High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #15 - The Ironwick Mystery (Part 2)

Episode Date: November 15, 2018

Something strange is happening in the town of Ironwick! Never a dull day for this group... 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)! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Hello, welcome back to High Rollers, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast in the world of Erois. Run by Dungeon Master Mark Sherlock-Humes, with me, Tom, playing Kila Kadkala, the bard slash cleric. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Viren, Elowin Elanastio. And I am a high elf sorcerer. Hi, I'm Rhiannon. I'm playing Sentry. I am a guardian paladin.

Hi, I'm Katie. I'm playing Aayla, a wild elf barbarian. And I'm Kim. I'm playing Nova, who is wild elf barbarian. And I'm Kim. I'm playing Nova, who is an air ganassi and she is a hexblade warlock. This episode is sponsored by D&D Beyond. We can't live without it, so why should you? Check the links in the description of this episode to make your free account and digitise your campaign.

Anyway, on to the episode. There's never a dull day for this group. There's strange goings-ons in the town of Ironwick We rejoin as this dwarven woman, Missy Steel Eye, makes her way back into the town of Ironwick. And you see these two strangers. So the group of you with Valor and Arvel and these two strangers, this beast walker with hair bunny-like traits and armoured boots

next to this very tragic looking man and he just looks at all of you with this kind of look in desperation. He sees Valor and he kind of looks away a little bit, you know, as if looking at Valor is quite hard for him and he just, I'm sorry, hang on, he's American, I'm sorry, I just need to know if... I can see that you're travelling with that young lady and you've not seen any other girls like her around. Have you not seen any on the road? Not on the road, no.

I don't think so. Where did it happen? So he looks like he's about to kind of like break a little bit. Like you can see he kind of like chokes up and the woman kind of puts a hand on his shoulder and is like, It's all right, Galen. I can take care of this. This is what you hired me for. She kind of looks and she goes, Well, first of all, I'm sorry that you all got brought into that mess. The town's been getting really, really tense lately with all these thefts,

and obviously they've been hearing about these missing girls. And the weird creepy green glow. Yeah, that's been a strange one. But anyway, you just came in at the wrong time, I think. It's a shame you didn't arrive a few days earlier. Things were a bit calmer. But my name is Santa Long Ears I'm a bounty hunter from up in Goldthrone

This is Galen Sands, my client. He's hired me to try and track down his missing daughter Estelle She went missing a couple of weeks ago from Kaylee's rest actually. It's where her mother and her live She went missing and Galen brought me on. We did some basic investigation and I found that she had been abducted by some men and women dressed all in black. They seemed to possess some magical abilities. I managed to track them on the road and that brought me here to Ironwick, but since then the trail's gone cold.

You should really be careful. That young lady traveling with you, and six, I think it's five or six girls, matching her description, have gone missing. Yeah, we might have already experienced that. I'm adjusting my eye patch a little bit. Maybe let's have this conversation somewhere else, but I'd like to hear what happened. There might be a clue

there that can help me find this out. We definitely have some information that you might find useful. Definitely. We're staying at the Traveler's Lodge. There's a series of villas along there. Galen's paid for those, so you're more than welcome to come. We don't have beds, but we have a place to talk.

Better than here. Sure. Do you have anywhere we can dry our clothes? Uh, I don't have any extra clothes for you. No, just, just, like, a fireplace. I mean, we can get naked if everybody's comfortable with that, but I figured that you wouldn't be. I'm totally into new experiences,

but I'm more like... Wow, what a little firebrand. I'll give anything a try at least once, but right now I'm turning into a prune. Nova. Okay. Nova, don't. It's all raining.

This took a turn? Yeah, this really did. I'm taking... She kind of looks at Ayla and Nova like, okay, and then she just says, right, let's... Lucius is blushing. Let's just head back to... Oh, come on, it's just biology. Let's just head back to our

villa, and if you guys want to get your own and get your clothes dry, you can do that. I'll see if we've got any spares. I'm going to go to the store. Can we meet you? Well, if you want to do that, sure. I don't recommend you go to the store. Why not? I'm going to go to the store Can we meet you? Well if you want to do that, sure I don't recommend you go to the store

Why not? I'm a delight I'm sure you are You're going to keep saying it until people start believing it People around here One I mean I'm happy to believe it Good Two

Winner I believe it Number's going up, three. I'm the winner. Valens puts her hand up. I believe it. Oh, everything's coming up. Ava. Lucius, why don't you let me go with this door? Why?

Well, because. You're gonna pick the wrong colors. I need to go. All right, well, I'm gonna come with, I'll go with Lucius, because I don't want him getting stabbed by the locals. Ah, I technically have all the money. Then it looks like you're coming with both of us.

I give a big grin. Can you get Bella something real warm? Of course! And can we get some kind of a tent, please? Yeah, we're going to need a couple of bedrolls. Also, get yourself some bedrolls, Jesus Christ. I'd like an umbrella. Get me something as well. I'll go with Ava. I think we're all going, aren't we? Is it?

I don't recommend we all go to this fella's store. You saw what he was like. He was agitated and not exactly friendly. He doesn't seem to like... A lot of the storming in his place is gonna... We're gonna win him over, don't you worry. With money. Would you like to meet the fella somewhere warm?

The bunny woman, Santa, is just like, you're more than welcome to come and stay in our place. It's pretty secure. I've made sure to take care of as best of that as I can, and if anything, if anybody does cause trouble, I can certainly help you.

You seem extremely capable. I'm capable in a few ways, yeah. Anyway, come back to the villa with us. You guys go get your clothes if that's what you need. I'll meet you there. It's just on the lakeside, alright? Please be clothed when we arrive.

It's very inappropriate. It's definitely going to happen. I mean, although speak for yourself, Birdman, and then he watches this funny lady just kind of stumps towards... Aren't birds technically naked? To be fair, I'm probably fine as well. Yeah.

You just have like a cloak. Yeah, that's pretty much all I've got, so I'm okay. I'm going to the store! Okay, so who's going to the store? So Nova, Lucius and Arvel. Is anybody else going? Did Sensory want to go? No, I'll take Nova. You're going to take Vala to the thing.

You're going to the villa. You're going to the villa with Xana. Okay. Apparently no one's going. And Galen will come with you as well. Okay, we'll do the store first then. Shopping! Oh Christ, not shopping.

Time for a outfit montage! So, the general store in town also serves as the inn and it's called the Acorn and Bale. They don't have rooms to rent, they just have a bar and then the general store, which is attached to it. There is a terrace bar which looks out onto the lake. It's all wooden.

It's very kind of alpine ski resort, but not snowy. It's kind of very, it's all like... Hunting lodge? Very hunting lodge style, right? Like big log cabins, thick wooden planks. I'm literally just imagining Red Dead Redemption 2. Kind of. Like this whole afternoon.

Yeah, a lot of that. That's just irrelevant. You're just taking over your life. When you step inside, there's a little jingle of a bell. There's like a little ding, ding, ding. Help, kill it. And you can see the kind of,

like rubbing his head sat down is the blonde dwarf that you saw earlier. You can see he's got quite a short beard for a dwarf and he looks quite young. But he's got like this blonde sandy hair and he's kind of just rubbing his head. He looks up. He kind of just like groans a little bit and then just waves his hand. And this bright smiley human girl about 17 is like, Hey there.

Welcome to the Acorn and Bale. How can I help? Oh, hello. It's an absolute privilege. Well, look at you. Yes, look at me. How fancy. Look at me. Well, how on a row can we help you today? I would like to buy some globling.

I haven't tranced very well. It spreads. Can you pass me again? I would like to buy some clothing for me and my companions Well, we definitely have I'm surprised And bedrolls We need bedrolls

Jesus All right Sorry, it's been some harsh nights Xen, here, Ven And you can see a dwarf girl of about the same age And this tiefling girl kind of emerged She's like, would you mind fetching this nice gentleman and his friends? I love this person.

How many bed roles did you say you needed? Yes, we need one, two, three, four, five. Five. Arvel doesn't need one, does he? Does Arvel have one? Arvel has one. Arvel and Aelon have one. So it's

one, two, three, four. Because Century doesn't... Century is a contract, but she still benefits from comfort. Okay, yeah, fine. Like a warm plate. So five bedrolls, anything else, and then just the clothing you see. I'll show you that, because I imagine you... A mighty nice-dressed gentleman like you needs to have a look and see what you want to buy.

You are so want to buy. Oh, we're going to be here all day. You are so nice to me. Do you have a full-size mirror? Because I need to see the whole thing. No, we don't. But I tell you, then why don't you go fetch the one, our mirror from our place. It's not a big one, but we can hold it up and you can kind of see it. Very kind of you.

She's like, all right then, I will. And she's got a bit of a deeper voice. And she trots off and you can see the tiefling girl starts gathering up bedrolls and things like that and the human girl

kind of leads you over she like offers a hand and she leads you over to like a the selection of they're all like big fur jackets

or cloaks you can see heavy waxed kind of clothing but it is all very utilitarian. There is a selection of hats, most of which are like cowboy hats.

I like cowboy hats. And they're all like placed on a thing. Big like furry boots, big thick leather boots, wool trousers. Anything warm and rustic is here. Come on, century. Played. No, bro. She's not here. Shit Come on, Cintri. Played.

No, no, no, no. Cintri's not here, shit. No, no. Shit, my brain has rotted your brain. Neva? Arval just follows behind. Arval? Yes.

Now I know. Now those are some nice hats. Okay, we're avoiding those. What? Arval, I want you to pick me a hat. All right, will do. He's like, nope, nope, that color's not going to work. Maybe black, because of the blue skin.

Oh, he's paying attention. He does care about color. When it comes to a fine hat, Arvel D. Yeah, he selects like a black kind of Stetson. It's kind of like shallow and not as big as his. It's a big Stetson. It's kind of like shallow and not as big as his. It's a big Stetson. It'll keep the rain off. But it's like a nice kind of like little, you know, cowboy hat.

He finds that and he's like, yeah, that'll do. A nice waxed hat. Yeah. Do you have anything in platinum? As in platinum? No, just the colour. I'm not being absurd. And which, what, silver?

Yes. Like a white I mean white we have a little bit of I think we got some some dyed leather hides what's your current trend practical utilitarian I like it that could be very vogue Yes Is that an elephant worm? Can I retrospectively say to get me something warm? Just warm in general Thanks Because I'm not allowed to go

If we can afford it How much are these? I'm looking at the big long coats Big cloaks, let me see here Oh, I would go ask Bobwin, but he's not coping very well with the stress. All these thefts. I think that

that poor man, he's going to have a heart attack at such a young age. Really? He is tearing his hair out. Poor fella. He should really not do that. I know. Hair is so important. The thing is, he doesn't even, I don't think he has any family. I don't know what he's going to do.

Oh, that's so tragic. So, with the coats. Yes, with the coats. So, let me just see here. Now, traveler's clothes. I kind of like the mottled look right now. So, if there's anything mottled. Why are you not in this section?

How about we say ten silver for four cloaks? Now, sir, you ain't, I may be a simple girl, but you ain't going to get one over me. It never works. What was stolen recently? Stolen? What, from here? Yeah. Ooh, a bunch of things. Food, like supplies, like rations, that sort of thing.

A lot of, some of Bondwin's rarer collection. Gemstones. Ew. I think he had a couple of potions, like healing potions, that sort of thing. All taken. Absolutely tragic. I've got a joke. It seems like their taste was stolen, too.

I'm looking at the coats. I don't understand. Well, now if you're looking for nice traveler's clothes, the cloaks, you get boots, you get a tunic, trousers, and one hat. That's two gold. Two gold. It's gone. Oh, God, I'm so sad.

It was good. It's for a full set, but for one person, obviously. Two gold. Oh, God. I'm so sad. It was good. That's for a full set. But for one person, obviously. Two gold. Now, if you're looking for something a bit finer, sir, that would come to you. And she's like, we've got some very luxurious fox furs, very excellent pelt qualities.

That would cost you 15 gold. This is the finest, sturdiest leather you're going to get here in Savant. Cowboy. What does it look like, though? She shows you, and it looks like... Is it conforming? Yeah, it's tight, and it's utilitarian, but it's done in that really nice, high-class way.

It's like all the buttons are polished gold or brass. It's got nice fastenings. The more rough stuff is like a tied together kind of like loose tunic kind of thing. This is like a tailored kind of shirt with like a kind of like woolen. I'll take one of those. So you want this nice fine ensemble?

Yes, just the one. That would be 15 for that one. Absolutely. And then two gold for as many sets as you need. Now we have quite a few. So if you've got any friends that need them. Hi, I have a whole shopping list. Well,

look at you, Miss Blue. How can we help you? That rhymed three times. I need, I need. I like, you're picking up the accent. I know, it's kind of cute. I like it. It's not as cute as you. Oh, thank you picking up the accent. I know, it's kind of cute. I like it. It's not as cute as you.

Oh, thank you. You're adorable. What's happening? I'm trying on the coat. I'm assuming I look adorable. You look adorable too. You look like the classic rich boy out hunting. You've bought all the best hunting wear, but he has no idea what any of it's really used for.

Look, I'm from Rosehall. Do you have a hat, is the question. I'm not buying a hat. You don't want hat hair? Right. Oh, man, I should get a hat. Annie, five bedrolls. Well, your friend friends already got those

Are they separate to them? They're on the tab I haven't bought them yet You haven't bought anything, I'm just writing down what you're going to pay altogether Oh I put the gold on the floor over there You see the tiefling girl just sweeping it up into her hands

and putting it in the thing So you've paid for your fine outfit You've paid for that fine outfit. Yes. You paid for that. Yes. How much is five bedrolls? Well, they're gold each, so that'd be five. Five gold.

I need a set of clothes for a young lady. Yeah, that'd be two gold. Two gold. Do you have a top or a... A tent. Excuse me, sir. This lady is talking to me. I'm dealing with her first, I'm afraid.

You have your clothes. Where's the mirror? Oh, and then the dwarf girl is bringing it in and is, like, holding it up. There I am. Yeah, Lucius, go bring it. There I am. Do you have any tents or anything?

We have a few tents. Yeah, for sure we do. Now, these will fit two people. So how many would you need? Meh. sure we do. Now these will fit two people. So how many would you need? Matt. Three. Three? They're two gold each. Four. Four ten. One, two, three, four, five.

Now these are pretty heavy. Okay. Do you have a way of carrying all these? Other people? All right. Fine. Fine, fine, fine. I mean, well. So, we have five bedrolls, a set of traveling clothes for a young girl, four tents, anything else that I can get you. Well, we might need a few other outfits, actually.

How many? Would you have told me that you wanted one I don't think I would no I think my clothes fine okay so Ayla myself what Arvo was I think I'm fine tree yeah you want you want her clothes not made for cold weather. So four of them. So Vala, myself, Ayla and Century. Well they're two gold each so that'd be eight gold total. Okay, Mark. There's nothing to stop you from winning.

No, can I ask you a question? Can Tom ask you a question? Of course you can, Tom. I have feathers, right? Am I suited for cold weather more than most? Think about birds, Tom. Do birds just survive in any weather that they want? Yeah, they piss off back to Africa, innit? It's all about the model village. Can I just hibernate them? Migrate, migrate.

You're not hibernating, you're not a hedgehog. Whatever you want. Are there hedgehogs? You get cold. In Eros? You're water resistant, though. I mean, in that case, because. You're water resistant, though. I mean, in that case, because you will fare better than most in cold weather,

but you will still get cold. Same way that Sentry is technically not a living creature, but her wood gets cold and is dangerous. Okay, so what would an Aarakocra do to stay warm? Thick cloak, like a big, thick, fluffy cloak. Can I buy a beak warmer? Yes. A little hat, a little bubble hat. I mean, a beak warmer you don't really need.

I mean, you could have one, but I don't know what that looks like. Just a furry muzzle. Making it like a scarf. I think I would, in that case, retroactively ask for clothing. Okay, so five. You would ask for clothing. So five outfits. Five bedroll case, retroactively asked for clothing. So, five. You would ask for clothing. So, five outfits. Five bedrolls, five outfits, four tents, and a partridge in a pear tree.

All right. Who already got a partridge? This guy. Can I be the all- I'm the tree! You can be most of them. Well, that's the High Roller's Christmas card sorted. Sounds like y'all are doing a bunch of traveling.

Is there anything else you might need? Fishing equipment or, you know, hunting gear? We'll probably need rations and things, but I think I need to discuss this with the group because I don't know what our plans are. Of course you can, my dear. Of course you can. Let me just total all this up for you now. That's going to be...

I've got hunting gear. That's going to be 23 gold all told, please. Perfect. Thank you so much. I need a hat. You can, there's a lovely hat right here for you. That's a white one. It's a white, like obnoxiously large cowboy hat.

Did that include? Take it. Oh my God. How much is that?... Take it. Oh my god. How much is that? It's part of the fine outfit. Yeah, does the outfit include the black hat that Arvel picked for me? Everybody gets a hat.

Everybody gets a hat. On the travelling gear, it's like a hat. Better idea, cowboy hats. Cute. My spike's just going to pierce through. You don't need to wear it, but yes. It's there. You should.

I will wear a hat. Some of them might be more like a raccoon hat, what they call it, like the traveler's hat. It's just like a fur thing with a little tail. I think my favorite thing about this campaign is the adorable shop RP that we've had in everything we've gone to. That's D&D, man. This was pretty succinct, I'd say.

Yeah. We had a shocking list. I'm not being sarcastic. I genuinely love it. Me too. It's good fun. I might even be in the shop and I'm loving it. Your mirror.

It is? Now, I think it might be slightly curved because I definitely don't put on as much as... I think, you know... You must be. Must be slightly curved. You're right. You'd tell me, wouldn't you? I would.

If I looked a bit bigger. Because I've been on a diet. Of course, fella that I've only just met and I've never seen before, so I have no context. I would absolutely tell you. Thank you so much. No problem. What a sweetheart you are. What a lovely man.

Oh, well, just, oh, ain't you just, you're so handsome. Oh, yes, I had an undead spirit telling me that, too. Sorry, what? Bye. undead spirit tell me that too. Sorry, what? There. And the three of you make your way back to this villa.

Okay. When you get back, so those of you who went straight to the villa, it is one of these kind of wooden lodges that looks out onto the lake. It's comfortable. You know, there's big thick furs and hides to sleep on.

Big, thick chairs. Big, comfy chairs and blankets. It's like a big hunting lodge, really. Is this like the general housing for everyone in the village? No, this looks like it's guest accommodations. Like a villa you would rent out on a little holiday or

something like that. we in centre parks? very centre parks-esque it is very centre parks-esque cool these are like little lodges dotted along the lake we hadn't gone with like trees

and things like that the American viewers are going to have no idea what that means sorry google it did you just have a big like hole in your teeth?

yeah yeah okay so yeah there is it's like a little like a big oh man it's nestled little, like a vacation.

Oh man. Like it's nestled on the lake. It looks out on this beautiful lake. Cool. More monsters though. There are like little boats. You can see that there is like a little wharf where there are boats for hire

and things like that. Boats for hire. Oh my God. I love this place. The little peddlers. We're not doing like the next 10 episodes here. But when you go inside, Vacation.

When you go inside this villa you can see that spread out on the uh table is a map of this area of savona and you can see lots of little notes and like writings and scribblings and things like that have been pinned into the map and things like that um you can see that there is a suit of leather armor uh kind of like hung up there's some traveling cloaks you can see some magical apparatus as well it looks like that there is a selection of like not quite a spell book like little scrolls and parchments and things and Galen the man just kind of gets in he gets into like the big chair and he just starts

kind of like rubbing his head thank you so much thank you so much for coming just to help Santa with the investigation. It's... I just don't know what I'm gonna do. I mean you can see that he looks tired. You look... are you sure it's a good idea for you to be joining this investigation rather than just sending people out to... I couldn't just stay in Goldthrone doing little rituals for noblemen. I had to do something. Knowing my girls out there, I just can't.

Okay. Santa's doing all the hard work, and I know I'm not a fighter. I know a little magic, but she's the one I've hired. But I just have to, if nothing else, I can pay for things. But I just have to if nothing else I can pay for things, you know I can be here to pay for this villa and buy clothes and food whenever she needs to find my girl and So I guess update us on everything at least, you know Should we wait for your friends to come back?

Or be pretty this too It's probably best actually. Alright, well please, there's some food out in the kitchen, please help yourselves. I'm going to, I'm just going to do a little spell around the villa just to, in case anybody tries to get in, just to protect us. Is that a common thing? I've been doing it every night, so. Okay, as a reaction to something that happened, or just? Oh, just, I mean, when Santa told me

that whoever took Estelle was here. I see. I mean, from what Santa's told me, these people are dangerous. They have magic, and they're clad in black. I mean, they took my girl without anybody knowing. Okay. So I figured that this is... I should have done it at the house,

but I just didn't think. I was so busy with work, I just didn't put the alarm spell on the house. Don't blame yourself. Don't. I'm sorry. I'll be with you in a minute. And he goes off and he starts poodling around the house.

And you can see he has this thread, like this silver thread, that he's kind of like winding around the main chambers. I guess to pass the time, could I look at the map and just sort of compare with my own? See what... Yeah, so it's pretty much the same thing. It shows the Golden Road, the little places along it.

You can see that the main things are noted is Kali's rest. And you can see that in a kind of very rough handwriting, whoever has written this doesn't look like they're practiced at writing physically, but you can see rough notes like taken from home found tracks in alleyway witnesses saw

people in black leaving this area, tracked from here and then it follows the road down and it mainly relies on physical tracking, like actually following tracks. Yeah. And then just as it gets to Ironwick,

tracks lead towards the town. Townsfolk, no response. People are hiding something, is what's written down. Okay, fair enough. And then, yeah, probably there's enough time. When you get back, Santa has come back downstairs and she's kind of taken off the armoured boots and you can now see that her feet

are quite elongated. They're like rabbit's feet, kind of elongated, and she walks primarily on the tips of her toes. So it kind of gives her legs this bow-legged kind of look. But she's very springy. She moves around very gracefully. Do her knees bend forward or backwards like a rabbit? Whichever way a rabbit goes.

Good. Yeah. Okay. Okay. She comes down and nods and then Lucius, Arpel, and Nobita. Well, hi, y'all! How do you do? And the outfits.

Lucius is mainly white, like, leather with, like, little trims. It's like a bad, like, Elvis. Like a ride hats and the outfits. Which is mainly white like leather with like little trims. It's like a bad like Elvis. Like a rhinestone cowboy. Not rhinestone but there's definitely like little brass fixtures and then little strips. Which is a couple of

renegade lowlanders locals. Look the parts. I'm just going around putting the hats on everybody Valerie's like Compared to everyone else This is glorious Like You get a hat

Thank you No one would Except the fact that she's blue Yeah And has like all these Scrolls and stuff Fitting with the Lucius looks

Pretty ridiculous Very good Like Elvis You look very bright I'll say that Thank you Yes I feel like I'm Radiating bright. Thank you. Yes, I feel like I'm radiating today. Yes. Thank you very much. Splendent. Yes, I found

the best looking clothes for me. I'm awake. Carries the four tents like... I am not carrying all of these tents again. I did suggest we left it there for everyone else to come and help with. I'm not allowed to go there apparently. Thank you very much.

I will carry my tent. Mine. Okay. And thank you. No one else can carry theirs. You're going to have to share that, Arvel. That's fine. With me. Quill, I don't suppose you want to remain?

We were bunking on the airship, Arvel. I know, that's why I'm asking. I mean, or do you want to stay with Century? She's... She's got a shield. You know what, Lucius? I think you should have a tent to yourself. And your Valor can bunk with me,

Aayla and Nova can bunk, and then Century and Quill. And then you get a tent, but you will have to carry it. It'll be a luxury tent, though. Ooh, that's spacious. I'm gonna go over and try and lift. So you don't have a lot of equipment so you can carry it but

it's heavy. About 20 pounds this tent. It's like bundled up. You have to wear it like on a backpack. Oh, it's going to like cause scratches in my nice new coat. Oh, not your cowie coat. You're wearing cowies now. Well, maybe you can pay someone

to carry it for you, because I'm not. Unless you pay me. Who wants to earn some coin from the tent? Well, I mean, I was going to say... Hi! I was going to say,

Ayla's like, hello! Suddenly. Like a gold a day, I don't know how it works. It's really heavy, though. Like, really heavy. Platinum a day, I don't know how it works. It's really heavy, though. Like, really heavy. Platinum a day? I've only got seven left. Oh, my God.

Silver a day? We'll work it out at Goldthorne when I get my money from Daddy. Daddy. Yes. Okay. For now, it can be a gold a day until we get there. That's very fair. That's fair.

Absolutely. I'll give you one now. Thank you. There you go. It covers for today. Unless you probably won't have to carry it. Excellent. Century, would you be able to carry our one? Yeah, that's not a problem.

I can trust you. All right, well, now that's settled. I'm going to be on my own, aren't I? You're with A problem. I can trust you. Alright, well now that's settled. I'm going to be on my own, aren't I? You're with Ayla. You're with me. I'm just carrying his. I'm just carrying it. Lucius's and yours.

But you can do that. But I'm rooming with you. Yes, you're rooming with Ayla. I'm rooming with you. Sweet. And not Lucius. Anyway. Vala, I bought you an outfit. Thank you. It should be a lot warmer. Thank not Lucius. Anyway. Vala, I bought you an outfit.

Thank you. It should be a lot warmer. Thank you so much. You picked up the local accent. Do I get the hat? Yeah. Yes. Yeah, girl.

And then she gets her two knives out. Yeah. You look fantastic, Vala. Look in the pot. Like a true lowlander. Is that okay? You need to stop saying lowlanders. No, I feel like...

Ground people? How about just people? This is the bunny woman. It's like, have you been dealing with this the whole time? Yeah. Wow. Honestly, it's a miracle that I'm still here. Dealing with what?

What? Rain? Yes. Yeah. Yep, that's a miracle that I'm still here. Do you think it's what? What? Rain? Yes. Yeah. Yep. That's it. It's been so impressive. It really is.

Really? Yep. Dampens the mood. Lucius has learned a lot. Thank you, Quill. He learned what a cow was recently. Pretty good. I'm not going to ask.

We should get down to business anyway. So you were going to tell me what you knew. You didn't want to say out in public, but what happened? Yeah, Valor like sat there and seems fine, but you were going to go up to her and be like time to leave. Yeah, like you might not want to hear this.

Like it might freak you out a bit. She looks and she's like look, I can't if I heard that these girls are being kidnapped the ones ones that look like me, I can't escape what's happened. I mean, obviously, I don't like what happened to Yusuf and Karin, but this is because of me. Whatever it is, I'm a part of it. And so I should be here. Does, I mean, does Sana hear that?

Yeah, she does. And she raises her eyebrow. But she? Yeah, she does. She raises her eyebrow, but she doesn't say anything immediately. She's, like, listening. With respect, Sentry, I think Phyllis should be here. If anything, she knows more than most. Plus, she's part of the team. I don't remember a lot, but

I just, I feel like if this is because of me, then I need to help. Just promise the moment you feel uncomfortable with this, you can leave, okay? Avalight nods, he's like, ah, we can go somewhere else if you want, get some food if you want to.

And Vala just nods, but she stays sat where she is. Okay. Okay. Well, I guess we'll start with what you know, what happened in your situation. Well, it was in Kaylee's Rest. That's where Estelle and her mother live. Galen works up in Goldthrone.

He spends a lot of his time there. He came back and his wife was hysterical. The girl had been taken from their home. None of the servants in the house, none of the kind of workers that Galen employs heard anything about it. She was just simply gone. I did some looking around and I noticed that there was definitely a use of magic. I found a few components still around the place.

Something which allowed the group to appear through walls and then become invisible. They made their way outside the building and then they seemed to vanish into a shadowy alleyway. That was the thing which proved hardest, but then I got a lucky break. A guardsman just happened to catch a couple of shady-looking folks leaving the city just outside the walls. They didn't really have horses, they were just on foot, but they said that they had a girl with them.

But the girl was awake and just seemed not with it. The guard said that he asked her where they were going. If she knew them, she complied. She said that she did, that they were taking her to see her family. But there was something not right. I looked into it, figured that this is probably a use of magic, some sort of way to enchant the girl, get her outside. And then, yeah, we tracked their trail here to Ironwick.

It's gone cold ever since. I haven't found in the surrounding area any sign that they left here, but where they went, I don't know. We arrived about three or four days ago. And, I mean, you were investigating this missing girl, but apparently there's, do you know how many others? No, I heard a little bit, so... I mean, being a bounty hunter, I'd seen that there were

a few similar reports, cases, but they've been spread out over a few weeks. At first, people just thought that they might be monster attacks. You know, things around here happen. Goblin tribes. No offense, but wild elves. You know, monster attacks. Manticores, wyverns, that sort of thing.

People go missing here in the lowlands. You know, it's, manticores wyverns, that sort of thing, people go missing here in the lowlands it's a thing that happens but after the third girl with dark hair, all about the same age people started to realize that something bigger was going on and yeah, that's all I really

know about the others, I just Galen hired me to look for Estelle so do you know of a man in I just, I mean, Galen hired me to look for Estelle, so. Okay. Do you know of a man in, we saw one, well, I didn't meet him, but a man in black armor, rose, thorn. He was apparently a knight. Yeah, he came by.

He was patrolling the town, the roads. I mentioned to him about the missing goat because I asked him if he'd heard anything or seen anything. He said that he wanted to help but he had to fulfill his mission first. He had to make sure the roads were clear, but then he said he would offer any help he could. But it was only a brief passing as he traveled through the town. I was just wondering if he was hired to look into it at all as well. Didn't seem to be. Okay, so who wants to start with our side of things?

I could go. I wrote it down. Good. Because I didn't. You don't have to role play it all out. I'll literally give her my notebook and say. And that basically details the event, like the things that happened to you with the Goliath and the shadow being missing.

Yeah. So she looks at it and she's like, I mean, yeah, this seems to follow a similar pattern. The ones that I've been dealing with didn't kill anybody else, though. They seemed a lot more subtle, using magic to get them out, keeping the girl enchanted so that she wasn't running away, that sort of thing. I'm guessing they didn't have a Goliath with them. Didn't think so. I think this was maybe two, three humanoids. So a different group.

Yeah. One thing we found out was that the Brookstone daughter, their contact was a Lady Vale and was offering 10,000 gold. Apparently she lives in Goldthrone. But they were meant to meet someone here in Ironwick. Maybe that's they were bringing these girls here. That's as far as I can, that Estelle was brought here. If your girl was brought here too.

Or she, well, she was meant to, but fortunately we caught up with them. Maybe, maybe this is a meeting point, or there's something else going on. The thing is, is for me, the only thing is, I know the town are hiding something. Something about the lake that they really don't like people talking about. I just can't figure out if they're hiding something malicious,

or they just don't want their town getting a bad rep. This place is really relying on people visiting for the lake. If something's wrong or something's sinister going on, that could really hurt a lot of people here. So I'm not sure if they're working with these kidnappers or they're just being pains in my ass okay well it seems the trail leads here your trail went cold here our trail would have led to here if we haven't stopped them yeah how long have you said this you You said this, you think that these people were working with the Remnant?

You said in your notes that you thought that they might be connected because of the shadow powers. Well, yeah. The magic we've never seen before. And also, well, our airship was attacked by the Remnant. Oh, right. This is... Okay. We don't know why

they attacked us, but it could... Bella was on board that day. With these guardians that died. Well, I mean, yeah. Listen, I mean, I'm happy to share what Galen's paying with me if you can help solve this. Because it sounds like either more girls are going to go missing or something worse is going to happen to the ones who already have. So if you're willing, I'm happy to split that payment with you. He's offered me 600 gold to find her.

And if you're willing to join us and assist in our investigation. I'm a bounty hunter. I'm in it for the pay, but I'm not heartless. I don't like hearing about kids going missing. So yeah, sure, if you guys can help. But I just don't know the next steps. This town hates me. They think that I'm connected to these thefts, which I honestly have no idea what's going on. My people, they don't live too far from here, but they wouldn't come and steal from a general store.

We don't need to. We've got all the supplies and things we need in the Iron Borough. store. We don't need to. We've got all the supplies and things we need in the Iron Burrow. Well, it sounds like I was talking to the girl at the store, and it sounds like whoever stole stuff stole traveling equipment. They stole potions, they stole food, rations. It sounds to me like someone

going on a journey. Maybe they were trying to stockpile before they head somewhere else. Goldthread, maybe. What did we find? Maybe, but the thing is, if they were going to go to gold throne Kali's rest is north of here they would have gone straight to gold throne from Kali's rest

they came to Ironwick for a reason to be a contact maybe they know that they don't have the right girl yet maybe we should investigate the green glow that seems to be the good place to start did they say when the things were stolen? I didn't ask.

The way that they've been treating me has been happening on and off every couple of days. From what they were saying in the square, it seems to be something that keeps cropping up. Yeah, for sure. What did we find on the Goliath? There was a note saying,

oh yeah, sorry, that was it. The note said his contact was Lady Vale in Goldthrone. Okay. And he had the chain. Who took the chain? It's currently attached to Sentry's waist, housing the broken echo. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Okay. Right. What's our plan? I mean, we've got a very small inn but an inn with the harvest guard not the harvest guard the field warden

so we could I mean they won't talk to Sana they might talk to us possibly we are outsiders though she's the one who's the most cagey about the lake. She's responsible for the town, so you're gonna have a hard time getting anything out of her I reckon.

But you might be more convincing than me, I'm not great with people. I'm better at kicking things in the face. Why don't we see for ourselves? And you can see she's, how tall is Ayla? I don't actually know, I don't think I've set a height I think she's This bunny lady is like nearly 7 feet tall I think she's almost

How much of that is here? Loads of legs The ears do help quite a lot She's maybe like 6 foot something And the ears just push her to about 7 feet I think she's maybe like 5'11 Okay So she's still quite

She's a bit taller than you So she kind of looks down on you and she's like, bam! Um, Mark. Yes. Kim is asking Mark Humes a question.

Yeah. Just to clarify, the green glow that we saw as a party, is it similar to the glow that Nova keeps seeing in her visions of the starships? Oh! You know what?

Now that you start thinking about it... There's a starship in the lake! You start thinking, and you have that memory of the green power lines that ran through the shuttle where you found Tiangong, and they pulsed in a similar way, and that dull green glow just begins to remind you of what you saw in the lake. Damn. Oh. Damn.

Nice. Excellent deduction. I was thinking it before the break, but I was like, how ridiculous would it be if there's a starship in the lake? Yeah, so Nova starts to kind of go like, like, maybe not 100% sure, but there's something there. There's just the edge of my thought.

Yeah, like you're kind of like that memory. It just evokes the same memory. Okay. At risk of metagaming it, can Tom ask him a question? Yes. What about? I'll allow it. If it's Nova, does it remind you about the shuttle thing?

No, no, no. It's about what we found on the Goliath. Okay. Do you remember if we found any, if we found gemstones on the Goliath? No. I literally... Was it literally just... on the goliath okay do you remember if he found any if we found gemstones on the goliath no i literally was it literally just it was literally a document saying rend i need you to get the girl tonight head to ironwick and meet the contact bb and that was when we all went and then ran back to rose yeah and then specifically the information about ladyville actually came did come from the

book but then it was the chain that Century took. I don't remember. Or did we take gemstones? Have you got gemstones in your inventory? Well, we've spent a lot of money. I'm wondering if we converted gemstones into gold and then don't have a record of it.

The party doesn't remember. I'm just, oh god. I'm sure we found gemstones somewhere that we just converted into gold because that's what they basically, Why is that important to Quill's way of thinking? Because people might be going like, why is Tom caring about gemstones?

Okay, fine. Quill wouldn't because you didn't actually mention the gemstones from the shop being stolen. Yeah. That's what I was questioning. Fine. Don't worry.

There you go. That's why I was at risk of metagaming. Oh, you're trying to connect, yeah. Because Quill wasn't there, Tom was's why I was at risk metagaming oh you're trying to connect yeah because Quill wasn't there Tom was

because I'm at the table I was just yeah okay fine that's metagaming I'm sorry that's fine no that's it's good

the way you did that was perfect it's like can I ask the oh wait no hang on I wouldn't know about that that's fine okay

cool cool so yeah so it's it's maybe like you arrive midday you've been here like with the shopping and kind of talking about plans you've been here like a couple of hours Cool. Cool. So, yeah. So it's maybe like you arrived midday. You've been here like with the shopping and kind of talking about plans.

You've been here like a couple of hours. So it's kind of, you know, late afternoon. But because it's winter, the sun is beginning to dip already. What's the plan? What do you guys want to do? You could just carry on. You can get involved in what's going on here. I think with that little revelation, like Nova's going to keep it to herself for now because she wants to look at the lake again

and just to not... We know that it started glowing nighttime. Yeah. So she's not going to mention what Kim just put together. Is there any kind of, any subtle glow that is there in the daytime that is maybe not being picked up as much

because it's light? I mean, if you want to go outside and make a perception check... Yeah, I kind of want to have a look at it. 18? Yeah, you know what? Aayla, you step outside and you're looking out the lake and you think it is because the daylight is kind of reflecting off the surface,

that people aren't just paying attention. But you do think you can just see that faint glow. Interesting. There still. Okay. I'll report that to the party. But you do think you can just see that faint glow there still. Okay. I'll report that to the party. I mean, what could possibly be under there?

What could possibly be under there? What I mean is, do we know it's definitely the lake where he was headed? Are there tracks leading to the lake? If you're asking this in character sense, it's like, I don't think so. They just came to just the outskirts of the town and then and then vanished and this was how long ago? four days well we arrived four days ago

Estelle was taken like two weeks ago oh I see it took me a bit of time to find out what had happened so if we were to look for tracks now I've tried I've been trying to keep on top of them looking for them where I can but how do we she thinks like the only other thing which is tracks. No, it's... I've tried. I've been trying to keep on top of them, looking for them where I can, but... How do we... Do you know, she thinks, like, the only

other thing which is being kind of strange is most folks, they go inside at night, they don't really... They go to the bar or whatever, they have drinks, but I've seen those three girls from the tavern sneaking around at night. I mean, I just figured they're up to teenage stuff,

right? But, I don't know. That's the only thing that I can think of. Thieves. We could tell them. They work in the store. Why would they... They could be working. Maybe they want to go somewhere else.

How are three 17-year-old girls going to go? What could they possibly be doing? They could be working with the... You said that they were charming the girls to follow them. Are they doing something maybe to control these random teenage girls? Maybe. To keep the town in check? Maybe.

I mean, why not go for the field warden? Somebody more important. The store owner. That's true. I don't know. It's strange. Is the field warden aware of their actions? I tried to bring it up, but she just brushed it off. Like I said, teenage girls being teenage girls. She said as long as they weren't getting into trouble,

then, you know, causing any trouble. I don't think she's gonna be much use. When I was 17, I used to sneak out at night as well. Yeah, me too. I'd go to the library. I would not. You're such a rebel! I went and made out with other girls, so.

In 14 years, when I'm 17, I'll probably be dead already. Wow. Great bringing the tones down, Birdman. I've got another 100 years. All good. Cool. I'm going to watch you all die. Great.

Well, probably not the wild elf. Yes, that's true. Actually, no, you strike me as the die-in-battle kind of girl. That's the way I would prefer to go. Yeah. Yep. Well, anyway, I'm going to get some food. Thanks for the talk.

You've given me a lot to think of. It sounds like the main thing is something's going on. We need to get to the bottom of it. We need to get to the bottom of it. We need to get to the bottom of that lake. You think so? You think something's down there? Yes. Why are your eyes gone all weird?

I'm going to hold out Tiangong. Nice knife. Yeah. Have you guys seen Tiangong when it glows? Sure. I guess we have. In battle, yes. Tiangong glows slightly differently.

When he's wielded by you, he glows more blue, starry kind of color. It was the ship that had this green glow. And he was in some sort of central chamber, suspended. I think I might know what it is. But I need to see the lights tonight to be sure you can kind of see it really faintly just my uh i'll look out where it looked up i i need to see it in the dark i need i think it might be it might be a ship well probably what, sorry? Hang on. A ship. Um,

a remnant ship. Like one of the ones from 500 years ago? Yeah, they're still scattered around the world. But if this is only a recent thing, that means that one is active. That's slightly terrifying. See See don't open portals

Don't mess with the shit Up there But with respect if I hadn't I wouldn't know what it is Or at least I think I know what it is Brownie points for that But this is weird You seem pretty freaked out by this Are you okay?

I mean I've seen it. Yeah you saw those ships like you would have helped fight against them. It's extremely dangerous that we could even fathom going near that place. They tore the world apart and they're still here? Okay something freaking sent you out this much, see? Apparently only recently the lights have started appearing, so... Yeah, so that's what it means. It must still be active. Or it's just woken up like I have. Ooh, maybe. And it's been inactive for as long as I have.

Something might have woken it up. All right, this is sounding way more serious than I then I guess I can really comprehend So you're saying that there's a remnant Court of Shadows star Bane ship beneath the lake Maybe maybe I've been on one before but it was a wreckage It's where I found Tiangong. I Mean if these people are working for the remnant, maybe they're using it as some kind of I mean, if these people are working for the Remnant, maybe they're using it as some kind of base or something?

Maybe they found a way to activate it and just use it. Then why are they taking these girls? Because they want Valor. Valor... She's got some powers. Valor's just, like, sat there like, I don't know. She's got powers. Yeah, but I'm just a sorcerer like you, Lucius. I'm not special.

The spells you cast at your age, that's something a master, not even a master, could do. Sentry, would you remember this glow if you saw it again? So, I think for Sentry, you mainly saw these

ships from the outside. Like, you would have done things like, they would have attacked Solvin, and you would have been, like, manning, sort of like, cannons have been like manning sort of like cannons to shoot them down or like fighting their troops in the in the streets but you remember seeing these they're long dark crystal and they have these green lines of power that run all throughout the ship like they almost form like patterns throughout it and that image you can recall 100% and if you saw one of these ships you would know you would recognise it. But what about the glow itself?

The difference is like Nova saw it in the dark fully up close, you saw it in the sky shooting down so maybe but yeah you definitely would be familiar. Okay well how about this for a plan. One I know you said the field warden may be useless, but we could at least give it a try with five, six, seven, ten different people. Why let her know our intentions, though?

Well, I mean... If this town... She doesn't need to know we're investigating the lake. She just... She hasn't done anything with Sana knowing that she's investigating the missing women. Girls. Maybe if we say that we're going to help her, she hasn't done anything with Sana knowing that she's investigating the missing women, girls. Maybe if we say that we're going to help her, she'll actually appreciate that.

But if they're being paid off by this Lady Vale or whoever is taking these girls... They could get a jump on us, yes. At the very least, we could find out. How? Are you going to just go up to her and ask her, hey, are you being paid by this woman to work with the Court of Shadows and steal girls?

Incidentally, is that what's in the lake? Can we go there? Hi, let us in. We won't do that, but it can't hurt. And the second part of the plan is that we go to the bar that's overlooking the lake. Maybe they've seen something. Yes, you can use your spare.

Oh. Sorry? Your spyglass. I need to get a new one. I really like that one, though. Well, if you want to go back to the mansion and get it. Is that an option? No.

The thing is, your spyglass, it was like a short one. It's kind of designed for Arakro. If you're trying to find one down in the lowlands, they'll be expensive as hell. Yeah, I really like that one. Okay, so what's the plan? Give me a plan. Give me a rundown of what you guys want to do. Could we go on a fishing trip to the lake?

Sure. Yeah, there's boats to hire. But they generally don't let boats go out at night, though. That doesn't mean to say you can't do it. Steal a boat. Steal a boat. My reputation will go down, though, Mark. Come on.

We need to be... I might need to stop playing Red Dead. We need to be extremely careful here. If someone like Century, who was built to fight these things, is terrified of coming across one again, we need to be seriously cautious. Well, yes, but... We can't just row a boat out close to it.

There's a potential that using a boat isn't the way they get down to the ship. It's at the bottom of the lake. They jump through shadows. It's a deep lake, by the way. They jump through shadows. You can breathe. What?

I'm a water ganassi. You're an air ganassi. I'm an air ganassi. I look like I'm an air ganassi. You're an air ganassi. I'm an air ganassi. I look like I'm an air ganassi. I don't have to breathe underwater. I mean, that's all. Yeah, but that means you're going down there on your own. I can just check and

confirm what's down there. But the people, what I'm saying is the people that went, if there is a ship down there, and if that's where they're taking the people, they're not air ganassis. There must be a way to get down there. Shadow jumping. But I at least can confirm that there is something down there. True.

Just for your benefit, Rhianna, as well, Sentry doesn't need to breathe. Yeah. So you could walk under there as well. I feel like she could just step off the boat and she'd just sink. Yeah. Go on. But if something happens to you down there while you're verifying,

we can't breathe down there to help. At the least I can go down with you and verify it. I must warn you, if it is what it is, then we're in trouble. Yeah, these were battleships. Like, you found a shuttle. You found a small skiff. Centuries, memories of these things. These are battleships.

Not only do they house troops, things like the Stalker, the creature you fought on the airship, they have weapons. They have energy weapons that can shoot down and destroy stuff as well. These are powerful things. Okay. I like what you say. There might be a way that's not underwater to get to this thing

well let's go for a nice little row on the lake during the day that's what they expect us to do Santa looks when Aayla sits that way you're right if there is something under there there's got to be a way to get down there

and that means that somebody in the town that's what he's been saying I know that's what somebody in the town... That's what he's been saying. I know, that's why. I don't want to get the two of you. Okay. That means that there's got to be something above... It must be here in the town, right? Well, maybe.

Which means somebody's got to know about something. What if they're... We saw the... The little tiefling girl. Who's been running about at night. We saw people jump through shadows and teleport to another place. They can just teleport into the ship. Well, I mean, how far can they go? From what I gather, they can't go any distance

they want. They can only teleport a short distance. When we were following trails in Rosehall. That is a deep lake. Yeah, when we were following trails in Rosehall, it was only meters at a time. Yeah, that thing is real deep. What about that drunk blacksmith? The drunk? He's just... Well, Missy...

If he's not working, what's going on in his shop? Missy, what's her face? Steel Eye told us to stay away from him. Because he's drunk. Yeah, but maybe that's a... But she also said he's been getting more drunk recently. I know I've made this mistake before, but we can't just assume that Missy Steely Eye is working against us.

Good to assume the worst there, right? I'm just saying we trusted Brett Brookstone and look what happened. That's what I was referencing. And I was pointing to the socket. Yeah. It's covered I was referencing. Pointing to the socket. Yeah. It's covered now. True.

I think we can't ignore every possibility. We can, but we need a solid plan here. Let's check out near the lake. Verify that area. If there's no tunnels and we can't find anything around there, maybe it's in the town.

Maybe we try the blacksmith. I think it's going to be extremely obvious, especially when there's so many people wandering around the lake. Maybe it's hiding in plain sight. Just pretend we're tourists. It's also very deep. It's remarkably deep. Yeah.

Not many non-air-breathing people can swim down there. Alright. That's a start. Well, the other thing is, I mean, we've been sleeping on the road. Y'all could need a good rest at some point. I could go secure rooms. I don't think I'm gonna need too much of a use interrogating folks, but if you can give me some coin, I can go secure a lodge for a... Who is it? Take care. I mean, I imagine a whole lodge like this. I'll go ask Galen. He paid for this one.

I'll go ask him how much it was. Okay. Sarno, do you know where the last trail you saw was in this town? Yeah, it was... We came in from the north, from Cali's Rest. We came in. It's just a little ways off the road. There's small copes of trees. It just vanished there. We came in from the north, from Kali's Rest, we came in, it's just a little ways off the road. There's small copse of trees, it just vanished there.

It's not far, it's just behind the Acorn and Vale. We gotta... Okay, well we could... Which is the shop, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's the inn and the shop. That shop's... there's something about that shop. And the shop is where the three...

I've not been there because I can't go there. As far as I can tell, those three are orphans. They've got a little place of their own and they just work in the shop there. Great customer service. Good. Yeah, they've always struck me as just three country girls,

you know? But if that's where the trail went cold, I guess that's the... Yeah, I guess you're right. I've tried to look around you know, but if that's where the trail went cold, I guess that's the yeah, I guess you're right I mean, I've tried to look around the building, but I couldn't find anything Hmm. Yes, you can see magic things sometimes. I can maybe sounds like a pretty useful skill to know Maybe if there's anything around that rare, but I can do it. Oh me too. Oh, okay It's not rare, but I can't do it. Me too. Oh, okay.

No, it's not very rare. No, everyone can do it. My form of bounty hunting normally involves, hey, this guy just broke out of jail, or this guy owes somebody some money. Go and get him. And then I go and beat him up until he's unconscious. That's the fun part. And then I drag him back to where I need to.

So you're saying this big warship underneath a lake that glows at night, loads of people going missing. It's a little bit out of my remit. A little bit out of my comfort zone. Okay. But if that's where this girl is, then that's where I gotta go. Well, in that case, I could spend 10 minutes,

cast a spell, have a look around there. All right. All right, all right, all right. Good start. All right. All right, all right, all right. Cool. So is that where you're going?

You're gonna go check out the shop? I think so. And then check out the boat? Do you wanna try and get a night time steal a boat? And go out on the lake? I think we're gonna rent one in the day, right? No, we're gonna... It's a day, right?

It's late afternoon, so it's like four o'clock and the sun is already beginning to... We're maybe gonna go inquire about renting a boat the following day. Oh, Sana, you said that most of the people here go to bed at night or go into bed. I mean, they just don't. It's not exactly a big nightlife kind of town, you know what I'm saying? No, sure, but is it, are you not allowed to?

No, no, you can do what you want. It's not like there's guards at every corner telling you not to do something, but it's just, you know, most folks just go home and eat food and... Fair enough. ...keep themselves to themselves around here. Well, I guess then we can start looking around at night as well. And if we need to take a boat, then we'll leave some money on the shore,

and then we'll... Let's just do it in the daytime. Well, I'm just saying, if we wanted to look around at night, we can. Yes. Which is worth knowing. So, first step, where are you going? We are going to the...

The store. Store. The last point of the... Who's going to there? All of you? I am, at the very least. The quill? Yeah, you need to detect magic.

Yeah. Yeah. Everyone wants a quill? I'll go with him. I want to go to the lake. Okay, so lake. Wait. I'll go inquire about a boat

Yeah So those two at lake I'll go with Three of you go store Cool Okay Sure Yeah

Sure Cool I guess Santa knows that she's not going to get anything out of the store So she'll go with you And Valor will go with you guys to the store Or with Arvel to the Oh yeah

Or she can just get the room She wants to do something So if you tell her not to She will go with you guys to the store. Or with Arvel to the... Oh, yeah. Or she can just get the room. She wants to do something. So if you tell her not to, she will go with Arvel. But otherwise, she's, like, drifting towards Aayla and Sentry and Quill. Like, I'm going with them. Uh, Valar? Yeah, how about you, uh,

while we're just gathering everything together, getting the boat, you go have a rest in the... I'm not feeling very tired. I feel okay. I think Valin needs to be with people. I think she needs to be with people. I'm going to force a yawn and see if she yawns.

Yeah. She doesn't yawn. Damn it. Roly can take a check. She's a teenager. She's not tired at four o'clock. She's not a toddler. I am.

You need to make sure you keep your hair tucked up in your hat. Yeah, that's a good idea. She ties it back and tucks it all in. It wouldn't hurt for her to see the lake anyway. She's coming with us. To the shop. She's coming with us. It wouldn't hurt for her to come with us to the shop anyway.

Keep her away from the lake. It wouldn't hurt. Protect Quill, would you? Yeah. Yeah, he's trying. He's a softie. While you're doing your ritual. Oh,ill, would you? Yeah. Yeah, he's true. He's a softie. While you're doing your ritual. Oh, yeah, I need all the help I can get.

Okay. Santa just folds her arms and is like, well, all right, well, let's get going to the lake, and then you guys go check out the store. Just do it like you're not doing anything suspect. Okay. You make your way. It doesn't take you long, so it's about half four.

Those of you going to secure a boat or look at the lake and things like that, the wharf, there is a selection. There's like a small little wharf, and there are a selection of, they're not rowboats, more like little sailboats, kind of like, you know, single sail can sit maybe like four or five people, a little kind of like steering. And sat, just carve carving a piece of wood, big pipe in her mouth,

is this old, crotchety-looking lady, kind of like wiry sailor's muscles, kind of knitted, big like jumper, and she's just like... Howdy! Hi. Hi. We'd like to rent a boat, please, to go on the lake.

You want to go now? You know we don't let folks out on the lake at night. Tomorrow morning. You can do that. Come by tomorrow. We'd like to go. So it's us three, right? Yeah.

We'd like to go on the lake tonight three right? Yeah, we'd like to go we'd like to go on the lake tonight if that's okay I heard it's quite romantic She eyes you Lucius the Guardian Yeah, you're with us right I'm with them. I thought you said... So there's four of you, one high elf dude, an egg and I see a robot lady and a seven foot bunny woman

and it narrows her eyes. I'm a... You know, it's not my decision. It's the field marshal. You know, there's the shadow eels. They'll come out at night. You don't want to be out in the lake when the shadow eels come out. That's not very romantic at night. You don't want to be out on the lake when the shadow eels come out.

That's not very romantic at all. I don't want to get... Are they electric? No, they're big old beasts. They're long and strong. You know, you're not careful. You go near the lake at night, they'll jump up and grab you and drag you down. That's why we're here.

They're our chaperones. Yeah. We just want to look after the lovebirds. Deception check. The what? Are we the only one playing? Four. Oh, no.

Oh, great. You can give me one as well. Hopefully, yeah. Yeah, sure. Ooh. 22. I feel like I is it, like, I is it. I'm like, I'm off of Shane's company.

She kind of looks. She's like, well, if you really want her, I'll let you take a boat out, but you gotta pay up front. Plus

care deposit. And if you die, but you gotta pay up front. Plus, care deposit. And if you die, it ain't on me. God, she's really filling me with that, that romance. I don't care about your romance, boy. I care about my boats!

My livelihood! How much would you like? A hundred gold! That's a lot of, uh... Even by Lucius standards. For love? Yep! You know what I think of love?

I've had three husbands. One died, one cheated. We don't talk about the other ones. It's you with the shadow eels. Yeah. She just looks and says, listen, you get my boat destroyed by shadow eels, that's some gold I gotta pay.

I get in trouble with the field marshal, that's some gold I gotta pay. Hundred golds, you can take the boat out. How much is it during the day? 20 gold. No way. That's kind of in the bag. That's still quite expensive.

You get 10 gold back during the day. Team huddle. I thought you were going to go in the day. I didn't think you were going to go out now. I'm trying. Just, you know, you've got to try. What's the try? You don't ask, you don't get. Shall we just stick with the day plan?

I believe so. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we don't need to go now. Okay. We'll come back tomorrow. Come back tomorrow. If your love stays that strong. Love can be a fickle thing. Just blows a big cloud of smoke out from her mouth

narrows her eyes so those of you who go to the store what a character it's the same thing I love her as it's getting later in the evening

you can see the terrace bar begin to fill up with some of the residents who definitely are just like narrowed eyes watching you guys as you kind of

make your way in we're walking around with a smile. She's delightful. You go in and you can see the blonde dwarf from before

is snoozing. He's just sat in his chair sleeping. He's got like a cup of tea and he's just like snoozing away.

When you come in the human girl and the tiefling girl are there and they just are kind of like, oh, and they hear the bell. Hey there strangers. We're looking to buy something. Now were you friends with the folks that came in before we saw you out in the square?

Oh, they already been here? Yep. They bought like bedrolls and tents and clothes. Oh, they forgot. They forgot. We were looking for, you know, we're travelers and we tend to run into monsters and things like that. Right. So they must have, did they pick up any weaponry for us or? No, no, no weapons bought. No, we don't have a lot of weapons here, Mr. Bird. We got like some hunting traps and arrows and, you know,

things like that, but it's a general store more than anything. Hmm, okay. How about rations? Do you have rations? Yeah, yeah, we got things like trail rations and some things like that. They didn't get those, though. Yeah, sure. Do you have a big back room

full of stock? I mean, yeah, we got stock at the back, sure. Do you have a big back room full of stock? I mean, yeah, we've got stock at the back, sure. Okay. You want me to go? She's like, there's plenty of rations out. I mean, how much do you need? We're just going to browse with us, okay? Can I have a look at the weapons that you have?

I like weapons. She's like, I mean, sure. I wouldn't really really say we got weapons but we got a couple of bows and we got some arrows and some long knives and she's like okay and then she the human girl leads you over to like one side and you can see there's like you know strung up bows kind of hanging on the walls quivers arrows a couple of long knives like hunting gear the tiefling girl is just like looking at you with these big black pupil-less eyes, curved horns, like red skin, fang teeth. And she's like, howdy, birdman!

Howdy. Arakokra. But anyway. What's that again? Arakokra. Arakokra. Arakokra. Arakokra. That's the one. Nice. I never met me a birdman before. Arakokra. That's the one. Nice. I never met me a birdman before. Aarakocra. Do you fly?

Yeah. That's a sore subject. I wouldn't bring it up. Quite sore, actually. I have one wing. Oh, sorry about that. When did that happen? A while back.

Did it hurt? Yes. A lot. That's a shame. Good for small talk. Nope. No. Okay.

If I was to start, like, ritualing this thing. Yeah. It's, like, obvious. You're like, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, It's like obvious. You're like... I thought you were going to ritual beforehand. Yeah, I really thought you were going to do that. I thought it might have been more than ten minutes walk. I mean, you could do it outside.

You could just go around the corner and be like... Okay, I'll go do that then. So you just leave. Mid-conversation. I think rather than Having you leave Valor who is with you Will kind of be like Um

Um And like she comes in To talk to the tiefling girl And it's like What's your name And she's like Oh my name's Zanny What's your name

And does like It's two girls Like having a conversation Right like Valor probably is like Are there any boys you like And like Then this Zanny's like

Oh yeah I like Blah blah blah I've seen him He's real nice Blah? And like, then this Zanny's like, Oh yeah, I like blah, blah, blah, I've seen him, he's sat on the farm, he's real nice, blah, blah. And like, Valerie's like desperately just trying to keep the attention away. I'm just looking at all the bows, looking at Quill like, Hurry the fuck up. So you can like go stand in a corner and be like,

Yeah. Eel, eel, eel, eel. Do you have any magical weapons? Nope. Do you see them often? Nope. Good job. Nothing like that here.

Anyway, so these are our skimming knives. This one's a buck candle. This goes through. So you finish casting the ritual and... Turn around. My eye's purple. Yeah, sure. What do i see so what you see is a couple of

sources of magic oh ones that aren't the ones you already expect oh so you see valor there's a slight glow from a sorcerer's power you see the howling gale slight glow from its magical enchantments the cup of tea that the dwarf has been drinking has a slight magic oh there's a slight glow from its magical enchantments. The cup of tea that the dwarf has been drinking has a slight magical glow. Oh. There's a glow. Both of the girls are wearing an amulet. Oh, cheap. There's something underneath their outfits.

Uh-huh. Strange symbol. Not one you're necessarily familiar with. You can see it's a pair of crossed blades with a star in the middle. Mm. Um, and then there is something. What's the range on it?

Like, 60 feet? Uh, it's... Yeah, it's far. Far. I mean, I can see... Range far. It's like 100 and... Out in the stock room.

Oh, it's 30 feet, and I can see through... You can see through things. So just beyond in the back room, on the floor, is a magical sigil. And that's where we're going to end today's episode. We got some knowledge. Gotta learn. I knew those little shits were something.

They were something. They're just too plumb nice. You just never doubt. I just thought they were one thing's real. I just thought they were being nice salespeople. Wonderful. Do you get EXP for picking up quests? Oh yeah, do we get any EXP? Please, Mark, we need...

I mean... 80. The spaceship's worth some EXP! We rolled Insight today. We went to this town for the first time. You did, you went to Ironwick, so that's some EXP. We went to this town for the first time, so... You did, you went, you cut to iron wicks, that's some XP. We defused the situation. Well done.

Met a dude on the road, did some deceptions. We picked up a load of quests. I wrote it to do this. Tom had XP for writing it to do this. I will say, you also discovered the girls were more than what they seemed. Is it? Is it? So by my thing, that would be location. Go boil your head.

What does that mean? Just your head. We need 80 XP, guys. To level up. It's gonna be 79 or some shit. I'm working this out based on the way that I work at experience. Being fair.

Plus you uncovered important information. I feel like he's explaining a lot to us. It's that information, which would be 600 XP total, which divides down into 120 XP. So you guys level up, and we'll go over that next episode. Goodbye. Goodbye, everybody. Hey, thank you for listening to this episode of High Rollers. Make sure you check out D&D Beyond with the link in the description.

Search High Rollers D&D wherever you want to follow us. We're probably on there. And also remember to check out store.yogscast.com and use the code HIGHROLLERS to get 10% off any purchase. That's HIGHROLLERS, all caps, no space in between. Anyway, we'll be back on Monday for a brand new episode. We'll see you then.