High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #13 - The Princess and The Pixie (Part 1)

Episode Date: October 29, 2018

The party begin a new chapter and head towards an elven keep that should answer a whole lot of questions! D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Use the code HIGHROLLING on D&D Beyond (http://bit.ly/dndbeyondhighrollers) to get 25% off all digital items (excluding the Legendary Bundle)! World Anvil gives you the tools to make fantastic new worlds with the ability to generate interactive maps, timelines, character sheets, stat blocks and more! Create your FREE account at www.worldanvil.com now and start building your universe! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. why Bumble is changing how you start conversations. You can now make the first move or not. With opening moves, you simply choose a question to be automatically sent to your matches. Then sit back and let your matches start the chat. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. Go back to school with Rogers and get Canada's fastest and most reliable internet. Perfect for streaming lectures all day or binging TV shows all night. Save up to $20 per month on Rogers Hello everyone, welcome back to High Rollers, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast in the world of Erois. We're back in the main campaign after a short break with our sponsors D&D Beyond, who have recently launched Twitch integration. watch us on twitch.tv forward slash high rollers dnd to see that in action also after october 31st you won't be able to use the

code high rolling to get 25 off your digital purchases so get on there and buy yourself something pretty we also have a new sponsor world anvil is a tool for game masters story writers and more giving you the ability to create amazing, diverse assets for your campaigns including character sheets and stat blocks timelines to chart the history of your world and interactive maps for your characters to explore. So if you're a dungeon master, writer or artist or you just want to play around and make some dumb maps

like I've been doing for the last two hours then head to www.worldanvil.com and make your free account now. Oh, and one last thing, just so you have some context for this episode. This was our Halloween stream, and there are probably a couple of references to the outfits we're wearing. So, to fill you in, Kim is Miss Marvel, Trot is Kylo Ren, Katie is Merida from Brave, I am a terrible attempt at Ramona Flowers and Mark decided to scar us all by dressing as Barizet. You are better off listening to this episode, trust me. Anyway, wow, that was a long intro.

Let's finally jump back into Arois, run by Dungeon Master Mark Humes with me, Tom, playing Kilakad Kalar, the bard slash cleric. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Ewan, Elowen Elinastro. And I am a high elf sorcerer. Hi, I'm Katie. I'm playing Ayla, a wild elf barbarian.

And I'm Kim. I'm playing Nova, who is an air ganassi, and she is a hexblade warlock. Today, the party begin a new chapter and head towards an old elven keep that should answer a whole lot of questions hi sorry i wasn't looking on my phone for stuff. He was taking pictures of himself. Welcome back.

Can't stop. To High Rollers, the Halloween episode. If you're a podcast listener, just imagine we're all dressed completely normally. Yeah. Because we're not. And if you're watching this on YouTube, hello. Welcome. What YouTube link is that, Mark?

For podcast listeners? I don't know. What are you talking about? YouTube.com slash High Rollers D&D. Oh, yeah talking about? YouTube.com slash High Rollers D&D. Oh, yeah. Or Twitch.tv forward slash High Rollers D&D if you want to watch it live. If you want to see us in our costumes. Or at High Rollers D&D on Twitter.

Tom's just like, I'm going to cut all this. I've done all this in the intros and outros, so it's fine. We're way ahead of you. And you're going to do our sponsor messages because thanks to D&D Beyond the World Anvil, right? Yep.

Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Thank you. Okay. I was too busy getting my makeup and my costume on to write the recap for last week. Thanks to D&D Beyond the World Anvil, right, Tom Hazel? Yep. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Thank you. Okay. I was too busy getting my makeup and my costume on to write the recap for last week. It's got better makeup than I do today. It's disturbing. But Nina did it for me. It's amazing.

However, a recap off the top of my head. You had journeyed back to Rose Hall, a little settlement where you'd been making friends, meeting acquaintances, doing a little bit of treasure hunting out in some ruins outside of the town. When you became embroiled in a murder investigation. It's all right, Kim, I don't need it. It's just right there. It's fine. Just in case.

After two of your traveling companions had been murdered by some sort of shadow jumping assassin. Whoa, spoilers. Spoilers. Part of the recap. Valor, a young girl that had been traveling with you, had been kidnapped. You set off in pursuit. You recovered her and managed to capture one of her kidnappers alive.

You brought her back to Rose Hall for justice. The daughter of Brett Brookstone, this kind of patriarchal figure that was very prominent in Rose Hall. When you brought her back and interrogated her and then had her arrested, there was a... News got out around town, and Brett Brookstone and several of his miners came to try and basically forcibly take her back and take revenge on you.

I would not say antagonized by Quill, but Quill certainly... I would definitely say antagonized. No, hang on. Antagonized by Quill, Brett Brookstone was driven into would definitely say antagonised by Quill. Brett Brookstone was driven into... But you could see the plan, right? We'll leave that for the viewers to decide.

I thought it was a good idea. Brett Brookstone was driven to a murderous attack on the party and you fought him back, narrowly avoiding death once more, but you managed to capture him, actually rescue him alive after Valar attempted to kill him permanently. You managed to keep him alive, see him arrested,

and now you're about to make your way out of town. Yes. Aela, having rejoined the party, told them that she might be able to find some answers to her missing clan in a elven palace, a ruined elven palace on the shores of a large lake to the north called Rosehall, where the village actually gets

its name from. And with that... It's the beginning of chapter three. What's the name of chapter three, Mark? I haven't come up with one yet. Damn it, Mark. I have a gap here waiting for a title. Well, I'm sorry. Okay. Chapter three.

On the way to Goldthrone. So, if you have friends that are still like, I don't know if you want to catch up, now's a great time. Bring them on this episode. Yeah, absolutely. And we'll do a slight recap on our characters, why not? Yeah. And if you are coming here for the first time, this isn't normal. Yeah, it's not.

It really isn't. So, alright, well in that case, as we set the scene with you guys are i believe you were taking a long rest at the brazen heart in rose hall and you were making your plans to head out to uh to this ruin so in the morning you wake you come downstairs give us what describe we'll go around starting with kim describe character tell us a little bit about them as we see them coming downstairs into the brazen heart so we see myself who is a blue air ganassi um with goggles similar to the ones that tom is wearing upon his head right now yeah um she is a hexblade warlock who has taken pact with the tome um she has a rather mysterious looking sword um well

actually it looks like a dagger at the moment doesn't it yes so it transforms into um different weapons as per the hexblade warlock um power um at the moment it looks like a short dagger um and she's probably how early is it um whatever time you would have pre-agreed so like what nine okay so she's looking quite cheerful ready to meet the day um probably already like reading a book while she's walking everywhere she's one of those twats that reads while she's walking um yeah that's me okay uh who comes down next uh early bird so i imagine i do it's the the one. Yeah, so I am Kelek Adkalar. I am a Arakokra with a, well, like a tall, if you don't know what Arakokra is, bird man.

Brown feathers, eagle-like face, eagle-like features. He's got a big red cloak that is covering his left arm or where his left arm would be if it was there. Yeah. And he is also constantly with his remaining arm, adjusting an eye patch that is now covering his right eye because of events that happened that led to me not having that eye anymore. I'm just in pieces.

You are kind of in pieces at the minute. And I'm like constantly adjusting it and nudging it around and like I can't quite get it comfortable. I'm constantly aware it's there. It's not good. So you're fidgeting around with that. We also see downstairs

a metallic woman. A construct made from metal and wood. She carries a large heater shield with a large axe at her side. And you can see that she is looking after a young human girl with long, dark black hair, kind of simple, dark, purplish kind of clothes. But she has very violet eyes.

And you can see that the two of them are kind of quietly talking and having a little bit of food and breakfast and that sort of thing. Who is next to follow? I'll come downstairs. I'm playing Aela. She is a wild elf Stormherald barbarian. She is dressed in sort of, I guess, leathers and clothing. She's got a piece of tartan strapped to her belt, which is sort of a reddish colour.

She's got a piece of tartan strapped to her belt, which is sort of a reddish color. She carries a massive hammer with her with a blue gemstone in it, which occasionally sort of just crackles with a little bit of lightning around her. And she's got sort of very long, braided, half up, half down, wild red hair. There you go. Yeah, that's her. She's probably not looking too happy to be awake. Okay.

About an hour after everybody else, of course, comes a very tall, slender man, high elf, and he is just haphazardly putting on the remaining pieces of his very illustrious purple robe. Did he get it back? He did, yes. The field warden went and got it for him. He paid him to get it. It is covered in colours, patterns, embroidery, gems,

and he has a fabule on his left hand, which has gems on it, which seems to hum with a sorceress energy. What's interesting about his face, other than his dashingly good looks, is that he has, his left eye is entirely orange and his right eye is entirely blue. He has heterochromia of the sorceress type. And he is a sorcerer, obviously, with the origin that Mark came up. A subclass called Arcane Chromat, which allows him to empower acid and cold spells. You draw magical energy from color.

From color, which is why I'm so colorful. Yeah. And so with that, the last person to arrive is a very, not quite dour, but a very serious-looking dwarf. And you can see he's actually got a change of clothes, and he's managed to secure himself some travelling gear now. He has a backpack he has like a full explorer's pack

you can see that he has a crossbow which is actually a double kind of ended crossbow that he can rotate to fire twice and he also has a small hammer at his side and you can see he's actually taken a bit of time to kind of tidy his beard up, he's braided it he's got his long dark hair and he now also has a big of time to kind of tidy his beard up. He's braided it. He's got his long dark hair

and he now also has a big like 10-gallon saloon hat. Oh, wow. He's got a full-on Suvonen hat. So when you say double-ended, do you mean... So it's got like one crossbow on the top, one crossbow on the bottom. Oh, I see. I thought it was both sides.

No, no. He could accidentally shoot himself. Top and bottom and then he slides it round. Which trigger was it? He looks over you all, and he gives you a kind of tip of the hat. Morning, all. We should be heading out soon. It's so early.

This is really not early, Lucius. In the lowlands, this is late. We're going to late start. The sun's only just creeped up over the horizon. Nope. It's been up for quite a while now. Is it? Yeah.

I mean, it may be winter, but it still gets up before you do. We actually arranged to meet much earlier. You're very late, actually. What time do you usually get up when you're... Well, it depends when Daddy wants me, honestly. If it's a meeting in the morning, I'm like, no thank you, take another sibling. get up when you're... Well, it depends when Daddy wants me, honestly. If it's a meeting in the morning, I'm like, no, thank you. Take another sibling.

But if it's an afternoon one, I'll get up three minutes before. Okay. Well, this ain't Daddy's meeting place. This is the road, and we gotta get moving. So get your gear, get everybody ready. Did you still plan on heading to that spooky ruin?

Yes, please. All right. I'm not too sure. I mean, yeah, it's um. It's an elephant and ghost in there. Yeah, that's why I need to go. I saw that. I explained all of this, like,

answers that I need might be in that. So I can't really go without. Kim's giving up. I can't see nothing. Carry on. I need to go there. If I don't go there... Well, actually, you know what?

If you don't come with me, I'll just go on my own. Probably die, but meh. Century is like, it could also be a good place for me to learn more about Solvin. If it is quite old, they may still have some records. See? There we go. That's true. We might find more information about the remnants, the shadow.

What name are they actually going by now? The remnant. They are the remnant now, but they were also the shadow men. Court of Shadows? Court of Shadows. Court of Shadows. Nova's just writing. She's been industriously writing her book.

We know knowledge. Most folks in the lowlands, we call them the remnant because the Court of Shadows was when they were united under Calistar Bane as a big army. Now it's just pockets of hobgoblins or fiends or monsters out in the wild.

That's what most folks around here call them anyway, okay? Well, I mean over once to go though hmm No, but no you you wanted to go remember because you could learn loads of loads of shit Let's go where the ruin the elven ruin. Oh, yes I wanted to explore an experiment and see if you know paranormal activity is actually a real thing I Mean Lucia saw the ghost, apparently. I saw it. That's enough. Yes, you did.

You could just take my witness account. But that's just visual confirmation. I need tactile. I need to see if there's any physical evidence. She needs to go and prod it in the face. Nova, I don't want to belittle you, but you just passed through ghosts. You can't touch it. How do you know? How do I know? I don't know. Soittle you, but you just passed through ghosts. You can't touch it. How do you know?

How do I know? I don't know! So let's go and find out! You're right, Nova, let's go! You take the lead, though. Valor looks up and she kind of sheepishly looks around. She's like, also, if it's an old elven ruin, if they were high elves, they might have some knowledge about magic.

I could learn a bit more. Magic? Yes. Well, your people are quite magical, right? Absolutely. See win win win win win You coming. I mean you didn't actually say win when you pointed to me No, that's because it's not really a win for you. But but I'm just a nice guy. We might find a wing We're attached that I don't know. I'm trying to find things that you might be interested in having we could find a wing. We could attach that. I don't know. I'm trying to find things that you might be interested in having. We could find

a wing anywhere. We could find a wing in Goldthrone. We could find maybe like a glass eye. Really creepy looking. It is an old ruin, Quill. I mean, I don't know if you're much of a historian or interested in the past, but What are you interested in, Quill?

I mean, I'd like to know more. Everybody else seems pretty easy to get a grip on. I don't really... Why are you traveling around? Oh, well, because we crashed in a ship. Well, yeah, but before then. I mean, I appreciate your injury, but... You found century.

The lowlands is a dangerous place. You found century. I didn't mean to be in the lowlands. Will these ruins have anything to do with Hesper? It's possible. I mean, the High Elves were, well, they're seen as favored by Hesper. Yes. The Sky Cities were legendarily lifted by his magic.

So if this elven ruin is about, if it was a high off place. It may have some information in that case win win win win win win win Lucius We could just leave you on your own or you can come with us. Elven ruins is like going back home Where there's ghosties. I don't want to go. Okay, let's go. You said you didn't want to go. No, let's go. I'm conflicted. I mean, you probably won't find Daddy there, but you might find Granddaddy. Great, great, great Granddaddy. I know him,

and great, great Granddaddy, and great, great great Granddaddy are all buried in Gusthaven. Oh. How? What do you mean? It's a sky city. There's enough ground. Okay, cool. Okay, good. Obviously, we have very illustrious cathedrals where, in the basement, I think that's what they're called. Catacombs.

Catacombs, yes. We have catacombs. You got that. You don't need to bury them. I wonder if Daddy Elinaster has made plans for yours. I mean, he hasn't been looking for you, you know. What? Oh, that's true.

Yeah. Maybe that's what... Is there a chance he... Arbol just puts his hand in his face. He's just like, ugh. I don't want to die. I'm not saying you will die. I'm sure Daddy hasn't thought about me dying.

No, I'm just... It's been like, what, two, three weeks-ish? I'm sure he's lost. You guys are being very mean. I think it has been over two weeks now, yes. You are being very mean. He might just be lost on the way to finding him. Exactly.

Okay. Okay. Stop it. I'm sorry. Or there's been another skyship crash because those things seem very unsafe. He wouldn't crash. He's very, very good at piloting those, or at least giving commands to others

that are very good at piloting those. Did we have a, we had a really good pilot. Yes. Look, can we just go? I'd rather hang out with ghosties now. Oh, at least they're quiet. All right, well, I mean, do we want to travel on foot? The town only now has, I think three horses now did the other horses make

it back some of them did oh it's probably best we leave anyway if um if we've got vala vala kind of looks a little dark like you can see her expression darken a little bit i don't want any more people to get hurt if more of that remnant come after me. Well, we're here to protect you so... You don't have to do that, Quill. I appreciate that you helped get revenge for... for the others, but you don't have to look after me. It's fine. I can make my way to Goldthrone, try and find the Church of Siaska there if I have to. Madness. We're in this together. I'm sorry.

I'm just looking at him as fucking Bowsette. It's so hard. It's so hard. Oh, no. Double meanings. Stop making that face. Stop pouting. I've lost count of the amount of times he's made that little run.

Anyway. We should probably leave now. We've done plenty for this town. A lot, actually. We set up the charity. We got rid of Brett. Yeah. It's true.

Well, I recommend y'all buy some supplies. We're going to need a few days of trail food and everything else. Let's go to that nice tradesman. I mean, Aayla's good at hunting, but I don't know if she can provide for all of us. I want to get some potions. Yeah, let's go to that nice tradesman. What was his name? The Dale Gild Company, Maximilian.

Yeah, Maximilian. He's probably your best bet for things like potions. Yes, he knows his stuff. All right. Let's do that, then. Okay. So, to speed things up, what are you guys looking for? Rations and potions?

Yeah. Okay, so the Dale Girl Company is a small, very... You all right there? I might just pinged off. Oh, I was removing before putting on my mask. Nice. The Dale Girl Company is a small, thatched kind of cottage with a stone foundation.

It has a little sign outside naming the company. And you can see as you enter, you kind of overhear a conversation of Maximilian talking to just another one of the farmers, just trading some farming equipment and things like that. But as you come in, he's just like, ah, excellent. Some of the, well, I suppose some would call you troublemakers in town, but you're certainly driving some business. How can I help? Troublemakers?

You did kind of get a pretty prominent figure arrested, and some of the miners have now fled the town. I mean, he did do a murder. Yeah. Absolutely. I'm not saying that he didn't have it coming. I think, if anything, he was a troublemaker we were the trouble removers some could say that trouble enlighteners hmm trouble trouble services trouble get getting rid of

brewers spending moneyers are you trouble spending moneyers yes yeah I believe you are more than welcome in the Dale Gould Company. Do we get a discount? No. Now that prices aren't being driven up by... My business was never being driven up by Brookstone. Damn it. But I will do you fair prices. I won't... The Dale Gould Company is an establishment all across Eros.

I'm not going to overcharge you if that's what you're worried about. Well, what about... We cleared the roads from here to Goldthrone? And I'm sure that the field warden has paid you well. Damn it. He did. Could we get rations for how long? Well, we're heading towards...

Have you heard of the Elven ruins? Well, the Rose Hall, actually. Rose Hall, of course. Everyone in the village knows about it. It's obviously a huge part of our history here. It's stopping off there and then going to Goldthrone, so... First to Dwalenden, and now you're heading off to Rosehall. Quite the adventure.

Quite the adventure, I know, yes. I mean, well, if you're heading off to Goldthrone, that's about a week travel. A week's rations, then, I guess. Or maybe ten days. We don't know how long we're going to be in. Ten days rations. Ten days for all of you?

Each of us, yes. Yeah. Very well. Plus Valor and Arvo. Arvo's like, I'll take care of me and Valor, don't you worry. I guess that's a... We know for sure that we can eat at least. We stumble into any problems, we don't have to hunt.

Well, exactly. We've got a meal every night. I think that's important we spend money on that. 50 days of rations for all of us. We are a big party. Well, I. We've got a meal every night. I think that's important we spend money on that. 50 days of rations for all of us. We are a big party. Well, I can hunt. Sentry doesn't need to eat. I think hunting should be a bonus.

Yeah, Sentry doesn't need to eat, so you don't need to worry about that. You can forage, right? With any negative issues. So maybe you don't need rations at all. Unless you're stuck somewhere where you can't hunt. 10 rations at all, unless you're stuck somewhere where you can't hunt. Ten rations would be fifty silver pieces, which is five gold.

That's each. Group fund? Oh yeah, we have plenty. We have three hundred gold. If that's for all of you, that would be five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, twenty-five, thirty. Arvel hands over 10 gold.

30 gold. Yep. Arvel pays 10, so 20 for you guys. Because Sentry's like, I do not need to eat. It's fine. Did anyone else notice that, by the way? What's that? Lucius.

Did you see what he did? Anyone? He didn't pay for it all. Group fun. I'm so proud of pay for it all. Group fun. I'm so proud of you Lucius! Thank you, I was really, really going to and I had the money in my hand, look. Put that away. Thank you.

I'm learning. I can keep it for you. No, no! He's just so easy to do. I know, but we need to try and be a better person. If you're done buying things and are moving on to do. I know, but we need to try and be a better person. If you're done buying things and are moving on to exploiting your friend, yes? Potions, healing, please. Thank you.

Yes, I have a few healing potions available to me. Only the basic, the most common type, I'm afraid. How much? I have three of them, and they are 50 gold each. What flavor are they? They are potion flavor. Do you not flavor them? I don't make these ones. These came in as part of my stock. What flavour are they? They are potion flavour. Do you not flavour them? I...

Like peach? I don't make these ones. These came in as part of my stock. Are they fresh stock? Well... I mean, no. But they still function. They're mass manufactured.

These ones will be, yes. Team... Everclub Cordial would be nice with it. Sorry. He has three potions. That's 150 gold. We have 308 gold. Do we want to

spend 150 gold and essentially half our group fund? I kind of feel like we need them. I vote yes. She points at Quill and Lucius like, they die all the time. They die a lot. Yeah, you fall down a lot.

I mean, it's more like if, if something hits you again, you've lost an eye now. I'm just concerned. And I think that this would be really helpful. I will do whatever it takes to not lose another piece of me. So yes. Okay, three potions, please. Very well.

He brings out a little small wooden box and inside, they're kind of like test tubes, but they have like gold filigree around the outside uh he just pretty he's you may keep the box if you wish three healing potions uh valor actually kind of steps forward and you can see she kind of pulls out a little sack which has got a number of like what looked to be like very crudely made jewelry pieces you kind of recognize them as being wild elf made, probably from the bitter wood.

And she just goes, excuse me, how much could I get for all of these? And he kind of looks them over, he's like, well, these are simple trade affairs. I could probably sell these for 10 or 15 gold for you, young lady, if you wish. She kind of like nods and says, yeah, that'd be great. Do you have anything like leather armor or anything?

Didn't we? There's some leathers that we were getting. She's sending them to Goldthorne. The wyvern leather. Yes. That's it. He looks, he says, like, of course. I'll need to find something in your size.

You may want to take it to the goodsmith. She'll be able to adjust this for you, young lady. And he goes out back and he brings out a suit of just normal leather, not studded leather. Gives it to Valor and she kind of nods, gets her five gold change. You can see she's like holding on to it. I thought this might be a good

idea. It's a good idea, yeah, but don't use it just because you have it. Don't wear armour because... No, no, I mean, if we are in a situation where we are under attack, just because you're wearing it doesn't mean you should jump into the fray. No Quill, I just, I figured it'd be better for me to have it than not have it. True, definitely. And I didn't want you guys to pay for it, you've already done too much, so... In any case, your spell's arranged.

Yeah, but it'll be useful for me to... ...kind of just keep them on me, I think. Mm-hmm. Okay. Just learning. This is survival here, and I approve. Well done, Valor. Thanks, Hayley. Yes.

She like, kind of like, nods, and it seems to be that that praise actually does, like, she kind of like, really sort of like, smiles and beams. How are those daggers? Are they sharp? Yeah, I've been keeping them sharp, yeah. Arvo lent me his whetstones, so... Wonderful. She kind of, like, nods. She's growing up! Good work, Valor. Thanks, everybody.

It's okay, you don't need to say any more, it's fine. She just kind of gets shy and steps back. I'm assuming she doesn't need a potion, because she's badass. Mm-hmm. Pretty much. It's just you and Quill who fall over all the time. Just you and me, buddy. Yeah, that's me. Do you have any elderflower cordial?

I do not, I'm afraid to say. I do have some wine. A good vintage. I've had rhubarb and red grape. It's a great combination. I'm sure it does. You will have to learn, sir, that many of the luxuries from the Sky Cities

don't make their way to places like Rosehall very often. I'm sure in Goldthrone you'll be able to get them. Okay, thank you. But out here in the Styx, I'm afraid we've had to make do without these luxuries. Who wants to take the potions I think I should give one to each and then keep one okay so we got slam dunk them nice do you want one if as long as you can keep me up then they don't find this out of everybody you and century the ones who need it

little he's yeah um so you get potion, and you get one potion of healing. Bam, done. Thank you. Amazing. The Dale Girl Company, is there one in Goldthrone? Oh, yes. One of our flagship stores, a huge store up in Goldthrone. Oh, what sort of...

Is it just this, but bigger? Oh, no. The Dale Girl Company in Goldthrone, they'll deal in magical relics, Aetherium items, they'll deal in larger trade goods, you'll be able to buy all sorts of things from there. Amazing. So anything we might recover from Rosehall? Absolutely. Take that.

I'm sure that no matter what you find in their little treasure expedition, I'm sure you'll be able to find a buyer for that up in Goldthrone. Goldthrone is something of a mecca for merchants and traders. They have a road called the Golden Valley, which is full of traders and merchants there. Oh, wow. There's many splendid sites. I try to visit every few months or so.

It's always nice to see one of the spell battles as well. Oh, yes. I'm stopping by to see those. I've just heard about these. Very exciting things. Yes. Do you like spells? Yes.

Me too. This is a brilliant conversation. So, is your business concluded? Yes. I think so. Thanks, Mr. Maximilian. Thank you very much, everybody. Thanks, Maximilian.

Bye. Thanks Mr. Maximilian Thank you very much Maximilian Bye He just He just looks Dejectedly at his Stop book Like everyone looks When we leave Not everybody Just a lot of people

Yeah Just most Yeah So You finished buying stuff Is there anything else You want to do Nope

Blacksmith Does anyone need Their tools tuned up I need to go Yeah. So, you've finished buying stuff. Is there anything else you want to do? Nope. The blacksmith, does anyone need their tools tuned up? I need to go for the armor. Let's go there now then, Vala. Lead the way. Does anybody else need anything? I can just meet you back at the inn. I'm going to get my boots polished. Horses? We might need horses. Because I'm sure the ghost is going to look at your shoes.

You never know. They might really judge you harshly if you don't polish your shoes. Exactly, if I'm not in... Yeah, please, spend money on shining your shoes. I'll see if the blacksmith has any. She works with leather. Let's see if she has what? Boot polish. Or polish of any kind.

Lip gloss is weird. Welcome to our world. Yep. Yeah, you can go to the blacksmith yeah you go find Daisy Goodsmith she's there you can see her

she's actually working in the back and her teenage son is manning the front he kind of like sees you coming and then nudges his mum

she turns around wipes like a big kind of soot grease stain off of her face with her forearm and you can see her muscles are taut sweat sweat pooling down them. It looks like she's been making things like studs.

And you can see to the side the wyvern leather, the wyvern hide that you gave her to turn into armor. She's been slowly working on it. And now she looks like she's making various components to go into the armor itself. And she's going to hoist the hammer onto her shoulder. Well, look who it is. good to see y'all. Hello. Sup. How can I help you today?

Vala would like some business. Oh, certainly, young lady, how can I help? She kind of like, pops up the armor, and is like, could you get this resized for me, if possible? And she's like, well, look at you, of course I can. You step around here, I get you all measured up, no problem. Anything else for anybody? Boot polish? I have leather polish, you can help step around here. I get you all measured up. No problem anything else for anybody food polish I have leather polish. You can you can help yourself to thank you. Whereabouts?

She's just like even give the main the leather polish So yes, ma, and he goes and finds like a little kind of ceramic pot sniffs a few of them Oh here it is and he just puts it down in front of you You don't know what to do do yeah usually it's done and then they're polished in the morning ready to go you know I'll polish your boots for a silver coin sir yep thank you sure thing thank you very much hold this hand out very cheap of you thank you yeah I'll pay that takes the silver coin he's not very mom looks at him and just kind of winks.

And then he gets a rag out and he's just like, you take a seat here, sir, I'll. Just the silver, one boot each, or? Yes, one boot each, sir. That'll be another one for the right-hand side. That makes a lot of sense. Yes, sir, it does. Can't explain the silver piece.

Winks back at his mom. There's no lower denomination than silver, is there? No, there sure isn't. I'll split that in two. Nope. Never. Anyway, you sit down. I'll split that in two. Nope. Anyway, you sit down and I'll give them a good polish. Never give him any of the group fund. Oh no.

And no offense, but I'm never gonna give you any of it either. Can I have some of it? She's learning. I'm so proud of you guys! It's fine. Ah! Everyone's happy today.

I was like, my god, by the gods. I'm glad somebody's got a head on their shoulders. Anyway, so Daisy takes a while. She just takes some measurements from Valor, and then she very quickly just makes a few cuts on the leather, makes some new holes, adds some buckles, that sort of thing, and shows her how to put it on as well. She actually shows her, like, you put this bit on first,

and then you buckle this side and do these greaves. Do-si-do. Yep, literally that kind of style. It doesn't take long for her son to finish polishing your boots. Lovely and shiny and new and clean. Beautiful work, sir. Thank you kindly.

Thank you kindly, sir. And he like gives a little tip and holds his hand out. Elvish, what's that? Oh, you want a tip? Of course. He just nods. That's what they call them. his hand out. Elvish, what's that? Oh, you want a tip? Of course. He just nods. Mm, that's what they call them, tips.

Did you do a good job, you little scamp? Ha ha. Easing out an extra silver for me. An extra silver, he's like, yeah, boy. He just puts that in his little pocket. That's a lot of money, isn't it? So, I mean, it's a lot of money to't it? So I mean it's a lot of money to these people like these are villagers out in the middle of nowhere this is a

teenage boy who probably makes a couple of coppers doing odd jobs around the town. But for the slightly more world weary if someone was charging to shine your shoes. Like a copper. Okay cool. Like maybe like a copper for both boots. So this guy just looked at Lucius and went, yeah. Sucker. Absolutely. Absolutely. Sucker.

Well, it's also, his mom did tell him about you guys before, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, you get your boots polished, Vala gets her armor, gets strapped in, and then, yeah.

Do you guys want to hit the road? Mm-hmm. Oh, Deysa, have you had any trouble from anyone recently? I know it was just yesterday you should ask mr birdman i have not okay and you're blithe you dealing with that uh that old bastard brett burkston it was really fun actually i bet it was putting him in his place i can't believe he was involved with the and he kind of looks at violet she looks at valor and then kind of goes quiet like well his business

in town sure uh was a lot more nefarious than any of us real thought. So I'm glad y'all put a stop to that. I can't offer you much, but if you're ever back in Rose Hall, I'd be happy to help in any way I can. It's been a pleasure. I'll make sure this wyvern leather gets shipped up to you in Goldthrone, no problem. I'll come deliver it myself if I have to.

Thank you very much. You've been very hospitable. Oh, it's our pleasure. I have to. Thank you very much. You've been very hospitable. Oh, it's our pleasure. And accommodating. Thank you very much, sir. And well, good luck with your travels, friends. Thank you. We're gonna go see a ghostie now.

Okay. Better you than me. Hey, no. Yep. I'm terrified. She just kind of gives you a nod and then goes back to her business. Okay, so that's everything?

Yeah, anything else? Just quickly, how many rations did we get each? Ten. Ten each, okay, cool. I had one left over, does that count? Or has it gone off? It would have gone off, yeah. It's jerky though, jerky never goes off.

Depends on the type of ration. What about my 11 good berries? I believe that those ones weren't trail rations. What you have just bought is trail rations. I had like camp rations I stole. Yes. These trail rations will last you, I would say, easily like a month. These won't go off in a month.

It's things like jerky nuts. Dried fruit, hardtack, and nuts. Yes. So if we haven't eaten all of these, then we are dead. Cool. And also you can be supplemented eaten all of these, then we are dead. Cool. And also you can be supplemented because Ayla can go out and hunt game to give you a more nourishing meal as well. Nice.

So easily done. So you guys set off. She'll think about it. Anything else you want to do in town? Just checking? I don't want you to be like, oh, we wanted to do this. Let's go see. Oh, we saw the brazen heart already.

You were there already. Unless you want to go and say goodbye to Rosalina and stuff. But we saw the brazen heart already. You were there already. Unless you want to go and say goodbye to Rosalina and stuff. But we can say that you did that. Yeah. We can say goodbye and good luck with the charity and all that. Yep. She'll keep in contact with you. If you're heading to Goldthorne, she'll send letters and stuff.

Ooh, pen pals. Yeah. Nice. So, okay. So you make your way out of the town and you travel for about a day before you reach Rosehall Ruins. So I would like to know, as you are traveling, who's keeping a lookout? And how are you traveling? Are you traveling on foot?

Assuming you are. Good point. Yeah. Yeah. If there's only three horses, we can't do that with like, what? Seven people? You can still reach Rosehall on foot, so in a day. How far are we?

You're about a day from the palace. Walking. Yeah. That's all right. I can keep an eye out. Okay. You're about a day from the palace. Walking. Yeah. That's all right. I can keep an eye out. Okay. So you're going to take lookout roll. Okay.

So the rest of you are traveling. Ayla, could you make a perception check for me? 18. 18. 18. Good stuff. Okay. So traveling along the road, it isn't long, about halfway through, when you begin to hear the kind of flapping of wings on the distance.

And you just kind of hear it very faintly, and it takes you a little bit of time to orientate yourself and find out where the sound is coming from and it's when you Look up you see flying across the sky in a deep royal blue kind of robe Which is flapping around them is an Arakokra and they're flying and you can see heavy leather bags kind of hanging by their side As they begin flying towards along the northern road the same as you And you see them flying up in the air He kind of looks down towards along the northern road the same as you um and you see him flying up in the air he kind of looks down look at that a little spin and a trick and then gives you like a little salute with one wing and then kind of picks up the flight and carries on the birdie that's flying that was magical wasn't it um no don't you just wish- You're okay, Quill. Oh. Sorry, Birdie.

One day when you're ready to fly? He was very experienced. Um, he did a very good trick. I mean, I could have done better. Would have done better. Yes, you would have. We'll figure things out, Quill. Don't worry. Whether you want a wing again or whether Hester had something higher in mind for you, we'll figure it out. I can see higher. I mean, it used to be just the wing, and now it's the eye. Even if I get a wing, I can't fly with just one eye.

Yes, you can. I can't even see depth anymore. You can learn. Anything is possible in this world, Will. Anything. Plus, that makes you look way more badass on the road, So you're not gonna get trouble as much. It's true I probably look very very cool. You do about it like

You do you look really like adjusting it again and now I've put it in a position where it's like ruffled up some feathers now It looks super dumb But like put the feathers back in place and like Pat's them down think I'm ever gonna get used to it, you know put the feathers back in place and like pats them down. I don't think I'm ever going to get used to it, you know. Valor kind of looks at you and is like, I'm sorry, Quill, it's my fault. It's not your fault at all.

It is. You wouldn't have got that injury if that man hadn't kidnapped me. I wouldn't have got this injury if Brett Brookstone didn't send him after you. I still feel it's like, at least I'm responsible somehow. Not at all. If anything, I was stupid enough to follow him. We were stupid enough to attack him. You weren't stupid. I was very brave. You came after me.

It's either his eye or you, and we know which one we'd all pick. That's you, by the way. She kind of does laugh a little bit, like, Lucius, you really should... The kind of thing... Thank you. I appreciate itus, you really should, the kind of thing. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Which one are we meant to be sympathizing with at the moment? I mean, I'd think about it for a second, but I would pick Valar, sure. I was like, yeah, well, we did what we can. And honestly, Quill, in places like Goldthrone or the Sky Cities, there are people there that can work magic like none of us have ever seen. I'm sure that they can find a way to fix your eye or fix your wing or something like that. All it's going to take is money. Didn't I get the eye removed?

So that means that healing it wouldn't work anymore. Regenerating it would. A regenerate spell would still work I thought that would Remove the ability to no no regenerate would still works. It would regrow a lost body part So I can't we're in a world where anything is possible quill with enough I've seen people make magical people I mean look at century the arts that made something like that

They can make you a magic guy or something, I'm sure. A magic eye? They healed Lucius' leg and Arvel's leg really easy. I bet they could do the same with an eye. It would be really gross, but they'll do it. Although you did just say magic eye. But we can get you a magic eye. I'm sure we can get...

Can we get a magic eye? I'm confident. Is that possible? Mm-hmm. Anything's possible. And a magic wing. If Goldthrone... You'd be even better than before.

You'd be like a half-robot man. If Goldthrone don't be even better than before You'd be like a half robot man If Goldthrone don't have it He'll rebuild me Yeah He's gonna sit his will Gustaven will Daddy will pay for it And that's where we're all headed right?

Yes Eventually yes Good Well in that case Especially the part about his dad paying for it Also if it doesn't work out My daddy always used to say You adapt and you learn to your surroundings.

So I was taught that bats don't have eyes and they scream at walls. And that's how they see. I mean, they... So you just have to run around screaming and then you'll know when a wall is coming. If I lose another eye, then I'll start screaming at walls. Until then, I'll just carry on as I was, just without depth perception.

Yes. You'll learn. It's fine. I've seen someone lose an eye and then they were just fine. I mean, we're about to go see a keep filled with ghosts, so I mean, there must be a way to repair it. That's the world we live in.

The only limit is your imagination. And money. And money. Definitely money. Maybe with time, Nova could do such wonders. I'd definitely try. Could she? Mm-hmm.

She's an engineer. Oh, I see. I thought you meant the healing. I'd do my best. It might be something that I might be able to eventually. I've got some rudimentary healing now if my ancestors could create century We just need to get that knowledge back true technically it was the dwarves that built me

Hi, I was just kind of oversaw the whole ordeal and I like to take credit for stuff. They actually didn't but yes Did they know the high elves have great magic? They actually didn't, but yes. The High Elves have great magic, Mr. Elinaster, but the dwarves were the ones who built the Guardians. And we're going to find out more about where Sentry's from, so maybe there's some specific eye-building technology. Let us hope so. Hopefully with Prime... You could get the cool eyes like Sentry has, like with the... In theory, the way that Echo works,

there may be some technology there. I mean, Echo can be used for me to see through his crystal. Perhaps there is a way that that could work for you in some way. So I could have my own Echo? Or perhaps a crystal that you could see through, yes. Using the same abilities.

Anyway, we should perhaps keep moving. Speaking of Sentry, Echo, how are we going to get your Echo abilities. Anyway, we should perhaps keep moving. Speaking of sentry echo, what's... How are we going to get your echo back? I can rebuild him, but I just need some time. Okay. Let's get moving. Let's...

We've got a ghost filled castle to see. So on that, you make your way and it's late evening when you arrive outside the ruins of this place. Oh, perfect spook time. You see the Rosewater Lake, which is this ever so slightly pink-coloured watered lake. It stretches out. It's a huge lake. It stretches out for miles.

And on its shore, just off the North Road, which leads to Goldthrone, you see this palace. It kind of has a similar look to an old English manor but the unusual thing about this building is that amongst its kind of walled gardens it's two houses connected by a kind of archway bridge with a corridor. You can see like windows set into this kind of, what do they call them, Bridge of Whispers I think is the architectural name. Yeah, in Venice. Yes, they have a bridge of whispers connecting these two Renaissance-style houses together. It's kind of English country manner.

You can see that there are pristine-looking gardens with all sorts of different flowers and roses and bushes and trees. And then there is a faint wall. It's about 13, 14 feet high, made from stone. But a few places it's kind of crumbling down a little bit. It doesn't seem as well in repair. And most of the curtains in the windows of the manor have been drawn. Some of them are left open.

And those of you who watch very, very carefully, very occasionally just glance a glimpse of a white figure moving about the palace. I was going to say, could I use my telescope to... I guess I would have to awkwardly right arm, left eye, but look through and basically just get a look at the... Do you have a telescope? Yes. Your artwork has a telescope.

Yes. But they're quite expensive. Oh, really? Would they not come under cartographers' tools? That's normally the things like a sextant and things like that. I'll say that you have a short spyglass. You don't have one which is very long range. Okay.

But yeah, you can kind of hold it up and you can look. And yeah, you kind of, it's a little bit cracked maybe, or like it's like kind of a bit dark and blurry. But without much light. You can just see an elven woman dressed in white, very, very pale skin, white hair almost, just glances past a window, and you think for a moment she looks directly at you, and then she passes and vanishes. Well, did you see that?

I did see that. Very, very pale woman. White hair. Yes. So unless she is just extremely pale and floaty and... Very glowy at night. Yeah. Yeah, that's... that's... that's... ghosts up there. See? See? See? Shall I go knock on the door? Probably. Why not?

I mean, it's going not really the best. I mean, I'm a brave dwarf after all, but I mean, y'all don't need me to go up there. We can just sleep. I can just stay here with Vala. Yes, I'll stay. Lucius, you saw her during the day, didn't you? No, I saw her at night. I was taking watch,, I'll stay. Lucius, you saw her during the day, didn't you? No, I saw her at night.

I was taking watch, and I saw her. So we at the very least know they're active during the night, but we, again, don't know anything about them. They may not be in the day. Yeah. I mean, I'm just saying, I'm going to wait here. Y'all can go and explore that manor. Just in case.

Maybe Vala should stay with me. Arvel, are you scared? Nope, but I am very good at risk assessment, and that is a risk I don't need to take. That sounds like another way of saying you're scared. Well, it's not. I'm not scared. Well, it's not.

I'm not scared. I'm just thinking there's no reason for Vala and me to go in there. Y'all and Sentry should go. Risk assessment-wise, if you were to come in with us, then we would have higher chances of surviving because there's more of us to fight and survive and more pairs of eyes so he can look out.

But we can wait till morning, right? We don't have to go in all dark. Well, whatever you want to do. There's probably just as much crap on that road. If they're only active during the night, that's kind of where Aayla wants to get the information, where you want to get your information

over. Maybe in talking to them and actually seeing them, that's the only way we'll get the information everyone is looking for. I've got a real headache from this wig. I don't know about you, but my head is killing me. Mine's a short wig. I'm great.

I just have big shields again. I have to try and see. We don't know anything about them. I don't think anyone here knows anything about ghosts. Nope. Or the undead. I want to know about ghosts.

I mean, they might be... I'd like to interview her. Let's have an interview with a ghost. What if she's like an evil ghost? Then I'll leave. What if she doesn like a evil ghost? Then I'll leave. What if she doesn't let you leave? I've got to say, I don't know much about the history of this place. It's always just been kind of a mystery to most folks.

It just has always been here. Most folks can't get close to it. Anybody who does come generally runs away or, you know, doesn't come back. Okay, let's wait till morning. I don't want to wait if they're going to go away and then we have to wait a whole day to get our answers. Plus, the road's dangerous anyway. It's probably bandits.

They're going to kill us either way, so... Oh, no, we cleared the bandits. Well, there might be more. There's always people. The world is infinitely 100% more safe now that we're here. There are wild elves in the general vicinity. The chances of being attacked are very high. We're bad people.

We dealt with Brett Brookstone. That doesn't mean that there aren't monsters, bandits, remnant, wandering around these places. If only. How about I go knock on the door and we see what happens? Everyone anticipates an attack. No. All right.

So Nova and Aayla are going to go up, knock on the door. I'm going to hide in a bush nearby. Okay. Yeah, sure. So you guys are going to go knock, knock. Okay, well, your first encounter is actually because you reach the gate. There is a wooden, there is a wall, a stone wall about 13 feet high that goes around the entire complex, except the river.

It kind of stops where the river passes under the bridge's side. Roll initiative. And there is a metal gate between the wall, and it is locked. Maybe they opened it in the daytime. Did you see it open in the daytime? It looks pretty rusted. I mean, it's, like, tall. Yeah, it's, yeah.

The gate isn't as high as the wall. I'd say the gate is maybe, like, eight, nine feet. It's pretty tall, but it's not as tall as the wall. Is there, like, a, I don't know, a bell pull or anything like that? Or, like, any way to get attention? No, not the gate. Okay. We have, um, climbers climate tools, do we not?

You could just try and open it. Oh, it's locked, isn't it? Yes, it appears to be locked. It's rusted, though. It's full of, like, covered in a thick rust. This place is very old. There must be some part of the wall that's fallen down. Can I roll an arcana check to see if there's magic on the gate?

Sure, it'd be more of an investigation check. Investigation. Can I have a look and see if there are any places in the wall? You check the gate. You don't think that there's like, you don't see any like sigils or traps or anything like that. Only 11. 11.

The wall actually seems to be in pretty good repair. There is a couple bits where it's not as tall. It's maybe like, you know, 10, 11 feet tall and the very top has crumbled away. But generally the wall actually, looking at it, you think that it's been recently like kept, like repaired. You can see where parts of it have gone to crumble, but the mortar looks more fresh.

The only place where the wall isn't is where the river goes towards the lake and the bridge and the two buildings is formed over the river. The bank is quite steep, but there's no wall there. And if you kind of went down the river a bit, the only thing which kind of cuts it off from the bank of the river are these big, thick rose bushes that kind of run all the way along the bank. So, climb the wall, somehow break the lock, skirt round and go through the rose bushes. I can try and pick the lock. Yeah, the lock is... We're standing looking at the lock, right?

I think me and Dayla went off to look around the wall. The thing is, the gate is all rusted anyway, and even if we at the lock, right? I think me and Dayla went off to look around the wall. The thing is, the gate is all rusted anyway, and even if we broke the lock, it could all be fused together. Plus, I don't want to destroy old architecture. Valor, you said you could pick the lock. I can try. I've not really done it before. I used to do it to sneak out of the temple, but... Sounds like you got it.

I mean, I'll give it a try. Have a go natural 20. so she's like she she takes out she's like um and she like gets like a couple of hair clips and things like that you can see her kind of like working with it she's like oh it's actually pretty basic this uh they're like the the locks on the old temple oh and she's just kind of like i think i got it yay you can see the lock has come free but she's like pulling on the old temple. Oh! And she's just kind of like, I think I got it. Yay! You can see the lock has come free, but she's like pulling on the gate. She's like, it's like rusted shut.

I can't open it. Forward Aayla. Can I try and open it? Yeah, strength check, please. Terrible rolls, but good strength. Oh, no. That's a good roll. 20.

20, yeah, easily enough. You just kind of, you flex for a moment and just pull it free. Rust like dust, sprays everywhere. It's kind of very heavy, irony scent. But yeah, the gates swing open and lead out into the gardens just before the main building itself. Yeah. And I'm assuming you are going on your side of the river.

You haven't crossed the river to the other side. I would have assumed you've gone in at this point. Yeah. Yeah. Because it looks like there's another gate on the other side of the river. Oh, okay. Yeah, no. This one.

Okay. Okay. Yeah. So you just make your way through. Can I look around and see if anything's been attracted by the sound of us opening the gate? No, I mean, yeah, make a perception check Yeah, because the garden is very well kept, isn't it? Eleven

Could I also be keeping an eye on the windows as well? Yeah, you can keep an eye on the windows, yeah, absolutely So you make your way through and you begin heading over through these kind of very well tended gardens Quill you're keeping an eye on the windows And you don't really see any movement there You might maybe hear a faint kind of like bells like tinkling of bells

What did you you were looking around just for you you made a... Let's see if anyone... And what was your result? Eleven. Eleven. You don't see anything like any creatures, but as you're making your way through, in the bushes, in the rose bushes and the plants of the gardens, you notice what at first you think is like a glint of metal, and you think like maybe it's like some coins or something like that. But on a second look, you realize that actually it's a number of skeletons in remnants of armor have been sort of half buried in the gardens

and they look old. The armor is mostly torn away. It's only like little brace, like a couple of braces. You see what looks like half of a helm. But yeah, these bodies look like they were buried in the gardens long ago.

They're skeletons in armor. How curious. Are they moving? Not at the moment. They're skeletons. What does the armor look like? Old. Okay. Is there any sigils or anything like that? Not that I could see. It's quite dark. Oh, okay. Is there any sigils or anything like that? Not that I could see.

It's quite dark. Oh, true. I don't like it. It's too spooky. Well, you guys keep an eye on the skeletons. Too spooky. Too spooky. See if they move.

I'm going to go knock on the door. I'm going to go with her. Can anyone hear any, like, wind chimes or anything, by the way? Can we listen and see if we do hear? Could be my gems. Yeah, you can make perception checks. Nope. I hear nothing.

I can hear bells, I think. 13. 13. No. No? What did you get, Quill? Oh, I can already hear them from my hands. Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry.

I don't know if Nova's listening. Nova is just making notes in her book about skeletons. You're already just walking forward to the door. You're walking forward to the door. So, yeah, you can kind of hear a faint jingling, maybe also a very faint giggle. Yes, I do hear something. Not good.

Nova's at the front. Nova, can you make an intelligent saving throw for me, please? Sweet. I knew this would happen. Intelligence saving. Yeah. Mm-hmm. 21.

21. So you see a horrific visage of a woman with a skeletal face in ragged dress and clothing kind of pulling itself from the door towards you and it's reaching for you and can feel this cold temperature coming from his hands like but you realize that this is an illusion like looking at it you're like oh this is this is illusionary magic um anyone else did we all see it only nova does okay um yeah it just yeah you just you know some some sort of some something has created an illusion i just go oh weird and then lift up my notebook you know it kind of touches you and you kind of get the sense that if you didn't know this was an illusion it would actually hurt like you would have you're like, oh, I probably would have this this would feel cold

Like I'd actually be in pain right now. Yeah, you're like, oh, it's not real though. So it doesn't work I'm just gonna write about this in my notebook and sketch here a little bit Like pouring through you and then it just vanishes. What are you sketching Nova? Um, there's like an illusion of us Oh, no, it's stuck in my hair. Oh, no, cool stuck in my hair There's like an illusion of a... Oh no, it's stuck in my hair. Oh no, I put my quill stuck in my hair. Oh, she's got the quill stuck in her hair again. There's an illusion of a scary ghost lady that's trying to hurt me,

but it's an illusion, so it's fine. Oh, it might hurt you though, guys. I can feel some kind of like cold magic. She's trying to do something. It's fine though. I just sketched her. This is what she looks like. And I just turn around and you can see...

Oh, that's horrifying. Wait, but... It's pretty grim. Illusory magic? Yeah. Can I look around and see if there's any other movement in the garden right now give me a second okay okay right um so it's all of you are stood round by the door right uh well nova i think i think we you've gone up to nova yeah so the three of you have gone up to nova century arvel and um vala are probably standing a little bit back.

I've warned you all. Out of all of you guys, except, in fact, actually only Quill, because you two are elves, what's your total hit points, Quill? What? What's your maximum hit points? 22. 22. She was so sleepy.

Oh, you just need to... And you hit the ground, passed out. Buddy! Wake up! That's strange. Can I, like, slap in the face? Start slapping him in the face. Yeah, you'll wake him up in a few moments.

You just hear this noise, like this grunt of annoyance come from somewhere nearby. Someone is coming. Who's there? Show yourself. Hello! What happened? Did I, what? What's going on? Someone cast a sleep spell on you. Come on, someone took the bird to sleep. We know you're here. Why is there someone casting spells?

There's no one here! That's so convincing. Can I, with at least my auditory perception, gather where that came from? Yes, you can, with your passive auditory. You can tell there is a creature, very small, very diminutive, just kind of nestled in the garden, like in the rose bushes nearby. You can hear, that's where this voice is coming from.

Is that where? But it's, you can, you look look there and it's definitely nothing there. Whatever it is, it's either extremely well hidden or it's invisible. Invisible? Can I deal with that? Nova, was that the thing that might have done the illusion? Probably yeah. I mean, yes. It sounds very small and annoying

oh it was by the way look if you won't leave i'm gonna have to take stronger measures can everybody make a wisdom saving throw oh no is it for fear uh no it is not for fear natural 20. eight eight 19 19 9 9 natural 20 so 23 okay so just for the purpose of saying can you all roll initiative for me for a second initiative and just to turn on one quick thing yeah seven that was a good roll seven if you just remember 21 21 14 14 5 21 heyla can you roll a d10 for me please six okay so you ayla you hear this voice like i'm gonna have to take stronger measures and then your mind just starts reeling the world starts spinning you begin seeing images hallucinations or they're you're not sure if they're real or not you begin seeing members of your old clan you begin seeing

a storm just raging all around you and it's just so much for your senses like you just can't understand where you are you're spinning it's it's like you're caught in a storm itself and you're seeing these flashes of images come flying towards you. You literally do nothing. Like for a few seconds you're just completely stunned. Who got next on the initiative just so I remember? I was 7. I got 14. So Quill. So you see Aayla

beginning to sort of like lose her mind and Lucius' eyes are beginning to glaze over as well. Well I guess I'm going to turn to the direction I heard the thing. We're not here to hurt you at all. You don't need to take stronger measures. That's not the point!

You have to go! Why? Why? Just seconds. It sounds really frustrated. Oh, I mean, I could ready an action that if I I Don't know I'm not really sure is there anything I could do to shake a la rat of it You can try I

will go up and like start shaking her and yeah, just I'll just return the favor and start slapping her. Okay. Yeah, that's it. She just doesn't seem to be doing anything. It's almost feeling like, you'll feel like you're being buffeted by wind, it's like your face is being, like, blown from side to side. Uh, Nova, what would you like to do? Can I tell which direction the voice is coming from?

You can make a perception check for me. I guess you would have seen where I was talking. Talking too, but you still need to, if you want to pinpoint exactly where it is. 12. 12. No, you know that it's vaguely in that area, but you're not sure exactly where.

We'd just like to speak to the ghost. No, no, no! Well, can I speak to you? That's not a good idea! Why not? Six seconds. Every six seconds is going to end with, yeah, but why? I just want to be your friend.

OK, is that it? I just want to be your friend. Lucius, can you roll a d10 for me, please? Ten. Ten! So you're feeling completely Disorientated by you see these images like you think you see daddy And you realize that no something's playing tricks on your mind. You can act completely normally. Oh So I'm fine. You're fine for now, but you can you can still tell that something's going on like this Something's playing with your mind. It's playing tricks. Stop tricking my mind or whatever.

Whoever that is, stop it. Very rude. You have to leave then. If you leave, I'll make it stop. Why? Six seconds. Why, why, why? Okay.

So at the end of, so after you all go, you guys are still feeling the effects of this kind of confusion that's going on. And Quill, where you've been looking, this creature kind of pops into existence and you can see it kind of focusing and concentrating. And it appears to be, it looks no taller than perhaps a small doll, but it's a slender female figure with green skin bright yellow hair with little flowers and petals and little kind of like jewelry in its hair wearing almost nothing it's kind of just got like a couple of leaves kind of covering

its privacy oh and it's kind of focusing it's like concentrating it's like it looks down and realizes no, just go away! Can I identify what it is? So Ayla, can you roll a d10 for me, please? Eight. Eight. Ooh! Can you roll a d6 for me, please? One, two, three, four, five, six. Oh no.

Six. So you see some sort of monster going to attack one of your, one of the clan that helped raise you, and you just feel this instinct to swing it. Can you make a melee attack against Lucius, please? Wow. Lucius is dead. That's a two, I don't hit, probably. That's, uh, that's only an eight.

Okay, so in the confusion, you're still quite slow. Lucius, you see Ayla coming for you. What are you doing? And you kind of like leap to the side. No! As Ayla begins swinging. Help! Uh, Will. Aayla coming forward. What are you doing? And you kind of leap to the side as Aayla begins swinging. You turned Aayla mad. So what can I do to identify what it is?

Yeah, sure. You can make a nature check for me. Nature. Natural 20. It's a pixie. It's a pixie. This is a creature that came from another world back when Eros was more open to the other planes.

And it can also be created from the natural world. Elves and dwarves generally have the magic to do this. It's a nature spirit. It basically has mischievous powers. They're generally summoned to perform tasks or created to perform tasks. So it could have been summoned to defend

potentially, yes. Or it certainly seems to be trying to drive you away. Okay, listen. What about if we certainly seems to be trying to drive you away. Okay, listen. What about if we have a deal? If we just got the questions, then we'll just leave. No, no, no. No deals. You don't understand.

I have to make you leave. You're not allowed. Why? We will leave once you give us some answers. That's the best way that this is going to happen. Okay, okay, okay. What do you want to know? Why?

I can't stop this battle until you leave. Who is the ghost in this place? Okay, six seconds. Lucius, can you roll a d10 for me, please? One. One. Roll a d8 for me, please? One. One. Roll a d8 for me. Oh, God.

Look at this chart. Yeah, it's a lot of different dice. Yeah, this is eight. So you watch as Lucius, your mind, you suddenly, the surroundings around you vanish. The creature, everybody else. And you just see in the distance, it's Daddy! Daddy! He's got his open arms for you!

I've missed you so much! And you run towards him, arms open! The rest of you, Quill and Nova, see Lucius running towards the river with his arms outstretched. I love you, Daddy! Just screaming, I love you, Daddy. And you come back for me!

Oh, no. The creature, on its turn, looks at you, and it's like, okay, okay, the ghost is an old high-off noble called Vesalvaina. She's a princess.

She went crazy and then she told me that I had to keep everybody away. Why? Why do people have to stay away? Because she doesn't

want them here. I don't know! Ayla, can you roll a d10 for me? Three. Three. You just do not... You go and find yourself in that stupor where you're just disorientated

by these kind of visions all around you. The creature seems to disappear. Vessel Vayner. Yeah. I wonder if Aayla should have got attack opportunity. On what?

On Lucius when he ran away. Potentially. Oh my god. Well no, because it was only on her turn that she has to make an attack.

Okay. I am going to start walking towards it. I'm like, still haven't got any weapons or anything out. I'm thinking about casting a spell. I'm just like walking towards it. I still haven't got any weapons or anything out. I'm thinking about casting a spell. I'm just walking towards it, one arm raised.

And does that make it do anything? Yeah, it looks like it's going to fly up and try and back away. It looks like it wants to try and avoid being hurt. I'm not going to hurt you. If we just get the information we'll need, then we'll leave. Are you lying? Kind of. I mean, we kind of want to go in there. Then we'll leave. Are you lying? Kind of. I mean, we kind of want to go in there.

You do. But you don't want to hurt it. We don't want to hurt it. Okay. So you don't want to hurt it. No. So persuasion check then. Okay.

21. 21. She just looks and she's like, look, I really want to help. I don't want to hurt you guys, but it's like I'm compelled. I have to do what she said. I have to try and keep people away. Is she still alive? She's a ghost!

Way to phrase that question. What do you mean? Why are you taking orders from her still? Because the magic still works, you dummy! Nova. Do you want to be freed? Yes! If you let us in, we will free you.

Well, the thing is, I can't stop the spell. I have to keep the compulsion. Should we go around the back? You have to either find another way in, or you have to knock me out, or you have to get your friends out of my spell. And then you Can I stalk you?

No! I don't know what to do! Lucius, roll a d10. Oh no. Let's see if you get another 7 or 8. 6. 6. You do nothing. You just like, you can see daddy and he's just like, my boy, oh tell me what you've been up to. Oh yes,

it's been a wonderful adventure, daddy. Um, the creature starts hovering up and it's like, my boy, tell me what you've been up to. Oh yes, it's been a wonderful adventure, daddy. The creature starts hovering up and it's like, I'm not allowed to let you hurt me. How do I break the spell? I don't know, figure it out! Okay! Are you going to follow us?

Six. Can I? Oh no. What do you want to do? Grab whoever and just leave. Okay, it's my turn. So, Ayla. Oh. D10. Five.

Five. Do nothing. Okay. Quill. Are you going to follow us in there? I can't go inside. Let's go in. Okay.

Lucius! Can I go and get Lucius? Well, initiative. So you... Yeah, in that case, I see Lucius walking towards the river. So you move up 30 feet towards Lucius! Can I go and get Lucius? Well, initiative, so you... Yeah, in that case, I see Lucius walking towards the river. So you move up 30 feet towards Lucius. Yeah, and I will... Like, is there any recognition at all, or is he just like...

He's talking to Daddy. And that's when the Brookstones betrayed us, and I cried. Lots and lots, Daddy, but I was strong and brave. My son, Lucius, please follow me Please be daddy Daddy we have to go into the castle now. Oh, yes, daddy come with us come with us dad Oh my son stay here and talk to me. I have to stay here with daddy. He's only just arrived. He'll be here when you get back He's only just arrived. He'll be here when you get back.

I mean, you can try and make a persuasion check, but it's going to be disadvantage. It's going to be disadvantage. Well, disadvantage, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, this compulsion is, like, really rooted in firm. I've seen you a lot recently. I've only just seen Daddy. Give us some time, please. Nova?

So Ayla's next to me? Ayla's next to you but it's just doing la la land yeah okay i can i try and push her into the house okay yeah give me a strength check oh can i yes i love how you're just how wise are you actually no i wouldn't know that you are pushing her no i was thinking about using suggestion. Yeah, if you want to try that, yeah. Yeah, I don't know how spells on spells works. But I'm going to try suggestion. Okay. So if you could make me a wisdom saving throw, Ayla, of 13.

Four. After this, we're going to... Four fail. Okay. You should suggest it first and then make the saving throw. Oh, sorry. I suggest you go into the house. I failed.

Yeah, so on your turn, you're going to do that. Lucius, roll a d10 for me. And then we'll take a break after this and come back. 10. 10. You're fine. You can act normally. Wait. How's that damn little thing? Sorry, but your daddy... Daddy's not here.

He's not here. We have to go into the castle, though. Quick. With that, we're going to take a break. Hello, thank you for listening to this episode. Remember to check out D&D Beyond and World Anvil with the links in the description of this episode. Also, make sure you follow us on Twitter

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