High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #9 - Riches of Rosehall (Part 1)

Episode Date: September 10, 2018

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Visit betterhelp.com to learn more. That's betterhelp.com. Hello and welcome to High Rollers, a Dungeons & Dragons podcast in the world of Arois. Run by Dungeon Master Mark Shaw-Humes, with me, Tom, playing Keelakad Kalar, the bard slash cleric. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Ewan, Elowin Elinastro. And I am a High Elf Sorcerer. Hi, I'm Rhiannon. I'm playing Lucius Vue and Elowen Elinastro.

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.

We finally got the money we needed to fix Arvel, but some of the residents are starting to take interest in our riches. It's Hyrule's time Let's do a quick recap of our previous episode Shall we? The party Go back way in the past The party Yes

Carry on I do have a problem with my enunciations No honey The party Survived an airship crash long ago and befriended their fellow travellers and survivors, two Siascan acolytes, a teenage girl and a dwarven merchant, making their way across a dangerous part of the lowlands called the Bitterwood.

The party previously had descended into a deep chasm that contained a few ruined remnants of a dwarven town called Dwalinden. Here, the party fought a feral guardian, which awoke strange thoughts and memories in Sentry, our guardian paladin member of the party. The party also gathered various treasures and then climbed back out of the chasm, exhausting themselves in the process. Travelling back to the small town of Rosehall in southern Savona. The party bartered with several members of the town for their recovered treasures and eventually sold a spear tip of a wild elf relic called Blackthorn to a grouchy known

wizard called Navil for 1,500 gold pieces. I also have some XP to award you for the last couple of sessions. What? So, in total, you have amongst the group, it was 2,500, which means you get 500 XP each. Not enough to level up, but I need to remember to give you XP. Bullshit. Because I keep forgetting that we're on an XP-sist.

Manage levels. 500 each, yes. There you go, manage levels, I think, and then add 500 XP. Manage XP. Seems like it did. Yeah, manage XP and add 500. So 1540. Add XP.

And you need 2,700 or something. You need 1,700 to get up to level four. Nope. Oh, 1,700. From where we are. I wouldn't know that without D&D Beyond. Hang on. No, you need 1,100. No. It'd be 1,700 From where we are I wouldn't know that without D&D Beyond Hang on, how many have you got? You need 1,100

No It should be 1,500 now I've got 1,540 1,540 I can't math good It's so romantic It's only afternoon I don't math good

1060 away Cool There you go So 1160 away I believe That we had left things You had just purchased,

you just sold Blackthorn's, the tip of Blackthorn to Navil, this known wizard. You received a big bag of mixture of coins, gemstones, but you know it's equivalent to 1500 gold. You only had just the tip. You did just have the tip. Just the tip.

You did indeed need the shaft. To complete the relic. I believe you also Just the shaft. We did indeed need the shaft. We need the shaft. To complete the relic. We were bored of... I believe you also asked for at least 100 gold of your 1500 gold to be in a 100 GP pearl for identify spells. I remember you requesting that.

Yeah. So would somebody like to write down that you have a 100 GP pearl? I think the DM's trying to tell us something. What is it, boy? It might be that we had a brief discussion before the stream today about what items the party actually had. I wrote it down in my notebook,

but nobody picked it up. So you wouldn't really call that a pearl of power? No. Okay, I'm not adding that. Just write in the free text box 100 GP pearl. It's not an item. Is he allowed to share that with me? Yes.

Because I don't know if I would as well. You can just pass it between the two of you. It's not like a toon to him or anything. No. It's a component. It's in the group stash. We have it now. We've got a group fund and a group stash.

Okay. But does somebody have the group stash written down? It's on there. I don't know. I've got the 100 GP pearl. It's written's on there. I've got the 100 GP pearl. It's written down. Perfect. I've got 1,500 gold. Okay, so, well, probably write down 1,400 gold,

and then he's now got the 100 GP pearl. Yspis. See? Oh, I thought that was... It was part of your payment. No, it was part of the payment. Bastard. No, that was 100% an agreed-on deal.

I agreed on 1,500 with the identify thrown in for free. Yes, the identify was, but the pearls that you can do your own identifying was part of the money. My scholars pack was free. So, I believe it is mid-afternoon when you emerge from Navill's Quills and Quandaries and you emerge back out into Rosehall,

this bustling little quaint country town was I ever inside there yeah yeah I think you came in but you were doing why it because you did the thing to the cows you've reminded him backs I didn't put that It didn't really seem to warrant that much of a recap point, but yeah. It was the title of the VOD. It was, because let's be honest, comedy pulls people in. What was the title? Something to do with steak?

Cattle rustlers. What happened to prime steak? That was suggested to me way too late. By that point, I'd already thrown in, I'd already put the title up. I could change it now. I'll change it right now. Too late. By that point, I'd already thrown in, I'd already put the title up. I could change it now. I'll change it right now. Too late. Lazy.

So, you are stood outside. It is cold as you are in the long night, the season of colder weather and

extended darkness. Brisk, icy winds blow through the town. People have mostly, there's not much more farming work to do, so mainly people are tending to cattle or making sure that they've got supplies, making sure that their homes are well insulated and repaired.

Question. Yes. Chris Trott. Chris Trott to DM. Yes. In the Sky Islands... Yes. Are there weather patterns?

It depends so some of them the weather is controlled by mages high elf mages will control the weather patterns so it's generally really sunny but some Sky Cities have

kind of like adjacent islands that got raised with them which kind of might require rain and things like that, so they're kind of left to their own devices. Some of them are unprotected, and so are just subject to the same weather conditions. So there's no periodic rain in Gloomhaven or Chill? You mean Gusthaven, where you're from.

Yeah. Yeah, so Gusthaven's one of the ones where, Gusthaven is one of the sky cities where they control the weather more than anything. So there's like a period of rain. They generally, the only, they'll schedule rain for what crops they have, yes, but generally it's not either.

There's no chill winds or anything like that. Yeah, not normally. It's normally kept at a pleasant, normal temperature. All of that is for this. normally. It's normally kept at a pleasant normal temperature. All of that is for this. It's mighty cold. Cool. Got some frosty nets. All that lead up.

All that lore world building. It would be quite cold for Lucius down here. With my wood inside my arm, I start to stiffen up a little bit. It's not that cold. It's not like snowing, freezing winds or anything like that. It's actually

warmer here than it was in the Bitterwood. But it's still just cold. It's my way of saying it's winter. Your wood could swell and also shrink. Well, the wood is magical, so it's not necessarily as prone to those things. It will still burn. It can it can still be damaged yeah magic um but generally things like you know if you if you go swimming you don't rust your wood doesn't swell up or anything like that it can be

damaged but normally by people physically attacking it okay um but the same way that like but you are still affected by cold and temperature the way that human humanoid would be, you still find it uncomfortable. If you were to be like, I'm going to walk into a volcano area. Oh, it's quite warm. You're not a robot. You can't just do everything that robots can. You are a living construct.

So you are still a humanoid in many ways. I'm going to hold up the parchments that I just bought and just take a real deep breath. Oh I love the smell of fresh notepaper No one else noticing how cold it is What is the point of this weather? I've got some new nibs as well Suppose quill your bird. I mean, it's not that cold We should talk to the mages in town make sure that they're not scheduling it wrong or something. One of them could be Inet.

Oh schedule... the sky city... Okay, no fair enough. I mean there's no point in this to kill crops this kind of weather. Unless they're hardier crops or some such. I mean in the lowlands they just live with the seasons as they come. What? They live with the seasons as they come. This is what it is.

Yes, I live with the rain as it comes, but it's scheduled. But it- They clearly got the schedule wrong or something. There's no schedules down here. This is it. Aayla just rolls her eyes. Lucius. Yes. Mages don't control the weather here.

It's not a sky city. You understand that there's a difference between where you lived and down here. Yes. Right? I'm aware. There's no mages that control the weather here. It's just the weather. They should. They can't. It's mighty cold. Yes. Right? I'm aware. There's no mages that control the weather here. It's just the weather. Why not? They should.

They can't. This is mighty cold. Yes, there's a big difference between controlling the weather for an entire continent, than a tiny city that flies through the air. If you just got a couple of mages just for this single village. Right, cool. I'm not asking for the entire continent.

That would be absurd. I'm just like in the background shaking my little bag of sand. Okay. Are we all content? We have a lot of gold. We should go cure Arbol! Let's go!

Yes, I agree. Let's go. Yes. Should we just throw money at him and he gets fixed? No, we have to take it to the temple. That was a little joke. Did anyone get it? Because you can't just throw gold at someone and he gets fixed? No, we have to take it to the town. That was a little joke. Did anyone get it?

Because you can't just throw gold at someone and hope that there needs to be... Never mind. Let's go. I thought he was serious. I thought he was as well. That was genuinely his thought process. He didn't realize that seasons are natural. He didn't even know what a cow was very recently.

Hello. Sorry? I'm right here. Oh, I know. No, I know. Oh, right. Okay. It seems like you were talking as if I wasn't here.

Well, let's go cure our Oh, right. Okay. It seems like you were talking as if I wasn't here. Well, let's go cure Arvel, please. Absolutely. We finally have the money. And more, actually. I think we've got quite a lot more than we actually needed. So how's this going to work? Are we going to pay for Arvel's healing and then we split the money out? Well, no group fund.

Oh, yeah. Okay. So we've got 1,400 group fund,, group fund. Oh, yeah. Okay. So we've got 1400 group fund, right? Yes. Currently, yes. But you know that the ritual to repair Arval's broken leg is about 400 gold. Okay. And we need to go

to... What was his name again? Paladur. No, Torval. Paladur is the god. Sunbringer Black Hummel. So we need to go to Torvald. Actually, what time is it now? About mid-afternoon.

Mid-afternoon. Is it sunset? No. Because he gets a bit grumpy around sunset. Mid-afternoon? I don't know. I mean, the sunset will... The sun will set earlier because it is wintertime. It's just last time we saw him when the Sun was setting he was just really miserable, you know, maybe like two o'clock Fair enough. That's all right. You said 300 gold before did I mm-hmm?

Yeah That's inflation It's called meta tax Look at that little DM face Could be that Nova's memory is ever so slightly wrong She remembers things wrong Well, let's go to Torvald

Mark's been doing some tweaking on how much things should cost It's fine You'll be happy to know, Kim, that I did not write it down so it might just be Nova's memory. I'll go back to the episode and watch. It probably is, I probably did say 300 cost, I'll be... However, there's a slight tweak in ritual costing. Okay.

That's fine. Cool. It's fine. Just gonna write. Be the way, birdie. Off you go. Yeah, where you going, birdie? Shouldn't we get Arvel first?

He was speaking out loud about we should go to Torval Well, that was the entire thing We've got the money, we go cure Arvel We need to go see Torval Exactly We need to take Arvel to Torval Oh, I don't know Because I presume that he needs to do it in his temple

Oh no, he just asked for money But he needs to do the ritual in his temple Well, I assume the money will also cover the transportation cost of Arvel It wouldn't take much of a century to just pick up Arval. No, I can take Arval. It's fine. By all means. Let's go to the

Brazen Heart Tavern. Is that where you're going? Let's go to the Brazen Heart. So, you make your way through. The town isn't very big, so despite all the jokes, it's not hard to find your way back to the Brazen Heart. We're right next to the two places. Well, no, the Brazen Heart is at one end of the town, and the Temple of Paladar is at...

The Temple of Paladar, you remember being on a slight hill near the forest, near the Ironweald, which is quite far away. But you make your way to the Brazen Heart. You see the lovely stone foundation cottage with the thatched roof, the beautiful painted doors, the little flower boxes around the outside um there is a small barn outside uh around the back um big sort of like

you know wooden structure with with hay and all sorts of things being kept in there supplies sacks of grain that sort of thing um and yeah are you going inside the brazen heart or around the back so you go around the back into the back area yeah really something we lost so you make your way back there and yeah sure enough you see kind of stretched out on what looks to be like a couple of planks of wood with sacks of grain kind of laid onto them to be like a very rough looking bed um is a very bored miserable looking arval um he's just you know he's got got his crossbow, Evangeline, just next to him, and his beard is starting to look

quite messy and untangled. He's dirty, quite sweaty, and he just looks miserable. Like, he's spent on his leg. He's just kind of, like, looking down. He doesn't even notice you guys approach initially. I'm going to hop over to him and be like, Arvel! He's just kind of, like, Arbol! Ah! He's just kind of like suddenly surprised

by this enthusiasm. He's like, oh, well. I've got to try and remember his voice. He wasn't Scottish. Well, look at that. Look, y'all, what are y'all doing here? Great news! We can fix your leg!

Sorry, I didn't, you raised the money to, now I can't be asking y'all to pay for that, that's a lot of gold for an old dwarf. Oh well, we did it. We went down to Dwallin Den, that place that we saw on the way down here. The old chasm? Oh yeah, we found quite a lot of stuff down there, actually. Found this. This. Oh, I have no idea

what that is but I'm sure it's very valuable and very very cool it's a good time excellent oh well I mean

I would be and he kind of like takes his little hat off into his hands and he kind of wrings his hands a little bit well if y'all

willing to pay for the ritual on me well that would be mighty kind of y'all and well I'll make sure that you get paid, well, more than what you spend. When we get to Goldthrone, I'll make sure I'll pay you back plus more,

for certain. Ah, we can talk about that later, you old grump. Ah, it's the least I can do, and we'll make sure that anytime in Goldthrone, you'll be guests of my estate, and most certainly I'll make sure this is repaid, repaid in full. Well, diplomacy.

Dad would be so proud. Establishing trade. I'm assuming we need to go up to the temple, then. Oh, yes. Where's everyone else? Yusuf and Korin have been taking work, trying to raise themselves a little bit of coin to buy supplies for them to take the next step in their journey, I suppose.

The young girl, Vala, she's supposed to be working too, but I've caught her sneaking off quite a few times. I've got no intention of spoiling the girl's fun, so I've just been letting her sneak off. I think she's taken to exploring the town and the forest. What is their next step of the journey? I believe that they want to still head to where they were heading originally,

Horizon and Gusthaven and the Starfall Archipelago. So they'll need to head on up to Goldthrone and then catch a ship from there. Well, I mean, we raised quite a lot of money. How much would it actually cost to get to Goldthrone? I mean, if you're talking about hiring horses or a wagon, I mean I Generally the price in varies

I Mean it depends I mean you can loan horses for about 25 gold each for a trip up to Goldthrone But you do have to ensure that they arrive in a good condition Buying horses is much more expensive for a trip up to Goldthrone, but you do have to ensure that they arrive in a good condition. Buying horses is much more expensive. Wagons normally around the same sort of cost. 15, perhaps about 50 gold for a rental on a wagon.

Trivial sum, considering our recent... But it will take, it takes about seven days from here to Goldthrone of travel via horse and wagon. I've never ridden a horsey. Well, that sounds like y'all should go in a wagon then. Why? Horse riding is not for the inexperienced, my friend. They look so majestic and elegant. That's your bum.

Does it? It requires some skill, boy. All the paintings I've ever seen just look so regal, you know? Yep. No, I agree. It looks very uncomfortable. I've never ridden a horse either, so I'll go with a wagon. A bird riding a horse. Exactly. That would be stupid.

Would it? Well, I mean, it wouldn't be the strangest sight I think I've ever seen, but it would certainly be unusual. True. I mean, I suppose we could also cover whatever cost they need. Well that again... They helped us a lot on their journey as well. Then your charity is something to be commended my friend because that is very generous of you. Yusuf and Karin seem... well they had

made plans to raise a little coin working odd jobs. I believe Karin is helping at the local school, and Yusef is using her healing skills and helping Rosalina with the tavern. Nice. And what jobs was Valor actually meant to be doing? She was meant to be helping in the tavern, cleaning, that sort of thing. But as far as I can tell, she's quick to her work, but then she sneaks off before she can be given any more to do Good, I mean that girl is uh, she's certainly curious

She's been asking since you all have been gone a million and one questions I'm sure when you get back she'll be very excited to hear about your tales into the chasm Well, they weren't uh, weren't very heroic. I don't think it was Well, it was a bit messy really so you all made it back alive I can see yes by the skin of our bones

unfortunately that's the nature of the land down here it's any places any of the old places in the world that's sure to be full of danger or they would have been picked clean long ago by treasure hunters or scavengers and things like that. That's why most people down here just try and earn an honest living, work the land or take up a trade or merchant craft.

Even being a merchant these days is dangerous. So many bandits and brigands on the roads just trying to feed themselves, trying to take what they can earn. So that's a dangerous place. True, we did actually hear, well, there were two other jobs we could have done, which involved some missing wagons

along the northern road as well. So I guess that's the route we'd be taking down to Goldthrone anyway. We'll need to take the north road, yeah. Yes, a town like this, this will rely on supplies from a bigger city. Most of its trade will come from sending goods back that way and receiving money coming back from the city. Close to me, an R-Wagon is potentially a target.

That is very true. If we're heading out that way, we should be prepared for dangers of that nature. Well, I'm wondering if we just go out ourselves, just the five of us, and clear the way, so to speak. Before we send everyone there. Sounds like if there's an opportunity for you to earn some gold, I mean, that's

more gold will never hurt anybody's pocket. Nope. No. Maybe that's the plan. Well, let's... It's heavy though, isn't it? Gold? Coin, yes. Well, you can just throw it in the bushes again. Don't do that. That's true.

Just, if you want to throw it away, give me the gold. Any gold you don't want, I will gladly take off your hands, young man. Thank you, Arthur. My pleasure, boy. Yep. You know, a fine young man like you could be quite the investor to a merchant such as I. We should talk more on the way to Goldthrow. Yeah, you sound just like my daddy.

He makes that talk all the time at the cocktails. When you say that, considering what Arvel has noted about the way you talk about your father, there is definitely a look that anybody who has, like, a decent insight, like 13 or above, would probably... Arvel doesn't know whether that's a compliment or whether that's incredibly uncomfortable yeah like he's not sure if that's like some weird flirtation from from lucius or whether that's he's just not quite sure how he's like oh well that's mad and candy oh should we get going to the temple? I've been sat down too long. I feel like giving this old leg a little stretch.

Yeah, let me help you up. Let's send you into it. I'll help you up. You're stronger. That's true, you're right. Yes. Plus, you're probably smelly. I would indeed appreciate an opportunity for a bath

and a change of clothes at some point. I mean, if I could trouble you for a few small coins again, I'd be happy to pay you back when we reach the town. I'm sure we can do that. Enough gold for a bath in the tavern and some new fresh clothes from one of the stores here would be mighty kind of you. I see, why not? I imagine that the others would greatly appreciate that as well.

If you had a bath? I mean, if they could also. I mean, I think Yusuf and Karin have been going down to the river to clean themselves, but it's not exactly the most pleasant of experiences. Okay, so I guess then we... I can lend. Yeah, I mean, we'll... Yeah, you can do that. Yeah, so I guess then we... I can lend. Yeah, I mean, we'll... Yeah, you can do that.

So you guys are going to head up to the Temple of Paladar. Yes. Okay, so you make your way across town. And along the way, you begin to notice that the town is very much watching you and whispering about you. You can see them pointing your way talking um quill you pick up on it with your passive perception you pick up on that this isn't um this isn't suspicious this is actually quite and this is a lot of admiration people are like

here they're the ones that went to dwell in den no way they're the ones that went to dwell in den they must have got so much treasure out of there if they came back alive. There's lots of whisperings of this kind of nature. And eventually, as you're kind of making your way across town, a kind of very skinny, but

still muscular, but looks like most of the body fat has just been sort of worked away and has kind of left a little bit scrawny, but whatever's left is quite lean muscle. An old farmer farmer wispy kind of hair sticking out from the straw hat uh wearing a very loose tunic and a pair of uh long trousers with holes in them um just kind of approaches excuse me sir can i just trouble you for a brief moment? Now, Sure. Forgive me, we don't know what to call y'all. You don't have no name or nothing, do you?

Like a little mercenary band name or some such? A name? A troop? Oh, that's a fantastic idea. Have you got any ideas? A name for all of us? Well, yes, a lot of mercenary groups, they go by names. We just figured that, well, we don't know what to call you. We've just been calling you the strangers for now.

But we heard that you came back from Dwalendain and you convinced Odin Havel to part with some of his gold. Is that right? Well, I mean, we sold something to him. Oh, well, he's always been very careful with his gold, sir. Well, I was just wondering, forgive me for asking, but, well, my family's house

has been in need of repairs for a long time and the harvest this year wasn't very kind to us. We'd be, I'd be very grateful if you could just lend a few gold,

some, you know, 20 gold coins or something, something that would help us patch up the holes, buy supplies that we need. I understand I'm asking a lot, sir, and I don't deserve none of your coin or time, but, well, it sure would mean a lot if you could just help us out.

I have a request. Yes, sir? For this donation. Of course. Very important task of you and your troop. Yes? You mean my family? Yes you and your troop yes you mean my family yes and your friends as well

oh I see alright anybody interested in this group which I noticed quite a few eyes as we were walking through

well you've got suddenly got the town to talking sir maybe create a bulletin of some kind and ask for a consensus on

a name and you're and you're give me 20 gold yes certainly cancer will do 100% make me a bullet on a bulletin one of them is that a piece of that's like a note on a piece of paper yes yes you have a bulletin board in town right we can make one right we'll make one for you sir absolutely what 20 gold it is oh you can see he like holds out his hand in disbelief just 20 anymore if you wish to give me some more sir that would be very generous I actually managed to get 20 out directly so that must be

a lucky charm right there just hold it in his hands hurriedly puts it into his pouch this is way down

my right hip sir he just offers his hand what is this a handshake sir oh oh yes he just shakes

your hand very vigorously he's like thank you so much sir Thank you all Lovely I mean that's gonna help me Feed my family

For the next few Cycles Thank you so much We'll come up with a name No doubt For sure sir Let us know Come up with some ideas

Send word to the brazen tavern Will do We'll send it right to Rosalina You can be sure sir Thank you Thank you. Thank you once again. How far are you from your house?

Your house, whatever's left of it anyway. How far do you have to travel with this gold that we just gave you? Not far. It's just on the edge by the wall, sir. Okay.

Okay. Carry on. Thank you. Thank you so kindly. And he runs off. Isn't that lovely? Like this little old man. It's 20 gold and it just saved a life.

And a family. Well true, but we only have... We don't have infinite amount of money, Lucius. This is something we talked to you about earlier. And also, a lot of people just saw us do that. And a lot of people want gold. Well yes, we should probably give it some. No, no, that's...

We just invested 1,400. Well... Some of it's for Arvel. We need that to get home. We give 400 to Arvel, right? And his 500, what was it? He needs 400 for his leg. Yes.

And then another few bits and pieces. So say 600. No. A bit and pieces. Lucius, do you remember a while ago I said to you that you shouldn't really be flashing your money around? Oh, that's not mine. That was the group. No, I have the group fund.

Oh, do you? Yes. But that was mine still. That was your money. It keeps getting mixed up. Yeah. But you need, especially because we now have a lot of money, you need to not mention that so loud.

But he can repair his house now. Well, that's a very good thing you've done, sure, but if that's what we're about, right? The adventuring troop. But security-wise? It helps people. It comes into town and saves the day. Also, are we mercenaries now?

No, that sounds about right. I don't feel very mercenary. No, I don't think. Also, are we mercenaries now? No. I don't feel very mercenary. He called us mercenaries. Are we a group? Are we a troop? Are we a party? What are we? We're a team. Are we? Ayla. I mean, we're all trying to do the same thing. We've all got the same goal right now.

Yeah, we're all trying to just get home. If they don't come up with a good name, we should come up with one. Right. I mean... Because then I can create a logo. I can make costumes for everybody. A logo? With an embroidered...

In fact, I requested that. I need to speak to the person. The person? What person? I requested costumes. When... I think that's the other campaign. That's the other campaign.

Anyway. Another time and place another man what just happened that was Aquamanber I had a fantasy dream that was Aquamanber what did you manage to learn I had a fantasy dream

about turtlenecks that was the tiny man I'll walk on it well you know if if y'all are planning on traveling together for some time and y'all fancy taking on more little jobs like descending into ruins or helping out towns or places you come across,

having some sort of group name certainly wouldn't harm you. It's easier to kind of spread word of a group by name than, oh, that Arakroka and the Ganassassi and Hael from the, you know. It's hard to just refer to you all individually if you're talking globally. You're part of this gang too, Arvel. Consider me more of a supporter of your group. Okay, what would you call us then? I don't know, I mean...

Siaska Squadron. I mean, that's a... You're not all worshippers of Siaska, are you? I mean... Wait, who isn't? Me? I'm... No, I'm not. But Siaska's... Aayla raises her hand. I believe she exists, but I don't worship her. But you should,

she protects us. I can see that. Well, I don't know if she protects us. Yeah, there's a strong word knowing that she protects us and worshipping is a strong word. You should praise the fact that she's here with her cradle. I mean, I'm happy she is, but...

Without her, there would be no High Elves. Well... Then that would be awful, wouldn't it? Yeah. And thus, why thus? But not worshipping her doesn't do down anything that she's done. I fully believe she exists.

She exists right now, and I point up at the sky. But... Think of the sacrifice. Yes. She was murdered. Let's put it this way. You can have a lot of respect for any of the gods. You don't have to worship them. But we worship the day she returns, hopefully.

Oh, well. I mean, just awkward silence. No, I admire what she did, but without Hesper, I wouldn't exist. Yes, yes, Hesper's great. And Atelicus looks after, you know, those of us who chose to walk a different path. Yes, but Siaska created all of them. But, well...

Siaska's the all-mother. So we're not going with Siaska Squad or whatever it was you said. I mean, Arva looks around like, you could play on the name something to do with the airship crash, maybe. Something like that, or... Nova and the Quasars. What is a quasar?

Recommendation, don't use one of y'all's individual names. Come up with a group. Think on it. You don't have to decide right now. Just think. What is that? Blazing squad? No.

Blazing like falling from the sky. It's not a bad name. Oh, no. Blazing squad. We have S-Q-L-N-A. S-Q-L-N-A. I'll think of something. Hang on.

Squall. Squaller. Not Gaggy. Now, there's five of y'all. Nothingall. Squaller. Not gacky. Now there's five of y'all. Nothing really works with that. Think on it, think on it. Anyway, let's keep on moving.

I'm sure you might get quite a few more petitions on the way. And as you continue making your way to the temple, yeah, more and more of these villagers come up asking for gold. Lots of people, all from different circumstances, all with different reasons, asking for different amounts.

A young woman comes up asking for 10 gold to help put her children to school and to give them, you know, pay for their schooling and things like that. One comes up asking to help repair some of the parts of the city walls one of the harvest guard asked for a donation to help towards the walls of the city which is 25 gold um all coming up asking for these different amounts and how much of it are you willing to pay all of them i'm like but if we just give a little bit to this one it's awful they do need to say no or do you no or are you going to set an amount that once you've paid it, you're like, that's enough. We've paid enough now.

They all come up with the different stories. The woman comes up with her kids who look like really simple. They're like, please sir. We just want to learn to read. We can use the gold that I have. That way it's not coming out of the group fund. I'm torn. On the one hand, we should be kind and help these people. On the other hand, we should be kind and help these people.

On the other hand, we shouldn't really mess with the natural order of things. Thanks, neutral. See? These people have their own legitimate reasons for having money, but so do we, and, like, we need the money as much as they do. This could cause chaos as well. Where do we start? Where do we stop?

Well, we've already started with the farmer and a couple of other people as well. Yes. I mean, we could just simply inspire them to do it out of the good of their hearts. Huh? Just somebody just teach these kids how to read. They don't need gold for that, do they? Of course it's.

You're the bard. Inspire them. I can't just say to some kids, hey, go read. You can do it. Not with that attitude. Take a look. I'm assuming you kind of group huddle away from this growing throng of people who are coming and asking for money. We trust Rosalina, do we not?

Has she not switched on? Rosalina, yes. And she has her own establishment and business? How about we give her a sum of money that establishes some sort of charity? Right. And then they decide what is distributed to who needs it. And then they... That's actually not that bad an idea.

The boy's got a point. Rosalina, from what I've seen and heard, she's a pretty big staple of the town. People love her and they go to her for help and things like that. I think she'd be pretty smart at using money in that way. It depends on how much you all want to give. A platinum would do it. A platinum? Okay, hang on. A few platinum.

I've got ten. So we're basically artificially... Wait, what? Sorry? He has ten platinum. Yeah, that's a hundred gold. It's not that much. Yeah, it's not that much. You've got eleven. Fourteen of them even. True. Carry on. So we are

essentially artificially making Rosalina the leader of the town? Not making her, we just ask her if she wants to do it. Well, establishing a charity fund is a difference. Merrick would still be the sheriff, the mayor of the town, but you'd basically be given a

hard-working citizen who's got a head on her shoulders, an amount of money to distribute with as she sees fit to help with community projects. It would cost y'all some money, but it would also do y'all a bunch of good for your reputation. Maybe if we mention it as well to the sheriff, he could say to any mercenaries that come through that there is a charity to donate to if they want. True. There is a lot of trade going through this place as well. Yeah. Always making a purview of merchants to donate to such a charity.

I mean, Rose Hall's a fairly out-of-the-way town, so I imagine that, yeah, gold like this is hard to come by. The fact is, you're probably lucky that you met that wizard that you sold this stuff to to make that money. Sounds like he's kind of got a bit to spare. He is. Not willing to share it so easily. Well, for now, I really think we should get Arvel's leg fixed, so sure.

I also agree with that statement. How about I talk to the guys and tell them to just leave us be for now and we'll deal with them later? You're going to need to find something to say to them Otherwise they're going to keep rowing They're going to keep hassling you all Well how many people need to go with Arvel to get his leg fixed? I can just pop along to Rosalina while you're doing that

I'll catch up I kind of want to see how it happens Yes I'm sure you do You're very into that aren't you? Opportunity for learning Excuse me sirs Have you made a decision? From this growing crowd of people

who are waiting for their money in my room. It's like a line. Do you want to tell them? It's like a line going. What do you think I should tell them? No, I... Yeah, you got this? I gave them 20 gold, yes.

Okay. Yes, you run along and fix half of them. No, but how are you going to tell them, like specifically them, address the crowd right now? Yes, yes, yes. Okay. I'm going to stay with Lucius. Good.

On a few public speaking courses. Good. And he's like, Good. Nah. Nah? Nah. I'm going to go back to the tavern.

Okay. I'm bored. Bye. Bye then. Enjoy your bath. All right. Goodbye then. So I guess, yeah.

Nova, Sentry, head off with Arvel. Okay. And then you two are gonna stick around. Okay, so what are the two of you gonna do? Stand here. What are you gonna say? Intervene when I need to. I slowly turn away from Birdie to address the crowd.

Yeah. The others, the Sentry, Ar Arvel and Nova make their way off Rosehall? Yes People of Rosehall! Rosehall, yes, Rosehall You don't need to clap, I don't know Very kind of you though

Boring! We just want to address this current funding issue that you're all having Are you gonna give us some money? In a sense, yes. Yay! However, we don't have enough for everybody. Boo! There's one guy, like, just boos.

You suck! It's okay, we'll try and fix it. Boo words! What we're going to do. I was saying boo words. Is establish a charity fund. What's charity? well, I Mean it's essentially what we've been doing this entire time anytime. You've been asking us for money. What's the bone man saying? He's quiet

speak up project it's a It's essentially I mean We're going to put a sum of money into a pot We're going to put a sum of money into a pot That essentially anyone can just take out of as and when they need But old Jessop's going to take out all the money because he's greedy I'm not greedy you son of a bitch I'm going to take what I need

You're the greedy It will be moderated and judged upon each individual Who's going to be judging? Rosalina She is the town's heart. Is she not? Everybody knows and loves her. Give me a persuasion check.

Would you like to attack me? I mean, I've sort of been helping. This can be the help action, which means that you have advantage. What is the persuasion? 20. You have advantage because Quill is helping you have advantage. What is the persuasion? 20. You have advantage because Quill is helping you. 20.

20 is the best one yet. Yeah. So there is a moment where the crowd kind of murmurs amongst themselves and eventually you can see that a few of the people there, a mixture of older women and men, seem displeased with the idea. You can kind of hear them saying like, that half of the woman's not from around here.

She can't... But then a younger woman, probably in around about her like early 30s, holding like two babes basically under each arm, kind of steps forward and turns around and is like, now y'all listen here. Rosalina's been here for this whole town the whole time.

Now, Jesse, didn't she help you when your wife was sick? I guess so. There's a lot of mumbling kind of things. This handsome, nice man is right. We should trust in Rosalina. If they reckon, if they think that she's the one to best hold on to this charity money, then that's what it is.

And that should be the last of it. We should be kind that these people are giving us anything and there's a kind of quiet and then a like kind of cheer and all the townsfolk eventually come up and they offer to shake hands and thank you, I'm going to put

Quill in front of me he's a really good hand shaker feathery fella just the one hand though but you like spring chicken not really A really good head shaker. Oh, feathery fella. Yes, just the one hand though. But you like spring chicken. Well, not really, not really. Please don't, no.

Oh, and there's lots of back slapping. Oh, okay. She's such a people person. Yes, I am. Loves them all. I will go to Rosalina immediately now that I've told the entire town that she has now got a charity. Well, I suppose I will go with him in that case.

And you guys make your way off. And yeah, the crowd disperses and they seem content with what you've told them. Pleased that you're going to help this poor town with their menial, mundane problems. But yeah, they head off. Cool. Setri, Nova and Arvel, you make your way up the hill with the, you can see

this stretching forest, this stretching forest of green. Even in the long night, it still maintains this green leafery and foliage that stretches out with various mountains, like slight hills, mountains behind the forest stretching on far, far to the north.

It's a very picturesque scene. And atop this small hill is this stone tower-like being, a tower-like structure with a golden statue of a man on fire at the very top of it, kind of looking out on the rest of the town. The door is closed. You can see it's a stone structure, very well constructed. You get your way up to the top. I'm guessing, Cintra, you're kind of... Arvo probably wouldn't let you baby-carry him, but he's kind of got an arm around you, and he's kind of taking

the pressure off his leg as he hobbles along with you. But yeah, the door is currently closed. Can I push it gently to see if it opens? It probably... Yeah, I think it would. This time of day day it probably would just open so it swings open and inside you see um mostly quite a dark room that has that musty

churchy kind of smell there are wooden pews um carved at the very end you can see an altar with a smaller version of the same statue of the man on fire um great big tapestries and at the back is a stained glass window which kind of sends all of the light into the room itself. Creating this very... The stained glass is all orange-red flames so it casts the room in this dull orange glow as you move around. You can see

that there are also two braziers with a light that is glowing like fire, like a flame but it produces no heat. It just creates light that just dissipates throughout the thing. But you notice that the actual room itself is quite pleasantly warm. Although there's no fire, there's like an unnatural magical warmth throughout the whole temple.

And as you step in, you hear some shuffling and then emerging from a side room, And as you step in, you hear some shuffling and then emerging from a side room, this soot-bearded, stumbling grey dwarf with this smock, this very kind of basic vestment robe with a torch, like an unlit torch with a sculpted into flames kind of hanging from his belt, kind of stumbles in. Well now, y'all are the ones from before, correct, I remember you all, people in town talking about your guardian and Ergonassia

and several others, how can I help you? Some bring a black hammer, we mentioned before our friend, we needed you to help fix his leg. Yes, yes, ah, you are the man I see. Well, you've raised the collective funds required for the ritual? Yep. Excellent. Well, I would never deny anyone the blessings of the Sunbringer himself, nor his natural healing light. Please, come forward. I'll set up a... Come with me into this side chamber, I'll prepare a small bed for your friend.

And he shuffles back into this side room, and you can hear him, you know, rummaging around, pulling out what sounds like a table, and then blankets and pillows. And when you step inside, you can see that it's a very quiet, peaceful room. There is another kind of smaller stained glass window casting that same orange glow around the room, There is another kind of smaller stained glass window casting that same orange glow around the room with another one of these ever-lit lanterns or ever-lit torches with no heat that just kind of flickers in the corner. And the table is kind of laid out in the middle of the room. There is another smaller altar with a prayer book on it and Torval kind of gestures.

Please, if you can help your friend. Your name's Arvodeus, Sunbringer. Pleasure to meet one of the Fire Lords, Faith. He's like, oh, pleasure. Always good to meet a fellow dwarf. Please help him up onto the table, and I can prepare. Do you have the gold ready? Yes, sir. That will be 400 gold pieces, please.

I'll give him the 400. He counts it all out, and he's very methodical in his counting, like he stacks it, checks it, counts it. This all seems to be in order. It will take up the last remainings of my stock, but I will order some more from Goldthrone.

He piles it away, and you can see he brings out a wooden chest, a locked kind of iron clasped chest, pours the gold into it, locks it with a key that he hangs on his neck and then slots the chest back under the bed where Arvel is now laying down. He leaves the room

for a moment and Arvel kind of just is like, looks at both of you, I just want to say, thank you again. You didn't have to do this. You could have just left me and the others long ago, and it is madly appreciated. Thank you, friends.

It's not a problem. We can't just leave you behind. Well, the thing is, Miss Nova, you absolutely could have. A lot of people would have done that here in the lowlands. People tend to look out for themselves more than others. I've been guilty of that myself a few times, but it is appreciated. And then Torvald re-enters

and you can see he has with him armfuls of scented wax candles, incense, herbs, poultices, little glass jars of some sort of ointments. And he also carries a kind of golden powder

in like a small vial. He gestures, Now, do I wish to be present for this ceremony? If that's okay, I'd love to be here. It will take me approximately 30 minutes to perform the ritual itself. It will invoke the sun lord himself. He kind of raises an eye.

I do not know if either of you are worshippers of Paladar, but I'm assuming you will not take any objections to the holy scriptures that I will read. Of course not, no, no objection. Very well, very well. Well, then let us do the Sun Lord's light. He begins laying everything out, and it's very methodical. He takes his time, and the ritual itself focuses on...

Torvald reads out several holy scripture and passages. He speaks of the Lord of the Light raining down warmth and blessings and good harvest upon the land. He speaks to Arvel, you, my son, are of the earth. You are of the mountain and of the land as I am. As dwarves, we were placed upon this earth to protect this earth and this land. And the Lord of light is what makes that possible for us. You are his servant, and in being in his service, he will heal your wounds as best as he can.

He begins to apply the ornament to Arvel's leg, and you can see Arvel wincing, occasionally groaning in a little bit of pain. But Torvill just gestures him uh just you may heard now let the healing flames purge out the darkness the cruelty of the world has inflicted this upon you and fill it fill it with the fire of devotion and passion let it fill you with the drive to continue your work and then as he does he sprinkles the golden powder over the leg. And you can see that as it falls, it disappears and vanishes.

And the leg begins to glow with a flame-like white fire that encompasses Arvel's leg. Arvel sucks in like a moment of air. His eyes go wide. And Torvill eventually throws his hands up, and from the stained glass window, although it's been quite a cloudy day, it's suddenly blasted as if the full sun, as in, you know, an uncloudy sunlight day, flies in and completely covers Arvold's body, and you can see the bone where before, even with the splinted, it was still set awkwardly, the leg was bruised and dark in places where it wasn't healing.

Suddenly all of that begins to shift and fade. The wounds knit back together. You hear a strong kind of crunch as the bone itself is completely set and begins to repair. Torval just opens his hands and says, Lord of Light, bring your holy fire and heal this man. And then you watch as the leg just fades, the flame dissipates. And you realize that time has gone very, very quickly, although it feels like you've only been watching for a few minutes. The reading of the

scriptures, the whole process seems to have taken longer as you find yourselves a bit thirsty and hungry, almost as if time stood still for a moment. Arvel looks exhausted, but he kind of like opens his eyes. Torval lays like a hand on his head and is just like, My friend, I've done what I can. I suggest that you do not get yourself into such dangerous circumstances in the future. The Lord of Light's healing, well, it does, it requires some resources and I'm sure your friends here have paid a dear price to pay for this. I'll give you a moment, I'll just be

outside if you need me." And he steps outside and you can hear him shuffling around organizing books, laying out little pamphlets on the pews. And yeah, Arvel looks up. I think that did it. Can you stand up? Give me a second. And he swings his legs down, and he puts all of the pressure on his arms. And you can see that Arvel's not strong, but he's still got dwarf-like build and very stocky.

He gently lowers himself down, puts his weight on his good leg, and then he slowly shifts the weight to his bad leg, back and forth, and he kind of stamps his leg down. It's like, it's brand new! Hot damn. Amazing! I'm going to run up to him with a big hug.

He's like, because obviously you're taller than him. He kind of just pats you on the back. He's like, wow! I mean, I've heard of these healing rituals for injuries and things But the thing that they act so fast I mean, it's no surprise that not everybody can afford them with the cost But it's pretty impressive The power of the guards still remains with us

Even if the guards themselves don't seem to be around as much Still It is fascinating, isn't it? That bit where the sun came through the window. That was spectacular to watch. It was really good. I feel like, well, obviously this Torvald, he might be more powerful a priest than one I think people may let on.

I wonder why he's here and not in the city. Normally powerful priests like that, they normally work within their church's operations or they work in a large cathedral or abbey. Surprised that he's out here in the middle of nowhere. Seems like an odd thing for such a powerful priest.

Seems to be the place for lost souls. I mean, look at Rosalina and that narvel... Narvel? Narvel guy. It does seem to be the case. I guess people would just want to get away from... City life. Yeah, possibly, possibly.

I do have some questions for Sunbringer Blackhammer, though. Sure, well, you go ask him that. I'm going to just make sure my legs are right. I'm going to try pacing around a little bit. Secret dancing. Nope. But if you want to, maybe later, maybe we have a celebratory drink at the Brazen Heart

Then you can see me dancing Awesome I do a mighty fine toe and step Okay I only know waltzes, but Dwarven line dancing is now canon in Eros Cool Fantastic

Toe and step Yeah, it's called the toe and step Brilliant Now grab your dwarf by the beard Turn them around, do-si-do. Yeah, so you guys can head out and ask Torvin any questions that you have. A quick question. Yes, my dear. What's the name of the ritual that you just performed?

It's a more common name. Each faith will call it by a different name. The Healing Light of Palidor is what my teacher called it, but most folks will simply refer to it as the healing injuries or injury healing ritual. Magic that can mend broken legs or internal injuries, that sort of thing. It seems incredible. It's more powerful than your normal healing spells that other folks may be used to. And does it require the light of Palidor as a component? Palidor is one of the gods who has healing as part of his domain.

He heals the land, he blesses the land with fertility, that sort of thing. But other gods do also attribute healing in their notions. Syanna, not a goddess of my particular favor, but another one also specializes in such matters. Siasca was known to give her acolytes the powers of healing as well. Siasca and Palidor are very similar. He was a student of his mother.

He learned the power of light and the power of healing from her. But he is more connected to the natural world as well than she was. She is the mother of stars. Paladol was a guardian of the earth. He was a protector of the land. I was wondering,

do you think you'd be able to teach me this ritual? It is possible, yes, if you are capable of learning such matters, but normally it is reserved only for those of a of a divine skillset Well, I have this thing I'm gonna get out one of my books It's like it allows me to learn various spells and rituals from all domains

And I just like learning so I was, would you be able to write the spell down? Please do not take this as an offense, young lady. This is a gift bestowed upon me by my lord, my god. If you are not a follower of Paladar, I do not feel comfortable sharing his gifts with others. Of course, I don't mean to cheapen it. I just wish to learn more.

I have a curiosity, and I want to expand my horizons. Then I think that that should begin with discovering your faith by becoming a follower of a god. Just simply learning the magical abilities that we are provided. It is like learning to read but asking for somebody just to teach you a single book or a single sentence. There is more to just knowing a spell than knowing how it can be cast. To me it is about the faith that is bestowed and the faith that is required. I'm afraid, I'm sorry, I don't feel comfortable

providing this knowledge. Perhaps you will find somebody else, or perhaps if you can prove to me that you are a servant of the Lord of Light, but I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry I offended you. I didn't mean to. Not offended, but more, this is a gift bestowed to me

because of my years of dedication, of my faith, of wanting to help others. I do not believe it should be something I simply give to someone who wants to learn it for curiosity's sake. Well, if I could explain more, if there's one thing my adventures and my journeys have shown me, it's that this world is a dangerous place, and my friends, my family can get hurt, like Arval.

And I want to help them, and I want to heal them. And I feel that if I was able to do so with this spell, and you talk of faith, but what if it was a sort of faith in that I wish to give a part of faith in that I wish I wish to give a part of myself to heal my friends, to heal those who mean something to me.

Give me a persuasion check. Oy! Five. Thinks for a minute. Let me think on it. It's not something I will agree to now, but I will consider your request. Your intentions seem good, but

there is my... I need to think on this. I understand, and please don't be offended. Not offended at all, and please understand that I mean no offense either. It is a precaution, if nothing else. I will ask Palidor for guidance on this. If Palidor wishes me to share this knowledge with you,

then so be it. Thank you for at least considering it. I will consider it. Thank you. And thank you for paying for the ritual. It will help me resupply on needed supplies for such a matter, in case anybody else befells ill of such an injury. I have a question.

Of course, guardian. How can I help one of... It would be my honour to help one of your kind. No problem. So, since... I'm a very long way from home, and a very long time away from home, it would seem. But since I've been awake and since I've been travelling, I've been having some very strange, I guess, visions is what you would call them. About a week ago, I had one where I was back in my home, I was back in Solven, and then I was spoken to by a voice.

And I was asked to quote I was asked to quote some lines I don't think I've ever said them before but since being here it's and since it and seeing everything around me I've been very drawn to it and I've been meaning to ask you would you perhaps is Palo is Palidor somehow connected to this vision that I've been having? What were these words that you spoke? So I believe they were, defend the joy, shine bright, protect the pure in the name of the light. Night will fade in the glow of day, my axe and shield will never sway. Well, he thinks for a minute.

Make a quick roll I this place you speak of Solvin I've heard of it in legend but it is not a place I'm familiar with in terms of the words that sounds like an oath a promise

there are stories stories of knights and heroes of the gods but but also of virtues who, upon swearing an idea or a promise, they are granted abilities that allow them to seek out those goals. They could be for Paladar if you wanted them to be. But certainly the Lord, the Lord of Light is very much connected to many of those things that you promised.

He is about bringing light to dark places in the world. He is about protecting those that are your family, your friends. About instilling the land with life. But it does not have to be Paladar. I would not wish to sway somebody to the Lord of Light's ways when they seem conflicted as you are, my dear. It sounds to me that you have made an oath, a promise,

to someone or something that could be Paladar. It could be something else. Perhaps this city that you claim to be from. But I'm afraid I'm not sure if I can offer you any more help than that. No problem. It makes a lot of sense, actually. Thank you. It's my pleasure. And if you're ever required to discuss matters of faith, I'd be willing to help you.

Let me give you at least both a little something to take on your way. Whether you read it or not is up to you. And he goes back and he takes out two small they're not leather bound, they're kind of like bound by string, but they're little prayer books effectively both of Paladar. He says these contain some of the basic teachings

of the Lord of Light. He gives one to Century and he gives one to Nova. Things to think about, if nothing else. Thank you so much. And one thing I will say, if you travel far from here, I have been to many places in my days of being a priest. You will uncover some who,

they will say that they worship Paladol. They will say that they represent the Lord of the Light and that they do his justice. Just remember that the Lord of Light is a kind and merciful God. He seeks to protect the land and its people, even those who have made mistakes. Anybody who claims otherwise,

I do not believe that they truly represent my Lord. I just ask you to consider that. Thank you. Thank you. Are you ready, Arvel? Yes, yeah. And he kind of stumbles out. He's like, I feel real good. Thank you. Thank you, Sunbringer. I'll be

on my way. And thank you again. My pleasure. And to you both. Good travels. May the light shine on you. Just gives you a very sage nod. I give him a sage wave of my hand. Thank you. Yes. And yeah, you sage wave with my hand. Thank you.

Yes, and yeah, you guys can make your own way back out. So Quill and Lucius, you arrive back at the Brazen Heart. Think of the amazing names that we could come up with. What was the challenge going to come up with as a group agri-fit? Oh, I mean, have you had any ideas? Because I'm stumped. I've got nothing. Something to do with crash?

Crash course? Crash course. That's awful, actually. I'm not very good at this. No, I've got no idea. It's a lot of pressure. So as you're making your way, you're just about to arrive at the Brazen Heart.

You're making your way through these kind of, you know, dirty streets of loose stones, but it's kind of mixed in with mud and dirt and things like that. It's a very rural area. You see, kind of coming from the gate that you initially came in when you arrived in the city, you see Valor, who is basically kind of skipping along and just kind of sees you.

Ooh! Looks at you, it's like, Valor, you're back! Hey! Aren't you meant to be working right now? I finished my work and technically

if they don't give me any more work to do I'm not doing anything wrong. True, but if you're not there they can't give you any more work.

Then that's their fault. Okay, that's good thinking, Ash. Ash just grins. Very good. So, I heard that you went

into some chasm and you fought loads of heard that you went into, like, some chasm and you fought, like, loads of monsters. Yes. And you got, like, thousands of gold of treasure, right? Is that true? Yes. That's what everyone's saying in the village.

I've been listening to, like, what they've been saying for the last couple of days. Yes, no, we went down there flawlessly. No troubles at all. Wow. Quill fell horribly, actually. You fell the whole way down? I was trying to climb a rope, weren't you? But he only had one arm.

How did you survive? How did I survive indeed? The entire way. It was a big fall. But, you know, I'm half bird. I mean, say half bird, I'm all bird. He kind of floated. So you kind of like flapped one arm and kind of floated down? Sure.

He smashed into the ground quite horribly actually. Yeah. I mean, it's still pretty impressive if you survived. So like what did you find down there? Did you fight something? What did you find? What kind of treasure did you get? Evil creatures, disgusting things. Well, there was a lot of stuff down there. Nothing disgusting at all, no. All gross.

Really? How gross? Inhuman creatures. Really? Yes. What were they like? Husks. What did they look like?

Just like ghouls. Awful things. Like, did they have like big teeth? No, what would they look like, Birdy? Is Awful things Like Do they have like big teeth? No What would they look like Birdie? I mean they were They smelled very bad Very clean Definitely evil

Why are you both saying Two opposite things? Oh he's being protective And I'm telling you the truth No I just What It's a harsh land

You need to know What the dangers are Cows They look like dwarves That have been dead For many many, many years. And they were mottled and stinky and horrible and any time they scratched you they basically rendered you useless. It was pretty disgusting actually. And also there was a guardian down there that was feral.

Another guardian? Yep. Lost his mind. It was feral. It lost its mind. Wow, so it attacked you? Yes, and it was made out of blacksmithing materials. It was like a giant anvil. It was justeral It lost its mind Wow So it like Attacked you Yes And it was made out of Blacksmithing materials It was like a giant anvil It was just enamoured

And there's like fire Coming out of it And everything Yeah it blew out flames The sentry beat it up And it was amazing And then we touched Its echo

And then I saw a vision Of what its life was like You did Before Yes I think it's because I'm magical Lucius what

How does your magic work? I don't know. Do you just... But do you like... Did you learn magic? Yes. Or do you just make it? Well, I think it's innately in me. It's just I had a lot of courses to kind of develop it and hone my skills. But like, how do you make it, though?

Like, do you just want it to work and then it works? I kind of will it, but also there are certain gestures and vocabularies that you speak to invoke the correct spell and make sure it doesn't go... So you're like me? Oh. Well I was going to say, while the others aren't around, you do have magic as well, you have some innate magic as well, do you not know how to use it? Well no, I've been learning. That's one of the things that they, at the temple, they try to teach me. Because when I

was really little, I couldn't control it. Magic would just happen around me all the time. You're a sorcerer too. I've been learning to control it more and more. They used to think I had something called wild magic, but Yusuf doesn't think that's what it is.

No? She thinks it's something different. It's not random what happens around me. It's always kind of the same things. What happens? Like a purple energy just kind of erupts out of me, like an explosion. I think you saw it when I snuck into that tent.

Yes, we did see that. You blew up the shack, yes. Yeah, and that, it happens when... That's quite potent. I think when I touch things that are inherently magical, something happens, like I feel like I get stronger, and the magic just kind of has to, doesn't have anywhere to go, so it just erupts.

And do you absorb the magic from this thing? I don't know, I don't think so. Actually, no, of course, you touched Tiangong and all the other, and your focuses as well. And you didn't absorb the magic from those, I imagine. Just something seems to happen, but... Fascinating. You know who would love this? Who?

Nova. Really? Yes. See, the thing is, is like, because I touched Nova's sword. Yes. And that made the magic. I'm like, is she gonna ask like too many questions? Yes, she will ask far too many questions.

She will ask a million questions. But I think it would help both of you to start talking about this thing. I mean, she knows a lot of things. She may be able to hone that down so you're not blasting everything around you. Maybe you can control it. Maybe we can talk to her first. I've gotten a little hand on it.. I can definitely use it in some ways. But I'm learning more and more. But I was interested because Yusuf, she prays to Siasca and Siasca grants her magic. And we've met wizards before who have to learn spells.

They memorize the gestures. Yeah, they put it in books. But for me, I always had this ability to just use it, right? And I don't know, I just... You're an innate sorcerer. From my knowledge, it is. This is so cool. Well, maybe you two need to speak to each other.

Maybe... Yeah, we should hang out more. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. That way... She can come with us on the wagon. We're going on a wagon? Where are we going?

We're going to Goldthrone, aren't we? Eventually we're going to Goldthrone, but we might have some matters to attend to first. Yes, we have an errand to run. Have you got more adventures? Yes. So I can... Can I come?

Can she come? Lucius. Come on, Quill, how else am I going to learn to control my magic if I don't get a chance to use it? Exactly. Out of interest, does Yusuf stifle your learning at all?

She thinks... She doesn't like me doing anything that she thinks is dangerous. She's too protective. She's not even like my real mum or anything. She just is supposed... she's like a guardian. She's supposed to look after me and she takes it too seriously. She doesn't let me try anything. And who are... Like I've never... I've never even been allowed to talk to other people before. Even the other acolytes at the temple, I wasn't allowed to talk to. Yeah, that's very strict, isn't it? What are the circumstances in which you came under Yusuf's guard? She looks at you for a little bit.

I guess you seem pretty trustworthy. Yusuf and the others told me not to tell anybody, but... How about we go sit in the quiet corner? Oh, but Yusuf's going to be in there. Hey, I found a cool spot. Do you want to come with me? I know a cool place that we can go. Is it outside of the town?

It's technically not outside the town. It's outside the town, isn't it? It's on the wall. On the wall? Yes, and that's technically still in the town. I suppose. There's this old watchtower that, the militia never use and it's really cool You can see like all around you can see the lake and everything. Oh, that sounds wonderful. Sure. Why not?

Let's head up there. I mean they'll expect us to be back at the inn. Oh, I need to do the Rosalina thing. Oh, I mean obviously you can wait surely. Okay Can it not? Well, the whole town's asking for money. But, fellow, this is important, I can tell. Yeah. Let's go. Great.

I'll show you. She, like, scoots off. God, she's very nippy, isn't she? Yeah, she's full of energy. She's like a teen. I'm wearing robes, dear. Come on, come on, come on. She, like, pulls up to you.

Yeah, she leads the to you we'll chase after I imagine it's not too much of a detour from like no it's literally the side it's on the wall basically around the town it's not far at all it's like 5-10 minutes from the brazen heart with that we're going to take a break and we'll go into

we're going to take a break and then we'll come back with some more it sounds like it's going to be quite an RP heavy episode. Tasty. Some more role playing when we get back. Enjoy the break. Bye.

Bye. Hey, thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast. Also, thank you to everyone that has been trying out Brilliant.org and D&D Beyond, our two lovely sponsors. Make sure you check

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