High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #5 - Soft Beds, Warm Plates (Part 2)

Episode Date: August 9, 2018

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No? Then yeah, this Reese's Extreme Blizzard is real. Hello and 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 Keeluk Adkala, the bard slash cleric. Hi, I'm Katie. I'm playing Ayla, a wild elf barbarian. Hi, I'm Rhiannon. I'm playing Sentry. I am a guardian paladin.

And I'm Kim. I'm playing Nova, who is an air ganassi, and she is a hexblade warlock. Unfortunately, Chris couldn't make it into today's session. That means Lucius Virion Eluin Elenesto is being run by Mark for the duration of the episode. A big thank you to our sponsors, D&D Beyond and Brilliant.org. The party have finally made their ways out of the wilds and into a farming settlement called Rosehall. Let's see if they can blend in. Hello, and welcome back to High Rollers. I'm your Dungeon Master, Mark Shulker-Cumbs.

I'm buying time so Katie can finish eating her cookie. I'm eating her cookie! Welcome back. So we journey back as you guys literally enter The town of Rosehall It is a fairly bustling You arrive around midday So there are traders and farmers And marketers

All about the place basically They're less trading In goods at this time of year And more making preparations So you see people buying things like You know wood and nails or, you know, sacks for grains and things to keep their food and supplies straight. You see them trying to sell off maybe a few little, some of the more sickly cattle to traders who are going to

take them up to the capital and things like that. But generally, it's a fairly busy place. There are buildings scattered all over the place. Mainly, it was all built around a large open market square, but the rest of it is just all buildings scattered all over the place. The only main landmark is a large temple to Palador. It's very obvious that it is a temple to Palador, which is on the hills at the back of the town. And then there seems to be some larger buildings, like houses, near towards the forest

that lead out this large, expansive forest to the northwest. Yeah, the people all seem to be in fairly good spirits. Most of them look fairly, not poor, but like common farmers, traders, art zans, that sort of thing. Yeah.

I feel super welcome, guys. Yeah. Super welcome welcome your little group does attract a lot of attention in the fact that there is a wild elf an arakokra a guardian an air ganassi in fact the only ones that

don't really get noticed is Lucius does stand out so it's mainly the three humans and then Arvel. Arvel just seems, his spirits have been brightened up immensely from arriving in, and he's just like, oh, so good to be back in civilization. Or as close as this comes to it, anyway.

Do you think there's anywhere here that we could get your leg seen to? Well, I certainly hope so, and my other injuries too. Well, the temple will probably have a priest. They should know something, but the best thing to ask around, if you all don't mind, I think my advice would be find somewhere comfortable to stay, get us patched up there, and then we can ask for directions anywhere else. But obviously it's up to you if you don't mind carrying me that way.

I think our number one priority should be fixing your leg. That's very kind of you, Nova. Very kind of you indeed. Well, best thing, let's find us a tavern or an inn or somewhere like that and settle me down and then, well, I'm sure that if you go and ask for a priest, he'll come to me.

Did you say you've been here before, Nova? Long time ago, long time ago, back in my trading days. I'm sure that if you go and ask for a priest he'll come to me. Did you say you've been here before, Arwen? Long time ago, long time ago, back in my trading days. Haven't been around these parts in a while. I mainly trade up at Goldthrone. Okay. Does that mean there's routes to Goldthrone? Oh, yeah, certainly.

This is on a main trading road. It'll take a couple of weeks, but you can follow this straight up north to Goldthrone itself. Is there any other way we could travel there? A cart or something like that? I'm sure that you can either buy or hire horses here if you like. That sounds good. At least that's one thing. It'll certainly be quicker than walking.

Well, not much faster, but it'll be easier. Well, it's good to know. Certainly, I mean, yeah, if you all want to ask around, find a good place to stay or just find the first place we see are we i'm gonna leave this to you guys because i have a feeling that it's not gonna go well if i speak to anyone so i'm just gonna keep my mouth shut can i just a group of kids like are running around and you can see them excitedly pointing at sentry and just being like whispering to each other. And like you can see like a few of them like being dead to like go over

like shoved and then they kind of walk back and they're fighting with each other kind of thing. They seem like pretty rough kids. These kids like when they shove each other it's like a throwing them forward rather than the light tap. These are rough and tumble kids.

They're going to make it in the world. Are there any adults around? Yeah, there's plenty of people around. You can see just townsfolk walking around, village folk walking around. Can I go to the nearest townsperson? Yeah, you see a woman with dark auburn hair wearing a leather apron with just basic artisans clothes,

like short trousers, tall boots, kind of like she like turns around. She's like, oh my good stars. Sorry. How can I help? Good day, milady. Oh, well met. And I'm really like enunciating like,

could you please direct myself and my fellow weary travelers to your nearest tavern or inn? For we wish to stay in nice beds. Sure, ma'am. I want something. My goodness, sorry. Strange.

You do want... Okay. Well, there's two taverns in this town. There's the White Breeze Rest. That's real nice. Really nice lady. Rosalina runs that. Or you can...

Well, if you really want... Oh, sorry. That's the Brazen Heart, Rosalina's tavern. I was looking at the wrong thing. The White Breeze Rest is more low-key. It's up near the woods, but I don't recommend y'all stay there. It's not the most welcoming place for

traveling folk like yourselves. When you say not very welcoming for traveling folk, do you mean not very welcoming for wild elves? Honestly, honestly, it ain't welcoming to some of us. Mainly the Brookstone family

use them, and they kind of like their own kind around there. Where would we find the Brookstone family? They're up by the woods. They run a mine up in the Ironweald. That's their whole family business. They're kind of important in town. They run the biggest mine around here.

Get a lot of the iron and ores that we use. Do they have a lot of employees that wander around? Yeah, there's, oh, I'd say a good maybe quarter of the village works for Brookstone. It's got a big family too, lots of sons and a couple of daughters. And would that entire company as a whole share the same opinions? Maybe not. Some of the folk there, they're just trying to get by.

You know how it is. We're just finding good coin and trying to find work, but Brookstone is the kind of, a lot of people buy into what he's selling, if you get what my meaning is. Okay. But just be careful, y'all.

We don't want no trouble in the town. Oh, we don't want to cause it we're just wary of what we're travelling with me including the lady made a metal there ain't that something

she kind of looks a little bit pale might you shake her hand oh my goodness that's madie Cold! Um, please... Are you a living thing? You speak and talk and breathe and... Of course.

Oh my... Oh my, and she like starts fanning herself. Bless my stars! What a sight to see, I mean... I should warn you, a lot of folks are probably gonna come come by and try and get a look at y'all. We don't get a lot of travelers around here, mainly a few traders down from Goldthrone when they're passing through, going to some old ruin or some such. But, well, I've got to get back. I'm off to just finish off my shift at the Carpenters.

So it's a pleasure. I do recommend the Brazen Heart. Rosalina is a good folk. She's not from around here, she's from one of them sky cities, so she should be maybe a bit more used to dealing with folks like yourselves. Thank you, m'lady!

And then bow really deep. Yep, my friend, meet John. She just starts skipping like, whoa! You're really, really good at blending in. Thank you. I can't quite tell if we've ruined the day. No, she looked absolutely just amazed. I think that we've made her day.

Are we that amazing, really? Yes. Oh, okay. Well, you've got to remember, Birdie, that all these simple folk, they don't really have very interesting lives So I'm sure we're the most exciting thing that's happened to them in many, many years So he shouldn't talk when we go and meet people No way, I'm very charming So we're at this rate

Very At this rate, Lucius doesn't talk Ayla doesn't talk Nova I shouldn't talk Maybe her a little bit Call it back a little bit What's wrong? Lucius doesn't talk Isla doesn't talk Nova I shouldn't talk maybe I will her a little bit

call it back a little what's wrong call it back a little bit on the pleasantries it's coming off a little bit my mom always said manners maketh the man

right or woman manners maketh the bird the bird talks or the bird brother Corin looks over and Nova's like that's a very good

sentiment to live by Nova but um you came off very strong. Perhaps a little forced. What do you mean? A bit patronising, in a way. Really? A little bit, yes.

At this, Nova's face is just going to go from happy, smiley to mortified and almost crying. What do you mean? Do you think I offended her? No, no, no. Not offended, but perhaps you just came across as a bit daunting. Chill. Just chill. You need to just be a bit more casual. Like we're talking to us.

I did it again, didn't I? Just a little bit. Yeah. You did do a very good job. Thank you. I'm just trying to be nice. Bring it down a few notches on the ladder. You sound like my dad.

That's just what every young man wants to hear from a young woman. Thank goodness I joined the priesthood. Thanks, Dad. He just looks down, looks very sad. Stracts his oncoming five-day stubble on his lap. Well, shall we go to an inn? Yes, Rosalie would be good to talk to. Let's get out of the room.

Valar is just looking around like, she's like super happy and she's just like looking around and she's like peering around. She's like looking at the kids like, what are they doing? Stuff like that. I mean, I suppose we have some time, Valar, if you wanted to.

But don't show them your knives. Sister Yusef is just like, you should come with us to the tavern first, and then perhaps we can go and explore later. This seems a safe enough place for us. I think our friends may have more trouble than we will. I got a big hammer. I won't have any trouble. I'm sure you will not.

Or if you do... I'll stick with sentry. Please, please don't use the hammer. Sorry. No, I mean please don't use the hammer. No, I mean don't use your fist. Don't use it. Don't be... Don't be me?

Is this what you're trying to say? I mean, let's say someone comes up to us and insults you. What would you do? Oh, she'd probably punch them in the face.

Bit in their eye. I'm just saying don't do that. Big on it. We're not here to cause trouble. That seems an awfully terrible thing to do. It's very rude. Very rude. They got it. We're not here to cause trouble. That seems an awfully terrible thing to do.

It's very rude. Very rude. Very. Okay. Fine. Okay. I'll tone it down maybe. I can't promise anything, I'm going to be honest.

Okay. I can't promise. Great. Can you tone it down with me? Given the last few days, it's natural to be kind of tense. Oh, yeah. We're tense. We're very tense.

But we don't want them to be tense. Oh really? The swim this morning was quite refreshing, I thought. It was. It was a good swim. I mean, the five days prior to that swim... Did you have a good dust bath? Very good, yes.

Thank you. But it didn't quite clear off some of the wild elf blood, actually. So, still a little bit shaken from all the things that's happened. I'll be honest. I'm just going to put two hands on Quill's shoulders and just squeeze him Um, so... Still a little bit shaken from all the things that's happened, I'll be honest. I'm just going to put two hands on Quill's shoulders and just squeeze him and look at him with a genuineness smile.

Everything's going to be okay! Great. Well, we are in... We have found a place at least. We are not out there with the... What are they, plague? Plague hounds. Plague hounds. Good. They're not here. And the goblins.

And the wild owls. There's just racists And the goblins. And the wild elves. There's just races. And Aayla. And giant boars. I made a joke. What could go wrong? This is a minefield. Top notch.

So I take it you all make your way. Yes. We make our way to the brazen heart. To the brazen heart, yeah. Okay, perfect. It doesn't take you long to find this. The town isn't huge. You find it.

It's a very comfortable very quaint looking stone and wood cottage so it kind of has like a stone foundation um wood timbers and then like a big thatched roof looks to be about two stories tall and outside there is a uh a sign with a white stag or a white heart a heart uh outside um and uh it. And in a beautiful kind of forest environment, like flowers and trees have been painted around it. And you can see that the windows have very thin metal in between the panes to reinforce it. There is flower beds with bright blooming flowers.

The door is painted with pastel ivy and things crawling up the sides. And it seems extremely very comfortable and welcoming. And also quite rich, then, as well. It does look very rich, yes. It looks to be one of the more finer buildings in the town. Okay. And when you make your way inside, there is an instant smell of freshly baked bread

and maybe, like, some sizzling pork. Oh. And you can see that there are a few uh local looking folks um sat down at a table playing some sort of dice game kind of cheering and they've got big kind of uh clay pictures of like frothy beer um they're just sipping those and behind the bar you can see she must be standing on some sort of like platform is actually a halfling woman um a small woman wearing very loose kind of draped cloth and fabrics that kind of wrap around her very uh curvaceous body um although her size she is very curvy very well endowed long curly hair that just kind of spills down her back and around

her shoulders half of it is tied up in like a little bandana. She has like bracelets with all sorts of like colored flowers around them. And she has these big brown eyes, big plump lips. And she is just cheerfully kind of like humming and singing to herself as she's like cleaning things. And then when she sees you, she's just like, Oh, guests, welcome, welcome. Please come in, please. Welcome to the Brazen Heart.

I am Rosalina. How can I help you? So wonderful. Delightful. Welcome, welcome, please come in, please. Welcome to the Brazen Heart. I am Rosalina. How can I help you? You are delightful. Oh, I thank you very much. You are a wild elf. Strange. I'm surprised that you have not had more trouble here in town.

They can be awfully close-minded sometimes. You know what? You are the first person not to look at me in a really funny way. My good friend, I have been many places in the world. I have seen many things. I know that your people, sometimes, perhaps they are a little aggressive, but you have great culture and beauty about you as well. And if I treat you well,

no doubt you will do the same for me, yes? Of course. See? This is what I love. Nice. I'm clapping my hands. You have no idea how happy we are to see you, Rosalina. Oh, my friend, that is very welcoming.

You make me blush, and she's, like, holding her cheese, and she's just, like, and she kind of, like, sags her, like, little top up a little bit and kind of gives, like, a cheeky wink to all of you, like a kind of, like, a kind of very mischievous-looking grin. So how can I help such a strange band of travelers? Ah, yeah. A metal woman that walks. Genasi, but am I shouldn't of the type?

I met some of you. Water or air? I'm not sure which. Mix of the both. Mix of the both. Well, welcome to the Brazen Heart. Both correct. And Arakokra, yes?

That is your play? I have met some of your kind in my journeys. Very pleasure to meet you. You too. Who is this very handsome man, and Lucius is like, Hello, I'm Lucius Elinasto. And she's just like, Elinasto, I know of your family. You are from the Sky City Gusthaven, yes?

I am very familiar with your family's work. What a lovely patron to have here in my tavern. Very welcome to you all. And to you as well at the back, and she gestures to the others. You are very well traveled. We heard you actually hailed from a sky city. Yes, I am from Horizon myself. Oh, Horizon.

Yes, it is a very wonderful place, but I felt that my time there had come to an end, and so I left with my meager earnings and came here to start a new life. And I am very happy for it. I have managed to bring much light and joy to this little village and bring my certain expertise and skills as well. And I think that that has gone a long way to helping the town.

But how can I help all of you? I feel you are stood in my tavern. You do not have a drink. What can I get you? That's a very good point. Jewish food. We have just been cooking up lunch. Wow. Friends, we've been cooking up lunch. Wow.

Friends, we've been traveling for a long time. We'd like somewhere to eat, to rest. Of course, of course, of course. And ale. Yes, of course, all of those things. My friend, please come and take a wonderful seat. There is a lovely bay booth and she points and there's like a bay window that looks out into the rest of the village with a large long table. Kind of the seats are wooden, but she's filled them with cushions of all different sorts.

They almost look like some of them have come from like a boudoir or a madam's parlor. And she's filled those. Some of them look like she's bought them from like a local market, like niche little things with flowers and daisies kind of embroidered onto them. And it's just stuffed full into this little alcove. Very kitsch. And she's like, please, sit down. I will bring you menus.

You may browse whatever you wish. In terms of drinks, we have a limited selection because of what we can get here available. We have... My apologies for asking. How much coin would you be willing to spend? We have expensive to cheaper drinks available. Forward, Lucius.

Lucius. Yes? Oh, first round is most certainly on me. What do you have, my good madam? And she's like, well, the best drink that we have is hard wine. It is a very strong, fruity wine that I have especially made. It is most expensive. There's also rose mead.

It is a honeyed wine brewed very locally by the priest up at the temple. Very, very nice. Again, brewed very locally, a little bit more expensive. And then last we have sunbringers. It's very common beer from Goldthrone. I have much of it brought down.

Very frothy, light, very refreshing. I keep it cooled. I have my assistant, she has a minor magical ability. She keeps it cool throughout the day. So it is nice and crisp very refreshing. I keep it cooled. I have my assistant. She has a minor magical ability. She keeps it cool throughout the day, so it is nice and crisp and refreshing. Perfect on a hot summer's day. Obviously, we are in long night, but whatever you wish. I can also heat up

the rose mead, if you wish. A hot mead is very nice in cold nights. Do you have anything fizzy? No, I'm afraid not. What is this fizzy? With bubbles in it. It tickles your nose. I'm afraid that. What is this fizzy? With bubbles in it. It tickles your nose. I'm afraid that I have never heard of such a drink. I'm afraid not, no.

We also have water, milk, basic drinks of that kind, of that variety. But alcoholic-wise I have the three choices. Have you ever seen any Arakokra here before? We have not had an Arakokra here before. Not in my time. See, I don't really know what to have and i was hoping just to steal that information from the previous people that come here but the hot mead of course if that's what you wish yes uh lucius is like oh i will certainly will have a heart wine thank you if that's the most expensive it's the best

surely he'd ask what like like, year it's made. I don't think Lucius is actually that aware of good wine. He just knows it's... If he knows it's expensive, he's probably like, it's the best. Yeah. And what about yourselves? Val is like, I'll have a beer. And Yusef is like, no, you certainly will not.

I'm going to be honest. I'm kind of going to go for the beer. As much as I want to spend Lucius's money on other things. I think that the beer will be more to your tastes, maybe. Definitely. Milk, please. Well, yes, certainly. So we have one hot meat, one rose wine, hot wine, one beer, one milk.

Oh, sentry, this is on Lucius, so. I would like to order a beer also. Yes. Corrin is like, beer for me. Arvel is like, I will also have most certainly a beer. Sister Yusuf is like, I will have just water for me,

please. And then half of a beer. Yes. She turns to Lucius like, that will be approximately 30 copper pieces then, please, my lord. He's like, oh yes, certainly. Do you have change for gold?

I certainly do, yes, of course. She goes back, gets his change. I will have Lucius Markov for gold. But yeah, you are all served these drinks. They are all quite excellent. Even the beers, it is refreshing. It's like a light, very refreshing beer. The Rosemead Warmed is, it's a little, you're about middle of the day,

so it's probably the wrong time for it, but it is sweet and delicious. It's like nectar. It's just delicious to drink. You probably let it cool down a little bit and then have some. It is very alcoholic, though. What's Quill's constitution score? 12. 12, no, it's fine.

You can probably have a couple of these before you start feeling its effects. Lucius is just like, this wine is marvelous. You haven't drunk any of it. He's like smelling it. He's like trying to like pretend he knows what he's doing. Save the bouquet. Yeah, exactly. The rest of you will smelling it. He's like trying to like pretend he knows what he's doing. Save the bouquet. Yeah, exactly. The rest of you will have it.

The milk is fresh cold milk that's brought out. And you see Valor just holding this beer just like, yes. How does she react to just a half of beer? She's fine. She's a teenager. You can have half a beer as a teenager. She's not like a little kid. But also Rosalind brings over like a chalkboard menu,

which has food on it being served for lunch is a sizzling pork belly with carrots leeks and fried potatoes it's five silver pieces a portion

there are snacks available which are done as bags which contain fruits, nuts fried potatoes jerky and pork rinds but it's like a travel snack but the lunch

is the sizzling pork belly. There is also a salad available, which is not as exciting. It is simply green salad with stuff. For American viewers, it's pretty much dinner time right now for us. Yeah, I'm so hungry. Salivating. I will have the salad. That sounds amazing.

Of course. Certainly. Can I get food for the rest of you? I haven't had food for ages. Would you like the pork belly? Please. Of course. Yes.

The pork belly. Arvel, Lucius, Arvel. One, two, three. Arvel, Valar, Corrin, Valar. You're having the salad. Century? I don't need to eat, but could I have a comforting warm plate, please? Valor You're having a salad Century I don't need to eat But could I have a comforting

Warm plate please She likes you She's like Dear metal woman Of course you can I mean would you prefer Another hot towel Or something more

Convenient to hold A hot plate would be fine Of course I can Yes I will have a plate Warmed for you. Okay. Sure.

I love it. That's extremely strange, but I admire you for going with it anyway. It's going to be two and a half gold for Lucius. I'm going to write this down. Oh, good. He's paying for all of it. Sweet. Just one more.

He's not paying for your rooms. I'm not going to rinse Trot's money that much. Yeah, yeah. But yes, he's like, yes, it. Sweet. Just talk! He's not paying for your rooms. I'm not going to rinse Trot's money that much. But yes, he's like, yes, yes, lunch is on me, friends. On that note, I'd like to propose a toast. Okay. To new friends. To new friends. Sure.

Oh yes, to new friends. The others all join in as well. And yeah, eventually the food is brought out to you. It's brought out by a half-elf girl, but she kind of, like, keeps half of her face kind of hidden until she comes up to serve you, and you can see that it's very horrifically scarred. Like, most of her ear has been burnt off.

The scarring of the face is, like, very badly burnt and melted, and she just kind of gives you a quiet, like, here's your food. And she kind of, like, offers it around. Thank you. And you see Rosalina go up and be, like, kind of, like, holding her hands. And it's, like, you know, pattering on the shoulder and stuff. And then she goes out into the back and things like that. You see Rosalina kind of, like, keeping an eye on her.

Yeah. And you guys have a lovely lunch. It's weird having nice stuff happen, isn't guys have a lovely lunch. Oh, it's weird having nice stuff happen, isn't it, guys? Yeah. Episode five. This is delightful.

I love it. So you guys, I don't think any of you are missing hit points or anything like that. Century's just like pushing the plate

to her face. Yeah, just holding her face. It's very warm. There's a few odd looks from like locals who are like eyeing up this like robot woman holding a plate to her face. It's very warm. There's a few odd looks from locals who are eyeing up this robot woman holding a plate to her face.

It's the best lunch she's ever had. I love it. But yeah, so you have that. I will say that for the purposes of this is only a comfortable meal. So this is good food, but it's like pretty standard food. But for you guys, it tastes amazing. What I will say is if you guys in the future have excellent quality meals, like really high cost meals, they will have minor in-game benefits.

Things like hit points or they might give you bonuses to saving throws. It will reward you for that's the reason for splashing out on the more expensive stuff. Right. Like there should be a benefit to eating well and living well. Same as if you sleep in nicer beds, you might get more hit points or hit dice back and stuff like that. It's like in Breath of the Wild. Yeah, it makes sense, right? Like, you sleep in a super comfortable bed,

you have a better night's sleep, you get more hit dice back and stuff like that. Does it go the other way? Yes, and if it goes the other way, if you constantly eat really bad meals, you'll start to suffer negative effects if you sleep on bad beds i've already written up a dietary planner okay for quills so yeah he's gonna be your salad is mainly like like root vegetables like there's like lettuces and

things like that but there's also like a lot of like cold cooked potato kind of like potato salad kind of stuff yeah i feel like that would be the type of thing he would love to pick away at. Yeah, he's just like... Yeah, it would take you about like, I'd say like over an hour, you have a lovely meal. It's very high, kind of the dishes are all taken away, the money's taken away.

And then Rosalina just goes by and she's just like, I will leave this with you as well. And it's like a small kind of like parchment like staple to like a cork board This is all the prices for our rooms and services available If you need anything, please come and ask more than willing to give it We have many rooms still available if you are willing to share we don't have that many rooms But there's enough if you were wish to double your numbers. You can stay here, of course

Um, if there's anything you need in the town, please come and ask me There's enough if you wish to double your numbers. You can stay here, of course. If there's anything you need in the town, please come and ask me. I'm more than willing to help. While you are here... Yes, of course, my friend. We have actually, in our journey, we managed to... One of us sustained quite a bad injury. Do you know anywhere... My dwarven friend, good sir.

Oh, what a handsome fellow. He sustained these injuries. He's like, well, thank you, madam. If you could just help me get back on my feet, I'm sure I could make it all worth your while. She's just like, I'm certain that you could, my friend. I can, well, the best person to ask in town would be brother. Take your time.

Sunbringer Blackhammer. He is the priest up in the Paladar temple. Sunbringer. Sunbringer Blackhammer. He is the priest up in the Paladar temple. Sunbringer? Sunbringer. It is a type of their priest, I believe. I myself, I can provide some healing. I'm a follower of Sayana, so I have some magical ability, but I'm afraid that mine is not skilled to mend these injuries.

I do have some poultices some Potions and creams, but they will take some time to develop But if you wish to stay here my good dwarf, I could help you as well. Well, ultimately it's up to you You look talking to Arvo. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Yeah, so Arvo is just like well Let's find out how much it might be with this black hammer, and we can see how things go. I don't want to slow you, young folk. You've got your own business to deal with. You were kind enough to bring me here, get me somewhere safe.

I'll write you a note. If you make your way to Goldthrone, I'll give you a rip that will authorize a payment from my partners on my behalf in service. Oh, but Arvo, we can't leave you now. Well, it might take me weeks to heal, my darling, but we'll see what this priest says. It might be, if it's costly, I don't have the cash on me right now.

A lot of my finances were lost in the ship, but we might be able to make some sort of deal with him, but we'll see how it goes. A lot of your souvenirs got lost, too. Oh, yeah. It's a shame. All that stuff from Imex, I was really looking forward to that. Anybody who examines the list of services that Rosalina posts down,

it lists rooms as eight silver a night for a single bedroom, 14 silver a night for a room with two beds and a bathtub. Massages are six silver pieces for half an hour. There is also some very brazenly written other services available uh there is it simply says adult services uh they are three gold per hour uh tailored adult services are 10 gold for two hours um she also offers spell casting services she can cure she can restore vigor perform ceremonies or even disguise self uh for uh 30 gold um the disguise self has in brackets next to it see above services um i see and then alchemy services are at two gold per day

now that i've seen this list i kind of look at the other patrons around mix of men and women okay just it's just a regular like tavern uh very much a regular tavern but yeah like you kind of you can look at her dress and she's very smiley like she tucked like he goes up to the regulars puts an arm around them both men and women smiles they all smile back and seem very very cheerful and chatty with her but it's the fact that it's very clearly labeled as like underneath the rooms like massages, adult services. It just seems to be a thing that she provides. She said she was open-minded. Why would you want to disguise self? Hmm?

We're... Not... I don't understand this clause about see other services. I just rolled to see if Rosalina heard that, but she didn't. Maybe a story for another time. Okay. Or never. another time. Okay. Or never. Or never.

Okay. Maybe this is a knowledge that we just, you don't find out. Forbidden knowledge. Oh, now you've made her really interested in it. Look, look at her face. The rooms are well-priced, though. Aren't they? Good distraction.

Corrin looks down he's like I'm considering a massage. Sister Yusuf just looks at him he's like no really look

it says massages. Like my back is killing me. They are a great tonic. Sister Yusuf just like looks around like

mmm she would basically do a Marge Simpson noise like, mmm. So, who wants to share rooms? Well, it's still very early in the day, I don't think. Well, you can book them, though, if she's running low on rooms.

It's more that it doesn't look like this place has many. Oh, I see. There's probably, looking at the size of the building, she probably has about five rooms in total And by all means I feel like we're not in any rush to leave right now. We may as well take a room Spend the night here Maybe six rooms. I think she'd probably have three doubles and three singles. That's best though Which is well, I'm certainly interested in a room by myself

after sleeping with old snorri dwarf. Go for it. I'm not going to argue. I like a bathtub. You want to share? Yeah. You want a bathtub too? I really do.

Everyone gets a bathtub. So you two are going to share? Mm-hmm. I mean, you don't need a bed. You can just sit in a corner somewhere. I can. In that case, I could be a single for both of us I suppose fine okay

and then the others will deal with the others will figure themselves out nice how much is that 14 yeah if you're sharing it's 14 silver for the room so you can split that individually so if we do 7 silver each and then qu, it's 14 silver for the room, so you can split that individually. So if we do 7 silver each. 7 silver each, yep.

And then quill, it's 8 silver for a knight of a single room. But if Century's willing to split that with you. Yeah, I can do that. Yep. Okay. 8 silver removed. I'm going to mark 8 silver down for Lucius. Oh, it's so much easier to track gold on this.

Arvel, you see Arvel talking. Sister Yusef, Corrin, and Arvel kind of have an exchange. And Kizil sat next to him. They're basically like, so what are we going to do? I have a few things that I could possibly sell for some coin. Arvel's like, well, let me speak to the proprietor. Maybe I'll tell her who I am. I can send word to Goldthrone,

maybe have some money sent down this way, pay her, see if she'll accept some sort of collateral in the time being. See what figures out from then. I'm sure, she seems like a kind woman, I'm sure that she'll be willing to give us a bit of time. Harbu? Yeah?

Are you struggling with money there, friend? It's more that we, I just, we don't have any of our own. We've got a few things that, well, these folks, and he gestures to the priest and the priestess, Corrin and Yusef, like, they don't have much. Just a few little bits that they brought with them, expected to land, and all my tidings are all tied up in the capital, but I'm sure we can figure something out. It's fine. Val's like, what about that stuff from the camp?

From that Wild Elf camp? Wasn't there any stuff we could sell from that? I have furs. Yeah, we can sell that, and I'm sure we can help you out. You've been fighting with us the whole time. That would be very kind, thank you. Cool. Yeah, so how many rooms should we?

Well, Arvel and Valor will probably share Arvel would ideally try and buy his own room and then Corrin will probably buy his own room

how much would like furs sell you don't know you're gonna have to go and trade okay fine all right let's go and do that then and then see where and find the priest

okay so you want to head out into the town itself yeah yeah okay Rosalina will just come back and you know to head out into the town itself, yeah? Yeah. Okay. Rosalina will just come back and take the money for the rooms.

Thank you very much. This is very kind. I will, myself and Noreld, my assistant, we will go up and make sure the rooms are ready for you. Do you have any particular favorite scents that you like? Nope. Unless you do. I. You cooked warm bread.

I will try and make something for that. Lavender. Lavender is very easy. I love lavender. Lavender seems good. I don't need to smell, so it's fine. I like to spray on the pillows so that you have a nice comforting

when you're in touch. Lovely. It's fine. One last thing before we do head out. Do you require any of my other services problem we spoke to someone I is about to say something and put this hand we spoke to someone outside who said they we didn't explain this to you but we were in an airship crash I'm not sure we spoke someone outside who said they actually saw

the ship going down. A few folks were talking about this. Yes, the Harvest Guard, when they were out on patrol, they saw something in the sky, a ship crashing. I mean, we assumed that nobody could survive

such a crash like that. Well, we did it! Oh my goodness. Well, you must all be, well, to sort of survive the Bitterwood, you must all be well, to sort of survive the Bitterwood, you must have encountered creatures or others.

I think now you can understand why we are so happy to see you. Yes. After such a travel a week ago happened. Forgive me for being a bit forward, but you wouldn't be interested in a little not work as such, but an opportunity.

Yes. Yes, we are. Well, it's simply that, well, I'm running low on a few supplies that I use for my other services. And they might not be things that you come across. It is absolutely fine, but if you happen to come across either pixie dust or winter eladrin tears, I will

buy them off you. A hundred gold each. No, sorry, not a hundred gold each. I can exchange, I have a set of potions, healing potions that I can give you, and a small trinket I can give you as well, a magical trinket that offers some protections. What was the winter? Winter Eladrin

Tears. There is an old elven palace far to the north, near the lake. It is a ruin now, and many of the locals avoid it for they have heard many stories of their childhood and I'm certain that there are beasts and critters that live in there that warrant such rumors, but if you

happen to be there and you happen to find these things, I would be more than willing to compensate you for them. They are very difficult to get hold of. I see. What do they do? Well, the pixie dust I use in a concoction that can help somebody become much more comfortable. I can allow them for minor illusionary treatments to allow them to feel like the person they wish to be. That can make them more comfortable for intimate activities.

The winter eladrin tears I actually use in brewing potions to help against the cold for cattle animals. We often use it. I supply it to the farmers and things like that. It helps keep their livestock alive during the long winter. You did mention other services. Are you an alchemist? Yes, as part of what I do, yes. I have learned alchemy. I have learned a little bit of counseling. I provide more erotic services.

That was my old profession back in Horizon. I find that it helps all peoples. They relax, they can unleash their worries and their troubles, but also get things out of their system. I provide counselling services for couples if they are having difficulties. I've tried to bring a lot of my

training from Horizon to here. Lucius is having a hard time being separated from his family right now. He could maybe use some counselling. Oh, really? He's like, oh yeah, I'm very sad that Daddy's left me for so long. I thought he would have been here by now. She's like, oh,

well, I'm certain that I can sit down and talk with you about that if you wish. We can arrange some sessions one-to-one. I have spellcasting services if it would help you. Yes, I go. Do you have any time now? Yes, I certainly do now, yes. Lucius Don't you want me to come with you to find the Healy man?

I think you have some problems to work out No, I don't understand what you're saying Is he what we mean? No He's in denial Yes It's denial I cannot help someone who does not wish to have my services.

If Mr. Lucius, if you wish to come and see me, I am more than happy to help you. Fine. It was worth a try. I don't know what you're talking about, birdie. Perfectly fine. Good. Okay, great. The only problem I have is these disastrous things that we've had happen since we crashed.

It's very upsetting. So, you have so much counseling needed, poor Lucius. Healing man happen since we crashed. So much counselling needed, poor Lucia. Healing Man? Let's go, let's go. Oh, there was a lead-on to the question actually. Of the people that saw the crash... Let's go, another question. No, sorry. Of the people that saw the crash, was there anyone that maybe has seen, that you've spoken to that's maybe seen any more than that? Maybe they saw what happened before the crash, what led to the event? I'm afraid as the gossip around town goes,

they simply saw a ship far, far in the distance, in the sky. They saw an explosion, and then they saw the trail as it hit into the mountains. It was too far away to see any details. I see, okay. Many thought it was something falling from the sky, a star perhaps,

but on closer inspection, they thought it was something falling from the sky, a star perhaps, but on closer inspection, they thought that it was, they used magic to enhance their vision and saw it was a ship. I see. Are we able to send messages from here to Horizon or Goldthrone or even Gusthaven? To Goldthrone, yes, to the Sky Cities it is difficult. We normally have to wait until a messenger

from the Messenger Guild arrives, or we normally send our messages to Goldthrone, and then from Goldthrone, they are sent by airship or messenger to the Sky Cities. Unless they crash. Gusthaven does cross over Rose Hall once a year, which, during our summer festival, but I'm afraid that that time has been and gone.

I was just wondering if it's worth sending a message to the airship company. I feel like they would be well aware but they might rescue us hmm by sending another death trap fantastic are you saying you're not getting on an airship again i'd prefer not to i'm getting on the way a ship i've been in the pool that's what i was waiting for worship. I pity the fool. That's what I was waiting for. Let us head out to finally find some aid for Arbol.

Yeah. I'm going to stay right here. I'm going to have a talk with Miss Rosalina about beds and rooms and such in the future. I bet you will. He looks at Nova. He does give a little wiggle of his eyebrow.

He's like, well, I have a good conversation, and I believe that our priestly friends of Siaska should remain, get some rest. This one, and he kind of, like, jabs Valor in the arm. He's like, ow! He's like, this one needs to stay out of trouble for a little while. I'm running off. Keep a close eye on you. She just kind of

rolls her eyes and Rosaline looks down and is like, Will, if somebody is a troublemaker and she looks at Vala, I have plenty of work that can be done. And Yusef is like, this sounds like a very good idea. Nice. Cool. All right.

So you head on off. Yeah. Head on off. Head on F. Head on F. Head on F. So Rose Hall is not a very big town. It's very easy to get around. You make your way towards the large temple that sits at the very top of the hill. You find just as you're arriving, it's beginning to, the day's kind of coming to a close. Like by the time you had lunch and made your way across town, you know, it's probably about 5 p.m. The sun is already beginning to, the day's kind of coming to a close. Like by the time you had lunch and made your way across town,

you know, it's probably about 5 p.m. The sun is already beginning to set and people are making their way out of the temple, probably from some sort of service. They begin filtering down into the town. One group, as they do, they kind of like eye all of you quite, with that sort of narrowed eyes,

like, what are these fuckers doing in that town? Okay. And they kind of like give you a dirty look as they walk past um and you see them split off from the rest and they head in towards the northern the weathered larger buildings to the north were were alongside the forest um but standing at the door wearing robes of like a very dark red but kind of covered in sort of like oranges and yellows like very flame patterned uh robes with a short cropped beard um is a dwarf man he has a bull like a bull-like face like flat nose he looks ugly as sin his hair is cut like almost bald short um his beard is trimmed he has uh very small iron piercings in both ears um and on his like across his hands he has like almost like iron bands like strapped across like his his palms

um and he has a large scepter in one hand and a bell that he's ringing and he's just like it's like the lord of palomar is fainting get back to your homes and bless the light that we've shared this day. Bring, bring, bring. So does it come into quite late? The sun's setting. And he looks up at the sky as everyone's filtering down. And you see him and he doesn't seem bothered at all that you're there. And from his crest on the hill, he can actually see the sun setting to the west.

And he gets to his knees and he holds out his arms like this. And he's like, my sweet Lord lord thank you for your light this day thank you for blessing our lives with your light and then he kind of dusts himself off brushes off his knee and he begins shuffling back kind of planting this staff uh with like a large sun like emblem it looks like he's like well howdy there strangers how can I help you this day? Have you come to, I'm afraid you've just missed, dusk service to praise our Lord Palinor? Oh, no, no, no.

We didn't come here to pray with you. We heard you are... His eyes look kind of narrow when you say that. Sorry. We heard you would be the person to come to if anyone has sustained an injury. Ah, yes.

Certainly I can bring the light of Paladar and mend a broken leg or a heel, an injured eye. Well, it is a significant use of my power. If you are not a follower of Paladar himself, there is a significant charge I'm afraid to pay for the resources

required. Can I make a religion check to see if I know anything about Palidorians? Sure. Palidor, yeah. You can give me a religion. Eleven. Eleven. So, Palidor is, he is known

as the sun. Like, he is known as the sun like he is literally a being of light and warmth and his duty by Siasca was to everyday rise up into the sky provide his light and warmth to the people of Eros and then he rests at night

which is when he disappears from the world followers of his faith tend to be farmers, people that, you know, people that revere light and warmth. So farmers obviously a big factor for that. He also has, you know, a lot of following between like, his light is seen as like a purifying light as well. So people that hunt down undead, hunt down evil,

often also associate themselves with palador um but there's also darker sides of his faith as well like they can be known as quite extremists like fire cleanses like and it doesn't leave anything behind like there's elements of that like they can sometimes be a bit too zealous um they can also be very fiery and impassioned but that can also lead them to have short tempers, especially in these priests and things like that. They don't tolerate what they consider evil. They do not

tolerate it whatsoever. They're very hardworking. In terms of organization of their religion and things like that, you don't know too much. You're not really read into the actual strict doctrines and things like that. You're going know too much. You're not really read into the actual strict doctrines and things like that. You're going

mostly off just other information. You've heard the term sunbringer. You believe it to be a rank, but from what you remember it's quite a low rank. It's almost like your local preacher kind of thing. I guess if you're in a village like this, then yeah. But he looks

quite weathered and old. He looks at you if he's in a village like this, then yeah. But he looks quite weathered and old. He looks at you and he's like, so yes, it requires a significant donation to the church for repairs, purchasing of new supplies to give to the people, my flock. But yes, I can perform these rituals if you require them.

None of you seem to be injured. Oh, no, no, no. There's a dwarf in the tavern with... Oh, I've completely forgotten her name. Rosalina. Rosalina. Rosalina. Unfortunately, he has a broken leg and...

You should try and find somewhere a place to stay for your friend. Rosalina is a woman you should not associate with. Why is that? Well, she has a very shrouded past, and she is a follower of Sayana, who is a very fickle and... Mark can't think of the word.

This is the problem. Not the true god? No, she is. She's, like, fickle and, like, when you don't give a shit about anything. Changeable, really. Yeah. Very fickle and changeable goddess.

She does not truly care for people. I believe that she only cares for having a good time. You seem like good sorts, and you obviously travel in strange company. I will not question why you travel with one of the wild folk. Nice to meet you.

Indeed. He kind of gives you an eye. It's not overly hostile, but it's wariness. But you also seem to travel with a beacon of a time long past. You are a guardian, miss, am I correct? You're correct. I've learned about your kind in the abbey where I was trained. You were great servants in the Dark War, and you fought against evil.

And he kind of gets on one knee, and he's just like, you are truly a servant of Paladorn, of the light, and I am very pleased and honored to meet you. He bows his head very low. As you travel with such a figure of goodness and of divine provenance, I will give you this advice. You should be aware of Rosalina and her past and her nature. But my duty is to help the sick and the injured. Of course I

will be willing to help, but it does have cost, I'm afraid. Not merely for myself, but also the ingredients required to provide the spell itself, the divine prayer. There is incense required, there are oils, sacred waters

that I must prepare, and that all costs gold, I'm afraid. Well, this dwarf is a very good friend of ours. What is the cost of such a thing? Well, it depends on the severity of the injury. Do you know what his injuries are? He broke his leg pretty bad. A broken leg, you say? He did splint

it together. It may be in a better condition than it was. How long ago? About a week ago. It's unlikely to have had a major time to heal. It's more that the splinting has prevented further damage. I'm afraid that an injury like that will cost

around 300 gold. Oh, tough knock. I see. Great. I mean, we are traveling with a virtuous light. You said that it would be a cost for those that don't follow Ballador. How do you feel about this guardian?

As I said, the spell itself still requires components that I must provide. I had already factored in the divine provenance of the guardian traveling with you. I see. Otherwise, I would have charged you 350. I already factored in the divine provenance of the guardian traveling with you. I see. Otherwise I would have charged you 350. For a donation to the church of Paladar, of course. Understandable, totally understandable. Could we like do any work for you and pay in labor?

The Lord of Light always has work for the willing. There may be something, I do not have a task personally, but you should speak with the field warden. He's a good man, he runs this town, and he will always have work for idle hands. Y'all seem to be a strange sort, travelers perhaps. Do you have skill with blade and spell? Yes. Yes.

Then I'm sure that the field warden will find work for you that will be suitable payment for the aid of your friend. Good. He is normally down at his manor house, and he points down to a large house on the northern side of town, just at the bottom of the hill where the temple is. He can be found there in the evenings with his family. The other person that you may wish to speak to is Windy Gale.

She is the Harvest Guard's scarecrow here. She is the leader of the militia. She's a scarecrow? Forgive me, you are not from this town, my flying friend. A scarecrow is a rank amongst the Harvest Guard. Think ofrow is a rank amongst the harvest guard.

Think of it as a sergeant or a captain. Oh, I see. So not a animated... She is not a literal scarecrow. I understand. That's clarifying, though. Her role is not dissimilar. It is her responsibility to scare away the beasts

and evils that may plague our fields. And crows. Metaphorical crows, yes. So would she like me? She does not have a problem with birds, no. Good to know. Does she have a problem with anything else? He looks at you, he's like,

I cannot say. Windy Gale has fought many of your kind that have come to our town to kill and steal, as your kind is willing to do. But perhaps that she may overlook that, but I

cannot say. That is for her to decide. It's something. Excellent. I will tell you that the field warden will harvest no ill will against your kind. He is from Goldthrone, they are perhaps more forgiving than my people are normally. Cool.

Good to know. I'm gonna put that veiled threat down and just walk away like, I'm going to put that veiled threat down and just walk away. I'm not touching that. Okay, I guess we're all backing away from this guy. Well, if that is all you have come for, I hope that with the dawn, the lad finds you. You too. He steps back in.

Night! Hail Paladar! Pulse. He gives you a nod too. He steps back in. Night! Tell Paladar! Pulls. Night gives you a nod. He's like, indeed. I feel like you saying night to him would be like an insult. Yeah, yeah. Good night.

There's no such thing. Yes, they are aware that there is night. No, but like... Night's the absence of our goal. You can see the doors are are wooden and they're engraved with this kind of burning man standing over a field of farmers and people working hard. Some of them wielding hammers which are on fire as well.

Cool. But I guess that burning man isn't an execution or something. No, it's a symbolization of power. He's generally depicted as a man Who is constantly on fire But is obviously not tortured by it He's just made of fire He's like a flaming torch He's got a smile on his face

It's me, the sun What do you want to do about it? Shall we go and find the field water? Yeah, I guess now's a good time to. Yeah. Okay, so you make your way down the hill and as you're approaching, like, you're kind of making your way through, like, smaller little settlement houses and you can hear families and workers

kind of inside, like, laughing, drinking, eating food, that sort of thing. Quill, you notice that the four kind of thug-looking workers, they're just, they're not following you, more that they're lingering around and watching you very carefully.

Okay. They just kind of got their arms folded as they lean against, like, buildings. They got, like, straw hanging out their mouths. Like, one of them spits on the ground, like, shuffles his boot a little bit. I really want that. And yeah, you guys make your way through.

You eventually find your way to a, it's a very quaint little house. It's kind of got like a little wooden fence. There's a small garden out the front, two stories with a thatched roof. You can see that there are kind of like patchwork curtains hanging up in the windows that kind of drawn to. hanging up in the windows that are kind of drawn to. And sort of sitting on the house's roof, looking down at you, is a big hawk.

Like, this hawk is massive. And it's just like, his head is just turning and watching you. And as you get close to the door, it's just like, Ah! I'm just going to wave at it. I'm just waving at it. And soon after the call, the door it's just like ah i'm just gonna wave at it i'm just waving at it and soon after the call the door opens and kind of standing at the edge of the door with uh i'm just checking what he's got equipment wise you see a man in a kind of like loose like linen shirt very low cut showing off a very well chiseled chest um big sort of like round muscular arms dark hair kind of slicked back with like a few days stubble uh dark eyes kind of looking out

and you can see that kind of under his arm um a similar design to the thunder pistol that you found on the captain but with a longer wider barrel um and it looks like almost like two barreled chamber going down it, basically like a shotgun, like a Thunderstone shotgun. He's kind of got it stuck, like kind of cocked into his arm, where he's just kind of ready to level it like this, almost, if he

needed to, and he just kind of opens the door. Well, howdy! Oh, sorry, he doesn't have a fully deep south accent. Howdy, friends! No, yeah. He's gonna get his right. That's South accent. Howdy, friends. No, yeah. He ain't going to get his right. That's right. That's right.

This is him. Yes. Hello there. How you are? Can I help you with something? At the back of the group, I'm just like, whoa. Just staring at his chest like, whoa. Yeah, he's got very tight, probably trousers, like farmer's kind of trousers on and like tall boots so have you malfunctioned a bit are you okay there i'm just stood there with my mouth just like

is your californian is your friend okay sure all right i don't know. Maybe. Oh, hi. An Arakokra. Pleasure to meet you. You too. We were sent down here by the... Why am I so bad with names today? Sunbringer Blackhammer. Sunbringer Blackhammer. Ha.

So you've met the old priest, huh? We have. We're very new in town. I gathered. We generally know pretty much everybody in the town, and the last I remember, we didn't have an Arakoka, a Wild Elf, an Aragonesi, a Guardian, and a... Pleasure to meet you.

Forgive me if I don't extend my hand right now. I'm not entirely sure of your meanings, and a Sky Elf, but certainly, how can I help? Well, for starters, our meanings are... Good. Very good. Very good. That's very nice to hear.

I like to make friends. Excellent. That's really great. Anyway, we were sent down here because we asked him to heal our friend who had sustained an injury, a broken leg. He sent us down here in order to do some work to cover the costs. How, out of interest, how did your friend get his leg broken? We fell out of an airship. Yeah.

You may have seen it. A lot of people talked about it in this town. I'll eyes you up. Big ball of flame in the sky, apparently. He has the gun, kind of puts it down but like i managed to literally hit like all of the miniatures there he like hefts onto like a small shelf beside the door where he can still easily grab it if he needs it but he kind of puts it down and opens the door a bit more, folds his arms, and then looks over to you.

He's like, I've been informed of the airship crash. I was informed of the airship crash by a few of my harvest guards. We just assumed that everybody had died. A crash like that, nobody normally walks away from. Not a lot of people did. I think we are most of them. It landed in the Bitterwood, which I'm sure you know, but we had to trek for an entire week through that god-awful place.

Including meeting some of the wild elves within it. He eyes you up. I'm guessing that you're not part of that group? No. Good, good. We've had a lot of trouble with those over the last few years. All right. Well, he kind of opens the door.

Formerly, I am Field Warden Merrick Tallfellow. Pleasure to meet you all. What are your names? I am Keelak Adkalar. Keelak Adkalar. Ayla. Ayla. I'm Sentry.

Sentry. What did he say his name was? Field Warden Merrick Tallfellow. Kalar. Ayla. Ayla. I'm Sentry. Sentry. Guardian. What did he say his name was? Field Warden. Merrick Tallfellow. Yours, lady? I'm Nova. And I just stick my hand out.

Oh, pleasure. Shake your hand. Just really shake it and, like, squeeze it. Yeah, very firm. Firm grip on this guy. Like, very rough, kind of like, worker's hands. I'm just going to sigh. I'm Lucius Elwin Eddard Astor.

Oh, dude. A pleasure to meet someone who's a bit more refined around here. Oh, God. A pleasure, indeed. Well, if you were sent by Torvan, yes, Torval, then there's definitely some work. If you manage to survive all the way from the Bitterwood, I'm guessing you know your way around a bow or a blade. Or a giant hammer.

Or a giant hammer. And you feel him like just making sure that's in his reach. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not going to, no. I'm just checking that that thing's in reach. I'm still making friends. It's fine. Yes, we do. I'm being nice. that thing's in reach. I'm still making friends. It's fine. Yes, we do. I'm being nice.

You're doing great. You are doing great. As we said, yes, we had had some run-ins with some wild elves and survived them. So I guess we must be able to do something. Yeah, well, if that's the case, I mean, it's a little late. I'm with my family right now, but there's some work. I can give you some details now that you can investigate. Yeah, there's a couple of outstanding bounties, actually, which my Harvest Guard are pretty much tasked with looking after the town,

but I can't send them too far away. Too many troubles from beasts, monsters, wild elves, to really send them out on these kind of errands. But yeah, there's a couple of things. There's been a couple of trade wagons coming in from Goldthrone on the Northern Road. They've not made it to us. I suspect banditry or monsters or some kind. If you were able to even just find out what happened to the wagons, if you were able to retrieve them, even better, but if you can find out what happened to them and put a stop to it, I'll happily pay you, shall we say, 200 gold. The other opportunity is there's a farm out on the eastern side of the town, quite far out.

There's some strange earthen tunnels that have been emerging, dug through the ground. A farmer out there has been reporting that some of his livestock have gone missing, too. Okay. My harvest guard think it might be some sort of beast or monster, but, again, I can't really spare them right now. Again, 200 gold if you can find out what's causing it and put a stop to it. That more than covers the cost, but it doesn't, but it's just, it's enough. Well, if you do both.

That's true. Why can't you spare the guard? The truth is, is I don't have a lot of harvest guard here. We have a small contingent, perhaps maybe 10, 12 actual harvest guards here. There's other troubles, but I don't want to involve you with those just yet. They're more of an internal matter than anything else. It means that half of my guards are normally stationed here within the town and I'm normally dealing with that problem, while the other half are out

patrolling the fields trying to make sure that Griffins or Manticores or Hobgoblins aren't causing us any problems. They come into this area? They can. Fortunately, they can be. Beasts more than the goblins, or sometimes even a few stragglers of remnant. Hobgoblins especially seem to still adhere to the ways of Starbane, and they occasionally try and make raids to try and take the town. We normally deal with their scouting parties beforehand.

But, yes, it's beasts mainly. Creatures especially. We've had a slew of plague hounds that have been hounding the area. Met them. If you met them and managed to survive, then I'm definitely looking at hiring the right people. But also, griffins,

manticores come down from the mountains. The iron-willed itself has a lot of problems with giant spiders, even stranger creatures. Hmm. So I'm sure it's staffed, is the long and short of it. That makes sense. What about the wild elves themselves?

We understand they raid nearby settlements. They do. They do. We've not had trouble for a few months now, but unfortunately it's one of those things that we always have to be prepared for. They come without warning. They give us no indication that they're about to attack. They normally hit our outer farms, which we can't defend as well. They're beyond the walls, obviously. They run in. They'll snatch up supplies. They've been known to

kill people that they come across that try and put up a fight. They take livestock. And during harvest time, that stuff is, well, people will die out here for that. You know, that's their livelihood. It's everything they need to survive. So real troublesome. Kalanru are particularly dangerous. They're very, very determined and fueled by an almost zealot-like belief in their ancestor spirits. Are there any of those Kalimruths that may be notable at all?

None that we can know, unfortunately. Unfortunate. Okay. Generally, they strike. We've never learned who their leaders are. It's hard to even catch them alive. They'll throw themselves onto a knife before they let us drag them back here for questioning. What if we were to tell you that we managed to deal with one of their leaders? They weren't members of the clan, though.

Oh, no, they were exiles. I see. I'm afraid that we've never known the difference. Do they wear tartans? Sometimes, sometimes not. More often they do wear the cloth, the tartans. I've heard of these before. Then they are with the clan. If they don't wear it, they're an exile.

I think it's some of the more southern farms have been hit by ones without. They'll raid them, take a few things, a few supplies, but they were smaller attacks. The ones with the cloth, they attack in larger numbers. They have horses, they have, they come on armored bears sometimes. Oh no.

Good to know. It's a good thing we never dealt with any of those. Yeah. They're my harvest, I mean, that's why my numbers are so short. We've had trouble re-recruiting. We've lost a lot over the last few years. Goldthrone's not been able to send any more, unfortunately.

Is that more than normal, the ones you've lost? Sadly, yes. I mean, ever since the Sundering, the Harvest Guard have really been all that stands between little frontier towns like ours and, well, the monsters, so. It's always tough to lose them. It takes a long time to train a harvest guard.

We teach them little bits of druidic magic. We teach them a little bit about the land. They have to develop their own fighting style. But, I mean, they're some of the toughest guards you'll find. Better than that lot down in Bloodfield. Bloodfield? It's a neighboring country. Country is a strong word.

It's a neighboring nation far to the a strong word. It's a neighboring nation far to the west. We've always had difficulties with them. And they're on the continent of Svonar, I imagine. They are, yes. Well, if you're interested in taking those jobs on, that would help me out a lot, and I've certainly got the coin

to pay for it, and I just don't have the people. I see. Well, that could be something we could look at. If you can... If you prove yourselves with these, there's definitely another matter I won't mind your help in, but I think that that we can save for another time. Hi, Nova again. Did you say family? I remember the name. Yep.

What members of family? brothers, sisters, father? He grins. He's like, no, my wife and kids are back there. He kind of grins a little bit. He's like, not that I'm not flattered, of course. Damn it. I'm just going to walk out already. I'm done. Flip this table. I'm done. Flip this table, I'm out. And hey, if we do these jobs well, maybe this town can be a little bit less judgmental about all wild elves.

I can't make any promises. You gotta remember these people have been dealing with other wild elves for a while. Of course, of course. A lot of their friends and family have been killed. But there's also a lot of people that, I mean, look, if you're not attacking them and you're going to offer a hand, they'll treat you just like anybody else.

Just stay clear of the Brookstone family. I have heard this. Yeah. Especially late at night. Don't go around the woods if you can. This is something I did want to point out, and I didn't mention this to all of you, but I have seen a couple of people not following us,

but kind of watching. Do you happen to know who they could be? Yeah, that's going to be Brookstone's boys. Why don't y'all come inside? I'll let you out the back door. Well, thank you very much and with that we're going to end it

because it's five to eight actually time flies with a bit of role play thank you for listening to this episode of the High Rollers podcast we'll be back on Monday

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