High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #50 | The Gullible Jotnyr (Part 2)
Episode Date: February 13, 2025The team start to load up and load out but Rowan wants to say farewell to Ashen Rest by heading to the Clever Toad! _______________ Boost your Charisma with some HR merch! https://highrollersdnd.teemi...ll.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:Â 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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Hey folks, Mark here and I wanted to do a little podcast shout out for anyone looking
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We have recently just established Gruff's
Druidic Sanctuary at Tyria's Rest.
We have had some pamphlets printed by Tooms and Co.
for Sister Ophelia, who has managed to gather
perhaps a few new followers to the House of Blood.
We have done research into the Proto Magi.
We have done sausage dog walks and many other things.
Yeah.
But the main thing is Rowan having revealed information
about their past and their connection
to the Proto-Majai vaults and revealed that there may be
a yet undiscovered vault causing problems
in the Rust Whale Woods.
But before we jump into your preparations
for setting off on a new adventure, a new quest,
as night falls, as darkness spreads over Ashenrest,
the shrine of the Gravefather is lit by red light,
candles flicker in the windows,
as Sister Ophelia gathers her congregation
for a ceremony.
Now who from the party is there?
Are any of you doing anything in particular?
I think I'll go.
I quite enjoyed the last one we went to.
Not in a worshipy way, but.
Spectacle.
Yeah, it's just a nice show.
Yeah.
Yeah, Gruff will be there.
I think he.
Now last time Gruff was like stood by the door
and was very sort of hesitant to be more involved in it,
I think.
Is that still the case this time?
I think maybe he's like one more pew in.
Okay, so he's now on the back row of the pews.
I don't know where the belief level is,
but the belief in Ophelia is more why he's there.
Pretty much where Daisy's set as well.
She's like, the whole thing is still a bit terrifying,
but she wants to support Ophelia.
Okay.
What about Rowan?
Rowan was terrified last time.
It really shit him up.
So there's a reluctance.
You're like, ah.
But I've gotta show up my face and support.
I feel so chill now.
You were distracting yourself with like, giving snacks to people that enter,
like you had a tray of like snacks and drinks
and things like that.
Are you still doing that this time?
Like are you being the one with the entrees
and asking people if they'd like a drink
when they come in or?
Yeah, yeah.
Rowan takes to his, he goes to a latte fun
before it closes and gets a load of things.
A little pastries, yeah.
End of day thinking.
Yeah, yeah.
Torelli argo, you know.
Yeah, Maeve is just, yeah, Maeve is absolutely happy to oblige.
Yeah.
And then, yeah, you come back in.
And for Sister Ophelia, what are we, are we in ceremonial robes?
Yeah, so our full dress.
With the veil over the face, the red silver trim robes.
Just immaculate.
What about, what about, is Parsifal dressed any differently?
Are we... Parsifal is not there.
OK, he's not there at all.
But at the front of the altar,
there's just a black sheet laid over a kind of humanoid shape.
And on the altar almost.
Yeah. So there is the altar with the shrine,
the statue of the Gravefather behind it,
and then we have this body basically,
laid out under a black sheet.
Wonderful.
The black mirror that you have.
It feels so much better now.
You can see that the mirror is active,
although there is no one necessarily on the mirror right now,
almost as if they are listening in,
as if the mirror is conducting sound and imagery through it,
but yet none is being received back.
Theresa is the first to arrive,
and you notice that a different effort has been made here.
She comes wearing black robes.
You know, not anything too heavy,
but looks like maybe she's just gone on
and bought out some simple black robes.
She still has her normal work uniform sort of underneath,
but not wearing the tool belt this time,
just a simple silver belt.
And she comes up and she's like,
oh, well, I thought I should make a bit of an effort,
Sister Ophelia.
You look incredible.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
I've been reading and I read the pamphlet that you gave me as well.
And I think I would like to maybe commit myself a bit more.
Is there a way that I can help you?
I came early in case there was something I could do to help.
Well, thank you. Yes, I have some spare pamphlets.
Would you be able to just lay them on the pews and do the stools?
And begins basically becoming like a little helper
and is going around and laying them all out.
And in her own way is like,
oh, this candelabra is a little uneven and it's adjusting that
and things like, oh, kind of little things.
Maybe creates a couple of dancing lights of red colour
to fill the roof of the shrine.
Just bringing her own little element to it.
Checking in with you first, obviously.
The next to arrive is Sv'Raxx's Kell.
Still dark and brooding, long dark hair.
This time the axe is sheathed on a hook at his belt.
And he will sort of come in, ah, Sister Ophelia.
Sv'R Sir Rex Kell.
I was intrigued the last time that I came here.
Perhaps I should stay and learn more of this faith of yours.
Oh, you are more than welcome to,
and perhaps you could enlighten me about,
oh, your faith as well.
I am not beholden to the church.
I have never really connected with the Scions
and their belief.
I enjoyed the stories of Pyrrhus's battle prowess as a boy,
but your religion intrigues me more.
You say this grave father has granted others
power and necromancy and magic.
Yes.
And this is something he does for his loyal followers.
He does, yes.
And you were brought back from death itself, I understand.
Yes.
Hm.
Well, then I am a keen student.
Well, you are more than welcome to learn.
Please make yourself comfortable.
I will.
He takes, and this time sitting in the middle of the pews
and picks up the pamphlet and starts reading through it.
And you see a look of interest as you are winning him over,
the more he sort of attends and connects with you.
And then yeah, they come in dribs and drabs,
but the people that you spoke to out in Ash and Rest,
about nine or 10 or so, basically filter their way in.
Some of them looking a little sort of perplexed,
like, what's going on here then?
And they sort of look around, and some of them,
the young merchant's daughter, like she comes in,
and hasn't made like an effort,
but like her very natural aesthetic is kind of very fitting.
There's black and reds and she's like,
yeah, this is looking around like,
yeah, this is so cool.
Looking around, like, bit Valley Girl-esque.
But she comes in and picks,
they've got the pamphlets and they're all sort of eager.
And eventually everyone's assembled just before midnight,
as you've scheduled this specifically for midnight, as you've, you know, it's scheduled there specifically for midnight,
as that tends to be a great time for connecting
with the Gravefather as you are taught.
The time when your vampiric mistress was most active
and the court were most active,
when much of Osseous is sleeping during the day,
they are awake at night.
And so you, I hand it over to you, Sister Ophelia,
to lead your ceremony.
Okay.
Feel free to stop me at any point or clear up anything.
Also describe, like, you know,
almost take the DM seat a little bit.
Like, feel free to describe what's happening.
Cool.
And yeah, like, you know,
ask questions and things like that as well.
Here you go, Daisy, you can share my one.
Oh, it's okay.
You're not gonna read it? Side up together. I'm good. Daisy. You can share my one. Oh, it's OK. I'm...
Side up together. I'm good.
You're not going to read it? OK. I'm sitting with Gruff.
Um, Ophelia. Yes, I'm...
Would you want us to read this as well?
Well, if you... Well, there'll be a queue for you to join in.
OK. I'll do my best.
That's OK. When you... Whenever you're comfortable...
Luke explained it, by the way.
Oh, thank you. Thank you. OK.
Please don't bother Sister Ophelia when she's preparing, Mr. Santhius.
I know her.
This is a ceremony.
Okay, I apologize.
Therese is like, shh, okay.
Furious, he's gonna be furious.
Do you know who I am?
Kill Therese.
I'm going to kill.
She's on the list, she's on the list.
Scrub out Obsidius.
So, Ophelia will stand at the head of the pew in front of everybody with the veil over her face and she'll just delicately pull it up over her face, revealing her almost kind of ghostly visage with a pale skin reflecting the red light.
Thank you, dear friends friends for coming today. I appreciate
there will be a lot of questions following our previous gatherings so
first let us begin with prayer before flowing towards clarity. I hope I can
provide some answers for you. Grey Father, thank you for giving me the strength to
complete my journey so I may return to praise your name once more.
Thank you for guiding my vanquishing hands to surrender those who oppose you to their eternal demise.
With love I pray, with loyalty I serve, with the blood that binds us, sustains us, spills in your fury.
We grow, we feast, and decimate. Flesh for the mortal,
blood for the eternal, in your name. Look around you today, you might see my quite frankly
delicious visage, hear my words, and think that the house of blood rejoices in the shadow of death.
You would be wrong. In death there is suffering, pain, torment. I have seen the anguish in the
faces laid before me. I know death first hand and its sting, the pain it causes and inflicts.
The King of Graves understands this, understands that mortal kind was made for more than that slow
trudge of suffering towards our united ends. Our ancestors suffered, starved, forgotten by those
who promised them salvation, yet only my great lord took pity, gave us mercy and saved us.
And I ask that you do not fear him. My great Lord is merciful, kind, gentle like a father, guiding like a tutor.
The great Father gave us life and we relish in his great gift, celebrating our lives in
all of its glorious complex facets.
We mortals were not created to serve under one another, we were made to experience this
great vast world and share with it and share it with one another, we were made to experience this great vast world and share
with it and share it with one another, with our hands, our voices, our flesh.
So my friends, I ask you to celebrate life with me as the Gravefather would want you
to. Think of something that brings you joy and as you leave today, take that thought with you, carry it, celebrate it, sing, dance, paint,
create in that blissful feeling.
That is how we celebrate life, celebrate the grave father
and acknowledge our ancestors for suffering
so that we may feel the great joys that life brings.
Now, I invite you all to witness the power of my home.
Death for many is the end.
For Osseous, for the House of Blood, it is a chance to be reborn,
to embrace a new perspective and unlock potential you never knew you had.
So, and I feel your gestures to the congregation,
will you cross the ocean?
Will you sail that scarlet tide with me? and Ophelia gestures to the congregation, will you cross the ocean?
Will you sail that scarlet tide with me?
Maybe after tonight, you'll consider it.
If you would please join me in this ceremony,
the words are in your pamphlets.
Ophelia takes the cloth
and slowly low humming emanates from her mouth.
As this droning note fills the hall and slowly low humming emanates from her mouth. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm in Percival's chest and then takes out veracity and draws it across her palm,
dripping blood over Percival and over the heart. Now if you would please join me,
say these words with me. Grave father, take this lowly flesh, tear them from oblivion
and open your wondrous kingdom
so they may find you purpose in your glory. Let this body serve you in your name
and by your divine hand may they walk in your shadows
loyal to you always.
Thank you.
Rise once more.
My blood feeds you. Your name thank you. Rise once more. My blood feeds you.
Your name binds you.
Rise again, Percy.
Flesh for the mortal, blood for the eternal.
The eyes of the skull flare with red light.
The hands reach up and grab Sister Ophelia's slick now,
the bony fingertips covered in crimson.
Ah!
Blood for the eternal.
Ooh.
And sits up.
Tha thump.
Tha thump.
Tha thump.
The black wooden heart beating within Percy's chest. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
The black wooden heart beating within Percy's chest.
There is the sound of laughter, joyful,
mirthful, celebratory laughter and clapping
from the black mirror.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Well done, my pupil.
As you hear the voice of the Baroness,
the Countess, sorry, as the audience,
there are at least one of them faints.
Amazing. Someone faints. The young merchant's daughter, her eyes are like wide,
her hands in her mouth torn between awe and terror.
Theresa, looking up, there is something there now.
This, where before there was this burgeoning,
this blossoming desire to believe,
a want for your words to be true, now there is belief. In the eyes of Raxus Kel, you do not
necessarily see the same admiration from these others. Instead, Ophelia, you would recognize the eyes
because you have seen them in so many of the Countess's court,
in her suitors, in her servants, in her soldiers.
You see ambition.
There is power here, power the Vraxxus Kell
could not find elsewhere.
And with that, another true believer is born.
At least one who wishes something out of the bargain.
The others are terrified but intrigued.
Perhaps not won over just yet,
but they are certain to return.
And your favor with the Grey Father, your piety increases.
Not yet enough for another reward, but Percival arises and looking around,
he steps off his first tentative steps.
You've seen him walk before, but there is a difference in the movements.
You've seen him walk before, but there is a difference in the movements. The movements are no longer these controlled, robotic, programmed.
These are the steps of a being that thinks and feels.
He looks at the bony hands now covered in blood.
He rises and kneels before you.
My mistress, thank you, bows his head.
Filia bows back in return. My service, my loyalty, always to you.
Thank you, Percival.
And rises, no longer hidden by the robe,
just in full skeletal glory,
and sort of stands behind Ophelia.
You've not noticed before, but Percival has always hunched in the robe,
but when Percival stands tall, he stands looming behind Ophelia.
You know, sort of six foot something, six foot two, tall.
The bones you see, there is a thickness to them now.
More sturdy, stronger.
And those glowing red eyes never fade.
Thank you, friends. This concludes our sermon and ceremony.
Please.
Robert leaves immediately.
He's already at the door.
Yeah, Theresa like rushes up to the door as you guys leave
and Theresa as people are leaving starts saying sort of like
flesh for the mortal, blood for the...
you know, saying like as each individual person goes
like just bowing her head like fully sort of like right, this is it, I can blood, you know, saying like as each individual person goes, like just bowing her head, like fully sort of like, right, this is it, I can help, you know,
and sort of like, oh please come back, blah, blah, blah, and like absolutely is now, you know,
fully involved. And as people leave, you see a number of those faces turning back,
and just yeah, the same look of like absolute intrigue. Like you've won them over,
or at least got their interest for now.
But Vraxxus Kel and Theresa are now,
basically you can consider them followers
of Sister Ophelia in the House.
Vraxx kill, update.
Update.
He's still an asshole.
As I'm leaving, I've also completely forgotten about the whole
leave with a happy memory or a thing like that.
So I've just got this image of Ophelia
just pouring this blood over this heart
and this energy that's emanating around Percival.
That's just locked in my mind.
It was haunting, but also, I mean, clearly there's a power here.
It's hard to fight against this.
It's a play of power.
Yeah.
That was rad as hell, by the way.
That was awesome.
That was so good.
So good.
Shit, holy crap.
So proud of you.
Thank you.
And the fact that you've made these pamphlets,
and you prepared the whole ceremony and the prayer.
As a reminder, I'll be putting these up on Patreon
if you are a podcast listener, the pamphlets.
So you two can worship.
Me too, so we could share them.
Literally, so that the table could join in.
Even though Gruff and Daisy were like,
I'm absolutely not saying these words out loud.
I think it's complicated for Gruff,
because he supports Ophelia.
He supports, he knew what was going to happen because he supports Ophelia, he supports, he knew what was gonna happen,
because he gave Ophelia the wood to do this.
But saying the words out loud,
you know, I'm not gonna say whether or not
he said them in his head, but out loud, he's not there.
You're still a believer in your faith, you know,
even if it's shaken and stuff like that, you still,
this would like, the duke has allowed it,
and it's not technically heresy
because of agreements with Osseous,
but this is such a lie.
Like, watching these people dedicate themselves
to a foreign religion is like, quite a shocking thing
for somebody who is a traditionalist like Gruff.
But yeah, this is with that.
So Percival now, by the way,
so all of his wisdom and intelligence are now 10.
Oh nice.
His strength goes up to 16.
Oh shit, whoa, he's a strong boy.
He's strong.
He's stronger than me too.
And yeah, he has like, he can use like martial weapons
and armor, and yeah, you can command him basically,
as if he's mini, he also gains more hit points.
I think I gave you all the information for him,
I think last week, but if you need it again,
I can get that all up.
I think it's like four times your level
or something like that, or I can't remember.
And then he also uses your proficiency bonus.
So when he makes an attack,
it would be plus seven with a melee attack, because it's your proficiency bonus. So when he makes an attack, it would be plus seven with a melee attack because it's your proficiency
plus his strength.
So it would be plus seven to attack with.
And yeah, you will need to physically equip him.
You have some black chain mail,
which I believe makes his AC 16.
I was talking about equipping like a weapon.
Yeah, yeah, swing him around.
No, but you would like, yeah.
So he has chain mail, which makes his AC 16, but if you'd like to go out and buy him weapons, you can go out and buy him around. No, but you would like, yeah. So he has Chainmail, which makes his AC 16,
but if you'd like to go out and buy him weapons,
you can go out and buy him weapons.
Yep.
And you can also.
Is that around right?
Oh no, Percy's getting new stuff.
He's getting new stuff.
What about the Glade?
No hand me downs.
I know he had that in.
Yeah.
He's getting the new, he's getting the best stuff.
He's getting new shit.
Yeah, we can take him.
So yeah, so let's, you know,
unless you guys want to chat to Ophelia
after that wonderful little bit of RP,
if we can proceed to the next morning
and you guys getting ready,
or if anybody would like to jump in
and have any RP conversations.
Pfft.
It's...
What does Percy do?
Does he still do all of his usual duties?
I suppose in a way, yeah,
but he's more human about them.
And this is like, now like, you have given Parcival
a gift that it's very hard for any of us to understand,
because you've taken, because there was a conscious thought
when Daisy's been using telepathy, but it was so limited.
It was like, you know, this was like a baby program,
you know, a baby AI didn't really understand anything.
You've just, like, he now thinks and can feel
and understand things, and that's you.
It's not the grave father that's given that to him.
It's not the house, it's not Osseous or the house of blood.
Ophelia gave that to him, and so he is, like, loyal to,
like, he is like, he basically would see Ophelia gave that to him. And so he is like loyal to, like he is like,
he basically would see Ophelia like his mother
or like, you know, his mentor.
So he still does all of those things,
but now he chooses to do them.
It's not as regimented, like, you know,
he might get distracted from time to time,
but like if you say, oh, Percival, help me with this,
he will do it still.
But then it's just a bit more free thought, but it'scival, help me with this, he will do it still. But then it's just a bit more free thought,
but it's kind of free thinking coupled with this, like,
such admiration and loyalty towards Ophelia.
Like, it would be very hard to, like,
break him from that mindset of, like,
going against what you ask of him or tell him to do.
Nice.
Sweet.
Yeah, I think as, like, I'm leaving at least,
I almost want to try and get a gauge
of what the other people leaving,
how they responded to it.
I know one guy fainted, but like,
I know you also said, they're gonna come back.
But like, was all of them doing this chant as well?
They were trying to join in, but it's in that kind of,
they didn't really know what they were saying either,
and they started reading the pamphlet going,
oh, ooh.
But definitely, there is a curiosity.
A lot of them are just sort of like,
that was incredible, what a thing.
Some of them are like, that can't have been real magic,
was it? That was a performance, that wasn't real. And Like some of them are like, that can't have been real magic, was it? Like that was a performance, that wasn't real.
And then some of them are like,
one of them is like, no, I've studied magic
at the academia, like that was real.
Like, you know, that I could detect necromancy,
that wasn't a trick, that was real necromancy.
Like that artifact, that heart was incredible, you know.
What, and that's, I've never heard of anything like that.
That must be from Osseous, you know.
There's a lot of that kind of like,
whispering in the chat.
But yeah.
Yeah.
I guess there was also a lot of talk,
because I think the first time round,
the sermon was, people die, that's great.
I fucking love that shit.
But this time round, it was more of a celebration of life as well.
And that I guess would have laid off the years.
Also understanding of, yeah, the great father
understands that death is suffering and all these things,
and that's why he's so wise and he's so kind.
It's a lot more relatable.
Yeah.
I think that's the thing, the celebration of life
is what would have perked up Gruff's ears
and been like, oh, you know, yeah, that whole bit would have,
yeah, given Groff something to think about.
Oh, nice.
Bless you.
I think I kind of come out of it almost like meeting up
with the others and almost like,
like after seeing a show, we were kind of like,
that was good.
That was a...
You have to process it a little bit.
I need to sit and think about this one.
Yeah.
That's everyone sitting in Frankie's and Benny's
after the film going like, did I like that?
Yeah.
What do you think, Batman?
It's like me coming out of Phantom Menace
and going like, that was good, right, guys?
Yeah, that was good, right?
That was me coming out of Wonder Woman
in the space of 10 minutes, I was like, fuck that movie.
That was shit.
Yeah, it's that kind of vibe.
It's the exact same thing.
Whereas in this, it's like leaning towards the positive.
It's like they're overcoming that shock and horror
with, oh my God, that power, you know,
and the things that she said, like, yeah,
we should celebrate life, and, you know,
Theresa, I think, is encouraging them,
as she's kind of leading them out of the,
sort of out of the gates and back into the them as she's kind of leading them out of the gates
and back into the streets, she's kind of seeing them all out.
And she's probably doing things like,
oh, please don't forget to work on your crafts or arts.
Like, I would love to see what you make.
And kind of encouraging, maybe talking to one of them,
like, oh, what do you do?
And Theresa's kind of doing the more
personable one-to-one stuff, right?
Because now, Ophelia has this like,
oh my God, this powerful priestess vibe to you
that makes you almost a little bit untouchable,
a little bit sort of out of reach to these people.
So Theresa's kind of, not intentionally so,
but just sort of being this more like,
you know, like the little local church priests
who's like, has a chat with you in a cup of tea,
and then you have like the big cardinals who are like has a chat with you in a cup of tea, you know,
and then you have like the big cardinals
who are like, you know, doing the big speeches.
It's kind of becoming a bit more like that.
Yeah, I love that.
And as a point as well,
Theresa and even Rex's cowl,
if you want them to look after the shrine,
they will always come back and basically be on hand
to look after the place.
More the shrine than the inn,
like Raxuskel doesn't give a shit about the inn.
They don't walk dogs.
Theresa would probably walk.
Yeah, she would probably walk the dog.
Raxuskel, let's say.
I'm imagining like one of the people that came and said,
yeah, I'm gonna work on my craft,
I'm gonna go killin' again.
Well, Sister Ophelia didn't exactly say
that wasn't something that could be.
I didn't specify.
No, anything that brings you passion and hang-
Dancing, murdering.
Love murdering.
Do what you love, Carly, just do what you love.
Cross the scarlet ocean.
Yeah, you did say blood from the flesh.
And there was the other one that also left like,
that was such a vibe.
Oh my God. Oh yeah, she left like, that was such a vibe. Oh my God.
Oh yeah, she is like, I can't believe it.
Oh my God, I have to come back next week.
I'm gonna bring all of my friends,
like they're gonna love it.
I was here, I was here.
I was here first.
I found it, I basically found it.
Based.
I'm gonna write a journal about this.
Yeah, oh, she's gonna go home and journal
about the experience, absolutely.
In her like very gothic journal. Yeah, she's gonna go home and journal about the experience. Absolutely. In her very gothic journal.
Her dad's this kind of plump, really lovely merchant guy
and she's like, you don't understand me, dad.
And she goes up and throws herself on the bed
and writes in her journal.
The vampire freaks diaries.
Yeah, yeah, basically.
Absolutely.
But with that, yeah, so the next day, you guys, if you would like to make any preparations
or get things ready for your journey.
Yeah?
Run as a nightmare of his heart being taken out
and given to Purcell.
He wakes up in cold sweats, yeah.
Maybe like, I like the idea of you wake up
and maybe you left your door open
and Percival's just looking at you in the mirror.
Like with a broom in his hand.
I pull out my duvet.
Hello Percival.
What is the matter Mr. Rowan?
I was just doing some cleaning, are you all right?
It's a bad dream.
Oh, sleep well.
Rowan just stares at the wall for like 10 minutes.
Shhh.
Shhh.
Okay.
Perfect.
Amazing.
Yes, well, a new day dawns.
That's not what I'm saying.
A new dawn days.
It is the summer months, so you're starting to wake up
where it's getting really warm during the days now.
Except in, yeah.
Like it's definitely, but I think it would still be
affected by season seven.
This is more like ice hot summer,
so like maybe the snow is a little bit less,
and like you know, whatever ice hot would be like
in the summer.
So like there'd be still really cold frozen parts, right?
But I almost imagine.
It's like walking into air con.
Yeah, yeah.
A little.
Walking back out into the warm.
The people of Khajiit, you see people out,
they've switched to more of their summer attire.
People are getting ready for summer events
and holy days and things like that.
But yeah, it's a pretty busy thing.
But yeah, you potentially have a journey ahead.
So if you would like to do any preparations for that,
absolutely, today's the day.
We need to make some plans.
Obviously we have all of our, oh and Percival.
Oh and Saren.
So we need to plan for that.
There's extra marriage to feed.
Percival?
I require no sustenance, Mr. Zampias.
Good to know, good to know.
Well, Saren also helps with the food
because she catches fish.
That's the whole. Oh, wow.
Are we able to catch fish in a proto-magi vault?
Well, if there's fish, we'll catch them.
Well, that could be.
I don't fully know the rules, but.
If there's fish, we'll catch them.
Yeah, okay, great.
That's gruff's guarantee.
Just a three. A fish will catch. It's only a three-day trip, we'll catch up. Yeah, okay, great. That's a gross guarantee. Just a three.
A fish will catch.
It's only a three day trip, we'll be fine.
Well, it stinks.
We're there, but then we have to come back again.
And we don't know how long we'll be there.
But.
And we could be in the vault for decades.
We could be in there for decades,
maybe more, maybe less.
So we'll have to find a new life once we're in there.
Yeah, obviously, all the things we know and love gone.
But.
I don't say that.
Yeah.
I will not go anywhere, Sister Ophelia.
Oh, thank you.
It brings me a little comfort.
Is Percival still covered in Ophelia's blood?
Is that like a permanent stain now?
No, I would say so.
Like maybe there's like on the blackened heart,
there is like almost like these red streaks
that seem to have been absorbed in and stayed, but he's washed his hands, like they're perfectly white now.
Just smearing it across the inn.
No, yeah, no, yeah.
He's very clean, he's very hygienic.
Cleaning tables.
So he would like wash his hands.
He's also probably wearing his robes again,
but he has the chainmail under them now,
so he has the robes on.
He's just popped out a little bit.
Which reminds me, we need to get you
some method of protection for yourself, Percival.
Yes, of course, I need something
to protect you with, Sister Ophelia.
Do you have a preference for what you'd like to wield?
A preference?
I have never had a preference before.
Well.
I do not know.
I do not know what options are available to me.
Oh, we'll have to have a look, won't we?
Yes.
There's bashing, there's bashing, there's...
I would like something to protect Sister Ophelia better.
A shield?
Yes, yes, that seems advisable.
Okay.
And a sword then, I guess, or a one-handed.
Didn't you give possible the whip?
I've got that back.
Oh, you've got the back, okay.
I might think something that is more heavy than the whip.
I feel like I have more strength than I had before.
Yes, you look stronger.
Or perhaps not a shield,
but something with which I know that some of you fight,
perhaps something that gives me reach.
Like a lance?
Yes, or spear or something like that.
How about a scythe?
Yes, a scythe.
That is normally a-
Stop trying to make pro's with the Grim Reaper.
Look at him!
I don't think a scythe is good.
Is that not normally a farming tool?
Yes it is, it's also very, if we're in a tight corridor,
that sort of thing, I don't think it'd be particularly useful.
Cool as fuck!
And slaps.
What is the one the guardsmen use here in Ashen Thresh?
Halberd. Halberd. I think that is a suitable weapon for a guard.
It's got a stabby top and it's got an axy side.
I mean, we could perhaps get you a shield as well,
just in case. Yes.
That could be useful.
Or something to throw if the foes are far away,
perhaps something that I can use to.
Do you imagine you're any good with a bow?
I might be, I've never fired a bow before.
Okay.
But I am capable of carrying as well,
I am, give me a backpack and I can carry
whatever is required.
Okay, okay.
Yes, yes.
I would ask about the logistics of this relationship,
but last time I tried that I stumbled a million times.
Do you still require Ophelia's orders,
or are you more of three thinking?
I don't know, I don't think so.
I don't feel, I am aware of what my purpose
when I was animated was.
I was animated to serve the House of Blood,
and I was given to Sister Ophelia
and told to follow her commands. I remember that.
But I no longer feel compelled, magically, to do so.
Instead, there is a different kind of compulsion.
I do not wish to disappoint Sister Ophelia
or see her come to harm or for her to suffer when I can help.
What is that called? Is that magical compulsion?
It's just...
Fatherhood.
Compassion, not compulsion. Compassion.
Then yes, I feel that.
Amazing.
Well, that's nice.
Okay. Is it?
Yeah.
I'm glad.
Does that extend to all of us?
I think of you fondly, Sister Ophelia cares for you, yes?
Yes, I do.
Well then I would consider I feel the same.
Yay!
I'm so glad that you can have thoughts and feelings now, personal.
Yes, yes.
I am also glad of this.
We must thank Sister Ophelia together.
Thank you, Sister Ophelia. Thank you, Sister Ophelia. Thank you, Sister Ophelia. Sister Ophelia together. Thank you, Sister Ophelia.
Thank you, Sister Ophelia.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
We know.
Okay.
I mean, it may not be appropriate,
but I do have my old shield, if you'd like that,
but I don't know.
I made it out of one of my old rafts,
and I don't know if it's grand enough for him.
It does look pretty shabby.
It is, it is literally like, you know, the old heels.
Even Percival is like, ooh.
It's the first one that he had.
Percival doesn't think that way.
I should make it very clear.
This is me speaking of like, Sister Ophelia,
and it's like, mm.
Oh, rough, I wouldn't know.
I appreciate the sentiment, but I think,
it's all right, something. It is not grand enough, it's okay.
I just made it with my hands.
I thought we were gonna mount it in the air.
Yes, it's a...
Are we not?
You must be sentimental about it.
You're an adventuring shield.
We could put it above the...
Not the fireplace, that might go up.
No, that would go up and burn it to pieces.
A different wall.
Maybe not on the wall.
Well, I'm just thinking maybe not high up
just in case it falls off the shelf.
No, I'm here.
Look, I'm gonna... It's going to go in the shrine.
I'm going to make a public...
All the trash?
Yes.
Excuse me, Xanthias, what did you say there?
Wow.
A little louder.
No, I think you've always heard me.
My old ears didn't quite hear you.
I said all the church.
What did you say?
All the church. I think it was trash. I didn't say that. It was, wasn't it? It did sound, I just didn't quite hear you. I said all the church. What did you say? All the church.
I think it was trash.
I didn't say that.
It was, wasn't it?
It did sound, yeah, it did sound trash.
You misheard me, you misheard me.
I heard trash.
Mr. Xanthius said trash.
Mm-hmm, thank you, Percival.
Already you have better manners than this one.
Do I?
Yes.
Oh, I'm glad.
You're a good boy-o.
Is that a good thing?
Yes, not at the moment. We don't order. Such a weird relationship if I'm like, I'm a good boy-o. Is that a good thing? Yes. Not at the moment.
We don't want...
Such a weird relationship if I'm like,
I'm a good boy-o.
You really want it to be that, don't you?
You kind of do, no.
Well, what if though?
Oh, what if though?
Oh, what if though?
You want that, though?
You know.
Samsy wamsy.
Come on, call me a good boy, daddy. Flap. See, no, you know. Sancy wancy. Come on. Call me your good boy daddy.
Slap.
No, you don't want it.
No, I love it, I love it.
I'm gonna slap you.
I'm gonna move on from this.
Slap, I don't know.
In terms of things like supplies and rations
and things like that, you have a little bit of experience
with that now, so it would simply be, I would say, let's call it,
do do do do do, let us say, for all of you,
five silver, each day, about two minutes a day,
about a gold per day for all of you
in terms of just raw rations.
So yeah, like easily enough, right?
Like, yeah, and that's assuming it's gonna be like
ingredients rather than like trail rations.
So I'm assuming that Rowan or somebody's gonna cook
each night.
If you like trail rations, there'll be about five gold each.
So.
Are we gonna say that we've straight up lost everything
from our previous journey?
Cause I still have like, yeah.
Yeah, cause it would have been like eaten on the journeys
and also like it's been like several weeks since.
We gave a lot to Stuart.
Not Stuart, Rodri.
And yeah.
Rodri had his own feed.
Oh, we need to pick up Rodri.
No.
Yeah.
Sorry.
That reminds me.
Percival.
Fizzy water.
They have here, it's so bubbly.
Weird.
It's cauldron water. Yes, that's how they do it here. She's probably had like's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like,
it's like, it's like,
it's like,
it's like,
it's like,
it's like,
it's like,
it's like,
it's like,
it's like,
it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, Rations. Of rations. Of rations, yeah. And then we'll have Seren going, catching fish,
and I'll make a stew.
Or there could be fish in the vault, like we said.
The vault that we find.
We never know.
Yeah, that's true.
But also, yes, weapons for Percival.
Yes.
A shield, nice one.
Vitality potions.
Potions, yes.
Yeah, so I think those would still be,
you'd get a little discount on those,
being the heroes of actions rest that you are
the alchemist shop Aquila's alchemical
They they only have I'm gonna roll to see how many they have who doesn't have vitality potions one more
I don't I don't I have one. Yeah, I think the last time you've actually they only have three vitality potions in stock
Yeah, they do still have some of the weapon oils as well,
which are, you can coat a weapon and you get a D4 of elemental damage for a minute.
How much is it for the three?
Each Vitality Potion will be 40 gold.
And they're only basic Vitality Potions.
I'm going to roll a D3.
I have one.
A D6, sorry.
On a one to three, they don't have
any greater vitality potions.
Okay.
On a four, five, or six, I'm gonna say
he has one greater vitality potion.
That's going straight to person.
Five?
So there is also a greater vitality potion available.
I'm gonna say that would cost you 200 gold.
But it will give you 44 plus four temporary hit points.
So it functions exactly the same as the other ones,
so it's a temporary hit point thing.
So again, it's a bonus action to drink it,
say before a fight or early on in a fight.
It'll give you those temporary hit points.
And those temporary hit points last basically
until you take a long rest.
So, you know, quite good to have if you're going
into a battle and stuff like that.
Tom, what's the math on that?
240, so 40, 40, 40 would be 120.
So 320 for all of those potions.
I will buy all of them.
Okay, great.
Can I?
Yes.
Please buy a Poisoner's Kit.
Yes, you can.
Let me find out how much that is.
Well, it's one of my sneak attacks.
I can add poison to my attack,
but I need to have a poisonous kit.
Oh, okay.
I would like that, please.
Now, that's an interesting question, Daisy.
Where, because obviously that's quite a clan
design thing to buy.
Yeah.
A poisonous kit.
Put it on your tree.
Is it?
Well yeah, like who would have a poisonous kit
in civilized society, you know?
This isn't just-
Taylor.
Well, that's what I was gonna, you know,
we need to, you know, I think you can do this, obviously.
But you would need to spend some time
trying to figure out where to go.
And you've picked up a few things.
You know thieves can, you know these kind of things.
You would find down a back alleyway a fence, basically,
like the symbol for a rogue's fence, like a thief's fence,
somebody who buys stolen goods.
And it's done up as like a pawn shop.
With beads.
P-A-W-N, P-A-W-N.
Behave.
No, this one is, it's almost done like an antique shop,
but it says like we buy, we sell, you know,
pretty much everything.
There's musical instruments,
there's like all sorts of things in there.
What are you whispering over there?
What did you say?
I just, I joined them in the pit. Oh? I just, I joined him in the pit.
Oh, I see.
It's so easy, right?
Yeah.
It's easy to get in the filth pit.
Come to my pit.
Yeah.
My filthy pit.
It wasn't even like-
I'm always coming into Tros' pit.
Yeah.
It wasn't even so funny.
Yeah, you go in and you negotiate,
and I'll have to come up with this NPC
maybe at a different time,
because I'm on the fly here.
It costs you 50 gold.
Okay. But this is like a proper,
dodgy kind of like, you know, place.
And I think that this, the NPC, let's make them a dwarf,
they're a male dwarf, kind of slick hair,
like balding spot, what hair they have,
they've slicked back in a kind of comb over,
kind of running down their back.
Their beard is actually quite short.
He's quite skinny for a dwarf.
Still broad, but doesn't have the musculature
that you're used to seeing.
And you can see that his, three of his fingers
have turned to brass, so he's obviously maybe
a little bit older.
His earth blood is like spikes.
He's like shaped them into spikes
coming out of like the sides of his chin.
And like maybe even like his beard,
he shaved like a little goatee patch
and he has these big brass spikes in his chin.
And he'll just ask you, he'll say,
I'm trying to remember, what's Gotrek's voice?
Manling.
Hey, little girl, are you, do you work for the Diadem?
No.
He's like, he looks you over, show me your hands.
Like, looks you over.
All right, you're an independent?
Yeah.
Hmm.
Bit young for this line of work, aren't you?
No.
Let it eyes you up.
Well, if you've got good gold, and he slides over this wooden box,
a sort of black lacquered box with a sliding top that is a puzzle,
it's like a puzzle box, he shows you how to open it.
So that, you know, if somebody finds it,
they would open it and just find like a little
sort of jewelry box inside,
but actually there's a trick to it.
When he does, there are these vials and sort of,
like brushes and even like a little metal capsule
that you can attach to a blade or a weapon
and it will coat the weapon in poison very quickly.
And it's 50 gold.
I give the 50 gold.
Yeah, absolutely. Oh, I shouldn't close that because you're probably going to want to buy weapons at the moment.
Yeah, no, you absolutely, yeah, so you now have a poisonous kit.
Hell yeah. I presume this is also like a no one else is there thing.
Yeah, this is the kind of place, there's only,
it says like one customer at a time out the front
and things like that, you know.
No school kids.
Okay, okay.
No groups free.
Yeah, no groups free.
Did you also want to lick at weapon oils as well?
The elemental oils, yeah.
Yeah.
No, that wasn't me, was it?
Well, I just, I don't know, Would it be useful for you to put it?
I don't think...
Well, you wouldn't be able to apply them to your Radiant Blades,
because they're not physical.
Right, OK.
Same with the Poisonous Kit, by the way.
If you want to use the poison, you might...
Actually, no, I would...
Because it doesn't say it would express that you can't use them
on your Radiant Blades.
I'd say the Weapon Oils, no, but the Poisonous Kit, you can.
Sure, OK.
So I almost mentioned that it's actually like, Daisy,
like throwing a vial of poison, then using the poison is kicking in. Sure, okay. So I almost mentioned that it's actually like Daisy
throwing a vial of poison, then using the blade
and stuff like that, almost.
Okay.
So, while Mara's looking up Prosti's new fit,
so you've, so of the four potions I bought,
you've now got one minor...
I've got a regular Vitality, because I now have some...
And you've put that in your inventory.
I have it in my inventory.
Good boy.
Do any of you guys...
Thank you, Daddy. Stop.
Technically you should call me Mother,
because I'm not using my gruff voice.
Oh, thanks, Mommy.
You're welcome.
That's all right.
What would you two like?
What do you want from the shop?
Bleach.
You get...
Ear bleach.
Ear bleach.
Yeah. Yeah, do you guys need any potions? Anything you need from the shop? Bleach. Ear bleach. Ear bleach. Ear bleach.
Yeah, do you guys need any potions? Anything you need in potions?
Whatever you get, please.
Could I get some bronze change?
Yes, can we go visit before we leave?
Focus, focus on the potions first.
I have a vitality.
You have one.
I'm good.
I don't have any vitality.
Okay, right, let's give you a major,
because I'm just feeling a certain way.
Something might go down.
It should be in D&D Beyond.
Yeah, they are in there.
There should be Greater Vitality, yeah.
There might be a roof that I feel you could fall off.
Yeah.
So I've got two.
It might look at something wrong and just face plant.
I'll feather for you.
I've got two Regular Vitality.
I have that to improve, yes, but steps off the curb. Katie, do you want one? I've got a for you. I've got two regular Rotor LT runes. I thought it was in produce, but steps off the curb.
Okay, do you want one?
I've got a Vitality Shield.
You've got one? You've got one.
Mm-hmm. I'm buying the one.
I've got two that I've just bought,
and I have one of mine venturing anyway.
I've got one, but...
Do you want me to take another one?
I don't know.
You take another one.
I think you should take another one.
No, no, no, you take...
Because you're also faster, for me.
I guess that makes sense, yeah.
Okay, so you take.
I've been playing all day, X-Com.
So I'll take the last one as well.
Well also, yeah, because Daisy can bonus action
do things like dashing.
Like being up close, personal.
What I was gonna say is,
because I can heal as well. Or can like hide
and sneak up to someone.
But don't forget, they're not healing potions,
they won't get somebody up if you are down.
That's the thing, so you should take it.
You take it, you take it.
It's like preloading.
I'll take two.
You take it because I've got healing hands, so.
Ophelia, in terms of weapons, it's carte blanche.
Obviously Dante's is maybe a little expensive
and I don't know how much you would want to go see Alana.
But there are other.
I can't go see her!
There are other blacksmiths, like for just more mundane,
like if you wanna kind of save some money,
you can just go to the regular blacksmiths,
and like it's very easy to get things like weapons
and stuff like that, but really the choice is
what do you wanna outfit Percival with?
And do you want to go see Alana and make it more fancy?
Because then that's a role-playing counter,
and I have to role-play.
That's true. Yes, go see. Which I'm fine. Oh my god, go and see her. Oh then that's a role-playing counter and I have to role-play. That's true.
Yes, go and see. Which I'm fine.
Oh my god, go and see her.
Oh, that's gonna be juicy.
She was all over Xanthias though at the fashion show.
I mean, Ophelia. I would say all over,
but notice Xanthias.
More attention than you.
Obviously, Ophelia, we could get regular weapons
for Percival, but if we need anything more special,
it does mean Elana.
And if you don't wanna go.
Well, you will have to say hi to her at some point.
Yes, well, she's not really given me the time of day,
so is it worth it?
Is she worth it?
Are the clothes worth it?
Oh, look, you know the clothes are always worth it.
Oh, the clothes are always worth it.
The armor was very nice.
And the armor was very nice.
The person's chainmail is quite tattered.
I think I described it as being quite sort of worn,
the black chainmail.
Oh, fine, you've twisted my arm.
I'll go see Alana.
She won't charge me in double.
Well, we can all go just to make sure she doesn't, you know,
fight you, then you bite.
I mean, I'll win. Well, then you bite. We don't win.
Well, obviously, but.
She might like that.
I've got a solution.
Okay.
I'm wearing this fancy mizfilo now.
No, you're working for me.
No, no, yes.
Here, and I give
Ophelia my disgusting old studded leather.
Oh, between that and my shield.
Yeah, just a bit pongy, but personal, I don't mind.
Oh, that's bad.
Oh yeah, oh, my shield's got a few splinters, actually.
Rowan, no, it's sentimental.
We were going to hang that up above the fireplace, you know?
Oh, it would look good above the fireplace.
Keep it there.
It's already been removed.
Well, you know, the trash.
They do say not to pass on armor that's already been worn,
just because of integrity's sake, you know? Yeah, that's true been worn. Well, you know, the trash. They do say not to pass on armor that's already been worn just because of integrity's sake, you know?
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah.
Oh, and the stab wound is right there.
Oh, oh yes.
In the shoulder.
Yes, then maybe not,
because that exposes a vulnerable point
right by Percy's heart.
Where beholding the Houndbird as well.
Yeah, so, thank you, but no, Rowan.
All right, the offer was there.
That's right.
It's the fire, fire burns green.
We don't have to go to Elana,
but we would also be more expensive than just regular gear.
So I guess really this is a question for Percival.
Would you want a more expensive,
maybe more bespoke weapon, or,
would you be able to take care of it?
Would you be able to use it efficiently?
Are you doubting my abilities to maintain something?
Well, no, it's not that I'm doubting,
I know your skills almost as well as you do.
Oh, I am well practiced in weapon maintenance.
I have been looking after Sister Ophelia's weapon
and many of my other masters and mistresses' weapons
for many years, many centuries.
I wouldn't trust anyone else with my weapons.
That's a good point, okay.
Yes, I am very comfortable.
So a more expensive weapon
would not get just lost immediately in your hands.
Oh no, goodness no.
Good, and again,
Eliana might be able to make something more bespoke for.
I don't think she'd want to.
She might be intrigued by the challenge.
It has been a while.
Has this woman disrespected your sister, Ophelia?
Why?
Other way around.
She misunderstood me.
It's just a matter of miscommunication.
Ah, she's a fool then.
Yes. She is a fool.
Let's not go into the shop with that mentality.
But she is. Well...
Look, it's been a while, Ophelia. Maybe things have cooled off.
Maybe this is a perfect opportunity for you to go and, you know...
But...
Roll another nat one. Roll another nat one.
But let's be real, Ophelia, you did double book.
Yeah, but then, well, I was excited. I made a friend, and I had a sermon to do, and Percival.
Lady Ophelia was supposed to go on a date with,
and I'm gonna tell Percival what happened
so that Percival can understand.
But I do not understand, why does this woman not respect,
Sister Ophelia was doing important sermon.
Surely that outweighs anything else.
Her feelings were hurt.
I don't understand.
You haven't had feelings long enough to understand that,
but you will one day understand
that you can have hurt feelings and that's not very nice.
That seems very foolish.
Okay.
I think this woman should apologize to Sister Ophelia.
I bought her gifts and everything, Percy.
He holds a bony hand up.
What more must be said?
I spent all my gold on her, Percy.
Did you give her those gifts?
I did, well I threw them down on the table beside her
because she misunderstood me.
Oh, right.
So maybe you can go with flowers and chocolates and things.
Flowers, chocolates, the usual.
Cigars.
It was a whole hamper of goodies.
It was a hamper of goodies.
Yeah.
A mix tape. Yeah, I said something about time
and maybe not being worth of time,
but Achimus understood me.
Something about time.
Maybe it's best I don't go, actually.
This is bubbling up old feelings.
Okay, if you don't wanna go, we can just get some.
It's making me angry again.
Don't worry, right?
We just go, okay?
Because it's gonna linger on your mind
if we go out tropes-ing in the woods
for three days and three,
you're gonna be thinking about this.
I say you take action on this
and we're gonna be gone straight after.
So I kill her?
No, no, no, no.
We never said kill her.
No, no, no, no.
No, no.
Okay, you rule.
That comes, that's the last thing you should think of when dealing with people in this city. That's how we've been solving all our problems so far. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I think it makes them a bad person. Okay. I'm working to make people like me.
And it's working.
So why doesn't she like me?
Well you haven't tried again.
Yeah, maybe she just needed some time.
She hasn't come to my sermons or anything.
You didn't try apologizing.
I did!
I put her in.
Well, a day after.
And I don't know exactly what you said bought her a gift. Well, a day after. You should have had your face a little bit.
And I don't know exactly what you said to her, but.
Maybe, yeah.
I can't remember if we were there.
We weren't, were we?
She's had a bit of time now,
so she might feel a bit better.
Time is a great thing.
You didn't come see me at the fashion show,
and I looked really nice.
She was there.
She saw you at the fashion show.
Everyone did.
Oh, shut up. This is not helping, Xanthius.
I was just saying.
Let's go.
And then-
We can wait outside.
We can leave Ashton's rest straight after.
Yeah, let's do everything else.
Straight away.
Then we can do that last.
Let's leave that to the last thing.
If we need to flee, we can.
We've got Rodri.
Fine, fine.
We'll just, we'll bury the hatchet.
Not literally.
Not literally.
That is not a saying here.
Not a thing.
What do you mean?
We have to be very explicit.
No, no.
We don't bury hatchets here.
You don't say that here?
What do you say here then?
Sorry.
We'll slit the throat.
Yes.
No, what?
It's what we're saying as our step. We'll slit the throat. Yes. No! That's what we're saying, it's our step.
Or slit the throat.
Or drain them of their life.
You say that and it's Oscar.
That's an Osseous thing.
Yes, that is definitely, well maybe, yeah, well.
Let's go at the end.
Before that, clever turd.
Yes!
There might be a premonition there.
That's a good idea, yes.
Why am I going through this?
I have to see the cobalt.
The wonderful Taric cobalt.
You make your way to the Clever Toad,
and stepping inside, it is the daytime,
so Balder is not there.
Balder generally works the night shift,
the late night shift.
He's so disappointed.
But you see Marek Tarik and many of the other Tarik Tariks
there, sort of, welcome, welcome, welcome,
as you kind of step in, like, hey Rowan, hey,
do you want some meat sticks?
Yeah, I'll take a meat stick.
Yeah, come on, come on,
you can give a couple of brass coins,
give you a meat stick. You know why I'm come on. You give a couple of brass coins, give you a meat stick.
You know why I'm here.
We know why you're here, yeah.
They see you go over,
and as you're just sort of approaching the clever toad,
you hear like, oh mom, what are you doing out here?
And Tarek, Tarek, the matriarch is out like,
is that the big boy who comes to see the toad all the time
and they're sort of, you know.
Big boy over here.
That's you.
What?
You're the only one who comes to use this thing.
Yeah, I know, crazy, right?
Do you wanna buy it?
Ah!
No one can buy such a redic it was placed here, right?
You built this place around it, right?
No, we'll just change the name, it's fine.
It's a mythical artifact.
No, it was made by some stupid wizard.
How much?
You can't put a price, it must be thousands, right?
Yeah, a thousand gold.
So cheap.
I don't have that right, I've got 400.
I have 500. Take it.
Really? Yeah.
Can I do a quick premonition first
to see if the clever toad wants to be taken?
Sure.
I have my three in the end. Sure. I'm gonna do... I don't have...
Oh my god, I'm gonna be killing my bronze back.
I don't have my gold.
Yeah, we're basically making money on this.
All right, I don't have my usual tables, so...
I'll tell you what, I'll just do basic.
Positives or negatives are gonna be a d20 roll, so.
Okay. You put the coin coin in and it says,
you will find Ill Omen.
Oh shit.
At nightfall.
As to night.
It could be any night.
As to night. It could be any night.
Yeah, there it is.
You'll find ill omen at nightfall.
Beware.
The shadow.
Beware of what?
Tell me.
I've got my ear up against the glass.
Beware.
Beware of what, damn it!
I'm shaking!
The Hierophant of Light.
The Hierophant of Light.
What could it all mean?
Fortune.
Ooh, it's still going.
Tomorrow.
Will be found today.
Fortune will be found.
That's today.
That's it.
That's it, that's your luck.
Fortune will be found today.
Do you want to be with me?
I look into the taxidermy toad's eyes.
Make an insight check, darling. Do you want to be with me? I look into the taxidermy toad's eyes.
Make an insight check, darling.
Fate. Fate. Fate.
Fate, please. Fate.
Yeah, sure.
Take the toad, please.
Look into its eyes.
Eight, nine.
Plus 12.
Look into his eyes.
Ask him.
What does Rowan want the answer to be?
Rowan wants the Clever Toad to want him.
Then the Clever Toad wants to be taken.
Must want be, right?
This is the ultimate premonition.
I embrace it.
The whole machine.
And lift it.
It's even for you, like this is gonna be like carrying the whole thing back.
It's like carrying the rune stone all over again.
We can get, Roger, we can pick it up here
and take it to the inn.
Oh, you're here, hello.
Gold.
Oh wait, am I here?
I might not be here.
You can be here.
You wanna go?
Oh hey, what's going on, Rowan?
No, I kinda like the idea that,
I kinda like the idea that Rowan just comes back
with the fucking machine and nobody knows what.
Oh yeah, I put it back down and then I just spill out.
Just all your money.
Is that literally all the money you have?
It's 400 gold, yeah.
The Tarek Tarek's scrabble it all up.
Tarek Tarek will bark and be like,
Marek, go and get the painters,
we're gonna rename the place.
And they're like, okay mother, okay mother. And they're go and get the painters, we're gonna rename the place. And they're like, okay, I came out there,
and they're like,
Oh my God, they're renaming the engineering.
If you need more money, just let me know.
They don't have a lot of-
More money?
Yeah, I've only got 400 right now.
How much more can you get?
You said it was thousands.
I'll keep donating.
Oh no.
Yeah, okay.
Whenever I can.
Okay.
You don't know what you've done.
And I.
Oh, we do.
Lift.
We really do.
You stagger your way back, a few people like,
oh, is that a clever tot?
And like, you kind of carry it all the way back.
The rest of you are back at the inn,
maybe kind of, you know,
still debating what's gonna happen,
like maybe getting all your supplies
and packing up your bags,
when through the door,
a booted foot kicks them open.
Blessed day!
Oh no, no, no!
Rowan, you've got to stop doing that!
I'm the great father, Rowan!
He carries in this.
Behold!
What is that?
Rowan, what is that?
Did you steal that?
No, is that the toad? The toad is with us now. Oh, bloodyan, what is that? Did you steal that? No. Is that the toad?
The toad is with us now.
Oh, bloody hell. Why?
You stole it.
You stole it from the terrors.
I bought it.
With what money?
There is a corner right by the kitchen door
where there is no space or no table
so it fits into perfectly.
I'm making my way over there.
How much did you, How much was this?
It's an ongoing.
I put a down payment down of 400 gold.
What?
It's ongoing?
Yeah, they said it was worth.
There's more?
It's a priceless artifact.
Who said that?
They did.
Well, I did.
I said that.
Also, when you said it's worth thousands again,
they didn't say that, you did.
So I'll be giving them more money
as we get some more money.
It's like when Lucius would go in and be like,
how much is that?
I bet it must be this much and just throw it.
It's the same again.
It's happening again.
Do it.
There's probably no way.
I know how this man plays this game.
There's probably no way we have a...
You have one joke, T'Challa.
One joke! There's no way we have a rough appraisal of how much this man plays this game. You have one joke! You have one joke! Press heart, one joke!
There's no way we have a rough appraisal
of how much this thing would actually cost.
You've been studying arcane devices and things like that.
I have, I have, I know that this is-
Give me an investigation check with your advantage
because your goals are high.
Oh, I do have an advantage now, you're right.
You pop the goggles over down,
give it a little examination.
Oh my good god.
Yeah, this is worth a thousand.
It's like a relic pinball machine.
Wait, sorry, what was it?
Investigation. Investigation.
Or arcana, I would allow.
I got like a seven.
A seven.
You have no, with a 10,
the construction materials alone aren't worth that much.
Not even worth the 400 that Rowan's paid for.
The actual enchantment is rudimentary,
but it's complex, but it doesn't do anything
particularly clever.
This is basically the spell Magic Mouth
with a few extra bells and whistles.
I mean, 400 paying that much for it's probably
a bit too much.
Didn't realize how wobbly it was.
Yeah, even the little stands have fallen off.
This thing's a mess.
We'll treat it much better.
It could be improved, like people with an artistic tray,
you could like make it jazz it up a little bit,
paint it up, fix it up.
I think the toad needs a backdrop.
I can do that. I think the toad needs a backdrop. Mm-hmm.
You can do that.
I think the toad needs a new toad.
Yes, yeah.
We can't change the source of its power.
I mean, okay, the sort.
Can we get it a new skin, at least?
It's falling apart.
You'll have to ask it.
Its eyes coming off.
I offer a coin.
Wait, we still have to pay to use it?
How else would you get a premonition, Xanthius?
Think, damn it!
Ronan, how? Xanthius,
when you're examining this thing,
you're looking and you're like, wait a minute, yeah.
There's no way to get money out of it.
And when you're examining it with the gold sight eye,
which has detect magic,
there's the faintest trace of conjuration magic
in the coin slot.
It doesn't keep the money, the money is being sent somewhere.
Son of a bitch.
Yes!
That's so good!
Mother fucker.
Oh, even across realms he thought me.
How else can he afford the cake?
And the women!
God damn.
That big slut.
That is great. That is genius.
Since Rob arrived at Ash and the Rest,
he has just been like, put it in there.
He's just out there somewhere.
Oh boy.
Shit, someone's using this.
It's literally two peas.
It's not like it's making a fortune.
Yeah, but how many dimensions does he have
this fucking machine in?
Exactly that.
How many machines are there?
Yeah.
Oh my god.
He's genius. He's the smartest man of all of us.
He's the best of us and the worst of us.
He is.
He's gotta feed his cake habit.
Okay.
Oh, that's so good.
Rowan, how binding was this deal you made with them?
It's the Kobolds, what you mean?
Did you draft up like a contract or a sale agreement
or anything like that or did you just? Did you want to get contract or a sale agreement or anything like that, or did you just?
Did you win a vitality potion?
That would've been like a receipt, yeah.
It would've been a little handwritten receipt.
I don't have it on me now, but yeah.
Of course, Kim Gruff takes Kim's job
and keeps all the receipts for taxes.
I have to keep track of the finances.
Yeah, for when you do your yearly by-yearly hoarding.
Take a picture of it, send it to Kip Krup.
Well, I've got it now and they've got the money.
But...
I'm just...
It's not worth nearly this, I'm sure, to you,
but financially speaking, you could easily recover...
It's worth thousands more.
But you could recover quite a lot of this money...
They're changing the name of their establishment
because of this.
Really?
Yeah, it was called the Clever Toad.
It was named after this relic.
What's it gonna be called now?
I don't know.
It's irrelevant.
The empty nothing.
That's true, I suppose.
The pub.
Yee pub.
Yee pub.
Building.
Okay, well. Place of refreshment. The club. Building. Um. Um. Okay.
Place of refreshment. Look, I think.
The generous yacht.
I think you've played, you've paid more than.
The gullible.
Oh, I love that.
The gullible yacht near, yeah.
The gullible yacht near.
The fucking idiot.
That's great.
That's, I think that has to be it. The gullible yacht near? Yeah, I think that has to be it.
I think it has to be that.
Nice time you go back to visit Boulder.
But the thing is, I don't know if they would call it,
like, the naive yacht,
because they like Rowan.
They actually do genuinely like Rowan,
and the Tariks love him,
so I don't think they would be mean about it.
Yeah, but this is like 400 gold.
This is more money than they've seen in a long time, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
The oblivious Yotnir or something like that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And like the picture will be a very familiar look at Yotnir
with coins falling out of his pouch or something like that.
Full brass coins.
Yeah.
It's like a neon sign as well.
They've got the money for it now.
Like an animated thing.
Magical, yeah.
Or a magic door.
Or a burp.
Burps. Yeah. Where'd you get all the money, yeah. Automatic door. Yeah.
Well, where'd you get all the money? Oh.
Oh.
Okay, you've paid enough for this.
You don't need to make continued payments
to the Tariks for this.
No.
Beware, Nightfall.
Excuse me?
My friends, beware the night.
Have you heard another vault like?
The Hierophant.
The elephant?
Light. What? Beware. What's the Hierophant. Like... The elephant? Light.
What?
You wear...
What's a hierophant?
And nightfall.
Bad.
What's a hierophant?
I don't know it.
I don't know.
I'm shaking the cleviter.
Is it like a hyphen?
Elephant.
Hierophant.
Hierophant.
Hierophant.
That's...
Where did you just learn that word, or?
Yes.
From...
The toad. the toad.
The toad.
Can I roll something to see what a hierophant is?
Yeah, religion check.
Oh, good, religion.
That's a nine plus two.
So for a 10, you vaguely heard that the term hierophant is,
it is a religious leader or religious person, basically. Kind of like a priest or like
a high priest or something like that but it's quite an antiquated term. It's not really used
so much these days. It was kind of used in the early days of the Church of the Scions.
Now high priest or high priestess would probably be used more. I think it's some kind of priest or something.
Priestess, something religious,
someone in the religious clergy.
To be careful out there.
I mean, we already know that.
Yes, we already have to watch out
for one religious figure, yeah.
Could mean Ikara Yalta.
We could stumble across them.
Ilara, Ilara, the Sun.
Oh, the Sun.
Yes, the Ikara Sun Sword.
Sun Sword, yes.
Wait, this says Lightheart here.
This wanted sign I have here.
Yes, yes, that's right.
Ilara Lightheart, yeah.
The Sun Sword, yeah.
I mean, if we do encounter Ilara tonight,
that would be quite beneficial.
It's going to happen.
You could make, it's going to happen. You could make, it's going to happen.
You could make your money back on the toad,
just from capturing Ilkara, so that's good.
There we go.
Great, and if this doesn't happen.
We have an attraction in our inn,
for when we start the inn.
Great.
How many, did they say how many people
actually use this machine?
How would they give away their secrets?
Trade secrets like that?
But people must use it, right?
Yeah. Great.
There wasn't a queue today for some reason.
Has there ever been a queue?
I don't think I've ever seen it.
I've been so lucky actually.
Yeah, I remember there were children at one point.
There was one time there was someone
using it when I was there.
They were very, very drunk.
Might have been Daisy. Might have been Daisy.
Might be me.
I think it was Daisy.
I think it was.
I think I've used it like once.
Well now it's here, you can use it whenever you want.
Oh, but just for everyone else's,
the money that goes into this thing, irrecoverable.
What?
It just vanishes, there's a magic on it.
There's no container or anything in there, it just goes.
I don't know where.
Fucking somewhere.
To the toad.
What?
I don't know, to the slivet.
Wait, what?
He's like, nobody put a single coin.
How much part have you spent on the toad, do you know?
How many fortunes favor the bobs?
Also, I imagine that Rowan goes to the Toad every day.
He just doesn't always tell you them
because it's just like random prophecies.
One or two.
Yeah.
A day.
A day?
Yeah.
Oh my goodness.
He's probably spent like a good sort of 20 gold
on this machine.
But if you were hoping to recover the money
that's already been spent on the machine,
that's gone, basically.
It gives me a good reason to catch up with the kobolds,
we have a good chat, I get some meat sticks.
Yeah, but now you haven't got a reason to go there.
You're not gonna see your friend Balder as much.
No, the toad is here. I will, I will.
You just, you watch.
Okay, I will then.
And with that, is there anything else
just before we wrap up today's session?
Was that the other half of this episode?
There's a whole map here.
Oh yeah.
We could have been wandering around that.
I had four random encounters.
I was gonna roll depending on the travel scenario.
I've got minis back here.
I'm sorry everyone.
Let's not delay leaving anymore.
Ophelia, we're going to Alana Vitante.
Quick wrap up session.
It goes really bad.
Roll a G20.
Let's see.
What would it be?
Persuasion.
Persuasion.
I'm pretty sorry Alana, whatever, 12.
12.
You literally say, sorry whatever.
Whatever.
I think that when you go in there,
because I love the juicy driving the drama a bit further,
the armelia, Martein, is there.
Oh, Sister Ophelia, it's so wonderful to see you again.
Wonderful.
And he says, is there anything I can help you with?
Are you looking for something in particular?
Yes, I'm looking for potentially a helm,
a shield, and a halberd
for my friend Percival here.
Is Percival still robed, like hidden?
Yeah, he's still robed.
He's like, oh yes, I can absolutely size this gentleman up
and we can have that, do you have a preference
on anything, sir?
And of course, Percival is just like,
I have no preference, I wish to be protective,
I am Sister Ophelia's guard.
He's like, yes, we can figure something out with that.
Quite a low voice that you have there.
I'm afraid to, and he's like looking at you like,
is there anything else or is that all you're here for today?
Ophelia just looks at the ceiling, looks around.
Send Miss Vedante my apologies
for our previous encounter.
I most certainly, well, he would say,
he's like, let me see if she's just at the back.
And he goes up to the back and draws the carton bag.
But almost, give me an insight check.
What?
22. Oh! 22!
You pick up, you're like, he knows she's not there,
but he purposely pulls the curtain back,
and you see that on the counter,
only visible when he pulls the curtain back,
there is a vase with a few flowers in it
that you would recognize.
Oh!
And he pulls back,
oh, I'm so sorry, Sister Ophelia.
Mistress Vedanta is not here currently, I'm afraid.
But I will make certain to pass on your apology
in the kindest terms.
Oh, thank you.
Of course.
We're about to leave Ashen Rest for a little quest,
but we should be back in a week. Very well, I will tell her.
Perhaps, should I tell her to expect you
to call upon the store?
Is that a time?
Is that a date?
Oh, I'll come find her when we get back.
At your earliest convenience, you will come and see her.
Yes, I will, yes.
That sounds very wise.
So, let us help your friend here.
What sort of budget are you looking to spend?
I have five platinum and 500 gold.
550 gold then.
Martijn is like, we can certainly do something that...
I think we can certainly do something visually stylish with that.
And we have a few pieces. This would all have to be off the shelf,
but we can do that.
As for the weapon, we may be able to do something a little bit more interesting.
But let me see here.
He kind of goes around. A halberd, you say, in case he plays a few of more interesting. But let me see here, he kind of goes around,
a halberd you say, and he kind of brings a few things out.
And it was a shield and a helm basically.
He finds a matching set of shield and helm,
very plain, but kind of not black, like dark metal,
but there's like a red gemstone like on the helm,
the shield has like a red kind of background pattern
beneath the silvery steel.
So it's kind of matching and very fitting, very Ossian.
And manages to get those equipped.
As for the halberd, he will say,
I will send something onto you,
but I think I have something in mind.
But let me go out back.
Mistress Vedante's prototypes are at the back.
I will need to find something. I need a little time to go out back. Mr. Vedante's prototypes are at the back. I will need to find something.
I need a little time to figure out something.
But we'll do a very similar to the Masterwork weapon,
the staff that Gruff got.
This would be a Masterwork Halberd.
So non-magical, but it will have
some small other benefit to it.
Amazing, yeah.
Cool, thank you.
In fact, actually no, I know the perfect option.
It will be a collapsible halberd,
so it can go from a halberd to a battle axe.
So that way he can use it with the shield
so he can slot it down into either a halberd
or extend it to have a two-handed reach weapon.
So we'll make it that, how about that?
So yeah, it can be, so the half of it is very axe-like
with a big pointed tip.
This looks very sort of Vlad the Impaler kind of big spiky tip,
big curved crescent moon axe.
And then the aft can be, you twist and then slot it down
and then lock it back into place.
And then it can be, and then extend it out into a full halberd.
Then you pull it a little further, it's an umbrella.
Pops out.
And then over a few of this.
Parasol for a few.
Perfect, well with that, yeah,
the Amelio Martin will sort you all out,
and it will cost you your whole amount, of course.
But now Percival can have S.H.I.E.L.T.
He has his chainmail, now has this, excuse me,
extendable halberd.
Perfect, and with that, I think that will set everybody up
for heading out of the Ocean's Rest.
Yeah, we're like standing outside. outside like, how'd it go?
She wasn't in.
Oh, good.
Oh.
The flowers.
The flowers I gave her.
Right?
In the back room.
She kept them.
She kept the flowers.
Oh.
She didn't throw them away.
That is the goose.
Ah!
Right.
And with that, perhaps we leave things there
to conclude today's episode.
Yay!
Yay, well done everyone.
Hell yeah.
And that means next time, new adventure.
New adventure and some things may happen on the road,
but we'll see.
But yeah, thank you so much everyone for joining us
for today's episode of Hyrule's Othéa, the Dragon Empire.
And we will see you next time.
Bye bye.
Bye bye.
See ya.
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye.
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