High Rollers DnD - Stealth and Deception | Altheya: The Dragon Empire #114 (Part 1)

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

High Rollers face off against many of their greatest foes at once. Stealth, Deception, Remembering Inventory, Fake Names and, worst of all, Corridors. Can't wait for Part 2 of each episode? Join our Patreon to get early access EVERY week (+ a few other bonuses)! www.patreon.com/HighRollers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ _______________ Boost your Charisma with some HR merch! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://highrollersdnd.teemill.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Add official High Rollers Minis to your TTRPG collection here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://only-games.co/collections/high-rollers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bless your table with the Clever Toad Dice Set: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://dispeldice.com/collections/high-rollers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Enhance your bath time experience with the official Altheya themed DiceBombs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://geekyclean.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.highrollersdnd.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for all the latest HR News! Love the podcast? Give us a glittering 5 star review! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/high-rollers-dnd/id1401508198?see-all=reviews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters), Monument Studios and Jolene Khor! Check out Jolene Khor and all her wonderful work on High Rollers on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WX3ICiTmf4GpHwImnQMs6⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠v Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickax. Oh, hi there, listener. Gustavo Soroli here with the cast of Tales from the Stinky Dragon podcast, and we're about to set the record for the quickest D&D session. Everyone roll initiative. I got the highest roll with a 19. I moved 10 feet toward the listener and say, hi, I'm Barbara Dunkelman. You should listen to our show, Tales from the Stinky Dragon.

It's an immersive D&D actual play show with a fully voiced cast of characters plus sound design. And then I finished my action with a high five. Go ahead and make a dexterity check. That's an 18. Oh, that's a good high five. I rolled a 16 on initiative. I walked over to the tavern piano. I play a six song.

and say, hi, I'm John Reisinger. Wow, do you hear that? Tales and Steaky Dragon also has its own original score. It's like a movie, but for your ears. All right, yeah, go ahead and roll a performance check. That's a tune. Not your best, John. Okay, but I promise the show is actual music sounds really good. Okay, me next.

I moonwalk up to the listener. Sup, I'm Blaine Gibson. You should really check out the show. It's funny, heartwarming, and perfect for everybody. I'm talking D&D veterans, people new to the genre, old people, babies, everybody. And then I do a backflip. All right, roll an athletics check. That's a net 20.

Whoa! Okay, that leaves Chris. Hi, I'm Chris Damaris. Please subscribe to our podcast. And then I draw my sword to attack this. Put the sword down. Put the sword down. Get him, get him.

Get him. Get him. I do. Now it's your turn, listener. Subscribe to Tales from the Stinky Dragon wherever you listen to podcast today. Hey, I'm Arne Neekam from the fully improvised comedy podcast. Hello from the Magic Tavern.

I'm here with my co-hosts, John the Talking Badger, Bing Bong. And Usenor the Wizard. I greet the, listeners. Look, I'm trapped in the magical land of Foon. So I started a podcast interviewing elves, unicorns, and other weirdos. We have great guests like Felicia Day, Jason Manzschis, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Amy Mann, and so many more. Oh, and I think one time we interviewed a

sentient shoe? I hope it was sentient. Not to mention the evil people we've had to interview. How I hate evil. Join us as we bar crawl across the magical land of foon. Looking for adventure. Getting caught up in escapade. Hello from the Magic Tavern is available right now on your favorite podcast app, and add free and with lots of bonus content on Patreon. Subscribe to Hello from the Magic Tavern today. Welcome back to Althea the Dragon Empire. Our heroes are in the imperial city, the city of dragons, Kelskaris. They have come in pursuit of various things.

Gruffeth's Knightley Test, Ophelia, reconnecting with her embassy, and attending a special event hosted by an old friend from Osseus, and Xanthius, continuing the investigation into his father's plot and the criminal organization known as the Diadem. After Zanthius was ambushed, the party believed they have tracked one of the diadem's facets to an upmarket bar and hotel in the Vault Watch District, a place called the Opel Lounge,

with the aid of Malcolm Toombs, head of the former Intelligence Agency Watchtower, who has supplied them with several arcane gadgets and promised an agent to assist them, the heroes set out to scope out the Opel lounge and gather information. During this, Xanthius and Ophelia use the soul cage given to them by Lord Obsidius, which contained the soul of Diadem agent Nixar mist. They used the cage to ask Nixir questions and even spy on the Opal lounge itself. But in doing so, unbeknown to Sister Ophelia, they destroyed Nix's soul.

A tense confrontation with the rest of the party when it was revealed that they had used the sole cage has led to them being a fractured team. And that is where we pick things up today. And we begin, not at the Opel Lounge, not even in the Vault Watch District. On the coil, the circular ring road that surrounds the central district of Kelskaris,

where Gruffeth of Trey Morrow has headed to his... training with the Ascension Alley Cats to meet with them and train with them for their hatchball game which is the final part of his nightly test to see them through to their final tournament what do we see Kim you tell me like how does this look we see sort of you know gruff arriving at the training grounds so I'm thinking about this I think he's definitely not himself I mean, not that he's ever been himself around children because he doesn't know how to talk to children

or anything like that. But he's definitely a bit withdrawn. He sets them about the training, I think... Oh no, just as you arrive. As you arrive. Yeah. So we see him, like, not looking like himself, kind of bit distracted.

Bit distracted. So he arrives. You see that they've all gathered and they're sort of in the... All of the kids are in their usual, kind of, you know, they've got the raggedy kit that they've all been using, you know, still kind of putting those together.

You can see that Vennora is sketching out some early designs, but it's still very early. And they're all sort of kind of kicking sand waiting for you to arrive. And when you do, Hawking's, the young feline wildheart lad with the red hair, just like

literally looks up, kind of looks around you for a minute as you approach, and just says, yo old man, where's your assistant team today? Where's the rest of them? Oh, they got held up doing something else. We've all got business here in Kelgaris. Oh, all right, sure.

That's kind of nice. The big guy's a bit weird. It's kind of sad not to have the Dragonborn guy. He's kind of cool. I'll tell him that. Don't tell him. Don't tell him. There's one person who likes you right now.

Yes. They'll be here for the game. Yeah, sure, whatever. And you can see that Hawkins is trying to play nonchalant. Most of the others are sort of not, you know, they're sort of, they just sort of accept what you've said and you set them to training. I don't want to spend too much time here because I think we've done a lot of this before. But the training session does go fairly well based on the results that you had last time and what you began to work out with the team. You know, says that Hawkins and Tristan, the young boy of the Church of the Sions, who you sort of struck a bargain with,

promising to have a word with his, the sisters and friars who look after him, provided that he put some effort in. You can see that they still clearly dislike each other and especially, you know, Hawkins' hogging of the glory, like he never wants to pass, he always wants to be up front, always wants to score the goals.

But now having them both playing and Tristan putting effort, you can see that's having an effect. Suddenly Tristan doesn't always get the ball, suddenly Tristan isn't always the one scoring the goals. And it humbles him. Oh, I mean Hawkins, sorry. Yeah, sorry, Hawkins. It sort of humbles him a little bit,

but that stokes him to try harder and to go even further beyond his already quite impressive skill. You see Pippa, the young halfling girl, and Pauly, the goblin, working on the communication that you taught them last time, and they seem to be getting on. And you actually catch them midway through the break. Pauly seems to be trying to teach other goblin words to Pippa,

And at least one of them, you're pretty sure, is very rude because Pippa starts laughing and, like, pointing, and they, like, literally fall about laughing together. So you can see that these bonds are starting to form. And then eventually, as the training sort of winds down, Guntram, the Dwarven boy, will say, like, so, coach, the game is tomorrow. Is there anything we should know or work on or be prepared for?

All right. So communication. That's the thing we've been working on. The last thing we'll keep working on at the game. I think we've made great headways. Guntram, you've come up with some good words. I think your suggestion of speaking in Goblin, having Goblin keywords.

Fantastic. I'm also, and I would have practiced this during the training, like swapping some of their positions about. We're going to keep with the new positions. Okay. Gunnrum, don't worry about your mother. I'm going to go and speak to her. Okay, as long as you speak with her, I guess that's fine.

If she says anything to you beforehand, tell us to come speak to me. Okay, coach, I will, yes, very well. Listen, I've not had much time with you, kids. But I just want to say, trust in each other, ble, blah, blah, let's sort of wind that back. Trust in each other, trust in yourselves. That's all I can ask for.

You see that, like, it's not the most inspiring speech. The kids right now are just sort of like, yeah, okay, yeah. But they've seen that some of the stuff you've taught them is working. Like Pipper and Pauley communicating a lot better. Guntram is very pleased to not be a striker and to take on their defense position. Seems much happier, but he's very worried about how his family is going to react. So you can see that you've had some effect, but there's still quite a few quiet kids. There's still a few kids who are very awkward and don't really know what to do themselves.

But you've addressed some of these key issues. And they leave, they sort of grumble a little bit, you know, and the training comes to an end. how well things will do, we'll have to wait and see. I think that kind of works, though, because, like, Gruff's heart is not in it with this session. And, like, if this impacts the game,

it impacts the game, right? You know, and I, yeah, I, yeah. We're not going to roll anything. I think, like, we've, this is very much going to come down to the decisions that you make. And then, you know, I think this first game,

we'll see how it all goes and plays out. Oh, he absolutely would have gotten oranges for everyone as well, you know. Of course, the usual. It's the new ritual. And so I think we just leave that, with the training having gone on for a few hours and you begin making your way back to Volt Watch?

Or do we do something else? He probably takes a little bit of time to pack up, you know. Takes his time. Sweep down the ground. Scrant don't you sweep and it's all dirt and mud anyway, but he finds a room somewhere and is sweeping it down and he's kind of like taking his time packing stuff up and like, oh, one more talk, one more.

He's procrastinating. But he will go back, actually, make his way back. As the sun begins to set, you begin to set, you begin making your way back through the city as the magical streetlights, the magical lights and the candles and the lanterns within the buildings themselves all begin to come to life as Kelskaris nightlife comes alive. And you alone, except for Seren, make your way back, kind of weaving through the now, much more lively, you know, less merchants, less traders,

this is now the nighttime crowd, making your way back through the coil. You still hear the sort of sweeping sounds as one of the Griffin Cavalry flies overhead scouting out the city and things like that but you can see that it's about revelers, it's about tourists, it's about travelers, people going out for dinner, people going out to enjoy a show,

these kinds of things. And you, Gruff alone currently, make your way back towards the Volt Watch District. With that done, let's roll our fate. Yolki doki dokey. Get that on the board. I knew that wasn't going to be a nice roll involved, Oh, a four.

A four. I too got a four. Another four. Tres. Well, that's one for me. Six. Oh, lovely, another one for you. What?

Another one for me. And then... Is it even? A two, it is... A even. Steven. Who is it? Steven.

Stephen. Stephen. So, when we sort of cut back, sort of cut back to the Vault Watch District. Rowan and Daisy, you've been separated, you know, for a little while. Like, it's been at least a good sort of two, three hours at this point. So what have the two of you been sort of doing and up to, waiting for Gruff to return?

Rowan will be awkwardly staring at Daisy, knowing that we've just had a very difficult situation with the Soul Cage. And he'll, like, clear his throat a few times. knowing that he's going to say something. I think Daisy knows at this point that Rowan does this, so she's just going to let him take his time and just maybe give him a nod of... Daisy?

You like pastries, don't you? I do too. Yeah, yeah, pastures are cool. I like getting pastries, you know, the combo deal at latte fun when you get the coffee with it. The coffee and pastry. Things in pairs always. Nice, like when people work together.

Yeah, working together is good. I'm struggling. Yeah. I'm struggling with this rift that's formed. Yeah, I don't like it. Rowan has a moral quandary in his brain. Oh, referring to yourself in the third person. Yeah, that's always a bad sign, really.

I love them to pieces. Oh, I think we all do. That's what makes it so hard. Yeah. We all love the group combo, but... I get it. Stakes are high right now and we're taking every advantage we can get to get information and we're in over our heads with a lot of this stuff and time seems to be ticking away

so I can understand it. It's just a life was taken for some knowledge and that doesn't sit right with me. So... I don't know if they even realized the... I don't know. It's just all of this stuff that I don't understand. Yeah. I don't understand the magic behind it.

And why did the thing, the cage thing even exist in the first place? That's horrible. But... But it's something that Opsidious does and is willing to do. That's the kind of person he is. That's terrifying. Yeah, but that's where we're at. I've been trying to win him over with pastries.

Do you think that the pastries will avoid me being in a little tiny cage? I don't think you're going to become a sole cage. Okay. Unless you do something, you know, that dragons don't like, in which case. Well, I don't know what they don't like. I need to study. I need to learn what they don't like.

I don't want to be a little gay. I don't think, okay, let's just... Okay. We don't need to be near obsidious right now. However, we do need to do something with those two. And I don't mean punish them or anything like that. I mean... You don't mean put them in a little tiny cage?

No, no, I think find a way through this. Because we're friends and people make mistakes. And I think it was an honest mistake. I think so too, but we all need to be... We can't go into places with sneaky, horrible diadem things going on if we're not a team. We need to be connected. We need to trust each other.

Well, you have the communication. We could all say something before we go in. Just to diffuse the tension. Why do you think about that? Because I want to jump over now. And we last left Zantzance... We need to kill everyone else. Destroyed more.

In the cages. Everyone's solution to this is soul cage. You do something wrong? Solcage. Ronan Daisy, Salt cage. Straitz. Zan, I feel it's Zolkage. Believe it or not, soul cage.

We cut back over to the inn where the two of you, I believe we last left off were getting disguised and preparing your disguises and trying to think about how to use the hood of shroud, the... This is just before the very, very into the episode. This is what I was going to do. It's be like, I wanted to kind of a sort of... establish where everyone was and the conversation's happening, and then Daisy's going to see this dragonborn going into the inn and then relay that.

And that's, you know, that was going to be more lead-in, how it connects to the end of the last episode. So, yeah, so you kind of, we see the two of you, you're in the room. Are you preparing? Like, do you have, like, you know, are you using the hoods to, like, create the disguises? Yeah, I think that's basically what we were spending time doing, right? Is, you know, various different makeups.

We had loads of different clothes and things that we would. trying out and seeing what suits us best. Even though we've got the false mask thing, that trying to formulate characters and understand who we are before we go into this place, wide in the open, under veils. Yeah, yeah. So you're just sort of, you know,

trying on different outfits and like trying, like kind of trying to come up with these personas that you're playing. You feel like getting like, Percy, just hold my hair like this. So try that. Very well, yes, of course. That looks okay, I'm like a twist. What's the service is that? What's the service there?

Who are you trying to be with that hair? What does the hair say about you? Your life. The things you've done, the life you've led, the people you know. Who is this person, Ophelia? I'm thinking, okay, hear me up. I like the name Kira. Kira? Okay, okay, and Kira is. Kira likes dancing.

Does she? Very nice. She loves a dance. And where does Kira live? Hmm. I like the Burnbright district. Burn Bright District? Mm, yes. And your favourite place to shop in the Burn Bright District is, of course...

Carnation House. Oh, I love Carnation House. Okay, very good. Well, Kira, lovely to meet you. Now, I'm thinking Banthius. I like Banffi... Maybe keep the Ban... Ban...

Ban... Ban... Ban... Ban... Bambri from the Burn... Right district. And I like to shop at the Carnation House. I'm struggling here, Ophelia.

We could literally be anyone and no one at the same time. Yes. Maybe that's what we need to do for the rest of time because everyone else say, I don't think we did well today. So, as you say that, that is... Daisy, you and Roan have been having this conversation. And you've also been keeping an eye on the Opel Lounge who's coming and going.

Tightly of keeping an eye on for potential ideas. And you see a rare... Dragonborn, you glimpse him and from the distance, from the pastry shop where you are, you see that they are, they keep themselves quite to themselves, like they're quite kind of closed in with their body language, but you can see that there's all sorts of like bruising and scars and things like that. And they're wearing like heavy gloves, like quite covered up all over their body and yeah, just very and look quite tormented and they sort of look around and make their way, they go up to the guards at the open lounge, they exchange a few words,

and then are let inside. They certainly don't look like the other clientele that's been coming and going. They certainly look a little bit rougher, a bit more, yeah, definitely not quite as upmarket. Although they're wearing gloves, you can see that they have three rings on the outside of those gloves as well.

They're wearing a bronze silver and gold ring. And you relay that via the Daisy Chain. I will project the image that I have seen through the Daisy Chain. I don't think I would say anything else. in the Daisy chain at this moment. I think I would just give the image to everyone, but I don't think Daisy knows what else. You've probably doing that anyway, like,

just like, yeah, that's what I said at the end of it. You've been like sending like images of people coming and going. I don't think she would sort of engage in conversation. Sure. In the chain. Through the Daisy chain you would hear from me. Oh shit, that's my best friend. That's the, that's what you hear.

That's a red dragon board, I'm here. That's, that's Farrier. Farrier, I grew up with him in Rust End. Oh. He's, oh, he couldn't, he shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be here, he'll recognize me. Santhes, he has three rings on, three rings. Three, well, good for him.

That's great, I'm so happy to hear that. Why is he here right now? Gruff, this is probably the point that you're coming back to the inn where you'd had this conversation, Kiyoshan's. You've just sort of arrived on the street, having entered the Vault Watch District, and you hear this conversation.

You also see that sort of like standing, leaning outside Kiyoshen's, she's kind of just like leaning up against the wall, kind of looking a little, kind of half-amused, half-bored. You can see that she's got, she's an orc with heavy scarring down one side of her face, which is the visceral marking.

It's like glowing with this golden light, but it's quite severe, especially around her mouth. She's wearing like a kind of like rough breastplate quite nondescript. You know, the armour's kind of dark and coloured. She's got like a basic travellers cloak over it kind of thing. And you can see she's just kind of like, kind of like looking a bit bored. And then sort of notices you and it's just like a...

Just give her a firm nod. Yeah, she just nods back. Doesn't say anything, no. Oh, can I help you, madam? Oh, no, no, I'm alright. I'll wait for all of you to be back together at you. Sorry, all of us? Yeah, you and the team?

Do I know you? Think we've got a mutual friend, my friend Malcolm. Ah, Miss Darling. Just darling. Nice to meet you. Oh, no honour. Yeah, real pleasure. You're a big fella, aren't you? Me suppose.

Yeah. Big belly. So, uh, well, I look like you and your friends had a bit of trouble. You ran off quite quickly and the other two went off. Something happened. So Groff stiffens up, like, visibly. He's not good at, you know, he just stiffens. Oh, I had previous engagement with the Ascension Ali Cats.

Oh, yeah, no, I know, I know. Just, you know, you went off, the other two went off, the other two are still in there. Oh, well, you know, everyone has their own business. Yeah, sure does. Just hope that nothing has done anything to hinder, you know, working together. Because, you know, pretty dangerous thing what we're about to all do.

I'm sure things would proceed fine. I certainly hope so. But anyway, I'll wait for all the rest of you to come back together. But say I'm kind of keeping an eye out. They already know that you're in the district, so I'm just trying to keep an eye out, see if they send anybody to keep an eye, you know, try and spy on you while you're in the inn.

This is probably rather gauche of me to ask, but you've got anything that, you know, a call sign or something that you are. Just darling. Just darling. Right. Anything you can tell me about Malcolm? I mean, very private man. To prove that you know him.

I mean, anything you know, I know. You know, I'm not gonna... When you work for Mr. Tooms, you learn that you don't give anything away that you don't need to. All you need to know is I'm here to help. I'm keeping an eye on you all. Right, yeah, I just feel a bit uncomfortable

when strange women come out to me in the street and say I know what you know. Yeah, you should. And I'm watching you. It's very mysterious, yeah. But if I wanted to cause you trouble, I would have done so already. Especially with all of you being all off on your own. Oh, fantastic. That's really reassuring.

I mean, why do you think nobody came following you? To be honest, Miss Darling, I wasn't thinking about it. I'm not cut out for this kind of work. That's why I was sent. A few of them were keeping tabs of taking care of them, but they're like low-level. What do you say? What do you mean when you say, taken care of? I knocked him out, tied him up. All right, okay.

Got them hidden somewhere. They're just low-level informants. nobody real important, but, you know, just trying to make sure that they don't get a drop on what you're doing. Hmm. Fantastic. Well, I'm really looking forward to this. I'm so good at this kind of mission. Well. Any tips? I mean, if it was me, be smart, be clever, be charming. You know, these folks, it really depends on how you're going in there.

I hope that you're good at being quiet and being unseen. Quiet as a mouse. Perfect. Some sort of... I think Toms tell me you're some sort of shape-shifter, you can do some shape-shifting. And I can. That's helpful. Just be wary. Obviously, this is a group that have access to a lot of magic themselves.

Do you think they'd be able to see invisibility? If they've got reason to suspect that somebody might be around, they'll probably have a way of doing it. But they won't have it on all the time, I don't think. I also don't think that, like, I mean, same with, like, dispelling magic. and things like that. If they're suspicious, they'll start looking into things. So, it depends on how suspicious you and your mates get.

You coming in with us? I'm going to keep an eye on things. I'll be in there when you go in, but I'm not going to come in with you if that makes sense. I thought I'd at least introduce myself to you and be others. But how'd just meet you, Miss Darling? No, just darling. He's never going to start him again.

But anyway, The other two are still at the pastry shop. Once they come in, I'll make my way upstairs and say hello. Right, okay. And she sort of leans off the wall, kind of stretches. You can see that, like, she's very strong, very athletic. You can see that actually, like, her hands, she... I think Gruff would very instinctively know,

because you've been developing her instinctive fighting as well. She's, like, a brawler. Like, she's not, like, there's no weapons on her at all, but, like, her knuckles and her hands, you can see have, like, got bandages and, like, bruising and stuff like that, scars on the knuckle. and she sort of just cracks her neck and then she like nods

and very just nonchalantly steps out into the street, moves into the crowd and then it's gone basically you just don't see her, just vanishes. I'll go into the Kioshi's. And that's, you start hearing the like, that's my best friend. Yes, that.

You'd probably hear as Groff comes up I imagine this place is quite creaky and he's a little bit. He's a big guy. He's a pretty decent inn. I imagine that Vricks sees you outside. but also, don't forget you of the Daisy Chena as well. He's not saying anything yet.

Sure. Okay, that changes things quite drastically. He's probably going to recognize any small... He knows me very, very, very well. So we need to go deeper into the disguises, I think. Should we pull back and come meet up? I don't think we can. I think we have to go in tonight, but if he's there, that's...

I need to avoid that red dragon board. Should we meet up now? We're still out here. Yes, come upstairs. Come upstairs. Where's Gruff? Uh-oh. They're on me. Do you say that out loud?

That's in the Daisy chain. Guys, we're in trouble. We need to get back, Daisy. Right now. Santhius Ophelia let me in. They sound like gruff. What do I do? Gruff, are you at the door?

I think he's gruff, sannie. Just let gruff in. Graff? Yes, Antheis. It is, Graff. Thank you for eggs. I would not have allowed someone else to approach. That's very true.

I would say to Roet and not in the daisy chain, maybe we'll give them a minute. Good idea. Because, you know, I just, I feel like maybe Gruff needed a bit of time. Maybe you want to have a little chat, I don't know. Yeah, we just be in the way. We can walk slowly back.

Maybe we can get them all a hot chocolate. That's a great idea. Yeah, marshmallows. Maybe that'll bring us all together. Take a few minutes to get some hot drinks. and slowly make your way. You want to spend more time in the plaza where the Opel lounge is?

No. No, we're going to drift away from the local lounge. Sure. No. So they're not spotted. Okay. Good to know. We don't want to spend loads of time.

No? Oh, okay. No, no, no. In that case, yeah, the gruff you enter, you know, bricks. Well, it's a slight door open. Hello, gruff. How is training? It was what it was. Do you want to... Come in or?

Yes, I do. Okay. Closed door unlatch. And then when you open it, there's clothes everywhere. Wow, buy the Saints and Ciles. The Xbox makeup thing is like, ow, stuff everywhere. None of it's put back properly either. No.

I leave my Xbox with you for one hour. I will remain out here. Thank you, watch. We've been working on. our characters and our personalities and who we are, what we do, when we do it, why we do it, who we do it with? Are you guys in, like, outfits now, or like, kind of half?

Bits and pieces, yeah. I think I'm set, I think, I'm trying green. Green's good, green's good, right? It's good, yeah, is it okay, okay. But, yes, I don't know, did you hear that, the Red Dragonborn? That's bad, that's bad news, really bad news. There was a Red Dragonborn, went into the place.

Gruff? I heard. Oh, you heard, okay. Oh, so you heard me? Yeah, that's bad. That you're gonna be in disguise? I'm not good at voices, both in-game and out-of-game. Does it not change voices, no?

Don't believe the hood does, no. Would there be anything in the Xbox? Not to change your voice, no. No? No. It's very mundane. It's only appearance. You press a button who just punches you in the throat.

I don't. I mean, I can punch you in the throat. It would be great. Gruff, we could throttle you. Yeah. But that's where we've been, so... I mean, I didn't... I mean, I didn't...

I don't need to trouble you any more than that, I suppose. So, you know... I brought you oranges. Thank you. From the training. For the orange. Thank you. It's from the train in.

And where is my orange? I go, I don't have to be hard your face. That's gone instantly. The kids said they missed you. Gruff says it's looking at Zampheus. Why he looks so disgusting? And then immediately pivots it. Just like, all of you.

Did they go well, the training? Did they learn a lot? Teach them how a wife do, you know? It went fine, but to be honest, I wasn't very inspiring, and I don't think, I don't know. I didn't do a good job today. I don't think they trust me.

Do you want to, just in a corner over here, maybe let's just close this curtain real quick. What do we do? I think Groff needs a lot of love and support right now. I think we need to give him love and support. Okay. Yes. But we're the problem.

Oh, yes, yes, absolutely. We are the problem, but we, yes. Yeah, 100%. Oh, yeah, 100%. Here's everything. I'm sure you did a fantastic job, Groff. Oh, I love that, though. I don't doubt that you did anything wrong.

I'm sure it all went fine. Well, they're working together better, but... See, that's some positives. Great, when people, I'm not gonna say that, carry on. Gruff. I just think they don't particularly... They don't particularly know how to work with each other yet. Hmm.

How to rely on each other. Right. Is this an allegory? Does Xencus really need to ask that? I don't think you do. He's got eight wisdom. No, that is true. That is true.

He does maybe need to arms. I think he's not much better. He's got ten. I might be... You're not enough to be... I'm... You were aware. Trying to decide at what point we first.

Yes, thank you. I was about to step in and say this is probably... Because I want to go there. We... Assuming everything's sorted out now, so it's good to see you all back together as to you. Hot chocolate. Did you get one for me? Yeah, of course we did.

No. Rick's actually got two for you. Every time. like crushes. In the mandibles and then it just downs, she just downs it and one. Ah, it is hot. Likely, Grasth has come in and said all the right things, such as Ophelia, it's okay.

We're gonna get through this together. Zanthias, we understand where you come from. Graf, I'm sure you said all of that. And Ophelia, you weren't to know. It's okay. And together we need to be strong. And what do you think we said in that scenario? in that scenario.

That you were like agreeing, agreeable, but also sheepish, knowing that you had made a mistake, that you unwillingly lost a soul, but you weren't to know. You weren't to know, and that's the important thing, right, Graf? I did hear them say behind the curtain that they believed that they were the problem, yes. Behind a curtain.

Why did you go behind? Okay. So we're all good now, right? We're fine. I'm just going to shove a pastry in Xanthia's I'll do the exact same. Yes. That doesn't combine with the orange very well.

You've had an orange? I don't know. The orange and chocolate was delicious. Was it? A good combination. It's too sweet. What are you talking about? It's never easy.

Sugar. It's fine. All right, now that we've got that out of the way. I might have eaten too many pastries. I have a lot of sugar. Well, no, we are straight past that. Tell us about Farrier then. Farrier then.

Oh, what a roller coaster. Okay, what a roller coasters? He looks a bit beaten up, I will say. Sorry? He looks a bit, he's not looking great, he's got bruises and stuff. It looked quite, yeah, like

didn't look like the rest of the Opel lounge. But three rings. That's a worry. That's a worry. What if people just wear three rings? No, not when they go into the... But he spoke to to the person on the door and they let them write I don't think if someone with three rings

goes up to the Opel lounge door and speaks to that, if they're not legit, they're not going to get in. And also, what if one of his tasks to be initiated was to deliver Zantheist in the first place? No. They are aware of you. Hold on. Tell us about this person.

How do you know them? He already hasn't? Yeah, I'm trying to recall what I'd already told you before. You told that you went to the city with someone and that they... Is that directly linked to a red... Dragon Ball called Farrier, though.

I'm pretty sure we have. You said you were with Red Dragonborn, I believe, that you were with someone to go and do the thing that you were going to do. A long time ago, yeah. And that she, between you were. Is this the same one that you went to Kelskaris with? Yes, it is.

This is, I've known Farrier for longer than I can even remember. In Rust End, we grew up together, And he knows me better than anyone else in the entire world. Well, a lot's changed since I last saw him, but either way he is or was, I guess, now my best friend. But he had connections to- You're your best friends. Best friends.

Oh, yes, of course, absolutely, absolutely, of course. And I would never do anything to hurt you. So, he is, I, I, I, When I came to Kelskaras after getting a message from my father, he's who I went with because he knew people. And I didn't know who he knew or how he knew them or what that meant at the time. I thought it was completely innocent. But I came to Kelskaris with him,

and he took me to a place that I do not remember. And shortly afterwards, the crowd steel was... There. Did he do it? As Daisy asked that question, Xanthius, you were taken back to a memory of vision that you've not had in quite some time now. A dark room underground somewhere. You don't remember exactly how you got here. Maybe you were blindfolded something about not being able to trust you and not being able to trusted to be brought here.

You remember you came to Kelskaris. Maybe you went to Burn Bright, but you're not sure. But you find yourself in that dark underground space, and there is a pedestal, kind of like one that you might display something in a museum or an art gallery. There was something on top of it covered with a cloth. And there were people, lots of people there. Shady people that you knew were bad news,

but you were there for a purpose. And Farrier said it was okay. And then they revealed the object. and you remember the crown steel and you wanted it and you reached out for it but so did Farrier and something happened and then that explosion and that's the last thing you remember then literally you remember stumbling out of the city gates just trying to get as far away as you could if you're wondering when that vision was that was episode one by the way that was the Xanthius character introduction was it not episode zero tech oh

No, it was episode one. No, we didn't do it. I'm so, damn. But yeah, so damn. I don't recall he was there. I know he was there and he took me there and then I woke up outside of Kelskaris. Not long after I found gruff.

I don't recall what happened, how it happened, anything like that, but he has three rings. So he's with the diadem. That's certain. Remember you saying that he was addicted to Crown Steel as well? Don't believe so. Don't believe so. Okay.

I think you might have had the same pull of it because he's a dragonborn. Ignore me then. I will. Fine. Great. Santhius. Yes. Yes.

I don't want to conspire. This is your best friend from Rust End. But we're learning a lot about the diadem recently and how deep that goes. Is it possible that they were using you or pushing you in the right direction? But I knew in my entire life. Grew up together. You were young boys running around the fields and farms. You know, you didn't have anybody else.

You were the two dragon born in Rust End. Exiled sons of some dragon. He wouldn't... He... I don't mean to suggest anything. like that. Maybe they joined the diadem afterwards after seeing what happened to you and they needed some reason. There's got to be a reason, right? Well, the, the, the professor is, we suspect that he joined because he had no other place to go to after something bad happened. They prey upon people

that needed. Maybe after whatever happened, he was vulnerable and in, in, at risk of being arrested and the diadem found him. But I thought I knew everything about Faria. We spent so much time together, yet there was no... You can't have been a plant just to get me there. That's... You wouldn't do that. Your dad would. Friendships...

One thing you would remember about Ferrier is that he had always dreamed as... He wanted to open his own Smithy. He wanted to be independent. He wanted to work for himself. And you know that that's why he was going to Kelskaris and he started making good money. He came back and he would have a bit more money. He said he was saving up. up for a black smithy.

And that's just one thing, a little detail that you remember, is how a lot of that conversation, that early conversation, of how he knew people. If he, knowing your father, if he had something he needed, your father probably used it. Okay, well, how, what... Let's just think of the present. You can't be spotted.

I... No, no, I... I'm gonna do everything I can to avoid Farrier in that place, in that place, but... Should you even go in, if it's that much of a risk? Well... Are you going to be okay seeing him? Well, I was thinking about the characters that we could play.

We still got... do we still have that letter from the professor? Or was that given to your... You gave it to... Yeah, Crumlow. But you remember the details of it. Daisy saw it and Daisy's got a photograph memory. Well, I mean, certainly, I would say enough, I mean, if you've got it written down, you can remember it. I mean, we're going to be nervous regardless going into that place.

So incorporate that into who we are when we go into the place. Perhaps we had a business in Burn Bright. And that had some illicit operations going on that the diadem would help us with. We receive a letter to meet someone at the Opel Lounge, just like the professor did. It's a truth that we know, and we may as well exploit it. Yes. Well, before we know.

Good work. You hear her kind of like, from the doorway. Ricks is like, like turns around, gun pointed, albert, and you see, Graf, you see the same half-orke. Sorry, not half-fork.

A woman who stared at the doorway, described her earlier. She has, like, visceral, glowing scars down one side of her face. Quite nondescript clothing, but looks pretty capable. hair sort of like tied back shaved sides. We've actually been rumbled this time.

Stand down, Vrix. What? It's like, who are you? How did you sneak up on me? This is Darling, Miss Darling. Oh. Yeah. Nice to meet you.

I'm the one, I'm the friend of Mr. Toombs. The friend of Mr. Toombs, I'm so bad with names. Yeah. Oh. Hello, just darling? Just darling? Just Rowan. Nice to meet you, Ryan.

I know your names, don't worry. Oh. Hello. That checks out. I said to Griffith, I'd come up and say hello, just to let you all know my face. Also, kind of here to give you a bit of a nudge. If you want to move on the Opel Lounge,

I would get a move on. If you're doing it too late, you might be missing your opportunity. I'm pretty sure that all of their folks are inside. I've not seen any come and go, but, I mean, this is an opportunity and you don't want to miss it. I'm going to be around.

I'm not going to come in. with you, but if things get hairy, I'm there if you need me. Good to know, thank you. How many people can you connect with? Just us. I think it's just you guys. I think it's just the group. Darn.

Yeah. I'll be keeping an eye on you. But, yeah, just. If we need you. Uh-huh. Something we can do, a call sign or a... I mean, if you need me in the way that I'm going to help, like, it will be pretty obvious.

I'm talking about if you get rumbled and they're trying to, like, kill you or capture you or anything like that, that's when I'm going to step in. By the science. I'm also here, you know, don't forget I said this to your friend, to your pal gruff. Right now, they know that you're in this district. I think you guys came here and, you know, they've spotted you. They got informants everywhere. So if you're going in with the disguises and things like that,

they're not going to expect you to walk in in disguises. But if they start getting suspicious, they're going to start checking for stuff. and they know how to do it well and do it, you know, on the down low. So as much as you can avoid raising suspicion, try and find what you need. I would expect this place to have all sorts of tricks and traps and secret doors and all that kind of business. I'm drinking an invisibility potion.

Is that going to just be... I said to your friend Gruff, I mean, I don't think they're going to be actively seeking invisibility all the time. No, you know, only pretty super strong mages can really do that. What I would say, though, is if, again, if they think that something fishy is going on, they're going to have people in there with potions or scrolls or something like that, and they'll start looking for invisible things. They'll start looking and check in for anything that looks out of place.

So, you know, even mice and spiders crawling around, they know that people can shape-shift. They know that people can turn into animals. They're not stupid, right? You've got to remember you're dealing with clever, well-formed, well-funded people here. Okay. So it depends on how you want to do it. I would also say if you're thinking of going in there and kicking off a ruckus,

that's just going to meet. They're going to take whatever information they've got and run. They're not going to stand and fight and, you know, risk their most valuable agents. We want to get Perido, right? That's the main goal. Perido is the one that we need the most. They're the one who's going to have all the best information. So that's our target.

Either we get Perrida or we get what Perrida knows. Maybe they got books or letters or ledgers or something. Or we can mark them with the tracking. Exactly. Perfew. Get as much as whatever you can, they're our target. I mean, I don't know what other business you guys have got here, but Watchtower, we want the facets.

And we want to know where the other facets are. We want to know what kind of business they're engaged in. That's what we want to learn. Well, all right. these two will be attempting the talking side of things. I think we've spent too much time with the plan that it's us too, so I think it has to be us too. Yes.

How am I, what am I doing? I was going to stay outside, but if you're turning into a mouse. I can't do that. You're right, that's gruff. I'm all mixed up. I can use one of the invisibility potions and then stick. I have another. I was going to use it as a potential if we're in there too long,

but I feel like if we're in there for an hour, that's too long. anyway so maybe you do drink it and we both just stay quiet and look for whatever we can who was the spectacles one of you two could wear it as part of your attire um I divvy that stuff up now before you get in there make sure you know who's got what make sure you know how to use it yes whatever spells or magic powers and stuff you got make sure you got those locks you ready to go a sneakyish spell don't you gruff that helps us to be sneaky not Today.

Oh. Woohoo. Also, pass without a trace is a funny one. I know it gives a flat bonus to stealth, but it is kind of the description of the spell is all about hiding tracks and things like that. So it's like, it's one of those annoying things where it's just like, well, would it help you in this scenario?

Kind of. Invisible, but in the invisible. Yeah, I probably would give it for that kind of stuff. You don't leave any evidence of your passing as well, so it's like you don't like scuff up the carpet. It's now an aura. And you have to stay close to gruff for it to be in effect. So what's here is, so the plan is gruff mouse?

Yes, in Aphelia's pocket getting in. Okay. And then we're gonna drink invisibility potions sneaking behind these two. Okay. And then, I'm gonna leave you guys to finish up your final plan. I'm gonna basically go and start keeping on and make sure there's nobody coming and going that we don't want. Keeping an eye out for anybody of, you know, coming out the back or anything like that. And I'll leave you to it, like I said, I'll be watching.

If you need my help, I'm around. You probably won't see or recognize me, but I'm there. So just keep an eye out, all right? Thank you. Maybe leave the big bug outside. Yeah, we will. Thank you. Briggs, can you take care of our belongings that are here? That is what you wish. You wish me to remain here?

I think that might be best, because we've all been seen with you, and you're very recognizable. It is true. I am glorious. But we're going to be leaving a lot of important belongings here, like, my scarf, because I don't want to get it caught on anything while I'm invisible. I am under your retainer, friend Rowan. If you wish to pay me to remain here and look after scarves,

so be it. On my Xbox. I'm very well. This is, if you like. This would be our main... Oh, whoa, whoa. Starts going up. She gets like a little blush.

Put it on her cheek. There's like a little rosy cheek on the carapace. Nice color. Very good. I like the shift. I have seen many women's and men's wearing such here in the... city. What suits you. It looks lovely. Does the other cheek.

Rowan, if we get into... I have a talent. Thank you. If we get into any trouble, I can also... If our invisibility drops and we need to get out quick, then I can... If you come to me, I can guess both... Right. ...out. Maybe we should stay in pairs anyway, or stay nearby each other, no matter what, so we always have someone to help us. So...

We'll be in contact. Yes. So... So... My question... We'll try to get to Peridot the normal way. About a story? Do we need a story?

That shop that we run, a clothes shop. We know those. We were selling some stuff under the counter. You know, the usual bad people stuff, you know? Just like weapons, things like that. Yes, and the guards suddenly started taking an interest. But all of a sudden, the guards looked at. guards looked away. Why is that? And then we receive a letter to meet someone at the Opal

Lounge. How curious. Oh, but we're so scared and confused and we don't want our simple innocent operation to go under, do we? No, no, no, of course not. Right, can I just tag that you two remember what phrase it was that you needed to use? Yes, it was. Now this is where Kira is going to say... You're asking for a parrot of sling. A pair of sling. Yes, thank you. As in you're asking for it. I'd like a peridosling.

I'd like a peridose thing. Yes, I had written it down in my book somewhere. There's so many pages and there's tomes and spells and things. Yes. Thank you, bro. So my other, so to get things moving along, how are you approaching Neopal Lounge? Who's going in where?

Remember, this is a three-story building. You know that there's a roof terrace, it's three stories up, which would make it about 30 feet up, maybe just under 25-ish 20 feet. It overlooks the plaza. You have the main entrance that goes in the front, which is where the guards and things are. I don't believe you guys went and tried to find out

if there were any other entrances or exits. So those are the only current access points that you're aware of. There were windows on the middle floor and those connected to the private rooms that are for rent in the Opel Lounge. Yes, Ryan. This is Chris speaking.

Okay. What the fuck is Chris? Who's that? Um, potion of visibility. Yes. I have the boots of levitation from the Faye Wild. Mm. Uh, can I carry Daisy up to the terrace?

I think that, yeah, I think you, what's your strength score again? Two million. It's not. Whoa. And it says there. Two million. Doesn't say that. It's, um, 13.

So plus one. I would say just about like it's like, again, Rowan's big, but you're not strong. You could, large, large, then you might stroke. Trample everyone on terrace. But I would say, Daisy's quite small. strong enough that I think yes, you can carry Daisy, you just couldn't do it for a long time. So you don't want to be doing it. Yeah, yeah, you could do that, yeah.

I propose that idea as like an alternative entrance. Yeah, okay, yes. Well, if you are invisible and the suspicion isn't open that they start looking for invisible people, maybe that's, you guys need to just start looking for secret rooms, hidden places. Should we take the spectacles? Maybe rolling should. You're better with magic. Are they going to fit my face? Yeah, probably, I would assume.

kind of look like Dave Batista from Blade Runner. Tiny. Yeah, no, they are. They're like little tiny, like Ponsnaise. Amazing. Ponsnog. They look great. Here's a mirror.

Whoa. Hello. So this is a wand of secrets trot. But once all the charges are gone, it just doesn't work. It doesn't regain charges ever, the spectacles. It's like a one use kind of wand. Yeah, I've renamed it. Yeah, got it here.

So yeah, once you've used all three charges, that's it's done. It doesn't ever get. it charges back. Yeah. Well, it says it regains one to three. I'm saying that's different to that. I'm saying that's the exception. Yeah, it's the difference.

Me and Kira. And what's your name? Fonson. Fonson. Son of Fon. Right. It's just too stupid to be real, right? Fonson.

Fonson. Oh, I miss my party. Better than Bentheus. You know, I've heard him say Bentheus so many times when we do these things. Tantheus. Yeah, he just puts another letter in front of his own name. I miss my dad form so much.

I suggest that perhaps you two leave... Why are you laughing, Ophelia? Sorry, it's just... It's so good. It's so good. Thank you. It's great. It's great. I suggest perhaps that you two maybe leave separately or out the back of this building or something because Miss Darlane did say that we are all being watched it.

Yes, yes, that's fine. We... I think we have to go through the front door. That's what these people would do, right? We're just paying guests. We've been asked to meet. someone, we'll just walk in the front room. We're confused, we're lost, we're scared, we simply received a letter and a message.

Yes. Paralo sling. Paralo sling. Okay, so that's Samh Kisnafiel. You're going to go in through the main door. You're going to do your disguises now. Yes. We established a little bit like how much you change

in your appearance and what are you doing with it. Yeah. You have the hood of false faces. Remember, it can pretty much change everything except like your ancestry and things like that. You can have a slightly different skin color, you can change your eyes, add facial hair, you can change your hairstyle, change the hair color.

You can do a lot of that stuff, and it will count as a physical disguise. Cool. But what specifically are you doing? What do you look like? I think Ophelia would take inspiration from, like, her mother. So her hair would be like a, almost like a crimson red, up in like a French twist.

Her, like, slightly pointy ears will be more human, and her cheeks will fill out a bit more, and her skin will have like a nice sort of tan glow to it, like a nice sun tan glow. So the way it works is you set the hood of the phosphase on its little tripod, you place it over and then concentrate, and you watch as this like balaclava mask begins to, almost like the thing underneath it begins creating like that slightly filled out cheek,

it changes the ear shape, hair begins to grow and sort of feel, and then you slip it over your head and pull it down, almost like a kind of balaclava, and then as you pull it down, it tightens and basically becomes skin tight. And Ophelia now has a completely different face. She, and her, even like her arms,

you see that it begins to like shift and change the skin color of her arms and things. And you were dressed in like gildi, not super rich, but kind of what nice fine clothing. A nice dark green long dress with like a red sort of Kelskaris shawl over her shoulders kind of thing. Perfect, okay.

And then what about Zanthias? I think Zanthius is going to aim for a green dragon-born look. Still humanoid. Still humanoid. But many of the scales's placement on Zanthias will be almost slightly moved or even completely removed. More like on the neck rather than around the eyes, things like that. The crown is gone.

The golden crown is gone, but it's replaced with his hair is longer. And there's like almost flowers that are sort of going. Yeah, so I was going to say, if you're going for a green dragonborn, then the horns, because you'd have to keep some horns, because you're dragonbond, but they become more like antlers. Because green dragons have antler-like horns. And so the dragon has the same thing. And then, yeah, there's like flowers that almost kind of woven in.

Yeah, kind of like curled around the top of the head with flowers interwoven into that as well. And in terms of like appearance, it's kind of, it's, generally just, like, seeing the Diadem agents, it's just a little bit more nondescript, just like, just a guy. Just a guy. Probably, like, because, like, Xanthias has quite fine features, so it's a bit of a stronger jaw, a bit of a bigger nose,

you know, a bit of, like, the forehead filled out and things like that, and then the scale placements to kind of hide up some of those details. And you do the same thing, you kind of pull this over, and you watch as, like, the golden tail becomes green, the skin changes the placement. But, yeah, Xanthus now looks like, a completely different man. He just does not look like Xanthius anymore.

I also pull off the glove. Is the crown steel under that fighting against the disguise, or is it like... Well, I think the thing is, is you would probably, what would probably happen is, because you're quite slim and trim, but obviously

the crown still corrupted arm is a bit thicker and broader than yours. So the shroud sort of matches that. So it actually makes your other arm a bit bigger and your chest a bit so it's almost like kind of wearing padding. So you look a bit hencher now. Okay.

Now again, that will technically, you know, it's like you're wearing almost like a prosthetic, basically. So if somebody interacts with it, they might be like, oh, that doesn't quite feel right. But it looks the part, like you look like you've just got bigger arms and brought a chest. Fanson. You said Fonson before.

Did I? Fonson, yeah. I missed my dad fan. You really need to sort the name before you go in. Lock it in. We've got it. Fanson. Fanson.

Fanson. Fanson. Kira. Kira. Kira. Do you have second names? Roth. Kira, Rath.

Kira, Roth. Fanson, son of fan. And then finally, Graff, what is your plan? I'm going to turn into a wee mouse. And hide in Kira's... I'm going in Kira's pocket. Okay. Because I have a choice of two.

I think I would prefer that pocket. Okay. Um... She killed the soul. She also told everybody about it when pressured. So here's my other last little bit of... She didn't murder! To move on from this,

because we've had this discussion. The other question I have is the two of you going in disguise, because the invisible people in Gruff, don't need to worry about this, your equipment. So for Ophelia, Veracity, what are you doing with it?

The scarab armor, are you leaving that on? because if you tap it and it retracts, nobody would know that you have it. You could hide it behind your hair or whatever. But Veracity... Very distinct. Can't hide it.

The shroud doesn't hide your equipment. No. Could it go in Rowan's bag of stuff? Yeah, could put it in the bag of holding? Will you look after this for me? Yeah. But it means you will not have any weapons on you then. Could I maybe use my whip as like a waist belt?

Ooh. You could certainly try. It's going to be risky because it is a weapon. whip, it's not, it's got a big bladed end and things like that. It's going to be kind of tricky to try and hide. The other thing you could do is try and hide it under your roads. Random daggers in my bag. You want just random bog standard daggers.

Would normal people have weapons? I would say no. Like most normal citizens aren't going to be walking around with a sword or a whip or anything like that. A hidden dagger, like they might have like a knife, like, but even that would be pretty, you know, suspicious. A dagger in the boot. Dagger in the boot.

Do a classic dagger in the boot. I'd say you could hide, you know, one dagger per boot. Not, that's not very much, but it's like... It's good thing I'm wearing seven darts. It's fair than nothing. Yes. Thank you, Daisy. So you'll only have two daggers on you. Veracity is currently in the bag of holding.

And then Xanthius, like, any things like the Goldside Eye, any equipment like that? A lot site eye, I'm going to have to leave behind. Although it would be covered by the disguise, right? No, your equipment isn't hidden. Right, right, right, right, right, right. But it is, like, just a fancy monocle. you could in theory just wear it,

but it is quite recognizable. It doesn't match the character, I'm afraid. So, no, Gold's-Sight eye is going to have to go. Otherwise, I don't really have that much. Pop it in the bag. Daisy, look at it, because if I forget, we need to remember it to get it out. Yeah, you can put it all in the bag and hold it.

I'm not sure the Aphelia will remember what's... I'll remember Rusty years. Actually saying that it's Ophelia, she forgets what she has all the time. I've put so many things in the bag, it leaves my mind. Can you look after this? I'll write it, exactly. My immovable rod, please.

Sword. Legendary sword. The thing is, if we click that in the back, that's the end time. Just tear a seam in the fabric. Well, we rolled to see what happens. What if it accidentally clicks on, oh no, it's on its own, isn't it? So just keep in mind, yeah, for Ophelia,

you do not have any of your equipment. We'll assume everything is in the bag of holding that you are not specifically carrying right now. Scaramama, deactivated, dagger and beat each booth. And that's pretty much everything. That's it. Aphi also has fucking A and fucking B, and by that I mean left, fang, right fang. Okay?

Oh, I hate it. And... So, with that... Dundooch... Isn't that Friday the 13th? Yeah. Dut, too. Yeah.

Amazing. That's where it comes from. So, with that, you... Do you drink the Invisibility Potions now? It's an hour. Yeah? So... You're only like...

You're like five minutes away from the place. Yeah, I think so because I think leaving the place is better. Yeah, this is my question. Yeah, this is my question. So these two strangers exit, a mouse hidden in one's pocket. And then two unseen invisible people follow shortly after. Just I need it remedied in my head. A small sip first.

What happens? Oh yeah. Nothing, if you just have a small sip. I don't slightly see through. No. You have to drink the whole potion. Yeah, you have to drink the whole potion for it to have an effect. Before...

I don't want to invite the chaos that if you like dip a finger or like drink a bit of it, like I don't want that. No, it's not worried. Dye your hair. Yeah, no. Oh. Just drink the whole potion. It tastes very citrusy. It's very light and...

Not bad. You're gone. You're gone. You're gone. I go. Can't see you. No, I can still hear you. Like a little. Yes, the two of you can't see each other. That's the other thing. But we are, maybe we hold hands before you.

Or like, yeah, like, did you can reach out and, like, grab up to his. Well, he's going to give me a piggyback to the, I'll just, I'll just, I'll just, I'll be. Okay. That makes sense. Same. So I think just before, I guessing as they make their prep and then go out, and just before I wild, should I've been to a moose. What did you do?

I would just... I'm probably helping Xanthias, like, you know, just like fix the collar, like something like that, fix the hood. Zanthius? Yes, crap, yes. Not now, but later. There's something I want to say. Nothing bad, but there's no time now.

I just want to carry on. Okay, yes. That's for the best. Just trust me, okay? I do trust you. Trust me. Let's go. With that, you make your way out.

That wasn't a yes! Groff just nods. Graff just gives you a kind of a pause and a nod. Yeah, yeah. I love you. Say it back. We can't have serious moments, Kim. You know that, you can't serious moments.

You can't. You make your way these two strangers, never yet before seen seen in the city, as you travel across the giant statue of Oregonus in the center of the plaza, looking out, looking out to the city, standing almost like something of a guardian before this place of such importance.

Roman and Daisy, you quickly make your way up to the side of the Opel Lounge, and, you know, being on Roman's shoulders, you suddenly threw yourself levitated as the boots of levitation lift you up. You rise a few stories, you rise about... 30 feet in the air. So the ground sort of becomes, you just feel almost an invisible wind

kind of lifting you up. And then as you reach the top, you can just, because there's no forward momentum, it's not boots of flying, you have to sort of reach out row and sort of grab the ledge and sort of pull yourself over. And you are now on the roof terrace of the Opal Lounge. There's maybe a couple of, you know,

two sets of couples just sat out on, round tables with little sheltered lanterns and heaters, sipping some drinks, having private, quiet conversations, admiring the beautiful landscape, the view that can be seen from up here. There is a moment as you sort of pull yourself up onto the side, and Rowan, you're sort of, as you reach over your foot, just touches one of the nearby chairs.

There is a moment where they sort of look over like, they sort of, but it's nothing, like, they must have been the wind. Exactly. And you and Daisy, you sort of clambered down from Rowan's shoulders, and two of you are now on top of the roof terrace. Completely unseen, as far as anyone knows. Yeah! I say in the channel. In the Daisy chain. I would just say,

remember, keep us updated. Tell us where you are. Keep us posted. We're on the roof net. Meanwhile, down below, Xanthias and Ophelia, you walk up. to the Opal Lounge, this beautiful, very stylish, quite subdued entryway. And there is a well-dressed, very well-equipped, good armour, good weapon, a heavy kind of mace club at their side.

And as you approach, they sort of just hold out a hand and just look you in and say, it's a young man. Can I help you? Oh, yes, good evening. We are looking for a peridotling. You wish you want to come into the club? Yes, please. Oh, uh, looks you over.

And just sort of is just like, yeah, very well, yes, come on in. Oh, okay. A drink orders you do at the bar miss. Oh, sorry, this is our first time you hear it. Yes, we, um, do you work, you work here, yes? Yes. You seem quite nervous, are you all right? Well, we received a letter and we, um...

I think that's probably best you'd go down and you do. Just go down and have a drive. Yes, okay, yes, okay. Thank you, thank you for your time. Okay, this way. You step down in, you know, and it kind of leads down. You step a few stairs down,

and you make your way into a very opulent looking space. So, we have a map. We got in. We got a map. A map. Actually, that you'd be. As you enter, there is a gold, Dragonborn Guard, who is as you get down to the lower end.

I'm beautiful. It's copying me. You see that there is a long corridor with a beautiful rug underneath it. It does split off to either side, and you can see stairs that lead up going from either side, a number of closed doors, but you can see ahead of you. It goes down further into a sort of recessed bar area, and you can see there's a lot of hum, drum, and sort of people chattering and sort of that low. There's a very faint, gentle music that seems to be coming from that room as well,

kind of just filling the space, a little loungey, a bit jazzy, and you can hear that kind of humdrum. The guard, as you come down on this sort of crossroads area where the stairs are, just sort of looks you up and down in the same way that the guard upstairs did. She said, welcome to the Opel Lounge. Please make yourselves at home. Thank you. Yes, we're going to go get a drink. Okay, goodbye. Is there anybody here that... Definitely is like,

like watches Xanthias for a little bit as you guys start walking down. I'm genuinely going for the... Like, these guys would be nervous and suspicious anyway. Sure. So. Yeah?

Yeah. Anybody here that Ophelia recognises from... Well, so if you guys can... Because it's quite hard for me to lean over. So as you start making your way down and you step in, it's been quite a few hours,

Ophelia, since you did your little vision in this place. When you did your little vision, in this place, it seemed like this place was closed. As you look around, the only one that you recognize is up on the stage is the bard, the man I think that you heard the name Alejandro.

He is one of the musicians who's playing. Kind of like a low husky lounge, kind of almost a little Frank Sinartre, kind of he's doing a little singing. There's the half-ling bard who you saw was sent away to go and fetch glitter. And she's playing the accompaniment, basically, to him and the two of them are on either side

of the far end little bar table stage area. Cool. You do post, as soon as you step in, there is a barman behind the bar, cleaning glasses and sort of rearranging things. There's a couple of very well-dressed looking Kelskar as

citizens, an elegant woman with dark skin, a man in sort of a lot, very foppish blue outfit, and they seem to just be sort of sat on a pair of sofas, just chatting away with each other. Yeah, and unless you specifically tell me that you want to listen into a conversation, I'm not going to, like, they're just, you can hear like,

best, you have that we're kind of chattering. You're not only going to pick up on conversation if you actively say, I want to listen to what they're talking about and stuff. Are there seats at the bar or? I'd say there's stools at the bar. Yeah, there's stools at the bar. Okay. You can see that there are, there are curtained doorways that seem to lead off from this room,

left and right, and a few that you saw them being used. But apart from that, you saw that there were maybe some like bathrooms back the way that you came. There was a room that a lot of like a smell, like a cooking smell was coming from. But apart from that, you don't really, don't see any other entrances and entrance here. Let's take a seat at the bar. Let's just take a seat at the bar as we were told to do. I've just, I just noticed. No, no, that's not.

Sorry. Sorry. Don't order drinks. This is mine, fine, I think. Oh, okay. In the brain. Do you have any money for drinks? I don't have any money.

Because you gave it all the way. Oh, I was well aware. This is why I was making a big point about equipment. You don't have a single gems on? Cynthia and Ophelia reached the bar. Ophelia patting the pockets of her dress, realizing what has happened. Daisy and Rowan upstairs.

Oh my God. That's through the Daisy chain, so these two hear that. You're the fucking worst. You're actually the worst. Daisy, crisis. Do we need to bring you money? I think we need to bring the money.

I have stuff. I have money. I have money. All right. Everyone has money. Those two. And they were the ones going to the bar. I know. Ophelia had money. She gave it all the way. She gave away.

They're at the bar now. They're at the bar. They're at the bar. It has a party fund and Groff's a mouse. So Groff can't access. Unless we pay with a little time. No. Mouse does not get to access to equipment.

It's little blumps of chis. If gruff gives you money, then gruff is going to be full graph in the middle of the bottom. It just pops out. Because there's a lot going on. Jokes aside, I want to keep pressuring on. So Rowan and Daisy, you're up on the roof. What are you guys doing? I have an idea.

This is all happening at once. That's why I want to kind of keep jumping between the two. I have an idea for you. Don't buy drinks. Try and get them with your charm. It's okay. We're not here for drinks. Ask if you could open a tab.

We may possibly, like, okay. Daisy. We just don't want drinks. Open a tab. Okay. You and me, Daisy, I'm going to head towards the entrance of the terrace into the building now.

Do you see that entrance there ahead of us? To the bath of you. And then I'm going to go left. Okay. And then we're going to just find the closest room that we can step into that has nobody in it. Okay.

So you... Go on. I'm just going to follow. Yeah. So the two... of you, you make your way to the sort of entrance to the terrace. No, you guys go. You guys go. You make your way to the entrance terrace and it's like a little short set of stairs going down. As you reach in, you find yourself in sort of basically like

a long corridor that then turns to, it would go down and then it would go left and right and then it turns back on itself again. As you get down, you can see that there are two doors facing inwards into the building. So as you kind of split down, you sort of come down in the middle, and then as the corridors go out to the sides, there are two rooms that seem to be connected there. And then as you reach the outer edges, there are rooms along there as well. In the thingy, should we try one of the outer rooms on the left? Yeah.

And just start doing a perimeter? Yeah. Thinking about... I guess... I wonder if there's a more hidden place we need to start looking. These are quite obvious. These are like inns, yeah. hotel rooms. Imagine that you're in like a hotel corridor.

And it's kind of got like the rooms, we've got numbers on them, they've got very or in a very ornate, like, door handles and knobs and, like, keyholes. Which is not one that looks like it's not... No, all of these look like hotel rooms. Like, you look like this is like the... I wouldn't say any of the... There's no VIP rooms, no.

I think these are all like kind of travellers' rooms. And is there a floor... Of different sizes. Like, some of them look like single occupancy, maybe like a larger occupancy. And is there a floor above this, or is this... No, no, no, you literally came from the roof. You're in, like, the second floor, which is the sort of hotel room,

the hotel part of the Opel Lounge, and then that would then drop down into the main lounge bar. Okay, Daisy. Maybe I go left, you go right, and we'll meet in the middle at the end. Of these rooms? Yes, and we'll see what we find along the way, see if there's anything that looks particularly...

Is there, like, a bit in the middle that you can see that? Is it like a balcony type of, or is it just corridor? Just corridor. Just corridor. Yeah. It's very much. And in fact, like Xanthius and Afia, when you look like this, it's a solid ceiling.

It has this beautiful chandelier with glowing opals instead of lights and candles. But it is a solid ceiling, so there's no way to look down into. It's kind of imagine like one of those basement cocktaily, like lounge bars. It's kind of got that vibe. And then you guys are in like the swanky hotel bit that you stay in above that. I look down. Are we on carpeted floor? I would say it's like rugged, yeah.

My footprints embedding. there is an impression being left. You did not have passed without a trace, so there is definitely evidence that you are moving through here. But it's not like obvious. Like someone you would have to like properly... People are up on the terrace. Yeah.

There could be people that have to move through. Should we just make our way through? Opposite ends. Meet at the other side. And then make our way down if we don't see anything obvious. And to be clear, I'm not talking about tracks. I'm talking about like Rowan is invisible stood on the carpet. So because you can see through himself,

you can see like the two of you are. leaving like an imprint slightly, yeah. But yeah, you can just basically make your way down. And it looks like it will just join back up and then probably head to the floor below, basically. But just ruling out like, oh, that looks like an interesting in-between thing. Sure. So are you actively searching for things as you go?

I think pace our way down, searching, maybe. That's what Rowan will do. Yeah. Okay. So in that case, I would like, so are you just looking with your eyes? Are you touching the walls? Are you, like, searching for secret doors? The speckons.

Who had the spectacles? I've got the spectres. I've got three charges. And how long do the charges last? It must be a one burst thing, and you just see. The wand of secrets is the base item. Yeah, I've got it here. Three charges take a magic action to expend a charge

and a secret door within 60 feet of me. So how long... It's just like a burst. I would say that the corridor is probably... 60, 65, 70. It's about 80 feet wide. Right. Oh, but if you're in the middle.

If you're in the middle, yeah. I'll walk to the middle and then flash it, trying to keep as wide a perspective on everything as possible. Well, the wand points you towards it. When in this, the glasses would outline it, basically. I do it an eye towards it. I do an owl and break my neck. Hey, because you're not cast in the spell,

I'm going to say this doesn't break the invisibility. you're using the object. Oh, oh, God. Oh, yeah. You stand on the sort of long corridor where you guys are. You activate this, and it reveals secret doors and traps, right? Praps, yeah. Yeah.

You do not see anything like that in this section. Left corridor clear, moving to the middle, over and out. I don't think we need to go down. I think they had, they had any secret. offices and stuff. I think he'll be... I'll see you at the staircase in the middle of the back. Okay, so you guys are going to basically go through the hotel corridors and then meet out there.

Yeah, I mean, Daisy, you can make a perception or an investigation check to search around if you would like. Keep in mind that with Rowan doing that and you doing that, it does take a bit of time. The guard that we walked past, he was booking a corridor, wasn't he? He's stood at the kind of crossroads of a corridor, yes. 27 on perception. 27 on perception. Looking around, as you're kind of looking around, you don't see anything out of

place up here. These do just appear to be like travellers rooms, like legitimate business travelers rooms. You don't see like any secret in between doors or like any secret panels or levers in this section. So the two of you eventually meet up and you find yourselves basically at two, but you don't see each other because as you've kind of gone, there's just two staircases leading down, which seem to join up to the floor below. So we go down the staircases first to meet up? Yeah. Okay. I'm going down the staircase. Cool, so as you do that, being invisible, Daisy and Rowan appear on these corners here

as you enter the Opal Lounge and you see each, well, you don't see each other because you're invisible, but you can see the same guard that Xanthus and Ophelia passed earlier stood at this crossroads in this lower section. Meanwhile, Afilia, Xanthius and Rowan. Not Ryan, Gruff. Sister Kira?

Yes, gruff. You guys have moved up to the bar, though, right? We've sat at the bar. Yeah, so I think like as you go to speak gruff, like the bartender is like, hey, hey, how are you doing? Can I, how can I help you? Welcome to the Opal Lounge. Hello, hello.

It's lovely here, absolutely beautiful lounge. It's a wonderful place. Oh, yes, we're looking to get a couple of drinks. Do you do tabs here? It kind of looks at you and kind of takes you in looking at your appearance. And you guys did buy fine clothing. Give me a persuasion role with advantage.

Maybe fate. Oh, yeah, fate, please. You may absolutely spend a point of fate. Oh, guys. With advantage? Yeah. Let's hear the number. Wait until we hear the number.

Twelve. Oh, 12. He looks you over and he's like, I'm afraid it's not really company policy to open tabs. Most of our clientele, they just pay cash. Well, to be honest, I don't know if it's necessarily a drink that, We're after, we would... You're at a bar and you're not after a drink.

Well, we got a letter, you see. Yes, we were looking to speak to the person who sent us sent letter. They asked us to meet us here. You're welcome to go and chat to any of our other clientele, of course. But if you don't want to drink, I'm just a barman, so... I guess we'll go to sit and enjoy the music then, I suppose. Yes, thank you. Thank you very much.

Your time. All right. Just ask for the sling. Well, I mean, you guys, Gruff says that as you finish that conversation, but what's the plan? Where do you go and sit? Just one more thing. Tell me Sister Kira, was there a washroom on the way to? You don't have to say

because you're in their head. I know, but he's got to get into it. Okay, sure. I think there was a washroom, yes. Yes, there was gruff. Right, take me there. Do you need we? Take me to the washroom, Sister Ophelia. I'm just going to go powder my nose. I'll sit at this chair then and wait for you.

I'll be back in a minute. Okay. Are you going to sit at the bar? Are you going to head up there? There is a large table with chairs all around it. There is also these two having a conversation that you could sort of go and awkwardly sit next to them. I mean, wherever there is a seat and I can just...

You can kind of listen. I'd say that actually is probably like kind of like a seat going along the side here as well. Yeah, you could just be listening to the music. You make your way back here. Do you go up to the guard? You don't actually know where the restrooms are, I don't think, but it looked like they might be around this area.

Oh, sorry, the restrooms just behind you. Just behind you. Ah, thank you. Daisy and Rowan, you would see Kira, Phelia, basically making her way up around this way. Can I follow Kira into the washroom, please? So you quickly rush up before the door shuts? Before the door shuts.

Yeah, you step in, and then Daisy follows in behind you. What do you do, Rowan? In my head, I'm going to... to say, Ophelia, I'm right behind you. I'm going to put some money in your pocket, okay? Okay, thank you. I will put like 50 gold into Ophelia's pocket, and then she doesn't need to be a problem.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Rowan, what are you doing? Sounds like you've got that handled. I'm going to try this door on the right. This one here? Yeah.

Well, the guard's not looking. So I'm going to wait for him to... So give me a stealth check to see if you can stealthily open the door without drawing his attention. Does he get an invisibility give advantage or anything? It doesn't, no, not to self-check. Because ultimately, like, if you're doing something like opening before, this is a test of like how quietly he can do it, how well he times it to the guard not looking.

Are you worried about me? Not on 11. You wait, you're kind of waiting, you think, you're like, okay, he's not looking, you go to open it. You just put too much force, and as you open it, it opens a lot more suddenly and swings, and the guard immediately is like, huh? and he looks over.

It's like, like squint his eyes as the door is now very obviously open. And he's immediately like... Brown runs up the stairs. So you just dash back. Yeah. He like moves over. He like steps into the kitchen and you can hear him be like, did this door just opened?

And you hear a voice say, huh? What? I didn't open the door. I'm busy working. I've got a bunch of orders to do. Come on, get out. And he's like, no, did you... Somebody open this door?

What are you talking about? I didn't open it. And he's like, he steps back outside. And you can see that he is now actively looking around. Oh, we've got a yellow alert, like, on the eye. Yeah, you could say that there is the suspicion track has been raised by one. Rowan goes upstairs. Okay.

And so completely back up. And goes around and comes down the stairs on the other side. In that case, that's going to take you a while. Yeah. Jump into everybody else. But this guard is actively, like, looking around, like, listening. So, Daisy, you sort of. sort of, and this doesn't break invisibility,

you kind of put some gold into Aphelia's pocket, you feel the gold kind of enter. What do you guys do now? I'm gonna wait for her to leave, so I don't wanna open the door without her opening the door. So I'm gonna basically follow your lead. I'm gonna go in my head, I'm just telling you and graph, okay, I'm gonna go listen into some conversations, I think,

see if I can find anything, word of mouth. So for the record, what I was gonna do is get us to cram into a cubicle, come out of wild shape, shape, give a money and go back into a mouse wall and give you a very dirty look. I had this image in my head, like I was just squished in the cubicle, like,

so with that, as you guys are doing that, Xanthius, what have you been doing? So as I'm coming away from the bar and I kind of go towards this wall, I would be going past these two people that are having a conversation. Do they kind of look at me at all as I'm going past, or? They are deep in their conversation. I'm gonna try this. Because I'm doing the nervous, shuffling, awkward character

in-game, guys. I will kind of sidle up to them and almost like tap them on the shoulder. So they're sort of mid-conversations, yes, and then I... Sorry, hello. Hello, excuse me. Are you, perchance, the... Peridot Slane?

What's you talking about? No. Never mind. Never mind. Never mind. Go back to your conversations. Can you give me a... This is probably because you're kind of putting on a bit of an act.

Give me a straight deception. Give me a deception skill check. Straight up decepting it. I won't fate. You won't fate. I mean, you've only got two points. Is it really? Yeah.

I have a plus eight. Not every role is gonna be important. Yeah. I still want you to roll. Yeah. 22. 22. They just sort of brush you off.

You hear them mutters just like, they really are just letting anybody in here earlier. Did you see that Dragonborn who came in? It's dirty. And they're just like, this idiot, asking us. That's my friend. Literally like the woman is just like,

yes, what a buffoon. As you walk away. Sorry. But they didn't seem to know anything. As you step back, Ophelia and Daisy, that's when you round in. I think that that is at that point that Xanthias, with a perfect opportunity, sees the curtains open and Ferrier steps in. I have to use, I don't have a suitable mini, but Ferrier steps in.

Farrier steps in. And you originally said Ferrier, by the way, but I changed it, and we've been going with Farrier. Well, I'm playing as Fanson, who was Fonson. Fonson to begin with, so. He steps in. That's the first way he said it. He steps in and goes up to the bar and just basically ask for a drink

and starts having a drink at the bar. But you can see that he's kind of rubbing his temples, like rubbing around like his horns and just is like, and looks like pretty high. It just looks quite lost in his thoughts. And, you know, not sure what's going on, but is right in front of you. Yeah, I mean it's,

when he first comes in if he happens to be looking my way it's literally like a the eyes immediately go wide remember where I am go to look away from him but then realize looking away from him would be too suspicious

so he's trying to recover himself a little bit as I guess his mannerisms would slip as you look back and you try and recover he's got like a glass and he is like looking at you um he's like across the room he's just sort of like looking

at you? I will do the most, like, act thing of, like, looking over my shoulder, pointing at myself. You see, kind of, like, grins. He's kind of, like, smirks, and he just sort of waves his hand, like, no, don't worry about it. Um... It was a poll mate. But he's, yeah, you catch him, like, he's, like, kind of sips his drink, and you just occasionally, like, glances over, but he goes back to his drink. With that, we are going to take our first We're going to take a break. It's break time.

This is going great. The thing is, I think it's a good thing to play the suspicious characters, right? Because we are going to be suspicious. Yeah, play into it. I think it's an interesting idea. We're going to take our break there, everybody. We will see you in five minutes. Back for the continuation of this infiltration.

Fucking goal. It's fucking funny. See in a bit.