The Unforgiving City | Age of Umbra Episode 6 Part 2

Speaker 1 Tron Aries has arrived.

Speaker 2 I would like you to meet Ares, the ultimate AI soldier.

Speaker 3 He is biblically strong and supremely intelligent.

Speaker 6 You think you're in control of this?

Speaker 8 You're not.

Speaker 9 On October 10th. What are you?

Speaker 6 My world is coming to destroy yours, but I can help you.

Speaker 7 The war for our world begins in IMAX.

Speaker 11 Tron Aries, suited PG-13, may be inappropriate for children under 13. Only in theaters October 10th.
Get tickets now. now.

Speaker 12 Do Crohn's disease symptoms keep coming back? Tremphaya gazelcomab may help.

Speaker 12 At 12 weeks, rapid symptom remission was achieved in most patients taking tremphaya, and some experienced visible improvement of their intestinal lining at 12 weeks and one year.

Speaker 12 Individual results may vary. Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease.

Speaker 12 Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and TB.

Speaker 12 Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Explore what's possible and ask your doctor about Tremphaya today.

Speaker 12 Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit Tremvayaradio.com.

Speaker 12 Going up.

Speaker 14 Prices keep going up these days.

Speaker 15 It feels like being on an elevator that only goes up.

Speaker 17 Going up.

Speaker 18 But not at Metro.

Speaker 15 We're pushing the down button.

Speaker 19 Going down.

Speaker 20 We've lowered prices. Get one line of 5G data for $40.

Speaker 21 Period.

Speaker 16 That's 20% lower.

Speaker 22 And you get a free Samsung 5G phone when you bring your number.

Speaker 14 Only at Metro.

Speaker 23 Five-year guarantee on eligible plans, exclusions, apply.

Speaker 24 See website for details. Not available at Metro with T-Mobile in the past six months.

Speaker 25 Tax applies.

Speaker 26 Hey there, Critter Podcast listeners. We have a special new membership service at beacon.tv, where you get early access to all new podcast episodes, including Critical Role for the first time ever.

Speaker 26 Beacon members also get things like live event pre-sales, merch discounts, access to a private community Discord, and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cooldown.

Speaker 32 Think of it as our digital critical role land.

Speaker 26 Head on over to beacon.tv to check it out for yourself and start a seven-day free trial. Thank you so much for your support, for being a podcast listener, and for being a part of our community.

Speaker 35 Hey there, critters. This is Ashley Johnson.

Speaker 36 And Telis and Jeffy.

Speaker 35 And we're popping in here to talk about our new podcast on Beacon Weird Kids.

Speaker 36 In this series, we're diving into our lives as former child actors, from unraveling our eccentric upbringings to embracing all the delightfully odd interests we still have today.

Speaker 35 We're covering so many topics like anti-toys, taxidermy, Japanese pop culture, and honestly, anything else we come up with.

Speaker 36 Weird Kids is available exclusively on Beacon, but good news, we're offering a one-month free trial on beacon.tv so you can take a look before you become a member.

Speaker 36 Just use the code weirdos at beacon.tv to start the trial.

Speaker 35 You can also find fellow weirdos by following the series on our at the WeirdKids pod Instagram and using the hashtag WeirdKids.

Speaker 36 So, to all the misfits, outcasts, and weirdos out there, come take a seat at our table and celebrate all things unconventional, nostalgic, and wonderfully weird.

Speaker 36 Welcome to Weird Kids.

Speaker 35 New episodes release every Tuesday.

Speaker 29 Hey there, Matthew Mercer here, and you're listening to part two of this episode of Age of Umrah, a dark tale and campaign setting from our recently released tabletop RPG Daggerheart from Darrington Press.

Speaker 29 If you haven't checked out part one yet, pause this now and head over there first. Otherwise, let's return to our adventurers striving against the darkness in part two.

Speaker 43 And welcome back.

Speaker 44 So,

Speaker 46 charging into the inner sanctum surrounding the Athenium,

Speaker 47 the sky gets darker still as you push forward. The sound of heavy impacts, footfalls, and growls in the distance.

Speaker 45 The calls of many of the surrounding entities.

Speaker 51 The fiends that hunt and search are aware of your presence and their coming. As you get close to the outer walls, you can see torchlights

Speaker 45 alighting along the wall and voices starting to shout, Hey!

Speaker 57 Hawkers!

Speaker 57 Gather to the front! weapons ready, oh no,

Speaker 41 and you start seeing many of the Guardian soldiers along the top edges of the fortress walls arming themselves,

Speaker 60 as well as in this bend of here,

Speaker 61 but you don't have to.

Speaker 55 The arch you all went through blasts open from behind a few hundred feet back, and you watch the terror gut.

Speaker 4 Oh no,

Speaker 6 it's chasing us!

Speaker 4 Help us!

Speaker 4 Help!

Speaker 63 Who?

Speaker 64 We're from Desperate Luck!

Speaker 64 Please!

Speaker 64 We're survivors!

Speaker 3 They're like!

Speaker 64 We're the Enduring Enduring!

Speaker 64 I'm a fellow Pyrekeeper!

Speaker 62 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the cop, the colour.

Speaker 49 Alright, I'm gonna need you to make a presence roll for me.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 51 As the current shift guard on this side of the fortress is the one with his hand up as you glance up and see in the light, he's about to let loose a barrage of arms against you.

Speaker 38 Before they see me,

Speaker 38 do I have a moment to adjust my appearance?

Speaker 68 I'll say I'll allow it. Okay.

Speaker 3 As you start noticing them take notice of you, you can make that shift.

Speaker 38 I'm going to make that shift back into.

Speaker 41 Okay, do you have to roll for it?

Speaker 67 I do not.

Speaker 71 Yeah, so you just go ahead and do that.

Speaker 60 I am going to describe, by the way, what they see as you change.

Speaker 72 Are you going back to the previous one?

Speaker 38 I'm going back to some of my previous

Speaker 67 young woman, Dark hair.

Speaker 9 Okay.

Speaker 38 Round oh eyes.

Speaker 3 So, like Laura Bailey?

Speaker 4 Laura Bailey. Okay.

Speaker 73 She's still here with us.

Speaker 62 Yeah. Yeah, she's still here.

Speaker 9 I'm going to use my dedicated Orderborn ability to use one of my values, one of my tenants,

Speaker 9 to help with this presence role, which I haven't used this one yet. No one dies alone in the dark.

Speaker 9 So as I shout to them,

Speaker 64 please,

Speaker 64 it is your duty.

Speaker 64 Protect us from the darkness we don't want to die like this.

Speaker 70 All right, does anybody else want to

Speaker 4 have advantage?

Speaker 9 I don't have advantage.

Speaker 74 I'm just using a D20.

Speaker 56 I will spend a hope to use one of my experiences lending aid unnoticed and I will at your feet sort of cast a little divine light so that there's this

Speaker 75 like underlighting of divine light underneath you as you shout out.

Speaker 70 Excellent.

Speaker 62 So you're giving advantage to this by helping?

Speaker 70 Yeah, for the presence, yeah.

Speaker 9 It just kind of highlights, it's almost like underlighting underneath of like my pyre keeper robes so that like it illuminates them and gives further credence to my claim of being part of the pirate to my investments okay come on now come on now i'm gonna roll the

Speaker 4 yeah we're we're cooking baby we're cooking with that there we go there we go okay so that is a

Speaker 9 That is a 17 for my hope on the D20 alone.

Speaker 9 So 17 plus 4 from the help. So that is going to be 17 minus 1 for my presence.
Plus 7 for the fear dice. So that is going to be 27 with hope.

Speaker 73 Damn.

Speaker 54 27 with hope.

Speaker 70 Damn.

Speaker 30 As you're running and the ground beneath you lights up as you're rushing, hearing the

Speaker 32 behind you, you hear the voices above the wall go, Did she see that?

Speaker 4 She carries the gift.

Speaker 64 Let them in. Let them in.

Speaker 64 Open the gates quickly, but close behind them.

Speaker 79 No, they think I can do what you can do, but I can't.

Speaker 4 Oh, no.

Speaker 4 You all hear.

Speaker 80 As the nearby gate shifts.

Speaker 27 With the pulling of heavy chains out of sight, a light crack

Speaker 46 opens across darkness as the warm interior of the fortress Athenium opens.

Speaker 40 You rush around the corner.

Speaker 30 The sound of the whip slashing and breaking stone and wall behind you. You rush around the corner as you hear

Speaker 27 airs being loosed.

Speaker 30 Tearing into the fiend charging behind you.

Speaker 57 Another volley!

Speaker 57 You hear

Speaker 55 a dark shape

Speaker 83 misses the fiend and

Speaker 32 crashes as an off-site catapult launches a massive boulder towards the behemoth. It ducks below, looks over towards it,

Speaker 85 Keeps lurching forward.

Speaker 30 You all come charging into the gate. As you rush in,

Speaker 41 light and warmth hits you.

Speaker 49 And as your eyes adjust from the darkness, you just see dozens of faces looking back as voices shout, Close it, close it, close it.

Speaker 58 The wall behind you and the gate lurches slightly,

Speaker 84 and slowly

Speaker 75 you you hear a

Speaker 31 here

Speaker 87 you stand

Speaker 46 within the strongholds

Speaker 45 entry atrium from this side

Speaker 41 many other armed enduring themselves

Speaker 85 Heavy cloaks cross their shoulders, tattered and worn, dirtied.

Speaker 51 Many of these soldiers are unkept and haggard, the ones that keep the frontmost gates.

Speaker 27 But beyond just their immediate presence, all the other faces you see and focus on,

Speaker 82 you realize that you have just stepped into a massive, cramped neighborhood

Speaker 50 of wooden shacks, tents,

Speaker 80 huts.

Speaker 28 large levels of scaffolding built onto the atrium wall and ceiling of what was once a grand college entry chamber.

Speaker 41 Now

Speaker 53 a clustered

Speaker 90 settlement built throughout the halls that remain standing.

Speaker 46 You see across multiple chains hanging from edge to edge lanterns that glow gently.

Speaker 94 and little symbols of faith kind of hung amongst them like trinkets or reminders.

Speaker 71 You see amongst the soldiers civilians and families of all ages,

Speaker 48 elderly themselves wrapped up in heavy robes or blankets in the process of cooking on kettles,

Speaker 45 distributing what sort of foods and breads can be kept.

Speaker 94 And indeed you smell, for the first time since you began this journey, the smell of fresh food.

Speaker 71 And everyone's looking at you.

Speaker 68 With a tension,

Speaker 49 with an expectation,

Speaker 66 Like any minute you might lash out before a soldier comes rushing through.

Speaker 47 It's all right.

Speaker 28 She carries a gift.

Speaker 95 And you see a few faces look up.

Speaker 58 The soldier kind of steps forward.

Speaker 41 You see now a kind of the hood being pulled back.

Speaker 96 You see an elven man, probably in his early 30s or so.

Speaker 41 Multiple scars across his chin.

Speaker 41 One eye looks a bit clouded on the right-hand side, but besides that, rather handsome fellow with long brown hair that goes past his shoulders.

Speaker 96 There's pointed ears there.

Speaker 41 One looks like it was cut along the side there, and there's kind of like a gap.

Speaker 96 But other than that, looks like a strong soldier.

Speaker 41 And the one that you recognize is the voice shouting at the top of the wall.

Speaker 85 Steps forward.

Speaker 31 You are

Speaker 85 quite lucky that we caught you when we could.

Speaker 44 If it's all right, I'd like for you to stay here to ensure that we have

Speaker 42 clearance to allow you further within our domain.

Speaker 71 We've not had the best of luck through the generations of strangers being let inside.

Speaker 50 And for the protection of all within, I trust you respect that.

Speaker 1 Of course, we have similar protocols in Desper Lock.

Speaker 5 We understand.

Speaker 61 Are we, by the way, are we are we carrying Callison's dead body right now?

Speaker 99 100% of his body over his shoulders.

Speaker 5 His upper thorax.

Speaker 99 Yes, yes, he did

Speaker 99 a leg or two.

Speaker 27 You realize is the other reason everyone's staring?

Speaker 66 You rushed in your strangers and you are carrying a charred half-body.

Speaker 85 The soldier looks at you.

Speaker 50 Is this

Speaker 98 a friend?

Speaker 68 Two, we two.

Speaker 39 We lost two companions, and one is missing.

Speaker 11 I'm sorry to hear that.

Speaker 39 Do you have a place here to have a proper burial?

Speaker 99 We've already burned him.

Speaker 4 He's

Speaker 39 he's not at risk of

Speaker 5 one life.

Speaker 28 There is a...

Speaker 100 a courtyard of the Athenium.

Speaker 52 It is quite full, but we're digging levels lower where we can

Speaker 34 inter

Speaker 44 those who pass and have been

Speaker 44 freed from the salt light.

Speaker 89 I will inquire if we have a chamber there not quite at capacity.

Speaker 89 A few moments, please.

Speaker 4 What is your name?

Speaker 49 Sir Derenthal.

Speaker 56 Sir Darren? Sir Derenthel.

Speaker 6 Derenthal Derenthal

Speaker 52 I will speak to my commander.

Speaker 71 She will likely be

Speaker 94 the one to

Speaker 1 help you or send you on your way.

Speaker 53 You said

Speaker 82 Desperok.

Speaker 10 yes, we've been sent by the Triarch to

Speaker 101 reignite our pyre

Speaker 11 You've lost your pyre it has been extinguished.

Speaker 10 It's uh desperate times and a few parties have been dispatched

Speaker 39 to seek aid from Volcaro. We've passed through there

Speaker 39 It's honestly been quite a long journey only a few days

Speaker 10 But as you can imagine it we've endured heavy losses

Speaker 5 Of course. I'm just gonna

Speaker 9 heave August's body over in him now, just cradling him.

Speaker 9 Take a knee and just rest him in front of us.

Speaker 92 How long since the pie was lost?

Speaker 3 Just a couple of days.

Speaker 98 But we don't know when the umbra will come, so we're in a hurry.

Speaker 39 We are on a journey to find a

Speaker 61 blessed branch.

Speaker 70 Um

Speaker 68 It'll

Speaker 91 shift eastward towards Tesbulok, so I know not what time there is.

Speaker 44 But

Speaker 52 I'll speak to my commander, Kieran.

Speaker 45 She'll be able to help you

Speaker 49 more than I could. I'm sorry.

Speaker 39 your hospitality is already appreciated

Speaker 39 i'm

Speaker 68 i'm glad you could be so convincing

Speaker 68 it's not often we

Speaker 10 open our gates for strangers if there is any way that we can return the favor we will

Speaker 10 we are gracious here in the athenium

Speaker 34 It turns around and everyone's still.

Speaker 81 There's what were now dozens of faces.

Speaker 96 There's now 30, 40, maybe 50 civilians that have all quietly gathered and are standing shoulder to shoulder.

Speaker 89 You see, humans, orcs, elves, dwarfs, halflings.

Speaker 45 It is just a smattering of the peoples of the domain who have

Speaker 92 lived here for generations, who have traveled from afar to seek the safety of the Athenium.

Speaker 68 or fled from other homesteads that themselves fell to the darkness. You don't know.

Speaker 28 But it...

Speaker 28 there are degrees of squalor, but everyone seems at least healthy.

Speaker 91 And they're all just staring.

Speaker 10 I've seen these types of looks before.

Speaker 10 Some questioning, some hopeful.

Speaker 6 Can I do a quick scan for the thing that I'm looking for, which is not wonder or

Speaker 6 quizzical or hopeful, but disdain or contempt amongst the rest of the faces.

Speaker 66 Yes, make an uh, make an instinct roll for me if you don't mind.

Speaker 10 Uh, that is a 17

Speaker 68 with fear.

Speaker 81 You glance through the crowd, and while most of the eyes are tense,

Speaker 28 at the very least, just

Speaker 45 waiting waiting for something to happen.

Speaker 27 You see, there are a number of faces, those that

Speaker 45 clutch trinkets around their neck,

Speaker 54 even one that wears vestments, an older, more portly fellow

Speaker 4 who has long, kind of balding hair,

Speaker 70 gray,

Speaker 27 and wears a chin beard, who kind of looks upon specifically your troop

Speaker 41 with like a smile and is kind of just muttering under his breath, like a silent silent prayer

Speaker 86 Beyond them you see two

Speaker 73 of the soldiers of similar station and decor of the one who is helping you who walked away and they're both talking amongst themselves and just keeping a dark eye on Brixton

Speaker 6 Can I sort of mark them in my mind just to kind of just remember what they look like you yeah you might one you see is a

Speaker 54 younger male halfling who has a scruffy beard that's like unkept at all and his hair is a big mop, dark brown eyes and he just wears a scowl.

Speaker 27 The other you see is a very thin female woman, shaved, bald head,

Speaker 41 one massive old white scar that carves across her darker skin.

Speaker 58 It goes over across the face and over the head where she must have suffered some serious wound and somehow survived.

Speaker 40 And it healed a little wrong, so her head is slightly lopsided at where that mark is.

Speaker 60 And they're both just looking towards Brixton with disdain.

Speaker 34 But I spend a fear, and immediately they catch your glance and then turn and disappear into the crowd.

Speaker 6 Yeah, motherfucker, I saw you.

Speaker 6 And who were they? Just.

Speaker 70 I was clocking.

Speaker 1 I was looking for people that weren't curious or hopeful or

Speaker 6 full of wonder at someone saying, saying, she has the gift. I was looking for people that were dogging.

Speaker 81 After the soldiers leave and a few moments pass,

Speaker 52 the crowd begins to move towards you slowly.

Speaker 82 People begin to step forward from the crowd, about a dozen or so.

Speaker 49 Some saying,

Speaker 71 you're here to save us, are you?

Speaker 93 You carry the gift. No, please,

Speaker 74 it's not safe. I'm sorry.

Speaker 74 Our friend fell to a terrible ailment.

Speaker 75 Please, we...

Speaker 47 Please, we are starving.

Speaker 28 Whatever all the gods can bring, what blessings and miracles can bring upon us.

Speaker 79 My child, my child is sick.

Speaker 62 I understand, please, keep your children.

Speaker 32 Reaching out and grabbing and like reaching towards yourself.

Speaker 38 Please, please, I will set her up.

Speaker 47 Give her space.

Speaker 74 There will be time

Speaker 74 for all of your questions and anything else. We are on a mission of great import, and believe me, we understand how you feel.

Speaker 74 The more that you can help us settle in, the more we'll be able to help you in return.

Speaker 95 A soft apple hits your chest plate and splatters, arced past the crowd, and you glance past, you do not see the source of it.

Speaker 4 Everyone comes up.

Speaker 9 I don't even know if Brixon

Speaker 9 caught

Speaker 9 people saying, like, she has the gift, she's touched. So I think Brixon is just a little

Speaker 9 doesn't fully even understand what's going on.

Speaker 75 Idol turns around and goes, they think you're touched, they think you have the gift.

Speaker 67 I am going to

Speaker 63 play

Speaker 38 a relaxing song.

Speaker 31 And

Speaker 38 you and your allies within close range clear a hit point.

Speaker 38 So if you have a hit point, clear a hit point.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 38 But I'm just trying to sort of.

Speaker 99 The band is the Titanic isinking. Yep.

Speaker 75 You can't even heal anybody because we've got 30 plus people watching us.

Speaker 38 Yeah, I I just want to just try to calm everybody down.

Speaker 87 Describe to me.

Speaker 48 Misty.

Speaker 87 How this song is played in your current form

Speaker 87 of a normal human being.

Speaker 108 Just describe to me.

Speaker 81 Like, how does it sound to the folks around you?

Speaker 77 Is it possible

Speaker 38 to, because I don't, since most of the music comes out of the wings and body, is it possible to

Speaker 67 make

Speaker 38 on top of this an illusion of a little violin?

Speaker 38 Sure, I'll pretend that that is where the music is coming from. Allow it.

Speaker 86 So you release some of your musical

Speaker 110 aether weave through the wings, a pinched tone that sounds like a soft violin as you make the motion.

Speaker 45 And indeed, like as it washes over, many people begin to like perk up to it.

Speaker 48 Like many of them haven't heard nice music in a moment or two.

Speaker 87 People begin to kind of sit up.

Speaker 58 They're still looking towards you, those that kind of came towards you and were pushed away and intimidated by an idol,

Speaker 41 they still kind of sit where they're standing and kind of begin to build a circle around you. And as you play the music, more begin to come.
This kind of drawn please relax.

Speaker 39 We have all been through so much.

Speaker 39 We have lost

Speaker 61 friends.

Speaker 39 Please give my friend a moment.

Speaker 48 Some of the children remain sitting and listening to the music, kind of looking up at you.

Speaker 85 This little like maybe three-year-old, four-year-old is just kind of sitting looking up.

Speaker 95 This kind of very waifish young boy who has scraggly, kind of dirty blonde hair and bright, vibrant blue eyes, just kind of dirty smears on his cheeks.

Speaker 53 He's just listening to you and goes, ah.

Speaker 48 And listens and kind of just sways with it.

Speaker 53 Two other kids kind of come up and listen, and you start like pipering a small troop of kids that

Speaker 42 you wonder if they've ever heard music in their so far short lifetime.

Speaker 42 Come on, bro.

Speaker 42 Oh, bro, be horse.

Speaker 41 You then hear the shifting of metal plates, and people begin to depart from the crowd.

Speaker 95 As soldiers return, amongst them you see a stern-looking older female fawn, two large kind of curved horns that go back, her hair cut very short,

Speaker 111 kind of silver-white across the top.

Speaker 96 Her adornments match the coloration and symbols of the scavenged armor that you wear, Brixton.

Speaker 41 A dark green, like forest green cloak that's thrown over one shoulder, and she has a

Speaker 41 well-kept-looking axe to her side.

Speaker 54 Yeah.

Speaker 54 Let's go.

Speaker 105 And steps forward.

Speaker 49 I'm Commander Kirin.

Speaker 46 Kiran Tolis.

Speaker 49 You've met my subordinate, and he's spoken on your behalf.

Speaker 41 For the time being, you are guests of the Celsian Council.

Speaker 49 And within the Athenium, you will find solace,

Speaker 54 recovery,

Speaker 34 and should you have the means to barter, materials.

Speaker 49 We do not have room amongst our holes for more civilians. But you can stay till you can be on your way.

Speaker 100 That is more than enough.

Speaker 100 More than we need.

Speaker 98 And we do have things to barter for certain, yes.

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 39 This is very generous. It is very appreciated.

Speaker 61 We are...

Speaker 39 very stalwart on our mission. So we will not stay alone.

Speaker 52 Come with me.

Speaker 41 And she turns, and the crowd parts behind her, expectant of you being escorted by these soldiers into the actual proper Athenium. The back of the entry gate still behind you.

Speaker 41 You haven't made it more than 10 feet into the stronghold until this moment.

Speaker 41 And you begin to step and lock, step the warmth of the interior and the flames beginning to crackle.

Speaker 51 You see hearths and small fires around that kind of just warm the interior.

Speaker 82 The crowds that part watch you as you pass.

Speaker 34 And Brixton, you feel many hands reach out and brush your arms.

Speaker 51 Many of the townsfolk of the Athenium are trying to grasp the one who is touched with the gift.

Speaker 9 I kind of

Speaker 9 try to reciprocate, like in a very gentle and benevolent manner, but also I am deeply uncomfortable.

Speaker 32 You hear a heavy

Speaker 96 and all the hands pull back and Commander Kierns turn around.

Speaker 81 Do not mistake

Speaker 27 appearances with miracles.

Speaker 46 They are our guests briefly and they will be on their way.

Speaker 96 Expect nothing more.

Speaker 49 And she turns and continues to lead you through the crowd, which now,

Speaker 85 the commander's voice they respect, though still locked upon your troop.

Speaker 34 You're led beyond the entryway into what is now the thriving heart of this community.

Speaker 83 This

Speaker 41 monstrous college has been completely converted into an interior village.

Speaker 66 Each classroom, each hallway, each portion of this structure that was used for higher learning in the old world is now small homesteads homesteads in shops and alleyways.

Speaker 34 You can see multiple layers of even homes built up into the tops of the high-arched ceilings.

Speaker 27 There are rope ladders and pulleys that people utilize to get around to the multiple tiers.

Speaker 34 There are open archways that lead to the interior courtyard where you can see fruit is being grown, where small farmsteads are being expanded upon.

Speaker 59 This is a self-sustained community, and you can see why it is so fiercely guarded not unlike desperlock was

Speaker 34 even just looking past into the courtyard you can see the bright flicker of the sacred pyre from some tower high out of sight just barely reflected through some of the low tree boughs but it is here within the athenium that you have a chance to rest and to maybe seek whatever aid you need for the journey ahead Do you think that a cappella group over there would would help us or those two guys playing playing hacky sack in the quad?

Speaker 10 Up the acapella group, the the sign says city boys with a Z.

Speaker 70 My mom didn't reload, but

Speaker 4 I can't read my credits.

Speaker 80 Snicks.

Speaker 6 Yes.

Speaker 4 Are these

Speaker 39 gardens?

Speaker 5 Are these the gardens like Aliana talked about in her

Speaker 4 in in her letter to me?

Speaker 4 Um,

Speaker 98 I they are similar.

Speaker 98 Hers is more uh humble, I think. I

Speaker 98 mean, I I it is, and and

Speaker 63 um

Speaker 98 much much more humble, but but yes, it has the beauty of

Speaker 98 the same sort of natural softness of hers.

Speaker 39 If this is the type of life she is living, it is well earned.

Speaker 39 Yes. Wow.

Speaker 39 Um.

Speaker 98 What do we do? I mean, first of all, what do we do with August?

Speaker 39 Well, I think they were going to check if there was space.

Speaker 39 But um.

Speaker 4 Yeah, we should.

Speaker 39 We should. Let's just get to maybe a safe spot.

Speaker 77 Sure, sure.

Speaker 39 Before we strip him naked.

Speaker 76 Uh-huh.

Speaker 45 Commander Kieran Tolis leads you to a small chamber that when you approach, realize it is often utilized as a

Speaker 44 hold.

Speaker 48 You know,

Speaker 41 what was once a larger storage room that's been affixed with bars.

Speaker 83 Yeah,

Speaker 81 it's used as a temporary prison if needed, but it is also a space that feels safe and within the proximity of the rest of the Athenium Guard to where you may not be bothered unwantedly.

Speaker 32 So it's left open.

Speaker 34 They aren't like locking you in, but you are given, this is your private space for the evening to return to as needed.

Speaker 58 And you have the walk of the Athenium base floor.

Speaker 87 The upper floors you are not given permission to explore.

Speaker 4 I know.

Speaker 98 Well, then, in our privacy, our moment of privacy, we'll gently lay out August's body, maybe wrap him in one of our sleeping bags,

Speaker 98 and gently and respectfully loot his body.

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 33 Okay.

Speaker 33 The effects that he carried with him, his needle.

Speaker 112 The wand, right?

Speaker 98 The wand. Yeah, so he has a wand, he has a grappler, which is like a sword thing or whatever.

Speaker 22 I like that.

Speaker 32 Yeah, it's a long bit of like a heavy, thick

Speaker 43 rope with what looks like a hook, like a barbed hook at the end that can be used to grab and pull things okay we can trade that that stuff unless anyone wants his wand

Speaker 75 um

Speaker 9 he also has some fucking amazing armor fucking amazing armor

Speaker 79 which you should probably take

Speaker 9 if i take the because it is

Speaker 9 i have a lot of stuff but also i would get rid of my round shield which is

Speaker 9 just a plus one base of armor and I would get rid of this guardian's crown which is decreasing my thresholds to just do the the armor.

Speaker 9 So if anyone wanted a round shield, there's this guardian's crown situation

Speaker 9 which allows you to wield a two-handed weapon and something else, but it decreases your threshold.

Speaker 107 Not interested.

Speaker 98 Not interested. But I might take the round shield.
Do you have... What's your armor?

Speaker 9 My armor, I currently have full plate armor, which gives me...

Speaker 65 Not interested.

Speaker 98 I mean, mean, I'm sure it's good, but it's a very good idea.

Speaker 4 It gives you minus two to evasion.

Speaker 9 So that's why my evasion is shit. So this would boost my evasion, boost my armor,

Speaker 9 boost my thresholds.

Speaker 5 Do it, fam. It would do my agility.

Speaker 99 Do it. But also, unless anybody else wants it.

Speaker 5 No.

Speaker 9 Because you're rocking bare body, right?

Speaker 70 Yeah, I got bare bones.

Speaker 112 You got bare bones.

Speaker 62 Do you want the shield?

Speaker 70 Nope, I can't use it. I got a two-weapon, two-handed weapon.

Speaker 98 But you could use it if you had this.

Speaker 9 But it decreases your thresholds. That's the only catch about that.
Nah, fam.

Speaker 3 I would be decreasing to increase.

Speaker 98 I could use the round shield. I wouldn't have a long-range weapon, though.

Speaker 6 Because you use a shield as your secondary weapon, right?

Speaker 9 Could I just for like aesthetics, though? Because I want like my armor is so much a part of my backstory.

Speaker 9 But like use the chain armor almost as like a base underneath and still have the breastplate for aesthetics.

Speaker 107 Yes, you could wear it and still carry the breastplate as just like the adornment beyond the actual protective measures of the armor.

Speaker 3 Okay.

Speaker 4 I'd allow that.

Speaker 5 Unless you want this armor.

Speaker 79 The full plate?

Speaker 112 No, thank you. No, nobody wants it.

Speaker 4 Oh, okay.

Speaker 112 Oh, the chain armor?

Speaker 98 I mean, of course it's amazing, but you take so much damage for other people, you should have it.

Speaker 9 I think I've taken more damage for Ashley than for myself.

Speaker 4 I think.

Speaker 80 True. I think.

Speaker 4 Okay, okay, okay, okay. Okay, we'll hit you.
So I will.

Speaker 54 Before you equip everything,

Speaker 1 because decide what you want or what you want to trade.

Speaker 98 Yeah, we're going to. We can trade the crown.

Speaker 9 We can get rid of the crown.

Speaker 98 We can trade the wand and the grappler.

Speaker 4 And do we have other items? Yeah, we don't have any other items. I had, I think.
What did I have? Well, we have the...

Speaker 5 Oh, no, that's that.

Speaker 110 Like a sword or something.

Speaker 9 I have my great sword that I also found that I'm not using anymore, so I can give up a great sword.

Speaker 5 Okay.

Speaker 9 Or is this how much is reasonable, Matt?

Speaker 65 Hmm?

Speaker 9 I guess however much we want to give.

Speaker 55 However much you want to put up for barter.

Speaker 109 Are we going to have to barter again?

Speaker 70 Wow. Later in the game.

Speaker 75 We don't know. We might not be alive that long.

Speaker 62 We might not.

Speaker 62 Barter like there's no tomato that we see.

Speaker 38 Oh, we still have to go through the cinnabar corridor.

Speaker 5 This one goes. Yeah.

Speaker 5 This is

Speaker 4 already in the middle of the morning. Barter like there's no tomorrow.

Speaker 4 Oh my god, I'm so excited.

Speaker 77 This is

Speaker 79 huge for me.

Speaker 113 Critical role is sponsored by BetterHelp. Look, there's a difference between venting to your GM and actually talking with a licensed therapist.

Speaker 113 That's where BetterHelp comes in with clinically trained and licensed therapists.

Speaker 113 They've been around for over a decade, helped millions of people, and out of 1.7 million client reviews, they've got a 4.9 rating.

Speaker 14 Now here's what I love about BetterHelp.

Speaker 113 They help find a therapist that works for you so you can focus on your life's adventure. You fill out a short questionnaire that helps identify your needs and preferences.

Speaker 113 And if you aren't happy with your match, well, you can switch to a different therapist at any time. It's fully online and you can pause your subscription whenever you need to.

Speaker 113 With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having having served over 5 million people globally.

Speaker 113 As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Find the one with BetterHelp.

Speaker 113 Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com slash critical role. That's betterhelp.com/slash critical role.

Speaker 114 Choose the best, Honda, with more best buy awards awards than any other brand. All Honda cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs are in stock and on sale.

Speaker 114 Honda, the best performance brand, best overall brand, and best value brand. Ask anyone who owns a Honda and search your local Honda dealer.

Speaker 115 Based on 2025 Consumer Choice Awards from Kelly Bluebook, visit GNAD.com for more information.

Speaker 117 Calling all sightseers and selfie takers, welcome to Texas, where a day at our hiking trails will lead to a lifetime of memories.

Speaker 117 And family road trips become family legends.

Speaker 117 Where thrill seekers make a splash into spring-fed pools.

Speaker 117 And picky eaters will clean their plates.

Speaker 117 This is your invitation to visit Texas and see it for yourself. Visit traveltexas.com and plan your family's trip today.

Speaker 21 Let's Texas.

Speaker 14 Prices keep going up these days.

Speaker 15 It feels like being on an elevator that only goes up.

Speaker 17 Going up.

Speaker 18 but not at Metro.

Speaker 15 We're pushing the down button.

Speaker 19 Going down.

Speaker 20 We've lowered prices. Get one line of 5G data for $40.

Speaker 21 Period.

Speaker 16 That's 20% lower.

Speaker 22 And you get a free Samsung 5G phone when you bring your number.

Speaker 14 Only at Metro.

Speaker 23 Five-year guarantee on eligible plans, exclusion supplies.

Speaker 24 See website for details. Not available at Metro with T-Mobile in the past six months.

Speaker 25 Tax supplies.

Speaker 54 So, crown, wand, grappler, great sword.

Speaker 75 Anything else up for barter? Yeah, my

Speaker 6 Halberd, my original halberd got you

Speaker 98 i could ditch the scepter of elias

Speaker 56 oh you know what i had a crossbow that i'm not using anymore i could get rid of that yeah scepter of elias was in a big ass lead locked case i'm sure it's well valuable i have old gambison armor that i'm not using okay

Speaker 98 are you keeping the scepter or are you bartering i'll keep it for now just in case i need it it for reasons.

Speaker 5 Yeah, it's fair. Yeah, yeah.
Okay.

Speaker 98 The guy who owns it might want it.

Speaker 66 Who is helming the barter

Speaker 78 with the community of

Speaker 111 merchants and keepers of goods and traders?

Speaker 39 I have presents, but minus one to my presence.

Speaker 75 I would have managed to negotiate with criminals, but I don't.

Speaker 1 It depends on who we're bartering with.

Speaker 52 It does depend on who you're bartering with.

Speaker 98 Are you, you're, you have some presents?

Speaker 9 I have presents.

Speaker 52 If you want to look for a criminal element you could what do you have for presents zero okay

Speaker 98 But I do I do trade a lot so

Speaker 112 you know

Speaker 75 And usually criminals got that they got that good good, you know what I mean? Yeah

Speaker 98 Feel like you're gonna be good at this

Speaker 38 I can certainly try

Speaker 108 Okay, so are you bartering with the above-level merchantile here as opposed to looking for the underground merchantile?

Speaker 98 You get advantage.

Speaker 3 You get advantage when negotiating with criminals.

Speaker 98 I mean, man, that's pretty good.

Speaker 70 I mean,

Speaker 94 either way could have benefits, but it's up to you which path you want to take.

Speaker 3 I mean, basically, I'm better.

Speaker 76 I need to go the criminal route.

Speaker 61 Yeah, better.

Speaker 4 Just so you guys are aware.

Speaker 52 If you go the criminal route and you roll really poorly, you may be immediately discovered to be in league with the the criminal element after just arriving at the stronghold.

Speaker 60 But the benefits could be much bigger.

Speaker 4 So.

Speaker 47 The choice is yours.

Speaker 62 Did you just offer me hot sauce for my taco?

Speaker 4 Yes.

Speaker 9 Yeah, let's do that.

Speaker 5 Why not?

Speaker 41 So we're going for the criminal element?

Speaker 112 Any objections? No.

Speaker 4 Let's do it. No.

Speaker 89 Okay.

Speaker 9 We can boost it up, right? We can give him advantage and shit.

Speaker 32 Yeah, well, he gets advantage.

Speaker 4 He gets an advantage.

Speaker 9 You get advantage already.

Speaker 76 Okay, thanks.

Speaker 95 So,

Speaker 4 idol.

Speaker 69 After you've had a moment to rest and

Speaker 48 someone was sent to go look into the expanding catacombs beneath the Athenium to look for a place where you can enter and give your respects to the friend you've lost that's present and possibly the new friend that you've lost and isn't.

Speaker 53 You walk through the crowds and there are looks of a lack of recognition, people that see a new face and kind of follow a little bit and you kind of, once you make eye contact with them, they back off and leave.

Speaker 94 There's just a lot of it's based in curiosity, some of it's based in mistrust and concern,

Speaker 66 but you know, you can't help but draw an eye here and there.

Speaker 81 Asked a few couple questions.

Speaker 50 Eventually there's a certain look about someone that tells you they might be

Speaker 33 a little more into the idea of doing what's necessary to get the upper hand in life, a life that doesn't normally give you much to work with.

Speaker 58 And you see what looks to be a

Speaker 107 dwarven woman with a knotted tuft of a beard right at the end of her chin,

Speaker 96 who has like two leather straps that hang from under her hair from a headband.

Speaker 52 And for what she wears, has very, very nice rings on one hand

Speaker 30 and looks to be sitting back and kind of

Speaker 27 the best way you can describe it is casing

Speaker 97 a thoroughfare

Speaker 70 can I

Speaker 31 I'll ask for just a minute and I will go over and approach but I won't walk directly up to her I'll stand maybe ten feet to the side and

Speaker 1 Just turn and look in the same direction she is for a few seconds and then

Speaker 73 slide a couple steps closer.

Speaker 3 Is anybody watching her or

Speaker 94 myself?

Speaker 1 Take another steps closer.

Speaker 75 An incredible refuge you have here.

Speaker 47 You're a new face, ain't you?

Speaker 10 We sure are.

Speaker 75 And one that'll probably be gone before the sun rises.

Speaker 101 I couldn't help but remark on the uh

Speaker 10 the beauty you've collected in such dark times.

Speaker 66 You got keen eyes

Speaker 94 that extend to your wanderings beyond the wall

Speaker 75 only if I'm lucky

Speaker 107 turns their head towards you, makes eye contact, and your like piercing emerald eyes meet yours and there's a bit of a grin to one side.

Speaker 68 Give a little wink. Yeah.

Speaker 90 Well, before you shove off, what y'all looking for?

Speaker 10 Hopefully the best that um

Speaker 1 that this pyre has to offer we

Speaker 10 can only offer what we came in with but um we are motivated to stack the deck in our favor

Speaker 10 i hate to negotiate against myself already but we are desperate Oh, you can earn your way right quick with a new community by throwing one of their uh

Speaker 45 bits of the underbelly to the dogs, can you?

Speaker 91 Are you trustworthy?

Speaker 68 To a fault.

Speaker 104 Roll a presence roll.

Speaker 4 Come on. With advantage.
Come on.

Speaker 112 Advantage, okay.

Speaker 4 Come on.

Speaker 99 This is it.

Speaker 62 This is it. With hope.

Speaker 105 Do you have any experiences you want to add to this that would apply or not?

Speaker 107 Probably not. But just checking in.

Speaker 70 Reading between the lines.

Speaker 105 How would you want to apply that?

Speaker 73 So in taking stock

Speaker 73 her body posture, but also trying to keep a low profile at sort of the edge of the city, keeping all of her marks in front of her, but also still wanting to be noticed by wearing the bling on her finger.

Speaker 10 She's not wanting to disappear entirely. So, I think she wants to be recognized for the work and station that she's built for herself, but not too easily, only recognized by

Speaker 1 those that know.

Speaker 96 Okay, if you want to spend a hope, you can add that experience to the road. Yeah,

Speaker 96 That is 10, 15

Speaker 3 plus 10. 16, 17 with hope.

Speaker 104 All right, 17 with hope.

Speaker 107 Take that hope back that you just spent.

Speaker 107 Okay, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.

Speaker 28 She gives you a look,

Speaker 3 puts a finger up, licks it and does a little rotation in the air.

Speaker 60 And you notice the six other figures that were scattered amongst the crowd that you didn't even pick up until now that were watching this whole exchange that all kind of nod and scatter.

Speaker 10 And she goes,

Speaker 71 Follow me.

Speaker 92 I think we can procure quite many things.

Speaker 33 And she steps away from the wall and back into the crowd.

Speaker 60 You follow her, and we'll say for the purposes of brevity,

Speaker 45 I mean, it's pretty decent rolling with what you have to offer here.

Speaker 30 I'll say you can choose

Speaker 112 to the crown, right? To you all.

Speaker 54 You're offering the crown, yeah?

Speaker 32 Yeah, which is quite a bit.

Speaker 28 Pretty much like,

Speaker 32 honestly, whatever you can carry from these lists.

Speaker 5 What?

Speaker 68 From whatever lists.

Speaker 79 These are all better stuff.

Speaker 4 These are the tier two

Speaker 62 improved weapons.

Speaker 106 They're not crazy, but they're a bump up from your level one equipment.

Speaker 32 All that is could be scavenged by them for the bulk of what you've offered to trade.

Speaker 58 If you only want a few items, we can pull it one by one. But if you give them all that you have for trade, you can have your run of the lot

Speaker 55 because you rolled pretty high.

Speaker 61 Wow. Whoa.

Speaker 6 This is sick.

Speaker 94 Disgusting.

Speaker 3 Like, very close.

Speaker 99 Well, you might be able to get a better shield.

Speaker 98 I know. I'm going to

Speaker 47 trade the shield too.

Speaker 113 Oh, boy. Well, this is the rest of the

Speaker 4 can I ask you a question?

Speaker 56 If when I walked in, because this is the first time we've been in a population with like a large swath of people, the bone-hooked glaive,

Speaker 75 did that gather a lot of attention?

Speaker 1 Like, were people averse to it, or

Speaker 56 did they recognize that as a weapon from the umbra?

Speaker 75 Like, did it have a little bit of a bad, bad vibe with it?

Speaker 95 I'll say

Speaker 104 they were more entranced with the

Speaker 90 expectation of a gift, divinely gifted arrival.

Speaker 85 Sure, a few folks probably gave you a solid look.

Speaker 58 It didn't help that you're strangers and that mistrust already bred.

Speaker 58 And those that looked at you with mistrust, you couldn't tell if it was because of just you being strangers let in or the weapon you carry.

Speaker 66 But it's certainly not an inviting weapon. Yep.

Speaker 3 I would just get a plus one, but the cool thing about the Bonehood Glade is it's scary and on a successful attack, which I've been doing, the target must must mark a stress.

Speaker 56 So, maybe I should actually use my weapon correctly first before I upgrade shit.

Speaker 73 I think I'm gonna stay.

Speaker 73 Okay,

Speaker 9 with this, are we able to also request any type of look?

Speaker 60 There's there's also armor on there and stuff like that stuff.

Speaker 101 But I do, I'm bare bones, baby.

Speaker 68 That's right, you're bare bones.

Speaker 9 My armor that I just got is sick.

Speaker 9 Um,

Speaker 38 I think I'm gonna upgrade my returning blade blade because it can add a plus three.

Speaker 5 So that would give me a plus four because my guess limit to damage.

Speaker 9 Is it also possible, since we're hooking them up, to request any type of like information?

Speaker 9 I especially wouldn't mind the information, just once again, for the sake of brevity, from like Commander Kieran on information about this armor that I have to just learn more about it.

Speaker 75 And or and or any potions they might have.

Speaker 62 Potions potions, or conspiracy, and in lieu of a weapon armor, or right.

Speaker 51 Yeah, the rest, the rest of the hall that

Speaker 42 they're able to acquire for you, I'll give you in just a moment.

Speaker 4 Okay, okay.

Speaker 9 Um, I think I will take an improved great sword because now I do it has plus six to physical damage,

Speaker 9 so it's 2d to him plus 6, and I still would roll three damage.

Speaker 4 Equip with that sucker.

Speaker 9 So, I now have a gilded falchion if anyone wants

Speaker 9 a gilded falchion, I guess.

Speaker 98 What's the It's melee?

Speaker 9 It is melee.

Speaker 104 I'm very close, dog. So the armor, the armor that you...

Speaker 41 Very close.

Speaker 49 The armor that you found back in Desperwock you're referring to.

Speaker 52 The armor you started with.

Speaker 99 Yes.

Speaker 9 The one that I'm still want to wear.

Speaker 1 Correct.

Speaker 9 I still am wearing it.

Speaker 99 It's very important to me.

Speaker 4 It's my destiny.

Speaker 49 That information comes from just somebody kind of looking at the symbols on it.

Speaker 41 And indeed, it was armor of one of the high guard of Amber Reach.

Speaker 58 Somebody that was likely

Speaker 108 higher ranking than the standard captains, probably worked closer to the core of like the very, very

Speaker 94 upper levels of the Basilica quarter, close to where the God King's throne was, which means this is armor of somebody who had of station.

Speaker 41 So it had visible importance and the markings and connotations of it denote that.

Speaker 49 Any other information you want to find?

Speaker 9 Um, I guess we got a decent amount of information on where we're going towards the burrows, or to the to the barrow.

Speaker 9 But any other potential information on what we can expect on the rest of our journey?

Speaker 65 Okay.

Speaker 84 You learn that the Astro Foundry is

Speaker 107 been dark since the apostasy.

Speaker 48 There are rumors that there are lights that occasionally at night can be seen in the distant bits of glass and windows that remain, But the Astro Foundry is more of a

Speaker 72 landmark for your journey than a necessary destination.

Speaker 94 You're welcome to enter it if you like.

Speaker 42 Because it's just south of the barrow of Blind Repose.

Speaker 100 Correct.

Speaker 96 But that's just a point that you then use towards

Speaker 107 which the wilds are referred to as the Orumwild.

Speaker 6 The what is it?

Speaker 102 Orum Wild.

Speaker 80 A-U-R.

Speaker 58 A-U-R-U-M-W-E-A-L-D.

Speaker 66 The Orum Wild

Speaker 107 is a dense wood of strong druidic history.

Speaker 94 A powerful nature spirit

Speaker 42 has long taken up residence there and had a vast community of

Speaker 72 revered and respected druidic aether weavers

Speaker 85 who worked in lockstep.

Speaker 49 with Ophidius' counsel

Speaker 69 to protect the nature and wilds that it, Amberich and beyond.

Speaker 49 Since the apostasy,

Speaker 5 that union crumbled,

Speaker 49 and a curse took up the woods.

Speaker 33 Some say the spirit still wanders, and most avoid it for fear of those that

Speaker 41 attempt to bypass it sometimes are never seen again.

Speaker 49 But certain scouts that keep to the higher peaks sometimes see something shifting in the wood, tall enough to be seen pushing through the boughs and canopy.

Speaker 9 And that's where we're so basically like avoid the Astro Foundry, but we will have to go through the Orem Wild.

Speaker 6 Well, we're using the Astro Foundry as like a marker to head towards, and then we're going north.

Speaker 4 Okay. Okay.

Speaker 3 Like hit the Astro Foundry and straight up Hildilla.

Speaker 73 Okay.

Speaker 104 So,

Speaker 49 anything else you want information on, possibly, while you're here?

Speaker 98 Anywhere

Speaker 98 else we know we're going to hit on the way out of here that we need to...

Speaker 56 We're going to go around the Cinnabar corridor.

Speaker 68 We're going to like hug the water and head up towards the Astro Foundry.

Speaker 98 We know that that's the best way to do it. It seems like we're...
Is there any tricks or tips?

Speaker 4 We're here.

Speaker 101 And the Astro Foundry is here.

Speaker 73 And the Cinnabar is kind of just off to the side if we can.

Speaker 90 Stay to the outskirts.

Speaker 5 Okay.

Speaker 73 Yeah, I guess we could ask,

Speaker 4 is there a more safe passage over water or something?

Speaker 3 Toward the Astro Foundry?

Speaker 86 From what you hear,

Speaker 33 all paths that get to the wood from here through the Cinnabar Quarter are either hugging the inside wall of the quarter

Speaker 94 or just running straight through.

Speaker 82 Speed is of essence

Speaker 33 if you're ever found or discovered because the Damascus Queens definitely call that region their own.

Speaker 68 What's the name again?

Speaker 104 Damask.

Speaker 54 Damask Queens.

Speaker 41 And there are factions within the Queens, each with their own queen leader. Oh, boy.

Speaker 47 Yeah, sure. Damascus.
The two to look out for

Speaker 58 are Yuri of the Emerald Crown,

Speaker 76 who is a dualist and flamboyant showman who certainly loves to talk,

Speaker 107 loves the theatricality of cruelty.

Speaker 39 That's who took Adelia's family.

Speaker 33 The other one is Farah of the Ruby Crown.

Speaker 87 Bold and energetic, dominatrix of a captain.

Speaker 34 Her sadism knows no bounds.

Speaker 66 And the queens that work beneath her enjoy the slow challenge of how long they can stretch

Speaker 111 an enemy's torture before they expire.

Speaker 68 So you really win either way. Yeah.

Speaker 4 Yeah.

Speaker 5 That's good. Great.
I feel very fine.

Speaker 4 Yeah, you can try pass right by them.

Speaker 65 Ready to go? Yeah.

Speaker 3 Excited. Can we also get some Pop-Tarts before we hit the ring?

Speaker 4 Sure.

Speaker 4 To that point.

Speaker 28 They do manage to scrounge for you two health potions.

Speaker 70 Yes.

Speaker 58 Just basic health potions. Three stamina potions.

Speaker 3 Can I have one of those too since I can use most of my healing on someone other than myself?

Speaker 77 Yeah, I don't want stress.

Speaker 38 You guys take the stress.

Speaker 58 You also get two varic leave pouches.

Speaker 4 What is that?

Speaker 78 These are extremely rare treated

Speaker 58 like bay leaves that have a historic connotation for ritualistic use.

Speaker 58 And they're often they're kept and grown here in the garden for ritualistic use and for keeping the higher command of the guard spry and ready.

Speaker 83 But they managed to steal a little bit without anyone noticing and so you have two uses of this uh you eat them to immediately gain two hope whoa

Speaker 68 you have two of them you can eat these paired leaves to immediately gain two hope okay we'll leave them right here

Speaker 9 yeah come in the center and one

Speaker 95 little piece of crystal that kind of when you shake it it almost seems to glow beautifully from the inside and it it's cracked in places it looks like it was just a shard of a broken crystal sculpture of some kind if not for that slight faint glow it is an unstable arcane shard you can make a finesse roll to throw it to a group of adversaries at far range

Speaker 4 and targets you succeed against take 1d20 magic damage damn he gave us a holy hand grenade

Speaker 9 one-time use kind of a thing

Speaker 55 both of those are good thrower cool

Speaker 67 i am not good what would that be under that would be strength maybe

Speaker 4 or finesse. It says that.

Speaker 68 Health finesse.

Speaker 75 Like it says on the card.

Speaker 5 Duh.

Speaker 9 I'll take one of those extra stamina potions if that's okay.

Speaker 98 I already marked it. I already have one.

Speaker 79 So you guys have to be able to do that. I have one.

Speaker 38 I don't need a lot of stamina stuff.

Speaker 98 Do you have a stamina potion?

Speaker 67 No. But I don't.

Speaker 5 But do you have one? I have one.

Speaker 77 Okay. I'll take a stamina.

Speaker 60 And then I took an extra.

Speaker 98 So that way we all have a stamina potion.

Speaker 5 Yeah.

Speaker 98 You're going to at least take one of the health.

Speaker 98 And then who else?

Speaker 98 You want to take one since you're always getting some stamina restores?

Speaker 110 Yes.

Speaker 9 I can hold on. I'll mark it.

Speaker 9 And then we also still have one extra. I gave one recovery salve to Amelia.

Speaker 88 What's that to?

Speaker 9 When you rest, you can use it to get one additional health or stamina.

Speaker 32 She's dead.

Speaker 9 Well, she died, but I have one more.

Speaker 4 Okay.

Speaker 9 I have one additional one still in my inventory

Speaker 9 is what I mean.

Speaker 9 Because we had gotten two of those in the past.

Speaker 9 Okay. And then I'll, yeah.

Speaker 9 As per use, we can always.

Speaker 73 And Matt, where I take one of these things or two or what's the.

Speaker 94 Depends on what you want.

Speaker 78 It depends on what you want. Like if you...

Speaker 98 I'll take an improved Gameson armor and an improved

Speaker 98 glowing rings slash boomerang if I'm allowed to do both things.

Speaker 42 You guys traded quite a few things, so you have all this at your disposal. Amazing.

Speaker 68 Yeah, if I wanted armor it on, I know I'd have to get rid of one of the changes, but I don't know when we're leveling up again, so I can't.

Speaker 4 I know. It's too risky.

Speaker 1 It's too much exposure. Yeah.

Speaker 9 And I'm taking an improved great sword. Is it okay if I also take a returning axe just to have in my inventory in case we get...

Speaker 85 It just costs the stress to switch them.

Speaker 9 To switch them. In case we get into some flying bitches again.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 46 It's the worst than flying bitches.

Speaker 76 It's the worst.

Speaker 9 The actual worst.

Speaker 70 Okay. Oh, those flying bitches.

Speaker 7 How they did plague our heroes night after night.

Speaker 1 Bitch after bitch after bitch.

Speaker 53 Is there anything else you seek before you take your night's rest?

Speaker 1 Anything else we should seek? I I don't think so.

Speaker 3 We got directions.

Speaker 75 We got info on the wilds, the aurum wield.

Speaker 65 Well,

Speaker 4 wow. Excuse me.

Speaker 68 There's a ghost over there.

Speaker 4 We traded up.

Speaker 4 We got potions.

Speaker 3 We're gonna take a long rest tonight, overnight, before we head out.

Speaker 76 Sure.

Speaker 9 Let's do it.

Speaker 75 We're waiting on the courtyard.

Speaker 1 Yep.

Speaker 31 Okay.

Speaker 83 As you finish up

Speaker 1 one more thing. Yeah.

Speaker 101 items, weapons, armor, the finest I've ever seen.

Speaker 56 Nothing is as valuable as a favor.

Speaker 6 If I could,

Speaker 1 could you keep an eye out for us?

Speaker 10 We've been getting a bit of the stink eye since we've been here.

Speaker 10 And if you and yours could just

Speaker 56 keep your nose to the wind, I'd make sure it's worth your while on our return.

Speaker 49 Glances over now that you've finished your trading.

Speaker 1 She acknowledges.

Speaker 71 I've seen your face before, so

Speaker 107 I know there's a chance you'll be back.

Speaker 68 I'll put it on the tab.

Speaker 49 Just know we don't forget. Thank you.

Speaker 33 She steps back.

Speaker 58 And you are given one guard of their type.

Speaker 6 You know what?

Speaker 27 Describe for me the guard that they give you.

Speaker 4 Very unassuming, older gentleman, very lithe,

Speaker 75 needs a cheeseburger badly, very, very baggy clothes, but within those clothes are contained all manner of blades and weapons and a wry muscularity that is fast and lethal.

Speaker 75 And he walks with a limp and in an unassuming way and never comes any closer than 15 to 20 feet of us, but just always seems to be at the periphery.

Speaker 4 Cool.

Speaker 60 As he approaches, he kind of gets that proximity in.

Speaker 1 And grins with a toothless smile.

Speaker 92 And just keeps watch.

Speaker 114 Choose the best. Honda with more best buy awards than any other brand.
All Honda cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs are in stock and on sale.

Speaker 114 Honda, the best performance brand, best overall brand, and best value brand. Ask anyone who owns a Honda and search your local Honda dealer.

Speaker 115 Based on 2025 Consumer Choice Awards from Kelly Blue Book, visit kde.com for more information.

Speaker 14 Prices keep going up these days.

Speaker 15 It feels like being on an elevator that only goes up.

Speaker 19 Going up.

Speaker 18 But not at Metro.

Speaker 15 We're pushing the down button.

Speaker 19 Going down.

Speaker 20 We've lowered prices. Get one line line of 5G data for $40.

Speaker 16 Period. That's 20% lower.

Speaker 22 And you get a free Samsung 5G phone when you bring your number.

Speaker 14 Only at Metro.

Speaker 23 Five-year guarantee on eligible plans.

Speaker 24 Exclusions apply. See website for details.

Speaker 17 Not available at Metro with T-Mobile in the past six months.

Speaker 25 Tax supplies.

Speaker 18 Carl's Jr.'s the only place to get the classic Western bacon cheeseburger. Those onion rings? All that bacon? That tangy barbecue?

Speaker 18 Well, have you tangoed with spicy western bacon?

Speaker 14 Can you ride out the jalapeno heat.

Speaker 18 Take a Pepper Jack Punch.

Speaker 18 For a limited time, it's high time for a spicy Western reintroduction.

Speaker 8 Rankle the best deals on the app.

Speaker 6 Only at Carls Jr.

Speaker 115 Available for a limited time exclusive app offers for Registered My Rewards members only.

Speaker 37 Change is always happening. But no matter what changes in five years, there's one thing that will stay the same.
The price of your internet.

Speaker 37 With the Xfiniti five-year price guarantee, you get five years of the most reliable Wi-Fi, with our best equipment included for a price that stays exactly the same.

Speaker 37 Restrictions apply, new residential customers only, taxes and fees extra and subject to change. Most reliable Wi-Fi based on Open Signal Awards USA.
Fixed Broadband Experience Report, August 2024.

Speaker 52 Eventually, you're notified that they were able to find a corner of the catacomb in which you can enter

Speaker 63 your friend.

Speaker 107 You are led below the gardens, through the wine wine cellar, beyond to the deep basements, and the now vastly expanded caverns below, where you can see some have been sealed off, who knows why in the past, and others have been

Speaker 71 spread.

Speaker 34 And you're led into a small, kind of newer excavation.

Speaker 94 The small alcoves off to the side, some are reburied, and you can see stone plaques with kind of hand-carved names in them.

Speaker 48 In memoriam to people who have been lost whether buried here or just placed in memory but you are given one alcove

Speaker 5 have you done a funeral before either of anyone here

Speaker 39 been present for many of

Speaker 80 never led them

Speaker 80 um

Speaker 10 you lay them to rest and usually someone says something.

Speaker 10 I only put him down here. I lay his body down.
Um, I hand the top hat

Speaker 10 to Misty.

Speaker 6 He would want you to have it. Thank you.

Speaker 39 Um, before

Speaker 39 we leave him, I would like to

Speaker 5 remove

Speaker 38 bits of him that

Speaker 38 were

Speaker 39 put on him by the Queen Mother.

Speaker 38 So I would like to try to unsew the moth from his back

Speaker 39 and sort of free whatever is left of his body to be

Speaker 9 back to himself in some ways. Okay.

Speaker 34 As restful an expression as you've ever seen on August's face.

Speaker 65 Fix his coat.

Speaker 52 You'll settle him within the alcove.

Speaker 71 Let's step back.

Speaker 48 Riksen takes a little bit of the soot

Speaker 9 that is constant on her

Speaker 9 from her time working with pyres. She just kind of brushes some off that is built up over time off of her vestments.

Speaker 9 And she takes and she kind of like marks across his forehead

Speaker 48 just a little bit of a blessing from a sacred pyre.

Speaker 39 This isn't just to August,

Speaker 39 but also to Adelia.

Speaker 39 And blessings to Scrive,

Speaker 5 wherever he may be.

Speaker 61 Their valiant efforts will be remembered.

Speaker 39 In the happiness,

Speaker 39 in the tears,

Speaker 39 in the good times and the bad.

Speaker 39 From the sanctity of Desperlock

Speaker 39 and the outer reaches prolong beyond.

Speaker 39 For just because

Speaker 39 many in our settlement may not know their names

Speaker 4 does not mean

Speaker 39 that their efforts will not be felt.

Speaker 39 We can only hope for generations to come.

Speaker 39 That was lovely.

Speaker 39 You're good at this. You are good at this.

Speaker 65 Beautiful words.

Speaker 68 Better than we deserve.

Speaker 39 Many years of

Speaker 39 listening to the ramblings of the other pyre keepers and the Emperor Wardens.

Speaker 61 I guess it's rubbed off on me.

Speaker 69 Maybe you do have a gift.

Speaker 98 The gods are really smiling on you.

Speaker 39 Hopefully, a bit more so in the days to come.

Speaker 5 That was a rough day.

Speaker 5 Yeah,

Speaker 98 we're gonna need all the blessings we can get.

Speaker 6 We should eat and drink before we rest.

Speaker 5 Do they have wine here?

Speaker 56 One way to find out.

Speaker 85 The gravekeeper who led you to the lower outs takes his shovel and withdraws it from the ground.

Speaker 60 This kind of

Speaker 51 man in his mid-thirties, a little hunched his head forward, says,

Speaker 71 Death is but a door.

Speaker 71 To suffer is the journey.

Speaker 71 We are the enduring,

Speaker 71 and we do what we must to endure.

Speaker 61 Shh!

Speaker 60 It begins to fill the grave of your friend.

Speaker 61 To the enduring.

Speaker 61 To the enduring.

Speaker 86 You settle off, and through your

Speaker 94 contact, nothing

Speaker 94 but another that overheard you approaches as you go to rest.

Speaker 42 Another one of the grave diggers who is nearby

Speaker 91 approaches.

Speaker 45 A young girl of sixteen who

Speaker 73 offers a bottle of of

Speaker 6 wines?

Speaker 61 I was keeping it for a special occasion.

Speaker 61 Just

Speaker 61 please

Speaker 52 save my brother.

Speaker 93 He's quite ill with a fever.

Speaker 39 I cannot accept this gift in good conscience.

Speaker 39 It is not a promise I can make. Please,

Speaker 39 I cannot. I know what you can do.

Speaker 39 Please.

Speaker 89 She leaves.

Speaker 89 Oh, boy.

Speaker 89 I can help.

Speaker 6 I can help. Let me go.

Speaker 39 I don't want you to reveal yourself.

Speaker 4 I've been hiding for years.

Speaker 100 I'll be better at it.

Speaker 1 Plus, you've got to watch.

Speaker 6 It won't be looking at me as closely.

Speaker 68 I'll blame it on a potion.

Speaker 39 Tell them a prayer has been said in their honor.

Speaker 39 I'm going to fucking bottle wine now.

Speaker 4 Uh, can I um

Speaker 1 can I run after the girl and ask to be uh taken to her brother?

Speaker 97 Oh, uh, of course, yeah.

Speaker 93 This way.

Speaker 45 Is she

Speaker 7 uh she has um

Speaker 10 she's gifted you with a very rare relic, a potion that may cure your brother's ills.

Speaker 73 But we can only find out one way, and please keep it to yourself.

Speaker 4 Of course, of course.

Speaker 89 And she kind of hurries along, leading you through alley to hall to a back tent where she and her younger brother, I know more than 13 or so, lays on a cot, sweaty, feverish, under a blanket.

Speaker 52 She's like,

Speaker 63 coughing under a switch.

Speaker 31 Can you can you help? I can't.

Speaker 10 Give him some space, though.

Speaker 1 I don't want you to catch the same fever. And close the door.

Speaker 68 Yes, yes.

Speaker 34 And she leaves and looks back one more time.

Speaker 1 Just a moment.

Speaker 106 And closes the flap.

Speaker 3 I'll shut the door, make my way over to the boy, feel his head.

Speaker 61 Hot.

Speaker 107 Extremely hot.

Speaker 42 You see his darkness under his eyes. He's sunken.

Speaker 52 He's sallow.

Speaker 91 He probably doesn't have more than a week or so unless treatment comes in.

Speaker 68 Young man, you are in dire straits.

Speaker 6 I have something special for you.

Speaker 1 And I'll take out an emptied health potion bottle that just has water in it and unstopper it.

Speaker 10 To your health and I'll tip it to his lips, but I'll put my hand under the blanket under his arm arm, and I will use a sparing touch to heal two hit points or two stress from them and infuse whatever divine light that happens under the blanket with my back to the door and tip the water into his mouth.

Speaker 48 He drinks of it,

Speaker 52 and as the glow emanates from below,

Speaker 95 his eyes go wide

Speaker 95 better.

Speaker 28 He has a slight cough.

Speaker 28 Yes.

Speaker 84 Keep the trick.

Speaker 101 No, no, no.

Speaker 6 It's just the bottle.

Speaker 3 Keep it as a memento.

Speaker 60 Still lying back, he grabs it.

Speaker 73 And remember, it's important to look out for others besides ourselves.

Speaker 3 The old gods might be gone, but they're not

Speaker 4 gone, gone.

Speaker 6 I don't know what that means, but we're

Speaker 1 the best that can be put into the world.

Speaker 100 So, return the favor, will you?

Speaker 68 Yes, of course.

Speaker 4 Alright.

Speaker 68 Rest.

Speaker 10 I'll tell your sister to come back in, and I'll go to the door.

Speaker 66 You turn and your arm is snatched from behind.

Speaker 5 No.

Speaker 42 You turn around, and he is sitting up and grabbing your hand, his eyes unblinking, staring into your face.

Speaker 11 The void will take you

Speaker 1 faceless.

Speaker 11 The darkness will swallow you all.

Speaker 11 She is not to be breached. The angels will consume all that you see.

Speaker 80 You

Speaker 80 will be darkness

Speaker 80 and he passes out.

Speaker 54 And that's what we're gonna finish.

Speaker 54 Why'd you do that? Why'd you do that to me? Oh my god.

Speaker 98 Something wants you dead.

Speaker 4 I'm back. Hang on.

Speaker 4 Dude,

Speaker 63 I don't like like it!

Speaker 105 We'll pick up there next episode.

Speaker 105 Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 94 Love you very much. And is it Thursday at Wildlife?

Speaker 26 And we finished up this episode.

Speaker 29 Thanks for coming along on this wild journey with us. If you liked the adventure, consider leaving a review on your podcast platform of choice.

Speaker 29 We're always looking for new critters to share our stories with, and your review may help a new batch of wayward adventurers discover the show.

Speaker 96 See you next time.

Speaker 13 So, um, I was just parking my car, and then I saw you.

Speaker 24 A Gecko, huge fan.

Speaker 116 I'm always honored to meet fans out in the wild.

Speaker 13 The honor is mine.

Speaker 17 I just love being able to file a claim in under two minutes with the Geico app.

Speaker 116 Well, the Geico app is top-notch.

Speaker 13 I know you get asked this all the time, but could you sign it?

Speaker 8 Sign what? The app?

Speaker 4 Yes. Sure.

Speaker 13 Oh, that means so much.

Speaker 24 Oh, it rubbed off the screen when I touched it.

Speaker 13 Could you sign it again?

Speaker 14 Anything to help, I suppose.

Speaker 13 You're the best.

Speaker 75 Get more than just savings. Get more with Geico.

Speaker 17 Going up.

Speaker 14 Prices keep going up these days.

Speaker 15 It feels like being on an elevator that only goes up.

Speaker 17 Going up.

Speaker 18 But not at Metro.

Speaker 15 We're pushing the down button.

Speaker 19 Going down.

Speaker 20 We've lowered prices. Get one line of 5G data for $40.

Speaker 16 Period. That's 20% lower.

Speaker 22 And you get a free Samsung 5G phone when you bring your number.

Speaker 14 Only at Metro.

Speaker 23 Five-year guarantee on eligible plans, exclusions, applies.

Speaker 24 See website for details.

Speaker 17 Not available if at Metro with T-Mobile in the past six months.

Speaker 25 Tax supplies.