High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #7 | The House of the Rose (Part 2)

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

We continue to explore the city of Ashen Rest... but first, some pesky Water Spirits are interrupting bath time! 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

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into the baths to help out where they are being plagued by sort of creatures of water, water spirits that are exfoliating them, scrubbing them clean, and blasting them around the room, preventing them from doing their job. And that is where you join us. We are in the middle of a combat, air quotes,

intense battle. Intense battle. I'm so sorry. As we jump to a brand new round. He's crying. It was the fact, just that you were holding his hand

and I was watching it while I was trying to talk to him. For podcast listeners, in the break, re-murdered a biscuit. In a coffee. We're moving on.

We're leaving that in the past. Come on. Let the past die. Buried if you have to. Daisy, it is your turn. You are currently on the ground, you have been exfoliated.

Cool. I guess, can I try and like? So we're gonna have Ophelia and Rowan are after Daisy, so keep in mind what you wanna do on your turn. I'm gonna try and skirt around the fountain. Skirt. Sure. I'm also gonna put a d6 here for Rowan's mattress. So you're gonna stand up.

Oh yeah, there's a mattress. Acrobatics check, please. Acrobatics. Yes, please. You can do it. Sorry. How soft is this creature? 12 chips, one charge. Oh my god, I'm so tired.

Whoop! Um. Thump! You get fall prone. As you attempt to move, but you are too squeaky clean. I'm gonna just commander crawl again. Okay, so half movement. So.

It was a disaster. Where is it? Where'd you wanna go? What's happening? I think we need to end early. Around? This is fucked. Yeah, around. That's fine.

I'm going to then go in the range of each of them there. Oh, I see. I'm trying to distract. String saving throw, please. Yeah, absolutely. It's a good idea. Wait, didn't they blast me? No. Yes. That was a whole round of... Oh, that's true.

They don't have the reaction. They haven't had their reaction. They haven't got their turn yet, so they have not acted yet. So they have no reaction. In that case, can I try and talk to Nim and be like, I don't know what to do. So for this, what I would say is you reach into your mind and Nim doesn't have any necessary ability

to do magic outside of your body, but there is a magical connection here. Roll for me a d20. You may add a Crucible die if you wish, but no other bonus. I'm gonna do that. Do it. Oh! 21!

21. I would say with that 21, Nim stretches out and you hear a voice in your head, this malignant magic little one, there is something familiar about it, but it is obscured. It is hidden from me. I can't disperse it,

but I think I can disperse the creature that it created. But you will need one of your allies who has a greater mastery of magic. I can temporarily disrupt it to disable the creature. So that would remove this water spirit. Okay. Temporarily. Temporarily.

Yes. Sure. All righty. So with that, you watch as Daisy reaches out, touches the fountain. There is a sort of flash of light, and the creature, the water that was spewing out of the fountain seems to coalesce and just becomes normal water again.

But the fountain still has that distorted magic around it. Still not fixed, but perhaps made easier now. All right. I did a thing, but I need you to do more things. Yeah, you do get, Nim does, and Nim's just like, this may be worth looking into in the future. Perhaps not urgently, but there was something about this magic that unsettled me.

Ophelia. Can I climb around on the ceiling back down towards the fountain? So I'd say you can stay out of this one's reach, yeah, if you get here, yeah, absolutely. Is there a way I can use my rage energy to try and disperse this somehow, like use my anger, blood fury ability in a way.

I would say, so your rage, the blood, the path that you're following with that is your magic is more in the jewel. That ability that you do great. There is not any necessary magic in your rage. It is just that feeling of losing blood or seeing others lose blood drives that hunger and that power in you and kind of drives you

and pushes you further. I would say you can attempt, there's a couple of things you can attempt. You can try and do a more mystical element here using your knowledge of the jewelry that you have learned and seeing if you can apply that in some way. The other thing you could do is you could just try to break the fountain and see if that does anything.

Oh. If you wanted to go for a more like strength and rage, you could do that. I could, I'm not, yeah, I could give it a go. I could try and smash it up a little bit, but then would it, it'd be kind of disrespectful though. I mean, it could be. That's up to you. Or you can try the... I'd say you can attempt something more mystical.

It's just going to be a bit harder for you. Okay. It'd be kind of similar to probably what Daisy just did. You might not be able to disperse the energy, but you might be able to help your allies in some way. Okay, yeah. The other thing you could do is you could also just wait here and provide a help action and be like, I'm going to ready an action and I'll do help action allies in some way. Okay, yeah. The other thing you could do is you could also just wait here and provide a help action,

be like, I'm gonna ready an action and I'll do help action when somebody comes over. Hmm. A number of choices. Yeah. Yeah, I think I'll just help for now then. Okay, so you're basically gonna wait and use your, sort of,

because you have some knowledge of some magic, maybe not this magic, but when somebody comes up, you're gonna provide the help action. Yeah. So it's ready an action. All righty. Keep keep distracting keep being a nuisance to the rest of the water all right rowan uh rowan like bambi on the ice is gonna get up holding onto his mattress sure and he's gonna move with the mattress over to xanthius okay And looking at the spirits and where people are being blasted back. Did you get expired? You didn't. Did you just fell over?

It expired. Yeah, it expired on you. So you're fine. Yep. I'm going to put the mattress where Xanthius just landed just in case anyone gets blasted back there. I'm then going to reach down and grip Xanthius by the shoulder and a ripple of energy goes through me into you and I'm going to cast En and grip Xanthius by the shoulder, and a ripple of energy goes through me into you.

I'm going to cast Enhance Ability. Oh. And I think it's going to be Cat's Grace, which gives you a bonus to your Dexterity saving throws. Oh, okay. Dexterity saves. Okay. Do you... I will say that you're making Strength saving throws this whole time.

In which case, that's exactly why, good test, Bear's endurance is not what I was gonna pick. Nice one, Kim. Bull's strength. One day, one of these days. So, on top of your strength saving throws having advantage, you can also carry double the capacity of stuff. Thank you, Rowan.

I say with a mouth full of water because I just got blown up. I feel like a cat. No, a boar. No, a bull. I don't know what I feel. All right, so you're going to cast Bull Strength on Xanthius. Would it be bad or impossible to also give him Bardic Inspiration if that counts two spells? Bonus action.

Bardic Inspiration is not a spell, so you can do both. It's a feature, yeah. It's a feature. You've got this. Thank you. Now, you have a new thing with your Bardic Inspiration. That mode. Yeah, do you want to say what mode are you going to create

and everything else? You have to decide when he rolls. It's the type of roll he makes, isn't it? That's a really good point, yeah. So when granting a creature of bardic inspiration, I can summon a moat of potential that orbits within five foot of you as well. Oh, you're going to have this as well. What does that do?

And it's floating around your head, which can... Yeah, I'm going to add it to your saving throw. So you get plus three, as well as the bardic inspiration dice. So you roll D6, plus three, and add that to your saving throw. And you have advantage. Holy crap.

You will never be excluded. So Rowan just like... Oh my God. All right, do a sprout. End of turn, Rowan. End of turn. Gruffeth. I guess I am going to move towards... Five? Has the creature near Daisy had its reaction yet?

No, this one did, this one has not. That one has not. So both of them have their reactions available. Okay. Go get exfoliated, Gruff. I will... Who has spell cards? It's you and me, isn't it?

And him. Yeah, you, me, and him. I'm going to go towards the one where Ophelia is. Okay. We need to move through the water, so it's difficult terrain. Sad terrain, yeah, you, me, and him. I'm gonna go towards the one where Ophelia is. Okay. We need to move through the water, so it's difficult to win. Sad terrain, yeah. So it'd be, so you've gone five, 20, 30.

I do look now. I need you to make a strength saving throw. 35 is me. Okay, so you get that halfway. Seven plus nothing. Exfoliator! Finally! He pulls his hand at his head.

I just put the mattress here. Do you know what? As a teacher, I still have my action, right? You do still have your action, yeah. The movement is zero. I think Gruff was trying to be respectful and working with nature, and now he is wet. Very wet. And exfoliated.

He's going to destroy water. Oh, like fur is all like, it's like a wet cat that's fallen in the bath. Yeah, I look awful. I'm going to cast destroy water. All right. When you cast destroy water, the entire bath and both creatures are evaporated.

As you watch as the entire thing, leaving the shallow basin of like, you know, the bath is probably not quite like 10 feet. It's probably like four and a bit feet deep. So it's enough that you can wade in it and sit down and stuff. But the whole thing just gets spilled out. The fountains do start pushing more water back into it, but it's filling up slowly.

And those creatures are gone temporarily, at least for now, leaving this kind of basin, basically. You hear Gruff go forward, get knocked over backwards, almost like a cat screech, like, as he goes backwards. And from the floor, there's kind of like, Brahmagant! Which is a horrible curse in Cornwall,

not Cornwall, Liam. Cornish. Cornish, yes. You didn't just get the stream canceled in Cornland, did you? Just a little bit. I mean, they don't have internet there. That's the biggest demographic. Cornland. Cornland. They don't have internet there.

All right. Love you, Cornwall. And then, yeah, all the water's gone. All righty. Okay. With that done, the water being completely destroyed, you see those distorted fields of magic around the two remaining. And that anger as well from Gruff. The anger that accompanied that spell almost seems to mix with that malignant field.

And that anger seems to spark. And you do hear almost like a kind of crackle in the air as the water begins filling back up. For one round, those water creatures can't come back, so that's it, they don't get their go, Xanthias. Go, go, go! But I am slippery, but I have got both a mattress to bounce off,

and a lot of huge buffs. You can do what Daisy did and crawl and go at half speed as well, and you don't have to make the acrobatics check. God damn. You could crawl. I could crawl to that one, but I want to try and hit both at the same time,

and that involves standing up. But then I'd be at half speed anyway, right? No, it's a free action to stand up from this, because you're kind of all slippery, I'm saying. You can stand up for free. I think I can hit both. All right. Stand up.

I stand up. Can I actually do that within the range? Five, 10. Five, 10, 15. 20, 25, 30. What range do you need? All right. And then slide the rest.

No. What if I... I will say that you can slide a little bit down here. Hear me out. Like into the basin. Like a skate park. Push off the mattress, slide across the floor with Ice Skater's grace,

swing around the fountain, which gives me the momentum to slide all the way to the end one as well. That's physics. Collide into Ophelia. Sounds like like a bargain to me make it to i mean yeah if you want to spend a crucible point i'll let you try it all right that's a try i'm ready to try it's not it's never going to be an auto success it's always going to be a try that's the devil's bargain worst case right i make it to the first one anyway. Obviously. Sure. Obviously.

Can't fail that one. Sure. All right, so acrobatics check. I slide again. First acrobatics check. You're making three acrobatics checks. This isn't going to, this isn't not. You might do it.

So the first one is to not slip over at the very start of this. Yeah. You know the water's coming back at the end of this, by the way, right? Oh, yeah. You've got one. DC 13 on this. But this is going to be huge. Get ready. Next is going to go DC 12, way oh yeah dc 13 on this but this is gonna be huge get ready next gonna go dc 12 dc 11. so dc 13 for this one athletics was it sorry acrobatics acrobatics that's a 12. dc 13. you did the crystal dice and you didn't roll it no that was uh actually devil's bargain that was just to make it happen there's one left he could have spent but he had

to say before he did i don Oh, for God's sake. I don't get any bonus from... No, that was strength-based. That was the whole thing. He was going to give you dex. It's ball strength. He gave you ball strength. And then Gruff destroyed all the water. So you go five feet, fall down.

Could I have spent the bardic inspiration? You still have 25 feet of movement. Saving throw, you can, yes. Was it a saving throw? It was, yeah. No, wait, no, it wasn't. It was an acrobatics check. I fall down immediately.

You can add Bardic Inspiration to ability checks. You just won't get the extra three. You won't get the moat. You won't get the moat. Is that a D6? Just a regular D6. Hell yeah, that would be enough, right? That's a success, yeah.

Boom, won. It's a wavering moment. All right. You get to the fountain. Yeah. That Daisy's the fountain. Yeah. That Daisy's next to. Yes. I want to, in preparation for,

I know that I can only do one of these turns. I'm looking at you with hopes and dreams that after watching you just fall over again. This is, no, I look good. You get to the fountain. I know that I can only do one. I almost want to twin spell, like, starting on this one, and before I reach the next one,

I'm holding another spell ready to put it into the final. I mean, I will let you spend another spell, because you're not casting a spell here. You're spending a spell slot to disperse the energy, so you can do both. Okay. But the first one is this one. Yeah.

So it's a d20 plus your charisma modifier. Jesus God, I'm going to have to make so many checks on this turn. Yeah, yeah. 15. 15 is a success. This fountain, the malign aura is dispersed. It's Xanthius, and there's probably an element of fire that almost burns the malignant aura away.

Daisy is prone on the ground. I grab onto the fountain. I chose to lie here. I lift a bit to go over Daisy. Pop an ollie. Second acrobatics check. DC 12. It's going to be huge.

That's a nine. Five, ten, fifteen. You go to slide. You are exfoliated. Your hand is so slippery. You slam into the wall. I'm now going to spend my crucible dice. And technically you went five feet,

so I had a normal d6. You're actually gonna take seven points of damage. Oh, wow. Because I can add Crucible Die to damage, and you took fall damage, because you went 10 feet across the floor into the wall. After slipping off the fountain at that speed, I really crumble into the wall.

Daisy's just lying on the floor. Oh, yeah, now you're prone as well. I'm lying on the floor looking at the ceiling, having given up on standing for a while, and I'll just watch him fly over and be like, hey. He slides next to you. Join me. It's got, like, a bloody nose.

It's safer on the floor. Just stay on the floor. I almost got one of them. That is going to be your turn. Rowan slams the mattress on the floor. I almost got, I got one of them. That is gonna be your turn. Rowan slams the mattress on the ground. Daisy. Oh, I forgot. I guess I'm not gonna do anything this turn, though.

You can just lie there if you want. I'm just gonna lie there. Just take a minute. I just want you to have the image of me just lying, just poker straight, facing the ceiling, just having given up a little bit on doing anything, because there's nothing I can do. There's no water.

There's no distractions to be had. I'm just going to go, you can do it, Gruff! Go do it! You can do it. I think after seeing Zanby launch himself into the wall, I feel he's just going to sit on the edge of the bath, dangle her feet, wait for the water to come back,

and just point at the wall behind her with one hand. Just waiting for it. Yeah, that's the best. All right, nice. You know the woman in Barview when she's like, it's like having an existential crisis and she's lying like a plank. That's Daisy.

Face up or face down? Face up right now. Rowan. Rowan is going to surfboard the mattress down the bowl. Yes! Rowan. That's what he says. I would say that sliding yourself down,

saying your name, gives you an extra free ten feet of movement, so you can actually get within five feet of the fountain. Please end this. Back home, they call this the rowing. I'm rowing. It's just like a very faintly wet, Rowan. I'm Rowan. Do you like to add a Chris Bourne gun? No, I got this.

All right. What is this? I just slid in on natural 20. Oh! Just casually step off the mattress, take two steps, put your hand on the fountain, done. You feel, yeah Rowan, for you that on the fountain. You feel, yeah, Rowan, for you, that stone, that connection with stone, again, you feel something very similar to what Gruff did.

Yours and Gruff's magic, although you're a bard and technically a bard is arcane magic, I think Rowan's sounds like it's more primal, because it's from the earth, it's resonances. Yeah, and I think that you connect with that same, the stone of the fountain, the stone of the bath, the stone of the bath, the earth, the heat of the magma and stuff that's flowing and heating everything up.

You connect with that, and using that, you purge this awful malign, and there is an anger to it. You almost feel like this aggressive beat to this magic, and it's soft and subtle and has like woven itself into this bathhouse not maybe on purpose but something has caused this but you disperse it and it is gone no more spirits return say no need to be angry anymore you're free to leave and it just disperses and leaves um and the water begins to fill back up and there it seems to be no sign of wicked spirits as you have successfully in this boring encounter yeah well yes yes and then as we

have to do this again like three more times but now that you know how it is done yeah we'll do this again because this was flawless i come come out, I've taken 28 damage. Yes, yes. It's more than your... So you're dead. It was like this died. You have 23 health. You're dead. But yeah, you spend some time

and maybe once you report back, you explain what you did to fix this so that you can bring in other people to help and eventually you are able to do this um but yeah you guys uh what happens like you know you take some time what would you guys do you guys just go back up to the temple like redress go and tell them what happened or no i'm going back up and i'm dripping water everywhere nice there's just big puddles of water as a naked wild heart man maybe i've put a loincloth on. I don't know.

I'm pretty bad. I'm in a bad mood. I'm in a bad mood. I hate this. Sure. Just wringing your tail out. Yeah. Reverend Mother Orrell

will come up and be like, oh my goodness, what is wrong? Are you all right? Is everything... She sees your nose bleed down. She's like,

oh my gosh, are you all right? The creatures have never harmed anyone before. I didn't realise that they were capable of it. It was fine. They blasted me and it was heroic. I would like bandage, please.

Oh, we can do more than a simple bandage, my dear. And she'll sort of take you over and put her hand on your bloody nose. And she will cast Cure Wounds. Oh, thank you. On your little snoot. For seven hit points, in fact. Perfect, that's exactly what Iounds. Oh, thank you. On your little snoot. For seven hit points, in fact. Perfect.

That's exactly what I needed. Oh, poor thing. And you feel this warmth spread through. But needless to say, the problem has been solved. There's a moment when the magic hits you, Xanthius. There is a warmth to it, but also just the nature of magic. There's often an emotive connection and feelings, and it conjures sensations.

It's almost, and this is up to you whether this is a good memory or a bad memory or whatever it is, but almost has that feeling of when you were very, very young and you remember your mother sort of kissing a wound, you know, to make it better and things like that. There is that kind of sensation. Maybe not a memory as such,

but it has that kind of magical kind of childhood feeling. Evokes. Yeah, evokes that feeling, yeah, for sure. But yeah, and she kind of nestles that back and says, oh, but you've succeeded then, all of the creatures are dealt with, or the bathhouse is cleansed of this spirit? We have.

The creatures are gone. Oh, wonderful. Oh, thank you so much. And she'll basically go around and offer hugs to anybody who wants them. Oh, yeah, Rowan, she's just like immediately... I'm still in my loincloth. Yeah, she doesn't care. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, well, there's that. Yeah, Daisy, she brings you in as well.

Goes around and gives hugs to everyone. Well, we must absolutely honour what we offered. If there is any services that you need here, we are more than happy to return the favour. And, of course, you're more than welcome to use the baths and everything for free today as much as you need here. We are more than happy to return the favour. And of course, you're more than welcome to use the baths and everything for free today as much as you need to. Feel your sprints downstairs to the baths immediately. Of course.

We can also have your clothes cleaned and things like that whilst you're bathing, if you would like. Thank you! Yes, of course, of course. We can make sure that that is all done for you. That would be lovely. Of course, of course, my dears. And she will say,

I will go and tell Dandily that everything is fixed and we can begin to let other people come down as well. But for now, why don't you take one of the chambers privately? And she'll basically, the chamber that you cleansed, she will make available just for your group. Xanthius' blood just on the wall. I'll swipe that off. Yeah.

For using the actual baths, I think everybody but Xanthius is pretty much at a point where they can take a bath. You know, it's pretty easy to get clean. But Xanthius, are you still wearing clothing? As I go downstairs,

if I have a moment away from anyone, I'm casting a second level spell and I will take a bath. There is one problem. Okay. Because I don't know if we discussed this fully. It cannot... That spell can't hide the thing. It can affect things.

Yes. Okay. But it can't hide the other thing. So you would need like something. But I have a cover for it. I... That's fine, I think, because I have bandages. Ah, okay, yeah.

In that case, yeah. Yep, sure. So I will, in that case, de-clothe and have a bath. Sure. But I do have... Yeah, so more for these guys. People will see bandages across my chest

and around my shoulder. Quite heavily scarred as well. The chest looks like, I imagine, kind of looks like a bad injury. Yeah, I guess if there's any areas that are out of the edges of the bandages, you'd see that. How clean are they?

Like, are they stained or? I suppose I would have attempted to renew the bandages any time during the nights on the travel and stuff. So I mean. Yeah, they're clean bandages, yeah, for sure. Yeah. How fresh are the scars? I guess, I feel like that you would,

you need to make, I'd say a you would... The bandages would cover enough that you can't really see much. Yeah. You can make a medicine check, I would say, if anybody wants to glean any more information. Rowan's too preoccupied with bathing. Sure. And enjoying the moment.

Sure. Probably amongst... If there's, like, hot coals anywhere, is it kind of like a... No, there's no hot coals anywhere is it kind of like no there's no hot coals or anything like that i mean the room itself is quite steamy but these baths are just more like um like a heated pool like and it's being heated from the water there are also separate saunas and steam rooms and stuff that you can go to as well yeah that room is just like arms up on the edge rest of his body in the water just soaking it all in yeah join it i think the moment when i come in as

well would be after everyone else like they are in like this yeah you wait for it you wait for all of them to go in and then you yeah they're like you and then you know lying back as relaxed as i guess you would say you are in the source yeah lost in the source good way um but if there's anyone that's like yeah wants to pay attention whatever yeah it's just more But if there's anyone that's like, yeah, wants to pay attention, whatever. Yeah, it's just more like if there's specifics, people like how old are the scars and stuff like that, but we need to check. I think Gruff would be very grumpily sitting in the water.

For all you Star Trek fans out there, Worf in the mud bath, that vibe. My God, yeah. Yes. Straight there. Straight there. Absolutely. I know that's just like painted in there. Yeah, there it is.

Holy shit. Yeah. Such a sarcastic little answer. But I think given our previous experience in the mine... Sorry, yeah. Sorry, Kim. Trots has gone mouthful of that wet bit. Oh, it came to get you, huh?

Oh, it came back. Anyway, continue. I think given our experience in the mines, when I tried to touch your chest to heal you, and you grabbed my wrist and said no, like, Gruff will be looking, but not saying. Yeah, sure. I mean, it might offer some small amount of explanation, I suppose.

I think Gruff would just say, does it hurt? Hmm? Does it hurt? My nose? No, it feels fine. Ah. Not much anymore.

I think it's healing. What happened? In my time in Kelskaris, I got into a little scrap with somebody. It is okay. It's not bad. Quite the scrap. I could heal it. Oh, no, no, no. It's healing. It's fine. You don't need to intervene.

Please. No! It's a healing word. It's a healing word. Yeah, you can't steal in words. I'm just doing a lazily with one arm. Yeah, the... Can you roll a d100 for me, Tom?

A d100? 73. 73. The Healing Word, the scarring, you know, just peeking out, there's only a tiny bit. You can see that it must be quite a grievous wound, the amount of bandages Xanthius has and little bits of the scarring peeking out just over the top.

The healing word doesn't really seem to do anything. There's no blood pooling or anything like that. You don't think he's any immediate harm. Healing spells tend to deal with critical wounds. Something like this, which seems to be naturally healing on its own, the spell doesn't really seem to have too much of an effect on it. Yes, you seem fine. You may not even need the bandage now.

It might be good to get it some air. It's just in case. Okay. But I'd like to keep it on, thank you. Oh, fair. Is everyone having a nice bath? Can I insight check him talking about, while this is happening with the healing,

can I just insight check the having a scrap with someone? Sure, sure, sure. Or to see if it's a lie just see how you're feeling just reading your body language okay 20. dirty 20. what i would say on this because like obviously i don't want to put time in yeah he has to explain stuff is xanthius is guarded but he's a guarded person. Like, seems reasonable. Kelskaris is a rough town. Like, there's nothing about what he said which would hint towards anything more. Like, could just be that he's just

maybe a bit ashamed about the wound. Something that he's not, you know, got it in a, maybe got it in a circumstances that he doesn't want to talk about. But there's no reason to believe that there's anything more to it than what he said Gareth's just

filing it away though given how we met on the road sure you get a pretty big folder on old Xanthius don't you

it's just a board with a string yeah sure but he's also in no rush to really particularly confront

or converse or yeah beat it out of you So in no rush to really particularly confront or converse or... Yeah. Beat it out of you. Okay. The baths are incredibly relaxing here.

Those of you who had any exhaustion levels, you can reduce them by one. Oh, yeah, I do. We had journey exhaustion. Yep, you can reduce journey exhaustion by one. I'm free. Yep, I only had one. It exhaustion. Yep, you can reduce journey exhaustion by one. I'm free. Yep, I only had one. We kind of, it didn't really matter if that counter anyway.

But also, there is another benefit to being in these baths. This ability, you can only get it once every seven days, but the first time you have a bath here in the House of the Rose, you actually get six temporary hit points. They don't go away, unless you get another source of them or something like that.

They don't go away, well, until we lose them, I suppose. Yeah, until you lose them or until you get more of them from another source or something like that. So they don't go away on a long rest as well. So it's to represent you feeling,

because there is something about the water. It is magically enchanted to help you relax, to restore your energy, and temporary hit points are a good representation of energy and things like that. Okay, nice. They are cleansing waters. They are blessed by Saint Typhine. Like a well-fed buff. Rested bonus. Basically that. Yeah, it is exactly that.

Cool. Hell yeah. After, yeah, I mean, unless there's anything you guys want to say or discuss or anything like that. Cool. Hell yeah. After, yeah, I mean, unless there's anything you guys want to say or discuss or anything like that. Have we figured out where we intend to stay after this? Don't worry about that now, Xanthius. Just rest, relax. We'll plan later. Okay. Come on. Take a load off. Uh oh. Do you want a a bag rub from Percival? I think about his skeletal hands. No. Although...

Percival has probably, like, fetched towels from the changing room and is waiting at the side of the bath like a little attendant and he's got, like, several... Like, an armful of towels. He's waiting for everyone to, like, finish. He's just there waiting. In fact, no, he would only have enough for Ophelia. He wouldn't have towels for the rest of you.

Aww. It's what he's told to do. I'm trying to remember, because everyone, I guess, was at the table when this happened. My hand that I gloved, did Ophelia see that? Yeah, I saw the fire. The magic from it, yeah. My hand that I gloved, did Ophelia see that? Yeah, I saw the fire. Some magic from it, yeah. The night of the campfire.

Okay, but you didn't actually see the hand itself. I didn't see your hand. I saw the light you conjured from your hand. Yeah, so you wouldn't notice that it's not like that. No. Yeah, Xanthius' hands just look normal. Okay. Why are you so mysterious?

Don't fucking know. I'm mysterious to myself right now. You guys spend some time relaxing, you get lovely and clean, maybe much to Gruff's disdain, very wet. When you begin to, when you step out and return to the cleaning chambers and stuff, there are like attendants, and there is like small enchantments.

There are like these crystal stone globes. When you touch them, it kind of buffs the air around you, almost like a little dryer. Just place your hand on it, kind of like warm air. How fluffy is the cat? It's up to Gruff. Fluffy cat, fluffy cat. Just the idea of a hairdryer on a cat.

It probably feels nice, but yeah. But also, when you go upstairs, Danderley, the brother, the Reverend Father, this bunny-eared man, very slim, athletic man, there are attendants there, and if you want to be brushed for Gruff, there are other Wild Hearts here who are more bestial wild hearts um you'd probably see like maybe like a more wolf like kind of like like long-haired dog like a alsatian like dog like a man and he's being brushed

and like he's just there is an attendant just like brushing his coat for him um and he's getting you know oils rubbed into it like like a groomers basically um and they're providing that service and then next to him there's a lady with long hair, and somebody's doing braids in her hair and brushing her hair, and it's like, you know, it's a spa beauty kind of treatment kind of thing. So do we, like, individually go to a few different people? If you want to. Whatever you want.

This is the point where, like, however fancy you want to get dolled up, they're basically giving you a day of free services. Normally you have to pay for this stuff. All of you, when you leave here, along with your temporary hit points, because you're going to get free treatments, you all have plus default to a charisma ability check. Oh, dang it! For 24 hours. It only lasts 24 hours.

I think Graff can shyly ask an attendant to braid his mane and beard, like in whatever style is here, because he probably accepts that he needs to look his best to try and. Well, they would also want you to, they would want to do whatever style you are comfortable with. Like, cauldron style is very much about being proud

of yourself and what you're comfortable with, so they very much tailor it to whatever you want here. Yeah, braids. Yeah, sure, sure yeah they'll do anything basically like same with like you know for anybody whether they want like a little bit of makeup or if you want like your nails done and stuff like that they all provide that here you also all of it um you also notice that as you're having these treatments like those you if you remember when you first came in there were a bunch of like kids with like um some students they actually come in and they run up to reverend mother arella and they're like mother mother mother and like she picks them up and hugs them all and like he's

giving them and they get led off into a side building that side building that chamber um and you know they're you know being taken off somewhere it looks like they maybe live here because like you know as the day's getting on they're being brought inside or whatever um and she happily like chases and plays and plays with them for a little bit, and then they all go scampering off, and then she returns to her duties. You would see probably a very well-dressed-looking merchant. A halfling man comes in, and he immediately is met by Reverend Mother Orella.

They have a brief conversation. She smiles. He makes a big donation of gold. You can see him put like a big stack of coins into the donation box. And then Reverend Mother Orella takes him into one of these communion rooms and they go off together into that. And then Dandoli begins to take over

the services of the temple. And it seems to be that there are people coming and going. Seems like this is a very popular place for most people in the town to come to at least once a day or maybe a couple of times a week. Okay. Yeah, I think as a, I mean, I'm certainly probably having a hair trim brush.

Yeah. Getting my scales buffed. I realize how lewd that sounds. And I think as I'm going between all these different carers and people and things, I'll have some idle chat with them. Yeah, it's a perfect chance if you want to pick up any rumours or ask any questions about the town. This place is as popular as it is.

You can see tonnes of people. I'd almost want to get a lay of the city via some just rumours, gossip, stuff like that from all the people here. Yeah, well, you probably have time, like, let's say you have enough time to ask me three questions that these people might be able to provide you with. Like, you know, like, do you know of anything unusual going on in town?

Or, like, what's the best place to get this? Like, and I can answer those kind of questions for you. Yeah. I'd say that that three questions applies to the group. It doesn't just have to be town. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If anybody has a question. I think we're all probably having the same idle conversation.

It's like going to a hairdresser, right? You just have chit-chat with somebody. You can pick up stuff. That was your holiday. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know if we want to ask where would be the best place to stay.

I feel like we've just got a choice of two. We're just going to pick one of those, right? It doesn't really matter too much. Pretty much. Do we want to find out anything weird going on around the town or something we could get into to earn some more money? I know we've just got a load of money, but. Or something we could utilize our writ for.

True, yeah. Often do writs come through here. Are we gonna go see the Duke after this? We need to try and book an appointment to see the Duke. I think so, yeah. Yeah, sure. I would like to find a place that deals in sorcery and magic and something like that.

So this is why you're getting a haircut, let's say. Yeah. And there is this very tall, we'll go with like a wild heart, like maybe a more sort of bestial looking deer. They almost have like deer kind of like features. Woman? Could you have my hair like this

and I show a picture of Anakin Skywalker? Yes, of course. Yeah, thank you. Very popular. And she'll say, magic and sorcery. Yes, well, there's numerous places. The Shrine of the Quillen Scale has a library there, and the Lorekeeper, I believe, is a mage of some sort.

There is also... There are a few shops of curiosities around as well. For example, the... There is an alchemist, Aguilo's Alchemicals, but I suppose that's not really sorcery. Any sort of magical research? That would normally be done at the shrine. There is a school, but that's more for teaching children

and that sort of thing. There is one place. It's quite mysterious. I don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for, but there's a tower near Duskrise. Duskrise? Raven Star Spire. And it's a bit of a mystery because we know that there's this elf who lives there,

and they only really seem to come out around festivals or to speak with the Duke. They come and go as they sort of please, but I know that they get on very speak with the Duke. They come and go as they sort of please, but I know that they get on very well with the children. The children are all very excited. They perform tricks for them, little illusions and things like that. Curious. But the Duke has asked their services for a few times, but they sort of keep to themselves.

The strange thing is there's no door on the tower. That's absolutely it. Well, that's exactly it. Like, we don't really know. Very mysterious. But, I mean, you look at the tower. So nobody... Well, that's exactly it. Like, we don't really know. Very mysterious, but I mean, you look at the tower and you instantly think of some sort of wizard or enchanter or some such, but yes.

Apart from that, really, I mean, the Duke has a court mage. One of his knights of the realm is a magician. Okay. Sorry, the tower... Oh, it's just the top there. Yeah, so she'll point it out, and in fact I can put it to point 11. Oh, the tower... Where's Duskrise? Oh, it's just at the top there. Yeah, so she'll point it out, and in fact I can put it to a point 11. Oh, okay, just to the... So Duskrise is like a little province.

Pass this to Katie. So at point 11 is Ravenstar Spire. So Duskrise is a little walled off. Yeah, so Duskrise is... If you ask about it, they'll just say that that's where some of the sort of more richer merchants live. It's also where the cathedral of the House of the Scions, the church, the faith here in Ulthair in the Dragon Empire, the cathedral is up there, along with another temple as well. Okay.

But they mention that casually. They don't tell you the name of the cathedral. Yeah, and Eleven is just slightly to the south of Duskrise. Cool. Okay. Thank you very much. You've done a wonderful job, by the way. Oh, thank you.

I'm glad. A perfect likeness. Just like him. Yeah. Fuck. Does anybody else have any other questions or rumours? Like, you know, would you like to gain some rumours? I would if no one else says anything.

Go for it, yeah. Gruff would kind of very timidly ask about if they've heard of the Order of the Knights of the Loyal Hound. So you are getting brushed. Braided. Braided, and it's a dwarf, a dwarf man, an acolyte of Typhine. Very handsome, has like a long beard himself that's been beautifully braided. Braided. And he's a dwarf, a dwarf man, an acolyte of Typhine.

Very handsome. Has, like, a long beard himself that's been beautifully braided. Yes. Done in a very artistic... Seems to be, like... Probably would have a title, like, Master of Braids in the temple. And he's, like, the one that people go to for... Like, is a specialist. The Master of Braids will probably say something along the lines of, like, oh, yes, oh, yeah, I don't know, I've not heard of that order, per se.

If you want to, I've heard of them, but I don't know of them being here in Caldra, but you want to probably speak to the Duke's Knights of the Realm. They're the ones who are most likely to know about that sort of thing. The other thing is, well, I's the there's the fest there's the tawny there's the festival coming up it's not for a few days i think 10 days i think it's a it's the first of uh what it is the uh it's the the first of uh the first moon the first day of bronze glow um i mean normally first day of each passing there's a festival in the town but

this one falls on saint misara's day so it's going to be an extra special tawny and festival duke's going to come out there's going to be a you know there'll be knights will come in from all over the place to fight in the tawny and show off their skills and that sort of thing so if this this order that you're looking for they might might turn up to see the tourney or to fight in it or maybe meet other people and that sort of thing. I think it's in ten days. Yeah, ten days from today. That sounds absolutely perfect.

Oh, yeah, it'll be held on the tourney field. And there'll be a big festival. There'll be games throughout the town. It's like a day off for everyone. Everyone goes out and has a bit of fun. Gathering of knights. Yeah, well, there'll be others. There'll be mercenaries and fighters showing off their skills, that sort of thing.

It's not just knights, but knights will be there. And this order, if they've... That's probably the most likely place they'll be. But you should ask the knights of the realm, the duke's knights. They'll probably know more. I think the cathedral might have a couple of holy knights they might know, too. I get to meet knights. Oh, yeah, I'm sure you will. A big crowd and people come up and see them and throw flowers and favours and that sort of thing.

I'll have to get some flowers so I can throw at them. Well, ten days. Ten days from today. First day of the first moon of Bronzeglow. You're doing a bloody good job on this, by the way. Oh, thank you, Master of Braids. That's, you know, earned me craft. Hard craft. Braid in air.

Like my father did before him, and my mother did before him. But yeah, so you learn about the St. Missara's Day festival in Tawny, which is happening ten days from now. Did he say where the tournament field is? I will point it out to you. It's going to be point 13 on the map.

Way up to the west. The jousting, yes. Pop that down for Katie to fill out. Point 13 is the Tawny field. Okay. And that's Tawny as in T-O-U-R-N-E-Y. Tournament. As in tournament.

Yeah, I don't think you... Yeah, yeah. Because I'm thinking Tawny, like a Tawny owl. No, Taney as in T-O-U-R-N-E-Y. Tournament. As in tournament. Yeah, I don't think you... Yeah, yeah. Because I'm thinking tourney, like a tourney owl. No, tourney as in tournament. Shortness. Tourney field. Tournament field. Okay.

Any other questions? One more if you want. I'll give you time enough for one more rumour or town question. Do one. Do one. Do one. Do one. Town question.

Do one. Do one. Do one. Do one. We, I guess Ophelia's getting her hair all oiled and slicked and brushed. We're about to go see the Duke. How would one conduct themselves favourably? So you are being attended to by a probably just like a human woman very young

sort of like probably barely out of her teens really like 16, 17 and she's just like oh where are you want to go see the Duke oh yes yes you're right

oh right blimey well I know that the Duke you can't just go up and see him any time you want obviously he's an important dragon but you go up and he's considerate he obviously he's an important dragon um but you go

up and that he's considerate he's got a lovely man a dwarf he's considerate and he deals with all of the duke's business and things like that you book an appointment with him or i think in a couple of days maybe two three days the duke's having what he calls uh you know like uh he takes like people could just come up and uh audiences that's what he does. And people come up during his audiences, and they can come up and ask the Duke and speak to him about matters that are important and things like that. It's been a while, so we do one, I reckon,

about two, three days. But, of course, you've got to be respectful. Duke Ignaris, oh, he's such a, what a hero he is. We love him here in Ashenrest. We do, the Duke. You know, he fought in the war in their insurrection. He was a hero, he sacrificed, he bled for us and he fought for us and bless him,

his ma, his mother died, killed by that traitor, Galvis, that gold dragon bastard. Oh, terrible, terrible. What a tragedy. What a tragedy it was, what a tragedy. Shocking, shocking. But yeah, so yeah. How's your holiday?

How's your holiday, Dan? You wouldn't believe it. I'm going to go visit my parents down in, I'm going to go visit my parents down in Goodvine, I am. My sister, she's got a babber, right? A right little babber now. God. Keep going. We're doing this for the next half hour. No, I'm not doing that forber now. Oh, God. Keep going.

We're doing this for the next hour. No, I'm not doing that for the next hour. I've answered the question. So, yeah. See you later, Bella. Is there anything that would be considered rude for us to do? Are there any cauldron gestures or, like, traditions? Oh, gosh.

I mean, you know, don't, you know, be proud of yourself. And, you know, don't insult you know, don't insult the Duke. You know, just don't be silly, I reckon. He's a good dragon. I just don't want to put a foot wrong, you know. I don't want to get on his bad side. Oh, well, be respectful. You know, a compliment never hurts.

But it has to be an honest one. Don't just be saying nothing you don't believe in. Okay. You know, maybe you could mention his titles. He's got a few titles you can mention if you wanna really sort of like show that you've prepared to meet the Duke. Okay, okay, thank you.

What was the one that they called him when they announced him at the tournament a few passings ago? Let me have a think here. I'll go find him there. Oh yeah, that's right. He sometimes, you know, back in the Oriat insurrection, they called him the Crimson Bastion.

Crimson Bastion? That is a fine name. Crimson Bastion. Bastard. Crimson Bastard. I actually kind of like the Crimson Bastard. His enemies call him that. But he's not a bastard.

That's okay, he's not a child. Yeah. Crimson Bastion is what they called him,. But he's not a Bastion. That's a thing, isn't it? Yes. Crimson Bastion is what they call him, because he was our defender. He was our protector. We were right on the front lines we were against Gildoy. Well, not quite. Rusten's a bit further closer in,

but we were right on it. Flaming Nora. What happened sounds like quite a large... What do you mean, what happened? Where's the Aurea insurrection? You're not from around here. You're a stranger. I'm from Osseous.

Osseous? What is that? Across the sea. Across the sea? Across the sea? Full of them monsters? You can't be sailing across no sea. No one comes back alive. I did. Well, I've yet to make it back, but I got here alive. My goodness, I've never heard from someone who's come across the sea before

or told that one of the... Oh, Janya. She, like, whispers the name. Oh, Janya lurks in the depths and they snatch boats and they snatch sailors down as fast as reckon. Did you have to fight any sea monsters on your way here? It wasn't smooth sailing, for sure. It was quite rocky, quite uncomfortable, but we made it. Well, blimey.

Pleasure to meet you, miss. I've never heard of that. Well, I mean, in that case, I guess you don't know. Well, the Ariat insurrection, it was a big civil war. There was this gold dragon, the archdragon Galdvasar, and he went mad and he he was fueled by this magic metal that he had hoarded, and then he ate it all, and he got powerful, and he got his allies together,

and they tried to kill the Empress, and they tried to take over, and of course, the Empress and all the good dragons in the armies, they marched against him, and they fought him. And here, we're so close to Gildai, it was a war zone a few hundred years ago. And yeah, they killed the Duke's mother and so the Duke became the Lord of North Vale.

Is the Duke's mother the one on the statue in the town centre? Oh, she is featured in one of the statues, but maybe there's the Empress statue and then... She is featured in one of the statues, but maybe there's the Empress statue and then... I don't know, I do have it. Lady Ignaxa is one of the statues there, right? Lady Ignaxa?

Yes, that was the Duke's mother. Oh, wow. Lord. Get Lord from a hairdresser. So the big statue in the middle of the town centre, that's not... That's the Dragon Empress! That's the Empress! Well, it's a representation of her, yeah. It's quite respl of the town centre, that's not... That's the dragon empress! That's the empress! Well, it's a representation of her, yeah.

It's quite resplendent. Oh, that's very kind. They're all very proud. Of course we are, we're cauldron love! Always very proud. I'm particularly proud of my tits. She doesn't say that. I was just joking.

Great clothes, not me. It was a cheap laugh. Cheap gag, cheap gag. It came out of nowhere. It took me a while to like... Hang on. Did you say... You wore tats?

Tats? A tat? Oh, Lord. It was a cheap laugh. Yeah. But yeah. it was a cheap laugh but yeah so you learned that but yeah yeah

I'm sure we'll talk to you about cauldrons probably the conversation turns to more like cauldron culture and things like that but yeah you guys all finish

gathering your things and you emerge from the house of the rose unless there's any other business or if you want to talk to the reverend mother or father again but otherwise you are good to the Reverend Mother or Father again, but otherwise, you are good to go.

So this was like an all-day thing? No, this probably took like the bath, everything else. You've probably been here for like a couple of hours, like with the encounter and clearing all that up and stuff like that. We're probably looking at about midday, like you guys got here in the morning. I think I'm good to leave the...

Yeah, find it in. Yeah. Everyone else's. Sure, yeah. Where'd you wanna go? I feel so much better now. That was worth it. Your shoulders have dropped, you look relaxed.

That's hunched up, it's nice to relax and unwind. Very good idea, Ophelia, to come here first. I should mention all your clothes were returned, they've all been cleaned as well. Not repaired, because they don't provide that service, but they have all been cleaned. Your boots polished, all of that stuff. Amazing.

Lovely. Was there anything that was broken? I don't know, but I'm leaving that to you. Yeah, yeah. Yours? No. Oh, okay. Back to Inns.

I will happily walk down to the port and check the clever toad to see just to gauge if it's a better option for us. And I'll come back and let you know. What number was that, sorry, on the map? 16. I can head down with you as well. All right.

May as well get a second opinion. So Rowan and Xanthias are going to head down to check out the Clever Toad Inn. What about Gruff, Ophelia, and Daisy? Check out the other one? What was the Grumpy Hog? The Grumpy Hog Tavern. Should we check that one out? I feel like we're probably gonna end up staying there

because I don't think Ophelia's gonna go to the other one. Ophelia is right there. No, I'm aware. Just so you know. I feel like I'm right now. She stayed in the other one. Ophelia is right there. No, I'm aware. Just so you know. I feel like I'm right now. She stayed in the other one, remember? When we stayed in the nice place? If it is nice and if it is well furnished

and well looked after, then yes, I would prefer that one, but we're all a group. I will do as the group requests. Ophelia says she likes this one. I think it's just gruff in the middle of the, because I feel like these two are not properly talking to each other.

I'm a little bit intimidated by Ophelia, so if there's an option that Ophelia's gonna prefer, I feel like Daisy's like, we should do that one, because then she's not gonna be angry. Because when she gets angry, it's kind of scary. Well, the three of you then, we'll go with those three first,

and we'll come back to Rowan and Xanthias. The three of you check out the Grumpy Hog Tavern. Like I mentioned, it's huge. It's actually two buildings, and then a connection has been built between the two. When you step inside, immediately, even as you approach the door you can hear that this place is pretty busy it's getting to lunchtime um and you can see

that it is packed um the main first floor the ground floor is a huge dining hall and then a bar at the other end with uh the dining hall is like big tables like you can sit down you can have big groups small groups that kind of thing and it's like more like a restaurant really there's like a little serving window you can see serving girls and boys coming with food plates of food and things like that you can see there is a kitchen with somebody cooking you know multiple chefs um you know a big sort of like family kind of like come here get a big healthy lunch uh the bar is a bit more quiet has like smaller tables like booths for like quieter conversation and there is a balcony around the top as well with more seating and tables and booths and things like that for people to look down on.

There is a small stage as well that is kind of near the center where musicians can play. And you can see nobody's playing there currently, but it is available for people. There is a fireplace in the main hall in the bar section, and above that you notice a large portrait of a very grumpy, tired and heavily scarred wild heart man with porcine, pig-like features. So sort of big kind of like, you know, snout, piggy snout, piggy ears, very pink kind of skin, chubby cheeks, that kind of thing. And he just looks miserable. But he's dressed in very fine-looking clothing,

and there is a plaque underneath it as well, which has him writing, but you're too far away to read what that is. Behind the bar, you see another wild-heart, porcine, pig-like man who bears a familial resemblance to the painting. He has an eye patch, and you can see he's got a few scars as well,

big burly arms. He looks very Porco Rosso. Like, he has, like, a little Poirot moustache. He's got, like, the floppy ears. He's got, like, the leather eye patch. He's kind of big burly. And he's smoking a big cigar-like kind of tobacco, rolled-up tobacco thing, and he's got that in his mouth.

And he's serving drinks at the bar, and he's chatting to a few of the regulars and things like that. The dining hall is completely full. Like, there are no tables there, but the bar has a few tables and booths still available, and you can see that he's kind of, like, smoking behind the bar and serving drinks as he goes. And it does look like there's a third floor,

and it looks like there's plenty of... Like, there's loads of rooms upstairs. You don't know if they're free, but they're all there. Estres, Ophelia, does this suit your tenancy? I mean, the wood looks nice. The fireplace looks very homely. It is well furnished. This is like a quite, not super expensive luxurious,

but it is very good quality. Everything is well made. Yes, this will do, this'll suffice. It's Ophelia the type of person who will say homely, and it's like trying to be complimentary, but really it's like, uh, homely. And like, you're done with the place. Yeah, yeah, like that, yeah.

A lot of potential. Yeah. Yeah. How nice and rustic. Oh, yes. Lots of character features. Very charming. Quaint.

Yes. Yes. Well, Gruff can read none of this. Mistress Daisy, does it suit you as well? This is fancier than most places that I go, so yeah. Honestly, the same. I'm used to the road and the open stars, so I don't really know what we're doing.

Shall I inquire as to a rate? Yeah. Or do we want to wait for the boyos? We should inquire, and then when they come back, we can just compare. But we're probably going gonna end up staying here. Rowan might like the stage as well. That's what I was thinking.

Maybe a song for a discount. Maybe, yeah, maybe we can, we should probably ask if he wants to do that first though. Because we shouldn't assume that he wants to. But it would be nice if he did. Yes. Do you want me to talk to them or? Probably best, because I don't know

if someone's trying to rip me off, frankly. Neither do I, I never have money, but okay. Maybe Ophelia would be the best, to be honest. Okay! Ophelia would just go up to the bar. Yeah, go up to the bar. The porcine man, the porcine wild heart. Hey, how's it going?

Good afternoon. I am Ophelia de la Rosa. Stubs his cigar out. It's like, what a pleasure to meet you, Ophelia. Good to meet you, too. My name's Holgrim, Holgrim Hawker. I'm the owner of this establishment. Wonderful.

We would like to inquire about a room for the night, well, a selection of rooms. Oh yeah, yeah, we've got rooms, absolutely. I mean, we look in, we've got our basic rooms. They sleep two people, they go 25 gold a night. You know, it's a pretty pricey place. If you're looking for something more expensive, we have some larger, more, you know, suites

and things like that, you know, that kind of room. They cost you a little bit more depending on what you're looking for, what are you looking for something more expensive we have some larger more you know sweets and things like that you know that kind of room that costs you a little bit more depending on what you're looking for what are you looking for i mean like basic rooms are we looking for something a bit more fancy uh i mean i personally would like something on the fancier side i don't know about my my companions uh what would you what would you like basic basic not not so basic does breakfast come with place it does come with breakfast but that's the only meal that's included. It's bed and breakfast. That's the best one, so it's fine. Basic's fine.

Breakfast is served in the morning between six and nine. It's in the dining hall over there. That's it. And then, you know, anything else? We've got a fine selection of drinks. You know, you can get food here any time of day. Wines. Yeah, of course, we've got wines.

Yeah, I've got some few wines. I love a good wine. A red? He goes to, he's like, I can get food here any time of day. Wines? Yeah, of course we've got wines. Yeah, I've got some few wines. I love a good wine. A red? He goes to like, he's like, I'll get another one. He pulls out like a pack of these like cigars and he lights another one. Oh, sounds lovely. Shall we, shall we book a room

or shall we wait for the others to get back? Uh, we should probably wait for the boyos. Well, if you're gonna wait, why don't you pull up a chair? You would like some drinks. We can get you a nice to wait, why don't you pull up a chair? We would like you some drinks. We can get you a nice booth over there or something like that. May as well. Do you, um... Hey, how's it going there, little one? How you doing?

Are you looking for any performers for the stage? Uh, we always welcome musicians. I mean, I've got a few... You know, we normally have a couple in every night and things like that, but we can always slot somebody in. Yeah, it's nice to have a little bit of a... I need to hear him and check him out first. We normally do a night...

We do normally do a set for an audition, and then from the following night on, which we can talk about employment and that sort of thing. You play? You a musician? Oh, no, not for me. For one of our friends. Oh, right. Well, okay, we bring him along. Maybe if they do a little performance, you can see how the crowd reacts.

We have like a little bit of an open stage thing that we do for new talent. He's really good. Really good. Oh great, I'm up to hear him. It sounds wonderful, yeah. So a really nice song about pebble. Okay. Pebbles.

I've heard it, it's really good. That's a new one. We're working on some lyrics, and I think. So it's a song about pebbles that doesn't have lyrics. No, but it's inspired by the pebbles. Why, okay. The feelings of the pebbles. Feelings of the pebbles that doesn't have lyrics. No, but it's inspired by the pebbles. Why? The feelings of the pebbles. Feelings of the pebbles.

Yeah. All right. Orgrim, you know, my great-grandfather, he was a very miserable guy. I'm not like that, I'm a happy guy. Happy Orgrim, they call me. So anyway, you guys want some drinks, wine? Yes, please, yes.

We'll get you a glass of wine. Absolutely. That would be lovely. I'll buy us some drinks? Wine? Yes, please, yes. Absolutely. I'll buy us some drinks. What would you like? Just a thank you for helping with the spa earlier. Oh my god, what's happening to me? Your re is showing. Just some mead is fine. Some mead? How about you, Daisy? I've got a nice bottle of ice-hot mead that we can bring down here, absolutely.

Ice-hot? Yes, of course. I mean, they don't really make a lot of mead down here, but you guys do the good stuff. I mean, I consider what you're dressed on. I go for my size. Bless you, sir. I've done a travelling. I used to. I was in the Duke's army for a bit. I did a bit of travelling down there. I don't think I should have any alcohol. It doesn't tend to go well. You want some juice? You want fruit juice or something like that? We got an apple, a grape?

Orange? We can do an orange. I'll do an orange juice, no problem. I'll do a virgin, virgin, no, virgin something. It's a bottle of red for me, a mead for my friend here, and a orange juice for... A bottle of wine? Yes, please.

All right, okay. Well, that's going to be... The whole bottle. That's going to come in at about 13 gold. Perfect. All right, perfect. Take some drinks. I'll bring those over to you.

You go find yourselves a lovely table. I'll bring them right over. Thank you very much. All right, you guys grab some drinks. Meanwhile... You want a fucking juice? I don't know why that got me. Oh, you guys grab some drinks. Meanwhile... You want a fucking juice? I don't know why that got me. Oh, you want a juice?

I just got an image of him just crushing an orange in his hand. It's pretty barely. He's got, like, a soldier's bill. He looks pretty burly, Hogrim. The Xanthius and Rowan, you guys make your way down. It takes you, like like 20 minutes to kind of walk down towards the clever toad inn um as you begin to drift towards the river you can see at the far end you can see uh river barges coming and going a lot basically coming down the river

pulling up to like little docks and little seasides unloading goods loading goods up and then sailing off further down the river and this is the Ruby River. It's kind of a major river here in Caldera that runs the length of most of the province. You hear the clever toad in before you really see it because you hear a sort of like howling, kind of like screaming, shrieking, as you see a group of very drunk, very rough-looking sailors, basically, hey, get off, get off, God, fuck you, fuck, I can't kill you,

and they're, like, fighting with, like, what appears to be just a shroud of fabric and things that's crawling over them. They're, like, throwing, and then they're like, get off me, and then they stumble, and then they just run. Immediately after them, another third sailor comes out, just immediately vomits outside of the tavern. You see that he is swiftly, like, pounced upon

by this swarm of, like, shrouded figures. Like, they're wearing, like, cloaks, and they just swarble over him, and then he's suddenly, like, stumbling off, and they, like, kick him they kick him in the legs. And they're quite small, they're only about two, three feet high. But there's a pack of seven or eight of them.

And then they rush back into the inn. And you see that the swinging sign is of a particularly fat, purple and orange frog, but it's got a little wizard's hat on, and there's a little open book, and he's kind of making a, he's making a little smirky arrogant, smug little face,

and it just says, clever toad. I love this place, this is great. The detail of the smirk on the face. I'll tell you, for podcast listeners, it's the Dreamworks face. You don't even need to do that. The noise you made was, I think, anyone would think, hmm. Yeah.

So what do we think of this place, Rowan? I think it's got a lot of potential. Yes? You think now? We have to consider. Now, I personally, not the best sell straight away, but we need to think about how Ophelia will feel.

Into the mind of Ophelia. Remember, I look at the guy being attacked by the shroud. Now what would Ophelia say about this person throwing up here? Yes, it wouldn't be good. No. But I tend to not judge a book by its cover. No, you're not Rowan right now, remember?

Oh. You're Ophelia. I'm judging the book's cover, hush. Yes. We could check out the inside. It might be better on the inside. I'll have a... You don't have to come in. If you'd like to go in there alone.

Well, if you want to come in, that's fine. I can wander. But you have injuries. Oh, no, the injuries don't... I've been with you this entire time with the injury. Don't treat me like I have the injury. Let's go in. Think nothing of it. It might be pristine inside. It might be. with the injury, don't treat me like I have the injury. Think nothing of it.

It might be pristine inside. It might be. This might be a ruse. As you say that, one of the windows smashes and somebody gets thrown through a window. We can now see inside. But yeah, you see a figure kind of goes, gets thrown out, and then again,

you see this time a really big, hulking bugbear, which is very rare. You know that these creatures came from the Feywield with the elves long ago, those of you who were in the Empire. But they're still very rare. He's massive, and he runs out crying as he runs out. And the shroud of these seven figures chase him down the street. And then they go back in.

And then immediately you start seeing these little hands, and you see they are little clawed hands, begin putting up boards. But from what we see through the window... Briefly. Briefly. It's quite a... I mean, it looks homely. Ophelia homely.

It's kind of got that kind of like things have been cobbled together. It's very rustic. It's kind of got like bits of like ships have been turned into like tables and boats. It's kind of been like very ramshackle-y built. But the inside is pretty good and well structured. It's not anywhere near as big as the Grumpy Hog. Sure. But it definitely seems like it has an atmosphere.

You can hear like singing and laughing coming from inside of it. You might also hear more vomiting. But you'll watch briefly as somebody walks in, like a courier maybe, like somebody who's bringing a package. They walk in and you hear these tiny squeaky voices, maybe like 12 or more of these little voices. They say,

I'm a walker! as soon as he walks in i follow in behind this courier so you follow in uh when you guys step inside you see this it's like a long hall like a viking long hall within like a second floor and rooms out the back as well like separate little stable rooms um and the bar is like a mess it's kind of like just ramshackled it's like somebody's collected just things that they found and turned them into other things. So you see like long tables. The bar, though, is extremely long,

and there are 12 kobolds in matching little outfits with a painted toad like on sign, all set behind it, and as you walk in, all twelve of them in unison go, Welcome! Hello. And then they go back to doing what they were doing, like cleaning cups and drinks or pouring drinks and things like that.

Some of them appear to be cooking little skewers of meat at the far end of the bar. Everything we could ever need. The place is packed with mainly like sailors or like carpenters as well. You see a lot of like the store dust like everywhere. A few like laborers. It's much more sort of like down to earth,

rootsy kind of like vibe in here. One thing that does draw your attention, oh, the other thing is those 12 kobolds, there is another set of 12 identical looking kobolds that are the ones in the shrouds they've got like these cloaked kind of like hoods and they're the ones going around like serving drinks or fixing things or delivering food or chasing out like rowdy or drunk patrons and things like that um and they they but they all look really really similar like they must all be part of one big family. All 24 of them.

Yeah. I like this place. Is it immediately obvious which one is the one we can go to to book a room? Well, I would say that, like, you don't see... Not the ones that you can see. There might be more of them, but all of them out here are roughly about the same size.

They all look very, very similar to each other. There are, like, some distinctions, like their spines and scales are slightly different, but it's hard to tell. The other thing that draws your attention is at the far end and you can see that there's a group of um dwarven teenagers that are like playing with it uh there is like a a cabinet and inside the cabinet is a big fat toad in a little wizard's hat with a book, and its eyes are closed, and you see the dwarven kids put a brass coin in, pull a lever, and the toad's eyes open.

It glows for a minute, and you hear it muttering something, but you can't hear what it says. It kind of goes like... And all the dwarven teens start laughing, and then it shuts down, and then they laugh, and then they do it again and pull it, blah, blah, blah. Sorry, was this a mechanic? And all the dwarven teens start laughing, and then it shuts down, and then they laugh, and then they do it again and pull it. Oh, that's awesome.

I think we have to move here. The Zoltan machine is very, it's decorated in, it just says clever toad. I mean, if a kobold is running past, I'd almost like, excuse me, can we? We'd like to book a room. Book them! Hello.

Hello! Me and my friend here, and a few others... Hello, hello, hello, hello! ...who aren't here, we're thinking of booking a room. Six, five people. Oh, yeah, rooms, we've got loads of rooms. You want food, you want drink, we've got some rooms. Rooms, food, drink, yes.

Loads! Yeah, Rowan? Rowan's got tears in his eyes. Okay. He's just staring at Xanthius. Hello, I'm Ixl Taric. Ixl Taric. Xanthius, this is Rowan.

Hello. I'm his friend. Oh, I see. Is he okay? I realise that's the first time I've described him as such, but... One minute, I've got a job to finish. Urin Tarek, come and deal with these customers. I've got to go back on my thing.

And you see Vera, and you go, Hello, I'm Urin Tarek, how you doing? Hi there, Urin. Urin. We were looking to book a room for five people. Yeah, well, we do rooms that you can get a family room. That fits four people in there, you can get individual rooms. What are you looking for?

How high quality are these rooms, I suppose? Well, a room for four is 20 gold, but a single room is 10 gold. So if you've got a group and you're happy kind of sharing, like family, I'm really sorry. I've got to go do something in a minute. Zini, Zini, this is my sister Zini, Zini Tarek. And she goes over. Another cobbled. Maybe a little bit smaller comes up. It's like, hello, I'm Zini do something in a minute. Okay. Zini, Zini, this is my sister Zini, Zini Tarek. And she goes over. Another Cobble.

Maybe a little bit smaller comes up. It's like, hello, I'm Zini Tarek. This is like Groundhog Day for me. I really quickly like recap the conversation we've just had. And she's immediately like, yeah, so, you know, my brother said, what were you looking for? Individual rooms, group rooms? Oh, well, I think four of us would be very happy.

I've gone quickly now. Four of us would be very happy to book a room, but one person in particular has very high standards. I mean, we've got the space, so yeah, just bring us the money. We put the deposit down, we give you the keys, that's no problem. Okay, and is food included? Drinks? No, unfortunately not, no. We do snacks at the bar, but we don't really do a big meal or anything like that.

There's plenty of places in town that you can go to. She glances over her shoulder and they just wave their head, and she's like, okay, I've got a few more minutes. Okay. Well, what do you think, Rowan? I think this is great. Well, we will have to fetch our friends. Sure, sure, sure.

Absolutely, come on down. Yeah, bring them down. Yeah, great, okay. We'll do just that. Good to see you. I hope you come by. Try the toadsticks. Toadsticks. Goddamn, runs off. Okay. And with that...

He ushered out the door. I threw myself out the window. I'm crying. I can understand why the bugbear was crying. And with that, that is where we're going to bring our episode to a conclusion today with you guys having sort of sourced some potential places to stay

and met some of the locals here in Ashen Rest. This place is nuts. Yeah, that was a lot. This entire city. Very stressful. There's so much going on. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you very much for watching, everybody.

We will see you next week for more High Rollers, Althea, the Dragon Empire. We're back, baby! Woo! Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy New Year!