High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #6 | The Ashen Road (Part 2)

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Ophelia's continues in her hunt for blood and the team arrive in Ashen Rest! 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) 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. Hello and welcome back to part two of High Rollers Althea the Dragon Empire. Episode six, I believe. I do have an episode name for you as well. Do you? The Ashen Road. Very nice. And we join us on the second evening of the journey towards Ashen Rest.

Ophelia, having not slept, has attempted to sneak out of the camp and hunt down some wildlife to try and feed upon. But sadly, with the gnar attack earlier today, that was made more complex and nothing could be found. You have returned. Sergeant Yoro, Guy Yoro, and Bliss the tiefling kind of on watch noticed you coming back. And you find yourself perhaps once again

facing another day and another night without anything to feed upon. But what does Ophelia do? Like, where does Ophelia go from here? I think she'll just, she'll sulk. She'll be like, ah. And go back to Percival with his little cloak open as like a human tent.

And she'll just sit down like a perturbed teenager, grumpy. And she's got a water skin. I don't know if she'll just like gnaw on that. Yeah, like almost like a piece of leather in the mouth to stop you biting and stuff like that. Yeah, just starts gnawing on her water skin. Yeah, piece of leather, like something with you. Yeah, and you pass the time by. Just starts gnawing on her water skin. Yeah. Piece of leather, like something with you. Yeah.

And you pass the time by. And again, I guess no sleep. Just like kind of kept awake by these pangs of hunger and almost that just craving. That kind of need for it. Like you're not starving.

You've eaten normal food and had water. Like you're not in any danger, but there's just this desperate need and craving for it. You all awaken on the third day. And for the first few hours, it is a clear day, much like the day before in the night.

There are no clouds, but you begin to see clouds kind of beginning to drift in, grey clouds. And for a little bit, after a few hours of travelling on the road, a light rain settles in. It just begins to pitter and patter across the road. It is... Huh? Full long rest? It is a full long rest, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Very nice. Oh. Yeah, count it as a full long rest. I do want to tweak it slightly for the journeying stuff, but you guys are on a pretty safe road here. I'm going to count it as a long rest. This is spring. You are currently traveling in spring.

And so that light rain, it's not cold, but it kind of just adds this little dour atmosphere. But it's not too bad with your waterproof cloaks and things like that. Some of you are used to traveling. It really is not too much of a problem. It becomes drizzly and intermittent for the rest of the day. And you travel without incident. You make camp again for the evening.

The rain does not look like it's going to be letting up. So those of you who don't have a proper shelter, what is your plan for camping this evening? Well... And those of you who do have shelters, I'm going to need survival checks to set them up. Tents, you can just set out there fine. You don't need to worry about tents.

I've now swapped with Daisy, so I would probably try and repair Daisy's one for myself. Well, Daisy had a tarp, I believe. It's not that it's broken, it's just that I'm incompetent at setting it up. Sure, it'll be a survival check for Rowan to do that. I believe Gruff also just had tarp. I rolled 22 on my tarp setting up.

You have an excellent tarp to keep you safe and dry. Eight. Eight. You have the same problem. It's going to be an uncomfortable night for Rowan, unfortunately, with this lack of shelter. I don't believe... What is Xanthius doing? Are you staying in a tent with somebody? Or... If an invite comes my way, I'll sort of stand around as people are setting tarps up and whatnot. I'm scanning the area.

If no one invites, then I'll be looking for... I pan next to my broken tarp. Oh, Rowan, you... That's very nice of you. You could stay in the tent if you want. I'm only small. I can... Oh, the tent also? Oh, I'm just awash with invitation.

Which, where's everyone else staying? Where are you staying, Daisy? In Rowan's tent, because he gave it up and tried to set up my tarp. I'll fix it in a minute. It's just a couple of minute collapses while I'm talking. Yeah, and it's the kind of thing of like, it's going to collapse while you're sleeping under it

during the night and you're going to get a bit wet. It's like a deflating... And the reason I'm making a point of this, by the way, is camping overnight when it's all wet is going to make it a bit more complicated when you make your saving throw at the end of the journey. It just adds a plus one to your DC. Because if you don't have...

But for Gruff, you're fine. You've got a tarp, you're lovely sheltered. You can get fire going, keep warm. It's not cold. You're going to be fine. You're not going to have an increase. But currently Gruff is... Sorry, Rowan is going to have a bit of a time. I also need to hear what Ophelia is doing,

because the Percival robe tent is not going to be sufficient in this. So, Zan, are you going to stay with Daisy, or... The soldiers have their own tent, but they are crammed in there. Four of them are sharing one tent, basically. They are stacked up. Yeah, I'll stay with Daisy. How many people do fit in the tent? Normally it's a two-person tent.

Could you squeeze three people? Yeah, I mean, you could maybe squeeze three if you're comfortable with Ophelia sleeping in there. I don't know if Daisy would feel comfortable with Ophelia sleeping in the tent with her. So who's, yeah, who's not? Since Nim said that if Ophelia was to try anything, she wouldn't have a very good time, Daisy's feeling a bit better about everything.

And now that she knows that Percival has confirmed that he likes us, she's feeling a little bit better. Sure. So she would allow it. I'll allow it! But she's small, she'll just curl up in the corner anyway. Knowing more about Rowan now and how emotionally invested he is in everything, since he invited me,

if I do say, like, I'll stay with Daisy tonight, does that... Oh, it's for your well-being. It's like you're better off in that tent. Okay, it's not like you're immediately like... It's okay. I think there is probably a bit of that, but yeah, it sounds like it's like.

He was being a gentleman and offered the tent because I can't put the tarp up properly. Basically, yes. Mistress Ophelia. Your skelly boyo. He's probably not going to keep you quite dry tonight. If you want, you can shelter with me. Oh, that's very generous of you.

Thank you very much. Percival, you can lower your arms now. Thank you. Would you mind moving my bed things over into Gruff's tent? Bows, picks them all up. I forgot she had things to go with her. Yep, yep. Takes everything over, takes the bag, takes the bed things,

takes the altar, lays it all out underneath Gough's tarp as well. Takes up a good bit of room, but you'll still be dry. He's frowning a little bit while he's watching this. The tarp's big enough to kind of cover the space of both of you. Are you a cove incense? I've never encountered it, but I'm sure it's fine. Okay. Just set up my little... I've never encountered it, but I'm sure it's fine. Okay. Just set up my little.

It's really, it's pungent smell, Gruff. It's a bit, oh, my eye, my eye's watering. My great father, oh, is that my one? Stop. Sure. Do you sing all the way through the night? Oh, as much as I can. Okay. All right.

For the sake of this, Rowan, your final saving throw is going to be an extra one higher than everybody else's because you do not have adequate coverage. Can I use a fate? To do what? What would you like to do? Are you asking for a devil's bargain? I would like the clouds to just not rain. You can spend a fate for a bit of fortune.

You could be like, actually, just as we're about to go to sleep, the rain spend a fate for a bit of fortune. You could be like, actually, just as we're about to go to sleep, the rain eases up for a few, long enough for you to go. You could spend a point if you want to do that, but it would be a point of fate. Yeah. All right, yeah.

It's not even a dice roll thing, that's just a... It's just a, I think it's on your list as like a slight beneficial to a scene. That was bargain. No, it's the add a beneficial thing. Add a minor beneficial element to a scene. So you're basically saying that, like, actually, just as you're about to go to sleep and you're like, oh, this is going to be miserable and the tent's collapsing

and you can't get it to stand up and things like that, the tarp or whatever, the clouds break, and for, like, as long as you need for the sleep, the rain eases off, and it's a bit uncomfortable, but it's not bad, and you're going to be fine. I close my eyes and thank the Scions and Saints for blessing Rowan. Seems to be the case.

The other solution would have been that I would have rolled myself in the tarp and just stuck my head inside someone's tent and just been in a little cocoon for the night. No, we're in the same tent. Unless... Nothing gonna go wrong there. He kicks.

Unless there is any other business, this night passes without incident. And I look around if there is a point of anybody wanting to make works of things. Otherwise, it passes without incident. Yeah. Well, it's more a question for Ophelia than me. Everything all good?

I think Ophelia would want to talk to Gruff. Oh, sure. By all means. This is your chance to do role-playing stuff as well. Ophelia will just finish her prayer for the minute and just... Um, Gruff, are you still awake? I am, aye. Um, can I... You seem like a very patient individual.

Can... Can I... confide in you? Something, just very quickly? Is that okay? Let me just consult my nightly virtues. Yes, that sounds like a nightly virtue. I've been having a little difficulty with feeding and I thought, well, since people seem to be wary of me, I thought it'd be best if I open myself up to people and let them know what's going on. I need blood.

Fresh, fresh blood. Since the incident in Blackrock Rottmine with Marion, it's sort of reopened a hunger within me that I wish to satiate, and I've been struggling to do so. That's pretty much it. You can see, like, Graf, you would notice Ophelia looks, like, tired.

Like, her skin normally doesn't show any signs of wear, but you can see, like, her eyes look way darker than normal. Like, there's slight slurring to her speech. Like, she doesn't doesn't show any signs of wear, but you can see her eyes look way darker than normal. Like, there's slight slurring to her speech. Like, she doesn't look like she's slept in, like, days. I'm not sleeping. Just a moment, mistress. Takes out his pipe, lights it up.

Starts smoking a pipe. So? What would be the consequence of you not feeding? I don't know yet, but I went out last night and I tried to find a creature or something to feast upon. And then I looked over towards our guard companions and they thought they looked rather tasty. Feeling some urges? our guard companions and they thought they looked rather tasty. Feeling some urges. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

I can see their heartbeats, I can see their veins. If... I can see their heartbeats. I've actually, I've seen a fish like that once. It was translucent, you could see everything, the veins. Where is it? Oh, all the way up north. Let me see if I understand this.

When you feed on a creature, what happens to the creature? It perishes, if I drink all of its blood. I don't know about Marian. I don't think I drank all of its blood. I don't know about Marion. I don't think I drank all of her blood. I don't think. I'm unsure because she was asleep the whole time. I hope I didn't. Do you... Do you normally kill if...

if you drink something larger than a creature? Well, this is the thing. When I was in Osseous with the House of Blood, it was all provided for me. So whenever I'd go into my room, there would always be a full carafe. There's always be, you know, it would never empty. I would never have to suffer this lack of sustenance. But you see, this is the first time I've really truly suffered with this.

You come from a life of privilege, is what you're saying. Everything was provided for you. A life of comfort, yes. I miss it. What is it you're doing here again? Why did you leave your life of comfort? For diplomacy. here again. Why did you leave your life of comfort? For diplomacy, to see if the House of Blood could open up potential future possibilities on Althea and, you know, within Ilmera, trying

to see if maybe we could talk to some of the dragonborn that own some of the cities, see if we could open up potential trade routes or, you know, open up a dialogue and, you know, diplomacy and all that. I can't think. I'm tired. I like the idea that Gruff has a piece of paper that he folds out, checks it, and, yeah, literally like, is this on the list? Where does this fall?

The story is that the person who told him about this order had this, and so he wrote it out very patiently and has this, you know, this is his good luck charm. For podcast listeners, I am holding a scroll that I actually have written the knightly virtues out on. At least this orders potential virtues. This orders virtues. Yes, not all knights follow the same virtues.

It's a very beautifully written scroll. Bloody hell. I feel like that's just the constant... Don't say bloody hell. Yeah, don't say the B word. Where, where? I presume the less you feed. See, I've seen this in the waters.

There are some creatures, they turn themselves into a bit of a feeding frenzy when they've not fed. And as soon as they scent food, and I say that delicately, they go into a frenzy. I'm assuming this may be the case for you. Yeah. My twitches.

Do you have enough strength to hunt tonight? I can try. See how far I get. The guards, last time I did it, they got a bit wary that I was going off into the woods on my own. I don't want them to presume that I'm, you know, up to anything nefarious. Says the one hunting blood to drink. So really with this kind of disorder, you're saying you're feeling a bit infirm? Yes, yes.

Very infirm. Flashes with a little fang. Are you feeling vulnerable? Yes. Yes. Very infirm. Flashes with a little fang. Are you feeling vulnerable? Yes. Fuck's sake. So vulnerable, Gruff. Oh my god. Playing the virtues against him. First of all, he's like gently caressing.

He's lost his shoulders like sympathetically. I'm so weak. Silver, I forgive me. caressing his master's shoulders sympathetically. I'm so weak. Silver Eye, forgive me. Mistress Ophelia. Yes? You and I, we go hunt tonight. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Quiet. Okay. I have a way that may help us. Okay. If we are unsuccessful, you may drink a drop of my blood. I possibly couldn't. A drop.

Sure. You will not drain me. I will not, I will not. You will not turn me into one of your own kind. Oh, I'm possibly... As wonderful as you are, I've already got fangs of my own. I don't need larger fangs. I'm not powerful enough to do that anyway. Yet.

So don't worry about it. I wouldn't turn you. You'd just be a bit sleepy. Thank you, but no. Okay. Come with me. I can cast some spells that will hide us. Thank you, but no. Okay. Come with me. I can cast some spells that will hide us. Thank you.

Sure. What's the plan here, Gruff? I guess when everyone's asleep. That was great, by the way. That was very good. Because you would, right? If someone's distressed. As soon as you got the piece of paper out, I was like, yep.

I love that you try and fit everything someone asks you. You try and find one and go, yeah, that one looks like it fits enough. Tick. Tick. How much do I want this? So I have passed without a trace. Great. So I was thinking of casting that.

I will say, like, if you just tell them that you're going to go out and hunt some animals for food. I more meant that it would help us hunt rather than get them. Sure, sure, sure. I feel like we wouldn't be suspicious leaving together. Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. Yeah.

All right, well, yeah, give me survival checks with advantage, with the Pass Without Trace helping to hide your sense and, like, making sure you can get close to animals and things like that. Absolutely. Okay, uh, so my best day ever. 23. 21.

23 and 21. The two of you working together, um, it takes you a couple of hours, uh, into the dead of the night, but you find eventually, um, making your way out. And you're mostly travelling through kind of like a big valley here. So we're talking like hills, but the hills are quite forested here in Kaldra,

like the hills and the sides of the valley. You make your way up into one of these kind of like copses and these small woods that, you know, cling to the side of the valley. Make your way maybe even to like kind of grasslands and fields and rocklands and things like that. You come across a family of boars, basically. With Gruff's help help you manage to basically capture the largest of them maybe some sort of like male big male boar um and that yeah ophelia if you drink it like not you know hunting it as like meat you can just drain this thing oh yeah um and it is very quickly and it is

satisfying there is a kind of bestial taste to it. This again is not quite the same as the stuff you are used to in Osseous. It's very gamey and it feels sort of lower of quality in terms of the blood. Like it is not as satisfying as the stuff you are used to from Osseous which was

very much humanoid blood and you're kind of beginning to realise now that it couldn't have been from animals and things like that. It has a different taste. But it is certainly enough to keep you satiated for a while. You completely drain this creature, leaving it this withered, sucked-dry husk. But, yeah, satisfying at least for now.

When it happens as well, Gruff doesn't turn away. He watches. And if you're looking at it, he's just not... This is hunting. This is, yeah. You've seen this done out in Iceheart. This would be... It's pragmatic.

Yeah. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, Gruff. Thank you. This will keep me tied over for now. Yeah. There was probably some young there as well, like enough to probably fill that water skin.

Like you can probably, like Gruff has the knowledge to cut it and drain the blood into the water skin, which would probably give you at least one more helping of this blood. Cool. I don't know where you were going, because you seemed to think I was going in a different direction.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, okay. Cool. But, yeah. I imagine the others, they're quite young. I don't think they have a lot of experience. Of the world, of life, the way of it. They may be a bit squeamish around this thing that you need. Thank you, I understand.

This is a great gift. If you need anything, anything from me, just say it. I do need a character reference. Then I will be more than happy to write you one. Just tell me where. Literally save me for at least another night or two. I must know. Is there any danger with this?

I don't know how far this will go. I don't know if this will keep going. I don't know if this will keep going. I don't know if, even if I have human blood, if that will cure it forever. I mean, I've had human blood and... it's all I want, it's all I can think about now until I get more, so I guess no. I think this is just something I need to try and keep under control. I will endeavour to do what I can to help you.

But that comes with a warning. If there comes a point where you are a threat to the innocent, there will be consequences. I understand. Like I said, like I said, I, unless, like you, like you said earlier, unless you instruct me to do so, I will not bite. But you have my word. I will help you.

Thank you. And you have mine. He reaches out a big paw for a big solemn handshake. Tophilia takes it enthusiastically. Thank you. Yes, okay, you don't have to shake it so hard. Sorry, I'm just so grateful. You're quite strong, aren't you?

Fit to him now. Oh, bloody hell, what have I done? When you two make your way back to camp, nobody really bats an eyelid. There's maybe a couple of questions about if you found anything. Very easy to sort of just disregard it now we didn't find anything, that kind of thing. You do find that Percival has cleaned

your blankets and things gruff, like basically that has treated that area very much as his mistress's and so it's all been cleaned and aired out and things like that. Got the scent out. Yeah, he has. He's ruined it um with my son smell the phone uh wash your socks now you know my socks um but yeah that's very uh much attended to the area while i've been doing that um and it is a uh yeah that is while the sort of rain is coming up but it does clear up as

we found out from rowan it did clear, and so there is no more difficulties. You wake. Again, no further incident that night. This is the fourth day, which means I have to roll to see if another event happens. Okay, your journey. Okay. The fourth day begins with a thick fog that lasts for several hours, long into the afternoon.

So thick that you can really see too much beyond the night. Rain and sort of the colder temperatures having given rise to this early morning fog that sticks around well until the late afternoon. But you encounter no one on the road. You encounter no trouble. Nothing happens event. And eventually, at the end of that fourth day, you rest once again. And finally, on the end of that fourth day, you rest once again.

And finally, on the fifth morning, you begin to see, in the distance, something of civilization. Mostly outlying farms. You begin to spot farmhouses here and there. You see great fields of grain, thick wheat in spring, just being replanted and resewn, kind of preparing for the summer and the autumn harvests. You see vineyards scattered around the hills, bristling with thick grapes and already being tended to and worked on. You see orchards all on the outskirts, but in the distance on the horizon,

you see a large walled town, close a city in size but not quite there yet. But what is remarkable about this place is seeing it in the early morning light as you draw closer expecting to arrive about mid-afternoon. You can see that above the walls much of the city rises up from behind these tall high defensive walls it looks like most of the buildings of this town are two or three stories tall at least but also there are dozens of tall towers and spires all reaching up trying to be the highest point in the town um you see ones with you see a clock tower, clockwork being something that is quite a luxury in Althea. It is a known technology like cogs and gears and things like that, but it

is something of a luxury. One is a clock tower, one appears to be made of like black glass swirling around and you can see that it glitters with magic. But these towers almost all seem to compete with one another for either height or design or ostentatiousness or color all trying to outdo each other in some way and then you see all of the red glazed tiles of all the other buildings this very cauldron architecture um ashstone walls ashstone being this like very creamy pale brick stone um and then the red glazed tiles of all the buildings giving it that very kind of classic renaissance Italy kind of Spanish villa kind of look to most of the architecture here and then the towers themselves the walls sorry each have towers and on the tops of these towers are turrets

with large magical braziers that they aren't lit now but there are they are large enough that they would be seen from miles around you could easily see that these towers all lit now, but they are large enough that they would be seen from miles around. You could easily see that these towers all lit up at night. And this is indeed the town of Ashenrest. Hell yeah, beautiful. Not Ashen's. Ashen'srest, yeah, sorry. I think I called it Ashen'srest,

but I think it is just Ashenrest. I might have called it Ashen'srest. It is Ashenrest. Yes. Okay just Ashen Rest. I might have called it Ashen's Rest. It is Ashen Rest. Yes. Ashen Rest. And yeah, you see this in the distance and the weather stays remarkably calm. The fog dies away and becomes a nice clear day.

And yeah, on the fifth day you arrive. So this is going to complete the journey. This isn't a full journey because you were following a road. But the DC, I need everybody to make a constitution saving throw and I will tell you now the DC is going to be 13. Oh.

Okay. Okey doke. All right. Ugh! What kind of fate dice have you got there? You have currently three in the pool. I think I'll be all right. Yeah, I mean, this is, you know,

you know the consequence of this is just if you fail, it's a level of exhaustion. You have to spend a long and extended rest, downtime in the game. All right. So we've got a fail from Daisy. I got 23, I think. So Xanthia's success.

The team dad who made all the best tents and tarpaulins rolled three for a six. It makes sense. It makes sense. So failure for Gruff. Success. Success for Rowan. Minus one, my exhaustion, 18.

18. Success for you. So Daisy and Gruff, you are feeling, it's just tired. You're just one level of exhaustion. It's just the long journey. This has been five days on the road. Gruff, you've been traveling for a long time. You just want to rest.

You've not had a proper stop in months. My old creepy bones. It's just kind of beginning to catch up with you now. And Daisy, it's probably like you've traveled around a lot, but this has been fighting and talking and things that you're just not quite used to. I had to socialize with humans. So it's just one level exhaustion,

and I think Rowan has one of those from traveling in the mines as well. Chris Trott is doing something else. But yes, you have a level of the same kind of travel exhaustion from the mines. From the first journey. Yes, in the mines. But that's not being removed.

So you get rid of this exhaustion, journey exhaustion, you get rid of by spending time in a settlement. So this just requires you to spend a few days in a town. Yes. So if you spend basically seven days in a town, not only you get a number of benefits, you'll remove any exhaustion

from traveling, and that's any exhaustion from traveling. So if you had like multiple levels, you'll get rid of all of it. You also get your ability to take a heroic short rest back. So this is the short rest

that you can do in five minutes rather than a full hour. And then also you might come across other powers and boons and things in your adventuring career that also require you to spend a long time in a town or settlement. A rest of XP bonus.

Something like that, yes. Yeah, sure. I imagine it's because we only really had one night in Burnel before we left, so it wasn't like a few days of adventure. No, no, no. You didn't spend enough time really in Burnel to properly sit down and rest and recover and things like that. And like when we say downtime, it's like not doing adventuring, you know, not investigating crimes,

not running around fighting bandits or anything like that. It's like pure crafting or researching or gathering information or socialite, like just what I would call downtime activities, right? Roger, roger. Roger, roger. And yeah, you see Ash and Rest ahead of you.

You begin to see, like I said, farms on the outskirts. As you approach the northern gate, Cade will probably kind of give you a little bit of a sort of, not tour guide thing, but he'll say, oh, this is the north gate. This area around here is called Greyforge. And you can actually see that outside the gate, a smaller little town or village

is basically growing out of the walled city. And you can see that a lot of smithies, you can see a lot of chimneys pumping black smoke up into the air, the strong smell of tanneries as well in this outer area. And Cade will say, yeah, the Duke and a lot of the sort of wealthier merchants basically had, because Ashenrest is quite tight. The buildings, all the streets are quite narrow.

The buildings are packed in. So all of the, you know, the black, the Smithies and the Tanneries, they were all told they had to get outside the city walls. And so that's this district. You'll find a lot of the Smithies and leather workers and things like that here. We call it Greyforge. And this is the North gate into the into the town so in terms of like say defenses i suppose there's it's this is just an open sort of village it's like yeah it's basically where like this these buildings

have all been told you're too smelly and noisy and disruptive get out uh so they've had to go and set up outside the city walls and they're on the main road that leads in uh and they're sort of on the other side of it. So imagine almost like a little bit of a wild west. You have that main central town, and then all the buildings around the outside. You've got that, and then you see these great, massive defensive stone walls with these towers,

with these magical braziers, and then behind that you see the tall buildings and all these big towers of Ashenrest itself. And it's a very vertical kind of town. You can see immediately that the streets kind of have that New York-y kind of vibe where it's like narrow streets and everything is tall on either side of you. And then there are these big, tall kind of cauldron-style spires and towers. But the streets are actually quite narrow and everything's packed in and on top of each other.

Do these districts outside of the walls often have trouble with false-born beasts? No, not normally. Normally, being so close to the city is enough to defend them. I mean, Ashen Rest hasn't been attacked since the Oriat insurrection. This has been a pretty secure place. You know, a lot of it's been rebuilt. You know, the insurrection. This has been a pretty secure place. You know, it was, it's been, a lot of it's been rebuilt.

You know, the insurrection was pretty devastating and being so close to the border with Gildai, there were a lot of skirmishes here. But yeah, this is, no, they're normally quite safe. And we have guards at all of the towers, all have guards and archers and things in them. So vaultspawn don't tend to come this close to the cities. It's normally where we were, sort of in between places on the road

or little villages and hamlets that are out of the way that tend to suffer the most with that. Okay. How does this compare to Kelskaris? I mean... Oh, Kelskaris is like a metropolis. Right. Like, this is a big town.

Like, this is like a really big town. This probably has a population of like 2,000 to 3,000 people. Kalskaris is like 20,000 people. Right. Okay. Right? It's like comparing, I'm trying to think, like Bath Spa, or like Bath, the central bit of Bath, with London.

You know, it's that kind of difference in size, really, like we're looking at kind of thing well for our american listeners yes uh big small town versus big city basically but yeah kelskaris is like a massive metropolis um yeah is absolutely that's a place you've been i know one place yeah um la i don't know no that's a bad comparison um but yeah so it's it's you're talking about like a massive metropolis versus a small condensed town still very wealthy like um you can see that the ruby river also flows the the the uh ashen rest is built on the banks of the ruby river and so the ruby river is this big river that flows through all of most of caldra um and it actually

flows through part of the city and the walls are kind of built on the outskirts of it. You can see sail barges, like river barges, coming up and down the river, leaving Ashenrest. The other thing that you would see from a distance is a southern part of the town is like raised up on a hill. raised up on a hill and you see the ducal palace um which uh in which uh in draconic uh and sort of like the most famous stone which uh you would know xanthius is the dominus ignarum um the uh domain of the ignarum which is the host the ignarum host is the host of this show yeah yeah the dragon trying to come i suppose everyone knows it is is that? Or is that just a Draconic... No, it's mainly a Draconic thing. It's what, like, dragons would call it.

Everybody else would call it the Ducal Palace or the Duke's Palace. Okay. And it is an incredible building. It is ostentatious. It is beautiful. It has that kind of mixture of... There is, like, a big, large central building

that has this beautiful kind of domed glass roof. And then there are smaller buildings around it. To be quite honest, one of the buildings looks like it houses a massive fucking dragon, and all of the other houses are maybe built for the humans that work on it. There's like a wingspan. I mean, the main central core of the Ducal Palace

is an enormous chamber. It's like an 80 foot by 80 foot central kind of building. Is there a front door or does the dome just open up? The dome does indeed look like it opens up and the dragon can fly in and out. That's awesome. Is there a big H where he can land? No, there's not a big H.

But it does look like it can be opened. It doesn't look like it's open very regularly, but it looks like it can be opened to allow the Duke to come and go as his Draconic form. The doors are also massive. You can't see this all from this way, as you guys are up there. Your note is that the doors are massive

and things like that as well. So this is still not the capital of Caldra? No, no. This is Duke Ignarius' kind of home, and he is the Duke of North Vale, which is the northern part of Caldra? No, no. This is Duke Ignarius' kind of home, and he is the Duke of North Vale, which is the northern part of Kaldra. Okay. Feroz is the sort of capital of Kaldra.

Yes, yeah. And that is where her royal majesty Infernia, her draconic majesty Infernia, the princess of Kaldra, is basically stationed. Duke Ignarius is a duke. He's a very well-respected and known duke, but he is just a duke compared He's a very well-respected and known duke, but he is just a duke compared to the archdragon. What a loser. Don't say that. Where do you intend to go once we

enter the city, town, city? Who are you asking? Cade. Cade? Well, it depends on the sergeant's orders, really, but I imagine, and sergeant's like, we've come all this way, kid. You can go home go home it's fine we'll take a couple of days of leave we'll report into our superiors at the barracks um you know i'll let the i'll let my my superiors know what happened uh i've got a message from from captain vacaro i need to deliver to them um but yeah we'll just go about our business but yeah cage you're free to do what you want kid like take a couple of days leave uh i'll sign off on it, don't worry. Same goes for the rest of you. He looks at Bliss and Darren as well.

Like, yeah, you guys take some time off. You know, it's been a long journey in that battle. You know, we should take some time off. I'll make sure you get properly paid and reported and stuff like that. He's like, yeah, so I'll just, I'll deliver my report. I don't know what, and the authoritor will say, I, yeah, the authoritor says, I need to pursue Yurgo.

He escaped custody. I also need to report to my superiors about what has happened and the incident with Marion and this relic. I need to inform them all what happened with that. Yurgo was the Reef, right? He was the Cobble. Yes. What's the Reef's name?

You tell me. I don't know. But he's pursuing Yurgo and the Reef. I continue to You don't I mean you've not really

talked about him since the investigation. You're not even sure if he knows that the Reef did anything wrong. Did we not? Oh I thought we

None of us voiced that we saw the Reef being sussy. Nope. I was distracted. None of us. I saw someone else. No one.

Well it's it's been a pleasure travelling with you all of you. Same to you as well. None of us. I thought someone else. No one. Well, it's been a pleasure travelling with you, all of you. Same to you as well. Same to you, Milord Oregon. I think we'll be all travelling to the Dominus Ignorum, is it? That is the draconic name for it. Dominus Ignorum. Straight away.

You can meet us any time you want. Oh, the sergeant will look at you when you say that and just be like, oh, well, I mean, you should definitely make your way up to the Duke's palace. I doubt you'll be able to see the Duke right away. You'll probably need to speak to his considerate first. Okay, we can make an appointment, I suppose.

I don't really know how this... No, go and speak to the considerate. If you present him with the favour that the captain gave you, the considerate will know what to do. But you'll probably need to find somewhere to stay in the town. The sergeant kind of scratches his bald head. He's like, there's a couple of places

I can give you a recommendation. Yes, please. Sure. I mean, I personally go to the Grumpy Hog. It's a nice little place. Yes. You might find the Clever Toad a bit more of a sort of place for you to go and stay. It's a little bit more calmer. the clever toad a bit more of a

sort of place for you to go and stay it's a little bit more calmer grumpy hog's got a bit of a reputation a bit of a brawler's fight right brawler's tavern really

there's another one in the town but and he kind of he's like he like looks over at the authoritor who's like busying himself

maybe looking towards the town and he leans in and he's like the other one is called the enticing devil but the church of the science is kind of a bit funny about it i mean it's fine it's just a pub it's just got a you know it's just it's a bit of a cheeky name is all but some people think it's got a bit of a you know suspicious backstory um but

yeah i recommend any of those they're pretty good places to stay town's got everything you need it's smithy it's got you know any sort of services that you might require loads of merchants

and things in the town easy travel down to Farros if you need to but yeah it's a good place I'd recommend you explore it

look around good people here good people anything else any other questions or anything before we part ways oh oh big okay hug from the big man thank you so much for keeping us all safe your world i think you

kept us safe but that's fine i hope to see you in one of these places oh if you stop by the grumpy hog in the next few days i'll probably be there i if i don't remember you it's because I've drunk a lot. Fair enough. Oh, to the sergeant. If you do require us for any references or anything to explain what happened in Burnell, we may have some way of letting you know where we're staying. Oh, I mean, that is all beyond my pay grade, mate, honestly. Oh, sir, that's... And he gestures over the authorityitative that is more his his thing i've my job was to escort you from there

to here in terms of my service i'm done like that's me out i'm done now uh i just need to report on what captain vacara's next plan is i think he's going to be coming back to ash and rest but he's taken a few days just to kind of tidy things up in Burnell and make sure that area's all clear. But yeah, no, my job's done. It was an honour fighting with you. Same to you as well. Same to you. Good luck with your, you know, whatever it is that you want to do and looking for the character reference.

I mean, I think if you need one, come and speak to me. But yeah, definitely want me more coming from the author. I absolutely will. All right. All right, well, I'll leave you to it. Take care. Comes around, shakes hands. Thanks.

Shakes his hand. Thank you. And how's the blood? It's All right. All right, well, I'll leave you to it. Take care. Comes around, shakes hands. Thank you. Thanks. Shakes his hand. Thank you, and how's the blood? Sorry. That's all right, bless you. Thank you. Oh, it's the hay. Oh, yes, I understood, yeah.

It's all the smoke from all the blacksmiths. Thank you again for your most professional and prompt service. Oh, you're more than welcome. The Duke's Army is here to protect all citizens as they visit Caldera, you know, imperial citizens and looking after the Empire and all that. All's, well, the Duke's army's here to protect all citizens as they visit Caldera, you know, Imperial citizens and looking after the Empire and all that. All right. Well, take care.

Give us a little salute. Could I have, on the couple days we had, have spoken to Bliss and tried to get the cake ingredients? Well, I think, because Bliss doesn't know the recipe.

Like, Bliss didn't know the recipe. It was her mum's recipe. But she will say, look, I'll tell you what. I don't know it, but... And she gets a scrap of paper and she writes down her address. This is my mum's place. They've got a little bakery in Feroz. If you're ever in there...

Feroz. Feroz, let them know that you're a friend of mine and that you want to know about the vanilla cake. You give her that. And yeah, it's a little name on there. Feroz. Yep. And it just has the name.

It would... Hang on. I've got to come up with a name. What's that name, Mark? Yep. Luckily, I have a big book of random tables now. So I can just roll up shit. What's that name again?

That name again is, give me a minute. I'll come up with one, don't you worry. I've just got to find the relevant table. Here we go. And her name is? Her name again is? It's called Precious. The Precious.

Bread. Chalice. Chalice. The The precious... Chalice. The precious chalice. It's a little bakery. I have to write that down now. Inferos. Wiki team, that is the precious chalice. The precious chalice inferos. Precious chalice bakery inferos.

Kaldra. Earth 2085. The Precious Chalice in Feros. Precious Chalice Bakery in Feros. Kaldra. Bliss is mine. Earth, 2085. Earth. There we go. This is in the future. Yeah, that's it.

A post-human world. Planet of the Apes. But yeah, you guys see, and for some of you, probably one of the sort of largest settlements that you've come across in a long time, like Rowan, I think. Like, you passed through Kelskaris, Gruff, but yeah, you didn't really stay much time. You kind of avoided it.

This is probably the biggest place you've seen since coming into Caldra. Daisy, I don't know if Daisy would have ever come to such a big place, kind of avoided it. Yeah, you mainly were like villages and small towns, right? So this is probably the biggest place you've ever been to um for xanthius i think like it's been a while like you were in the city i was in kelskaras yeah not too like this is this is pretty impressive um you but you you've always walked you've traveled past i yeah i should rest a few times isn't my home no

but you've come past here a few times anyway. Yes. Okay. And then, yeah, Rowan, you've probably travelled around, but it's probably been a while since you've been in such a densely packed place. I feel like this is, you know, this feels kind of like where you grew up in Osseous and things like that, but definitely one of the larger places you've seen since coming to Elmira. And you can see already the difference between this and Burnell.

You can see how much more metropolitan it is. It's definitely kind of got that. People here are immediately very well-dressed. Even the folks outside of the city walls, like the blacksmiths and the tanners and things like that, everybody carries themselves with this element of taking very good pride in their appearance.

Everybody is quite well-dressed. Even if their clothing isn't the most luxurious or expensive, it's very well taken care of. Everything's very clean. Their hair is, like, you know, perfectly slicked back or coiffed. Everyone seems to have a hint of perfume, maybe, like, slightly hints that sense themselves. And everyone carries themselves with this air of pride, almost. You see immediately

as you begin walking your way through the Greyforge district, you hear and can see signs, best smithy in Ashen's Rest, you know, that kind of thing in Ashen's Rest. Finest work, cheapest deals, like there's everybody's selling something about themselves. You know, not street barkers, but you definitely see that there's a lot of pride taken in their businesses and things like that as you make your way there. But this is where I hand it over to you guys. I don't know what you want to do here in this town.

Do I manage to get a character reference from Zekis before he Zekises off? Do you want to speak to him? I presume I would have spoken to him on the road about it. I mean, he's going to come with you into the city for sure, but, like, he's going to divert off from you want to speak to him i presume i would have spoken to him on the road i mean he's going to come with you into the city for sure but like he's going to divert off from you at some point but that i don't know what that point is yet because i know where you go i feel like i would have asked him on the way sure day four um you would have asked him on day one you would have asked him i would have asked him yeah because we didn't fight them on

day one we fought them on one day so. You would have, yeah. You would have since that happened, probably. I feel like Gruff would have been like, just put that back in your mind. I know you're disposing of these bodies right now. And a quill. You take a moment and you speak with Zarantekis on the journey. Flashback a little bit here. Maybe on one night when you're sat there around the campfire.

Can you just say everything you've said since then in reverse, just so I get in the... Nope. He will look over Can you just say everything you've said since then in reverse, just so I get in the... Nope. Oh, OK. He will look over to you and say, well, it is not... I do not think I will have much sway with the Duke or any of the Duke's personnel, but if it will...

I think it is the least I can do to write something speaking of your skill as a warrior, of your bravery. That is without question. You fought against those hideous gnolls, those vaults born with courage and bravery. I think that that is the least I can do. What is the reason that you ask me for this thing? Why do you want this?

I'm trying to make my dream a reality and become a knight. And I'm looking for an order, a circle, a specific circle. What is the name of this order of knights? Do you know it? The Circle of the Loyal Hounds. Thanks for a minute. I am not too familiar with all of the knightly orders.

I know some of the larger ones, but some of the smaller ones do escape me. I would recommend, if I may, when you go and see the duke and present your favor, ask the duke. The duke has his own knights. Even if you do not wish to join them, one of them may know of this order of which you speak.

That would be your best bet. I do not think my word will have much weight with any of these people, but I will write it if you wish. Thank you, that would be a great honour. I'm just trying to build up evidence, because I've come to this rather late in life. I think. I mean, there will be, if I may speak plainly,

many of these knightly orders, well, if they were to consider you, I do not think... It does not matter how much evidence you gather. Some of these knightly orders probably will not accept you because of various matters. If this order of knightly

if this order of loyal hounds is one that shares beliefs, if you have followed its tenets and you believe it to be a match then I am sure that they will present you with some fair test. My understanding of these knightly orders is that it requires a test to join them.

What you do up until that point may have some relevance and favour, but really it is what you do when you assign yourself to their needs and desires. Oh. Could I have a reference anyway? Of course. At the very least. It's the least I can do. I can send it anyway? Of course. At the very least.

It's the least I can do. I can send it home to my village. Of course. And let them know it's going okay. And he will take some time and pen you a little letter, which is just a sort of like eyewitnessed Gruff of the Tremoro fight against Vaultsborne and commit himself bravely and with great skill, etc., etc., and signed by Authorita Zarantakis.

And he provides it to you. This is a great honor, thank you. That is very polite of you to say, but I assure you it is, it will not mean as much to others as perhaps it does to you. He speaks, this guy does not sugarcoat things. will not mean as much to others as perhaps it does to you. He speaks... This guy does not sugarcoat things. He is not... If you play the stream...

It's like, hey, Judge Dredd. You can see the moment Kim's heart breaks. This is like asking Judge Dredd, tell me I was a good boy. Like, Judge Dredd's like, no. But yeah, he signs the little letter and provides that to you. But yeah, he is... He seems to be that to you, but yeah, he is, does seem to be,

he seems to be of the opinion that it doesn't matter what you do. Like, these knightly orders are just gonna make their own decision anyway. Look, he needs a dose of the real world sooner rather than later. I mean, this guy could be wrong. He could just be being a cynic. We don't know.

But yeah. So on the way. But yeah, you guys arrive at the town, and yeah, what's the plan here? Where do you head first? What is the, what's the way. But yeah, you guys arrive at the town. And yeah, what's the plan here? Where do you head first? What is the, what's the order of business? Ophelia? Bath, please.

A bath. Yeah. Do you ask like, do you want to ask like Cade or anybody if that's an opportunity? Or do you just want to kind of go exploring? Yeah, I'd like to ask Cade. Yeah, you ask Cade. Cade starts thinking. He's like, oh, baths.

I mean, like most of like, if you go to a nice inn or, like, you know, you rent somewhere, they sometimes have that. And as you're talking bliss, we'll kind of overhear the conversation and be like, oh, yeah, I know where you can find, like, if you can't, if the inn doesn't have one or anything like that, you should go to the Shrine of Typhine, the House of the Rose. Oh, okay, that sounds lovely. Yeah, absolutely. Like, that's a big part of what the Temple of the Shrines of Typhine offer.

They do baths, they'll help, they do hair, they do makeup, they do skincare, that sort of thing. They help with fashion. You can get anything you want there, like if you need company for a night, if you need services, all of that stuff. That's a big part of what the Shrine offers. That sounds exactly what I need.

Before we go see the big dragon. Oh, yeah, no. Yeah, and you should tell the others as well. And she kind of looks around and is almost a bit embarrassed. It's like, I mean, I know that a lot of them aren't from Cauldre, but we like to take pride in our appearance, and the way that you present yourself really matters.

And if you show up to the Duke's Palace and you look a bit scruffy and you're not wearing really kind of like, it doesn't have to be expensive clothes, but if you haven't taken good care of how you look, that can really, it won't be the best impression. So I really recommend everybody goes and gets cleaned up, maybe get some nice outfits, that sort of thing. And the Shrine will help you with all of that.

Oh, wonderful. I know the sister, the High Sister of the Shrine. She's lovely. You'll have a really lovely time there. High Sister, okay. Shall I just mention your name? And there's lovely priests as well. If Menomore are your company

or if you're looking for somebody non-briar, they have all sorts of people there that can attend to your needs and everything else. Sounds perfect. Thank you very much. Oh, you're more than welcome. Absolutely. I guess Daisy, because she's from Caldra,

her dress is quite, like, she's still decent enough. Well, it's up to you. Just because most caldrons take pride in appearance doesn't mean all caldrons do. Everyone's different, right? I feel like she's gotten nice enough. Her corset's got a little embroidery on it and everything. So a bath and...

Yeah. It's that thing of it is typical in cauldron culture that you take pride in your appearance. That you bathe regularly, that you look after your hair and your skin, you make sure your clothes are repaired and washed. I feel like Daisy does that. They don't care about money.

They care about the pride in yourself. Like the self-love kind of thing. I feel like Daisy does that. Sure. I mean, the fact that you have this glorious hair. That hair does not just happen on its own, right? That hair is washed and, yeah, it takes time, yeah. Like probably has to roll it all up when she goes to sleep

and things like that. Daisy or Daisyisy yeah yeah for sure it doesn't just happen um yeah so so ophelia like yeah so like you get that information and like that she can uh bliss will tell you how to find that in the in the town easily enough it's one of the major shrines of the uh of the church so it's easy to find. Wonderful. From Snipper's Pit. I should probably come with you. Oh, yes, well, I think we should all go together. It's recommended, I think, by Bliss. We should all gussy ourselves up for the Duke.

Yes, absolutely. It's recommended, in fact. I don't need a bath. It's recommended, in fact. It rained two days ago. Rain is not a bath. No, not at all, no. No? Yes.

No. No. Try a bath. Try one. It's recommended, in fact. I'll look at it. And you'll step into it. Please, please take a bath, please!

The Duke here would look more favorably upon us if we all, a character reference. Okay, knights, I suppose they do look good. Clean. Clean. Yes. I suppose. Clean, yes. No, good impression, you're right. As you're making your way,

and imagine we're approaching the main gates at this point and things like that, Gruff, Yes. Exposed. Clean. Yes. Good impression. You're right. As you're making your way, and imagine we're approaching the main gates at this point and things like that. Gruff, you can't help but notice, because you begin to see now some of the... So far, you've interacted with soldiers that were sent out, right? You saw the Duke's guards that were sent out. Now you begin to see the Duke's army.

They are in polished armor, beautiful tabards with the symbol of the Duke on them, their helms, shining spears, shining shields, and they look impressive, just the normal soldiers, kind of padded, quilted gambesons, you know, with the chain mail over the top. They look like a firm regiment of soldiers, but then amongst them, just behind the gates, kind of observing, watching over what's happening at the gate, you see what must be a true knight of the realm. He is stood, he's actually probably, he's probably mounted on a war drake.

So this is like a kind of, they aren't full dragons, they're more like animals, but they are like mounted battle lizards, wingless dragons. Battle lizards. With armor. He is a, let's say a dwarf actually, like a dwarf knight. And in fact his helm is not like,

it looks like he's almost wearing like a kind of Valkyrie, like a kind of plated face helm with the wings. It's not, that's his skin, and he shaved his earth skin into being like this face plate with these wing kind of motifs. He has a beard jutting out from under it, like beautifully braided, long flowing hair for a dwarf, all beautifully sort of braided as well.

He looks incredibly handsome, big strong nose, kind of looking furiously down, decked in full plate armor. And you can see that he has, rather than a sword or like an ax or a shield, there is in fact just a big, very beautifully made crossbow that's like got a holster on the side of the war drake. And he has like a shield that it looks like he can fit the crossbow onto and fire from that. he's kind of like looking around um and just nods and people come in and they're like nodding

and bowing to him and he smiles and nods back and seems to be welcoming them into the town um and this is i mean you can just tell that this is not a normal captain or a soldier this is a knight um and you begin to hear uh you know, some people muttering as they kind of, as you begin to approach and things like that. But he is one of the Duke's knights. He is not of a knightly order. He is a knight of Duke Ignarius, of a knight of this region.

I think Gruff just like grabs Xanthius on. Ow, ow! Arce, bloody hell. What's that first word? Sorry. Look at him. Yes, he's... Handsome-looking boy-o.

Wonderful, yes. No, a true protector of the realm. Please let go of my arm. You're squeezing tighter. I want to be that one day. Yep. And you will. You will, Groffith.

You guys continue. There is a bit of a crowd. You see wagons and traders coming in, making their way through, going through the gate. It is being stopped and searched. You see a couple of soldiers come up. They see that you're traveling with some of their own and the authorita.

They have a few quick words with the authorita who kind of brushes them off and is like, we have business. You know, they're with me, you don't need to inquire with them, they're not bringing it, you know, kind of going through the, like, you're being flagged through security kind of thing. But as you make your way, that dwarven knight will look down and he just kind of calls out like, Hark! As that guy Yoro I see. And the sergeant is like, ah, it's good to see you, Sir Gryold.

And he's just like, returning. Captain Vakaro hasn't sent you back. You've not been getting into trouble, I assume, young man. And he's just like, no, not quite. I've been helping these travelers. We've been escorting them back, me lord. And he just goes, ah, who do we have here? And he looks around piously, sort of like,

newcomers to Ashenrest, I see. I do not know your faces. Gruffydd immediately just like, kneels down, paw over chest. He doesn't say like, no, no, no, he's like, mm, good, yes. Yes, excellent. Damn right.

And he just says, who do we have here? I am humble in your presence, my lord. My name is Gruffydd of Tremorow. Pleasure to meet you. Hang on. A pleasure to meet you, Gruffydd of Tremorow. I am Sir Gryhold Steeleye, knight of the Duke Ignarius. Welcome, welcome.

And who else? I am Rowan. A pleasure to meet you. A pleasure to you as well. Pleasure as well. Hi, welcome. And who else? I am Rowan. A pleasure to meet you. A pleasure to you as well. Pleasure as well. Hi, I'm Daisy. Hello, little one down there. Yes, pleasure, pleasure. Fellow Cauldron, have you been to Ashenrest before? No, it looks amazing.

Well, we are very proud of our city. We're very proud of it. Come on in. Pleasure to have one of our kinsfolk here. My lord. Just Xanthius Auragan of Rust End. Of Rust End, ah, well. Pleasure to have another fellow cauldron with us as well. And he just nods his head, not wanting to pry, like as you've immediately said, no, no, no, this, he immediately recognizes that and is like,

very well, I know my place not to ask. And then he says, and you miss? I am Sister Ophelia de la Rosa of the House of Blood. House of Blood, and he kind of looks, and you're kind of used to this, people don't seem to recognize that name. Every time. Every time.

Yeah, but he says, well, sister, you are most welcome here, and I offer you the humble protection of myself and the soldiers of the Duke's army, and I welcome you in the Duke's stead as well. If you have anything, the soldiers of the Duke's army, and I welcome you in the Duke's stead as well. Thank you. If you have anything, the knights of the Duke are here to protect and offer what services we can.

It's a shame you're not dead. Okay. Did you say something? No, no, no, no, no. Oh, very well. Well, pitching again. Such a waste. A pleasure to meet you all.

I wish you a good day. The pleasure is ours. Good day. It's not. Your honor. And yeah, he just meet you all. I wish you a good day. The pleasure is ours. Good day. He just nods. Your honor. And yeah, he just waves you in. And you find yourselves now in this town.

It's not a city, I need to remind myself. It's not a city. It's a large town. It's a very dense, large town. And immediately as you step through the gates, you are in a kind of narrow cobblestone street with these beautiful kind of creamy stone buildings with these red tiles that go two or three stories up. And you can see that many of them are shops, but they're stacked one on top of each other and with a small staircase at the side that leads to

businesses. So you have like a little bookshop and then on top of that is maybe a jeweler's. And then on top of that is maybe a haberdashery. And then you go down and there's like a little restaurant on the ground floor that looks like it has a residential apartment above it. You begin to see tenement buildings like these apartments, basically, that are a series of apartment buildings connected in one larger space. Families in there, you know, opening up little windows, looking down. Beautiful little flower boxes everywhere. The external appearances of everything here is very important all of the shops have stained glass windows or beautiful like decorations their doors painted in murals you

see a little florists but the door itself has been carved to resemble like a tree spouting flowers and all of the leaves and flowers and blooms have been painted in bright, bold colors. Everybody here is, even the simplest, are well-dressed to an extent. Not in the wealthiest materials, but like rich cloths and cottons and things like that. Everything is well-cleaned. The streets themselves are clean. You don't see any sign of, you know, disposed filth or dirt or anything like that. Not sure how they get rid of such things, but it is not into the streets, as is sometimes common in other places. And yeah, you find that you are in this kind of like very narrow and it's very kind of twisting labyrinthian. There's like these little alleyways that are tucked around everywhere. Another thing that you would notice as you make your way through immediately is spread

throughout the town as you begin to make your way through are sort of these lampposts with, rather than hanging lanterns like gas or oil lanterns, rather, or candles, they are magical lights. And they're all set, ready to be lit when the sun sets. And they're scattered. There's not like every, you know, they're rare, but they're enough that like most of the major streets are illuminated by them. And they're these great sort of... And some of them have got beautiful designs on them. Some of them have made of stone posts. Some are made of metal. Some are made of wood. Some of them have little gargoyles

kind of shaped into the side of them. Some of them have been decorated with ribbons or with fresh flowers. And they all seem to have a unique little personality and character to each of these little lamps and lights as you make your way through. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

So where do we want to go first? Ophelia, I know you said you wanted to go to the bath, which makes sense. We should absolutely do before we go see the Duke. But do we want to make an appointment first? And also, where are we staying? Do you want to stay in the same inn? Do we want to separate and explore?

I don't know what you guys want to stay in the same inn? Do you want to separate and explore? I don't know what you guys want to do. It seems like a very big place, and I think if I separate from you, then I'll probably never find you again, ever. Ever, okay. We should probably stick together. Okay.

Yeah. That makes sense. I'm happy to stay with my friends. Okay, one big group. Okay. That makes sense. I'm happy to stay with my friends. Okay, one big group. Okay. Is there anywhere anyone wanted to see before we go see the Duke? Everywhere. Everywhere.

What an abundance of life. Okay. Is it best we look our best before we make an appointment? Because if we turn up looking, well, apparently I'm not good enough, but you know, with a few days travel, they might put us an appointment at the bottom of the list. Yes.

If that makes sense. I agree. I agree with Gruff. Possibly, I mean, we have the Duke's favor. That would elevate our status a little bit. Well, we don't have it yet, that would elevate our status a little bit. Well, we don't have it yet, though. So we need to get it. We've got a letter, but we need to go get it. You have the scroll case with the letter.

Oh, I've got the scroll. But it entitles you to the Duke's Favor. It's like a, we have a cool thing. Do a cool thing. But still, that's like a... I think that most of you, I think that Daisy would know this, and I think Xanthius would pick up on this. It would probably be a better idea to go and make yourselves, like, get new clothes, have a bath, get settled,

then go make your appointment. When you're looking refreshed, you've had some sleep, because you do want to make a good first impression. Before you even see just a considerate. A considerate is a very elevated position. Like, actually, seeing the dukes considerate is, like, a very big deal. So you definitely want to probably do that first. That level of hierarchy really sunk in for Rowan when he saw the Knight of the Realm

and how big a deal getting a scroll case is. Like, that is suddenly, like, faced with the reality of a huge tale. We're about to go to that dome. Yeah. And you can see it like from here, like you can see the Ducal Palace like pretty much anywhere in the city. You also would notice, like you said, you see all these different spires.

Xanthius, looking around, one of these spires draws your eye. It's separated and it's not designed. It's very different in architectural design it is black kind of shaped like a twisting kind of design it has ravens instead of gargoyles and it gives you the impression of like an enchanter or some sort of mages tower but it doesn't have any of the usual emblems of the imperial colleges or the duke's iconography. That kind of just draws your eye. Okay.

Okay. Good to know. But with that, I do need one last thing and then that's going to be the end of today's episode. I need a wisdom saving throw from each one of you, please. Really? Yes.

This whole place is a zone of truth. Minus one. Minus one. Minus one. Because I have Journey as my turn? Yep, still have that, so it's minus one. Same for me as well then. Yep, and a...

Two. Who use four? It's a bit cavey if I use a Fate dice. No. They're getting reset at the end, right? Yeah, no, so you can tell. They're there to be used. I was thinking about using one anyway,

because I've got like a Garbo Wiz. Sure. Garbo Wiz. Two there to be used. I was thinking about using one anyway, because I've got, like, a Garbo Wiz. Sure. Garbo Wiz. Two Garbo Wizz. I fail. Ooh. Mm, well. 13. 13? Yeah.

So two, quite low. 13. 14. 14. 14. 14. Nine. Nine.

Well, you say about talking gamey, I'm going to spend one of these. Nine. Nine. Well, you say about talking gamey, I'm going to spend one of these. Oh. Okay. So if you get, I can add a small complication to certain scenes and things like that. Sure. When, just before Duke Yarrow and the Authority begin to separate their ways,

the Authority will cast kind of one look back and will kind of smile in your direction, Xanthia, so maybe a little bit towards Daisy as well. And then just before he departs, he will say, ah, I should mention, I heard from Captain Vaccaro yesterday they sent a spell that allows me to communicate with them. I believe that one of the ecliptic order sisters that were coming to investigate the matter in Burnell, they wish to inquire more about what

happened with the relic in the caverns. I believe they're making their way here. They'll arrive in a few days. I'll make sure that they can find you somewhere. And then he will turn and begin making his way elsewhere. But yeah, with that, that I'm gonna bring this episode episode 6 the ashen road to an end we're

gonna end a little bit early because we do have to read some things out that's fine also it's a good stopping point where just before you guys go off and start exploring ash and rest ash and rest no i'm leaving that's a real ominous ecliptic order yeah i think if you will remember yeah the uh captain macario said that there was a force coming from kel scaris with these inquisitors the sister inquisitors and they were making their way here and it sounds like that they decided to rather than turn around and go home, they want to come and maybe speak to you about what happened. Oh, that's cute.

That's cute, actually. That is unrelated to the wisdom saving throw, by the way. Oh. Oh. That's fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's a different thing. This is a if we pass, we don't even know about it.

Let me check. Well, let me just check that. Oh, I don't know if you know. Let me check something. OK. There might be a fail. It might be that you know something. If we fail it, then we know what's... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I had a thought. How dare you? Oh, no. A woman with a thought? Not what I was getting at. Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no. No, no, no. No, you don't know anything.

You don't know anything. You don't know anything. So with that, thank you so much for watching, everybody. That is going to be it for episode six. Thanks for joining us

and we will see you next time for more High Rollers. Take care and buh-bye. Buh-bye now. Buh-bye. Buh-bye. buh buh buh.