High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #9 | The Duke's Favour (Part 2)

Episode Date: January 25, 2024

With some time to kill the team join the rest of the city in attending the evening service in Brightshadow Cathedral! 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. Pick from over 190 assets and start with the $10 in your pocket. Easy. Go to Kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Non-investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See Kraken.com slash legal slash CA dash PRU dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. Own each step with Peloton. From their pop runs to walk and talks, you define what it means to be a runner. Whatever your level, embrace it.

Journey starts when you say so. If you've got five minutes or 50, Peloton Tread has workouts you can work in. Or bring your classes with you for outdoor runs, walks, and hikes led by expert instructors on the Peloton app. Call yourself a runner. Peloton All Access Membership Separate. Learn more at onepeloton.ca slash running. Welcome back to part two of Althea, the Dragon Empire. Episode nine, I believe. Yeah.

Episode nine, which I've given the tentative title of the Duke's Favour. Hell yeah. Nice. Not with me, Daddy. When we last left our heroes, they had travelled up to the Dominus Ignarum, the Duke's palace, where they had met with Considerate Eddath Orgrim, a dwarven Considerate who is the Draconic Duke's right claw man.

And has told our heroes that they can present the writ at a public audience in two days' time. It is nighttime. Night has fallen upon Ashenrest. The Lamplighters Guild have made their way through the city streets and have illuminated the streets of the magical lampposts and lanterns. And now we find ourselves asking that wonderful question of,

what would you like to do now? So we're going from Dominus Ignarum probably towards the plaza, right? Yeah, sure. The central plaza. Makes sense. Gruff has an idea of what he would like to do. Leave it out, because I want to take a picture of it later. Okay, leave it out.

Leave it out. Leave it out. Leave it out. Leave it out. Leave it fucking out. It's more that I wanted to get the old... Get that map going. Fine. Did you take some more painkillers on the break?

I think it might kill him if he does. He might go into the future. I saw how the campaign ends. Fire everywhere. Xanthius wasn't there. So, yeah, I mean, feel free, if you guys want to pass the map around to figure out where you would like to go or anything like that.

Glaaf would like to go to the cathedral and see if he can catch the evening service and also talk to some knights about knighting. Okay. Is Glaaf going to go there on his own, or...? He would ponder that aloud to the group and say people are welcome to join if they wish. Oh, well, Ophelia, are you planning on going straight

to the Grumpy Hog? Come and see the magic toad first. That's where we are staying tonight. That's where you are staying. We do have, I mean, I presume we have like a few hours. Is there like a curfew or something? Just before we go to bed. Most of the businesses will shut.

Things like shops and things will start to close now. Yeah. The taverns will be open late. Most of the shrines, like the House of the Rose, will be open until quite late. The Cathedral does have an evening service, but generally after evening service, it generally shuts its doors.

And then, yeah, you're free to do whatever you want, really. Sure. No curfew, but you do have a bedtime. I do. I have to get my beauty sleep. Is Gruff enforcing a bedtime? Aye, the little lordling needs to go and get to sleep. Otherwise he's very grumpy the next day. Oh, I am. Ferocious.

Very touchy. Yes. Claws. Fire breath, that sort of thing. Don't talk to me. You can get one premonition though. You must come see the clever toad. You want to do things with me? Yes. Well, speaking of premonitions, Rowan,

you did also display an interest in going elsewhere for. I did, but it's becoming nighttime, right? So. We are right there, though. We're basically outside the tower. It's sunset. If you're looking over to it from this area, you can't really see an entrance.

You're on the hill. You're a street away. But the tower itself has these kind of glowing illusions. It might be open. You don't know. You don't really know anything about the tower, the Coil of the Empress. You were told to go there to speak to these individuals,. You don't really know anything about the tower, the Coil of the Empress. You were told to go there to speak to these individuals,

but yeah, you don't really know much about it. I would like to go to the Coil of the Empress, but if we have a couple of days, I can wait till tomorrow. That's okay. Oh, well, I mean, we have a few hours to... I think it's important we go to the Clever Toad. If you would like to go back to the Clever Toad,

now I wouldn't advise spending all of your bronze coins, Rowan, on premonitions. I look through how many coins I have left. Lots. Two. Two bronze left. Now don't go spending it all of it. All of it. It would...

You know? You're on the same page. Yes, good. We still have to get you two cloves, by the way, as well. Oh, fantastic. I can't wait. Oh, it would be wonderful. Don't... Oh, I'm sure. I love shopping. I will say, Mistress Ophelia, as a diplomat in these lands,

have you caught an evening service yet from the Church of Sion? No, I haven't yet, no. It may be worth your time, you know, to see some of the rituals and the religious... religious beliefs the people of this land have. It would be interesting to see how cauldrons practice. OK. I've got so much to squeeze in. What's to do?

So, are people splitting off? Are we splitting the party? practice. Okay. I've got so much to squeeze in. Hmm, lots to do. So is there, are people splitting off? Are we, you mean splitting the party? Are people heading, what are people doing? You tell me. Okay. Give me an order of things. We go to the service. The service is how long?

I mean, you don't know. You've never been to one. I don't know how long it would be in this place. In Iceheart, it tends to be half hour, not too long even so. Well, in Caldra, it takes multiple days. Oh. It's not true. I guess because you have longer evenings here.

Yes, exactly. All day's worth. Is everyone going to accompany Gruff up to Bright Shadow Cathedral? Yeah, I'm trying to think if there's anywhere in particular. I think I would probably be of a mind to kill time at the moment, so I'm happy to go anywhere.

I have kilos of chemicals. Is that place still open? I would say you probably have enough time to visit, like, one store. If you go now, but you would have to go before going to the service. So the stores stores it is sundown so they are closing now yeah yeah no yeah yeah and we can also like gloss over we can be like cool pay some money we skip a day like you guys just hang out don't forget as well that um

you need to spend basically a week of downtime in a place to get things like your heroic short rest back to recover from like certain like levels of exhaustion and things like that. There's going to be some other abilities and things like that as well, which you're going to take. Yeah, you guys haven't even had a full day here. Yeah. Okay. So it's totally okay to be like, Mark, we just kill time for a few days.

I'd be like, totally fine. Mark off the gold of whatever it costs to stay at the tavern. If you guys are like, we need to make some money, then great. You can go off and do some stuff in the town. There's also downtime activities like research or making money. Like, Rowan as a performer can just be like, I'm gonna spend the day making money.

If you want to research, you can fish in the river. You can go and do labour work or research or make items, that sort of thing. Is there like a city billboard outside Dominus Ignarum or is it elsewhere? There is not a billboard outside Dominus Ignarum.

There could be one elsewhere. Not in any of the places that you have found. It's not in the central plaza either. Huh. But it could be somewhere else. Well, we should have the conversation at some point of what we actually intend to use the favor on. Have you thought about that at all?

I just presumed the Duke was gonna give us something shiny. Oh, likely, but there is a potential that they may ask what we would want to use it on, in which case we would be wise to have a good answer. We will tell them something shiny. A shrine to the Blood Mother. Not that.

Great Father, blood! No. Oh. Something shiny, I mean. A beautiful gem. Yes? Nothing too fancy, of course, but that's shiny. Something of monetary value is what you're hoping for.

No. No? A gem to keep. A gem that radiates warmth and kindness. What about you, Gruff? I don't think there's anything the Duke can give me. My quest is to become a knight. And what would assist you in becoming a knight?

Well, to find this order, which is why I'm going to the church to go and speak to the holy knights there to see if they know anything about this order that I'm looking for. But I don and speak to the Holy Knights there to see if they know anything about this order that I'm looking for. But I don't want to ask the Duke's favor in that because I have to earn my right to be an officer. Oh, no, I understand, but.

I don't want to be jumping the queue. But it would be easier with a nice piece of armor, a big sword, a helmet, you know, that sort of thing. There were some nice things in that Dante shop. Maybe that's something you might be able to request. I think Gruff drooled a little bit looking in that window the other day. Look, it was only a little bit,

and I wiped it up afterwards. Maybe he could grab me an audience. You shook your head, and it sprayed everywhere. Maybe he could grab me an audience with Sir Gryold Stierlai. Oh, he was so dreamy. That is almost a given. Sir Gryold is one of the knights of the realm. He is almost a given, as Sir Grield is one of the knights of the realm,

he is one of the duke's knights. He was quite impressive. So there is that, but I just thought it'd be good to ask what, well, it's more a question of what's everyone's plans? I mean, we're here, we've got the favor, we've got two days. I'm going to the church. We're going to the church right now.

I'm going to ask the knights if they've heard of this. Where do you see yourself in three days? A knight. In ten days. Sat on a worm with some great armour. In ten days. And a bard singing my song. In ten.

We have one of those. Oh, ten days. Sorry, I thought you said ten years. No, ten days. Oh, no. What do we do after we receive the favour? We've helped people in Burnell. We've helped people even here at the Baths.

I wouldn't mind seeing this tournament. When is the tournament? A few days. First day of Bronze Glow. And what is it now? Not Bronze Glow. I believe you were told ten days. Yes. First day of Bronze Glow, about 10 days.

Right, and it's... So in 10 days' time... Would you like to know what day it is now? It's currently 21 of pre-Bronze Glow. No. It is... It is the third of the late moon in Stormfall, is the name of the passing you are currently in.

The first of Bronzeglow is in approximately 10 days' time. Third of what now again? Is the third late moon of Stormfall. So it's 13 days of Stormfall. No. There are 10 days, because, wait. There are... Ten days. Because... Wait.

So each passing in the world, a passing is basically a month of this, each passing is divided into three moons, or phases. So you have first moon, mid moon, and late moon. Right. And there are 12 days in each moon phase. So there's actually 36 days.

So it's 36 days. And so all the months are split into thirds. Yes. Right. Okay. I have a whole calendar I wrote out. I'm sure you do. And I've labeled it, and it has special days,

and I have holidays, and all sorts of things. And I'm very pleased with it. And how many months are you? But no, you are, so yeah, it is the late moon, which is the third moon phase of a passing. You are currently in late moon, and it is the third day of late moon in Stormfall, which is the second passing of the year.

Hmm. Cool. Mm-hmm. And the next one is Bronze Boy. The third act of Stormfall. They also have draconic names, but you don't know them. Actually, no, you speak draconic, right? Yeah, I do.

So Stormfall is called Aziranus. It's the name of the passing. But it's more commonly called Stormfall. Aziranus. Aziranus. Right. Aziranus. Where do you see. Right. Azir Anus. Where do you see yourself in ten days' time, Los Antios?

Hmm. Well, I suppose still here, maybe. Why do you sound so surprised by that? Well, I've put as much thought into that question as you all have. Well, I know where I'm going. I'm going to be in the tournament. You're going to the tournament whilst we're chatting. Absolutely. If you go to the service, you won't have time

to go to the shops today, but you can always do that. You guys make your way over to Bright Shadow Cathedral. I'm almost passing. It takes you a little bit of time. It takes you about 30 minutes. 35 minutes, 40 minutes to get there. You have to trek basically across to the other side of Ash and Rest.

And there is another smaller hill. It's not quite as tall as the hill that the Dominus Ignarum is built on, but there are stairs that lead up. And the great Bright Shadow Cathedral looms before you. Bright Shadow Cathedral is built from polished ashtone, but also black obsidian, and creates this very stark, ecliptic-like nature. There are golden filigrees and silver filigrees

to give it an air of richness and elegance, but the stark black and white stone is designed in a way that makes the shadows of the building look even deeper and more imposing, as the recessed parts of the outer building are made from this black polished obsidian and so they almost look like they kind of pool in the shadows just absorb all of the light whereas the outer areas of the white the polished white ash stone reflect any light that they can see making them almost glow in a kind of luminous radiance creating this very magical-looking place.

As you make your way up there, you begin to see that a large contingent of the town have left their homes or businesses and are making their way up to the cathedral as well. There is a bell tower, and you can begin to hear several chimes indicating that a service is going to be taking place. You soon join a crowd and you find yourselves sort of shoulder to shoulder with many citizens here of

Ashen Rest visiting cauldrons and visitors from other provinces as well who have all come. All of them, as they make their way up, you can see that most of them have donned either a shawl or a cloak or a hood of some kind of black or dark blue or a deep purple, a kind of shadowy colour, sometimes trimmed in silver or white. And most of them bear the emblem, the kind of very thin crescent moon with a pair of eyes, the symbol of Melia, the mistress of the shadowed moon, one of the two scions of Ulthea, the two remaining goddesses who defeated the sovereign and imprisoned sovereign within the crown

and basically saved the world. The service itself, as you begin making your way inside Rowan, you would pick up perhaps before anybody else, and you tell me how Rowan feels about this, but a beautiful piece of choral music and stringed instruments is being played within and it is soft and delicate it evokes imagery of the moon of night time of whispers of secret meetings and this this choir and this stringed orchestra kind of play

has people in filtering in you can see those of you who are kind of like not listening but focusing more on the visuals um as people filter in and make their way there is a large uh fountain uh at the start um and people wash their hands and they wash their mouths as well they kind of rinse their mouths um with like splashing the water onto it and then let the water dry they don't like you know rinse it back into the water or spare anything they just let the water dry on their lips um and uh you see that they also go over to a sort of wired rack wall and pull out pieces of parchment and little pencils kind of like simple wooden pencils um and they tear off a piece of the parchment and they

take one of these pencils and then they go and take a seat in the great cathedral and we're talking like a very classic english cathedral rows of pews big kind of um pulpit um with the sort of uh the i can't remember the name of it the bit at the back altar oh yeah altar it's not quite right but yeah but you kind of get that impression. Huge ceiling. Huge ceiling. You can see that there is a kind of like a balcony with like a secondary floor that seems to be cloistered off. There are also stained glass windows that depict the creation of Althea.

They focus more on the Scions' role in Althea being saved. They focus less on the creation of the world by Sovereign and Scions and more on the imprisonment of Sovereign within the crown. They focus on the Scions, Melia and Pyrrhus both saving the kind of living creatures of the world, both beasts and humanoids. They focus on the ascendancy of the saints. You can see that all of the saints are depicted in some form here in some part of the stained glass windows, normally telling the ending part of their story where they are ascended to sainthood by either Pyrrhus or Maelir. There is also maybe Pyrrhus or Maelir. There is also maybe one singular large framed stained glass window in a prominent place which celebrates the role of Ulfhe, the third of the Scions who gave their

body and gave their spirit to heal the land, with Pyrrhus becoming the sun and Maelir becoming the moon. And there is a kind of tribute to Ulfhe, who is not really worshipped as a god. In the religion of the Scions, Ulfheim is dead. They gave their life to basically heal the land. But Pyrrhus and Melia remain as the protectors, as the watchers, always one watching over the crown. The sun, which is sometimes called Pyrrhus' fortress, as it is meant to be a realm.

It's not like the sun like we know the sun. The sun in Ulfheim is meant to be a realm. It's not like the sun like we know the sun. Sure. The sun in this, in Ulthea, is literally like a fortress planet that is full of, like, angels and fire elementals and sort of things like that. Right. And then the moon is the same thing. It's, like, full of, like, actual creatures,

and it is like our floating bastion. It is, like, still a realm thing, but it is like a world of their creation. Can we go there? So is it close? Let's go there. Well, at least obviously closer than the sun to us, but... In terms of how big it is in the sky,

it looks the same as the sun and the moon. Yeah. Magic being magic, there is no real idea of how far away or close that is. But basically, one is always orbiting Ulthea, keeping watch over the crown as it breaks away. So there is always the sun or the moon that is keeping an ever-vigilant eye on

where they imprisoned their creator, their father, the sovereign. Their parent, I should say. I wanna go there. I wanna go there. He wants to go to space again. What else is new? What a surprise.

Rowan will grip whoever's nearby and stand still and whoever that is would look up at Rowan as it seems like he's desperately trying to hold something in on his face. Like he's sucking like he's had a lemon or something like that. And then he just starts bawling. He just starts crying.

That's so majestic and beautiful. Yeah, who is near Rowan? Who does Rowan grab? Any volunteers? I imagine we're sticking together as a group. Sure. We're quite a thick crowd of people. Yeah.

So as one, a priest dressed in the black and silvery robes of Maelir, probably dark blue and purple hues in there as well, almost gossamer-like in their robe, sees you crying and just comes up and sort of smiles softly and says, it is beautiful, my son, it is beautiful. Enjoy it, let the tears flow, let the beauty in it flow. And they almost kind of like put their arm on your shoulder

and just say like, ah yes, and they begin telling you. It's a little more internal. Turn it down a bit. No, no, encourages you to fully embrace it. Let it out. I grip this person and just wail down their back with tears. They probably try and pull a little bit away so it doesn't stain their robes and things like that.

Do they cry with Rowan? They don't cry with Rowan. There's definitely a som of somber kind of... An understanding. An understanding. And they are just like, oh, it is beautiful, isn't it? I love this piece.

They talk to you about it. They basically kind of get the conversation started. What does it all mean? Well, we call it the song of our mistress, the song of night, the song of beauty. It is a simple choir, a simple song, and they just tell you a little about it. It's just like, what do they call them?

Psalms? What's like the holy psalms? It's like psalms. Hymns. Hymns. It's like a hymn. It's a hymn to Melia that talks about, it is talking about whispering secrets to the night

and how they are given to Melia, basically, and how you unburden yourself when you give secrets to the goddess of secrets, to the goddess of knight. You are unburdening yourself of them. Would Gruff be familiar, like, not with the size of the cathedral and all that, but would he be familiar with the ritual? Gruff's quite religious, right?

I imagine, like, yeah, I always imagine him as almost like there's a little church just outside the village. Oh, there always would be. And it was just always, you just went. You went. And what you would probably find is actually there's almost a sense of familiarity with Gruff.

In Iceheart, in your little village, in Tremoro, there is one church and it serves Pyrrhus, Melia, and all the saints. And that seems to be very similar to here, just on a much grander scale. In other places that maybe you've traveled through, Pyrrhus sometimes has her own temple. Melia has her own temple.

The saints have their own shrines and things like that. But here, this seems to be a celebration of at least both the scions, at least, with the saints being sort of like touched upon. And yeah, I think that these rites, it's all on a bigger scale. But the rites, the paper and the pencil, you know this rite. And you can even see down by the altar, by the pulpit, there is already the big silvery bowl with a very specially prepared, like, wood that's been laid out. And Gruff, you have all, I think, out of everybody, I think you're the most religious,

so maybe you're the one who knows this. But that little strip of paper is during the service and the ceremony there will be a point where the priestess will call the priest will call for silence everybody writes down a secret they take it to the bowl in and in turn they cast it in it will be lit a flame it will be like a silvery flame they cast into that it burns and it said that the secret is then sent up to melee and she takes on the burden of that whatever that secret is whatever you're holding and keeping to yourself um and that's like a very common right here in the world um and that's that looks like this is what tonight's service is about um and it might be that on different nights there are different rights

and services but tonight is this burning of secrets so i think while Rowan's having his moment. Mistress Ophelia, the paper and pencil, if you take it, during the service, there will be a moment where the priest asks you to write down a secret, and then we place it in the bowl that you see over there, and it's burnt. Would you like to take part in this? I'll be taking part in this.

Not unlike Rowan's fun little game of truth. I suppose. But this is a secret between you and Melia. Do you all take part? Xanthius, are you interested as well? Why not? It has to be true as well. You can't lie.

You can, but it's like... But the god will know. That's certainly what you've been taught. If you lie, Melia will know. I have no intention of lying. Insight. Yeah, I mean, you're... Daisy, would you like to take part as well?

No, I'm okay with keeping them here just now, thank you. Okay. So, the service goes underway, kind of like a church service you might expect. Everyone takes their seats. A few priests kind of go around and check everybody. There is a little silver bowl that's passed around. Donations, donations kind of passed around.

Does anybody give any coins? Yeah, I'd put a gold in. A gold? Mark it off. I only have gold denominations and two bronze. I definitely want to use the two bronze for the toad. For the toad! Blasphemous! A gold is going in.

All right, sure. I mean, this is completely optional. You do see other citizens pass the bowl on without putting any coins in. You see some citizens, you know, a handful of silver coins, a gold coin, you know. Rhona's paying for the music. All different amounts, sure.

He's transcendent right now. Anybody who wants to can mark it off. The service is held by a figure. Sorry, I thought you said the service is hell. The service is held by a figure. And I believe this is the first time we've seen one in the campaign. This won't be the first time that you guys have seen this particular ancestry before,

but it is the first time we've seen them in the campaign. This won't be the first time that you guys have seen this particular ancestry before, but it is the first time we've seen them in the campaign. Okay. And you see that a man takes the altar, the pulpit, and they are beautiful. And I don't necessarily mean in a physical kind of societal,

what we, you know, handsome jaw or anything like that. In this case, it is something about this man's eyes that make him beautiful. In whatever way your character would kind of think of. Like, you know, like, their eyes are just beautiful, and you can think of them that. And it almost seems to...

Their eyes are so radiant. They almost sparkle. They are so intense. And when you almost feel that those eyes are for you and you alone, like when you look at them, right? And it almost blurs away any other imperfections about this person. Like it becomes such a striking feature that you are just, they are beautiful, this person, whoever they are.

that you are just, they are beautiful, this person, whoever they are. And they have dark kind of purple skin with a shock of white and silver hair. And they are a Nalunari or a dark elf. Okay. The Nalunari are a, or the dark elves, they are sometimes called, but I don't think, I think we would call them dark elves OC, but in character they would always be Nalanari. They're not called like dark elves or dragons.

Nalanari. How are we spelling that? N-A-L-U-N-A-R-I. Nalanari. Okay. Or deep elf or dark elf or, you know, night elf, that kind of thing. Very similar kind of vibes.

I won't go into the full lore of them, but basically you guys would all know that they are a... When the elves came to Ulthea from the Feywield, a number of them were very badly cursed from their enemies and they were basically exiled from their own people out of fear. They basically found a number of dwarves who took them underground where the sunlight wouldn't hurt their skin and their eyes and things like that. And it was Maelir who found them and undid the curse

and gave them great gifts in return. In exchange, the Nalunari are fully devoted to Maelir. They do not worship any of the other saints. They do not worship Pyrrhus. They fully are dedicated to Melia and Melia alone. And part of that gift was an almost supernatural beauty. Almost every Nalunari has something about them that makes them beautiful in some way.

But that can be, you know, they come in different body sizes. They come in different body shapes. But there is, you know, they come in different body sizes, they come in different body shapes, but there is, you know, it might be a smell, something about them, they smell like your favorite thing in the world. And it's almost supernatural in that regard. So when you see these eyes, it is a supernatural thing, which is almost captivating your attention.

So it's always, I guess there's no way of really knowing what anyone else would perceive, but it's always the perfect thing for you is what you see. a small way so it could be that like they might have your perfect figure that you see and like they have a shape or size or whatever that you are just drawn to it might be their skin is like flawless and has like you know it just lures you in with like some sort of mystical property or something yeah it could be a favorite smell or it could be that their hair is just always voluminous and thick and shiny. There's just something about them that makes them, like,

have this natural beauty. Because Amtius, his eyes are mirrors. Sure, yeah. Or at least they look like your eyes, and you are just drawn to them. Well, it fits with the prideful thing. Yeah, it does. I've been working on that.

Sure. But you see they take the stage and they are introduced. They would introduce themselves. I think that they would say, Good evening to you all, our children, friends. Welcome. For our newcomers, I am High Priest Arden. A-R-D-E-N. A-R-D-E-N, and I am the High Priest of Mele here at Bright Shadow

Cathedral. Thank you all for joining us for this evening's service. We will begin with a few hymns and prayers, and then there will be some news from our community here. And there's almost a community hall kind of vibe to this this is almost going to be like they're going to discuss maybe some things going on in the town um you know announcements of births and weddings and things like that that are upcoming um and then it concludes with this uh the burning of the secrets um this right um i won't go into the

full prayers and hymns but it is basically a kind of you are here for about 45 minutes an hour okay like look around i imagine obviously most of the people here are residents yes and things like that like how not enraptured are they with this um the 45 for the entire 45 minutes but like you know yeah it's like a mixed bag like there are some people who are clearly devotees and they are like nope you pay attention and you listen and they sing along with the hymns and they are there and then you get the people who are like we have to go to the thing like you know they're with their family and like the dad's kind of like kind of like miming along whilst the wife is there kind of like going for it or like you know you know, there's the kids with their grandparents.

Yeah, yeah, you know, like anything, this is as much a social ritual as it is a holy ritual as well. And for Ophelia, I mean, you tell me, but I would imagine that this feels very familiar to Ophelia. Like this ceremony, the fact that everybody's wearing these kind of like, like I said, everybody has

a cloak or a mantle or a hood or something like that that is representative of this goddess. The hymns, the singing, the ritual elements, the bowl, like there is so much here that is familiar I would imagine.

Yeah, I was going to say is there anything in particular that like ophelia is thinking about as all of this is happening or i think she's just kind of feeling a little bit homesick in a way like she like this whole familiarity is sort of bringing her back to what she knows and she feels like, she feels like she's been struggling to kind of find her place and find, like, figure out this new world and trying to make it make sense to her. And she kind of misses just that familiarity of what she knows in a way.

Yeah. There's definitely, as you're kind of sat here and thinking, there's like almost flashes where you're looking down the pews and the cathedral and the altar and the stained glass. for you there's almost like a in your mind you can almost imagine the throne of the grave father at the far end where the grave father would normally be sat you know in a in their their kind of uh statutory position um you can almost imagine the baroness up in the pulpit delivering the sermon kind of similar to this priest one thing i should have made clear and i do apologize because it's only just dawned on me,

as you were drawing up to this cathedral, Percival would stop moving. And Percival is unable to step within a certain range of this building. Like, literally is just like,

and then just stops, and almost looks towards you. So we'll kind of flash back a little bit before then, because, yeah, I would have realised that this is actually a pretty significant thing that would have happened. And I think Ophelia would be, seeing that, she would be drawn to the familiar place

and be drawn to what she knows, but she would not abandon Percival. I think she would turn around and guide Percival back down the hill, and we would keep our distance. There's probably, like, benches. Like, there's probably... Because this is quite a wide space out in front of it,

and there's, like, little pieces of grass and trees, and there are, like, benches nearby, so you could be sat looking in. Yeah. Like, the doors are open, so you can kind of see and hear what's going. But give me an Arcana check. Okay, okay.

With advantage. Oh! Come on, new dice. Unnatural 20. Unnatural 20. Hmm. You are not necessarily a student of magic in the traditional sense,

but you know enough about necromancy and you have probably studied or been told by the baroness or your teachers about ulthair and the empire and things like that sorry the dragon empire and ilmera this has the feeling that there is some sort of warding or forbiddance that percival cannot cross because Percival is undead. You are familiar that probably the Baroness has similar wards placed around her home and the cathedral and things like that to deter spies of the House of Shrouds and the House of Shadows because they are very known for sneaking into places

that they shouldn't be. And it feels like a very similar thing to that. Maybe not as specific, because that is obviously tailored to incorporeal undead. This feels like just any undead. Percival cannot step into that space. I'd say that this is basically, you don't know this is Ophelia,

but for a bit of game perspective, the ground here is hallowed. And he cannot enter hallowed ground. It is protected against undead. Okay. I'm sorry, Percival. I will wait here with you until the service is finished. I won't leave you.

Percival, yeah, Percival doesn't have enough to basically argue. He just nods his head and just sits down with you, waiting for a command. Percival is limited in what... He doesn't have a full sentience in a sense, so he just kind of sits there and waits with you. But you can hear the singing. You can see everything going on.

A little bit of a retcon on there, yeah, the singing, you can see everything going on. Yeah. I guess, like, yeah, and so, yeah, a little bit of a retcon on there, but that is an important distinction. I think for us, it's not that we've actively, like, forgotten that Ophelia was there. I imagine in amongst this moving crowd, you were probably at the back, like, you've just gotten lost in the crowd as far as...

Well, I imagine you almost have that thing, right, in the crowd, Percival suddenly stops as you get too close. People filter around. And Ophelia's like, come on, and he's like, I can't. And then that kind of, you get dragged forward and you guys have to, you know, kind of linger and be like, we'll come back and we'll see you inside and that kind of thing. Yeah. Okay.

That's cool. Makes sense. I mean, yeah, it does make sense. It's a shame because there's this, and I almost feel that there's this there's this i i almost feel that there's this this quite sad scene where like we can see how much ophelia wants to go inside but this calling this this part of your homeland showing the difference between the cultures here yeah you know that this why should personal not be allowed to go in there it would be be so fitting

back in osseous the organs would be played by the servants of the House of Bones or the House of Shrouds or the House of Rot or anything like that. There would be these figures here to do this stuff. They would be part of the ceremony. You said House of Rot? Where's the House of Flowers? I want to know the House of Rot. Why don't you know the House of rot why is it also like a house of rot um what are you gonna say um i've got my train of thought it's all right you can always come back to it um well like comparative you compared to the house of blood for example like how oh what's it gonna

say no sorry come back i feel like sure yeah we can just come back to you no worries if you think of it just like give me a signal and I'll come back to it. If Ophelia's looking really sad that she can't go in, I think Daisy would be like. Because Daisy wasn't that fussed about it, right? If you want to go in, I can sit with him. It's okay, because he responds to my commands,

so I don't want him to get stuck, for example. If something were to happen and we'd need to go, he would kind of be stuck. It's okay, you go and enjoy it, it's okay. I can hear the singing from out here. Well, I could maybe talk to you and let you know if something went wrong, if you want to go in and then...

It's okay. I can... No. It's okay, you go and enjoy it. Don't worry. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay. But thank you. Well, I could sit here with you. Oh, you're more than welcome if you'd like to. I just... Percival's not welcome, so I don't want him to feel alone. Okay. Um, well, I'll go... Ask Uchova. You come sit down next to me. Come sit down. There's space for you. Okay. Um, well, I'll go. You come sit down next to me. Come sit down.

There's space for you. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Daisy sits down next to Ophelia, as everyone else is sort of cajoled inside. Ophelia and Percival. Little tiny halfling on the bench.

Halfling? No, sorry, I keep saying that. Small human. You're not a halfling, that's very true. You. She slightly regrets it. She didn't think she'd be. Stuck here.

But awkward, isn't it? You would notice you are not the only ones who don't go to the cathedral. We are not talking about the whole of Ashen's Rest goes to this ceremony. You still see people moving around. You probably even see some people heading back the way you came, carrying little statues,

stone statues of the Dragon Empress, and they are heading in the other direction. Jasmus. But just briefly back inside during the ceremony itself, eventually after a while we reach that point where the High Priest Arden will say, my friends, it is time. We are going to dim the cathedral lights. I hope that if you've not already written your secret, now is the chance to do it. We will dim the lights to let you think upon what you've written,

what you are committing to, Meilir, and then we will ignite the flame and invite you up to send your secrets to our goddess. And he just nods his head. And, yeah, you have, like, a few minutes. So, yeah, what, I mean, are we going to say out loud what you guys are writing? I will say this. I need you to write down what you

put. Okay. Or at least give it to me in some form. So I'm going to give you a piece. I can give you some pieces of paper so you can have a few of yours. Sorry? I said I'm glad I didn't go into the computer. There's a voice in my head!

These are like things that are getting thrown into a pile. Fire. Well, I mean, these are like- There's a voice in my head! These are like things that are getting thrown into a pile. Fire. Well, I mean, before even the fire, it's like, is it literally we throw it into a fire or we throw it into a pile that then gets lit? The fire is lit and then you would throw it into the flame and then it's burnt up.

I fired and blamed it on me nan. Terrible. I fell down. What a terrible person. Secrets, secrets! Bring out your secrets. Cos the goddess Melia will know what you sent, and therefore so does Mark. What? Goddess Melia knows all anyway, so...

Do they? Well... Do you need a pen? Yeah. Ah! I'm torn. I've got three ideas in my head. Do they? Well, do you need a pen? Yeah. I'm torn. I've got three ideas in my head. You don't have to take off the little bit of paper. I'm thinking about it.

Well, thinking about what I write. Sure. There is like hustle and bustle. You kind of hear murmuring and things as people kind of... And some people, everybody takes it very seriously. They never share the secret they're writing down, but there is a little bit of fun, like people kind of jostle, like, oh, are you going to write about Susan?

Oh, shut up, no, I'm not. There's that kind of jostling around of joking, but everybody does very go silent, and everybody quietly writes down one of these as secret. Oh, I remembered. Yes, while we're waiting for... The House of Blood. Are they, like, welcome to everyone?

Like, there's... All of the houses, so in Osseous, all of the houses are technically open to each other and allies. Yeah. But there is that unspoken rivalry and that unspoken kind of, not conflict, but competition, all of the houses want to be favoured by the Gravefather. And the Gravefather makes it very clear that strong and being cunning and clever

and things like that are great things to be. And so they are always kind of seeking to outdo each other in different fields. And so, yeah, the House of Blood is open to everybody. And so your cathedral will have invited people from the other houses. Because the cities have each of the houses within them, you know, yes. So if there was a certain festival or a certain special night, the House of Blood would absolutely open it up and invite people in. But I imagine on the day-to-day,

it would probably mainly just be the house of blood like it would be members of the house of blood and acolytes of the house of blood who are participating but maybe from time to time there would be gatherings of all of them likewise you would have visited the house of bone or the house of shrouds or the house of rot you would have visited those places for their special events and things like that um and you know i don't know how ophelia feels about things but the house of rot certainly is a bit more of a visceral and um smelly kind of uh involvement um you know the house of shrouds is a little bit more spooky and sort of uh ghosty um and the house of bones is probably the closest to the house

of the blood the house of blood and the house of bones of Bones is probably the closest to the House of Blood. The House of Blood and the House of Bones are very close, but that also makes them the worst rivals. Yeah. They are always, because they are seen

as the two great houses. They are seen as the most senior houses. And so, there has always been this strong competition to who's going to come out on top.

So, yeah. Don't fucking look. I'm not looking at it. I feel like I'm looking in the window. Ophelia, go look in the window. Yeah, well, just, like, kind of scoot up to the cathedral and pop in. Yeah.

Absolutely. So, Daisy, Ophelia kind of, like, after pining and looking, like, you see Ophelia get up and sort of scoot over and is, like, on her tiptoes looking in the windows

and, like, peering in and things like that. Are you sure you don't want to go and just have a little look? on her tiptoes looking in the windows and like peering in and things like that. Are you sure you don't wanna go and just have a little look? That's a lot of text. I'm sure it can't. Are you gonna be okay with Percival? I just wanna have a little look. Yeah, he doesn't really, he doesn't say anything,

so I'm sure it'll be fine. Okay, I won't be long. And Ophelia will just scuttle in, just have a look through the door. Sort of tend to be like a, I'll sit with Percival, but scoot slightly away from Percival and just look at him. Sorry, for folk girls this is,

I fell off my chair. Don't let it fall. Just went. Very cool. Yeah? I look forward to reading all of those, and they are going to sit with me. I love that.

Great. Percival just... You didn't really give Percival command, did you? So he will just default to his... He waits. And so you kind of scoot away from him, Daisy, but the friar's robes, you know, you never really see the skeletal features underneath, just kind of sits there, silent, still, doesn't move.

Percival, do you mind if I do some sketches while you're? Just remains inanimate. Glad you agree. And I'll just sit and doodle in my little sketchbook. And just occasionally glance at him and make sure he's like, Yeah. Okay. Oh, is he okay?

The last part of the ceremony is when all is said and done, everybody has gone up and thrown their secret into the fire and takes their seat. High Priest Arden comes back out again and he says, thank you all for committing your secrets to our mistress of night. Now let us in one final moment of stillness and darkness reflect on beauty, mystery, and secrets. And every light in the cathedral goes out as the flame is snuffed and it is plunged into absolute blackness so ophelia you just see the whole interior go black i can still see because i thought you cannot see i can't see ophelia is gonna get out if she can't like she

is gonna it is magical darkness yeah ophelia is no no no out. If she can't, like, she is going to leave. It is magical darkness. Yeah, Ophelia is, nope, nope, nope. So, like, you've never seen just absolute darkness before. Like, black. The rest of you, it's just suddenly... For about five, six, ten seconds, and then the lights come back up. And everyone kind of has that...

Whispers, whispers, whispers. Murmuring as, like the the ritual is concluded um and yeah the music begins to softly play a lot softer now and people begin to get up and leave some people kind of linger around maybe we're hoping to speak to the priest or high priest um but yeah uh philia you run back to the bench daisy daisy daisy daisy daisy daisy sorry sorry Daisy, Daisy, Daisy, Daisy, Daisy, Daisy, Daisy. Sorry, sorry, sorry. It went dark. Like, dark. Okay. What's that?

Why did it do that? Uh... Normally when there's no light, I can see. Okay. But it went dark and I couldn't see. Wait, usually when it's dark you can see. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When it's night time, when there's no light,

I have low light, I can see. Okay. But it went dark and I couldn't see. That's quite normal in this world. So I don't know if I can help you. Are you scared of the dark? I didn't like that. I'll put light on my dagger and just sit.

I mean, that's normal light. No, I mean, like it's dark. You can look around, like looking around this place, there are all these magical lights, but where there is darkness, your vision becomes that kind of red, grey that you're used to. Like when there's no light,

you kind of see in those shades of red and grey and that you're used to. Like, when there's no light, you kind of see it in those shades of red and grey, and that's what you can see. Like, I almost imagine, like, a vampire version of darkvision where it's, like, instead of being completely grey, there's, like, a red filter over it. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, kind of, and you almost, yeah, and almost, like, hearing, like, the heartbeats.

Like, you see, like, little pulses of light and stuff. You know, little shapes, like predator vision. But, yeah, so you can still see that. And so when Daisy creates the light, that's just light. You're used to that. But yeah, what you saw in there was not that. I did not like that.

That was unnatural darkness. Okay. Percival's fine, though. Oh, good. Thank you for looking after him. That's okay. I'm sureval's fine now. Oh good, thank you for looking after him. That's okay, I'm sure it's fine. That's just probably part of the ceremony that they do. Gruff will tell you about it when you come out. Okay, I will ask Gruff.

When Gruff and Rowan come back and Xanthias, they'll be able to tell you what happened. Meanwhile, inside, people begin to filter out, what are you guys doing? I think, Gruff, you probably want to stick around and ask about these knights. You would definitely see, you probably didn't see them as you were coming in

because there were so many people, but there are a couple of armored-looking figures in here. Two of them are stood near where the high priest was, almost like as if on guard, but you see that the front rows, like, right at the front, uh, there is at least one very ornately armoured figure, um, who looks maybe a little bit more standout than the rest. Um, what about, before I jump into that, Xanthius and Rowan,

is there anything you guys would like to do, or are you guys happy to head out once the service is completed? I think for Xanthias, I think during that darkness... Mm. I think Xanthias himself would close his eyes, and almost as the darkness comes up for everybody else, I still take, like, just a longer moment just to kind of sit in that for a little bit

and there is a moment as you're sat there xanthius with those eyes closed you don't know why maybe it was just what you wrote maybe it's just feeling that pressure that that heat in you. You swear for a moment, even though your eyes are closed, it's like you feel like someone's looking at you. And then the lights come back on and you feel... I think, yeah, there's like almost a moment where I'm almost thinking that I kind of want to stay in that darkness and allow that feeling of someone looking at me. I almost want to be found and

have that thing almost do what it needs to do. Well, that is certainly the thought in your head. That's how I'm feeling. So I would for just a time almost try and sit in the darkness for a little bit longer before I do eventually stand up and make my way out. Nice. All right. What about Rowan? Rowan is going to be going around speaking to everyone and saying, that was wonderful.

Did you write a good secret? And hugging people. Yeah. Crying a little bit. And just like applauding the musicians. And just really being embedded. In the moment. In the moment.

Yeah, yeah. Just being way too close to people sure just give me a persuasion check just a straight up charisma persuasion check ah put all my guys in here don't do that

you need those throughout the whole session you never know what I'm going to ask you for a roll ten plus just a straight up persuasion

persuasion which is fourteen fourteen people like you. Like, it's not hard. You go up, you seem so earnest. You ask.

People are like, oh, it was a good secret. I can't tell you, obviously, but blah, blah, blah. No, no, don't. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, you get on with people here. And so, like, you, yeah, you strike up idle conversation. People ask about you. And if you're traveling through, you kind of have that, like,

lovely moment of just connection with people here. And this does feel, there's a peace, like being out in the woods at night and just there is a little bit of a kind of mystery and a little bit almost of like, ooh, it's a bit unusual, maybe a bit dangerous, a bit mysterious or a bit spooky, but there's also that kind of curiosity

and that sort of like, ooh, this is fun and that's kind of got that element to it. And then Gruffeth. What do you guys want to do? If anyone was watching, you'd see Gruff stand up, look at the knights, look around, look at the knights, look around, hesitantly smooth his braids down. Kind of.

As you're sort of getting ready and sort of still amping yourself up to go and speak to them, the armoured figure, the one who is a bit more ornately dressed, gets up and turns, and it's just coincidence that your eyes meet, and he kind of looks at you, and you can see, well,

you're not sure if it's a man or a woman. They're very non-binary, sort of like their facial features, you're not, you couldn't immediately tell. They are a tiefling. They're a non-binary, sort of like their facial features, you're not, you couldn't immediately tell. They are a tiefling, they're a tiefling. Dark, sort of like dusky grey skin. Their horns are quite jagged.

They almost, they look a little bit scary and a bit intimidating. Oh, that helps. And their armour has a blackish hint to it. And you can see that in a back scabbard is an enormous flambeurge, like the wavy curved sword. And it's like a two-handed, with the wavy pattern in the middle, flambeurge. I think I'm saying that right.

And it's like in a thing on the back, and they'd actually, it's almost custom made so when they sat down, they kind of twist it so they can sit down with it, and then they can, you know, maneuver it back into place. And their armor has a section their tail comes out of. You can see that their legs are, they're very tall. They must be like 6'2", 6'3".

And their armor almost has a kind of bestial element to it. Like you see like claws and like sharp angled edges. And their eyes are almost black and they turn around and almost match eyes with you um oh bloody hell um gruff immediately stiffens is very sweaty but walks up uh to the night and nods um hello uh hello great sir uh my name is grafis from tremoro uh i uh you're a knight the figure smiles kind of almost like a bit of a smirk and you can see quite sharp fang uh like vampire fangs more uh kind of a sharp fang as they look upon you, almost a little amused maybe,

and they will bow their head and say, well, greetings to you, Gruffydd of Tremor, was it? I am Sir Mourning. Mourning spells in mourning the dead. Yeah. I am Sir Mourning. Helloourning spells in Mourning the Dead. Yeah. I am Sir Mourning. Hello, Rhys. The Dead.

Yeah! Rhys here. That's my shame! He said something death-related! I want to see my skull tat. I am one of Lady Mistress's knights. Oh, that must be a great honour. I, if I could perchance have a moment of your time.

A moment of my time? Not to the, he almost gestures like you don't want to speak to the high priest, like. Oh, I, the very grand I, I wanted to ask about becoming a knight. I left Tremoro because I wished to pursue the path about becoming a knight. I left Tremoro because I wished to pursue the path of becoming a knight. I see.

Oh, well, unusual. I am a, sometimes my, we are called holy knights. Unlike the knights of the realm who serve the dukes and the duchesses and the draconic nobility, and unlike the knightly orders who are formed under a banner of service or oath of duty, Holy Knights are called upon by the scions or the saints. Holy knights are called upon by the Scions or the Saints. I'm afraid that I did not seek to become a knight, as you do.

I was called to it by Maelir. My life, my circumstances, the nature of darkness and secrets and mystery and magic have always been a part of my life, and it is through that calling that I am now given that title. I've, I'm, if you have felt a calling into the service of Lady Pyrrhus or Lady Melia or one of the divine saints, then yes, I think that that is always a, it is not a difficult, it's not an easy path.

It is a difficult one. But normally it is revealed through destiny, through fate, through the course of one's life. I suppose, well, as you can see, I'm an older lad. I've spent most of my life in my village, just contributing to my village. A worthy service? I, um, a traveller though. You speak of destiny. A traveller came through

and told me of the circle of loyal hounds. I know of this order, yes. I've heard of them. A knightly order bound into the service of helping those who are in need, but more those who are perhaps older or infirm, but also offering a chance for those who are older who still seek knighthood. Aye, and I think that fits me. It does. I don't suppose...

Suits you well. Thank you. I don't suppose you've heard of them. I'm struggling to find them. They are not a large order. Their number are few, and their cause takes them across all of the Empire, as I understand it.

They are not like the Knights of the Realm who stay in one place. They are rather nomadic, I suppose. They travel where they are needed, helping those that they can. I heard that there may be a headquarters for them, but it is a closely kept secret amongst their order, which is quite common in the knightly orders, I must say,

almost like clubs, sometimes to protect the draconic noble who sponsors them. I don't know if you know this, but there is a tournament coming to Ashen Rest, and it will... Oh, well, I think that such an event might be your best chance of meeting such a knight. Such events call to the knights of the realm and those of knightly orders

far more than they call to my type of knight, a holy knight. I will be in attendance. The cathedral likes to send myself and the Knight of the Sun as combatants. We offer a challenge. Knights who can defeat us earn a boon from the cathedral. If you would like, you can always test your mettle in that regard as well. Oh, I'm not even a squire. I don't have anyone to fight with. The challenge

is open to all who would wish to take part. Oh, I would have to think upon that. Thank you. I think that what, if I may, I'm sorry that I cannot help you any further, but it is a noble act what you are doing. People often think of my Lady Knight as youthful in appearance, but secrets and beauty and mystery are not the realm of the young alone. She does look favorably upon the more vulnerable and the more venerable, too.

I think what you are doing is a noble cause. I'm sorry that I cannot help you any further with it. Should you, if you would like lessons in swordsmanship or such, I'm happy to offer them. Oh, I'd be honoured. I'm a bit more of a druid myself.

I must admit I've never lifted a sword or such a magnificent weapon as your own. And, no, you've done a lot. You've given me a moment of your time, and I can imagine being a holy knight. You're a busy, busy person. I find that these days, not so much. I am kept here, and I spend much of my days in prayer and meditation,

and I read. I have become something more of a monk, I suppose. I study more than I fight. I try to practice whenever I can. But should the calling be, I am here if Ashen rest and if the people of this land need me, or if indeed, and he looks up

and he kind of makes like a sort of crescent moon shape over his heart, which is a holy gesture. And if Lady Knight needs me, I am here. I will ask with the Knight of the Sun. Obviously, she is not present at this time. It is the Knight's service, but I will speak with the Knight of the Sun, see if she knows anything.

And where can I find you? Where could I send word to you if I learn of anything? Oh, I'm staying in a place called the Clever Toad. I know it well. I know it. Noisy. Yes. Very noisy.

But full of life, full noisy. But full of life. Full of secrets. Full of fun. Full of con artists. Well, Lady Knight does choose her acolytes from many. And he sort of smiles like, yeah, that sounds about right.

But he says, I will send word to you, Gruffydd of Tremorro, if the night of the sun, or if I hear of anything else we sometimes get word of those knights who are visiting ahead of time and if I know a knight of the Lord of Hounds is coming I will tell you their name and whatever I can

you do me a great honour sir, thank you so much thank you for coming to the service I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that whatever secret you sent to Lady Knight is heard and she takes that burden from you oh I it, and I hope that whatever secret you send to Lady Knight is heard, and she takes that burden from you. Oh, I... It would help, I... And he kind of, like, puts a hand on your shoulder

and is like, she will. Does it. Good day to you. And to you. Yeah, he gives you a salute, and then, yeah, we head off. Graff kind of walks away a little bit, maybe goes behind a pillar.

And then just, yeah, composed, walks. Perfect. At this point, I think, like, yeah, Xanathius would probably, after a little bit of conversation, you kind of come out of that moment, and I think everyone sort of emerges from Bright Shadow Cathedral. You see Ophelia, Percival, and Daisy sat there. How is Daisy feeling after sort of... You've been sat out here for like 45 minutes,

like sketching away, but that's a not insignificant amount of time. How's it been? She's trying to put in the effort to be less scared of Ophelia. So this is why she was like, okay, okay, okay, you can do it, you can do it. So I think she will probably So this is why she was like, okay, okay, okay, you can do it, you can do it.

So I think she will probably distract from Ophelia talking about blood and death and all of those things by showing her through her sketchbook or just talking about some of the things that she knows from Althea that maybe Ophelia would find interesting. So she would probably do that, I guess, instead. Yeah, Ophelia would, well, she'll look down, you'll say, oh, you're an artist, you draw. I just, sometimes, I just like to remember little things. So that's how I do it. Fascinating.

House of Blood, we love the creative arts and we love drawing and painting. I've tried painting, I'm terrible at painting. I can't seem to get the paint to do what I want it to do, but these are exquisite. I was gonna say, yeah, Daisy has a real talent for the illustration. Like it is very, very, very good.

Something that you could totally see at home in the House of Blood, sort of like illustrations, like in the tomes and books and things. Do you sell them? Do you exhibit? Do you, what do you, you just do them? No, no. You just.

I just, it's just for me, really. You should share them with everyone. You should frame them, display them, hang them up so people can see them, they're beautiful. Oh, well, I could do one for you if you want. You wouldn't. Maybe I would. I would be honored, I would love it.

I'll treasure it forever. Okay, I'll think of something and then I'll try that. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. That's so kind of you. And she'll give you a little hug. Just really awkward. This is how people hug, I think. Mm.

Yeah, yeah. Mm. Thank you. Oh, this is lovely. Yeah. So you come out to a rather sweet scene of these two seemingly getting on quite well. She's eating.

You guys come out and from behind you just see little Daisy in the vice-like grip of Ophelia, her neck buried down like, ah! It's happening! As you start drawing plays and then Daisy's like, yay! She's turned. I am one. I am one of her. Just because I wanna get out of the way before the end of the episode,

I'm assuming you would like to visit the Clevertoad. We start every episode with the Crucible of Fate, we end every episode with a prediction from the Clevertoad. So you take Ophelia, Ophelia they take you to a rather, not run down, but perhaps a bit more rustic looking establishment. You see a couple of sailors stumble out. They are like, you know, arms around each other,

singing, they're mates. One of them trips a little bit and spills his beer on the other one. Immediately he gets shoved off and they start fighting each other. You spilled your beer, you asshole! I'll kill you! they start fighting each other. You spilled your beer! I'll kill you! They start fighting and rolling around.

As they start fighting and causing a ruckus, you watch as seven little figures in cloaks come out and just start beating up and bundling them off elsewhere, and then they quickly return. I really don't know what it is I love about this place, but something about it just speaks to me. And you are led inside, and as you enter, there is a long, long bar with a little sort of barbecue grill,

grilling meats and causing little food. All of these seven kobolds in matching little uniforms, as you enter, will go, Hi, welcome! As these little black-scaled kobolds, all identical, do that. You can see the place is pretty busy, but at the back corner there is a machine, a glass box on a wooden stand upon which,

in which there is a taxidermied, you immediately recognise, quite fine taxidermy. No, I said it was quite bad, didn't I? It was bad. It was like badly done taxidermy of a very abnormally large bullfrog, like sickly yellow with like black spots, wearing a little wizard's hat and it's got his eyes closed and there is a lever and a coin slot for a coin

and it does have a little message on the front. Behold, the clever toad. This is the illustrious. Sit right here. Okay. And I give her two coins. You get two prophecies. That's all I could muster. I'm sorry, I have to get some denominations. But you put it in there, and behold. Okay, I will pay the illustrious. Do you want me to pull? Can I pull the lever? Okay, you can pull the lever. No, but if you pull the lever, then it'll be your fortune.

It would taint it. You're right. You pull the lever. Okay, I will pull the lever. Here I go. Pull the lever. A little musical tune. Roman sings along. You play this a lot. The little toad's eyes open and glow from within, kind of grossly but magically.

Its mouth opens and a voice projects out of it. Lay the seed of fortune and destiny in the shadow of the garden. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say tomorrow, no. Okay.

Oh, wow. So cryptic. It could mean so many things. Filly and Gruff are just looking at each other, just like, mm, yes, yes. Rowan is hastily scrolling this down on his list of premonitions that he's got. Okay.

You're really collecting these, aren't you? Are you going to do the other one? I will do the other one. I'll play along. Here I go again. Same thing happens. The eyes light up. The mouth opens.

Rejoice for the dragon shall give great destiny and luck tomorrow. Damn it. If you said in two days, it would have been... Yeah. If only. So close. We're about to be fortuitous, Rowan. So long as we abide by the other rules of the toad,

such as avoid the spire's shadow, beware the noon, but also, I think we also have to embrace the luck that comes at noon as well. We need to be aware of archways, and that's fortuitousness, but also the negative energies. But you were in the church, right, just now. There's so many archways in the church. So many.

You were just under so many archways. And then that sudden realization. Growing in panic. You were under an archway, and it went dark like a shadow. Rowan is just like stepping away. And with that, that's the final scene as we see Rowan's terrified face as the episode ends.

In the glass of the toad. As the toad's eyes just close and its mouth shuts. Goodbye. And Rowan's open. And that is going to be the end of today's episode. Episode 9, The Duke's Favor. Yes.

Very good. Bloody hell. Well, that is gonna be it for today's episode. Thank you all so much for joining us. We are gonna do a little bit posting, but that's for non-podcast people who do that other thing. We'll see you next time. Wow.

Bye-bye. Bye. See ya. Wow. Bye-bye. Bye. See you. Bye.