High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois #77 | Dance of the Sixth Finger (Part 1)
Episode Date: June 29, 2020A dangerous game awaits the team in Azagrat! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon:Â www.patreon.com/HighRollers Thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyo...nd! D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Create your FREE account now and start digitising your campaigns here: www.dndbeyond.com/ Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Hello, everyone.
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 Keelak Adkalad, Cleric Wizard.
I am Chris Trott.
I'm playing Lucius Viren, Elowin Elanastio.
And I am a High Elf Sorcerer.
Hi, I'm Rhiannon.
I'm playing Sentry.
I am a Guardian Paladin.
Hi, I'm Katie.
I'm playing Ayla, a Wild Elf Barbarian.
And I'm Kim.
I'm playing Nova, who is an Air Ganassi.
And she is a Hexblade Warlock.
Thanks to our regular sponsor, D&D Beyond,
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Create your free account and speed up your campaigns today Welcome back to Erois.
Last time on our adventures, our party have been traveling through the Astral Plane,
seeking out friends and foes in an attempt to return to their home plane of Erois.
They have visited strange worlds, tangled with mind-flayer pirates, and most recently
attempted to make a deal with an Ultraloth, a mercenary fiend who had information on the
party's main enemy, Kallus Valkyrian, Emperor of the Valkyrian Empire. The deal did not go as
planned, but as Zax Ravus attempted to make a desperate escape from battle, they were pursued by a desperate Nova Vigia, who with some luck and her friends managed to stop the fiend from escaping, rescuing a precious shard of her hexblade weapon, Tiangong.
Tiangong. The party chose to let Zax Ravus live,
though not before using them to try and
distract anyone else who would be after
them. And then they left
for their next destination, the world
of Azaghrat, and
the pleasure city of
Zelotar. Here,
in a place called the Argent Palace,
the party hoped to help their new
companion, Thalia, in winning
a game against the demon Lord Gratz.
The prize, three wishes.
But will everything go so smoothly?
And that is where we are going to begin today.
The hum of the infernal engines of the twin star longbow have almost vanished to your ears now.
Having spent several days aboard the astral ship,
you have enjoyed a brief moment of calm and peace.
Thalia, Whisperwind, the Medusa captain,
Kyrie, the harpy gunner,
and Big Cat, a big cat,
have become close friends
as you have shared food, played games,
and taken solstice in each other's company.
It's been six days since you left Elysium,
so you have all had plenty of time here on the ship
to bond and chat if there is anything you wish to do.
Now is the time to say it.
Thalia kind of sends a message through the ship.
Just to let you all know,
we will soon be arriving at Azaghrat.
If you have any final questions to let you all know we will soon be arriving at Azaghrat.
If you have any final questions or you wish to make
some plans,
now is the time to do so.
Gotcha.
But yeah, this is...
Before we arrive, this is your chance
to have any discussions,
ask any questions, make any plans
that you guys have.
Man, I've been going
through my spell list like crazy
to try and figure out what the hell...
We've got no idea what this game is!
Yeah, yeah.
You do not.
Could you not use the eye
to see?
I mean, I've only got two charges on it.
We could
like when we get there.
Yeah.
Then when we get there and know what it's like,
maybe Quill can give us a little bit
more help there.
I was also
going to use it in the game.
Yeah, Thalia
turns to Ayla after you said that and is like,
my understanding is
Grazt does not
reveal the information of the game
until he is challenged
he creates a unique
game every time someone challenges him
there is a set process to
it is called the dance of the
sixth finger is the challenge.
It's known amongst certain circles, smugglers, criminals, gamblers, that sort of thing.
Generally, I will need to go to the Argent Palace, make it clear that I wish to participate in the dance of the sixth finger.
participate in the dance of the sixth finger. Likely I
should make it aware that
that's
well, we don't know the nature
of the game. I don't know if it will be beneficial
for them to know that we are
companions or if it is better
to keep that knowledge secret
until we know the nature of the game.
I don't know.
Question.
Yes, of course, my dear.
She kind of stands up and adjusts herself
we're widely wanted across the entire universe for um being horrible horrible people um what do
that is something that i'm yes that is a good a good question not one i have an answer to i'm
afraid perhaps some of you have some magic to disguise yourselves if not i have some skill in
being able to use physical ones yes my dear you seem to have some sort of thing you are excited
about i can disguise myself.
Ah, excellent.
Well, there's one.
I can make you invisible as well.
The other thing, Ayla, that you should be aware of is this planet, Azaghrat,
it is technically part of Kallus' empire,
but it is ruled by...
It is ruled by Gratz and the Demon Princes.
There will be soldiers there but
their power is limited the bigger risk is the demons and the devils and the celestials and
the mercenaries who frequent as a grat they will likely be more interested in you are than any of
the actual soldiers but it may be too much trouble. They may not
wish to pursue you. It's hard to say.
I would certainly, if you are
concerned, take precautions.
Don disguises.
Whatever you need to, but...
Is there a
forfeit if you lose?
Do bad things happen?
Oh, it's... My understanding
is like any good gamble uh a
stake must be placed something must be put at risk to be lost um generally man from what i understand
with gratz it is servitude you place yourself your your soul your life um to serve to serve them to serve him um the only reason i am attempting this game is
because i trust you all have some ability to assist me i do not expect the game to be entirely
fair uh or the challenge to be stacked in my favor but perhaps with with your assistance
we have a chance of winning.
How about we establish a word?
Like,
if you're in trouble, just say the word and we'll get you out.
Clear skies. No, clear skies is good.
Help, help, I feel like I'm going to lose.
Is that suitable?
Subtle.
More than one word.
Keep in mind that this is
a city filled
with powerful
fiends and creatures. Orcs
from Archon, Celestials, even
Ganassi
soldiers, all sorts of people.
Fae,
if we get
into trouble,
it will be quite obvious
that we're in trouble.
We may need to fight our way back to the ship
and make a very quick exit.
Okay.
Let us hope that
Gratz himself does not
deem to take the offensive.
He is one of the most
powerful beings in the multiverse.
He is a demon prince.
So I guess, really, the problem
is we need to know what the game is
and then once we know what the game
is, we'll know how to maybe
help. But what do we have that
can help? Do we have
I guess spells are probably
I guess they'll probably...
What do you have, Ayla?
A really big hammer to hit people with.
Okay, that might not work.
The challenge may be combat.
I don't know.
It may be a gauntlet that we need to run.
It may be we must best a champion of Graz's.
I just don't know.
Sometimes the stories that I've heard,
sometimes it is a game of dice.
Sometimes it is a card game.
Sometimes it is a gauntlet that must be run
through. Sometimes it is
a battle to the death.
Sometimes it is
a guessing
game, a riddle.
It changes. Graz
makes it unique every time
so that no one can prepare.
Exactly.
That's what makes it so difficult to divine.
Exactly.
It's the perfect strategy
to prevent the eye of the storm happening.
It's perfect.
Yeah.
So,
how about we think optimistically
about this whole situation
I think that sounds wise
what if we win
right and we get granted
our three wishes but we have to say them
there and then because the thing that gives us
wishes needs to be used
right away
that is one
concern I can address Master Lucius
the game, the challenge
is called the dance of the sixth finger
for a very specific reason
Graz carries a ring
it is the ring that grants the wishes
the challenge is to win the ring
so we get the ring
and leave
we take it with us right
and I suggest that once we have it,
we leave as quickly as we can.
Yes, I was about
to say, it's going to be dangerous once we
obtain that.
Not to mention, I mean,
others will want it.
Yes.
You joke,
Master Quirk, but it may very well be
something as simple as that.
You just don't know.
I think we're prepared for whatever game he throws at us.
There's no way of us knowing in advance.
We've gotten through worse surprises, right?
Remember Brookstone?
Also, keep in mind, Grotz is not a devil.
He is not an archdevil.
The servitude is enforced.
We could just run away if we lose.
We may have Graz's demons come after us,
but it is not a magically binding contract.
It is simply a case of you are a prisoner.
So worst case scenario, we fight our way out.
So we just add...
Yeah, we add Grotz
and his demons to the list of people who are
chasing after us after the Valkyrian
Empire and probably Zax Ravos.
Yes, but your
planet is well hidden. Your world
is not known to many.
We could hide there.
If our entire existence is threatened
by a big
entity that's trying to destroy everything,
maybe this is the least of the concerns.
Let's just add it to the list.
Positive thinking.
Exactly. I like it.
I like your attitude. I just don't think
about the list anymore. I find that it helps me
sleep better. Just pretending the list
doesn't exist.
Yes. Who cares? Or just drink. I find that it helps me sleep better. Just pretending the list doesn't exist and who cares? Or just drink.
I find drinking is a
marvellous way of forgetting all
of your problems.
I've noticed.
Well, it's good to stay hydrated.
Anyway.
Well.
Anything else? Do you have any
more questions? Is uh formalities to speaking
on this this plane this planet no on the on the planet no uh i mentioned this before but
azergrat is it's a lawless place well there, there is one rule. The strongest survives.
Demons on this planet, they will pretend to be civil.
They will smile and invite you and offer you hospitality.
But they are creatures of chaos.
They are creatures of violence and desire and pleasure.
They do not care for rules.
In terms of speaking, speak as you wish.
My only suggestion is do not appear weak.
Do your best to come across as strong.
The weak are
preyed upon in Azaghrat.
If you are attacked,
fight back.
Do not expect there to be
authorities that will come to your rescue. Do not expect there to be authorities that will come to your rescue.
Do not expect there to be
law that you can run
to with a complaint. The law
is Graz's, and he has
decided that pleasure and
strength are the only things that matter on
his planet.
Oh.
Oh.
Right, well. This, this, this umming and oh-dearing, that Oh. Oh. Right.
This umming
and oh dearing, that
must stop before we arrive.
Optimus.
We will stop Grazt in his
tracks. There's no way he can get past
us.
The time that I get
to talk to people because it doesn't matter
if I say something offensive
because I'm going to appear like I'm
strong and I know what I'm doing.
As my time comes where I'm not going to
mess stuff up.
Do you have any pointers for the rest of us? Could you give us a quick
masterclass in appearing confident even though
you want to die inside?
Sure.
I'm a delight.
Just don't...
Yeah, that wasn't convincing in the slightest, Quill.
Just don't give a shit, really.
I mean...
The lady knows her.
Hell yeah.
The lady knows her, man.
Just, uh...
Hey, hey, think of it this way.
Everybody in the universe probably after us anyway.
What's a few more go out
swinging fuck it hey ayla i don't care about what you just said i'm kidding ayla i care a lot i
really appreciate the lessons well i think we're all ready in for a copper in for a gold we will be arriving shortly
I'm going to go plot our
descent through the astral sea
and Thalia makes her way to the cockpit
and yeah you guys if you guys want to chat
to each other you can but otherwise
we will skip ahead to arriving
in Azaghrat
hmm
I'm scared
I'm scared I'm scared
so I mean
it's just a lot of
tension and a little
planning we can
actually do
yeah
how many days
do you actually have
I don't know
is there any
planning you can do
how many days
until we're there
um
like one
like you are
arriving today
unless
if there's something
you wanted to have
done yesterday
sure
if you want to say I used used the thing yesterday or today,
you can do that now, if you want to use the eye.
Or if you want to use a spell.
If you said, like, I want to cast Commune yesterday,
I would say, yeah, sure.
Or can I say that I cast Legend Lore
on the sixth finger?
I mean, sure, read out the spell.
Name or describe a person, place, or object.
The spell brings you to your mind
a brief summary of the significant lore
about the thing you named,
and it must consist of current tales,
forgotten stories, or secret lore
that has never been widely known.
All right, you have not disguised,
you have not said a thing, a place, or a person.
I said an object.
The Dance of the Six...
The Dance of the Six Finger is not an object.
It is a challenge.
It is a game.
Oh, is the ring not called the Six Finger?
Process.
You don't know what the ring's called.
Barley just said it's a ring that grants wishes.
No.
Damn it.
Can I do Grats instead then?
You can ask about Grats.
Yeah, you can ask about Grats.
Yeah, absolutely.
Cool. See what he. What do you get?
Is it just like...
What does it say that you get from the spell?
Sorry, it's not a spell I super like.
The information you learn is accurate, but might be
couched in figurative language.
For example, if you have a mysterious magic axe on the...
Blah, blah, blah.
Right, okay.
If the thing you named isn't of legendary
importance, you gain no information.
He's of
legendary importance.
Okay.
That's a cool build.
He hasn't pooped in four days.
Wow.
So, as you
as Quill, as you
as you cast your mind out
to the questions and answers of the multiverse,
of the planes, of all the knowledge that magic itself can provide,
you get the following back.
A prince of pleasures, dark and powerful,
burning eyes that promise both pleasure and pain.
Born of two worlds and master of one.
His power...
greater than his greed.
I'm scared.
The Argent Palace is his kingdom.
hmm trying to think of like
because it just says that you just learn lore about him
like there's not really like a secret
thing that you can really
find out
I've learned a couple things there
yeah
it's his wikipedia page
not really it's like
yeah I'm just trying to think because I want to give you
something that's useful for the spell but I'm trying to
think that what would be useful that falls into the
category of the spell
this is legend lore and stuff like that
sometimes you need a bit of thinking for it
I need to start prepping myself
I did not realize how much it costs
yeah that's 250.
It's 250 GP you've spent.
And also, let's say that you bought 200 golds worth of ivory strips, Tom Hazel.
So who has money?
Who can mark that off?
I got tons of money.
I can do it myself.
You've got all me.
Oh, you can do it as well.
Yeah, if you mark that off.
You've locked loads.
So, okay. The spell brings to mind a brief
summary of the significant law the law might consist of current tales forgotten stories
or even secret law that has never been widely known okay that helps a little bit more
okay so along with that stuff it also says um unfortunately this is stuff you kind of already
know actually no because i think it gives you more information yeah if I know it
it gives me something new
no one has ever
bested Grazt at the
dance of the sixth finger
it has become a
mystery it has become a story
told a lure
for adventurers
we totally
got this, guys.
Optimism. Fine.
It'll be fine.
A secret deal between the Prince of Pleasure
and the Emperor of the Multiverse
keeps his planet
safe under his command.
Hold on
There you go
So if we
Convince him
Calus doesn't like him
Yeah
I think that's worth the 250 gold
Spent
What the hell do we do with her
Hey Calus doesn't Like you 50 gold spent. What the hell do we do with her?
Hey, Calus doesn't like you.
Give us the ring. I don't like you either.
So,
we cut
back. Well, you can either
have cast that. You can cast that yesterday and then we'll just
say that you kind of remembered all of the stuff
you learned.
As the twin star longbow uh
begins to descend towards a crimson red mixed with brown planet yes rian as the twin star is
descending can sentry go to the cockpit and like observe the planet and try and get a good idea of
like pathways for like exit strategies and stuff. Mmm. Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Oh, absolutely.
Yes. So, you
head up to the cockpit where Thalia
is controlling the crystal...
the crystalline controls of the astral ship.
She is gently touching
various orbs and switches and crystals
as the twin star descends
through a very thick, ash-like atmosphere.
The sky here is crimson blood red.
The nearby sort of like sun is masked behind these thick ever-present clouds
that kind of cast everything in this haunting glow.
Gold and brown streaks through the atmosphere
give it this otherworldly appearance
as everything is coated in this blood-red light.
You can see that there are many cities, large cities.
Some of them appear to be giant spires made of iron connected by bridges.
One of them almost looks like a giant spider's web
of metal strands and
strips where you can see
large arachnid-like shapes
skittering and crawling
across it. But Thalia
heads towards
a much more welcoming sight.
You see
a city that
whatever light makes its way through the blood red atmosphere
this city reflects it it is polished bright and shining its buildings seem to almost be made of
gold and silver and bronze and at its very heart is a giant pyramid with six spires that project out of its uh many faceted uh faces um each each
of these spires held aloft by an enormous gargantuan golden statue the statues are in
different poses some of them are suggestive some of them are dominating some of them are dominating, some of them are imposing, some of them celebratory.
They all show the same humanoid, though its form changes slightly with each one,
sometimes appearing more feminine, sometimes appearing more masculine.
This giant figure is perfect, no matter what form it is in.
Every inch of its body is sculpted to absolute perfection in a haunting way as it holds up these giant spires from this main central golden palace you can see that great streets
stretch out like spokes of a wheel connecting alleyways and tightly packed corridors of crammed together buildings, magical lights, illusions that show off designs,
clasking, you know, flagons being brought together in celebration,
demonic looking entities fighting against each other,
all sorts of different illusory signs and advertisements
displaying different pleasures and indulgences on offer.
One main street connects the kind of port to the palace, the golden building at the very heart.
This main street appears to be covered by a shiny mirror-like substance that keeps the
kind of dull red atmosphere away.
And that seems to be
the main thoroughfare that
leads through the city of
Zelotar itself.
It doesn't take long before the
hum of the infernal engines
of the Twin Star come to an end
as the ship settles
into one of the many berths of a large port on the edge of the twin star come to an end as the ship settles into one of the many berths of a
large port on the edge of
the city itself.
Dahlia
stands up.
In terms of scoping out
escape vectors and stuff
for Sentry, absolutely.
You can see the easiest
options, although they look like they might be
the most crowded.
The side streets are a maze.
They're like a warren, a labyrinthian in their twists and turns.
It would be difficult without perfect memory to be able to use those to navigate a fast retreat.
They're purposely designed to be confusing.
So the main thoroughfare is probably the fastest and easiest way cool
um but as the ship comes to an uh kind of still uh thalia kind of picks up a few things
and gestures i'm going to be leaving kairi and big cat here i will also be sealing the twin star
that only i may open it
again the other two will be able to open it from the inside but i do not trust this place
i will be making sure that it is well defended i do not want anybody trying to steal my ship
good plan yes fair enough it's a shame we don't have big cat for the intimidation factor
it's a shame we don't have big cat for the intimidation factor walking towards this venue the people here big cat is not a powerful creature they are a loyal companion a good body
guard but here people would not be afraid of big cat i'm afraid um perhaps some of the lesser
demons but we don't have anything to worry about no one's afraid of big head here we're doomed
no
alright
if you're ready
my plan
is to head to the palace unless there is anything
you want to try and explore the city to find
it is you can find almost
anything here if you wish to find
services or items this is the
place to do it but i recommend you do not go off alone no no not libraries uh there may be dens of
things such as there may be dens of um more interesting methods of learning perhaps we
could which we could call them i thought you said this was a pleasure planet.
Unless you're a nerd.
You're a nerd.
Nerd.
There is not significant profit to be made from a library,
but you can pay people to teach you
things here. You can pay to learn
things via magic
if there is a thing that you wish to
become familiar with.
Knowledge is priceless.
Not on this planet,
I'm afraid.
Oh!
Team, maybe I could find someone
to teach me that thing.
The thing, the thing,
the thing, the freaking
heal greater injury for my book.
And then if one of you
breaks your leg again,
I can put that back together better.
I can cast that.
Oh.
Well, you could teach me then.
Why didn't you tell me this?
You didn't ask.
You didn't say.
He doesn't always know what he can cast though remember
yeah he's only just learned that he can raise the dead i've only just learned that spell yeah
um i've only just learned heal greater injury also i have 25 spells prepared at any one time like
wow i've got a lot going that's a lot um this this is a a place to trade if you wish uh things
like art jewels gemstones gold very valuable here this is the place to trade, if you wish. Things like art, jewels, gemstones, gold.
Very valuable here.
This is the place to trade them, if you wish.
If anyone needs anything, we've got plenty of money.
We can do things.
Ayla, could we find someone to make the hammer do the thing?
Yeah.
Yes, there's definitely going to be artisans here, yes.
Then I can upgrade the hammer a little bit.
That'd be awesome.
That sounds like a good idea.
The only ropey potential thread that we could use to benefit us
is to get some rumours.
Rumours about this person, whether there's a trick to it
or ways we can expose the fact that he's never lost.
There's got to be something to do with that.
If we can expose him, will law and order take place and we'll be given the ring?
No, nobody will care.
Nobody will care.
Right.
Sadly.
But embarrassment.
Nobody would dare go against.
The other demon princes, the other rulers of the different cities on this place,
they're the only ones who could really challenge Graz,
and I don't think they'd care.
Nothing else.
People will still be desperate enough to try it.
There are none, Lucius.
As I mentioned, Graz is the ruler of this city.
The Empire takes no
interest in it. But they can't take to the
streets and make sure there's no petty crimes
going on. Oh, there's petty
crimes everywhere. I suggest you watch your coin
purse, your equipment very closely
as we walk through the streets.
Remember when we
crashed an airship and you
ended up in the lowlands instead of on your own
high elf planet and you were devastated and you didn't know what a cow was
yes thank you it's like a new version of that consider it the lowlands again
Consider it the lowlands again.
Oh, Lord.
Why? Why do we have to be here?
Wishes don't mean money.
If you wish
to just remain on the ship, you are
welcome to, but I would be loath
to not be without your
sorcerous abilities. If we do need to fight,
you will be very useful here.
You are a very talented spellcaster.
I'm not leaving my friends, but it doesn't mean I don't like it.
Well, I can't say I like it either.
I do not particularly like this planet, but needs must.
Needs must.
Right, gather yourselves, my friends, and let us go.
And with that, Thalia will open the door.
Remember, fuck it
go out swinging
screw you Azagret
screw you
with that very confident
battle cry
you exit
the little loading
the little ramp opens up
and a little step leads down
into a busy port.
Very much like the port on Elysium.
You see various astral ships all birthed.
But this time, instead of beautiful angelic creatures everywhere, you see monsters.
Huge, terrifying, nine foot tall, red skin, scaled toads with huge claws and long drooping arms you see you see
creatures that look like they are made of gelatinous flesh just kind of like blobbing and
and pulsing and kind of making their way along in huge groups of them yeah uh this kind of like big
gelatinous you know big gelatinous,
you know, these gelatinous bodies
that have vaguely human shapes
and tormented looking like mouths
that look like they're constantly screaming
are just sort of like being herded around
to cargo and things like that.
Sounds like my natural state.
Humanoid figures,
but rather than heads,
they have golden masks that
don't change in their expression
carrying weapons and armor
patrolling the streets
giant fly like
humans that buzz through the air
carrying messages
it is full of monsters and it is
horrible the air is
surprisingly
sweet it smells like sugar and cinnamon and it is horrible. The air is surprisingly sweet.
It smells like sugar and cinnamon.
The air is thick, cloying.
Every breath, kind of your head feels woozy
and there's almost an intoxication to it
as the air is just so rich and thick.
It's pleasantly warm.
Everything about the city is alluringly comfortable,
despite the horrific kind of creatures that inhabit it.
And Thalia begins leading you down towards the main thoroughfare.
You see a sign that points to the Hall of Vanity,
which is the main thoroughfare that leads through into the Argent Palace.
Every surface here,
every stone wall is polished to such a sheen
it is like a mirror,
which means these crowded streets
seem even more full and confusing
than they would normally.
It's like walking through a hall of mirrors, but it's an entire
street of mirrors. So every
crowd is tripled, quadrupled,
ten times the sizes it
could be as you're just looking around at all
these different reflections. You catch
yourselves in weird
angles as you are making your way
down, and you think you see
somebody that looks like, oh, it's just Aayla's
reflection, but it's, you know, separated
down like an alleyway or something
like that as the light is being reflected
around.
No, it is definitely, there are other people
here and they are a lot of
them. Looking around,
you see huge giants,
fire giants,
their bodies smoldering and smoking,
hunched, kind of crawling and pushing their way through narrow corridors to reach into a small little bar.
It looks like where they have to duck into tiny little doors and push their way through.
You see Valkyrian soldiers, not in armor, but in uniform, drunkenly making their way through the town, seemingly exploring it for shore leave or fun.
You're not quite sure what,
uh,
you see fame,
you see elegant,
uh,
Elven nobles,
um,
Eladrin with huge eyes that beam just one solid color and elongated ears
dressed in green finery covered in still blooming flowers.
Eladrin that seemed to be made of ice,
frost covering up their body almost like clothing
as they laugh and titter and point at the strange realities
of the city that they find themselves in,
like tourists exploring it for the first time.
It is densely packed as you make your way down.
It is densely packed as you make your way down.
You don't go a few steps before a very strange-looking,
green insectoid-like creature, no bigger than a halfling,
comes running up.
He literally grabs, let's see, one, two, three, four, five,
and then Thalia will be six.
He grabs, he tries to grab Sentry's hand.
It's like, yes, yes, come this way.
Immediate.
Best, best, best armor and weapons in, in, in Zalatars city.
Come, come, come. And he's pulling on you, Sentry, to try and take you down an alleyway.
No, thank you.
Sorry.
We're, we're busy. Maybe try. No, thank you. Sorry. We're busy.
Maybe try... No, no. Yes, yes. Busy. Come this way.
No, no. We have other things.
You leave him
and Sentry alone now.
Ah!
He just lets go of Sentry's hand and looks
around, gives up, finds another
visitor, runs over to them.
Almost looks like a dwarf, but with glowing skin. They run over to them like a almost looks like a dwarf
but with glowing skin uh they run over to them and like a luminous white beard yes yes celestial
come this way best weapons and armor in zelotastini follow me follow me and it's just like trying to
lure them away um just immediately gives up as soon as you resist they just go straight off
you do have to just be a little stern.
See?
Sounds good.
Oh, my heart is racing.
Mine is too, seeing you be so mean.
I didn't recognize you, Lucius. I know.
Yeah, you continue making your way down this main thoroughfare,
and soon it becomes quickly, there are dozens of stores,
stalls, bars, gambling dens, brothels.
There is just any kind of business exists here,
and there are hundreds of them.
Restaurants, taverns, inns, all with these glowing magic signs
with barkers outside.
You see humans, you see humanoids like orcs,
you see a few halfling-like creatures, gnome-like creatures,
you see humans all smiling these incredibly uncomfortable two wide smiles,
and they don't stop smiling.
No matter what they say or do they've constantly
got these big high smiles
they're giving out leaflets they are
calling out to people yes come
this way best best devil
clams in the city this way this
way and they're trying to pull people in
um you see
similar humans
yeah it's deafening it's like
a cacophony of shouting and noise
you hear barkers calling out you can hear music just blaring out of inns and things like that as
you make your way down um it's hard to hear each other without shouting to one another
um as you make your way down um but yeah is there anything that like takes your interest you can see
like anything you can kind of imagine, like any sort of business
or
any kind of store that you are
looking for, you can probably find here.
Do you want to go find somewhere for the hammer?
A hammer upgrade
around here.
Let's not
stay apart. I'm going to
use my glamour weave fabric to make bright vivid patterns
almost like a a beacon so that everyone can see where i am and therefore can stay together
sure uh yeah so it starts with his pulsing animated magic arrows
indicating his presence.
And you see a few citizens, a few people kind of like look,
a very regal looking, almost like a dryad.
Like you can see that she has these like long vines and flowers
blooming instead of hair, bark like skin,
but appears to be wearing like almost like mushroom,
like fungus clothing. It's like grown over her like mushroom like fungus clothing it's like grown
over her like a like a dress but it's like a giant mushroom and she kind of points at lucius
um and says something in a language i don't think anybody understands maybe century do you speak
sylvan um no yeah so just this very beautiful flowing language just as like lucius goes past um and yeah people start
noticing lucius like he's drawing a lot of attention to himself uh yeah oh my goodness
we're not going like under the radar anymore and yeah what are you asking for like are you
asking to ask directions are you just going gonna wander around till you find somewhere that looks like a blacksmith's or what do you guys want to do?
Mmm leave that to Nova and Ayla
Sure, do not go into the alleys if if you get separated do not stay on this promenade
Because if you go into the alleys, I've sort of they're like a maze you will on you might not be able to get out
We'll die there. We'll die there.
Stay here.
Nova?
Drink.
Thank you.
I'm going to pretend to flex, but then
can I just slip my hand into sentries
and just hold on?
You can hold sentries.
Oh my goodness.
I'll hold Nova's hand. Oh my goodness. I'll hold Fitch's hand back.
Stay together.
So this is unlikely,
but I've got the observant feat,
which means I can interpret
what anyone is saying by reading their lips.
Can I just look down the entire
road that we're on?
Because we can't hear anything,
right? Even people shouting out, I'm just waiting for the hammer upgrades and i just see anyone just saying like
well i keep in mind that being able to read lips and looking like if you went into central london
and looked at piccadilly square could you like you'd have to look at each individual person and
like watch what they say to read their lips. You can't just immediately absorb
what everybody at once is saying.
So you kind of have to, like, one person at a time.
Passive perception.
Says otherwise.
Even with a 24-passive perception.
I look beyond our range of hearing.
Yeah, I mean, you look around,
and with your high perception,
with Quill's high perception,
and being very observant that you are,
you can see a lot of things.
You see shady deals going down.
You can see that there is what appears to be
like a large vulture-like demon
seems to be making some sort of deal
with a bunch of little urchin gnomes
or something like that,
like kind of like little grey rock-coloured
gnomes, and slips them
like a little something, and then they go scuttering off.
You look over and you see
a trio
of drunken Valkyrian
soldiers, and
these, a trio
of two women and a
man, look at them,
their forms ripple and change as they become these exotic
long-eared blue-skinned white-haired elves and then they make their way over to the soldiers
and begin like calling them and like pulling them into what appears to be a bar uh and the soldiers
just go with them like uh the the mixed group of soldiers just immediately follow and kind of chase after them. And after a while, the thing you notice is you don't see like many smithies
or like armor smiths or weapon smiths in this main promenade.
But one building does stand out, mainly its name and also the clientele going towards it.
There's an interesting mix.
There appear to be two entrances to a large theater like
an opera house um bright it kind of shines like polished steel um and it has uh these wonderful
illusions that project this simulated battle between a knight in like shining golden armor
and a powerful demonic figure in black armor with a flaming hammer.
And the two of them clash
and the sparks rain down
on the front of the theater entrance
with a little box office.
The people going in the front look like nobility,
like the kind of nobility you would see
in a rowist on Gusthaven.
Fine ball gown like dresses,
domino masks,
carrying like fans,
but they're made up of all different creatures. One appears to be a giant ball gown-like dresses, domino masks, carrying fans.
But they're made up of all different creatures.
One appears to be a giant that has clouds and storms gathering around her. One couple appears to be two excellently well-dressed angelic beings,
two men who are holding hands and they make their way in.
You see a group of armored uh demonic
looking creatures are all dressed in like these elegant slim fitting dresses making their way in
these warrior women but the other entrance you see very well equipped with good weapons good armor
magically enchanted going in a side entrance near the back of the place.
And a sign says in common
the theater of steel.
Hmm.
Cool.
That sounds fancy.
Sorry, I just pictured a stage
with the curtains pulled back. It's just blocks
of steel.
On the stage in little outfits. Could be.
And that's it. Could be.
Little Minecraft.
Okay, I'll message a ring so everyone can hear
me and sort of say
it's over there. I found a place. Follow me.
Don't follow me. Follow
Ayla. Ayla, it's over there.
Make a path.
What is... What's over there make a path what is the place
okay
I'll go towards where he's pointing
then
so Ayla you start making your way forward
Thalia kind of follows and the rest of the group will begin
kind of following with Ayla and Quill
to get to the theater of steel
you have to kind of walk further down the concourse um and quill you see the three figures that you'd seen
change form to lure the soldiers in they appear to be in front of a large bar like a drinking den
um it's elegantly black onyx stone everything is written in a very deep red kind of font. And it just calls it,
it just calls itself the lights.
And it appears it's got that kind of swanky cocktail bar vibe to it with
kind of this brushed black stone.
These three figures look over everybody.
One of them transforms into a very muscular,
topless,
dark skinned elf that looks very similar to Aayla's kind of style
with this type of ears and stuff like that and tattoos.
One transforms into a very vibrantly colored Aarakocra,
like a bird person with a sort of crested, feathered headdress.
Oh, shit, I'm rumbled.
And then the other one takes on the form of a very kind of like
swell uh svelte um scantily dressed uh just uh probably a fire ganassi probably um with long
flaming hair that kind of spills down her back and bronze skin and the three of them approach
uh and you they begin kind of calling out just like oh travelers come you should have the best
drinks in the city it delights you're so like we'd love, travelers, come. You should have the best drinks in the city.
It delights.
You're so, like, we'd love to join you for company.
Like, this is the best place to drink in town.
And they're kind of calling out to you as you approach.
No, we do not have to.
Whoa.
You see this, like, almost like a cockatiel
with bright colored kind of like pink feathers.
And she raises like a wingatiel, but bright-colored, kind of like pink feathers. And she raises a wing up towards you.
Yes!
The best drinks in the entire city.
We've never seen some kinds like yours before.
I've got 24 perception.
I can see everything.
I've got 24 perception.
I can see everything.
The fire... The fire Ganassi looks towards Nova, Thalia and Lucius
and she just flicks her like long...
And it's like fire.
It's like Hades.
It's like Hades from Hercules
where it's just this long, fiery orange embers
and she just kind of flicks her hair
as little embers flip her away.
She's hot.
I am.
I am quite hot.
Yes. Come,
we have good food and good drinks.
The perfect way to celebrate
your arrival in Zellitar. Where are you from?
Who are you? And they kind of reach out
with their hands. They're reaching out towards you.
One of them slides up, the larger kind of
muscular one, kind of just looks at Aayla
and is just like, hey,
what's up?
Yeah, don't touch.
I won't touch you
unless you want me to.
And he just kind of shrugs.
And then looks towards Lucius, looks towards
Nova and Thalia and Sentry.
So, um...
What brings you all...
What's your name?
Ah!
It's...
It's...
Flexes these huge muscles behind his back.
It's, uh...
What is my name?
I totally forgot.
I could just call you Your Majesty
if you like.
God!
You know of my nobility?
Oh, no.
Sure.
It's the outfit, isn't it?
I just look down at all the animated arrows
Sure
The female
Arakoka looks at Quill
I'm doing a main gun
Yeah
Kicking his little legs back
Flapping his
Puffing himself up laughing
laughing
laughing
laughing
what is Quill doing?
I would like to know what Quill is actually doing
when Tom can rose himself
I'd like to formally request that someone draws Quill
performing some kind of mating dance
oh my god
it's like in House of Train Your Dragon
when Toothless starts doing the little
dance in the third one.
Oh my god.
So what's everyone doing?
Century? Anything from Century?
Anything from Quill?
I know what Nova's doing. Nova's freaking out.
Thalia looks a little bit annoyed.
I think Thalia looks a little bit annoyed. I think Thalia looks a little
bit like... Nova
like, come on, really? Every
pretty face that comes across?
She looks a bit indignant.
That you're just like...
Total hypocrite.
Thing is, Nova can't stop looking
between the fire ganassi
and the muscly dude.
Like, especially with the flexin.
She can't.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
She can't.
Yeah, he's just sort of like...
No.
Nova's just like...
Boom.
Don't you have some sort of tailor to go to?
You're missing a...
A garment!
A lot of clothes.
That's a lot of skin.
It's very warm.
It's very warm out here.
You know, it's easier to do my job
not having as many clothes on.
He kind of winks at you.
I don't understand.
Is this person
flirting with me?
No, we're just asking if you want to come
and join us for some drinks come and join us
Wait, you should have some lovely drinks and in the dots. We are no longer interested in your
your sales tactic Oh
The fire Ganassi is like oh you wound us sir. This is we're just inviting you for some drinks
We want to have some we just want to have some good companionship.
Why don't you join us?
I'm going to look to Ayla for confirmation on what's going on.
It's the no, sir.
We're going to have to pass, and I'll just keep walking.
Okay.
Nova, Nova, do not.
They watch Ayla walk off, but they're still looking at the rest of you.
Come on, let your friend go off.
Why not come and join us?
Sit down.
She'll be fine.
Look at her.
I'm just consenting cast.
Yeah?
Go on.
Consenting cast enlarge, and then just pick up Quill and Nova and Lutas.
Just carry them away.
No, thank you!
You don't even need to cast Enlarge.
For three of you, I think she does.
Oh, three of us, yeah.
I'll come back and get Nova.
Okay, so Ayla kind of stomps back.
Sentry just picks them up
and just...
You can look
at them while I walk away.
That's too many.
Valia looks back, kind of looks
at the three of them and is just like,
if only I had more time, darlings, and then
trots off after the rest of you.
As, yeah, Century and Aayla carry you
away
from the three
succubi who were trying to lure you in
to their drinking establishment.
And yeah, you continue on your way.
And yeah, the group of you arrive
before this theater, this theater of steel.
And you can see that there is a side entrance.
The sign for the side entrance reads
Participants and Warriors Only.
And then the main entrance is got flowery language.
Welcome guests to the greatest story
that can ever be told. The only story
that matters. The story
of battle.
Wow. Wow.
Well,
this is not the place
that...
This is a show.
Well, the place around the other
side is, yeah,
but this place... I mean, someone's going to be able to upgrade your hammer here.
The story of battle.
That's a participant's door, Quill.
Do you want to go in?
Do you want to participate in the battle?
They might sell or upgrade weapons
as part of the process of battle.
Or hit you in the face with part of the process of battle.
Try it.
Try it. We just go in, we go out.
I'm sure we could ask them if they know anything
about weapons.
There is a bouncer on the front
door. There's like a concierge
for the main entrance.
On the side where it says
participants only,
there is... I need to check how big these things are, actually.
How big are these guys?
I think these guys are very big.
Yeah.
You didn't notice this creature at first,
because it's not like they're a bouncer next to the door.
They're not even a large creature in the alleyway.
They are leaning on the side of the building nearby,
looking down into the alleyway.
They must be about 20 feet tall.
They look like a giant horned demon
with huge goat legs,
and powerfully huge build.
And they're just looking down,
kind of picking at their teeth, just watching
the alleyway, but they almost look like another building
like this huge red furry building
next to it
oh boy
oh
did you want to ask
that gentleman up there
this is for your hammer
excuse me as Quill kind of like walks that gentleman up there. This is for your hammer! Excuse me!
As Quill kind of like walks down
this little alleyway and you can see that there are
demons and fighters
all kind of in a bit of a line making
their way in and they all look at Quill
casting this side glance
as the huge
angry ape goat
creature looks down.
Yes.
Can I help you?
Hopefully.
Little bird.
Are you here to be target practice?
No, no, Hesper, no, no.
My friend here has a big hammer
and we want to make it bigger.
Biggerer.
If you want
upgrades, yes,
inside.
But, uh...
Don't go near the stage
or the lady will, uh...
Well, let's just say
you won't have any hands left
for your friend to be using that hammer.
Oh.
Inside on the right.
Inside on the right. Seek the smith.
Thank you
very much.
Nowhere near the stage.
Nowhere near the stage.
Interesting. Interesting. Maybe we could watch the show. Sounds interesting.
You wanna watch the show? You and your friends are gonna need to be much better dressed.
The lady doesn't like it when, uh, streets come in.
Even this guy? Look, he's got arrows all over him.
He's fine. He points at arrows all over him he's fine
he points at Lucius this one's fine
the
construct is fine
the rest of you need to change
what the hell
we're just gonna
go to the smith
thanks
inside on the right look for the elf
okay and I will do that to the smith, thanks. Inside, on the right, look for the elf.
Okay. And I will do that.
I will. Yeah, you kind of make your way in.
You see, uh, there's a screeching vulture creature that's
wearing thick black leather armor
covered in blades. Kind of
grabs your arm, Ayla. It's like, hey!
What are you doing?
I'm going to get
my weapon upgraded. Ah, not before us. I'm going to get my weapon upgraded
not before us
and kind of like
lets you go
just like you wouldn't have lasted
five seconds anyway
I'll just keep walking
yeah sure you just walk in
what about the rest of you staying outside or are you following
Ayla I'm still over Sentry's shoulder
you're on my shoulder
so I'm currently carrying you
someone's got me
who's got me
Ayla's got Nova
and Sentry's holding Quill and Lucius like this
somewhere around Ayla's butt
you just hear those
Ayla
I don't know
oh I honestly forgot Aayla's butt, you just hear there's... Aayla, can I put it down now?
Oh, I honestly forgot.
You weigh like nothing, so I forgot you were there.
I forgot.
Yeah, you put it down.
When the two of you go inside, you enter into, yeah,
the backstage of a theater almost.
You can see, rather than being made from from wood it is constructed from a dark gray near
black polished stone uh you see racks of weapons armor you see little kind of like pieces of terrain
almost or like obstacles movable boulders uh giant like spiked things that hang on a wall um you know portable fences
that sort of thing um and you can see a lot of hustle and bustle there are a lot more of these
smiling humanoids with these uncomfortable joker-like smiles who are running around laughing
singing yes i'm bringing bringing the next load of weapons, mistress, ha ha ha, and they're kind of
smiling and laughing as they push around
crates of weapons. One appears
to be dragging several
headless bodies.
Got a couple more for the disposal, milady,
and they're just, ha ha ha ha, look how
funny he looks, and they're dragging them away
as a big smear of blood is left
as they drag the body away.
But the two of you look to the right
and you can hear the faint clanging of a smith
and the heat of a forge
coming from a little bit to the right and down.
It seems to be that there is a set of stairs down
that lead into some sort of basement
or similar setup.
Okay.
We'll go towards that. Nova, I'm sorry, you've got to come
with me. You're the bank. I need you.
Yeah, no, that's fine. Can I hold your hand?
Do you want me to just pick you up again? Honestly, it's less
embarrassing. No, I just want to hold your hand. There's bodies
over there and they're missing their heads.
Ah, fine.
Thank you.
Century, you need to be a bother.
Hi, Quill, by the way. Oh, you need to be a bother.
Hi, Quill, by the way.
Oh, hi.
Should we be following Aayla and Nova down the basement?
Oh, yeah.
Sure, yeah.
Let's go follow. I was wondering if maybe it might be worth someone watching outside,
just in case.
We could, yes.
But something bad can happen down there too.
He's doing that for us.
Yes.
That is true.
Okay.
Bye, big guy.
You just hear a grunt.
That's it.
Picks its teeth.
He likes me.
Yeah.
You guys follow,
and the group of you all make your way downstairs.
You emerge in a kind of...
It's been hot.
It's been comfortably warm up on the main thoroughfare
and the main plane.
Down here, it's stifling hot.
You can feel waves of heat
coming from some supernatural furnace.
As you emerge in a workshop,
you can see that there are racks upon racks
of weapons and armor.
You can see materials, crates, stacks of it.
And there are two figures.
One appears to be a Durgar.
You've seen Durgar before.
They are dark, grey-skinned dwarves with kind of quill-like beards, orange-red.
They have glowing orange eyes.
And he appears to be overlooking the various weapons, checking them.
They have a very, like, he has a very
short quill beard, but very
long orange hair that's all
tied up into, like, a samurai
topknot.
And he is, like, examining several blades
as he looks up and sees you.
Everybody, you notice that there is
a figure in the back. They appear to be kind of
lively built.
They've got tattoos, tattoos like red tattoos over
dark caramel skin um and long black hair that's done up in a similar like undercut samurai top
knot um where it's all kind of shaved at the back but then the the length longer bit is kind of put
up into the top of the head um you can see that the the figure behind appears to be working the actual forge itself. And you can see along these red tattoos is fire.
It kind of swirls and moves along their body and their skin.
And Quill is eerily similar to how lightning appears on Aayla's body.
lightning appears on Aayla's body and Aayla
you notice a
scrap of red, black
and orange fabric
hanging off of a belt
a thick leather
belt around their waist
they are
seemingly adjusting the forge
and you can see a pair of mutilated
ear tips from
the back of their head, you can see that the of mutilated ear tips from the back of their head.
You can see that the tips of them have been cut off.
But yeah, it's very easy to spot the same sort of tattoos and markings
that you have seen on other wild elves.
But this one has fire rolling down their body
as they surge the heat into the forge.
The Durgar looks up.
I
don't think I know
any of you.
You're not combatants or
staff. Freelancers,
are you?
Yeah, just here, actually.
Heard that you were
good at upgrading
some weapons
Got told to speak to the elf
Ah
It's a bit of a joke
if you heard that from the
Garistra outside
He doesn't speak, or at least not much
And he like turns around
and in Elvish, so anybody who
speaks Elven, hears the word
sort of like, you hear like a boy,
and the elf turns around, and you can see they're very,
it's a male elf, very well built, like heavily muscular,
but covered in scars.
One half of their face is almost ruined by scars.
It's like deep cuts and wounds, burn marks.
One of their eyes is
completely white the other one is wild and kind of looks around part of their mouth where it's
been scarred is kind of drooped and and sort and in a kind of very broken elvish you just hear a
kind of like a yeah the fires the fires of the goddess i I need to keep them keep them hot, keep it hot, must keep it hot
gotta fight, gotta fight
and he's just like, back to the
forge, and the
elf kind of turns around and begins
stoking at the fires as well
too many fights in the pit
afraid the mistress
the blade mistress put him
put too much on this one, I think.
Okay.
I'm looking to upgrade this hammer.
I'll
show you that.
Yeah, you kind of bring
out the material that you bought for like the
jump enchantment and stuff like that.
And he says, ah, yes, yes, yes.
Very fine work. Very, very nice. I like this a lot. I've and stuff like that. He says, ah, yes, yes, yes. Very fine work. Very, very nice.
I like this a lot.
I've not seen much like this.
Almost.
Reminds me of somewhere else.
Hmm.
Elven. Where's that?
Place called
Alfheim. He kind of looks
at you, sees the cloth.
Huh. Alfheim. He kind of looks at you, sees the cloth. Alfheim
indeed.
Puts it on the thing. Aye, with what
you've brought me here, I can do
something with this. Can make it light.
An enchantment that'll let you leap
and jump. Make you weightless
in a sense. I can do that.
It's easy enough. Take me a few hours.
Why do you do that?
That's not all you want to ask.
I want to talk to the elf again.
Be my guest. I'm afraid that you're not going to get
much out of it.
Anyway, let me deal with this.
When he was a fighter,
we used to call him...
When he used to fight
Wraithra.
Wraithra.
What was his name?
Boy!
And then he turns to the forge and starts taking the enchanted metals you bought on elysium
you see him beginning to pull out very fine inscription tools to hammer some sort of like
glyphs and runes into metal and he begins working on the hammer in the background the elf kind of
shuffles around the fire dulls and dies down along his arms
as he kind of looks around,
not quite seeing you guys.
Like, he's clearly facing towards where he's been told,
but the eye is kind of scanning all over the place.
You see his muscles kind of tense at every noise.
Like, if there's, like, the sound of fighting
or, like, the sound of a scream or a cheer from above,
you see his muscles snap too.
He grabs weapons nearby.
Fire, fires.
I need to win.
I need to win to survive.
That's an interesting narrative you've got there.
And I'll just
speak to an elvish
and I'll just let one of my
arms crackle with lightning
just looks at it
you see him wince a little as you kind of summon the lightning
almost like detecting a threat like an animal
almost just kind of like reacting to it
and then just kind of the eye
glances around
yes yes yes yes yes
the divines chosen
chosen by the divines another one
just like me they'll make you. They'll make you fight.
They'll make you fight again.
They'll make you fight and win and win and win until you're
broken. Yes. You will win.
I'll hold up the scrap of carton
I have on my belt
as well.
Looks at it. Is it an exact match
for his? It's not an exact
match. Yours, I think, yours
is, oh yeah, so yours is red orange with
browns and blacks um i misspoke earlier his is is red black and gray uh the three colors on his
that kind of intersect so it is different and it's a different pattern style as well um he kind of
looks at it uh but i mean quill with your of insights, anybody who's got like a passive insight of over 15.
This person's very clearly had such trauma that they're probably just they don't seem to be fully aware of everything.
They're kind of hearing words and they're aware of this danger.
But anything more complex than a task or, you know, reactions to something primal.
You don't know if it's getting through to them.
Um,
definitely some madness here.
It might be something that can be healed with magic or time,
but yeah,
this kind of environment is probably not helping.
Um,
the sounds of constant fighting and stuff doesn't,
doesn't seem to be very good.
This individual, individual um but yeah
like alia you kind of try and catch his eye but he won't even look at you properly like every time
he glances it glances away and he like shuffles around he runs his hands up and down weapons like
gripping the hilts picking it up weighing it putting it down picks up a different weapon
this time an axe holds it puts it down down. Oh no, not good enough.
Not good enough, not to fight.
Need better, need to find their weapons.
Need to use whatever
I can. Just kind of like
nods to himself.
Are you from Alfheim?
I think when you say Alfheim, there is
a kind of pause.
Planet, planet, yeah.
Oh, oh.
Seed, seed, memories.
Too many memories in my head.
Too many, and he's just kind of clutching, like,
too many lifetimes, too many lifetimes,
all of them fighting.
Too many fights, too many wars.
Too much, too much fire, too much death.
I don't know what to say to him
anymore
do I
do I recognize this
as anything magical
or is this just
age old
this is
there's definitely
I think that there's some element of this like, this isn't, like, age.
Like, he's a young man. Like, this is a young
man, probably no older than Ayla.
There's definitely an element
of physical trauma that's put this to work.
But there could be magical elements to it as well.
Make a
arcana check for me.
Okay.
The first one was a 15.
Okay. The first one was a 15. Okay.
Things like Dispel Magic probably wouldn't do anything,
but if you had some sort of way to restore their mind,
like clearly this trauma has been reflected,
Great to Restoration would probably work to help this person.
You know the spell, you know what it does.
It would
cure this madness, this kind of
enforced trauma that's been put upon them.
Okay.
Yeah, I don't have it now.
Something you can get later.
If we
do stay here
until tomorrow, then maybe we can
come back and maybe I can
try something that might
help this man and we might
be able to get some actual answers out of him.
But until then,
he can help you with the hammer.
But that's about it.
Hammer. Good weapon.
Good weapon. Hammer.
Want an axe? Axes feel good. Axes feel right. Picks up some axes. Puts them down. Good weapon, Hammer. Hammer, want an axe? Axes feel good.
Axes feel right.
Picks up some axes.
Puts them down.
Picks them up.
Puts them down.
It's like certain words seem to trigger responses.
But it's cryptic.
It's broken.
I...
See...
Go on.
I'll just... I'll wait for the hammer
but if we could come back
I'd like to speak to him
I don't know anything
about different clans from
Alfheim but
clearly there were a few
maybe he would know from Alfheim, but clearly there were a few.
Maybe he would know what one was
mine, and be able to tell me
a little bit about it. He has his own
tartan,
so
I'll just
wait for the hammer.
I don't think
Aela would say anything else. She would just probably
watch him
as he's working and just...
Yeah, if you...
If you don't talk to him for a while,
he just absentmindedly...
You can see his wrists are chained
and the chain goes down to like
pittance on the floor. So it looks like he
can't leave this area for whatever
reason.
There's like a small bed just around the side of the forge
and things like that. But without being
told, he just diverts back to going
to the forge where he starts helping
the Durgar, heating up
the metal. The Durgar turns around and is like
Sorry, I told you it's not much
use.
Give me a few hours. I should have
this enchantment done.
In terms of money,
the materials,
if you don't mind, if you let me keep
the scrap of the materials, because there's going to be some
left over, I'll consider that payment.
This isn't a particularly tough job.
I'd really appreciate
that, and you're welcome to keep them.
Yeah.
Appreciate that. You're welcome to keep them yeah appreciate that you should
yeah I'm doing this for my benefit
lass don't worry too much
and then he just kind of like goes
back to his work but yeah
if you're happy to leave the howling tempest there
you guys can continue on if you want
to go and find something else to do or
what do you guys want to do?
oh man
it's spooky out on the streets
I feel like I'm leaving the hammer
yeah
I don't think we should make deals
yeah I don't feel like we should make deals with devils
when Ayla doesn't have her big smackaroo
no way
maybe we can find somewhere
nearby to
pass the time. What else were we looking for?
Who else was looking for something?
Maybe we went to the bar.
We're not going to the bar, Nova.
Apart from there.
Talia will
flex for you later.
Talia flex for her.
I'm not really a muscular type.
You're more the muscular type.
Okay, I'll flex. You can look at
Talia's chest area like you like
to do, okay? How about that? That's fine, yes.
That's acceptable.
Duh.
Nova just
goes purple immediately and looks
everywhere but where everything that's been
suggested.
We can't
stay in this workshop. We could try
and watch one of these
gladiatorial battles, if you prefer.
We could go for a drink. I
could certainly use one.
Otherwise,
I mean, we can't wait down here.
I don't imagine this fellow is going to just let us
stay here. No, I'm not.
You need to leave.
Do we get a time slot or some sort of ticket that we return the item with?
Come back in a few hours.
I'm not going to forget the lot of you.
Yeah.
Fair.
Good.
All right, then.
I mean, we don't have to Fully roleplay
If you guys just wanna say
We kill two hours
Doing other stuff
We can make that happen
We don't have
Attracting attention
Fancy clothes
We got fancy clothes
To get into the
Theatre
I think so
Don't think enough
That we do
We could change our clothes
To be more inconspicuous
Like we kinda tried to plan
before we go see the big bad change our identity somewhat could do you want to go spend like you
could go and buy some like glamour weave outfits for everybody or like shift weave fabrics for
everybody and get everybody dolled up to the nines general that would be like think about how useful
that would be just for for every time we do these
the glamour weave doesn't change the outfit entirely
but it does help it blend in
like it creates like illusions and stuff like that
yeah I mean like any colour you want
yeah
you can schedule a colour
to a day as well
I'm just
I'm just absolutely imagining
like I don't know Las Vegas
like neon cowboy outfits
like
oh man yeah
you got the
uncommon glamour weave didn't you Lucius
you've got the one which can actually create illusions around
it not just on clothing itself
so yeah if you guys
you guys can go and find a a demonic tailor basically
um which is probably run by a very creepy thin awkward looking they look human but they're very
clearly not human because all of their proportions are wrong like they're too tall, their fingers are too long and thin. When you enter, they're like, ah, yes.
Welcome to my store, good customers.
I am, you may call me Mr.
White
and his suit changes
to be completely white
he's kind of wearing this elegant thin cut
noble tail coat
and it just morphs to be all white
yes
can I
help you
good customers Can I help you? Good customers.
We would like new outfits, please, to suit the locale.
We're going to see some very reputable people on this planet,
and we want to suit.
Yes.
Very good.
I will need your measurements.
And he pulls out a long...
What can I say like that?
No.
Not touching me, no.
It will be quite quick and painless for you.
Why is painless a word that you just said? Why did he just say painless for you. Why is painless a word that you just said?
Why did he just say
painless?
It was an unusual specification.
Nova already has my measurements.
Yeah, I do.
If you guys want, you can purchase
this fellow
is just a tailor.
And if you want, you can can spend i think it's 50 gold
it's a 50 gold for the basic glamour weave outfit so you can use a bonus action to create
illusionary patterns on it um and you can just get nice fancy you know rich people clothes um or
it's i think 200 or 150 gold for the uncommon stuff i can can't remember. It's a long time ago. Which is you can create
flames, like illusory flames,
glowing butterflies
that fly around it and stuff like that.
I'm just going to skip ahead
because I don't want to spend forever doing a shopping episode.
But yeah, you guys can buy that stuff
if you want, and you can kill time.
I want a cool-ass
jumpsuit that looks like nebulas.
Looks like a moving nebula on Starscape. That's what I want. Well,ass jumpsuit that looks like nebulas. Looks like a moving...
You know, like Nedley on Starscape.
That's what I want.
Well, here's the thing.
One, you guys will think about what you want
whilst we take a quick break
because we've got to take a break.
Oh, yeah!
Katie, I will sort you out your hammer
and then we will jump to the Argent Palace
while we do that.
Hopefully.
Stop making deals, playing games,
losing lives.
Wait.
I'm so bummed. hopefully stop making deals playing games losing lives wait no you're so bold