you know, if you went out and bought a suit of full plate armor, that's gonna be a great way of protecting the heart, right? Like, you know. Clang, clang, clang, cl of protecting the heart, right? Like, you know. Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, stealth.

Yeah, I guess it'd be terrible at that, but. I guess we wouldn't know, but what abilities does he actually have in a fight? Although he would be able to make a simple attack. It would use your, it uses your proficiency bonus and Percy's strength or dex. Sick, yeah. And it would do normal weapon damage,

plus his modifier, plus your proficiency bonus. So it's just one extra attack a turn, but he's also, he would gain four times your level in hit points, on top of what he already has. I think he has 13 HP now. And so that would be, you guys are level seven, so 1428, so he would gain 28 extra hit points, putting you to 41, I think.

That's pretty good. And depending on the type of armor you give him, you give him heavy armor, his AC is gonna be 16 to 18, give him a shield, he could be quite tanky, but the only problem is you can't heal him. Yeah. You have to recover that heart. You can't just send him right into the battle

and not be near to get the fucking thing. I imagine the heart is also like a one-stomp-gone thing. But, have you heard of the movie Dragonheart? Yes. You're not aware of it. Yeah. Let's just extrapolate from that sentence. Where it can go.

I will say it has to be a humanoid skeleton. A skeleton dragon. I would say that maybe a non-magical creature. So like a beast. I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use this say on like a wolf skeleton or something like that potentially. If she uses it in Percy, and then takes it out, would Percy still be okay?

I would say once it is bound, if it's bound to Percival, Percival's personality that has been developed, because Percy's personality has manifested through the necromancy that animated him, right? That essence would be bound to the heart. Okay, cool. So once it's, if you put it in Percy, that then is Percy's heart, and his sentience and essence is bound to the heart. Okay, cool. So once it's, if you put in Percy,

that then is Percy's heart, and his sentience and essence is bound to it. Soulbound. I mean, it's currently bound to the bones, right? So you're just- It's bound to the bones. Like if Percy was to be destroyed now, Percy would be gone forever.

Bound to the bones. You have a Chandra. It's kind of, yeah, it's very Chandra. Yeah. That's fucking rad. From Mistborn, era two. Anyway, so that's, I'm assuming that's what you would like to start making. I think that's what I'd like to do, yeah.

Oh, I thought we were gonna go with the statue. The statue which does? Necrotic resistance for a week. Oh, okay, wow. With bone, dust, and blood, right? And a hundred GB of incense. All right. He tried, don't you know?

It's a great flex. He had to give two options. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we should acknowledge the first option at least. It was very cool. It's one of those things where as I was writing, then I was like, I've written it, so I'll keep it. I'll keep it, but you never know.

Give the hoarder another boy? Sure. But there you go, so you start working on that basically. Awesome. Arcane Artifice Workshop. That's me, hi there. This was interesting. Me and kind of Rowan as well.

Rowan, you were also doing some research. He's researching a very different thing. No, no, I know, but I think we were kind of, we were kind of working together. I'm interested in what you're doing. I'm checking in roleplay. I think it's also like, Trot just is interested in relics. And so he was like, yeah.

Oh yeah, but I mean, I'm doing some relic stuff on this work. So. It's proto like Trot just is interested in relics. And so he was like, yeah. Oh yeah, but I mean, I can give him some relic stuff on this work. So, it's proto relics. Arcane Artifice workshop. Base cost, you might want to make some notes. Oh, sorry, yes, I should actually listen. Maybe, might be a good idea. Okay.

So, base cost, 500 gold for the construction and equipment for the base level. You will then need 200 gold worth of either training or purchasing like books because you have dabbled in this but you are not trained in magic items and creation, like magic item creation and stuff like that. So this would be like hiring a tutor or buying a bunch of books,

like getting a bunch of books shipped to you to teach yourself. Okay. So 700 cost, 700 gold total. Is that changed at all by like my arcana level or any abilities I already have? No, I would say that this is like, the only reason you can do this

is because you've dabbled into it a little bit with the lamp lighters thing and things like that. Cool, fair enough. This is like a, cause you're not an archivist, so you're not like a class, this is you, your magic is still kind of new to you as well. So this is like the actual educational learning of like, well how do I string out, it's like learning to code. It's like how do I make an enchantment on an item

rather than just a spell I fire in the air. There is a process to this. Sure, yeah, yeah. It will take up half of the basement. Its size occupies half the basement. How big is the basement? 20 feet by 20 feet. Yeah, yeah.

You're literally writing it on, why are you writing notes on the back of our map? Because. He doesn't have anything else. Because I left my Apple pencil at home. And he doesn't have a notebook. I don't have a notebook. So, it will take up about, it will take up about half the basement.

Okay. It will take about five days to build and about seven days of training to learn to use fully. So, completable within this two weeks of downtime. Okay. The base workshop and arcane equipment can be bought, made in Ashen's Rest, requires work from blacksmiths, alchemists, carpenters,

as well as discussions with the Merchants Guild to order in special parts from Kelskaris. Oh wow, this is a really like, bespoke thing. Yeah, very bespoke thing, yeah, absolutely. The benefits, the base workshop will allow the assigned arcane spellcaster to break down magical items or rare magical components into essences, which can then be used as part of magic item creation

or infused into relics. The workshop will also allow the user to cast Detect Magic and identify at will within the workshop. Very cool. Upgrades. The Arcane Workshop also requires special components to allow for the creation of certain magic items and relics. Many magic items have a connection

to a primal source of magic. These tend to be air, water, fire, earth, celestial, infernal, law, and chaos. To create these items requires a powerful primal catalyst connected to that source of magic. These catalysts are permanent upgrades to the workshop and take the form of unique crystals, elemental cores, natural resources, or similar objects.

It may be possible to buy these catalysts from certain powerful mages or traders or acquire them from creatures or even visiting the planes themselves. Yeah. Yeah. So those are things that you will have to uncover through the plane or burt pie.

So the upgrades are all of the individual Magical Agents. Think of it like this, you've got base tier workshop, that will allow you to create sort of unaligned Magikines, real basic stuff, like a simple ring of protection, but that's it, like just gives you protection for this kind of thing. You want to make a pair of like flying boots, well that requires a primal catalyst of air.

Right. You have to have this physical thing that you're going to have to go on a quest for, or buy, or trade for, to make that kind of magic item. Same with if you want to make a relic or infuse a relic that has certain elemental attunements, or celestial attunements, and things like that. You're going to need those components.

Okay, and that was air, earth, fire, wind, light, dark. Celestial, infernal, law, and chaos. Okay, cool. Interesting, interesting, very interesting. Very intrigued, intrigued, intrigued, buy. Okay. Buy. I'm stacking the buy now button. All right. Yep.

Make a note, have you got that money, or who has that? Raph has money. Well, I will speak to the person who at least has the money in their inventory. Well, I'm also gonna remind you guys, you've got 500 gold each from the duke. Have you written all of that, have all of you written that down? Yes, I have that down.

Good, I suggest you all write that down individually. I have the amount of money that Gruff has, so I have Gruff's group. Is that exclusive of Gruff's 500? Don't worry Mark, I'm playing Gruff today, so. Okay, can you just- I money that Gruff has. So I have Gruff's group. Is that exclusive of Gruff's 500? Don't worry Mark, I'm playing Gruff today. So, I am playing Gruff today. Well you need to open it up. Hello, my name is Gruff.

I'm from a little village of Tremoro, and you can have as much money as you want. Oh thank you Gruff, that is so kind of you. So infirm, so weak and vulnerable. I'm not accepting any of this, because it's not true. Gruff, you sound really handsome today. What are you doing? I've only just noticed your eyes.

What do you mean, Xanthias? So, does Xanthias... No, you don't. What's wrong with you today? He's just, he's being a little silly twat, is what he's being. Do you have, so have you added that 500 gold? Do you have any of your own money?

I have 560 gold. Okay, so you can, so I've got how much money Gruff has, and so if you want to take it out of that, you can do, or you can spend your own money and stuff like that as well money Gruff has. And so if you want to take it out of that, you can do it, or you can spend your own money and stuff like that as well. Gruff says no. Yeah, I mean, because it's an upgrade to the base, I would assume as part of the team

that the team funds will pay for the base upgrade. I can pay for my own training, the 200 for training. Okay, I think that sounds fair. That's how I'll requisition it. Okay. From everyone. All right. Cool.

So I would say, yeah, minus 500 GP from group, but then you're gonna cover the cost of your own training, which is 200. Yeah, and I think I'm not against having actual tutors and things come in to teach me, rather than specifically book learn the entire thing. I don't know if that makes any difference, but like. Not massive, but you have connections,

but yeah, it would be a case of, there'd probably be a case of you, the merchant, I believe their name is Patience, they're a tiefling here in Ashen's Rest, they would send word to Kelskaris, and from the academia, which is the big school there, a private tutor would be sent out to Ashen's Rest, and they would spend time with you.

We can come up with, you know, we can come up with that NPC, or if you've got an idea of who you'd like that NPC to be, but they spend some time teaching you how to use this equipment, how to like, you know, the fundamentals of magic item creation and also breaking them down, what essences are.

You learn about these primal sources of magic, right? You would part of this learn that the material plane that Alfea sits upon, the reason that it is so unique is it draws in the magical essences of all the other planes of existence and that coalesces here on the material plane, giving you as spellcasters, as mortal spellcasters, access to energies from everything.

People aren't like, so planar creatures only really have access to either their own realms magic or they have to trade for it with the other realms and that is in the form of this essence. It's kind of like a magical resource. But the material plane is kind of suffused with it and you would learn part of this and you would learn about the different sources of magic. There is arcane, there is primal, and then there is divine, right? And then you would learn about these core sorts of magic,

the catalysts, right, the elements and stuff like that. And you're kind of learning about this kind of sense of magic and how it can be used. It's like Oriente with like the, these are the Shard Worlds and you're on this one now, oh god. It's very much like that. But yeah, during the downtime, that will be completed.

And then after the downtime is complete, you will have access to this workshop to use as you see fit. And like I said, part of it is you can break down items into essences, and so they become generic, right? So if you've got a magic item that you guys are like, oh, how are we gonna use this? You might be able to break it down

and then power up something else or make a new magic item with it. Does everything go in a Mortrum Pestle? So I put that two-handed sword in the Mortrum Pestle. That halberd's going in there. It's like different things, right? So it's probably like, part of the workshop, the reason it takes up a fair bit of space,

is there's a magical forge, there's a weight, there's all distillations and things like that, and then there's probably a big runic pedestal, like stone pedestal, and when you place the items on that, it can literally break them down into their magical components. It would probably, if you had a magic sword, it would suck the magic out of it.

It wouldn't just destroy the item. Is it just dust? Just magic dust? Essence can appear as dust. It can also manifest in a liquid form. It can manifest in a gas. It really depends on the kind of magic that's involved. Okay.

And so there's lots of beakers and ways of storing it. There's crystals to trap elementals and spirits. There's all these kind of magical gizmos and gadgets and bits and pieces. Nice, awesome. Hell yeah. It's a lot more wizardy than it is like steampunk. Sure, yeah, yeah. Can there be a moment in this downtime

where Rowan comes downstairs hearing that you're working in this basement, Yeah. but he's got a tickly nose. And you're just getting some dust. I think I finally cracked it. Huh? Ah!

This test piece that you and your tutor are working on, and the tutor's just like... Ah! It has to bring out a new thing. Sorry. And up on the wall, it's like covered and you see it starts to glimmer and sparkle and sort of. That's fire essence!

Run! Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So that's like how you're spending a good portion of your downtime, part of your downtime is gonna be training and learning this stuff as it's being built and stuff as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Daisy.

Hi. You wanted to research or look into the celestial rod that you had found. What would this look like? Is this like going to the library and doing some research? Is this maybe waiting until the workshop is done and working with Xanthias to learn more about this? Is this communicating with Nim?

What kind of format do you think this takes, this spending this time? Combination, so I think from the knowledge that I have so far is that having this and using it might be bad for me to use it, because then whoever is around looking for things might find me. So I think, but you did say it did something else.

So I think I would want to find out from Xanthias, what all does this do? What does it do? And then see if it's worth keeping as is, or trying to break it down and try and remove certain things that it does, or I don't know. Like basically she wants to make it something

that's valuable to use, that will not get her in any trouble and be a danger to her. So you spend a bit of time maybe conversing with Nim about this as well, because Nim does recognize it. Nim recognizes that this is, reminds you of what you've encountered before. Yes, little one, this, this rod was given by a celestial commander to a mortal, to a being that they had forged some sort of agreement or contract with.

And the 12th Legion, where they are known amongst my kind as those who seek out deserters, people that have fled from the Legion. We are, they are fearsome. And it kind of tells you some of this stuff. I do not know much about magic, but there is definitely something here. This was a gift given.

I've heard of such things. So you kind of learn a little bit of that. You go to Xanthius, maybe like, you know, as the workshop's being completed and as you're developing your skills, Xanthius, you put to the test and you cast Identifying, you know, you're detecting magic. And you would learn some stuff,

but immediately you become aware that this item is maybe a bit beyond you for now. You would identify a couple of things. Okay. You would get a name for this item. Right. This rod is called Zorakiel, the Word of the Legion. Spell, please.

Z-E-R-A-C-H-I-E-L. Okay. Zerachiel. And that's Z. Zerachiel, what was it? Something of the... Word of the Legion. Word of the Legion.

You get that name. The identify spell kind of gives you that name. You would also know that this item is a relic. Ah! It is a relic that can be improved over time. Okay. But, your knowledge is maybe not advanced at this point to know exactly more about that,

because you've noticed something about this item. Before you can get into what it does, you get the vague sense that normally, this would empower a spellcaster who's bound to the item. It would make their spells more potent, it would allow them, and you can tell that there's other things that this item can do.

Sure. But it's like this item is wrapped in chains and locked, and your spell is not penetrating that. You get the feeling that you might need to take this to a more powerful senior mage who's a bit more knowledgeable than you to really understand the nature of this thing. Okay. Okay. I think in that case, like a more powerful senior mage, the first thought that comes to mind is Blackwing. Yeah, Blackwing, especially as another planar mage, not bound to the material plane.

Or certainly not from the material plane. Yeah, you can go and see Blackwing, like you guys have pretty easy access to them if Daisy wants to. I guess Daisy would ask Nim if that was safe to do first because Nim was very like, yeah, Blackwing's a bit of a... I do not.

The mage of the Feywield, they are, they can be duplicious. Their way of life is whimsical and flighty. I do not trust this black wing, but I think it's important that we know what this is and if there is a way for us to use it or if there is a danger it poses to us. I don't think, I don't think the elf would use this against us in any way.

I don't think they would be able to, little one. I think that it'd be cautious with questioning and let us make sure we travel with companions in case the elf decides that this item is something that they wish to keep for themselves, but I think it would be advisable for us to learn more. Forewarned is forearmed. Group trip!

Oh, sorry. Group trip! Wait, is there anything else you still need? I really must be getting back to my research. No, we need to go and see Blackwing about this. Okay. Because I want to know more about it. I need to know if it's dangerous. But I also don't want Blackwing to kill me.

That's fair, but also a very wise decision to bring it to Blackwing. So I think we should all go. It's been a while since we've been there. It's true. Oh, is there anything else that you wanted? I'm very happy to go with you, Daisy, if you need to go there.

Thank you. Sounds different all of a sudden. Is there anything else that you guys might need to take to Blackwing, because I can wait if you have other things that, I mean, they do know a lot of stuff, so. I just made this. Oh my god, what's that?

It is a carved, blackened, like the wood has been blackened with like soot and blood, a wooden heart that Ophelia is now holding. You made that? Where? How? In the shrine. I was advised in the mirror. Oh good. What is it? Rowan and Daisy, you would notice it's very slow and you can tell that it's made of wood,

but you swear that that heart just beat. Like, boom, boom. Okay. Daisy's gonna step back. And then it just goes still. And like a minute passes, and then another, boom, boom. What does it do? What's it doing?

No, that wood that we got from Theresa's tree. Oh no. Okay. The cursed wood. Yes. So, if I followed the instructions given to me correctly, which I believe I have, because I'm very good at that kind of thing,

it should give life to a skeleton. Why would we, Percival is already... Kind of. You know. Yes, but it might, he might be able to talk. It might be able to give him a whole necrotic energy. Okay, okay. Or I could get another skeleton.

I've already heard him speak, so it's kind of fine. If I didn't have to talk to these two in my mind, because I have to make a little group chat whenever they want to talk. What did he sound like? Did he sound nice? He sounded nice. He's a nice man, yes.

And he's about to have a blackened, wooden, necrotic heart. See, he could have it, or someone else could have it. I don't want it. Or some thing. No, nobody. A creature. I move Stura away. Imagine a little friend scattering around.

What's your goal? Well, to be stronger, to either grow my power or to make Percy more powerful. I thought you just wanted to have a nice chat with him, but that sounds more terrifying. Well, he can assist me as well, and if we ever get into any scuffles and the like, then he can provide assistance more fittingly.

Would this make, because as I understand it, Percival is not, he's not really a spirit, nor is he, he's just magic animating bones, right? He is Percival, he is his own soul, yes. But would this make him more human? It would make him more Percy? Or human? It would make him more Percy. It would give him more scope to act more independently.

Oh, that's terrifying. But still under your... But still under my control and Osseous's control, of course. Control's a strong word. But command that he could disobey. Well... You're not sure, Ophelia.

I don't know. It's an interesting question. I mean, I trust Percival right now, of course. He's helped us under your control many times. He did say that we were his friends when I spoke to him. He did say that we are his friends. Yes. And I would certainly welcome an additional

Friend. Set of eyes, is what I was about to say, on any... Percival brings in a tray of hot drinks from the latte farm, like mugs of coffee and tea and hot chocolate. I instinctively take it. Hands it in, hands them individually to everyone. Bye Percival!

He's made himself right at home with everyone. Thank you Percival. Can I... I will connect, I'm assuming that Gruff has gone off to sit by the pond for a bit. Sure. I will connect all of us, no, I can't connect all of us.

I'll connect Rowan, Xanthius, and myself and Percy because they haven't heard him before. Okay. Hi, Percival. He was kind of, I know I kept changing. He was a bit more Scandinavian, wasn't it? I keep slipping into my Spanish-y, Italian-y

kind of Mediterranean, yes. Nordic kind of like that, yes. Hello, Lady Daisy. Hello. Oh my god, what's happening? Hello. What is this? What's happening?

It was that. Oh, Daisy, is this your? Yeah. Have you added the others to our communication? I added Rowan and Xanthius so they could say hi. Greetings to you. You really have to warm this, especially with this hot beverage in my hand.

And I know Harold Xanthius. Did you trip and? Yeah, almost. Almost in my eyes. I know how infrequently you use this ability because I rarely hear you in my mind. So you must never use it. I know how infrequently you use this ability because I rarely hear you in my mind. So you must never use it.

So it's nice for you to use this. Oh no, she does it all the time. She did, oh, it was in there, yeah, nevermind. I connect to whoever I need to connect to. What? You were in the deep. Well, first of all, looks like one true friend is here. I do not know what you mean, Mr. and Mrs. Andres.

I can exit you on, I choose one person to leave out. You exclude me all the time. No, I exclude you when it's something about Xanthius and Crownsteel. I don't exclude you most of the time. There's been a significant amount recently. Recently it's been a lot, but that's your fault, not mine. Just didn't realize you guys were having-

Don't pin this on me. Didn't realize you guys were having group chats about me. We got three separate group chats. And I'm only in one of these? Look, Mr. Crouchfield. I have something I can help you with. Sorry, Percival, yes. Hello. Has Ophelia spoken to you recently about stuff?

My lady sister Ophelia speaks to me all the time. About anything specific? Like, many things. About anything specific, like? Many things. To do with you personally? Yeah. I believe she complimented me on the way that my robe was hanging the other day.

And we conversed about various matters this morning, whilst I did her hair and makeup. And how did that make you feel? I always enjoy the pleasure of my lady sister, Ophelia. I am very happy to serve. Very happy to attend to her. Okay. It's not our place to talk about the other thing

if she hasn't talked to him about it yet. Yeah, would Ophelia have mentioned this as she's been working on it? Would she have told Percy that that's something that she's working on? Yeah, probably. Because from the understanding, you talk to Percy all the time.

He just doesn't talk back, right? So would you, as you were making it, oh, I'm making this thing, Percy, and stuff like that. Yeah, then he would be like, do you refer to the necrotic heart? Yes, yes, okay. Sister Ophelia has been telling me all about her efforts. How do you feel about the heart?

I do not feel anything. I do not have desires or feelings. He says he doesn't have feelings, but he also says he's our friend, right, Priscilla? I believe you are companions, yes. Yes. Friends. Sounds like a contradiction to me.

Friends. He doesn't say it. Like being friends with somebody, he doesn't have to do anything to with feelings. It's literally a social contract to him. He's like, yep, you guys, I do things for you and you look after me, that's what friends are, right? I've been told that you are my friends.

Yeah, yes, I think that's more it as well. Like, a feeling's like, they're our friends. And he's like, oh, they're my friends. Like, okay. And Daisy's really like hammered that point home. I'm your friend, right? Yeah, he's like, yes. Oh, do you understand the effects

that this necrotic heart might have? I could not possibly understand something like this. I have no knowledge of magics or things like that, Mr. Xanthius. Ophelia hasn't, shh. Oh, she has explained many things, but I do not understand them. Okay, okay.

He still has a pretty low intelligence. So rough. He's has a pretty low intelligence. Is this also like he only understands what Ophelia understands? Not even that. You've got to imagine this is like talking to a three year old. He's barely been around. He doesn't really understand anything. He does menial tasks.

He doesn't really... He understands that he needs to do Sister O Phineas hair in a certain way. He knows that he has to apply the makeup in a certain way. He knows that you will like drinks from Latte Fun now, and so he goes and gets those. I should do stuff. He's like an AI. He's like learning as he does things, right?

Like, but there's still so much he just doesn't understand. What if we give him a heart and he becomes like a teenager? It's like, I don't wanna go to Las Vegas. He can still hear you. Yeah, well, it'd be wrong. What is a teenager? I do not know. It's fine.

I think it just means that we all have to learn together. Look, I trust in Percival, or at least in Ophelia's understanding of this particular matter. She is, of course, from Osseus, serves the Great Father. She knows about death. Sister Ophelia is the wisest, kindest mistress. Yes.

You should trust her with everything. With everything? Yes. Yes. Okay. Definitely. Would you? Yes. Yes. Okay. Definitely. Would you, no it's fine. Okay.

Thank you, Percy, it's lovely to hear your voice. It is most pleasurable to converse with you, Mr. Rowan. Do you need anything else? Are your drinks sufficient? Oh, plenty, hot, thank you for... Yes, that's... Do your rooms need cleaning and beds made? Oh, not right now, thanks.

Oh, were they in the basement? There was some mess in there. Well, Rowan did sneeze a load of fire essence all into the basement, thank you. Careful with it, it might be quite... Immediately moves off, picks up a broom and like a bucket and mop and makes his way down into the cellar.

I'll drop the grip-gop. Ophelia. Yes? We were just, thanks to Daisy's ability, we were just conversing with Percival. Amazing. First time I've spoken to him. Isn't he delightful?

He is. He's a wonderful skeleton. He's really, okay. Okay, and now you have faith in this thing you've created. The heart, yes. What it will do to Percival will still make him... Nice. Our friend. Yes, as long as, well, I don't know.

To one extent, that's the thing. It's not really something I've ever done before, so, you know, it's gonna be an experiment, either way. Very exciting experiment. Sure. When you made the heart, did you, was it just the wood, or did you put someone else's blood?

Oh, there's an ashen blood on there, yes. Yeah, there is blood. So there's a chance that someone else's personality is gonna seep into Percy? Oh no, if I give it to Percy, that's Percy. Right. There's no chance of personality contamination. Right.

But, where does that, who, but who? Use your words. I'm trying, give me a second,? Use your words. I'm trying. Give me a second, okay. You're acting real flighty recently. I'm acting, something's formulating in here. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Okay.

You've spent a lot of time in that basement. I have, I've been, there's essences and- Maybe some fresh air. Maybe I could certainly use some fresh air. Dee, now, okay. Jesus, Tom, get to the fucking point, dude. It's a fucking L. One more thing that you know.

Percival, the bones of Percival, that's not who the bones were before, right? No. Yeah, something's come out since. But are you creating a new person or are you bringing back? If you put it in a new body it would. Yes.

But it not, if Percy's already got an established This would be like Percy. Magical sentience. With more space. Level up. Yeah. But see. The Percy container has widened. Yes, more space for more Percy.

And hopefully more affection and love, right? Sure. And friendship. That's if I decide to put it in Percy. Well, we can't have another one. What's the other plan? We don't have another skeleton sitting around, do we? Well, what do you know of?

Do you? I know where skeletons are. No. You're not gonna dig one up, are you? Not one we know. Well, we all know where skeletons are, but that doesn't mean that we dig them up and use them for various purposes. That's such a word, no.

Well, okay, but okay. So we have a Percival. Like, to a feel it, it is nonsense that these people bury bones. Like, that is, it's so pointless and wasteful. Okay, well we have a Percival. It's as bad as burning the dead. Yeah. Ugh.

And there's nothing. It's just ash. Who wants a, you can't reanimate ash. It's a principle of the thing. What principle? It's just ash. Who wants a, you can't reanimate ash. It's a principle of the thing. What principle? It's wasteful. Why wouldn't want my bones to be just parading around out of my control after I go?

That's true. I feel, don't forget, you're not an Osseous anymore. These bones belong to other people. Your bones that you got were part of the culture, so to speak. If you dig up someone's bones, it's gonna be... Can you make a religion check for me, actually? I shall.

How upset are you going to be? No, no, no. 17. 17. When Rowan says that, you remember something. When you were training to become like an ambassador and a diplomat, sort of to come over here, there have been trade agreements between Osseous and the Empire,

individuals where Osseans, as they've come over, if say like an Ossean diplomat comes over and their skeleton assistants are destroyed or things like that, and they've had to reacquire them, they've purchased them. People are willing to sell their bodies or bodies of loved ones to Ossian representatives. What a cure of faith.

I like this agreement. As a thing, because like- It's like a catalog. Yeah, it's a case of like, you know, to Jimmy, Jimmy's dad's bones aren't doing anything and Jimmy needs gold, this weirdo from Necromancerland So, to Jimmy, Jimmy's dad's bones aren't doing anything and Jimmy needs gold, this weirdo from Necromancerland is offering to pay him gold for it.

He's like, yeah, you can have dad's bones. There you go. And like, they sell them. So is a- I wanna know if they have the personality of that person. If they were sold from the Empire, too obvious. Does it come with the personality of Jimmy's dad? Yeah, who knows?

Dad group, we could have more dads. We've already got one dad. Two dads. I'm in the market for some dad bones. That's really cool. But just because Rowan says that, like, oh, you're not in Osseous anymore, remember these, you remember, it's like, oh.

No, I think I could, I was told, yes, there was an agreement set up quite a while ago where Ossean diplomats could purchase bones from those willing to sell them, actually. Oh. So. Oh, right. Okay. There are memes. If they're willing, that's fine, but you can't just go and dig up anyone. First. It's nonsense, but. It's ridiculous, that's There are memes. If you're willing, that's fine, but you can't just go and dig up anyone. But...

It's nonsense, but... It's ridiculous, that's very just fine. Do process. I will have to go through the writer process, yes, and talk to the right people and have a look, yes, and... And you're probably gonna get some funny looks if you go around saying, can I buy this body from you, please?

Well, it's gonna be a bit odd. Well, if they're selling, I'm buying. It's a simple matter of transaction. That's capitalism, please. Well, it's gonna be a bit odd. Well, if they're selling, I'm buying. It's a simple matter of transaction. That's capitalism, baby. Buyers, buyers. How does Ophelia spend all the money? It's a buyer's market, baby. It's a buyer's market.

Oh, but if you were to use this on Percy, what would happen to the Percy we currently know? Are you able to have two Pursies? He'll be able to converse. Well, have two Pursses, what do you mean? If I put it in Percy, we get two, like an amoeba. I don't, see, okay. I don't know what an amoeba is.

I don't know, I just felt like saying the word amoeba. It's really fun to say. Never heard it. Amoeba, amoeba, amoeba, it's good. You're making stuff up again. Sorry, I haven't slept I've been carving his heart for days. So now this goes back to the previous question

that I was trying to cook up. Yes, please. Here it comes. If, no. Again, you have to work, Zephien! You are fucking edging me so hard, my guy. Also, to like clarify some things, like I don't know if you're just

purposely doing this in character, or if this is a genuine like, oh, I don't know if you're just purposely doing this in character, or if this is a genuine, like, oh, I don't know how it would work, but I can answer those questions. I'm trying, okay, out of character, I'm genuinely trying to cook up a question here and I can't get the words. What is the question?

What are you trying to get at? Percy's bones is currently just a container for the magic that is currently animating him, yes? There is no soul in there. It's not the Percy that died. There's no previous person there. If you put the heart in there, does the personality that is being enhanced

and being developed as a result of putting the heart in there, is that being drawn from the previous essence of what that body was? Or is she literally creating new life here? It's not creating new life. It's like, think of Percy like a robot or an AI and you're upgrading his RAM and his process. You've downloaded more dedicated WAM.

Yeah. It's giving him more dedicated WAM and he's now got an I9. Should've just said that. He's got an I9 instead of an i3. Oh, okay! It's upgrading the PC. Right, okay.

Fuck you. It looks more sophisticated because it's more complete. Or, instead of having one kind of bad game rig, she could put it in a new scale and have two PCs and dual box. Does that help you, gamer? The current personal. But they're both a bit shit. Yeah, the current personal is on the-

It's like having a PS5 or two PS3s. Does that help, gamer? It does help. So right now, you have a quite old motherboard. And people out there are selling better motherboards. My mother is a support, how's that? People out there are selling better motherboards. People out there are selling other motherboards, newer motherboards of their dad.

This can't be an IT conversation at that point. Okay, okay. This is- Now I get it. This is quite, this is so fascinating, isn't it? It's so wonderful to learn about. So much more advanced than just recording recall the bank wall of people. It's so advanced. Yeah.

Either way, what got us onto this subject was Zorakiel. Yes. Zorakiel, oh yes. To see Blackwing. Yes, okay, okay. And I think we should go see Blackwing. We should. We can, yeah.

Do you have anything else? I would like a distraction from the necrotic heart. Yeah, necrotic things are not so good. That's scary. But does anyone else have anything they want to take to Blackwing? Do we have anything that we thought of? I don't think he needs to see the heart.

I think you fully understand that. You can see how good it is. He could rate it. They could rate it. I think if you want to elevate Percival with the heart, absolutely, sounds good. I don't think people will be selling bones anytime soon. I could be wrong.

Have you asked? I haven't asked. I mean, is it just human bones? Doesn't have to be human bones. There are a few wolves and gross things that we encountered on the way. I see, I know where some dead wolves are. Yeah, you mutilated them pretty badly.

Yes, does it matter that the head is slightly detached? It'll add more charm. Okay, okay. So up to you, Queen of the Dead. Oh, thank you! Don't give her a new title! You can call me that any time. Every time, actually, call me that all the time.

Okay. Thank you. I have some regrets. Say it again, say it again, say it again, say it again. Here we go, Felia, Sister of Felia de la Rosa. Queen of the Dead. Yes! So good! Would the Grey Father like that? Well.

Anyway. Sure. He can like what he likes. I mean, he likes me very much. He brought me back. Honestly, he likes ambition. So yeah, he probably would be sort of like, not yet, but stay ambitious.

Goals. Goals, Queen, Slay. Go for it if you want. Sky's the limit. Anything else? Oh, do we have any other magical items? I suggest that all magical items we're not using should be taken down to the basement for me

to examine, tinker with, and smelt. I take off my hat with the candle. Is that a magical item? The lantern on top. I don't think this is inherently magical. I didn't see it get made specifically. Okay. But maybe the fusing of the two

has created some sort of magical. It's quite powerful. It could be, Rowan, it could be. But if there's any others. I have my understudy ring. I've not had a chance to use it yet. Which is what again? The disguise ring.

Oh, okay. I know Gruff's got some stuff as well, but we can always go back. Yeah, it doesn't need to be now. That workshop's gonna be around for a while, so. But I don't have anything else I need to take to- And also, this is only if like, if Ophelia wants to use that ring,

or if you think it'd be fun for Ophelia to keep it. Like, you know, you don't have to get rid of stuff. You go to Ravenstar Spire. As normal, as soon as you approach that door, magically appears on the side, and you make your way inside. Now, quite used to the dark blue, silvery interior that just seems to manifest out of place.

As always, there is this faint sound of ethereal music, and from the curling spiral staircase banister, a number of ravens are perched, their heads kind of cocking and looking in your direction. Ah, ah! You hear an otherworldly voice, please, my friends, make yourself comfortable. I will join you momentarily.

And you see that the pitchers of water begin to fill up by themselves and things like that appear. I'm going to need to ask how he does that. It's really useful. Momentarily, after not too long, you see their figure descending down the stairs as Blackwing dressed in this resplendent sort of black, silvery, dark blue gossamer gown with a mantle of feathers

kind of curling around them like a cape. They descend, their hair is pinned up, their elongated ears, and as they pass, you can see through the kind of windows, they were kind of, you never see out of them, it's always like a hazy silvery mist, but they seem to let light in. And every time Blackwing passes through them,

you see that form shift as that more bird-like visage appears momentarily in the moonlight. As they approach, what do I owe pleasure, my friend? I point at Daisy. Oh, hi. Yes. Pleasure, my friend. Appointed Daisy. Oh, hi. Yes. Um, yeah. I have an item that I was wondering if you might be able to take a look at, because I don't really know the full extent of what it does.

Oh. Yes, I would be willing to examine this for you. But is this, are you asking me for a favor or is this a transaction? A favor. Very well. He looks and one of the ravens blinks its eyes and vanishes.

A favor is recorded. And he will hold his hand out for the item. Or do I do a favor or a transaction? You've done a favor. Well, I didn't know. I think a favor has been, yeah. Hence, they hold their hand out for the item. They are transactional.

Oh, maybe I should do a transaction. I think the favor's been recorded. I'm afraid, yes. You asked for a favor and a favor has been asked. Well, I wasn't sure what the, okay. How bad can it be? I don't know. I'll hand the item.

Takes it in their long fingers. So examining it, their eyes shifting prismatically as they cast the spell upon it. Oh, how curious. He would, they would explain a little bit what you already know. Tell you the name of the item. But what they will reveal to you,

this is quite a curious thing. This item is what I would refer to as packed locked. It can only currently be used by a Celestial, an agent of the Celestial who granted it, the specific patron to whom this boon was bestowed by. But, it is these interesting packed items, items that are bound by these chains, their magic is a subtle one.

It can be altered. So much of magic and of life, and they begin very David Bowie this, they begin to like spin the rod through their fingers And it's massive like they shouldn't be able to do something with such a hefty weighty object, but And then they kind of jump it over to their other fingers Many things in the world magic or mortal Are always in a state of change

All it takes is but a slight tilt, catches it with the next hand, for things to shift. It is possible that the magic of this item could be realigned. Rather than it bonding a mortal to a patron, could be instead changed to a different celestial patron perhaps, or they look at you Daisy, or perhaps to a spirit and the girl that they reside within. Of course, I sadly do not have the knowledge or skills to perform such a transmutation. You would need someone who is knowledgeable

and experienced with planar magic items, and as well as illicit methods. Someone who, to put an analogy to it for you, were you to steal something of value? Were you to try and sell that item? It would be at risk for you, you might be caught trading it or some such. But were that item to be remade, to be painted, to be altered, you stand a better chance. The mindset is similar. There are those planar traders who are adept at such transmutations. The lock must be picked, and for that you would need a thief.

Does it currently pose any danger? Do not believe, sir. I believe that the mortal who was bound to this item is deceased. Okay, so they couldn't detect anything from it. to this item is deceased. Oh, okay. So they couldn't detect anything from it at the moment? I do not believe so. Although I'm not experienced with the abilities of Celestials,

it is possible that were you carrying this upon you and you met a Celestial being, they might recognize it. I would say the only risk is that the patron, the one who bestowed this gift, were you to meet them. They would certainly know that you carried it. Until, of course, the packed lock is removed. Do we know anyone who can remove the lock? Um... Hmm.

If you... Is that a genuine you can't think of anyone? I... Tom can't think of anyone, but if there's a check to be made... No, I mean, it doesn't need to be a check. I mean, there's one name that comes to mind, the idea of a sort of planar good smuggler. Right, yes, yeah.

Ooh. Ooh. You need somebody who's a bit dodgy with planar magic. Yep. Certainly somebody you met a few times now who might be able to help with that. Maybe we all come to the realization at the same time. Oh.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh. What I can tell you is that once the lock is broken, properties of the rod may change. You would be able to rewrite its story, rewrite its name perhaps or its intentions. But it is powerful. This is a relic, a magic item of great power.

Is it up to the person unlocking this magic to rewrite the story of it? No, no, I believe it would be more, it would be down to whomever was bonded. And by that I do not necessarily mean the mortal wielder of the item, but the new patron, as I would call it, or perhaps the spirit that it was bonded to.

Okay. Interesting. And you see that like, Blackwing like looks at Daisy saying stuff like that, like, I know what you are, I know who you have inside. She's aware. Yeah. But yes,

but an interesting little item. Well, that's fun. I don't want to call that person, so, you know. Well, I was mainly making sure that if this person that we're all thinking of was able to unlock this item for us, they wouldn't just rip it away from under us. They also wouldn't wanna do it for free. No, they wouldn't, but we wouldn't go through

all that effort just for them to disappear into the night again and take this thing away from us. But, I mean, they can't be the only route, right? Would your dragon friend know anything about it? Dragon, I don't have many dragon friends. Wait a minute, are you talking about... He's not my dragon friend. Is he not?

He seems to know you very well. Of course he does. He's known my dragon friend. Is he not? He seems to know you very well. Of course he does. He must know everything very well. Oh so smarmy and knowledgeable and oh so smart this man is, isn't he? We might be able to speak to them about it. They might have some idea about it, but. The young dragon is quite ambitious in this field.

Yes. You are correct on that front for sure. I'm not sure if they would have the requisite skills. Their knowledge is great, but it is the difference between one who has perhaps read a book on picking a lock versus one who has picked many in their long career. There is a difference. Appreciate that.

If there is nothing else. I'm drinking all the vessels before I know we have to go. Yeah, it's delicious. It's like nothing's alcoholic. It's all mainly like water, maybe like flavored waters and things like that. So good. I'm glad you are enjoying it.

Thank you. It's very easy to accommodate. Did you? Yeah. Are we done? Yeah, I think that's all, yes. No, that's very, very useful information about the... You need the toilet, don't you?

You need the toilet. You need to go. You are most welcome. You and Daisy, when I have need for my favor to be repaid, I will contact you. I could just exchange gold instead. No, we have agreed upon a favor. I didn't know.

They messed up. May I perhaps advise that you are more careful in your agreements in the future? But fear not. I would never dream of asking anything improper. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It'll be fine.

We're friends, remember? Blackwing? Yes, we're friends, remember? Blackwing? Yes, we are great friends. Great friends. You have provided me with many interesting tales. Okay. I have enjoyed our encounters. Okay.

Lovely to see you. Well, yeah, lovely to see you. It's been about that time. Yeah, I'm back out the door, just like rocking back and forth. Farewell. Okay, farewell. Okay, well.

You step outside, vroom. There you go, solved. That's the, well, kind of, well, it didn't exactly go to plan, but there's that rod thing. Yeah. I'll try in future to be better at noticing these things myself, but until then,

Blackwing's the guy, and never Obsidius. Well I'd say that now you would be able to wait dead fight, this was like a really edge case item. Sure. But now you're like, oh okay, well now I've seen the kind of signs I kind of know what this is gonna be now, but yeah, there's no way you could have known that. Yeah.

You would be able to do, like, identify pretty much most things. Yeah. Just this one. And you identified most of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we can work on, you know, tailoring this to you if that's what you want it to be.

Alternatively, I can smell stuff down now. No, no. If you don't like it, you know, I'll smell stuff down now. No, I don't want to. If you don't like it, you know, I'll just grind that down into different parts and we'll put it in another heart or something. No, no more hearts. No. And if you really, truly don't want to go to Caliphorus with it, then yeah, there might be other people.

You might just have to track them down, like try and put the feelers out to find somebody who's got knowledge and experience in plain-arm magic items, but also maybe on the slightly dodgy side of things. Yeah. Cool. You need a smuggler, basically. A sign outside at Ti'ari's rest, looking for a person that sells skeletons and...

Yeah, plain-arm magic items smugglers. Plain-arm magic items. Want to buy many illegal goods. NBD, love you. Right, before we go to break, a couple of other things. Rowan wanting to do a little bit of research on the proto-magi. No biggie.

No biggie. Do I do it? So, you're gonna spend some downtime doing research, right? And this is gonna be like asking around for stories, going to the library, asking in the temples, like trying to gain that information. What does that look like to Rowan? Like what are you doing? Like what's your process and all this?

And more importantly, what are you trying to get out of it? Rowan probably goes to the sources he's already made acquaintance with. So the Toon's Book Store. Yep, Toon's Printing Company. Which would be, it's like, hello. He's very more conversational than Book Searchy. So he's like, can you tell me about anything

you've learned about the stories of the proto-magi? Or other people that are knowledgeable in the field. Absolutely, we've got several pamphlets and books on the subject, yes, absolutely, and she begins gathering up some things for you. For a friend, it's not for me. She would probably also recommend, I would also recommend you go to the House of the Quill

and ask for the librarians there. They will have more local records of any incidences involving vaults and things like that. We deal with the more sort of fictional but also perhaps like, you know, stories of people who have conquered vaults and things like that before. But if you would like anything of a more local nature, perhaps checking in with the local library or record keeper. Has our verlin vault happened yet?

No. I'm gonna say no. This is like week one. Can you imagine what it'd be like to go in one? That would be crazy. I can only imagine the stories that I've read. Quite dangerous from what I've heard. Yes, I want to be knowledgeable. I want to learn.

Yes, I think that would be a wise thing for you to go through. I want it to go in. So you gather up a few of these books. How much gold, so you have to buy some of these books and things like that. How much gold would Rowan spend on materials and donations and things like that to get this kind of knowledge?

The more you spend, I will give you a bonus on a roll I'm gonna have you make. I'd say every 100 gold you spend, I will give you a bonus. Now, the gamer in me wants to spend a lot to have a higher thing. Rowan's gonna spend 100 gold. And ask for change in bronze coins.

Yeah, sure. You haven't been in ages to the toad. So you spend about 100 gold. Pastries, latte fun, book. So mark it off your monies, because you did get your 500. 100 gold. So that's spent on things like books.

You do a hefty donation to the temple of the quill, the house of the quill, so you can get access to like, their like, their more detailed records and private records and things like that. Maybe you like, meet a couple of troubadours and bards in like the taverns and ask them for stories and they ask you for a little bit of money

to like, for them to tell you the story. Cool, so this is all taking place in like the first week, and maybe a little bit after the Vodafone Vault as well. But can you make a roll for me? And I would say, let's do this as a just straight intelligence roll with proficiency. So, because you are a bard,

you're knowledgeable about these things. Minus one, so plus two. So plus two, and then I will give you a- 15. 15, give you another plus one, two, and then I will give you a- 15. 15, give you another plus one, because you spent 100 gold, giving you a 16. And I will also allow you to spend a bardic inspiration on this,

because there's no reason why you wouldn't use a bardic inspiration on yourself, right? Makes sense. Problema. Six. Oh! 22, great roll. 22.

God damn. I will give you three pieces of information about Predator's be like an excerpt from a series of newspaper articles in the Clarion which were published about a year ago in Chelscaris. And they are the details of an investigator called Alia Moonflower who traveled to the town of Emberford about a year ago on a vacation, on a holiday. And she ended up embroiled in an adventure that resulted in visiting a proto-Majai vault in the mountains northeast of Emberford.

Now this adventure, that she was accompanied by, you know, a group of strangers, a pair of dragonborn, a cleric of Abrenor, a Nalunari treasure hunter, and a tiefling member of the Ecliptic Order. And they traveled into this place and found that it was a strange obelisk in some caves that led to a vertical shaft of shifting magical platforms. There were powerful guardians that nearly killed Alia, and at the top there was a strange device that seemed to be able to scan the area around

and had knowledge about potentially other vaults in the area. Limited, maybe it seemed that they were vaults connected to the same vault that she was in, like it seemed to lead to others that were all part of some network of specific vault purpose. So not all of the vaults in the area, but at least it led to others, right?

This was about a year ago, and it ends with a kind of a slight sad note that one of the Dragonborn, a Dragonborn called Draxan, decided to remain behind and became obsessed with this device and was left there in the vault, refusing to leave. That's what I want to dig in more, of safety and fears around Protomagion, if they're affecting the world and people around them.

So there is no, there doesn't appear to be, like you go through various other stories of vaults and that doesn't seem to be a common thing. Like in terms of danger to the world around them, some of them are just by the nature of what a vault is. You know, there's stories of a vault where, I think I even told you, Kulo told you about it, where like all these machine men

were just constantly spawning out of the vault until it was destroyed, until it was disabled, right? So there are threats to the world around them, but they're not, like, purposely some nefarious plan or something like that. And there doesn't seem to be, like, mind control involved, or, like, people get, like, funny when they go inside them and stuff. There's no real reports of that. Yeah, Rowan's basically looking for similar cases

to his own, where someone's gone in and has come out changed. And if there's anyone else out there. You don't find any record of anything like that in this research, but what I would say is, you would learn that in recent years, since the Empress's death, an unofficial, unsanctioned group has formed who see the vaults as thrilling adventures and avenues of vast wealth and prosperity.

They call themselves the Locksmith League. They have a headquarters in Kalskaris, though most are said to be clueless, wealthy men and women who like to read books and pretend they are adventurers. This is kind of like your League of Explorers, like, you know, in England where they'd sit around and be like, oh yes, we can go here and discover this, and then they don't really do much. Apparently that's what they are.

But they might have more knowledge, right? Cool. The other thing... And the funds to do it. Yeah, and the funds to do it. The last piece of information you find is specific to Ashenrest. And this is digging through the records

in the House of the Quill in the local library. You pick up, and this is like Rowan being quite studious and really kind of going a bit detective mode. Yeah, headlamp on like detective mode. Reading. You find that over the last few centuries, every, there is a pattern emerges where the rust whale woods, which are north of Ashen's Rest,

sort of every century or so, there are reports of strange lights and disappearances in that region. Guards and adventurers encounter a higher number of vaults spawn for about two months whilst these things are happening. And then it goes quiet and nobody bats an eyelid to it. People brush it off as a random event.

But you notice that it keeps happening the same time about every 80 to 90 years. And you kind of track it through these different reports like guard reports and census data, and you kind of put it together. And you are led to believe that it is highly likely that these were occurring because a vault is appearing in that region causing these events

and then vanishing out of existence for a certain amount of time. And based on this knowledge, you think that, causing these events and then vanishing out of existence for a certain amount of time. And based on this knowledge, you think that, and you remember that you had a quest to go up to Buswell Woods. And there were strange lights and disappearances. And looking at the timing,

you think that there's maybe about a month left. Based on the previous reports, there's maybe about a month left. Based on the previous reports, there's maybe about a month left of that happening. So there is currently an active vault in the Rustvale Woods. That's what Rowan believes. Right. So that could be our next point. I mean, we still need to go there anyway.

So for the benefit of- This knowledge will die with me. For the benefit of people not looking at the map, the Rustvale is literally like two tiles away from us. Emberford is the opposite side of Feroz, which is the city south of us. But it is on the way to the Suncrest Isles. Emberford is.

Which is where Wavemeet, the city that potentially graphed my way to. But the Rustvale is very, very, well, the Rustvale Woods itself is actually pretty big, but it's close to us. And this is maybe something as you encountered the events of the Volum Vault, not all the vaults, all the vaults are almost always completely unique.

So you have no idea what might be in this one that is in the Rusveil Woods. It might be completely irrelevant to what Rowan and Xanthias need out of it, but there's a chance... A vaults vault. And if it... Keep in mind, I had that, that was a DC 20 to learn that information.

Nice. Very valuable. Good. Trying to remember what... Because that was also, when we were discussing the three quests that we were gonna pick up or which one we were gonna do, that was the second, a very close second of like, let's go do that one.

So it's still active. Well, it does mean it's been active for nearly a month with nobody perhaps doing anything about it, so who knows what's happening. We should go have a look. Might have been very different if you'd gone there like three, four weeks ago. Well, yeah.

Yeah, we did know that things progressed. Oh, you didn't, of course not. The Ambrisa thing sounded much more. Yeah. And it absolutely would have. Imagine if you'd gone to that one like four weeks late. Yeah, yeah. It might have happened to Verathir or Serelda, actually.

True, yeah. Who was it who gave us all of those? Was it from about Cassandra? It was Cassandra, right. So we could, yeah, potentially do that again. That's exciting, that's interesting. Is this under the presumption that Rowan has come back and is like telling all of us this?

Or is this like? No, I leave that to Rowan. I don't tell you anything. You don't tell me anything? No, I would actually like a moment at some point of Rowan letting a little bit more information out. Okay, this close to the end of the first part of the episode?

But obviously I couldn't do it right now. Have to be next time. So I think Kim would like to be here maybe for the rest of the show. Of course. We can always maybe have that conversation when Kim's back. Right, with that, we are gonna take a break here. In fact, yes, we would like to be here maybe for the course. We can always maybe have that conversation when Kim's back. Right, with that, we are gonna take a break here. In fact, yes, we'll take a break here and then we'll wrap in.

We've got a few more things to go. There's a few more things that might happen in the downtime, but very exciting stuff. A little bit for everybody, I think, in the first half. No, it's cool. It's nice to have some little character upgrades for everyone, also just things that we can work on in the background

to make ourselves better and stronger. And an army. An army. Roswell, that makes it easier to decide what we want to do next. In my opinion. It's about like two days travel. Well, with the sort of like,

you'll then have to explore the woods, which are dense terrain, but you can probably go there and be back in like a week and stuff like that. We might be able to get an update on the quest, see if there's, because there was meant to be a contact. I can't remember the name. It was Dane Cassandra's Squire.

Right. He was gonna meet you in a village up there. So we might still be able to sort of just pick up this quest just a little bit further down the line than it was before. What if something's happened to them? It's okay, we're two levels higher than we were before. It's true.

Yeah, maybe. All right, with that, we'll take our first break and we will see you in part two. Take care. Nice. See you then. See you in a bit. Bye!

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