High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #9 - Riches of Rosehall (Part 2)
Episode Date: September 13, 2018Valla is ready to share some of her mysterious past and we meet someone we've heard a lot about! Huge thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyond and Brilliant. D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset fo...r Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Use the code HIGHROLLING on D&D Beyond (http://bit.ly/dndbeyondhighrollers) to get 25% off all digital items (excluding the Legendary Bundle)! Brilliant.org helps you master concepts through fun, guided problem solving. D&D has a rich history of puzzles and problems, so boost your brain power with Brilliant! The first 200 users to follow our link (http://bit.ly/highrollersarebrilliant) will get 20% off an annual subscription! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
pickaxe td and your small business go together like
td small business account managers have in-depth business banking expertise
so they can give you the advice and resources you need to make your day-to-day easier. So if you're ready to meet your small business match,
we're ready for you.
Visit td.com slash smallbusinessmatch
to book an appointment with one of our advisors.
Your mom hates it when you leave six half-full glasses
on your nightstand.
It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country.
And it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 Plus glasses for just $9.99.
So go ahead, you can afford to hoard, because IKEA is priced for student life.
Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today.
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 Kalah, the bard slash cleric.
I am Chris Trott.
I'm playing Lucius Ewan, 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.
Vala finally wants to share some information about her past,
and we meet a person we've heard a lot about. Welcome back to High Rollers.
We took a break as the party are just getting up to some good old RP in Rosehall at the moment.
The party have raised the funds to heal their friend Arvel, the dwarven merchant. His leg has now
been healed by the cleric Torval
Blackhammer. The party
have also been accosted
by various
members of the town
in search of gold. They are
asking for donations to help with their
families or paying to get through the winter
and all this kind of stuff. And they have
made the decision to open up a charity fund that would be looked after by the owner of the tavern called Rosalina,
a halfling woman called Rosalina, to help with the town in the future.
As we left it, Quill, Lucius and the young teenager Valor had run off to talk about their adventures and such things.
run off to talk about their adventures and such things.
Meanwhile,
Sentry,
Nova, and Arvel
are all heading back from the temple. Is there anywhere
you want to go? Anything you want to do?
No.
Let's head back to the tavern.
Okay. Let me just check my equipment.
So you guys just head back
to the tavern. I. Okay. Let me just check my equipment. So you guys just head back to the tavern.
Yeah.
I suppose, actually, Arval would probably ask for some of that gold to buy some new
clothes.
Yeah.
And you would probably stop by the Dale Geld Provisions Company to buy some new clothing,
just some tunics and things like that.
He needs about, I think it would be about five gold for a new set of travelling clothes.
Yeah, I'll give him that.
So if one of you can mark off that. I'll mark it off.
It doesn't take very long to just
like, there's plenty of stock dwarven
tunics for Arvel to buy
that you can do that.
Quill and Lucius.
Vala leads you to
the, I'm trying to think here where it would be.
Is that be to the north the northwest
be the southeast corner of the town um a section of the wooden palisade wall near the river i mean
you can hear the white breeze this uh this large river that flows directly into the lake um it's
not a particularly fast flowing river at this point it's quite gentle um but there is an old
watchtower uh built from wood.
Just basically a little kind of platform with a roof that sits just above the palisade wall.
I think we saw this watchtower on the way in.
I think it's the route we came in.
Yeah, there's a couple of them stretched along the wall just in case of wild elf attacks and things like that.
And yeah, there doesn't appear to be any militia or harvest guard there.
Valar kind of climbs the way up and gestures your wall to follow.
The ladder is a little rickety and it is a bit cramped when you harvest guard there. Valar kind of climbs away up and gestures you all to follow. The ladder is a little rickety
and it is a bit cramped
when you get up there.
But you can see for miles
the direction you originally came from.
So looking back out towards the south,
towards the Bitterwood,
which you can see just in the distance
on the very edge of the horizon,
you can see like a thin line of trees
with mountains eclipsing behind them.
Wow. How far we've come. Fascinating.
See how beautiful the view is. Oh, yeah, looking that way, it's beautiful.
It must have been just like this when you were flying around up in the sky.
No. Seeing everything in just bird's eye view. Bird's eye view. No,
it was much higher up, actually. And also
I don't like to think about it too much, actually.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, I thought it was a cherished memory.
Well, but no, it must have been the view you had from the Sky City that you're not in.
No, mostly clouds, actually.
Oh, well, I suppose that's true.
It's above the clouds, isn't it, each Sky City?
Hm?
Is it above the clouds each Sky City?
They pass through clouds.
Oh, okay.
I tend to not look over. I get a bit nauseated
I imagine you might fall off and if you fall off you can't fall off
You can't fall off. Well, you could yeah
There's some protection and whatnot. I would know that
most most citizens of
Something that almost every sky citizens carries is a small token
Which will basically activate the feather fall spell if they get too far to the ground.
Because you can fall off.
Yeah, but they have these magic...
But also, they build things like fences to stop people falling off.
People also generally don't just go...
Because they know that there are thousands and thousands of feet in the air.
Yeah, the people that are most at thousands of feet in the air um yeah the the the people that
are most at risk of falling off the sky cities are people that work the um in the electrum harvesting
business because they have to basically climb down these these chains and mine away the ethereum
crystals from these cages and then they fill them up and they carry it back up yeah because um just
trying to move the cages is too dangerous it It can basically make all the Ethereum crack and fall apart.
So they basically send halflings and humans that climb down these cages and
like get hammer and chisel out while they're descent,
like literally hanging by a piece of rope and like ting,
ting,
ting.
And then they carry it all back up and they're the,
they're the most dangerous,
but the halflings love it.
It's fine.
It's not racist because halflings love it.
I have a great time.
So yeah, so Vala kind of sits down and you can see that from a patch she kind of pulls out like a little water skin and she like pulls out like a little snack bar.
Oh, she's got snacks.
No, maybe not.
It's like a little camp night.
I have some boring little rations.
I have some disgusting rations.
Okay.
Which we took from the Wild Elves, remember that?
Oh, yeah, no, they're probably long gone, actually.
You think so?
We bought new ones.
We bought new ones.
Oh.
Did I get one?
Yes, you did.
I may have not been there.
You were in the shop.
You wanted to know... More about why i went to the temple right uh
yes well i mean you said yusuf is not your mother yeah so yes yeah she's um she was appointed to me
as a guardian from i guess like quite high up people in the church of siasca uh i don't remember
them much because i was really little,
but I remember being brought there.
It's weird.
I don't have really any memories of before I was maybe four or five.
Okay.
I just remember like dark and cold.
And then I remember the first thing I remember is a bunch of people in
robes, Siascan robes
opening something and pulling me
free and then
they took me in, they looked
after me, they fed me, they clothed me
they gave me my name, they told
me my name was Valor and
they kept me in this temple
I think it was on one of the sky cities
I think it was there one of the Sky Cities.
I think it was there because I remember getting an airship and we went to various other cities.
But then I joined, then I was put into, they call it the Abbey,
and it's where they raise a lot of priests and priestesses.
There's normally a bunch of orphans there that they take in,
that they train to be priests.
But, yeah, I just, I guess I was put in with all of them.
And were you treated any differently than the other orphans?
Yeah, kind of. I wasn't... I went to lessons with them, and...
Where we learned things like history, learned to read and write, maths.
And then I had special classes for my magic, which was one-on-one.
There was an old... It was a high elf actually like Lucius he was quite old though and he
taught me magic I think he was a wizard he had a book but he could teach me a
little bit about how to control the energy and you know the gestures and
things you have to make okay um but I wasn't a matic sister yeah that's the
term I wasn't I wasn't allowed to
really interact with the other
students.
Like Yusuf, they were always so worried
about me getting hurt
or maybe hurting them.
I don't know, but they didn't like
me spending more time with them.
I know Yusuf doesn't like the idea.
He doesn't like me sneaking off and she doesn't
like me hanging out with you guys.
Right. Well, we'll keep it short then, just in case they get worried.
It's fine.
So, she worries too much anyway.
She just, she's, I don't know what she's so worried about.
I mean, we got through the Bitterwood fine, right?
Like, that was scary. That was dangerous.
I mean, that was probably the closest she's ever been to losing you, though.
The crash could have gone very differently.
Yeah.
Any one of us could have, well, not come out of that so well.
Yeah, those guys in the masks.
I mean, if you guys hadn't been there, they probably would have killed us straight away.
Yes.
It is interesting why they were there in the first place.
Still haven't really got to the bottom of that, have we?
Well, Nova knows something about them.
I figured that they were just pirates,
right? They were just trying to steal the ship.
They seem to have an agenda,
though. They destroyed
the ship. They also
were from,
what was it Nova said, the Court of Shadows?
Court of Shadows, yes. Yeah, we heard
about them in history. They used to,
they worked with Starbane,
right? The guy that killed
Siaska and
tried to invade the world.
That's right.
All myth and legend, though.
Yeah.
Well, apparently,
or it used to be anyway.
You said
when you were young,
before you were five,
it was cold and darkness.
Do you ever get
these emotions or feelings
back any time you
cast a spell? No. It's feelings back anytime you cast a spell?
No. It's weird. When I cast a spell, I feel really strong. I feel like there's more I
could do. Like my magic could be stronger, but I'm holding back.
Okay.
All right. Let's give it a go.
What?
Let's cast a spell.
Okay.
Just a gentle one.
Okay. Like what?
Okay. Well, let's start with the basics.
So everyone learns Dancing Lights when you're in the High Evil Society of Gustaven.
Right.
And it's good because it has both vocab, somatic and material components required, so that's all three.
That's like the little lights you make, right?
Yes, four.
I don't think I can do that one.
You cannot? No. I didn can do that one. You cannot?
No.
I didn't learn that one.
So you're not... potentially not... hmm.
It's fascinating.
What do you know?
Well, I can... I can kind of move stuff with magic, so I can create like a little hand...
A little mage hand?
Yes, yes.
Very quaint.
But...
What does your hand look like?
I can also do this other thing thing which they told me i shouldn't
really do because it can hurt people right right um most spells do yeah uh hang on and she kind of
gets climbs down the ladder looks around to see if anybody's around are we looking down you're
looking down on her and she kind of closes her eyes for a minute and when she opens them you
see her her purple eyes like pulse like pulse, like, with an energy,
and seven spectral swords kind of appear around her,
spin, and then flash away.
Okay.
Wow.
That was something.
Quite powerful.
Very powerful.
Come back up, do you?
And she climbs back up.
Like, a lot of my spells, a lot of the magic I seem to have,
like, seems to let me do stuff like that.
Like, I can conjure swords, or I can fire energy.
Not really.
That one's really easy.
The other ones can be more tiring.
How many can you do until you feel like you need to rest?
Of that burst, I can do it until as as long as as much as I need it.
You have that as a cantrip?
I think that's what they call them, yeah.
Yes, cantrip is when you can do them at will without any material component and it's innate
to you. I think so.
I can also, I mean I've not really
the only time I've ever really used it
is when I've been able to
hold weapons and things, but I can also
kind of make weapons get...
Like a purple flame?
You can enchant them.
Kind of, yeah.
Like a purple flame that can then leap between different things.
I think Nova can do it.
Everything's purple with you.
Yeah, that seems to be my inherent color that all of my magic takes.
Can Lucius, because I've got an inkling,
but can I do an intelligence or arcane check to know what this purple energy and that type of spell would be associated with a class?
Why don't you make a roll, tell me what you think it is, and then I'll tell you if you're certain.
19 plus 2, 21.
What do you think it is?
I think it's a warlock.
Okay.
Shadow warlock. Okay. Shadow warlock. Okay.
So, what you know
of warlocks, that you've heard of
the stories of these people that make packs.
A warlock, you know, is somebody that
borrows their power from another source.
Looking at Valor
the way that she's described her powers, you're pretty
sure that's not it. You don't think she's
a warlock. You think she is a sorcerer
like you. You think that whatever magic she has
is in her blood.
This isn't like anything
you've ever heard of. This isn't like any
sorceress ability that you've ever heard of.
It sounds like
she, yeah, you're not quite sure what her
bloodline is, but it's definitely related
to her herself.
This isn't a pact.
And you say that if we were to
give you a magic item, you would
source that power
from that, and then what does that do?
I don't know. Does it render it
nerf? It's not like I... I feel like...
Like, when I
grab Nova's sword,
I mean, I can tell that
there's something about that
sword. There's... I thought I I could tell that there's something about that sword.
I thought I heard a voice that seemed to cry out or scream or something when I picked it up.
I think it just yelled no.
And when it did, I panicked and I felt its energy go into me
and I just dropped it.
And that's when the explosion came out.
And then when I picked it picked up again it was fine.
Interesting. Maybe it seemed to repel you some kind of maybe...
I don't know.
That maybe that first...
That's the first time that's ever really happened. I've had it once before the only other time that
it's ever happened before is my old my old teacher Master Tal Talus, he had a wand.
He wanted to test if I could use it.
And when I touched it, I felt a similar thing.
That didn't have a voice, though.
It just seemed like I drew some energy from it.
Have you ever held a potion of healing?
I've held one before, yeah.
We used to make them sometimes in the temple.
I assume you don't absorb the power. No, that was... It has to be magical. I've held one before, yeah. We used to make them sometimes in the temple. I assume you don't absorb
the power. No, that was... It has to be magical.
I think so.
Well, do you have anything that you need
to focus on when you're casting these spells?
Maybe Lucius, you could...
Maybe one of your focus you could give to her?
That's the thing is, I don't have anything like that.
Why don't you just
touch gem on my Fabrio?
My gem hand. nothing you can't sense its resonant
power i mean it doesn't i can't sense a resonance power i can tell that it's it's a focus it's
something that you use to channel your power but i don't sense any power in it not like nova's sword
nova's sword there's something in it there's this like a presence uh well nova did say it's
been speaking to her which um yes it does line up doesn't it yeah well that was definitely a
concern of mine but alien power uh yeah well it sounds really weird but it felt old it felt really
old like whatever was in there was way older than me way older than than anything i know
well nova described it as uh several hundred different voices sometimes hers sometimes many
different voices sometimes just a different voice entirely so it's weird you're able to hone in on
just one of those yeah i did saying that i was able to touch a matrix of a sentry
and the old, not sentry's matrix, sorry,
that involved me going inside sentry.
I don't think I should be hearing about this stuff.
You tear open the chest and then you have to get inside the matrix.
Anyway, we got inside the blacksmithing matrix.
Right.
That old one, and I was able, I think, thanks to my magical abilities,
sense its visions in its past.
It was a cacophony of sound.
It was awful.
Maybe it's just the way that we have magic as part of us
rather than something external.
I don't think there's anything wrong with you.
That's good, at least.
I just think we need to maybe define it a little more.
And by defining
it, you mean letting me
come in on adventures
and testing my magic,
right, Lucius?
I look. Like Quill?
She looks at you, and you can
see she's got quite a bright face.
You've only ever really seen Val looking quite quiet,
but when she's kind of talking about
coming on adventures, you can see her little eyes light up.
We can speak to Yusuf, right?
I mean.
Field trip.
We could speak to Yusuf,
but we know what she's going to say.
That's why you shouldn't speak to Yusuf.
No, we have to be responsible adults here.
And at least say where you're going,
so she's not worried sick.
She won't let me go.
I'll speak to her.
You'll speak to her.
But you said she doesn't stifle your learning,
at least in terms of your magic.
No.
Well, nothing...
She doesn't...
It's by stifle.
I mean, one of my spells is I conjure magic swords, Quill.
She's not really keen on me practicing that one
Well, what if it was simply just an observational learning? I mean Lucius clearly is
Similar enough at least to your magic power Nova. You've got some sort of connection there and she's not there
I know but Nova and I point off to the village. Yeah, I mean if you can convince her sure
I just think that's going to be pretty hard.
She's really protective.
But I mean, I'd love it if I could come.
Just, I feel so trapped,
constantly being just mothered and looked after.
I just want to figure my own thing out, you know?
I want to figure out what I'm meant to do.
I'm not a priest of Siaska.
I'm not going to be.
Sure, I respect her, I worship her,
but I'm not, I don't want to be like Sister Yusuf.
I want to be like, I want to find ancient places like you.
There's something in the world calling to me,
and I just want to find it.
How old are you?
I'm 15.
And 15 is a maturity age for a human?
Just so you know, in a row, elves don't mature as the same ancient, ancient.
It's not typical D&D elves where they're like 500 years old.
Elves are generally just a bit more long-lived, so they live to about 150.
So, yeah, you would know.
Roughly the same.
Yeah, it's not far off.
She's old enough
isn't she
I mean she is
she should stick for herself
make her own decisions
she is 13 years
older than me
what
yeah well
immature
no not 13
11
11 years older than me
I mean I'm a Cobra
that's just how I'd be
so you're a baby
no no no you're a baby. No, no, no.
You're a big bird baby.
No, no, I'm just...
I'm an Aarakocra.
We advance very quickly.
It's okay, baby.
No, no.
She like pats your face.
Okay, little baby bird.
This is adorable.
Valor?
She's just laughing.
You're relying on me to convince her. Yeah, okay. This adorable. Valor? She's just laughing.
You're relying on me to convince her.
Yeah, okay.
But then again, maybe I'm a good example.
Promise I won't tell anybody else about the baby bird thing.
It's open knowledge. I'm an Aarakocra. I'm not ashamed of this.
Baby bird.
Okay, I am ashamed of that.
Cut that out.
Let's go back.
Thanks for talking to me about this, guys.
I've not really had anybody to talk to before, so... We can try to talk to Yusuf,
but maybe it's best that you talk to her yourself.
Okay.
Have you tried that?
No.
I will.
I tell you what, Vala.
Once I get the message up to Daddy, I'll take you on an airship.
You can come visit Gusthaven.
Yeah, that sounds great.
There's plenty of books and libraries and sorcerers and whatnot.
Sounds amazing.
Very old elves that will know probably what you have.
Sounds amazing, yeah.
If we don't find out beforehand.
Yeah.
Okay.
Great. Very good. After you out beforehand. Yeah. Okay.
Great.
Very good.
After you.
Climbs right down.
And yeah, you make your way back over to the Brazen Heart.
When you arrive,
it's probably enough time that Sentry, Nova, and Arvel
have all made their way back as well.
Arvel, wearing new clothes,
comes back in walking with his leg.
When you enter, you see
Rosalina is behind a bar.
There's a few patrons in there.
It's probably around like five, six o'clock.
And there's a few patrons just getting dinner.
You can see that Rosalina, so Rosalina, Yusuf,
and the half-elf girl are all serving dinner, basically,
like going around serving out plates.
When you enter, Rosalina just looks up.
My friends, welcome back. So glad to see you again. like going around serving up plates when you enter Rosalina just looks up my friends
welcome back
so glad to see you again
we've had fear
for a little while
that you had
obviously been killed
and you're adventurous
but I'm pleased
to see you back
nope unscathed
well scathed
but
pretty good
I see you found
my little errand worker
for the day
yes
we found her
and we ushered her back to do some more
cleaning. I think she might have been avoiding
it somewhat. Vala just like shoves
you. Thanks, baby bird.
Vala!
Rosalina looks at her and is just
like, yes, I have plenty of jobs
saved up for you from the day
that you were not here.
You can start by cleaning the rooms upstairs,
Vala.
Well, Rosalina, it's very late.
Yes?
It's very late, and she's very tired.
Hmm.
Maybe...
It's up to you. You're the boss.
Give me a persuasion check.
Natural 20.
It's up to you. She looks at you. Give me a persuasion check. Natural 20.
It's up to you. She looks at you.
Valor's like,
Very tired.
But she will definitely do them tomorrow.
Yes, very well, we will see.
Go on, off you go.
But we're going on the wagon tomorrow.
Oh.
Oh, but, well.
That's a problem for tomorrow. Valor Oh, but, well. That's probably for tomorrow.
Valor's already left.
Valor is snuck off in the middle of this conversation.
Okay, well, fine. Can we see
Central... Yeah, you see these guys
like, these guys enter like a few minutes
after you or whatever. Hello.
Hello, troop. Yet got a name.
Going to get one then, aren't we?
Or party, or group. Arvel, you look sprightly.
I am very well,
thank you, Lucius,
my boy.
Thank you all
once again.
It's strange to see
you like this
instead of like that.
I mean, I was
able to hobble
at least before,
but yes, it's good
to have my leg back.
Um,
fascinating.
Miss Rosalina,
I appreciate your
hospitality in letting
us stay in the barn
all this time,
and now that my
leg's fixed,
I'd love to, you know to help make it up for you.
Is there anything I can be doing around here to help you out?
She says, well, yes, perhaps a nice strong dwarf like yourself.
If you could chop some firewood for us, that would be most kind.
He's like, I will do that immediately.
When I get back, I'll help out in whatever way I can.
You can take Bella's job.
Sure, whatever.
Excellent.
I just want to make sure I pay back for the ganders.
Okay.
Well, let me come have a table.
And she clears the table and lays out a nice tablecloth and starts pulling out some drinks.
What can I get you?
What drinks would everyone like?
Could we have a word
actually
of course
of course
what can
what can I help you with
well
ever since we got back
to the town
and seems to have acquired
some money
a lot of people
have heard that you
managed to get money
out of old Navill
well
it was
that is no small feat
perhaps more impressive
than you coming back
from the chima life.
That gnome does not like spending his money.
Well, we may have potentially given him something quite powerful,
but it's fine.
We need the money more.
Money is money.
A lot of people have been asking us for help.
I am sure they have.
Monetary help, that is.
We had a plan of maybe somehow fixing that. Or more to the point is. We had a plan of maybe somehow fixing that.
Or more to the point, Lucius had a plan of how to fix that.
Okay.
It was a group effort.
It wasn't just me.
But yes, we're thinking of establishing maybe a charity fund here.
Okay, so...
And I may have mentioned your name as the leader of the charity.
Oh, thank you so much.
Because everybody loves you.
For the wonderful new headache.
So much.
I mean, you could probably hire somebody to do it for you,
but it would be under your name.
I mean, how much are we talking?
That changes things quite greatly.
I'm not sure.
I don't have the money.
We hadn't quite decided.
We hadn't quite decided yet.
I don't have the group fund.
I thought you were about to say that you didn't have the money.
Directly, otherwise you would have it all.
Okay.
And I've been told not to.
Well, I mean, if you tell me how much,
I will do my best to make sure it gets into those who actually need it.
Not just somebody who wants to buy a new donkey or something like that.
I can make sure they get what they need.
How much do you think would be a good starter?
I mean, in a town like this, it is difficult.
It depends, you know.
Something like, well, each family, if I give them 20 gold,
that would last them through the long night.
It would help them, you know, make repairs to their homes.
It normally would take them months. Let me put it this way. Your average family, they perhaps earn five silver a week.
Would 200 gold be enough? I think that that would be very good. I think that that would be
a really nice amount that I would save, and if people have good uses for it or if somebody has a big loss you know
perhaps a farmer loses his crop because of something he can't control that gives me a good
pool to to loan him some money and and I encourage them to try and repay the favor to help other
people you're good at business right you I think so I've managed um well more than just this tavern
in my past.
Let's put it that way. I managed a big successful business.
Perhaps as a method of replenishing the pot, so to speak,
you could also ask a favor of the people that you get a donation from.
Yes, I think that I would ask Maximilian and some of the others in town if they would then generate.
Generally, if somebody comes in and does something very generous, like you are doing,
other people will follow suit because they don't want to look,
you know, like they're not a good guy.
So, you know, if you give some money,
Maximilian, maybe he gives some money.
Maybe Merik, he gives some money.
Maybe other people in town give some money too.
And we hope that maybe in the future,
if other mercenaries come through,
not that we're mercenaries, but if other groups ofaries come through, not that we're mercenaries,
but if other groups of travelers come through, maybe they could be encouraged to do it as well.
Sure, I can ask. I will always ask.
Say that we've set something up.
This fund, instead of individuals.
Yes, that sounds really nice. If you are willing to do that, that would be great for this town.
Do you think 200 gold is enough?
I think so.
I mean, if you're happy to take up the responsibility
It will be
It will be some work, but
It will be a good thing for the town
And I want to help the town
That's one of the reasons I came here
I've got an idea, another one
I mean, I don't want to speak out of turn, but
If we go to Goldthrone, there's a lot of money there
What if we establish a secondary charity
That could then feed?
And then they, you know?
Balance each other out?
Yes, one could fund each other and then send...
I mean, we could do...
Patronage there could be facilitated here and whatnot.
I'm sure there's some things here that could be useful for Goldthrone.
Honestly, there are many towns like Rosehall all over Sivona.
Perhaps you maybe make your charity in Goldthrone
one that helps smaller outlying towns, not just Rosehall.
They could all reach out.
Yes.
That'd be lovely, wouldn't it?
That would be very, that would be great.
That would help a lot.
I mean, I'm lucky.
I came to this town with a lot of gold and a lot of money,
and I knew what to do with it.
But a lot of people here,
they have lived here their whole lives.
All they know is farming or, you know.
But they also, they have to deal with lots of bad things.
Monsters, bad weather, wild elves.
A lot of people out here can lose everything in a click of fingers.
So something like this, this would be a great thing.
I mean, what's the safety net currently for these people?
Nothing. The generosity of their neighbors, really.
And how do we expect to refill this charity?
Like I said, perhaps people pass by or, you know, we can do maybe events, host a bake sale,
do like little clear outs, sell old things.
There are things that could be done for tourists
Should we say
That don't really cost monetary value
Just provide shelter and what not
You know, if you've cleared out Chasm
If you think you've got all of monsters in Chasm
We could maybe set that up
As some sort of historical site
Get historian to come
Pay money to explore it
We could sell them supplies, that sort of thing.
I'd be careful with that, though.
We did clear it out, but we didn't exactly check to see if there was anything else.
Oh, okay.
You might want to send an adventuring trip.
Well, I'll speak to Merrick and let him know.
But yeah, maybe we can look at other things.
A lot of visitors come to see the Rose Lake, the Rosewater Lake.
can look at other things. A lot of visitors come to see the Rose Lake, the Rosewater Lake, but with the Rose Hall Palace a lot of people think it is
haunted and people don't like to go near it. They see strange lights, they hear
strange noises, a lot of people avoid it. Sorry? Okay. The old ruin north of the city
along the White Breeze River, you maybe saw it on way into town.
It spans across the river itself. Two keeps connected by like an archway. It's an old
elven palace. Nobody really knows the history behind it. It was built long ago. But yeah,
travelers on the road, they say they see strange lights in the windows, they hear strange moaning or screams.
Sounds spooky.
People don't like to go near the lake anymore because of it.
Well, is that something that we could investigate?
Yes, I love ghosts.
I mean, we don't know if it is ghost or monster or what, but people avoid it.
I mean, it couldn't be worse than
the chasm. True.
But at the same time, I'd like to avoid it
if possible. I mean, you don't
have to go there. I'm just saying
it is a local spot.
We're trying to earn a name for ourselves.
If you want to earn a name, then
clearing out the rose hole is probably a good
idea. You haven't had anyone come up
to you with a bulletin, have you? I had a couple of people come by ask if i have bulletin board
i just told them to stick on wall and she points to a wall uh where there is now two pieces of
paper one which reads need name for hero band giving us money suggestions here and then it's got like
scrawled names
and then the other one is
pigs
four number
sale
speak
to
Jim
everybody knows Jim
and another one
is Lucius's face
wanted
cowed
missing
not yet not yet they have no proof Everybody knows Jim. And another one is Lucius's face, wanted. Cow murder. Cows missing.
Not yet.
Not yet.
They have no proof.
It's only been a day since that happened.
No one saw it.
Well,
they're going to get CSI Rosehall
in the second line.
Here,
there's loads of code
by these cow bodies.
Looks like they were killed
by a snowman.
Case closed. Case closed. Case closed. looks like they were killed by a snowman case closed case closed
he's melted isn't he
it's only the one snowman actually
perfect crime
it melted away
yeah in terms of
names
you have
the Dwallon Delvers
nice
I like that
a little bit
clumsy
clumsy
it's a little bit
mouthful
I mean once we get to
Goldthrone
that's going to mean nothing
it's irrelevant
you need a global name
an international brand
the double D's
would be better
wouldn't it
the double D's
fantastic
I like how Ree's just like yeah I'm down The Double Ds. Fantastic.
I like how Ree's just like, yeah.
I'm down.
Down with Blazing Squad.
Down with Blazing Squad.
The Rich Folk.
I'm trying to think of what dumb names these people would come up with.
Hero Band is just fine for now.
Unnamed hero band.
Just makes me think of rock band or guitar hero.
One of them is two women,
one elf, a robot and a bird.
That's their name.
Walk into a bar.
I like that one.
Not many names.
There is a bulletin.
He's fulfilled what you asked him.
Maybe by next week the villagers of this village
The villagers can come up with some names
Suggested some better ones
On the bulletin of Reddit
There you go, nailed it
Or on Twitter
Hashtag roll on Sunday
Village people
So yeah, you're just left there
Birdie, we need to speak to Yusuf.
Do you want to...
Are you going to give 200 gold to Rosalina?
Are you in agreement 200?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Okay, I'll give 200.
This is not going to go sour.
It's a good idea.
It's like spilt milk.
Is there anything you do in the evening?
In the next 30, 40 minutes, is there anything you guys do?
I mean, I guess, are we getting Valar first before we talk to Yusuf?
Well, you said that she should talk to us.
You said Valar should talk to Yusuf.
So she said that she would go and talk to us.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
We'll leave that for now.
Okay.
And then wait until Yusuf storms through the door.
Like, what the fuck have you said? Yeah, exactly. leave that for now. Okay, then wait until you said storm through the door
Yeah, okay angry mother about 45 minutes you guys have probably eaten you've probably had some food I'm chillin out. Yeah, I think they adore what's that useless?
If you want rooms by the way for the night, you will have to pay for them again. Yeah, take it out to charity
No
it out to charity no we need it you've given that as a thing so there's you can just sleep on the floor you said to can't you century so you and century have a single room nice and then nova
and ayla share a room and then you have a single room so that's 8 16 uh that's 30 silver piece
that's 30 silver for all of you to have rooms.
So that's three gold.
And then with food and stuff like that, it's going to be another, let's say, one gold.
So four gold.
Or two.
No, that's total.
Four gold total.
I'll pay one gold of that because I'm in my own room.
Okay.
From my fund.
Could Aayla and I split?
Sure.
Like 50-50.
But you just know we have a down and then you can ask Katie for it when she gets back. I'll and I split? Sure. Like 50-50. But you just note it for Dan
and then you can ask Katie for it
when she gets back.
I'll pay for mine and mine.
You pay for now.
Aayla's like,
yeah, you pay for it for now.
I'll pay you back.
Yeah, trust that.
I'll pay for mine and Quill's.
Okay.
I'll pay for it.
One gold, two gold, one gold.
And it was ten silver for the food.
No, no, that's included.
It's just four golds
for food, drinks, and beds.
Okay, okay, okay.
How do you have so much money?
Because I picked up
the pre-sundering money.
She doesn't spend it.
I don't spend money.
You guys are enjoying a lovely meal when...
You should actually write down your loot there.
A figure enters the tavern,
which causes a lot of people to look round
and kind of look a little bit stunned.
He's a large man, very broad-shouldered,
loose tunic, but quite a nice-looking tunic with a little bit of trim, a large man uh very broad shouldered loose tunic but quite a nice looking
tunic with a little bit of trim um a ring on his finger trimmed beard dark hair kind of swept back
uh and he comes in smiling and he looks around and he when he sees you he's just like
ah there you are i was hoping that y'all would be in here this evening
like comes to the table and is like, let me introduce myself.
My name is Brett Brookstone.
I just wanted to come by and, well, I felt like I should come by and speak a little to y'all
because I fear that you have been mistreated by some of my workers
and that there have been some very vicious rumors about me
that I wanted to personally come and dispel to you oh well I I mean we can't say that we haven't heard some things
I'm sure you have my friend I'm sure you have unfortunately there's a lot of
people who are well a little a little jealous that my business has taken off I
am particularly well off in terms of this town
and some people
don't appreciate that
they don't appreciate
the fact that
me and my family
have worked very hard
for many long years
well
funny you should say that
because we recently
came into a lot of money
ourselves
and we also have
I've been hearing this
you're having quite the adventure
down in the chasm
for a day out of town
yes
what an exciting adventure.
And we came across
a magical item.
We saw that.
Yes, yes, yes.
But, Luke,
what I'm trying to say is
we no longer have that money.
No.
But what we did do
with the money,
excess money
that we don't need
for frivolous use
is put it to Rosalina
as a charity.
And what better way
to convert the populace
to your good side
and good nature
is to maybe donate
to the charity.
Why, my sir,
what a lovely idea.
I reckon that...
Now, you know what?
I will put down 50 gold
to this charity right now.
We put down 200.
Well, my sirs,
aren't you the generous kind?
I'm afraid that 50 is all I can spare at this time.
Sorry, I spoke out of turn.
Yes, I forget that it's quite a penniless village.
We are not as well off as four marvellous adventurers.
Is there anyone else want to share?
Can I just pick up Lucius And just walk Very briskly away
He's like
He pulls out a small gold pouch
He thumbs through it
He's like yes
Rosalina
Rosalina
I will leave this here
Please contribute this 50 gold
To the charity that these fine folks have begun
And she's like
That is very kind of you Brett
Thank you so much
I will do that Thank you Could I Can I do an insight check on her on her
on her to see how she is actually acting around him like I mean insights 14 14
you from that the impression you get is she's very clearly kind of feigning a
sort of like polite oh thank you that's very kind she's suspicious she's she's quite suspicious but she's just conducting business as
usual everybody else is a little bit on edge with him around um well and the other thing i wanted
other reason that i came by you don't have to speak up i've been carried away
oh please it's like by all, no, bring your friend in.
This is an interview.
I wish to invite all of you.
She has no time for playing.
What I wanted was to invite all of y'all to dinner at my house,
out, you know, my family.
We would be delighted to have you as guests.
You have done great things for the town.
I am also, I wish to help the town as best I can. Many of the town work
for me. I try for employment.
My wife is a fantastic
cook. I hate for y'all to miss her
cooking. My daughters and my
sons would love to hear of your adventures
in the chasm, telling your tales
of daring. They would love to hear it
and I would be delighted to have
you as guests in my home tomorrow
evening, shall we say?
Well, I mean, we can stay another day, surely?
Yes.
That, I am so gracious to hear that.
That sounds marvellous.
Thank you so much.
What do you have for thoughts?
Rupert.
Nova would be pretty oblivious, wouldn't she?
If you think that's how she would play, what's her wisdom, like eight?
Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty wisdom? Like eight? Yeah.
Yeah, it's pretty oblivious.
It's like, kind of like, yeah, like, I mean,
you can make an insight check if you want against this guy.
Like, if you are suspicious of his intentions,
you can make insight checks.
One.
I mean, yeah, this, what a lovely man.
What a kind gesture, you know.
Obviously, people are saying all these nasty things about him,
and you can't ignore that,
but he's being thoroughly polite and showing no signs.
His body language isn't aggressive.
He's all smiles.
Just, yeah, seems to be...
What a lovely man.
I'd love to come over for dinner.
Well, thank you, ma'am.
Thank you so much.
And who else would be there?
Just your family?
It would be me, my family, and yourselves.
We would just like to delight in your company.
Hm. Well, if you have us, it would be lovely.
Of course I'd be delighted to.
Uh, is there anything that I should tell my wife?
Anything about cooking for the evening?
Any problems with any dietary requirements?
I'm afraid we've never had a bird man in our village
before I'm not sure if
is there a garden do you have a garden
we have yes
you probably have some
worms
we can
source some what would you like them
marinated or stewed or
just fresh out of the ground
alive
alrighty I will tell my wife that marinated or stewed or just fresh off the ground. Alive.
All righty.
I will tell my wife that.
Century likes warm plates.
Yes, of course.
Do you eat, Miss Century?
That's correct, yeah.
You'd only need to make four plates of food.
Four?
Well, one, two, three, four... You want more than one to have food if you like, but we can leave you out if need be.
We cook for more than our fair share anyway. There'll be plenty to spare, I'm sure.
Do you have any dishes without beef?
Do you not eat beef, sir?
Obviously, no, I'm coming on a diet.
Oh, it's a diet.
I was about to ask if it was an elven thing.
I wasn't sure, but no, we can...
He's not keen on the stuff right now.
Is chicken all right?
That's fine, yes.
Chicken won't be you.
Well, that's fine.
Different creatures.
All right, well, tomorrow night, shall we say, just after dark, say 6, 7?
6 or 7.
Oh, we were planning on meeting with Deysa.
You know, she was having trouble with money, wasn't she?
Oh, yeah, there were people threatening her earlier.
Yeah, I can't remember.
What was it again?
They said it was something about money.
Something about money.
In debt to someone, I think.
So we'll have to tend to that first.
Oh, why?
He just kind of...
You see that there is an ever so slight twitch,
but then the smile comes back.
He's like, well, that sounds awful.
I would be shocked if somebody was trying to wrestle money out of poor Deysa.
I know that she is.
Threatening someone in the town.
No, they were workers from the mine.
Nova's saying this completely innocently, by the way.
Like, no sarcasm.
Now, is that so?
Well, I am going to have to speak to my workers that they are trying to hassle some good, hardworking folk in the town.
What a terrible...
Oh, now you don't happen to have known their names now, miss.
No, I didn't realize you owned the mines.
Yeah, fine.
It's fine, miss, it's fine.
A man can't...
You know, they are just...
They are their own men.
I can't control everything they do.
Some of them have come from troubled backgrounds.
I will speak to them and make them...
Make it clear that we
do not tolerate that sign of business
in the Brookstone family.
Thank you for letting me know.
Okay.
What a lovely thing to do.
You all right there, Rihanna? Would you like to do something?
Yeah.
I kind of want to like
intimidate him just a little bit
okay
or flex
I want to flex
how so
how do you intimidate him
I would like to
stand up
and just tower over him
okay
just huge
just huge
near seven foot
guardian
yeah
and just
yeah
his eyes go a little bit
wide and he's a tall fellow
like he's probably just
he's over six.
He's probably six to himself.
But you rise up even taller than him.
Yeah, like I just don't trust him.
He kind of takes a step back.
Is there something wrong?
I would hate for any ill will to come of this,
but we will attend your dinner as you request it.
Oh, well, there will be no ill will, my friend.
I assure you, just a local businessman inviting some good folks to a good dinner
I promise you no shenanigans for yourselves
I promise, I promise
He holds his hands up and it takes a definite defensive stance back
You know, clearly kind of imposed by a thing
Just give me an intimidate check just to see, just for my own benefit.
Eleven.
Okay.
Yeah, he just holds his hands out and he's just like,
I promise you I mean no ill intent.
Just a humble offer of hospitality to some kind folks in town.
I'm clearly overstaying my welcome.
I've made my invitation clear.
I will leave you to your evening.
Thank you very much for your donation.
We'll see you tomorrow. See you tomorrow, and then he and he gives like a good evening Rosalina
Good evening all and then he heads out
What a lovely man. I was really making waves in this town. Mm-hmm. I could really bring you together
Did I just do it bad?
Well, I mean not quite it was
What I was aiming towards I just thought he was a really nice quite. It was what I was aiming towards.
I just thought he was a really nice guy.
He was inviting us for dinner. That was
Brett Brookster.
Yes. That was the
guy that Deysa
is in debt to.
That's the guy that's controlling the workers who have been
following us around, and also the guy
that doesn't like wild elves. Well, at least
his workers don't like wild elves. But lots of people have been following us around and also the guy that doesn't like wild elves. Well, at least his workers don't like wild elves.
But lots of people have been following us around in this village.
Oh no, no, they have been following us around.
Asking for our money.
Asking, well, no, no, no, no, no. Those are totally innocent requests. These were following
us around keeping our elves.
Yes, I remember that group that looked at me funny a couple of days ago, before the
chasm. Yes, they were a bit suspicious.
I mean, i look at you
funny yes but you look at me in a kind of a way and then they look at me in a i want to beat you
up kind of way oh should i get a lot he has this town in the in a tight grip an iron grip if you
will you get it yeah that was a good yeah good that was a good joke. I agree. So, Quickstone, bad. Not necessarily bad.
He, for all intents and purposes, might be a good person.
He just donated 50 gold, which, I mean, for a man with a successful thriving business,
could have definitely done more.
But 50 gold to a charity, that's a pretty good thing.
And also, he promised to keep his workers in check, maybe.
So, you're saying that we should trust the people who've been following us around the village
and asking us for money, but not trust the guy who's invited us for dinner
and donated 50 gold to charity?
I think those are two separate things.
I think we're just talking about Brookstone at the moment.
I just don't understand.
The people asking us for money are asking because they're poor.
Something that Brookstone could have solved many years ago.
Okay.
And we're now invited to his house.
Someone who apparently is chasing up debts with the town.
If anything, he's bleeding the town rather than feeding it.
So I should be suspicious tomorrow?
I think you should go in as you.
Okay.
We'll do the rest.
Yes.
I really am bad at reading people.
Yeah, no.
Planets, stars, some trees, I'm fine with.
People?
You can read trees?
Kind of.
I'm trying.
Like the emotions of trees?
Yeah. They network, you know.
So we'll go tomorrow.
This has been interesting.
But it's just fine.
It'll be fine.
We'll just be cautious.
And, I mean, if something goes wrong...
Can we have a code word?
Sure. I think that's a good idea. Okay. And if something goes wrong? Can we have a code word? Sure. I think that's a good idea.
Okay, and if something goes wrong?
Yeah.
And what could that be?
Pineapple?
What if they are serving pineapple?
I don't think they would around here.
Just in case, because I don't want to say, oh, what a lovely pineapple that is,
if there's a pineapple around.
Wow, nice pineapple.
What is this conversation?
I just don't want the code word to be pineapple.
I don't want anyone to just jump up and draw their swords and things.
How about... I'm just complimenting someone on their pineapple.
How about by Hesper's beard?
Does Hesper have a beard?
I don't know, but that could be something.
I mean, sometimes he does.
Say that. By Hesper's beard. Look at the time know, but that could be something. Oh, I mean, sometimes he does. Say that.
By Hesper's beard. Look at the time.
We have to get out of here.
Stop, stop, stop.
No, we're not going there to kill people.
Like, the people
who are, like, in the tavern
can obviously hear this conversation
and they just, like,
there's, like, a shuffle as they all turn to their
dinner and like
they're talking about killing people
eat food. Rosalina will know about him right?
Of course I mean she was
Rosalina! Yes hang on one second
dear. Thank you. Do you think
and she comes over and you can
see that she was just previously speaking to
a young man and a young woman
who were like in a quiet corner kind of
having a quiet look talk to her. They look a bit flushed and a young man and a young woman who are in a quiet corner, kind of having a quiet look talk to her.
They look a bit flushed and a bit embarrassed,
and she comes tottling over,
typical Rosalina, happy like, yes.
Now, did he cause you any trouble?
No, quite the opposite.
He invited us to dinner.
Oh, okay.
Yes, any thoughts?
Brookstone is a... very good at being charming and polite,
and he only shows himself to do good things around the town.
But everybody knows that his workers, and his sons in particular,
can be quite the ruffians.
Does he, no?
They don't...
He claims not to and normally if anybody
raises an issue with the with the field marshal or they raise it with Brett
himself he gives assurances to fix it and normally the problems stop for some
time. They always come back around again. His workers continue hassling.
Again, if you're asking me, I've met many men like Brett Brookstone before.
He's very controlling patriarch.
He rules his family.
He wants the best for his family, for his blood.
Doesn't really care about anybody else.
And he will do everything to make it appear
that he is a good man, but no.
Nothing happens in his company without him knowing.
I'm worried.
Why?
You told him how much money we gave to Rosalina.
Well, don't worry.
I can handle myself.
Trust me.
Okay.
I lived in a much more dangerous place than Rosehold
before all of this.
Well, like you say, he protects his image, doesn't he, in the town.
So stealing from a charity would be the worst thing for his image.
If anything, I imagine that Brett will play up his donation
when speaking to other people in the town.
And besides, if he sends his boys around here, I have ways of dealing with them.
Okay.
I have spells to deal with them.
Oh.
I have ways of dealing with them.
Okay.
I have spells to deal with them.
Oh.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Knocking them out with some sleep spell and leaving them in the pigsty
is normally what I do.
Right.
Well, thank you, Rosalina.
I don't want to take up any more of your time.
Oh, thank you.
You will have to excuse me.
I will be gone for about an hour.
I have to help a young couple
with some of my services.
So I will be gone for an hour. If you need
anything, just
the girl is just outside the back.
You can grab her if you need her. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you. And then she smiles
and she goes over and she takes the
young couple, one in each hand, and leads them
upstairs. Adult
services.
Not that naive.
Now, Sentry, a moment ago, I don't know if you recall, services. Mm-hmm. Mm. Not that naive. Mm. No.
Now, Sentry, a moment ago, I don't know if you recall, but I am a little concerned.
So I'm just saying this because I know that your time is short and whatnot.
I don't want to bring it up, but I know the Matrix could be going a bit iffy, but do you
remember picking me up and taking me away?
I do.
I don't think that's a custom that we do nowadays. So do you remember doing that up and taking me away? I do. I don't think that's a custom that we do nowadays.
So, do you remember doing that?
Did you have control?
Are you going?
I had full control, don't worry.
Don't worry.
Okay.
Don't worry.
I think it was more going back to the conversation
we had about not telling people how much money we have.
Oh.
Yeah.
Oh, oh.
Look, it's rule number three in the travel guide, and I get out a little pamphlet.
Oh, so it is. Yeah, right. Rule number three. That's underlined now. Always give money to yourself. That's quite a deep line you've
see. I've learned a lot being in your company. Oh, good. Yeah. See, earlier today we had the crowds of people because they knew how much
money we had, and I don't want... Wasn't that lovely?
Well I guess if it wasn't for that we wouldn't have the charity which is
lovely and very nice but also I want to make sure that we're safe and by keeping
how much money we have secret. Can you can you keep that secret? Then we can...
Locked away.
Thank you. Then we can all...
I'll say we only have 700. You don't have to say anything at all. No I just we only have 700. You don't have to say anything at all. You don't have to say anything at all. Just don't worry.
But what if they ask me? What do I... I can't lie. Tell them it's rude. Yeah. Say it's rude to ask.
Yeah. What about the question? Where to? Ask them another question. Ask a question back. How much
do you have? What's your name?
What's your name? Why do you want to know? Yes, oh um... It's very intimidating things. I don't know, we'll try that. Lucius, how much money do you have? What's your name?
Why do you want to know? That works, it's a good start at least.
And probably the first time anyone asked my name.
start at least and probably the first time anyone asked my name so is there anything you would like to do this evening or tomorrow that you want to do
before you attend this dinner or do you even want to attend the dinner did you
just say that you wanted to oh yeah sure now's the time to do it well I have a quill about the hammer. Oh yeah, sure.
Now's the time to do it.
Quill. I have a question.
Remember when we were in the chasm?
Yeah.
You found a hammer.
The blacksmith's hammer? Yeah.
Yeah. Can I borrow it for a second?
I mean, I was thinking about giving it to um, giving it to Deysa.
You can give her the other stuff. It's just
Right. It's just...
Right.
It's a blacksmith's hammer.
But...
She's a blacksmith.
Here's the thing.
It's magical, right?
Yeah.
I think I could use it.
Do you need to heat any metal?
I think I could use the magic in it.
Have you been talking to Vala?
No.
Why?
No reason. Actually, I've been meaning to talk to her because Kang-gong hasn't felt the same since I last saw her. Really? Hmm. Why is that? Just out of interest?
He just feels different. He's not talking? No, she's talking. She? He, she, it, one, all, many.
Are you both at the table that we're at?
Yeah, this conversation is happening right in front of you.
You remember Vala said that she touched Tiangong and took its powers and it exploded?
Oh, really?
There's no secrets in this group.
We shouldn't have secrets.
I suppose not, you're right.
No, but I figured something had happened because Tiangong felt different.
And, you know, logically speaking, Vala was the last person to touch him.
Now, it hasn't lost any power, just so you know.
It felt different, but it didn't feel like it was weakened in any way.
Vala says, and she probably speaks to you about this because we told her to speak to you because you're very knowledgeable.
Oh, thank you.
That's quite all right.
Anyway, I was saying that she's got innate powers,
potentially sorcerer, but I can't
quite pin what it is. And
she felt like she could draw upon
Tiangong. Hmm.
She heard a voice, too, saying
no, or something like that. Very old,
apparently, the voice. Very, very old.
Fascinating. I need to talk to her more about
this. Yes, and maybe you could help her
figure out what she possesses.
I'd be interested to see if she could draw more power from Tiangong, but...
Here's the thing.
I might be able to use the power in the hammer to power Tiangong.
And then we can use that to help Vala.
As long as she doesn't explode again.
Yeah, we would have to do it
away. You do controlled experiments right? I try. Yes. That's what the goggles are
for. And the rest of your body? I'm pretty resistant to most things. Okay good to
know. The rest of us aren't so we'll stay way clear of that. So wait, you can give power to Tiangor?
I think so.
And it speaks to you?
Yes.
And what does it say?
Stuff.
Just anything?
Well, it doesn't really...
It's more like the words are already there.
Right.
In my head.
And you just feel it?
Yes. And when it asked you for the hammer did
it ask you for the hammer it suggested that i could make some kind of link between the two
okay and i'd like to see wouldn't you like to see i mean it's how did it ask for it it was like oh
that looks lovely could i it was in a vision could I have a nibble on that? And it said
power. And then there was a flash
from the hammer and a flash
from Tiangong. And how does it say
power? Is it like, oh, power?
Or is it like, power?
I mean, Tiangong's
never really been menacing. No?
No. You trust it completely?
Yes. I can't describe it.
It's a feeling. It doesn't feel evil.
It feels scared.
Lucius, you seem to have a lot of insight into these things
with echoes and whatever else,
and Valor could read some feelings from the sword.
Why don't you try and touch it?
Would you like me to touch your sword?
All that happens is I get a cacophony of visions
and I probably fall backwards and dribble a bit.
I'm not going to affect your Tiangong.
Okay, give me a second.
I get my notebook out and get my pen ready, my quill ready.
And I'm like, okay.
Controlled environment.
Yes.
Go ahead.
Sentry, if I fall over, catch me. Middle of the town. Arms out. Controlled environment. Yes. Go ahead. Sentry, if I fall over, catch me.
Middle of the town.
Controlled environment.
Middle of the town.
You just touch your finger against it.
Gently.
Okay, do you do anything or are you just touching it?
Just going to touch it like I did.
Echo.
Yep.
And what, do you try and focus or are you just going to try and clear your mind?
I guess I will clear my mind.
Okay.
And focus on Tiangong.
Okay, give me a clear my mind. Okay. Focus on Tiangong. Okay.
Give me a charisma saving throw.
Yeah.
Seven plus five.
Okay.
Twelve.
So you touch Tiangong and you kind of,
you can't just put a finger against you.
You actually grip the handle and you focus.
And yeah, you begin to feel that there is,
there's an old magic here.
In fact, it feels less and less of magic
and more like a sentience.
You begin to hear this kind of cacophony of voices
that just seems to speak various
you can't tell what they're saying
but there's all these different voices murmuring together.
various, you can't tell what they're saying, but there's all these different voices murmuring together.
You see
a vision of
the dark above
space, like an endless night sky
full of stars, and
you get the sense of moving through them
for a long time.
And then you just hear
the words...
I'm trying to think what it would say.
Piss off.
Piss off, ghost.
You hear this...
You hear this strange
voice that takes more of a masculine
form when it speaks to you.
Chromat.
And then the impression
of it goes away.
Well, did the voices, the
cacophony voices sound similar to
the cacophony from the Matrix?
No. They're not similar?
It sounded like the voices you
heard from Tiangong sounded like they were really far
away. So it's not the same technology.
No.
Wow.
What did you see? What did you hear?
I saw above the sky as if I was a lot closer to the stars, but drifting through it.
You were in space.
Is that? Yes.
I've seen that.
You have?
Yes.
And then I heard a voice. It's quite a husky man voice.
Interesting.
And it said the word Chromat.
Hmm.
It's very, very old. Much like Valis said, it felt really old.
Oh, very interesting.
The sentience there, yeah.
Chromat as in Dragonborn or Chromat as in you?
I just said the word Chromat. I don't think it said it at me. I just heard it.
But you're Chromatic the Sorcerer i don't think i said it at me i just heard it but you're a chromatic sorcerer
aren't you oh yes yes i suppose it was that me then fascinating who'd have thought wow
so my question is before we wrap up the episode are you gonna lend over the hammer
because then that will determine the last thing we do before we cut
um sure i'm guessing you want to make it your packed weapon Because then that will determine the last thing we do before we cut. Um, sure.
I'm guessing you want to make it your packed weapon.
I don't know what, I don't know what.
You don't know what you want to do. Okay.
I don't know what the, I don't know what the thing was with the hammer.
If you lend Nova the hammer.
Yeah.
Uh, sure.
And you spend a short rest with it.
Mm-hmm.
You will learn that yes, you can basically, what Ti Tiangong the process of it is that you can
morph you can have Tiangong absorb the properties of the weapon of the magic weapon but that means
it would take on all of its properties so Tiangong you kind of get this vision of in your head in
that you can bond this hammer to Tiangong Tiangong would shrink down to about dagger size, so it would
do the same damage as the hammer,
but it would gain the magical bonus
and the spells per day. Basically, the hammer
would become your weapon, but it would
have the visual appearance of Tiangong,
but as a short blade, like a dagger
sized version. So he would kind of like,
the blade would go a bit wider,
it would become short
and stocky.
The crossguard would morph to look like a dagger.
It would basically change its shape.
And then could I change that every long rest?
Basically, while it has the Gatwin's Hammer absorbed,
it basically takes that form,
and then you can change it to become a different magical weapon
if you find another one,
or you can have it revert back to its mundane form by and then the hammer basically becomes another item
Does it become mundane? The hammer doesn't become mundane the hammer would vanish basically
So Tiangong can absorb the the magic item
Become that magic item in everything but appearance and then it can you can eject it
Okay, so it's basically a way of, you can use a different
weapon, but still have it look like
Tiangong, basically, is the way that it works.
And will it take a short rest, long rest, or is it just like an action
to just be like...
If you want to expose it, it's in the player's handbook.
I think it takes like an hour.
It's a ritual you have to perform. It's under Pact of the Blade.
So it's a short rest then, I guess.
Short rest, length.
It's basically the pact of the blade it
says uh i will read it out you can transform one magic weapon into your packed weapon by performing
a special ritual while you hold the weapon you perform the ritual over the course of an hour
which can be done during a short rest you can then dismiss the weapon shunting it into an extra
dimensional space and it appears whenever you create the packed weapon after so that's basically
like you can make it disappear and reappear but But that's Tiangong, not the hammer.
The only rule here is that rather than it looking like a hammer and making the hammer your packed weapon,
Tiangong absorbs the hammer's abilities and changes its appearance.
But it would become a default damage rather than its current form.
Because it has to keep the same hammer's damage type.
But you would gain all the other benefits of the hammer,
including the plus one to hit and damage
and the spells it can cast.
But she doesn't know that
before she touches the weapon, though.
You spending an hour with it
is you figuring out
exactly what this process would be
and you know that it would
change the way Tiangong looks
and it would take on
the properties of this hammer,
basically.
Cool.
And that's it.
And that's where we're going to end
because it's 10-2 and we've got to finish up.
Nice.
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 the episode description
for more information about those.
Also, if you're looking for more High Rollers,
then make sure you check out the new miniseries
we're doing with a brand new Dragon Heist module
on twitch.tv forward slash highrollers
and twitch.tv forward slash D&D.
And if you miss an episode of that, you'll be able to catch up on our
YouTube channel, Highrollers D&D,
or the Dungeons & Dragons channel.
We've got some very cool plans for that series,
including ways for you guys to influence how it
plays out, so make sure you watch that to find
out some more. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Aroas.
Next week, Mark and Trot are
away for a nice spot of LARP, but we'll be back the week after for this meeting with the Brookstones. We'll see you then.