High Rollers DnD - Welcome to the Azarr Steppe! (Part 2) | Altheya: The Dragon Empire #97

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

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Pickax. Welcome trainers. My name is Luis. And I am Chris. We welcome all trainers new and all to the Purify podcast. We rant about Pokemon Go, a game we love just as much as everybody else. We like to talk news, updates, and our own experience of gameplay. If you want real opinions about how we play and how we love this game, this is a podcast for you.

Check us out on your favorite podcast feat. podcast feet. Welcome back to part two of Althea, the Dragon Empire. Our heroes have left Gallows Erie and have begun making their way through the mountain range into the Azar Step. A couple of incidents took place, but having sort of pulled themselves together and with Gruff leading the way, they have successfully managed to make their way down and through the mountains without too much problems since. The very last thing was, you had on your last evening, you did make camp, you did gain some supply from foraging,

so you gained four supply points, then you take your long rest, so you do get another one, and that's minus 10 supply points, so you're down to 20. However, as the next day begins, the storm-like weather has once again passed, coming and going as it is wont to do in this place where the blue arched dragons magic does seem to have a great effect on the weather here.

you begin making a way down the sloping hills as you reach the very base, and now a much more solid trail begins to form, likely from locals, you know, goat farmers and goat herders and things like that. And as you make your way down, you now do see that sprawling planes just stretching out for miles and miles and miles ahead of you. You see the occasional rocky outcropping or hills or forest. The forests here, stranger, a little, not completely alien, but the branches are very tight.

All the trees are kept very tight close together. Or they're bending and very easy to sway with the wind and storm, almost willow-like in their design. But the rocky outcroppings and hills seem to be scattered all over the place. place. In some areas, the grass is long and the grass is long, kind of swaying gently in that ever-present breeze that seems to come and go. You can see, again, like I said, it stretches out for miles. What you do notice is that perhaps a short distance away, you know, less than an hour's travel, there does seem to be a well-traveled road that seems to be stretching.

And beyond that, you can see, you know, really just more hills and things like that. But it does seem to be that the road does have a stone marker, which might indicate some direction of settlement or locations. And I'm assuming you would like to make your way on that journey. Smell that. Beautiful, isn't it? Oh, yeah. So clear.

No, it is. It just cleanses everything. It smells like white grass. You forget, don't you, when you're in civilization like ash and rest, what nature smells like, how clean and clear it is. Beautiful. It does feel nice. I'm going to take some with me.

Okay, good luck. Okay, road. Yeah. Rowan. Rowan, that road, do you, do you, were you on a road in your dream? Yeah, but not like this. Not this road, okay. There were far more stone watchers.

Right, okay. Guiding me, so this is... I mean, roads look like this, and here's our step. Okay, so are we following that? Is that where we're going, or are we still going at... There's this one marker, which I assume someone put up. Yeah. Not a goat.

Probably not. So, if we follow this road, all roads lead to Rowan. Yes. Having this conversation as you make your way, kind of, you know, this only... the only real landmark or thing that you can see to give you any sort of indication of where to travel to, you make your way. The stone, it's like a stone post that's had engravings put into it to indicate.

The road itself goes east to west and then seems to pivot off and head north as well. It says on the stone it reads east and it has Kelskaris and Horn's Peak are two places that seem to be indicated in the east. To the west, Blackfall Pass, and a place called Drey here, seem to be to the west. And then to the north, it says Storm Garden, Yalt, and the Rhymesway. The Rhymesway, gruff, you don't need to make a check for. You know that that is basically the ascent through the mountains that leads into the province of Iceheart. So this road probably is mainly used by travellers who are making their way into these things. Anybody else, you could make a history or a nature

or anything like that if you would like to see if you know about any of those other places. Natural 20. What kind of skills do you want to use? Natural one. History? History? Natural one.

This is far beyond Xanthius is real well. You don't know anything of the local geography. He's a city boy. So bad, I'm just gonna make up lies. Sure. Gruffo refi did you guys want to make a role? You don't have to, it's entirely optional. I'll do a history.

No. I roll the two, and all those skills are a minus one. So one. Nine. Yeah. What's the list of places again, sorry? So you have Kelskaris to the east. Yeah.

Horns Peak. Horns Peak. To the east as well, yeah. Then to the west, you have Blackfall Pass and a place called Drey here. D-R-E-H-Y-R. Drea here. Okay.

And then to the north, you have Storm Garden. a place called Yalt, which is spelled J-Y-O-L-T, and then the Rhymesway, as in R-I-M-Frost-R-I-M-E-S, Rhymes, Rhymes-R-I-M-E-S-W-N-W-E-S-W-E-N-E-S-W-E-R-E-L-E-R-E-L-E-R-E-R-E-R-E. I've gone out of read. You said what's... I just told you. you the name. I'm not. I'm doing it down. Oh, right, okay.

I thought you were asking what that place is in the game. Oh no, I was just like... Repeat what you said. Yeah, please. Sure. Blackfall pass. Rowan, with Natural 20, you know all of these places. You remember you've heard stories or you've visited them, you know all of these places.

Horn's Peak is a... It's a smaller village, but one of the few, you know, there aren't many static villages and towns in the Azar Step. Most places are what's called Yakskals, which is wanderer towns, which are nomadic sort of traveling settlements. But Horn's Peak, Dreher, and Yolt are all smaller, permanent villages. Horn's Peak is the, on the edge of the pass that leads into Kelskaris, and it's a larger, more bustling trade town.

And it's quite a distance away. You know, it's probably several days, multiple, you know, maybe even a week's travel from here. Yolt is the closest place, is the closest village to where you currently are. It's probably just under a day's travel north. It's a small village, but it's quite, you know, it's populated, and it's on the route to Storm Garden,

which is the big city of Azar Step. It's the only real big city that the Azar Step has, and that's where the arch dragon is based. That's far, far, far, far, the north, that's, you know, several, probably a couple of weeks travel. But Yolt's very close. Dreher is just another small village to the west. Blackfall Pass is the entrance into Erdesquia from Azzar Step. So that's where, if you were to travel from, that's how you would get into Erdesquia from the Isar Step. And then, as I said, Rhymesway is the pass that leads into

Ice Heart, basically. But yeah, you know all of those places. It's nice to see all these names again. I recognize Kelskaris. Yep. I recognize the Rhimes Way? Ah, of course. We're on the border, we're basically neighbours. And that's about it for me, I'm afraid.

Same. Well, the closest place is yolt, jolt, yolt. Yalt. Yalt. Silent. Silent J. Silent J. Yeah.

That's probably our best bet, given our supplies right now. Yes, we're getting quite low. It's a small village, but it has the basics. And shelter. I trot my favourite rock. Oh, it's not damaged, is it? No. There's Opel's...

Wait a second. I found the best rock! Well done. Really good rock. Really good rock. Oh, opals as well? Did you know that was on the inside? I felt it. I must have felt it.

Must have done. Must have done. So attuned with it. It's miles better than our rock. Yes, no, that's long gone. Wow, it feels bigger than it. Anyway, I put that in the back. Hold on it. It's a good rock. Anyway.

Daisy and Gruff share a look. We've got Horn's Peak, which is much, much further, much bigger village, but a little too far for our supplies, It's the one closer to Kelskar, so it's obviously a, it's got a track record of being commuterie. Yeah, sure, yeah, it's gentrified, yeah, got it. And, yeah, so I think Yolt might be a nice place to stop.

Okay, just north then. Just north, towards Iceheart. Because that's what Rhyme's Way is, it's the pass through the mountains towards Ice Heart. Oh, amazing. I assume it's named after rhyme. Because it's their way, isn't it? Rhyme's way.

Well, it's also what... It's a geologic... Geographic... Yes. It's been a long day. Let's head to Yolt, shall we past Graff's nap time. Way past my nap time. It'll be not two hours.

You begin following that road. And this is like a heavily traveled, you know, probably not paved, it's probably a dirt, like pounded dirt, kind of like compressed earth, no stones or anything like that just in case of the storms breaking them loose. But you travel this compacted dirt road north. You travel for the best part of a day. At some point as you are traveling, you sort of go past several of these sort of, you know, sloping hills that open up your view onto more of the plains.

and in the distance you watch as a small herd of spine-backed thunderbeasts begin plodding very slowly making their way across the plains. And you can even see tiny humanoid figures, you know, far off in the distance, sort of basically herding them as if they were buffalo or cattle, kind of like giving them occasional little whack of a stick or luring them away and sort of guiding them on their path as they begin to think. everybody in the little humanoid figures, their clothing is very tightly wrapped to their bodies, like their trousers are wrapped with bandages at the bottoms of their legs,

their torsos are like straps of cloth, rather than being loose shirts and things like that. Everything is tied down to their person, but you can see that they carry all sorts of trinkets and assortments on their person, belts and bandoliers and backpacks, full of things, as if very eager and easy to travel wherever they need to go. you arrive on the outskirts of yolt just as the sun is setting and you can see that up ahead lights are beginning to flicker into place and you know fireplace smoke is beginning to bloom

what you find is that this town this village has been built into a series of hills almost form like a crescent moon and this kind of like you know range of hills and you see that several buildings have been built into the hillside themselves. so extending deeper into the hills. And then outside there seems to be a sort of makeshift market, various yurts and temporary buildings that have been sort of occupy the sort of open space in the middle of the crescent, basically. You see traders coming going. You see maybe some local farmers

or local businesses, people coming back from their travels. It is not a particularly bustling place, but it is certainly busy for a small village. It seems warm and friendly. You can see that there are fires in the yurt. So there's that kind of amber glow peeking out through the tent canvas. But you can also see that their houses and buildings

that are built into the mountains, they have windows and things that are beginning to illuminate and even little chimneys sticking out the top of the hills. Very hobbit hole-like, but on a much larger scale. And yeah, you guys arrive in. You see the locals sort of cast a curious glance, not used to seeing travelers probably of your nature, especially Xanthia, and Ophelia.

I think Gruff and Rowan, you guys definitely blend in a lot more here in your style of dress. You probably would even see maybe an ice-heart traveler. You know, they can see that they've got all of their cold-weather gear, a pair of, like, snow goggles hanging off of their belt, just a human, a human man who looks like he's come in to do some trading. Like a fur trader, just an innocent man. Like a fur trader who's brought in some stuff to sell in.

What kind of furs? Different kinds of furs, bear furs, fox furs. Lion furs. Snow lion furs. But yeah, and you see, like, you know, people are busing. But there's definitely like a kind of hubbub as you're sort of making your way through. Probably most of the little market stalls are closing up,

so there's no barkers or anybody trying to get your attention. Yeah. But what do you guys do? Have you been here before, No, I've only heard of it, actually. Oh, okay. Have you heard of any good places to stay here, or is it? No, not really.

Well, I knew it was just kind of quaint, local. It looks very lovely. Isn't it? It is. Yeah, it's really pleasant. Should we try and find a place to stay, or should we just refill our rations and carry on? What's the plan?

We definitely should refill our rations, and it's better to stay in some of the rest of it. stay in somewhere that has shelter, because we don't know what storms are lurking on the horizon. It'd be good to maybe ask around and see if there's any local folklore or something about these stones. Stone wardens, yeah. We can do that, so maybe a good inn.

Yeah. Just looking around at the buildings, is there any obvious signs outside any of the buildings? Yeah, I think so. As you're sort of looking around for that sense, famously you don't have the best perception. And I think that actually makes sense that you pick up. I think we need to turn around actually. You're looking for like signposts and like buildings,

but you get distracted by something. Yeah. You see that sort of there is this large figure stumbling around that the locals are just not sure what to make of. And the locals all seem to be avoiding. And this figure is almost looking around, looking lost or looking confused, you're not quite sure. but you see that they are, you know, a six foot tall, large beetle person.

They have this, you can see that they've got this black, blue carapus, but sections of it almost look like they've been torn off or ripped or shattered, exposing quite vulnerable insectoid looking like flesh on the inside. And where once they would have had a great, massive, curved pincar-like horn, it's been snapped and shattered and left with just these blunted sections and this creature has four arms two hulking massive arms

and then two smaller ones but all of their clothing and equipment looks very ramshackle, very sort of hastily put together and you see this figure like goes to go talk to a trader seems to have some sort of interaction and then the trader just sort of like does this and moves off basically.

I mean I know what this is Would Xenthius? Would any of us? I think all of you have all heard of dynastians before, but seeing them and meeting them is quite rare. But you've definitely heard of them. There's stories about them, you know, gladiators who fight in the Kelskaris

sort of like, you know, fighting arenas and things like that. You've heard of, like, great dynastian artisans, but they're very rare, so it's probably nothing you've seen before. And for Ophelia, like, what is this? Like, if Zentheus points it out, like you would have never even seen a being like this before. Dantius. Yes. Dantius, what is that?

Is that a beast? Do we run? Oh. What is that? No, oh, oh, what were they called? Ah, it's been so long. Robert, there's a Dynastian. Dynastian, that's it. Dynastrian, what is a dynastrian?

We've got to go say hi. Dynastians, they come from really far away, kind of like you. Oh. But the other way. I'll be right back. Okay, um, yes, they're friendly. Friendly, okay.

Oh, well, I mean, as friendly as we are, you know. Welcome, Rowan. Hello! So you rush up to this Vanastien. So you see that they sort of hang there, they've got this big, thick beetle head. It's almost like a giant helmet built into their enormous body. Um, and they sort of spin round urgently.

Sorry, sorry, sorry. And you see that they have like this, not rusted, but it's like a, you know, it's a very sort of dented and cut, sort of daggery looking knife. They sort of snatched that up. I didn't mean that. I really want to meet you. Hello. Apologetic. You startled me. Oh, that's totally fine.

Sorry. Puts that away. Sad, guiltily. Graciously, thank you for your apology. You've got to meet my friend. What's your name? Humbly, this one is Vricks. The broken. The broken?

It is not. a moniker I have chosen for myself. Oh, I've heard that dynastians are proud and competitive. They start making this, like, clicking noise, and their little hands start sort of, like, fidgeting with each other, and sort of feet sort of shuffle, and it begins sort of turning anxiously. Well, Broan, apologies, so if we didn't mean to,

I'll upset you. If we don't need, we can just go to the tavern, Rowan. This is Santhius, he's my best friend. This is Sophia, she's my best friend. This is Gruffeth. He's my best friend, and this is Daisy. She's my best friend. Humbly greetings.

This is Vricks, my best friend. Vricks, nice to meet you, Vricks. Surprise. You claim friendship with Vricks. Yeah, why not? Everyone's friends, if they're not attacking each other, right? Questioningly, I am not sure that is true. I... sorry, Vrix, I just noticed

you look like you've got a couple of wounds there. Can I... It's shuffling. Can I help you with that? I can heal. Sadly, healing will be of no use. Oh. I have tried many healers.

They are unable to regenerate my carapace too unknown, too unusual. Oh, well. I'm sorry to hear that, Frick. Graciously, I thank you for your sympathy. It is why I am here, but the locals seem uncertain of me. Is there anything, sorry, gentle questioning.

Is there anything we can help you with? What would they say? Politely, you do not need to explain your emotional state. I am capable of reading yours. It is mine that your kind struggle with. Well, confident cockiness. I apologize. Firmly, I just explained you do not need to do that.

I was making a joke. Bit boy over here. Is there anything? Understanding. Humour is something that I do not often appreciate. Oh, okay. It doesn't appreciate humor. All right.

I'm ruined. But is there anything we can? can do to help you? Uncertain. I do not know. Perhaps I seek a place, but I do not know where it is. Oh, did you see it in a dream? Yeah, was it a dream? Firmly, no, it was no dream. Oh. I was told of it by a witch of Erdasquia. A witch of Erdasquia? Okay. Can you describe this place? You might have seen it. We've just been traveling quite far. Sternly, it is

a place I was not told of it. It is a place where one can be mended where things are remade. It is, it, it was called the Giants Wetstone. No. Giants Wedstone. I didn't see that.

Firmly, yes it was. No. You know of it? Firmly, yes it was. Wow. This sounds just like my dream. What, the giant's wet stone? Yes, because I hit my sword, my jagged sword against it,

and it acted like a wet stone, and made it all sharp and smooth. The beetle just stares, dynastin just looks at you. Look, look at my sword, stone razor. It's big. Appreciatively, a fine weapon. Yes, I had a dream about this weapon,

and I went to the Azar step, and there were storms, and the storms were hitting the stone watchers on the way, guiding me to the top of a mountain, where there was a plateau and an altar, and it held altruite embedded within it, the power of Ulthay, and I hit the sword against it, and it made it sharp. Sadly, I do not understand many of the words you are saying. Which bits, like the all of it or summary, do you want a... Summary? The majority. Oh. I think what Rowan is trying to say is that both of us are trying to go to the same place.

Potentially. Appreciatively, I would be most gracious if I could accompany you to this place if you know of its location or you could inform me of it. Well, that's the thing we're trying to find it ourselves. And this place can heal you? That is what the witch of Erdas Kier said. Do you know what to do when you get there?

Humbly, I do not. Oh, okay. Let's not forget the authorite. Oh, you're right. Had healing properties. It would be authorite. Do you know what alphalite is? Uncertainly, no.

Okay, well, we don't really. We've only seen it once ourselves. Very, very rare. Yeah. But it seems like maybe our paths are aligned. Happily, happy, you would allow me to accompany you? Oh, absolutely. Extantically, yes.

Ecstatically, it would be very excellent to do so. This is the best day ever. Okay, wonderful. Well, Xanthius. This is... Sister Ophelia del Rosa of the House of Blood. Oh, hello, my name is Graf. I'm from a little village called Tramoro.

Past Rhymesway. That's not his name. Daisy, Woodrow. Hello, I'm Daisy. Looks down. Yeah, and Ricks just sort of humbles there, and you can see the fidgeting with their little secondary hand stops. You can see that on their, sort of, they have like this kind of bandolier

that's sort of holding, you know, they don't really have clothes. They have like a kind of loincloth type thing with a belt wrapped around their middle. They've got this, like, tiny kind of like rusted looking dagger. And there is this kind of very battered-looking axe on their back. But you can see that, like, all of their equipment looks very warm as if, like, they've had to sort of look after it at the middle. and like same with all of their equipment that they're carrying.

It's very hard to tell like, you know, this creature is such a different biology. But I think you hear a sort of growling noise and fricks would be like, apologies, I have not consumed food in some time. Well, that's good news. We were just looking for what's happened. Do you know of one nearby? Uncertainly, I do not. Okay. Is there anything in particular you eat or don't eat?

you eat or don't eat? Many things. All right. What do you eat? Burgundy. Many things. Right, okay. What do you not eat?

Very little. Right, okay. Let's go find a tavern. Let's find a tavern, yes. Yeah. You can see that the locals are sort of seeing you engage with this creature that they weren't really sure what to make of. And sort of look in your way.

But yeah, it doesn't take you very long after sort of meeting with Ricks to notice that there is a sign for, what looks to be, the only real inn. This is a very small village, it's not very big. Most of the locals sort of have their own little places. But there is one place built into one of these large hills. And outside there is a signpost of, it almost looks like two mountains,

and then sort of jostled between them is like a baby's cradle. And it has the name of the rocking cradle inn. Very good. Love it. It's not rocking. rockin with an apostrophe, is it? It could be. Okay.

Okay. It's rocking, because it looks, you know, the craids is obviously rocking, but it's also everything's made. And the cradle itself is made of rock and stone. But it's also the rock and cradle. Yeah, it's the rocking cradle. Do you see the sign? Oh my God.

Rocking cradle. It's a playover. Ricks. And that's Ricks. Check it out. Humorously, very amusing. I know. I don't understand.

It's good. It's good. Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Can someone. Oh, Vricks. Where do you slap on Vricks? Do you slap on the back? You slap into like this part where the carapus has been ripped off and damaged.

Oh, fuck's sake, Rowan. And you see Vricks kind of immediately lurched to the side and whip round, almost lowering their head almost. I didn't mean to do that. But then they're, but then they're, you know, but then they're, shrink back like apologetic. I did not mean to react that way. Please do not. Please do not touch the carap.

Sorry, no, I got carried away. I got too laugh at you. I was, it was taken from me. I was hurt very badly. Do you mind telling us how you got the moniker? Pleadingly, may I consume food first? Oh, of course, yes. I am very hungry.

Get ourselves some rooms and a table and get some food. Yeah. Water and stuff. So do you lead the way in, Xanthias? Yeah. Yeah, so you sort of step in. A little ding there is a little ding on the bell. You step in, the place does not appear to be very busy.

There's mostly traders in here. You see a couple of traders from Kelskartan and things like that. It's very homely. Ceilings are quite high, probably used to dealing with yacht near clientele. so Rowan, you know, there's easy, like a head clearance of height for you. And it's built into the hill, so it's quite warm inside. There is a fireplace, but it's very, very well insulated. And most of the inn is actually back rather than being right by the front where the windows are.

That appears to almost be like a clear area where not much is placed a couple of tables here and there. But it actually stretches quite far back, like a long hall, basically. and the bar is kind of in that middle section. And there appear to be like corridors, like doorways and angles that lead off probably to private rooms. There's no second floor. It's all one floor here. But as you enter, you see a rather sort of friendly face at the bar as a dwarven woman sort of pops her head up and sort of looks over and gives you a big smile. And you can see that for her earth skin, she's very, very pale.

and she has this like very kind of golden brown, beautiful hair that's all braided and things like that. But her earth skin, it looks like it would have come through on like her cheeks and like on her cheekbone and around her jaw. But it's being shaped and filed so it almost looks like opalite, opalite freckles that have come through. And you do notice that like on her hands, there are also breakthroughs.

But again, they've been carved into like plates and beautiful engravings have been placed into them. Maybe some of like her fingers have almost. being shaped into like rings as well. She's older for a dwarf, probably sort of middle-aged. So there's definitely a lot of earth skin, but it's been very carefully shaped to kind of keep it to a minimum. She looks over and will say,

oh, hello there, welcome everyone. Come on in, come in travelers. Hello, hello. We are looking for just a few rooms, if there's any available. Certainly, yes, we've got plenty of rooms and we've got good food and good drink. I'm, forgive me, I forgot my manners.

I'm Helga Opel knows. Welcome to the Rocking Cradle Inn. Helga, now, rocking or rock in? It's a constant point of debate amongst the locals. Is there a lot of music here? We do have performers, yes. Oh, okay, okay. But you know, it's mainly like, you know,

a lot of people in the Azar step, they like rocks. They do, I've heard that, yes, that Rowan does, loves the rocks. A lot of them do. A lot of the Yotnir really like rocks around here. We tried to indulge, but anyway. But anyway, yes. Rooms, how many are you looking for? There's six of us, but I mean, we don't need six necessarily. Do you some of you want to share? Do you want rooms individually? If it's money we can group up? Yes, how much for a room?

Well, we have common rooms which can sleep four. We have twin rooms, which sleep two, and then we have solo rooms. Okay. Uh, uh, uh, uh, for X? They don't say anything. You just hear a noise. You hear like a clicking kind of affirmation. Briggs, did you hear me? Affirmatively, yes. Good.

Would you like to share a room with one of us, or would you prefer to stay on your own? Humbly, I am in your debt, whatever you see fit to provide me. Oh, no, please. You're joining us on the adventure as well, rather than us joining you. Embarrassed, I have no money or things to offer.

Oh, no, that's fine. It's fine. We can sort you out. Don't worry? Yes, we can. Shamefully, you are too kind. I know, we'd get that a lot. Don't listen to him.

No, we do get that a lot. We are too kind. It's just what's right, Santhius. Yeah, exactly. And that makes us cut. Anyway, we'll cover it, don't you worry. We're very kind. So we're happy to, yes, get maybe,

let's say three double rooms. Oh, yes, of course. three double rooms for you. Luckily, we don't have a lot of travelers in at the moment, so I think we can do that. Yes, no problem. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Oh, and we also want some food as well.

Is there any of the table to... Oh, I have to check in with my... Erica! And she kind of calls out to the back, and you see a very, very similar, Dwarven woman sort of stick her head out. She has earth skin sort of all around her eyebrows and sort of forming the forehead of her.

And that's been shaped again in sort of more like a plate with, like, beautiful engravings. onto it. These ones almost like vines and flowers that have been engraved into it. She looks a little younger than Helga, but definitely this is a family resemblance. And she's like, oh, hello, what is it, Helga? Do you have enough, do we have food for some guests? Oh, yes, of course, yes. Whatever the basic menu, I don't really have anything extra in. And sort of slides over, sort of written parchment. You can see that there's various local dishes. it seems quite spiced here, quite spicy food.

But, you know, it's hearty stews, there's fried foods and things like that. Yeah, all sorts of different sort of dishes and things like that. Rowan, whatever you recommend, I'll try. All right. Oh, we're also, after this, well, we're going to be leaving tomorrow, but we're also looking to update our supplies as well. So is there a good shop nearby?

Oh, I would recommend that you go to the market. There's not really a sort of general shop, but everyone in the market does you can buy what you need. There are supplies for traveling and things. It depends on what sort of things you are looking for as well. There is, well, yes, if you want things from the market, that's the best place. Just a general travel supplies. Oh, yes, the market's the best place for that thing.

Oh, yes. Oh, yeah, mark it again. Is that really? Okay, good. Yes, absolutely. And, uh, oh, um, Giants Wetstone. Does that mean anything to you? The Giant's Wedstone, yes, of course.

We all know that story. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, we own an inn, my good Dragonborn. We hear many stories around here. Is it nearby? Is it... Nearby. I mean, I know it's...

I think Nalsha knows the story better than I do. Nalcia, and she calls out from the back, a third dwarven woman. Hello, Nalsha. They look not quite like triplets, but like so eerily similar to each other. But this one, you can see. has purposely, like, colored parts of her hair, blonde.

So she has these, like, streaks of blonde, much more voluminous hair. She's a little older than Helga, but certainly is the sort of more sort of rambunctious and sort of, like, energetic. It looks like she was, like, serving some of the other traders and she sort of comes over. She's like, oh, hello, yes, of course.

What can I do for you? You apparently know a lot about the Giant's Wedstone. The Giant's Wedstone, yes. that's a little, well, I would say local, but I think a lot of people across the Aar Steppe have heard of it, yes. I think that it's maybe a three, four days travel towards Kelskaris to the east. Oh, okay, that's good, because we were going to head further north. So that was close.

No, yes, yes. You want to head out to the east, I think. If you follow the road that leads to Kelskaris, you'll see the tour, we call them stone watches, these large, you are travelers, of course, these large stone columns, and they draw the arched dragons power, the lightning down into them. But you'll see a long line of them. The copper caps are like small, natural ones.

These are, there's something different about them. They're much bigger. Right, okay. But yes, you'll see a line of them leading away from the road. They start out quite spread out, but then they draw closer and closer together. Just like that dream. Just like, yes, that's where we're headed. Oh, you want to head to the giant sweatstone?

Yes, along with our good friend here. Oh, goodness me, a dynastian. I'd heard that there was maybe one about the town, but welcome friend. She, Vrexia sort of huddles into themselves. It kind of calls back. Listen, if you're heading to the giant sweatstone, I recommend that in the morning before you go,

go and seek out Scala. Yes, in Storm, Bloom Sanctuary. It's nestled amongst the hills between near close to the Reeves House, Yoltstone House. You can find it. It's signposted to head there. She sometimes deals trading in potions and herbs and the like, but she knows, I imagine you should speak to her before you travel there.

Okay, sounds good. Just for Daisy's notes, because Daisy writes a lot of notes. This is Daisy, by the way. How do you spell Scala? DM telling you is S-K-E-Y-L-A. Fuck me. Scalar. So close.

One more time. S-K-E. S-K-E. Y-L-L-A. S-K-E-Y-L-A. Skaler. Yeah, fuck that. I suppose Skeeler.

You can pronounce it. Skeeler, Scalar. Okay, Scalar. I spelled it like scale with an A. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You can spell it how you like. You just went deadly quiet.

there. You okay? I'll see how to spell it and you just went silent. Oh, yeah. Shut up. Okay. Um. Well, you wouldn't ask somebody how to spell a name, really, would you? I mother fucking did it in character. You put it on Daisy is what you did. Yeah, Daisy writes notes. Does she? Yeah. Does she... She has a journal. Nova would have. Nova would have. Yeah. I'm not sure Daisy. Nova here. This is Nova, by the way. Bye-ya! But yeah, she's... No, I would recommend you go and speak with Scala. She knows a lot more about

the stone. I think she calls it, there's a different name that she calls it by, but it's no, no, well, lots of people travel there. You know, it's supposed to be that if you have something that you want to remade or if you feel broken in yourself, you travel to the giant's wet stone, and people make pilgrimages there, and they offer charms and trinkets to Althei arrest her. And, you know, I think it's, my understanding is from the shamans and priests and things like that is it's a spiritual journey. It's about you making the journey and that heals you and helps you, but that's supposedly the story as you go there. Long ago it would heal and mend people. Okay. Well, we'll definitely visit Scala before we head off. I would recommend it, yes.

But three, maybe four days away. Okay. How about that, yes. So we need enough rations for that, maybe a little bit more just in case? Yes. Well, is it a journey safe? Well, it's hard to say Is anywhere, really, any journey safe? I mean, you're traveling along one of the main roads. I can't imagine that you'll encounter too much, trouble. But, you know, there's always, if you come across wild Thunderbeast, some of them are more aggressive than others.

If they've escaped around, you know, the storm wings, if they're particularly aggressive or hungry. But also, the people of the Azar step, we value freedom and are very, we bulk against some things. We do get a lot of people who perhaps don't like to follow their rules.

So, you know, things like bandits and thieves and highway robbers that, unfortunately, it does happen quite a bit and the Azar Step raiders and the like, but... Okay, the usual. Yes, but most settlements, I mean,

we have our marshal and his forces here. We patrol the lands around, but the giant's wet stone is sort of, it's between here, and Horn's Peak, so you might be sort of out of range for people to keep an eye on it. But as I understand it, it's, you know, a lot of people travel there, but that also maybe makes it a nice target for bandits and things like that. Okay, well, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

Oh, very confident. I like it. Yeah, give our history. That's a story. Really good one, actually. I won't tell it. You tease. I know. But still, enjoy if you need any drinks or things like that, I can fetch them for you.

But enjoy the staying out in. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. Let's grab the table. Yeah, yeah. There's like a nice long table that you can all sit at. I'll work out the gold for, like, the food in the rooms and stuff.

I'll recommend the spiciest menu item for Zan. It's going to be like a kind of almost like a goulash, like spice stew type dish. Served with probably flat bread rather than like yeasty, like thick bread. It's like flat breads. There's a lot of things like hummusy type made from like a local vegetable like ground and pasted, sprinkled with like sweet toppings and things like that. So you think this is the best item to get?

Nothing quite like the spices of the azar. And that's what you're getting, right? Yeah. Okay, great. Of course. Absolutely. We can share it if you like. Sure.

If it's a sharing meal. Maybe we'll get a bit of everything and we can all kind of muck in. Yes, we could do. That sounds lovely, yes. I'd like to try some bits and pieces. If that's not too much stress on the kitchen. No, no, no, that's fine, yes. We'll give you a little sampling of everything.

If you'd like some help. No, it's all right, actually. We're quite fine. My sister is more than capable. Well, I'm just, you're not saying you want. And, Rick, we are happy to get you a meal as well. You are clearly very hungry. So we're happy to pay for your meals.

Shamefully, yes, I am out. I would much like sustenance. So whatever you want to... But again, I cannot repay you for this. That's fine. We don't expect it. You're embarrassed. Your charity is very... Great. I am grateful.

Well, we're gonna get a bit of everything, so feel free to take a portion. Don't feel free to just pick away at whatever you like the look of. Yeah. Very well. Right. A bottle of wine. Bottle of wine? Any wines? Yes, of course. Yes.

Plenty of wines, we have ails, we have meats, we have... Two of those for this side of the table. Wines, yes, not the problem, we can do that, absolutely. I'm too total now. Is that so? Waters, juices, goat's milk. Is there anything from ice art that's made us way over here? I think I've got a bottle of some brandy and things like that from Ice Heart.

I wouldn't mind a cheeky little sniffer of that. Yes, would you like it warmed up? That's probably be the traditional one. of having it in ice-hard would be like warmed up. Yes, my... Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, she's like, yes, of course you can do that. We get a few ice-hard travelers coming through here.

Not the problem. And yeah, Helga goes, you know, busy's about sort of sorting out drinks and getting you guys all settled. Okay, so it's just three days away, four days away, three or four days away, give or take. Easy. I can't, it's real. Chicks.

It's real. You can't chinks me back, that's not how it works. Questioningly, tall, Rowan, you also, seek the wet stone? I do. Are you all so broken and dishonored? Oh, no, I don't think so.

Question, why do you seek it then? Because of the dream. Question, why do you believe this dream? Because it was a really good dream. Uncertain, that does not seem very wise. No, no, we have a lot of these things, apparently. We need to communicate them more. You know, follow our dreams.

Yeah, it's not like any other dream I've ever had. And also, we were already here, so... Convenient. It is. It's very, very convenient that you stumbled upon our path. I start to think that Althea is putting us together. Questioning. I do not think so.

No, really? You don't think it's extraordinarily lucky? You're looking for an adventuring party to go towards that very same destination. Correction. I was not seeking a party. I merely sought direction. Okay, well.

I've got a point. But we're so nice. Question. Have I upset Xanthius, dragon? No, no, not upset. No, I just, you know. I thought that is good. I'm glad I have not upset you.

I'm very hungry now. I'm looking forward to the meal. Yeah, like you, is there anything else you guys want to talk about before the food arrives? So just so you know, if something does happen out there, we are quite experienced fighters, we're able to probably deal with most of it. Question, you do not appear to be much of a physical specimen. Right.

Gruff just like snorts into his brandy at that. Okay. Are you a capable fighter? Yes, quite capable. Curiously. With magics. Ah. But I could probably handle a sword or a spear.

or something. You know, I'm not wearing a lot of armor right now, but it's, again, magical shielding, things like that. Doubtful. That you could handle weaponry. I could absolutely handle weaponry. I've used a sword before once a long, long time ago. Sure, but I could easily...

What can you do? Shamefully, not much it appears. I'm... Okay, apologetically, I'm sorry if I've offended you. You have not. Well, I can use a sword. So. If you are certain.

If you are certain. Jesse me with the what? Well, anyway, I can use various magics in combat. And Athenia is very, very capable, Graff, very capable. Well, me, me, Rowan and Gruff, we can use a mix. What do you mean? We use weapons and magic. Right.

But I absolutely could if I needed to, just to we're at the same page. Santos is so strong of mind. Right. And he could take anyone down diplomatically. Don't you remember my flame blade? No. No, I used it four days ago.

I must have been casting a spell at the time. Sorry. Maybe you were, but it was a sword made of fire. I was trapped in the box. I swear I would have seen. Appreciatively, a sword made of fire does sound impressive. It's a, yeah, it's a sword, and I used it very effectively. I'm sure. I'm sure you did.

I did. I absolutely did. I absolutely did. Sounds really cool. I was stuck in a cube at the time. Give me your, give me your sword. You are not touching veracity. Oh, what?

Because I wanted to harvest it. No, because no one touches veracity. Question, are you a sword, master, Athelia? I am, yes. My body's a weapon. What do you mean? Does that what? Yeah, it does make sense.

Groove. Your armour is impressive. Oh, thank you. I mean, I've also got this, and I do the carapist. Sorry, wait, it is offensive. Envious. If you're breathing. Oh dear.

Envious, enscarity. Enviously. That is excellent. I am very happy for you. I can't trust you guys very anything. You see. You see the little hands like gripping the table, just shaking.

Just fucking can't take you anywhere. Enviously, your carapus is very healthy. He just can't fucking take you anywhere. Such healthy carapus. It's like about a wedding again. Mornfully, my carapus was a once of that luster. Oh, he liked the food's here. It comes in, balls, plates.

I love sharing memories in my homeland with my friends. Here. Part it's, we have. That's probably worse things you could have done. Just let her sit with it, friend. Just let her sit with me. There's like roasted, spiced goat, beautiful, sort of goulash and salads, flatbreads, hummus,

like, probably like, like, not pickled, but like, sweetened apples, like almost like kind of everything else. You really spoil us. Oh, of course, you have paid for it. It's all laid out, various bowls and plates. So you said Ricks could just help themselves, right? Just pick away it. I said that they can have a portion.

A portion. Well, I said you can pick away whatever you like the look of. So I think that as soon as that, Ricks just nods and immediately begins, like, taking huge chunks of food and just and bite to like hairs and, Heirs a way at it. We weren't expecting such a hungry guy.

Frick, I'll do anything for a slice of that. Do you say the hungry guy thing out loud, by the way? Did you say that out loud in character? I guess I would. Then Vrix would stop eating and be like, correction, I am female. Oh, apologies. My apologies. Unnecessary, your kind cannot tell dynastians apart.

We're really racking up these fucking microaggressions here. So, so sorry. Little mandibles, just like, chich, chich. Maybe I'll just try a piece of that, okay? Do you wish it? Yes, thank you. Thank you. Okay, nice.

You see that, like, Rix is just like, you gave her the sort of permission to, like, help herself. So she's just grabbing stuff and then just devouring it at a very rapid rate, like, clearly starving, hungry. You want to slow down there, Ricks and kids. You give yourself a tummy upset. Mm, that's quite spicy. Acknowledgement, that is a wise,

that is a wise perception. Pace yourself, believe. I have not eaten in some time. Oh, that might make it even worse than if you, if you overfined a good part. What do you think, Antheus? It's good, it's, I'm normally really good for spice, but it's hitting me, you know?

Daisy's just like, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, just, it's like panting. What a, what a bee? I haven't had it in quite a lot. Oh, in a second, I just need to step outside and I'll drag a breath. Yeah, dragon breath. Perfect.

Perfect. Oh God, I feel so much better. I'm not taking it quite well. It's quite, it's a lot stronger than I remember. This is probably like, want to make any maloition fever you guys. Hey, I'm really good. You're really good with spines.

So I put the tiniest amount of spice and you guys are this is really spicy. spicy. I'm like, I can't even... It was when we did the restaurant in London and you were like, be careful. I was like, yum, yum, yum. And everyone else was like, we're not fucking touching now. We're not even boring. I'm like, yum, yum, yum. It was so good, though. It was so good.

But yeah, this is not quite a feast feast, but this is like a big kind of, you know, platters and platters of food brought out. Most of it is quite spicy for those of you who struggle with it. But a lot of it is also, there are blander and sort of calm flavors, the sort of hummassy-like paste, the vegetable. Put the hummers in. I'm shoveling hummus.

I'm shoveling hummus. I think that Helga probably sees some of you struggling and brings over kind of like a little jug of cream and it's like, add this if you need to. Garlic dip. Yeah. It's kind of like, yeah, garlicy cream that you can add in. For no reason whatsoever, I'm going,

it's a goat's milk. Yes. Brinks over like vases of goat's milk, yeah. Please. Mock goat's milk. Like a branded. Mook goat's milk. Please.

Did you intend to say the goat's milk? I didn't think you did. I think he heard that. That's where we are. Well, just me. Everyone has heard it. But yeah, you enjoy this wonderful meal. I'll sort the goal down.

You guys have got more. I'm loving it. All right, Bit Boy 2 at the minute. Bit Boy title is leaning your way right now. I'm glad to the goat machine's broken. Sure. Stop it. Do we get a little toy with the meal?

No. You enjoy your dinner. You all feel very well replenished. It's a delightful meal. And then you may, if you wish, retire to your rooms. Unless you would like to continue having chats and doing whatever else you guys want to do. The meal is done. The plates are cleared.

Oh, I imagine that... Oh, go on. Sorry. I had literally nothing to say. I was just going to roll with it and see where my mouth went. See where you went when. There is a brief moment where you would see the three sisters of the Opel nose. At some point, they, from one of the back rooms, one of them goes in,

and they start escorting a very elderly-looking dwarf woman who looks, again, like a family or something, probably their mother or a grandmother. But you can see that her whole top half of her face has turned to Opel, including her eyes. So she's blind. She has like a cane that she's using and she's holding the hand.

But you can also see that part of her like lower mouth has also turned and like one of her hands is completely opal as well. And they sort of are like, oh come along mother, we'll take you out,

we'll give you a little, you know, blah blah, let's give you something to eat and they sort of take her into the kitchen and she's like, oh, thank you my daughter. But you can see that she struggles to kind of speak a little bit so her speech is a bit slurred

obviously in the very late stages of her earth skin development. But they sort of nod and the old lady sort of like that gets introduced to a couple of maybe the locals, the people that come here regularly and goes up and speak to them and things like that and they sort of lead her past where you are. And yeah, just a little bit of flavor note as you see.

It's lovely isn't it? Just seeing family bonding so closely. Must be nice. Right, gruff? Very much so, Rowan. We should go up to ice out soon. See your family. So your wife?

Mm-hmm. Yes. I should actually write her a note since we're near the border. I can maybe catch a traveler going that way. I could probably throw it from here. I will get a trader to take it to me. But we're so close.

How much past... How far is Tramoru from Rimeway? Rhymes Way. I'm like half a bottle deep. It's by the coast, isn't it, Tramorrow? It's been quite far. You'd be trekking across the ice and snowfields, basically, for most of ice hot. It's actually quite far.

Tramorrow is just a little fishing village, really on the far coast. Oh, like, all the way to the north? Pretty much, yeah. Oh, okay. Oh, we can definitely go there someday. I'd love to. Yes. Cold, though, right? Very cold.

Oh, yeah. Oh, you just need to wear the right clothing, though. Like two more layers of what I gave you. Oh, okay, yes, yeah. Lots of furs. Yeah, I can get furs. Ooh. I have a goat pelt.

What? What do you mean? Where from? Goats, I think, yes. We didn't buy a goat pelt. Right, do you remember that night when we were camping out just now? Yeah. When we were playing rock paper scissors.

You two went out and we were like, we'll stay up until you get back and then it was the morning. And then we played rock paper scissors and I won every game by just going paper scissors. It was a hundred games. You know there's other options. Ah, good old trusty Rowan always picks Rock. Nothing beats.

This time. This time. This time. Remake that Simpsons meme but with Xantheus and Rowan. Zanthius just like, poor old, poor foolish Rowan always picks Rock. Good old rock. Nothing beats that. But you remember we came back all night

and we had a goat stew with vegetables with plants? That was goat? We said that at a time. Yeah, it was good. Did you? Yes. We, yeah.

You were. Revelation, the stew also contained goat that we just consumed. Yeah, it's true. It's a cycle of life, isn't it? Affirmative, yes. And goat is tasty. Affirmative, yes. Yes.

It's pretty good. It's good, yeah. Affirmative. All right. Well, you should try the muck goats. Damn. But anyway, um... You've been so quiet, gruff.

I'm writing a letter to my wife. The whole meal. Oh, what are you writing? He's got his broken, busted glasses, like reading glasses, poached and is snut. Are you writing about us? Uh, I am now. Okay, what are you saying about me?

Santhias is a nosy, is it? How do you spell nosy? N-O-S-Y. Right, I'm writing that down. Yeah. As ever. Yep, that's right. What else?

He says... Hello. Hello. From Xanthius, hero of Ashen, rest. From Xanthius, hero of Ashen's rest. But you probably notice he puts quote marks around that bit.

That's it. That's how I'd write it. Amazing. What are we going to do, by the way, when we get to the wet stone? What's the plan? Oh, well, you... We're gonna, you said you smashed the stoat?

You smashed. I don't know, that's the crazy thing. You guys weren't there, so anything could happen. Well, you said, you said you just, you were gonna swing the stove. I felt compelled to bring it towards it. Okay. For some reason I struck it,

and I struck it in such an angle that it glanced off it like a wet stone and shaved off the jagged edges. Question, best friend Rowan, you have visited the wet stone? In your dream? Yes. And it worked?

It worked for my sword, yes. It restored it to its former glory. It begins like humming. She begins like vibrating and humming. Any kind of little bits of carapace that still remains, almost like vibrate and flicker a little bit. And we've already seen authorite in a different place, and it had a power to it,

and people spoke of it in a kind of reverential way. So it has properties that we're not sure. of. Hopeful, this is good. Yeah, and it's not too far away, a few days, so. Yes. Could Helga? Oh, yes there, hello dear. Do you have, I don't want to put everything in the bag of holding

because it's just going to be lots of, if you've got a bag or something that we could put... Oh, it's my foot fell off! No! Could I get a bag? Please. For the food? For the food.

I think that we can do some sort of... It's just a funny foot. He just snapped his foot off. Give that one. It was inevitable. That can go with Graff, who also still needs to be. I need to find you super close. Just keep punching our minis.

You're okay. The... Yeah, she'll say like, well, I've got probably some paper bags and things like that that we can put food into. Great, thank you. Yes. But if you want something to transport goods in I would recommend the market, as I said.

Only to keep it in one place within my bag. Ah, I see, okay, yes. Yes, we got some sacks or bags and things like that that we can provide. For the stew, would you like, we have like a clay container or something like that? Yes, that would be lovely, thank you. Okay, all right.

Bless you. Thank you. But yeah, she sorts that out. I mean, I would say that with Vrex, there is not much left over. Like, most of the food is. gone. Okay. Like, like, Rix eats anything that's left. If you guys get full, Ricks inhales anything that's left. Like, it looks like she hasn't eaten in like

days. We do, we do all get a fair share of it at least, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ricks wouldn't like steal it, but like definitely consumes a lot of food. Okay, well, um, if you need any more, please let us know. I, I will, uh, pleadingly, I will require food for traveling. Oh, Well, that's, yes, we can get, yeah. We'll go to the market tomorrow morning. But if you're still hungry now, then we could get some more. Embarrassed. I would appreciate that.

Okay. Great. Well, let's get a good, nice rest. Yeah. So probably our only shelter for a few days now, so make the most of it. Everybody will do. Now that you've gotten to know us all a little bit better, we're going to be sharing with one of us.

Your pick. Rowan like makes himself look bigger. Point it around. Yes. Okay, all right, there you go. All right, okay, good. There you go, and we'll all just filter off into our own individual rooms. Yes.

Me and Ophelia are not allowed to share rooms because we fight. Is that I will share a room with you, Zaddea. Mm-hmm. I'll share with Groff. With that, you guys make your way to your rooms. I think that you all make your way. They're pretty safe, they're comfortable rooms.

They're not like wealthy, opulent rooms, but they're big soft beds. You know, there's a small hearth in each one to keep it nice and warm and things like that. For Vricks, with staying with Rowan, Vricks goes in and immediately pulls everything off the bed. Okay. Drags that grabs the pillows,

each in like her separate arms, grabs the blankets. Are you sharing the beds? No, there's two beds. It's a twin room. Yeah, but you're taking everything off the beds? Yes. But there's not enough space on my bed.

And he goes into a corner and begins making like a little nest and like placing the cushions. I see. Probably looks at like your bed that has two pillows and is like eyeing them. You can have one. Takes one and then forms it into like this little nest.

And then sort of doesn't lay down because a big giant beetle person and just sort of gets nestled in and gets comfy and then closes their eyes and pulls their hands in and just sort of sits there. Ronald nestle in to his bed. Bricks you awake. Affirmative, I am currently.

I've never met a dynastium before. This is really cool. Sadly, I am not a good example of my kind. I am sorry that I am the one you have had to meet. No, no. I'm more than happy to have met you, and we can go on a journey together. Our paths are aligned.

Shamefully, I am a failure. I have burdened. you as I have shamed myself. But I am appreciative of your kindness. Well, have a good rest, and we'll head out on our journey tomorrow, and you can tell us all about where you come from. Uncertain.

Perhaps I will sleep now. Are you asleep now? Bricks, you asleep? And it makes like a cicada-like noise? good night that's it just seem to just sleep to turn it on

but yeah you hear this kind of rhythmic cicada like noise it's quite peaceful in a way actually kind of hearing although it's loud and yeah you all enjoy another long rest in

the rocking cradle inn nice great morning comes no dreams no anything like that what is the plan do you want to go and get your supplies first

or do you want to head over to meet Scala? That bed was lovely. Loved it. So good. Daisy's still, like, wrapped up. Daisy's just going to take another 20 to 30 to 40 hours. We can go to the market while Daisy's here. Come back.

Market time, everyone. Aphelia, shopping! Shopping! That's right. Lovely. Yes, Gruff. Gruff's already at the, like, he's been out and he's back in. Oh, okay.

Gras's already bought the supply to me. I came back to get you guys. Oh, right, okay. To speed things along, I'm actually going to say. to say that Gruff has, we can sort the supplies out in the next time. I got one to let or deliver, like, shopping.

I secured someone to deliver my letter and bought like the food and the packs and the bed rolls, all the things that you needed. Graff's already got it sorted. Thank you, Gruff! No worries. Can we go look for souvenirs though? Oh, absolutely, there's a lovely little souvenir shop.

I actually got this for my wife. What did you get and what was the souvenir shop? What did they sell? It was a little market stand. Yeah, what's it a day? And who runs it? They make... Souvenirs.

They make necklaces of rocks with a hole in them, in the middle. So you can turn it into like a little pendant. Kind of like, you know, Chinese jade pendants and stuff like that. And he bought two pendants. And it is called the Lucky Jade. No. You don't have to name it. market stand but who sold it to you?

A lovely yacht near man. Okay. Man. Young man got quite a talent for carving. Okay. Yeah. Cool. Perfect.

Cool. Called Bowen. Yeah. And there's other, you know, Gruff obviously found that, but there are like other little this is kind of like a traders, travelers little village. So there are like little market stands with like local specialties.

Well, I think that, no, do I want to do this? Yeah, I guess I do. There is one, you can see like a little trader. The market's like being set up and it's very busy, lots of people coming, going locals and travelers. And there's one who he has a little ten, but then it has like a fence around. And there are little, I would say,

sort of chicken-sized velociraptor like dinosaurs, like feathered dinosaurs, kind of like scurrying around and he's sort of tossing them bits of me and people are buying them like little animals basically. You also see people selling like rugs and like textures and things like the, you know, textiles. Hats is quite a common one here. Hats with like a strap that goes under the chin to keep the rain off of you. Sort of a kind of weird mix of like almost like a cowboy hat but with like a wider brim and a bit more of like a textured, it's not made of like leather,

it's kind of almost like woven hats kind of thing. Gus bought one of those. Sure. He already had on. Yeah, perfect. There's a strap-s on. And there's a side round. These rogues are good.

Keep the, you know, rain off you. It's very practical. Yeah. Rugs and those bracelets. I've got to go over there right now. What in the silence grace and blessings is that? What are they? What are those?

What is this little creature? What are they? Greetings, how much for the lot? You want to buy all of them, the whole pack. Yes. Wait, how many are there? I'd say there's probably like half dozen, it's like six. You want six of them, Roy?

They're adorable. They're all different colors, they've all got like different colors. They've got, you can't split them up. No, we can't do that, that would be insane. Can't split the family. Have you ever owned a fang before? A fang, a fang, they're called fangs.

They're called little fangs. Little fangs. I mean, you've got the experience with a little fang the little, the borough, the little guy. How is Borough? Conveniently forgotten about most of the time. I think I could take on another pet. You can do what you are.

Borough is being looked after by Mateo. Borough is also very small and easy things. These are like chicken size. Like you would have to carry them or things like that, like a big chicken, like a rooster. So you would have to carry it around. It can't like fit in your clothing or anything like that. Right.

How big do these? grow? They don't get much bigger than this. They stay about this size. They're good, we use them, you know, a lot of farmers buy them to chase off like rats and mice and, like rats or mice. You know, small pests. No. But yes, we use them for that. They, they are difficult creatures. If you've not, you have no experience in raising them, perhaps not a good idea to invest. We have a dog at home and we have a little dragon at home. What kind of dog and how big is it?

Oh, he came from a coat. Yes, it came from a coat. Okay. How big is this coat, a dog? Smaller than these. Yes, they will probably try and eat or kill it. Oh, right. How do they feel about wormlings?

Wormling, so, um, Pora is not a wormling. He's got called something else, isn't he? Yes I can't remember it But they can't fly So as long as they stay out of their reach They can't fly

They will chase them And try to eat them and kill them And you can train them I can train them but I can train them for you Fixed time Give me an animal handling role Dragonet Do they eat dragonettes?

Dragonet, thanks you Thank you Thank you Discord Thank you 23. 23. You stick your finger through and you see the owner this sort of

let's say it's like a half-aught so like human-aught kind of like mixed heritage. He's like, I would be careful. But then this creature kind of comes up and it kind of goes to bite but then you kind of give it a warning and then it sort of knuzzles in and pushes it and you give like a little scratch

to the top of its snout and it starts making a weird purring noise. I think he loves me. I think he does. Very cute. Do you want a little snack? Can I feed them? What are you going to feed them?

Are you going to buy it? How much? Fifty gold? Croft, can I buy a little fang? I do believe you have your own coin. I do have my own coin, but I want your permission. Why do you need my permission? Because we're a group, and you're our dad.

He's just sad. Everyone's thinking it, but Rowan just says it. That's kind of really awkward and embarrassing that you now set that out loud. Will you care for it? Yeah. Will you feed it every day? Yep.

Bear in mind we're going on treacherous journeys. That's true. But okay, that'll be so well with Rodry. Oh my god, it's like little fang and big boy. Will you train it? Oh, I will train it every single day, Griffith. What if it scratches the furniture and pisses on the Then I will repair it and teach it not to.

What if it eats a dog? Daisy's not with you right now, so he's sleeping. I will train him not to. We have until we get back to Ash and rest to train us not eat the dog. Okay, yes. Yeah, sure. Every day I will make a silent image of Stuart and train him not to attack him. I see.

If he keeps going to attack the silent image, he'll go right through it. So when he meets the real real. one, he'll just assume. No, no, no. I think I know how these things work. That's true, yeah. So I'll take your advice later. Um, shall I do it Ophelia? I mean,

this feels like a really strong and wise idea. Are you getting that one that you do nozzled? I mean, uh, what color would you like one to be the current? Oh shit. Can we multi, can have like a couple of colors and its feathers? Can it be like a, a, sunburst, what kind of color. Like a Gibson Les Paul.

Yes, yes. Are you gonna call it Gibson? Gibson. Gibson. Yes. There is absolutely no in universe reason why they would be called Gibson. He's just kind of, Rowan's very creative.

He's just like, you're called Gibson now, that's your name. Oh, give him to me. He is my gibson. There it is. My gibson. That's all I needed. 50 golden, it is yours. Oh my gosh, this is the best day ever.

Okay. Thank you so much. With that animal handling, you are able to pick up Gibson and sort of settles down, sort of kind of goes into a bit, not quite full loaf, but like half loaf. And sort of makes this paring noise, seems to be quite happy in your arms.

It's best here. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Oh, Gibson. Especially if you do feed it, if you give it like a little morsel. What we've got in here? Clay ceramic. Goat, goat stew?

Yeah, I'm gonna get the goat stew out and open the lid. Yep. Let's have a little snack on that. Starts biting on the chunks of meat. Who's a good little snacky boy? You are? You're a good little boy, yeah. I don't think it likes the spice. I don't think it likes the spice.

Ah, ah! Stop crying a little bit. Oh, sorry Gibson. My son. But it's after a few moments, it's kind of fine. It's kind of, it's more like it found it like, oh, that's a weird taste. Rough, can you create water real quick?

All right. You might do this every day. I didn't sign up for this. No, but I did ask. Well, you now have a little fang called Gibson. You will need to, he will cost you supply to feed and water. And also every day you will need to, and under certain circumstances as well,

you will need to make animal handling checks to keep him from mess behaving. I'm going to use up our first level spell to start the training. Oh, to do the sign of the image thing. When we settle down, I'll do like Stuart. Sure. And reward him for when he dismisses. Sure.

Or leaves them a little bit. We'll make it an ongoing little skill thing that you can do. But with that, you finish up sort of like souvenir buying, you begin exploring. And then do you want to head over to find this scalar? Oh, yes, cool. We'll have that where I'll just describe that and then we'll end the episode there. You ask a couple of locals to wreck you to Storm Bloom Sanctuary. And they sort of nod and sort of seem to be almost expecting you to ask where this is.

And sort of nod and eagerly point you in the direction. And you find a series of like stone markers that have been placed with sort of directions all about the town. And you end up kind of making a way sort of through the town and then into the hills. Like behind some, behind the inn, there's a little path. that winds its way. You see a large, grand building, the largest, but carved into the largest hill with one of these great stone watcher monoliths coming out the top of that hill. And the building carved into there appears to be the local Reeves House and the Lord and the Marshalls residents as well. It's kind of like main town hall style building. You make your way past that.

And the whole way is marked by stone archways with covered in beautiful dangling vines, blooming flowers and even the occasional little magical light that's been sort of embedded into a stone or an epitaph on these archways. And then eventually, and the whole time that you've been here, there's always this kind of breeze. There's always a pretty strong wind blowing in the bizarre step. But as you nestle your way through and you now find yourself surrounded on all sides by these kind of tall hills of this area around yoll, suddenly that wind dies away and you find yourself in this almost pocket of calm, more of these stone archways

have been positioned all around this little sheltered nook, and great tarps have been spread out to protect what's underneath from rain and water. You can see that the tarps have been painted in beautiful colors embroidered, covered with all sorts of foliage and plants, and around a small stream that seems to flow through the hills

and then vanish underground. is the most beautiful, vibrant garden with all kinds of vegetables and flowers and herbs. The whole place, it smells, you know, like a botanical garden. It's just full of these floral aromas and earthy vegetable smells. There's no, you see like little stone bits here and there, but there's no sort of main building or anything, just a little cave that's tucked into one of these hills that's being decorated. to almost be like a little dwelling,

kind of similar to your hermitage, actually, gruff, that you have back in Ashen's Rest. And as you come out, you can see that there are a little, there's like a little half-made alchemy stand, but it's just exposed to the elements, little wooden table and stone, you know, place mortal and pestle and stuff like that. And sort of emerging from the foliage,

kind of hearing you approach, you see a little green-scaled cobald woman dressed in sort of very simple cotton dress with a little apron, leather sort of apron, sort of cutting, shears and, you know, botanical tools tucked into her belts. And you can see that she has, you know, very simple jewelry and pieces on,

but sort of looks and sort of like, oh, hello, welcome, welcome to Stonebloom Sanctuary and sort of nod her head in your direction. And that's where we'll end today's episode. Nice. Very cool. Very cool. Very cool.

Good job, everybody. We're going on the episode there, lovely little one. No fate today, but there wasn't really a good opportunity for it. It's just a nice chill. A little bit of RP, bit of well-building. Lovely. Yeah.

Got a bit of Ophelia Lordrop as well. Yeah. Nugget. Taste. Very tasty. Taste. But with that, we are going to end the episode here. Thank you.

We do it fade and fade out, so I can do the other beer. Yes. Sometimes I forget. But that's it. Thank you for joining us, everybody. We will see you next time for more High Rollers. Happy Easter once again, and we'll see you next time.

Bye-bye. See you next time. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.