High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #6 - Into the Deep (Part 1)

Episode Date: August 13, 2018

With a mission in mind the team explore more of the town to meet the locals! Huge thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyond and Brilliant. 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)! Brilliant.org helps you master concepts through fun, guided problem solving. D&D has a rich history of puzzles and problems, so boost your brain power with Brilliant! The first 200 users to follow our link (http://bit.ly/highrollersarebrilliant) will get 20% off an annual subscription! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. You can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. RBC has helped millions of young Canadians turn their most likelies into most definities, making their ideas happen with scholarships, internships, and skill development, plus resources for artists and athletes. Learn more at rbc.com slash support youth. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to High Rollers, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast in the world of Eros, run by Dungeon Master Mark Sherlock-Humes, with me, Tom, playing Kilakad Kalar, the bard slash cleric. I am Chris Trott, I'm playing Lucius Yun, Elowin Elinastu, and I am a high elf

sorcerer. 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. Once again, a big thank you to our sponsors, D&D Beyond and Brilliant.org. Stick around for the end to hear more about those. Let's jump into the episode where we meet some more locals. Welcome to the High Rollers podcast. We're back. This is a small recap for what happened last week. For Chris Strott's benefit as much as anybody else's. The party, having crashed in the Bitterwood aboard an airship, had slowly made their way through dangerous terrain across what they revealed to be the continent of Suvona.

Making their way north, they encountered various wilderness, various horrors and combat encounters along the way also passing by a large chasm which the party investigated and found contained the ruins of a place called Dwalendel an old dwarven town said to be full of wealth and riches that had fallen during the Great Sundering an event which had basically kind of caused cataclysms and the land to be disrupted all across Eroes you carried on your journey deciding not to investigate the ruin

before you settled down and had time to recuperate. You fought some creatures along the road, but eventually you made your way to a town called Rosehall. Rosehall appears to be a small town, more closer to a village, but it's slightly larger than your kind of typical hamlet. And the town appears to be full of friendly local folks of Suvona. You were warned not to cause trouble in the town by the Harvest Guard, which acts as the kind of local police force. Inside, you located an inn called the Brazen Heart, run by a halfling woman by the name of Rosalina. It was very friendly and welcoming.

You had secured rooms for yourselves as well as a meal courtesy of Lucius. Thank you. Paid for food and drinks for everyone. Very generous. As if Lucius would have absolutely have done that. Absolutely. Yes. I had cushions. Thanks to a very remarkable sound alike for Chris Trott last week.

It was goodness. I could be better. Yeah, you will be, because you are him. No, I mean, you're one. Oh, I see. Well, the... Buttering up the DM. Yeah, that's good. Nice. He's reminded you to add your second level spell. That's your reward.

Because you didn't do it last week. The party is now level three, and you had investigated into town the option of healing Arval Dagos, this dwarven friend that you'd taken with you from the ship. Dagos. Arval Dagos. Well, you know him as Arval. This is recap knowledge.

This isn't in-character knowledge. You investigated the cost of getting his leg and injuries healed, and you went up to the Temple of Palador where a dwarven priest told you it would cost 300 gold for the various reagents and things that are needed to fuel the spell. Inquiring about work, you spoke with someone called the Field Warden who appears to be sort of like the mayor or the person in charge of the town

a man called Merrick Tallfellow who told you that there was a couple of jobs that he had around the town and that you could come and speak to him in the morning for more details and that is where we left things last week. Yeah, what did Lucius say about these jobs?

I didn't say anything as Lucius so you can express your own opinion on that. The only thing Lucius really did was he was very kind and paid for food for everybody, which is three and a half gold

to mark down. Cheers, please. He bought a room for himself, which is including that three and a half gold. So you have a single room to yourself.

With a bathtub. Yes. Yeah. Oh, and what was the side quest? Or say side quest. So one. I'm going to check

my quest log. I literally have written it in a different color so side quests? Or say side quests. So one... I'm going to check my quest log. I literally have written it in a different colour so it stands out as a side quest. What were the quests again? I missed it again. What were the quests? They're not quests. What were the missions?

The jobs. Well, he said that there were two options that if you wanted to earn some money, he was offering 200 gold for each task. Yeah. One was to investigate wagons, trade wagons that had been going missing on the northern road from Goldthrone.

And then the other one was to check out some earthen tunnels on a farm to the east and some missing cattle. Which was probably a thing which I didn't specify last time. I'm adding now. No, I think you did. Missing cattle, yeah.

And there was another option where, like, if we got Pixie Dusk and... Dusk, Dust, and Winter Elegant Tears for Rosalina. Yes, she had some healing potions and a trinket that she could offer in return. But that was just things we can pick up on our travels, I suppose. Yes, she hinted that there is an old elven palace right by the lake, which is several miles north of the town,

that is known for having monsters or creatures, but being an elven fey palace, it probably would have some of these things. It was kind of hinted that you might be able to find them there, or if you just pick them up on your travels in general. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Cool beans. Sweet. So, yeah. Okay. Cool beans. Sweet. So, oh.

I guess carry on, sorry. No, that's it. I've finished my recap. We literally didn't decide what to do. No, no, last thing is we were told that we could use the back entrance to... Yes, so I'm assuming that you basically follow Merrick through his home. It's not, it's like a corridor, basically, that leads to a back door. He opens it and lets you out as, yeah, you had spotted there were four rough-looking fellows

that were watching you as you were exploring the town. And you've been warned that there is a family called the Brookstone family that are somewhat trouble in the town. They don't take kindly to those wild elves. They don't take kindly to strange wild elves. Racist. They don't take kindly to strange folk around here. Specifically wild elves. Just, yeah. I mean, the whole town is like that, though.

The whole town has had a problem with wild elves. So far. She's been nice enough. Well behaved. Yeah. I imagine she will be more well behaved today. I think, honestly, Nova's been the least behaved. What?

Flirting with a man. What? What? I thought the field warden was single. Turns out he has a family. He has a wife and a kid. Kind of awkward.

He was literally having dinner with his family. Whilst Nova is at the door like, oh, hello. Yeah, the sentry's just rubbing her face over a warm plate.

Yeah. That was the other thing that was jammed. So, we fade back into the action of you are all kind of escorted through and kind of shown to this back entrance, which leads into a small, like, vegetable garden with, like, a little wooden fence and a little wooden gate. And Merrick basically just turns to you.

Excuse me. Merrick just turns to you and is just like, come by and find me in the morning, and I can give you further details if you need them. But if you're looking for work, then that's certainly what I can offer. I'll see you in the morning. And then he just shuts the door, basically. Oh.

It's an awful word. He's literally having dinner. Wow. Terrible words, isn't it? W word. What? Which one? Work.

Work? Terrible. Have you never worked? Well, yes, I? Work. Work? Terrible. Have you never worked? Well, yes, I work. Where? I work out. Right. Have you ever had a job?

A job? For money? Where are we going? Ayla just rolls her eyes. What time is it? So it's late evening. The sun has set. You're at the Temple of Paladol as the sun

was setting. So the night sky is beginning to, you know, you're in that period between dusk and proper night where the sky is that kind of very dark, kind of crimson-y grey. The stars are beginning to shine, but it's still just

that touch of daylight is still lingering over the world um around the town oh sorry village town village town it's kind of like yeah it's like a very very small quaint town yeah are the other harvest guard moving people around like as some sort of curfew or is it like no there's no curfew most people seem to be heading inside in fact most of the places you look there is nobody really out on the streets people are either at home or at a tavern or still working um in general the harvest guard there isn't a large number of them you saw like about four of them at the main gate um and there's you've probably only spotted like two or three wandering about inside um most of them at the main gate um and there's you've probably only spotted like two or three

wandering about inside um most of them either have some sort of animal with them like a dog or a boar yeah or uh you know a bird of prey some of them carry like falcons and things like that but some of them also just seem to be like they almost blend in with the people of the town. They look like farmers with scraps of leather and metal for armour and kind of farmer's tools for weapons rather than swords and shields. But they all have this, like, tabard or a tunic with this symbol of basically a pumpkin with, like, a scythe behind it, basically. Okay. Cool. And the

Merrick, he had like a big eagle hawk. Yeah, on his house, on the roof of his house, which is still there, but it is on the opposite side. But it's not squawking? Do they squawk? No, yeah. It's not howling, is it? It doesn't howl. It has like an alert noise, a squawk.

But it did that when you approached, but it hasn't made the same noise since. It's like a doorbell. So we're not worried about the people coming closer to this house at least. That's something. So yeah, so that's what you see, the chill night air. It is currently the very beginning of the long night, which is this three-month period or three-cycle period of cold weather

after harvest where people generally kind of get, you know, comfy at home and try and wait out like the colder weather. But yeah, there's a chill in the air. The others have all been left at the tavern so it's just the five of you. Yeah. Should we head back to the tavern maybe and get some rest? It's not too far. Yes. Yeah? We don't need to worry about those guys if we get there quickly at least That's it. Hurry back walk back swiftly. Okay Have we got like a hood or something for Ayla? Ayla has sort of like a cloak that she can put on. Hmm. We picked up furs and stuff. That's true

Yeah, quick wear this squirrel tail in your head Ayla She narrows her eyes at you. I'll be fine. Okay, fair enough. If they want to start trouble with me, then that's up to them. It's more, I don't want to start trouble with them, not the other way around. I don't want to be known as people that just come into a town and start attacking people, even if we are attacked first. She just shrugs.

Brilliant. Well, fine, I guess back to the tavern, we'll have some sleep, and then we'll come back even if we are attacked first. She just shrugs. Brilliant. Well, fine. I guess back to the tavern. We'll have some sleep and then we'll come back to Merrick and figure out some details of the jobs. The work. Oh.

Stop saying it. Okay, well, jobs then. Is that good? No, I don't know. What does that mean? It's an exchange of services. I'm joking. Of course I know what it means. I'm educated. Anyway. Tavern.

Let's head back then. Okay. So you guys are going to try and cut through the garden and make your way back to the tavern now. Are you trying to move quickly or are you trying to remain undetected by these group that spotted you? I mean, quickly sounds good. It wasn't too far, was it? It wasn't like... It's not a huge town. I think... That spotted you. I mean, quickly sounds good.

It wasn't too far, was it? It wasn't like... It's not a huge town. I think unless someone explicitly says to Nova, she's literally just going to be walking slowly, looking up at the stars, trying to look at all the constellations. Great.

And then we'll go at that speed then. Okay. So you make your way back to the tavern, moving... What? With some degree of haste, but occasionally kind of having to hustle Nova along. Well, I'm just telling you about what that one is.

You know, she's kind of like, she'll drift behind. Somebody has to come back and drag her forward and things like that. Same with Lucius as he gets distracted. You catch sight that they are, you spot the, Quill, you spot the same four following you, but they don't kind of try and engage you, they're just kind of following you

and kind of keeping an eye on you. When you make your way clearly towards the brazen heart, they kind of back off, they just kind of see that you're going in there, kind of give it a glance, and then they kind of meld back into the shadows. Again, stalking off towards the far edge of the city,

adjacent to the Ironweald wield which is like a large forest um on the side of the sit on the side of the town oh the other side of the river no same the the town is on one side of the river the iron wield is kind of on its far western side okay the river is to its east yeah okay fair enough and then north leads to gold throne you head on over and the brazen heart this very quaint tavern kind of stone foundations with like very well kept

timbers, a thatched roof there are flower boxes underneath the windows, the door is painted with like very delicate looking flowers it's very very homely and nice and inside it is bustling with activity. You can see that the whole, it feels almost like the whole town might be in here,

or at least a large portion of it. The bar is completely full. All of the booths are full. And people are basically gathering around, drinking, smiling, chatting, joking. Conversation that you overhear is mainly about the workday. People kind of like looking forward to kind of spend time with their families.

A few people are worried about if they've got enough supplies. The last of the long night. And generally kind of that kind of gossip and village chatter. Some people talking about all those Brookstones, Cor is in trouble again and kind of like hinting at different things. Have you seen those strangers in town? That kind of thing. But as you enter, you see Rosalina,

this kind of small but very curvaceous, long, auburn-haired ringlet kind of descending down her body, spilling over her shoulders. A halfling woman with a very plunging blouse, long skirt as she's kind of deftly running up and down the bar serving drinks there is also a half elf girl who is serving the tables you can see that she's very quiet keeps her head down and

she has a very terrible facial scar down the left side of her face but she wears kind of simple kind of like simple tavern girl clothes really and she has like a wooden tray and she's gathering glasses bringing fresh ones out to the tables. And as you enter, there is that classic moment of, like, there's the chatter, and then a bit of a silence as everyone looks over and sees this group of five strangers.

Wooden chairs, weak. Yeah. A couple of them just kind of, like, kind of nod and then go back to their business. You see a couple of women with, like, wide eyes as they look around and then like gossiped whispering to each other like here look at that one it's kind of whispering away um but generally there is no violent behavior it's all kind of just shock and sort of amazement more than anything um but, you find it to be extremely full. I'm gonna clap. Everybody!

Everybody! They all turn around. Now I know there's a stranger in town, so how about a warm welcome? First round is on me. There is a Whaaaaat? And there's just like, well, suit me sideways.

And there's like cheering and hollering and wailing. I've never seen a sideways suit before. We should be saving the gold. That's a lot of money. He has loads. This halfling woman, who you know is Rosalina, because you did meet her before, comes up to you and is just like, oh, Mr. Lucius, that is very kind of you.

I am assuming would you like people to have cheapest available drinks? Absolutely. Yes, of course. And my party. Well, of course, you may order what you wish. Give them the slop. The sloppy slop. Well, we don't serve slop at the Brazen Hut, of course, my friend. That's the thing. I can show sunbringers

for everybody. There's a beer that we serve here, four copper each. Half pints. Half pints. All right, very well. And then she's like, everybody, it's only here, four copper each. Half pints. Half pints. All right, very well. And then she's like, everybody, it's only half pints for the... Half pints. For the... Full pints. Full pints.

Full... And then, like, I forget. Whee! There's another kind of cheer around. Don't embarrass me, Rosie. Okay. She's like, well, now I have to give them full pints now, you understand? Yes.

Very well. She's like, well... And she kind of goes up and she turns over to, you can see like a burly looking farmer fellow. And he's got like what might be his sons or like workers on his farm. And she just heads over and she's, Nib, Nib, give this table up to the kind people who are buying you all around the drinks. And he just is like, he like looks over and he's like, well, a man who's buying me a drink i'll give him a seat for that and he comes over and this big sort of like six foot big wide farmer's muscles he's pretty much his shirt

might as well not be on it's like so sort of like low cut the sleeves have been like ripped off of it it's basically a vest at this point. Wearing like really loose buckskin kind of trousers with big tall boots that are covered in mud. And he comes over and he like thrusts out a hand like this big meaty ham fist. He's like, pleasure to meet you sir. I'd want to shake a hand if a man buy me a beer.

Yes. And he like engulfs the hand and he's like, shakes it quite vigorously. Thank you. Well welcome to Rose Hall as mighty kind of you to buy a thing. That's a sure way to make a friend round here, I say. I thought so, yes. Yes, absolutely. Come on, boys, let's go play a game of darts while the kind folk take a seat.

I'm going to sit behind the dart playing, if you wouldn't mind. Is this where the table is? Far away from the darties? Points to the table. He's like, we're going to be over there. Excellent. Y'all can sit here. You focus on throwing the darts that away. Well, that is the aim of the game. Perfect.

Enjoy your pint. I will. And he gets up and his other sons come with him and there is a booth or a table basically vacated for you. Let's sit. As you'll purge your guts Ayla included myself included let's fill it back up with some fine liquor I like some chocolate milk please

Rosalina? Roleplay Do you have chocolate milk? We have milk Chocolate? Cocoa beans Never heard of it before I'm afraid I've never heard of it before

Any kind of sweetness like honey or something I can put honey in the milk Honey milk It's good to help me sleep Okay It's a sweet thing Quite a luxury So the quiet half-elven girl

Comes over to you and is like What would you all like to drink? Sorry What would you all like to drink? What would you like to drink everybody? Just water for me Thank you Nods Doesn't say anything just nods Oh I thought you called me a nonce to you. Just water for me, thank you.

Nods? Doesn't say anything, just nods. Oh, I thought you called me a nonce. No, I wouldn't do that, Tom Hazel. That's what I heard. That's just your internal monologue. Ayla will have a beer. You'll have water, you'll have milk.

And pain, Birdie. I had one earlier in it. I've got a bit of a headache. Don't charge for water, do you'll have milk. Honey milk. I'm playing birdie. I had one earlier in it. I've got a bit of a headache. I won't charge for water, do you? No, okay, good, perfect. Have water. Lucius, you would know that they serve three drinks primarily. Heart wine is the most expensive.

It's a strong fruity wine that is made locally. Rose mead is the second. It's a sweet honeyed mead. And then sunbringer is a locally brewed beer It's like a light crispy frothy beer I'll have the heartbringer please The heart wine Just merging two drinks there together

She looks at Century Amazed And is just Do you need a drink? I don't need a drink. Lady? Thank you very much. Oh, okay.

I'm fine, thank you. And then she darts away. Could you give me an empty cup? She nods. Warm. Warm empty cup, yes. She heads off. So in total, Lucius, you are going to be paying

plus four, plus nine. Oh, it's better not be enough to cover Arvold's cost. Seven and a half gold. No, that's considerably less. I mean, it's still a lot. 300 gold. Lovely. I mean, technically...

No, it wouldn't be. It would be less than that. Pay for Arvold. It's actually less than that, because it would be... If that's copper pieces our... It's actually less than that, because it would be... If that's copper pieces, did that buy... The amount of people inside,

everyone got beer. That would actually be in silver pieces, so that's actually only seven and a half silver rather than gold. Oh. Let's keep doing this then. Yeah. Another round!

Let's keep doing that. Just keep buying everyone drinks. Get them drunk. Get them rowdy beat us up yeah and yeah there's just a

general good vibe in the air as people kind of clap over as you sit down drinks are brought over to you quite a few folk

make their way over to your table however while you're sat there as people want to come up and introduce themselves for the most part

they all appear to be workers in the town, farming folk. They all come over and they just, you get the sense that there is this, we want to go and look at the weird people. They come over and they, you know, most of them come over and are like, oh, thank you so much for the drinks and blah, blah, blah. What are you all doing in Rose Hall? And they make idle conversation kind of thing. thank you so much for the drinks and blah blah blah what are you all doing in rose heart and they make idle conversation kind of thing um most of them you can tell probably have never left this

town they seem to be like very much local working types um they don't really have anything to talk about apart from local stuff or asking you questions uh there's one exception or two exceptions i should say actually um One is a young woman. She looks to be maybe around her mid to late 20s. And she has blonde hair, like sandy blonde hair, kind of pulled into two kind of tight like pigtails by her side. And she has got a very athletic build. Her upper arms look quite toned and muscled.

She has little bits of smudges of what look like soot almost, kind of around her ears, around her arms and elbows and things like that. But she has a big wide smile as she approaches you. And she just comes over and kind of bangs the table. Well, hey, y'all. I just wanted to say, big old, well, thank you so much for them drinks. My name's Dace. I noticed y'all have got armor and arms over here. I'm the town smith, so if y'all need any work, you come by my shop in the morning. I'll be glad to help you out with any bangs or rivets or blades you need sharpening, anything like that.

Would you be able to identify something? As in magic? Well, not magic, necessarily. Nova, you like that? Would you be able to identify something? As in magic? Well, not magic necessarily. Nova, you have that spear tip. And I just hold up the spear tip? Sure, I'll take a look at it if y'all don't mind. You mind if I take a seat?

Sure. Sure. She like drags things. Drags a chair over, flips it round, Riker sits on it. Someone's still sat on it. It shoves them off. Riker sits on it, takes it it it shoves them off riker sits on it takes it off and she begins looking at it and she's like well the iron's a piece of shit and it sure ain't sharpened no well it looks pretty savage to me but she kind of pings it a little bit and she's like

she like digs it into the table a little bit and like you hear like rosie like dave so stop that stop that she's like oh sorry sorry uh she gets like a small piece of leather out of her pocket like cuts it and it's super sharp she just slides through it she's like oh boy yeah i reckon there's magic in this no way this thing like shaped and bent as it is could be that sharp definitely magic in there somewhere holds it back cool thank you well i'm afraid I ain't no wizard. I don't know nothing about identifying no magic or anything like that, but I can tell you it's

probably wild elf work. I know that for sure. It looks pretty... Do you happen to have any pearls worth a hundred gold? Lady, I'm a blacksmith. I don't know what you're expecting. If you want stuff like that, you're best probably heading on down to, let me have a think here.

Well, the Dale Gelds, they'll probably have stuff like that. They travel all over, so they pick up goods in all sorts of towns. Maximilian, he's a nice fella. He'll probably be able to help you out. Or the other one, he's a bit grumpy, but I kind of like him, is Navil. Navil's quills and quandaries. He don't come to the tavern, though. He don't like people, so.

He doesn't like people. Nah, he's, what do them call it? Gnomes. One of them whisper gnomes. They only like their own kind But I think he's like not popular with them either because he came to live here by himself And he just likes reading and building his little ships Yeah, he builds like these little model ships that you can put in bottles and stuff like that and he builds them all the time

Amazing. It's real boring, none of us really get it. But I mean he's homeless, he's a wizard I think. He knows all magic and stuff. He sells like scrolls and fancy inks and powders and stuff like that. Me, I just trade in good old steel. Best steel in Rosehall. Okay.

Whereabouts is he? Oh, he's just on the other side of town. You can't miss him. You look for quills and quandaries, you'll find it. No problem. It's not like it's a big town. It's a tiny little place. Well, thank you kindly for your offer of your services. Oh, that's my pleasure. At least I can do for buying a drink.

So what are y'all doing here? Well, uh, after you, we are traveling through So what are y'all doing here? Well, uh. After you. We are traveling through very quickly. Figured that much. Yes, I want to get home. Oh right, you come from, now I bet you from one of them fancy sky cities, right?

That's right. What are they like? They're really beautiful and wonderful. The best thing ever and I want to go home. Do everybody dress like you from up there? Not as nicely, but yes. Oh, so you stand out. You fancy up there.

He is a fancy man. He is. Oh, ain't that something. What about the rest of y'all? You can see that she wants Century to answer, but is being polite and is asking everybody. Yeah, we're joining Lucius on his journey home. Are y'all friends?

Yes. Close friends. I think we've become good friends. Ada's like, yes, friends. Special friends. Yeah. She's just like, why ain't you a motley crew? So you're just traveling with your friend here, your scout friend? Yes. Yeah. Why ain't you a motley crew? So you just traveling with your friend

here, your scowl friend? Yes. Yes. Well, we came with a few other people as well. We came with a dwarf. Is he around? You haven't seen him down here, no. Okay. He managed to sustain an injury in the journey.

Oh, no! And we're looking to acquire the funds to make him better. Oh, you're going to go up and ask Old Torval, the Sunbringer, right? Yes. The Sunbringer Blackhammer? Yeah. Oh, well, I hope he can help you.

I've heard that if you got the gold, he can work all kinds of amazing magics, heal people right up. I think it was Old Neb, he had a broken hand once. Well, he has a rich uncle up in Goldthrone. Offered to send some gold down. Torval, he just did this holy prayer.

It had incense and all that. Just healed it up, magic, overnight like that. Hoo-wee! That's good to know. That's what we're gaining the money for. We're actually heading towards Goldthrone. You'd say he had a rich uncle up there. I think Ned does.

Yeah, sure. A lot of folks around here, they got family all over Sivona. But, you know, any folks that come to live out here in the southern edges or out in the country and stuff like that,

generally it's because we prefer the land, you know? Like, I mean, my late husband, he wanted to move up to Goldthrone, but my family's here. And, well, I didn't want to take my boys and my girl away from here, so we just stuck around, and it's nice being the best blacksmith in town. I reckon if I went up somewhere like Goldthrone, I'd just be a copper piece in a beggar's pot.

You know what I'm saying? Oh, no, I'm sure you create wonderful works. Oh, yeah, you've never... Well, if you want to give my works a go, you can come by my shop. I got plenty of things. I got a couple little special items for, if y'all happen to be rich enough

to afford magic healing, then, you know, I got some pieces that you might be interested in, but if y'all need any repairs or anything. Also, I got, I'm sorry, like I'm trying to be polite, but I really want to ask the guardian why you're here, because

my mom and dad, they used to tell me stories about guardians all the time. Like, we thought we didn't think you were real, but here we are walking around, and she's like, I'm sorry, is it alright if I examine some of your... It's completely fine. And she, like, begins, like, looking around, and she, like, can you hold out your arm? And she's like, look at the flexibility in this metal. This is amazing. And, like, begins, like, looking around, and she, like, like, can you hold out your arm? And she's like, look at the flexibility in this metal. This is amazing. And, like, what is this, wood inside of here? How does that work?

And she's, like, really, like, completely curious about the whole thing works. And, yeah, she just spends, like, seems to get distracted with Century for a second. Cool. I guess we're just watching her awkwardly. If you want to, you could probably have a conversation without her noticing while she's examining Sentry. I'm probably just writing. Yeah I'll be writing in my notebook. Okay. Just stuff. When she's waving Sentry's arms around her armpits are wafting quite the stench so I'm going to move. Who, Sentry? No. Oh. Our guest.

She's very sweaty. Very, very sweaty woman. It's very hot in here in general because there's so many bodies but it's beginning to get quite, it's quite pungent. It smells like a working tavern full of workers. I'm going to go get some air outside. You wander off.

You know that there is a smell but to you it's just like it's like a registering it's there. Century is like, I know that there is a smell, but it's not awful. She finishes, she's just like, well, thank you so much. I'm so fascinated

by the skills of some of the smiths and artisans that came before us. Some of those techniques have been lost forever. How they managed to shape your body, I guess, from metal is beyond me. I've never seen anything like it. Me neither. I woke up, well, not too long ago,

like three weeks ago. Master Quill here woke me and everything's changed. Everything's different. Oh, my goodness, I bet. Yeah. A strange old place to fall into. Well, listen, I mean, you've got a few nicks and dents all over.

If you need a hand, you know, I'll happily fix you up for free. It won't take too long. I'd really appreciate that. That would be amazing. I see your weapon as well. It looks like you might need a couple of splinters on the half there. I can fix that up, add a new grip looks like you might need some a couple of splinters on the half there i can fix that up add a new grip uh anything you might need uh so anyway i'll let you folks get back to your

drinks and everything else but i'm dace dace a good smith uh good smith's forage just on the other side of town you come by if you need me um being a pleasure my boy my boy and my girl they'd love to meet y'all they'd never seen anybody like any of y'all so if you come by like that'd be a real pleasure but nice to meet y'all and she kind of spins the chair around bye heads off Lucius you're waiting outside and wafting this

air and you see you hadn't seen them before Quill had only seen them but kind of on the other side of the street just watching the tavern you see these two human men rough looking beards dark looking eyes kind of short cropped hair probably wearing you know basic tunics basic trousers but kind of look quite dirty and like they've been in like a mine or digging somewhere um just kind of watching you and as you come out they're watching you they And as you come out, they're watching you.

They're not watching the tavern. They're like looking at you. I'm going to very awkwardly kind of shuffle around as if I'm pretending not to be watched at all. Okay. Kind of kicking the ground and trying to make my way out of their line of sight. Okay, so you want to go around the back of the tavern.

I'm going to skirt around the tavern and try and find a back way back into the tavern. Okay. Okay, so you want to go around the back of the tab. I'm going to skirt around the tab and try and find a back way back into the tab. Okay. Yeah, so you kind of skirt your way around. And, yeah, it's not hard, but you notice that they try and follow you without being seen, but you spot them, like, moving kind of along with you and stuff like that, like moving to the next building and kind of, like, walking the perimeter. As I go around the side, I'm like,

Ooh, big huge security man. Perfect. How are you doing today? Would you like a drink? Are you talking to just, like, an air, like, pretending like somebody's there? Oh, there's two of you. Big, sharp, pointy things. You hear, like, from the darkness on the other side of the street,

you just hear a, like... God, you look like you're about to kill anybody, especially people who are criminals or up to no good. Yes. You're at the side, shuffling towards... So you move, eventually you make your way round to the complete back of the tavern, and you see that there is kind of, like not really a stable but more like um

like a very vague like an open barn like the front of it's open but you can see it has a roof and inside there's like piles of hay um and there appear to be like some pigs and some chickens and that kind of like scuttering around like a little chicken coop um and sat like on the hay uh laying out blankets and things you can see yusuf, Corrin, Arvel, and Vala, and they're basically, like, pitching up in this kind of, like, open stable, basically. And they look over, and they're just, like, literally around the corner, like, right in front of you. I'm going to scuttle up to them very quickly.

Okay, you see them, like, they kind of look up, and Arvel's like, oh, Lucius, my boy. Hello. You all right? Nope. What's happening? There's people following us. Very weird.

Valar kind of looks up and is like, Oh, all right, something interesting's happening. And Yusuf is like, What do you mean that people are following you? They look evil. They did say that when we came into the town that there was a family. Arvill's like, Brookstone family. Yes, they are supposed to be, they do not like strangers in their town, or they're supposed to be quite ruffians.

Yes, very rugged. Hopefully that they will not pursue us close to here. I mean, she points, there's a back door. She points to a back door that leads into the tavern. It's like, oh, well, perhaps, do you think we'll be safe here? I've only said, I reckon. They shouldn't be causing any trouble. They're probably just trying to get a suss on Lucius and the others.

Well, I've worked up quite the crowd in the tavern. Maybe if I talk a bit about how people are trying to pursue us, maybe we'll get some friendly security might help okay that sure we'll be staying out here tonight we negotiated with rosalina we haven't got any coins so we're gonna stay out here and uh it's a kind of holding deposit till uh i can get some funds delivered from the town from my from my family How much do you need? Well, it's about... It's about eight silver a night for a single room, 14 for a double, but...

I mean, for your fix, as it fix you. Oh, 300, they said, for my leg. I don't know if you guys had come back and told him that. I don't think so. Okay, well, yeah. Lucius would know it was 300. In which case it was more like, how much was it again? Oh, that much?

Right. Well, I don't carry that around in my traveling funds. I wouldn't expect you to, boy. It's fine. I think the plan is that, well, I'm going to rest up here and try and hope my legs get better until money comes down from Goldthrone and then that way I can pay off Rosalina and get my leg fixed and I'll be well. Good, perfect. Well I'll go to the tavern see if we can rustle up some friendlies and see if they can help us out. Sure, sure tell the

others that we're out here. Stay alert. Well yeah I will do and you can see he's got his crossbow Evangeline like, like, right next to him, kind of thing. He's kind of, like, lying his back against the hay. And he's just kind of, like, patting it gently. Any issues, run into the tavern.

Will do. Have the people. And Sister Eustace is like... Well, don't run. Thank you, Lucius. Yes, we will do that. And she, like, looks up at Valor and she's like,

Valor, make sure you stay at the back of the barn then if there are dangerous-looking people up there. She's just like, yeah, OK. Yes, back of the barn. I'm winking. She, like, winks back. OK.

I'm going to try and gesture whether she's still got the... Both daggers. She, like, looks and She looks and she nods. Well, anyway, see you later. Okay, yeah. You head back inside. Got wine to drink. Yeah.

So I'm still extremely busy. As you come in, you see the rest of you have been approached by... A dwarven woman she has got the same the same kind of sunny blonde hair as uh the blacksmith daiser did um but she's a dwarf so squatter much more muscular her skin is like very well tanned but it's a farmer's tan like it's like you can see that like there is a hard line at where her tunic would land um you know she probably has like a line on her head from where she wears a hat yeah and she's holding this kind of floppy straw hat in her hand and she's got like a big long piece of hay coming out

of her mouth but you can see that on her body is like this thick suit of leather and like ring mail. And she kind of walks up and she plants one sort of elbow on the table and gives a hard look around. Well, so y'all must be the folks from out of town then. I've been hearing my boy Jessop say you came in this way today. Jessop, he was the boy at the gate. Yeah, he's my second. Little druidic magic been training him up.

I'm Windy Gale. I'm the scarecrow in this town. Ah, we heard about you. I'm so good you did. That's a platifying thing, what you been hearing about me, Mr. Birdman? We were actually told to- That's no good.

I want y'all be scared of me. Well, all of a sudden, I'm terrified. Oh, now that's better. And she kind of gives you a crooked grin. We were told to seek you out if we were looking for, well, a way to earn some money, perhaps. Yeah, I reckon I got ways around that. There's a couple of things me and the field warden

have been looking into. I don't have the harvest guard to spare. Lucius, you kind of end it and you're hearing this conversation as it happens at the table. Yeah, there's a few things. A couple of jobs me and the field warden need doing.

Don't have the men to do it. Okay. Now, I got a question for y'all before we talk about that. What y'all doing here in Rose Hall? Traveling through or? Or? Well, you tell me, boy.

I suppose I should. We crashed airship. Yeah. Our friend got injured, and so this is the first place we could find to bring him. Jessup said you mentioned about that crash. I had a few reports about that. Didn't sound like anybody could survive.

How'd y'all pull that off? Well, there's some glide cloths in every... Enjoying that? Yep. Okay. There's some glide cloths in every airship, and we managed to procure some and glide our way down.

What happened to that crew and captain? Reckon I hear about them airships. They always got one. Oh, they do. They do. They did. We were under attack, you see, from, um, something. You know more about it than me, Nova. The Remnant.

Stops chewing. Now, what's a girl like you, one of you Ganassi, know about no remnant? I thought everyone knew about them. They're about negatives. Or triple negative. Nope.

That ain't the case around here, girl. That's a dangerous word to be toting. I read about them in a book. Yeah, not much book reading around here. Give me a deception check because you know them more than just reading books about them. You have first-hand experience. Fine.

Ain't got nothing around here. I'm not a deceptive. She just looks at you. I'm not a deceptive person. She looks at you and is like, read about it in a book, hmm? I just hold up my books. And then her eyes flicker to Tiangong. Now listen, maybe that's true. Maybe y'all fought off some sort of

ancient evil attackers with shadow magic and powers of the old Starbane I'm a dwarf I know these things even if many folk around here don't

maybe y'all the pirates killed your captain couldn't control ship crashed it now why would we crash an airship that we were trying to steal

I said you couldn't control it ah no no no that makes sense I crashed it. Now why would we crash an airship that we were trying to steal? I said you couldn't control it. Ah. No, no, no, that makes sense. That's horrible. Sure is. My job ain't to be no nice person. I'm the scarecrow.

I'm here to look after this town. Now maybe y'all are good folks just happen to be in a bit of a down luck. You wound up here looking for a bit of safe harbor. But maybe y'all ain't so good. I'm just here to give you friendly warning that I don't like people like that. And I've been dealing with people like you for a long time. Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt. Scarecrow?

Mrs. Scarecrow? Y'all can call me Gale. Gale. If we were really pirates, we'd try and scavenge as much treasure and whatnot as possible. We wouldn't possibly be going around buying everybody around, would we? Just like Cox's grin

is like, if only the world was so shallow, Mr. Sky Elf. Very easy for a near-do-well to come in here all smiles and drinks and spending gold coins. Like I said, maybe y'all are just unfortunate souls who ended up crashing down in a dangerous part of town. It's my job to make sure. Now, you want to earn some coin, you said? You want to do some good in this place? If you're willing to give jobs to bad people. Well we already spoke to the field marshal and he told us of two tasks. Probably being the same tasks then. I can give you some details

now if you prefer or you can talk to the field warden in the morning. Might as well just get your opinion on the matter. Alright. A couple of days ago some weird earthen mounds and tunnels started emerging near Farm to the East. It's an old farm, just an old couple who lived there, been working it for a while, but they've been telling that some of their cattle been going missing. Now, I know these lands pretty well, and there ain't no big enough beast to come in and steal cattle without causing a big ruckus. So I don't reckon it's no wolf or bear or anything like that.

I reckon, well, I'm not sure what it could be, but I don't have the people to go and investigate it and go chasing after monsters. So if you're all willing to look into that, we can pay you for that. Just be careful. There's a few monsters out there that could burrow and dig and might be causing that kind of trouble. If you can, I recommend investigating them tunnels and seeing what you can find out. These aren't the hallmarks of the wild elves? Do they

ever steal cattle, or do they simply come in and kill? Oh, if it was wild elves, we'd know if it was them. First of all, they ride in with large numbers, make sure that we can't just take out small groups of them, but these earthen tunnels, I've never seen a wild elf do anything like that, even with their druidic magic, even their shamans. No, this is some kind of beasts, I reckon. Something about it's familiar, but I can't recall what. And how much were you saying you'd be willing to pay for that? 200 gold if you find out what's causing them and you can put them down, if it is a beast.

The other one is more of a pressing job, really. It's pretty bad for the town. Last two shipments coming in from Goldthrone. Merchants bringing in trade goods, people coming in with supplies. They gone missing. Now I've sent my boys up there to try and find out what's happened, but there's some druidic magic hiding it. Some sort of, could be wild elves, but they don't normally go that far north.

But something's hiding, whatever's been attacking them wagons, something's hiding it. Now, we can't find no trace of it, but maybe y'all have better luck. But yeah, these wagons, they come in from the north down the main trade road and just vanish.

Nobody sees them. We don't get, don't hear from the people, any survivors, nothing. No bodies, normally just an empty cart. That's it. Anything interrupting the main trade route must be of utmost importance. The field warden said that would be about 250 gold. Deception check. That's a 16.

She eyes you and she kind of gives gives you a kind of toothy grin. I reckon maybe he did say something about that. I reckon it's worth that to the town. You come see me and we can make sure that gets paid. Fantastic. The master quill, the information isn't correct. It's okay. Was it like 200?

No, no, no, no. 200 for the first one. You misheard. It's okay. Was it like 200? No, no, no, no, no. 200 for the first one. You misheard. You misheard. Cedric is definitely right. No. Ayla just like thumps like Lucius in the chest. Like winds like...

Oh, sorry. Or maybe at the very least, a good word with Sunbringer Blackhammer to encourage him maybe to help us heal our friend. I can work with Torval. Torval, hey, y'all think I'm one to talk and try and give you the scare not to act up in the town. Torval ain't one to be sweet-talked. The only person he's going to listen to is Palidor.

And I don't think Palidor is going to be arguing and give y'all a discount. But anyway. You remind me of my grandmother. Her eyes narrow. Y'all saying I'm like a grandma? She's like pretty strict as well, but she's got a heart of gold.

You saying I'm old? No. She like looks at you. So you're saying I remind you of a grandma, but I'm not old. My grandmother, just because my grandmother appears really strict, especially with newcomers, but it's because she's trying to suss out who you are

and whether or not you're gonna hurt her family, because her family mean the most. Sounds like your grandma's a smart woman then. She kind of gets up, and she stretches her muscles a little bit. She pops the bones in her knuckles, and then just is like, all right, well, we'll see how y'all get on. If y'all have any trouble, come find me. Don't go trying to fix things yourselves, you hear? You come find me and get the Harvest Guard on your side.

Well, actually, while you're here, Mr. Scarecrow, we have... Call me Gale. Scarecrow is a title. Okay. We have seen a couple of people following us around town, eyeing us up. She rolls her eyes like, yeah, that'll be Brett's boys. You seen them recently? They're just outside the tavern right now.

Outside right now? Yes. Oh, for goodness sake. Batsy asks her and she's like, all right, fine. She begins like rolling up her sleeves. I mean, if you're going out, will you be able to do that alone?

She just smiles and is like, I've been dealing with Brett Brookstone since he was... She gestures to a toddler height. Oh, is he a halfling? No, he's a man, but I've been dealing with him since he was a babe. You just leave his boys to me. They ain't going to fight me. I'm just going to give them a scare. Just like my grandmother.

And she goes like, all right, well, I'll leave you folks to the evening, but take care. She gets out and she calls back. She's like, Rosalina, I I'll leave you folks to the evening, but take care. She like gets out and she calls back. She's like, Rosalina, I'm going to go deal with Brett's boys. Okay, thank you, girl. And then just you hear like a slamming of the door and then like a, Hey, you boys, how you doing? You feeling better all the time? I'm a bigger girl.

And then like thump, thump, thump and like some shouts and cries and then that's it. You don't hear anything else. I think that's all dealt with. Perfect. And hey, thank you, Quill. Thank you. What are you thinking of? Good job, Birdman. Like Aayla's like...

More gold for the wagon one. And this will help quite a lot. You're being all tricksy. No, I didn't think I was tricksy. You're lying. I might have lied a little bit, but... You want to earn some honest coin, friend.

It's honest enough. We're helping them. Lying's bad. Not lying is bad. But it's to help our home. Century's like the epitome of lawfulness. She was built that way. I do raise... If she says you're bad, you're a baddie.

I think you need to go on a timeout. Did I go on a bad... Did I say something... I mean... You saw it, and I was like, what are you talking about? You just... What? So it's the Dwarf Woman's fault if she didn't pick up that Quill was bartering for some more gold.

I think she knew. It sounds like a very important job. I think it was only the right thing to do. You just shouldn't be dishonest, especially with honest people. I mean, OK, I'm sorry. Yes. Apology accepted, Birdie. That's a great... See? Heart of gold. Just like your grandmother.

Old? Are you saying I'm old? Heart of old? No, like her grandmother. No, the heart of gold bit. I don't know how... Do you snuff it at, like, five years old? I don't know how long birdies live for. Actually, not far off. Really? Oh, that's awful. How old are you now?

Oh, I'm... I mean, I don't really go by age in the same way you do, but I guess two or three? Something like that? Yeah, very young. Yes, because you're past it, really. Oh, yeah, we age very quickly. You're going to snuff it in two years. No, no, no, no, no.

We are around, like, I don't know, 10, 15, that sort of thing. But, like... Lucius, you would have remembered this from the last episode that you weren't here from Sentry did reveal that she only had two years left to live

left to function oh yeah that is correct so there's this sudden realisation as you kind of say you've nearly snuffed it haven't you Birdie

in two years and then you look at Sentry and remembered what she said I'm so sorry Sentry it's quite warm please have your empty cup. Just pretend... I'm sorry.

It's warm. It's only the natural order of things. Didn't mean it. Aida just picks up a hammer and is like, I'm going to bed. Good night. She looks over at Nova. Nova, just don't make too much noise when you come in. Okay, I might do some

reading. That's fine. Do it quiet though. Leave quiet. I do. Stomps upstairs, goes to bed. Rosalina comes by. Any more drinks for you, my friend? Some people are beginning to head down now. Things should get quieter.

Would you like any of the food or services? Can I see it first? Yes, of course. I will bring you the menu. She brings you a menu, upon which it's like a black thing. Rian, can you just move your mic? It's just because it's titled and it's

rubbing against it. Maybe flip it to the other side. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. So Lucius knows. Lucius knows, yes. She brings you a menu with a small black board,

and on it, it has the food menu, which for the evening, there is stuffed dusk peppers with chicken and cheese, sizzling pork belly with carrots, leeks, and fried potatoes. Well, there are snacks, which is small bags and bowls of fruit nuts fried potatoes jerky and pork rinds and then under it it lists services rooms are eight silver a night for a single bedroom 14 silver for a double bed

double room massages are six silver for half an hour adult services are listed at three gold per hour tailored adult services are 10 gold for two hours and then spell casting services are listed at three gold per hour. Tailored adult services are ten gold for two hours. And then spellcasting services are also available. Well. And she offers that like, would you require anything? And she is like a halfling, so she's like, you know, three foot at most. But you can see that she's very womanly. How did Lucius react last time?

I didn't have a reaction anyway. I didn't want to make that decision for you. Lucius is trying to cover up the services section. We've only just eaten, Lucius. Yeah, we did eat. Do you want the other? No, it was probably a couple of hours ago.

Oh, that? Yeah. No, no. Why would you need to look at the menu again? Are you hungry again? I thought maybe That's not central Anybody else is hungry Maybe so

That That blacksmith lady Maybe she's hungry Would you like to buy her? Are you Are you offering to buy Daisy some food? You hear like The blacksmith woman's head appears.

What y'all saying? I'm not hungry, actually. All right, very well, of course, yes. No problem. She takes the board back. I was wondering, like, Nova's pretty naive to this. The adult tailored services... Is this Nova asking in character?

This is Nova. Okay. I was wondering, so, I miss my parents, and I'm pretty hungry. I need the toilet. So, I believe.

Okay, there's now a house out back. Okay. When you say adult, does that mean that you just pretend to be my mom and give me a hug, and like, read me a story?

She kind of like, smiles a bit, and she's like, well, Nova, there are some people that will hire for you to be a motherly figure to them, but not in the way that you are thinking. This is more for intimate matters.

So she's going to make this face, like a blank face, kind of just work it. Like you can almost hear the cogwheels turning in her head, and they're like... But Taylor, sometimes you provide illusionary spells, enchantment spells to heighten the experience.

There is some alchemical methods that can help people. Some men find it very difficult to perform and I have alchemical supplies that can help with that. It's about that time, I think. Oh, is it? Yes. That is not what I was thinking.

Shoot off, actually. I think it's very tired. It sounds like you're all one. Yeah, you guys are going to go to bed. Yeah, I'm going. The outhouse is like an outhouse. It's like a wooden shed with like a little, it would have like a kind of like,

not porcelain, but probably like clay-esque toilet that you sit on, but it is just a bowl underneath like a rim and the bowl has to be changed. I open the door Yeah Stay back in Okay, okay, sure

Would you all like to go to bed for the evening? Yes Alone You head to your quarters. Those of you who have shared rooms, you find them filled with two single beds. They are a little small, perhaps. For those of you who are very tall,

they are a little bit small. I remember, we've got a single room. You've got a single room, and Century is just like... She just sits by a plug out in the corner. Century can just sit on a chair. I mean, it's not... Century, you benefit from sleeping in a comfortable bed as much as anybody else. If you did have a a plush room you would gain the same benefits as everybody

else for like sleeping in a nice room um if you continue to like just sit on a chair that will probably have some penalties after time because like you want to like let rest and stuff like that you still have muscles and things like that, but they just work in different ways. You just don't need to sleep. Yeah, under the bed. Imagine it's like a Borg alcove, like 7 and 9. Yeah, you can do that to an extent, but even if it was something like a comfy chair,

that's way better than like hard stool. Give her a pillow! Come on! I mean, I probably would. There's only one pillow, so... Oh, so I'd sacrifice my own pillow? Yeah. I mean, I do have a Yeah. There's only one pillow, so... Oh, so I'd sacrifice my own pillow? Yeah. I mean, I do have a pillow. Like, roll up my cloak and just sit on it.

Yeah, I mean, yeah. You're not going to have penalties for one night, like, just sat there, but just for future reference, you still benefit from the comforts of life. Nice. As everybody else does. Send Echo out and he'll just, like,

plonk on my shoulder and just go... Yeah, just... He just kind of beeps away. as everybody else does. Send an echo out and he'll just like plonk on my shoulder and just go... He just kind of beeps away. Quill, you settle in. The bed is comfortable. It's probably like a straw mattress but with like very thick linens on it. It smells

faintly of lavender I believe you asked for. Ayla's has like a wildflower scent. Yours, I can't remember what you asked for. Freshly baked bread. Freshly baked bread. It probably does have that slight smell, but not very strong. Moldy bread.

Not moldy bread, but it smells like, it just has like a faint bread-y smell. Someone's just eaten bread. Lucius, you didn't offer a fragrance, I don't think, so she probably just had something fruity and nice. So the bed is perfumed. You have your own room? Yes, you have your own room with a little wash basin and stuff like that. Just the one.

Okay. But the blanket is thick, the linens are soft, and it has this kind of fragrance thing. And yeah, for the first time, after spending almost a week sleeping outside, you have a rest in a warm bed. And it is very peaceful. It's not quite good enough to give you a bonus, but it is a comfortable night's rest.

And you awake in the morning with no dreams, no visions or anything like that, feeling fresh and awake. Lovely. Cool. How would you like to proceed? I guess do we all wake up at pretty much the same time or yeah i mean you guys can head downstairs um there is a uh kind of like a buffet breakfast kind of thing like laid out on the bar there is like plates of uh bacon mushrooms tomatoes bread um kind of thick thick bacon as well like you know carved off of a pig thick bacon um cheese

and it's just kind of laid out and you just help yourself through a few bits and bobs here and there um yeah you just there are plates on standby uh the half-elf girl with the the face is kind of there like you can see her cleaning and stuff like that she just gives you a very kind of quiet like good morning and she just carries on like cleaning up gonna skirt around her okay she like she keeps she tries to keep her disfigured

like side of her face away from people that are trying to talk to her hello morning oh good morning morning is there anything I can do

I just I don't want to be rude but I'd like to see you clean the cutlery I'm about to use for the food oh of course

yes give me a second. Can you please grab it? She goes over, gets the plate, gets the knife and fork. Well, the sinks are in the back room. You'll have to come out into the kitchen. And then she goes into the kitchen. Okay. You follow her. Oh, maybe I can help you.

No, that's fine. I'm just... I'll get a tea towel. And I'm going to find a tea towel. There is like a cloth. It's not really a tea towel. There is like a cloth. It's not really a tea towel. It's like a cloth. It smells clean. Doesn't smell damp.

No. And then she washes the plate and cutlery and then puts them on the side. Perfect. You going to check for any weird stuff? No, it seems extremely clean. I mean mean you know this is a quaint quiet nice little country tavern so yeah it's as clean as it can be it's probably

not you know clinically clean like the sky cities would be but it is clean thank you very much for the extra effort that's you're welcome sir name oh uh sorry your name? Oh, sorry, my name is Reld. Reld. Reld. Yes, Reld. Pleasure to meet you. I'm Lucius Viren Eloine Eleanath, too. Nice to meet you, sir. Good to meet you. You make very spangly cutlery, you know that? Very skilled.

She nods and smiles. You'll go far with that. In this town, at least. I don't know about the rest of it. But yes, well done. Thank you very much. Thank you. Do you want any food? Have you eaten? No, I'll eat once you've all had your food. That's fine. Thank you. What? Okay. Fair enough.

Gonna come back out. Come out on a nice clean plate. Yeah. Everybody else is helping themselves. Ayla is like... Scoffing down. Very uncivilised manner. Just like... Try and not watch. It's like bits all over her face.

That's for Katie. Yeah. So we're all made up? Yeah, you guys are all having breakfast. Eventually it looks like there is a a young man he looks to be maybe like early 20s uh he wears like the uniform he's kind of like awkwardly pulling on like uh harvest guard tabard and like adjusting his belts and his britches as he comes downstairs looking quite red in the face and it's just like morning just straight out the door. Jessop. Huh? It's not Jessop.

No, it's not Jessop. But you see this kind of, like, yeah, awkward young man just, like, good morning, and just heads out the door. I'm just going to look at Quill and be like, adult services. Yes, yeah, definitely.

And then a few minutes later, Rosalina in this kind of, like, little kind of, like, wrapped-up nightgown kind of comes down. Her hair all kind of all over the place. She's like,

good morning, everybody. Is suitable as it was it well good mm-hmm how was your breakfast very good thank you yes I had some before before you all came downstairs so yeah railed is a fantastic cook she's very very good as she coaches as well yes of course yes she does I am NOT very good at cooking alchemy drinks that I am very good with, but cooking, never my forte, unfortunately. But pass us the compliments. I absolutely will.

If you do have, if you have any spare coin that you wish to provide her, I will give it to Torel's name. I'm going to... She's saving up. ...through my platinums. I'm just going to put them all out on the table. Rosalina doesn't seem that bothered by it.

Like, she just is like, yeah, that's, you know, she's seen this money before. Yeah, I have a silver. I will pass it on to Roald. Thank you very much. The shiniest one I've got. You mentioned that Roald, she had sorcery powers before, did you?

I can't remember. No. I don't think so. Okay. Must have been a dream I had. I have, I have, I am an have been a dream I had. I have. I have. I am an acolyte of Sayana. Valor.

No, no. I think it was... I misremembered. It was last night. Possibly. I mean, if you require any spell services, I have some that I can offer. There's also a rather grumpy gnome in town

that you can go and seek if you wish. His name is Neville. He runs a small shop and he's rather grumpy gnome in town that you can go and seek if you wish. His name is Neville. He runs a small shop and he's very grumpy. He's all right to me, I think, because I am halfling. He sees me as a fellow small folk. Well, we'll say that you sent us. Of course, yes, by all means, please do. Good.

Well. Well, have a lovely day. And she goes back and she thank you she heads back over and starts like attending to

various matters so you pull out like a big ledger and she starts writing down in it you know what I might have a holiday here now and again

I was never thinking about coming back down but now this is quite nice I'm getting used to it it's a nice place not the toilets I will say what's a holiday where you Now, this is quite nice. I'm getting used to it. This is a nice place. Not the toilets, I will say.

What's a holiday? Where you pay money to go somewhere else. You mean just adventuring? Yes, but usually it's like a package deal. And we get like included drinks and things. Is this something posh people do? I don't know otherwise. Okay, yes, it is. It is that, yes. So, what would youh people do? I don't know otherwise. Okay, yes, it is.

It is that, yes. So, what would you like to do? Well, I mean, I think it makes sense that we go to Mr Scarecrow to inquire about that wagon job. Why don't we just do the job? Yeah. Good point. But I do have an idea that if we are to spend more time with each other, traveling all the way to Gold Throne,

maybe we should keep stock of how much gold we actually have. Lucius, you've spent a lot of gold. You've spent a lot of money in just the five or six days we've known each other. Yes. Let the money flow. But how much do you actually have? Are you able to cover Arval's costs alone? No, no, unfortunately not.

Otherwise I would have. Right. I have 262 gold pieces. Sorry, how much do you have? 262. That's your money? Well, yes, it's my travelling fund. Travelling fund? So it was...

I wouldn't take my... And you already gave, like, 50 gold to the Wild Elves. Yes. You had over 300 gold on the airship. Yes. Any more and I'd be so heavily weighted, you know? That's my back end. Of course.

Lucius, you probably don't want to advertise how much money you have. But he asked me. Well, he asked, but I'm just saying, like, this morning when you laid all your money out on the table, you don't want to do that a lot, especially... Well, the bar owner didn't mind. She's fine, but there might be people who kind of see that... Yes. ...and want that and take that.

Well, I don't blame them. It's a lot of nice coinies. Yeah, so keep it hidden. Otherwise, you're going to get stabbed. And your money will be taken. We don't want that, do we? No. It would be really inconvenient getting that back from Daddy. I mean, it did almost happen twice.

Yeah, you're a bit too open with how much money you have. But wealth is like an extension of one's being, is it not? Okay. If you don't have wealth, then, you know, what do you have, really? But... It is. Didn't we have... It's fine, it's not... I don't have wealth, then, you know, what do you have, really? But... It's fine, it's not... I don't mean to be rude. I'm sure we had this conversation before about how you should have secret wealth. Like, just hide it.

I put two coins in the other pocket. I think it would be safer for all of us. Yeah. Secret wealth. Here, century, you hold it. No, no, Lucius, it's your money. It's a bulging pile of bouncing coins. It's your money, you hold it. No, no, Lucius, it's your money. Big bulging pile of bouncing coins. It's your money. You keep it.

But secret. Just stop. Just stop showing it to everyone. Right. You're going to attract the wrong kind of attention. And that's bad. Right. But when I want more wine... Then one or two coins, yes.

And just pay the exact amount. Take it out one at a time. The exact amount. There's no need to dump all your gold onto the table and count it. I find it easier to count when I put it all out, you see. But then people are going to see it and stab you for it. I will absolutely bear that in mind from now on. You don't want to bleed on your clothes, do you?

Huh? No, you don't. No, absolutely not. Terrible thing. Yeah, so hide your money. Exactly. Gotcha. Absolutely. Yes. Safety first. Safety first. So with that conversation done... Yes. Do you want to go back to your original point, Gwyl? 260. Well, I have 25. Oh, you poor thing. Mm. It's fine. Do you want some more? No, no, no, no, no, no. That's exactly what we just spoke about.

I have 30. 30, and how much do you have? About the same. About the same. So we have combined. So we, Ayla looks around and is like, well, hang on a minute, what, are we combining everyone's money now?

No, no, no. It's like, I've got my money. Well. That's my money. That's good to know. I'm just, you know, trying to figure out exactly how much we have in order to eventually get to the point where we need to pay for Arvel's fixing cost. Well, we found a bunch of stuff on those elves, right?

Can we sell some of that stuff and, like, begin making group money? A group fund, yes. That's a rather personal thing to do. Well, it is. Or we can just start splitting everything we find evenly Well, I mean We're all going to pay individually for Arvel's cost, aren't we? We can all chip in, yeah

Or what if we do this job And that 200 gold goes towards his leg Yeah Fair enough An act of charity That's an admirable It was 300 gold for the But it's a start

Yeah Just that's a start. Yeah. Just that's a DM. If you do both jobbies... Then we have 100 gold left over. So before I ask you what you want to do, which one you want to go after, the other option, just to remind you, is you did also pass that chasm with the ruins.

Yeah, that's true. Do you have any plans on going back there or looking to do it? They passed a chasm with a ruined town at the bottom. Dwallenden. Dwallenden, which is rumoured to have a lot of treasure, but most people that go down there don't often come back. Oh.

And we spoke to Arvel about it, and I can't remember exactly. He basically said, well, you asked him something along the lines of, would anybody in the town fund you guys to go in it? And he basically said, yeah, sure, if you find the right person, they'll probably fund you to go in there in exchange for a percentage of the treasure and stuff like that. Yeah. Or you can just go in it and take it all for yourselves.

I like the flashback. It's got the accent. That's nice. Or the other option is we leave Arvel because he said he was sending for money. Yeah. You could also do that. So what would you like to do? I mean, we're planning on using that trade route at some point to get to Goldthrone.

So I think either way we're going to encounter that problem. But if we encounter it on the way to Goldthrone, we won't be able to come back and get the 250 gold. I'd be quite interested to explore these earthen tunnels. They sound fascinating. Some kind of burrowing animal. I've be quite interested to explore these earthen tunnels. They sound fascinating. Some kind of burrowing animal. I've never encountered one before. There are strange creatures around here, I will say that.

Very interesting. Do you mean boars? Which ones are they? It was when we got into the town. It was a big, very big actually, tusks. Yeah, that was a bore. Very interesting. Very unusual.

Well. And talking birds, very strange. No, no, quite common. Thank you. So, sounds, well, what do you guys want to do? Rosalina? You call over to her? Yes. Do you provide to her? Yes.

Do you provide laundry services? Yes, of course. We can clean clothes if you wish. I'll go any dirty place as long as it gets clean afterwards. Yes, of course. You can clean clothes, repair things if you need them. Chasm does sound fascinating. I mean...

It's like a three-way split vote right now. So, I'm saying the wagons, you're saying the earthen tunnels, you're saying the chasm, which we don't know anything about and could be filled with deadly dangers and horrible delights. Ayla's like, all of them sound like there's stuff to fight and treasure.

All of them sound good. How about I abstain? Century, what do you want to do? I think it's up to you now, Century. 250 gold in wagons, 200 gold in earthen tunnels or a deep dark dangerous dying cave. Full of treasure, potentially. And monsters to fight. And potentially monsters and things that would kill us very easily and we've got no information about it whatsoever. Not to sway your vote whatsoever. I mean the potential for guardians down there could be

interesting. I could find out some information about what happened to Solwyn if there might be some... That's priceless, birdie. Right. Albeit, we know it's dangerous. I'm glad you're thinking on all my terms that knowledge is just... You can't put a price on it. Well, you can. It's powerful.

Aeolus is just like... It's a dwarven... It's an old dwarven town. It could be vital information. Yeah, well, it could be things that could kill us very, very quickly and easily. What do you think's making these wagons disappear, Quill? It's not like fairies that are just vanishing them away as a trick, is it? It could be.

It's probably bandits that will also want to kill you. And also, what do you think is making burrowing holes and eating livestock? Probably some large kind of creature that has fangs. Let's face it, everything's full of stuff that wants to kill us. That's the lowlands. I mean, a lot of people have gone to Dwellin Den and have not come back. Only a few people have been to the markets, the wagons, and they didn't come back. And only cows didn't come back from the urban tunnels.

But we're not people. What do you want to do, Century? Aayla looks at you. And they didn't come back and only cows didn't come back from the oven tunnels What do you want to do century a looks at you I'd like to go to the chasm chasm Adventure well, that's just great Go to the chasm then a like century. We should buy some rope before we go We should also probably talk to windy gail she might know she's a dwarf with that we're gonna go on break okay with a decision made everyone thank you very much again for listening to the podcast once again a big thank you to our sponsors dnd beyond and brilliant.org you can check out some links to them in the description

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