On the Scent | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 7 Part 1

Transcript

Speaker 1 Your co-workers eating mystery leftovers. Again, but you, you respect your lunch break.
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Speaker 2 Why, hello there! I'm Brennan Lee Mulligan and welcome to campaign four of Critical Role.

Speaker 2 Thank you for joining us on this journey as we explore Araman, a world of fractured kingdoms, tumultuous rebellion, and sorcery that rises from the graveyard of the gods.

Speaker 2 You're listening to part one of this adventure, with part two arriving this upcoming Tuesday.

Speaker 2 Our episodes typically arrive on the Critical Role Podcast Network a week after our initial Thursday night streams on Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch.

Speaker 2 But if you'd rather listen to a full podcast episode of Campaign 4 right when it airs, without any ads, consider becoming a Beacon member.

Speaker 2 You'll receive access to exclusive content, discounts at all our online Critical Role shops, pre-sales for live events, and so much more.

Speaker 2 Start your seven-day free trial today at beacon.tv. Now, without further ado, let's begin this episode of Critical Role.

Speaker 2 In the great hall of the Pentemberl,

Speaker 2 fanning out through many seats, are assembled students, researchers, faculty, staff.

Speaker 2 Hush noises, paper fluttering, familiars getting to their places in the rafters.

Speaker 2 A dwarven woman ascends a small series of steps to a lectern looking out over the great hall. Here, where some of the greatest lessons in the Pineverils history have been given.

Speaker 2 Dean Cora Keplin-Wiesrech,

Speaker 2 her

Speaker 2 platinum blonde hair sculpted as stonework around her head and rolls and beautiful array.

Speaker 2 Red lipstick,

Speaker 2 well-done face, face, gown, rough, like a governess,

Speaker 2 looks out.

Speaker 2 Today, at my inauguration as Dean of the Penteveral,

Speaker 2 it occurs to me to speak words of acknowledgement, kindness,

Speaker 2 and admiration

Speaker 2 for Dean Olipidi's tall barrel.

Speaker 2 Applause goes up.

Speaker 2 His

Speaker 2 term as the

Speaker 2 fourth dean of the Penteveral will always be remembered as when the beginning of a truly great era found its nascency.

Speaker 2 And as the fifth dean of the penteveral, I'd like to talk about the number five.

Speaker 2 We move

Speaker 2 in the back.

Speaker 2 We see... Where do we see Murray up to?

Speaker 2 Here at the Great Hall.

Speaker 4 Murray's like,

Speaker 4 I can't hear. I want to be able to use this against her later.

Speaker 2 Sorry, excuse me. Sorry.
Sorry.

Speaker 2 Excuse me. Highly irregular.
That's my seat, Sari. Move.
There's open seats in the back. Shut up.

Speaker 2 Across town at the Arkanade, walking through beautiful marble halls, a Bolaire Lethalia walks as the Lord Teneday Wernst speaks to the Lady Amaria Dason Cormoray, saying,

Speaker 2 It's absolutely stunning, of course. I mean, the building itself is is exemplary.

Speaker 2 She keeps her eyes ever trained on you, Bolair.

Speaker 2 Marveling

Speaker 2 at

Speaker 2 Shay's Blade, the last of the pariah blades hanging in its place of honor here in the heart of the Loy Wing.

Speaker 2 The sword that killed the first god to die in Arimon.

Speaker 2 Stunning, isn't it?

Speaker 2 Remarkably mundane.

Speaker 2 Well, I suppose that was the whole point of it, really.

Speaker 2 Bringing something mundane to

Speaker 2 something celestial, something beyond.

Speaker 2 One was inevitably going to triumph over the other.

Speaker 2 This is fake, of course.

Speaker 2 What? Oh, yes, we wouldn't leave anything that...

Speaker 2 that expensive and that rare.

Speaker 2 Anybody could touch it or break it.

Speaker 2 Oh.

Speaker 2 Well, it's just this beautiful exhibit all around it. It just seemed so.

Speaker 2 real.

Speaker 2 Well.

Speaker 2 It's very close to real, but

Speaker 2 there's only one way to know if you could actually tell the difference. And for someone of your standing,

Speaker 2 how interesting.

Speaker 2 Would you like to see the real one?

Speaker 2 I very much would, Master Lothalia. It's the least I can do after making you come back, after everything ridiculous that went on last night.

Speaker 2 As she walks away, she smiles, nodding to you. Go ahead and give me a persuasion check if you'd be so kind.

Speaker 2 Uh, little

Speaker 2 really

Speaker 2 nine.

Speaker 2 Uh, walking beside you, she says, Your kindness in this regard is deeply appreciated.

Speaker 2 The pariah blades.

Speaker 2 You said celestial.

Speaker 2 Were they capable of harming celestials or only the gods themselves? Well, no one really knows. I have my own theories, and I do put them forward.

Speaker 2 By all means, Master Lothalia, put them forward.

Speaker 2 There's so much we don't know about

Speaker 2 despite it only being 80, 90 years, not that long ago,

Speaker 2 there were battles that were barely seen, few survivors, and we have so little information about what actually happened.

Speaker 2 There's so much we don't know.

Speaker 2 It's a marvel you've recovered all of the blades.

Speaker 2 Well, it helps that we are funded by the family that made them.

Speaker 2 Delightful. But yes, they are.

Speaker 2 There's something about the weight of reality.

Speaker 2 I believe the weight weight of reality can crush most things.

Speaker 2 Thank you. I would love to see some of this.
And you have some of the other divine, or I should say, undivine weaponry here, yes? Oh, they vary quite a bit in

Speaker 2 make and form.

Speaker 2 Each god and goddess had their own weakness, as it were. The thing that undid them.

Speaker 2 Mysteries abound. Always.

Speaker 2 And we've still no

Speaker 2 understanding of how the trickster died.

Speaker 2 That's the trouble with that one.

Speaker 2 It was a very, very

Speaker 2 large piece of destruction. We know where it happened.
It was one of the sacred theatres, and...

Speaker 2 There were no survivors. It took everything.

Speaker 2 It's just a crater where that theater used to be.

Speaker 2 No record, no survivors, and the few people that made whatever weapon that was

Speaker 2 died very early in the war.

Speaker 2 Sacred theaters.

Speaker 2 Have you ever met Hallandil Fang?

Speaker 2 Yes, a few times. Why?

Speaker 2 We move from the Archonad

Speaker 2 back to the Penteveral.

Speaker 2 In the wizardly practice of numerology, the number five constitutes a very powerful number, prime.

Speaker 2 And as fifth dean of the penteveral, I would like to thank our noble representatives of the five sundered houses.

Speaker 2 Today we are announcing the Cormara Scholarship for Arcane Service that will enable us to teach even more eager pupils than we ever have in the history of the Penteveral.

Speaker 2 Don't tell me to shut up.

Speaker 2 You see that, aha, she says,

Speaker 2 five deans,

Speaker 2 five architects of the penteveral,

Speaker 2 like fingers on a hand. Oh, gods.

Speaker 2 You see her eyes dart to you, and you get a message cantrip in your head

Speaker 2 that says, keep it to yourself, Murray.

Speaker 2 I want to see you in my office after all this is done. I'm sure you do.

Speaker 2 Old ways are dying.

Speaker 2 We represent nothing if not the triumph of the new.

Speaker 2 She leaves the lectern.

Speaker 2 My office.

Speaker 2 And we will return elsewhere in Ahraman on tonight's episode of Critical Roll.

Speaker 2 Hey friends, welcome to the Critical Roll announcement playhouse.

Speaker 2 Ashley, Europe. Hello.

Speaker 2 It's me.

Speaker 2 I'm Ron Berger. Hello, I know.

Speaker 4 All right, you guys. Our last charity auction went through the roof.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 4 The TGIT 90s one shot raised over $80,000 for NC Witch.

Speaker 2 All thanks to you.

Speaker 4 And it actually went so well.

Speaker 4 All right, we're going to have another auction.

Speaker 2 Ooh, ooh, ooh. So mark your calendars for December 10th because Critical Roll, with help from our friends at eBay, will be hosting the 10-year anniversary charity auction.

Speaker 4 This time, proceeds will benefit all of our partner charities. And you can learn more about each of them at critroll.com slash foundation

Speaker 4 and there will be more surprises and details coming up but in the meantime expect auction items like

Speaker 4 limited run and discontinued items signed merch and one-of-a-kind items like

Speaker 2 all right

Speaker 2 i'm gonna be honest with you because i'm having a hard time with this and i've really been been been contemplating if i want to do this or not you're gonna you're gonna do it you're gonna do it i'm gonna do it i'm gonna do it

Speaker 2 So,

Speaker 4 items like my dice tray from campaign three.

Speaker 4 I know.

Speaker 4 I still don't know if I want to give this away.

Speaker 2 For charity.

Speaker 4 I know that's what I keep saying.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 you're better than that. I love this.

Speaker 4 I know. So

Speaker 2 I think this will probably be on the list.

Speaker 2 So

Speaker 2 stay tuned.

Speaker 4 It's going to be a lot of fun and you're not going to want to miss this.

Speaker 2 And folks, the first three episodes of the Mighty Nine are out right now on Prime Video.

Speaker 2 So if you missed our live launch party, you can now find the VOD on Beacon right now or Prime Video next week.

Speaker 2 But for those interested in more behind-the-scenes content, we are super excited to announce mid-season and finale talkback shows titled Inside the Mighty Nine.

Speaker 2 These are 60-minute episodes that will be available on Prime Video starting December 3rd, along with an extended 90-minute version that'll be exclusive to Beacon.

Speaker 2 These videos will explore the creative process behind adapting Campaign 2 to animation. And it's truly been a labor of love from all of us, and we're so excited for you all to finally see this series.

Speaker 2 Cannot wait.

Speaker 2 Laura, you're up. Oh no, and I have the hiccups.
You have the hiccups? Perfect. This will help.

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Speaker 2 And that's it.

Speaker 2 You got through it. I did it.
I did.

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Speaker 2 Thank you, Black Friday.

Speaker 2 Oh, no! Magic of Black Friday. The Annie Award-winning campaign setting, Dungeons of Drakenheim, is coming to Dagger Hearts.

Speaker 2 Created by the wonderful Dungeon Dudes and Ghostfire Gaming, Dungeons of Drakenheim is a dark, fantasy, cosmic horror sandbox campaign where adventurers explore a city devastated by a mysterious meteor shower and haunted by horrifying monsters.

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The Dagger Heart rule said it's a perfect fit for Drakenheim's core themes of hope and fear, offering a fresh way to explore the cursed city.

Speaker 2 So learn more and back it on Kickstarter at ghostfiregaming.com slash Drakenheart.

Speaker 2 Seriously, check it out. It's awesome.
I think that concludes our announcements. So let's go ahead and jump back into Arman.
Back to you.

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Speaker 2 Hello, and welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Roll. I don't know why anyone's laughing because I'll tell you what's deadly serious.
The combat we just had at the Wraith Tree!

Speaker 2 Folks, our soldier's table is on a mission for vengeance, searching for a man named Casimir Gavendale, once a brother of the Torn Banner, fighting on the rebels' side of the Falconers Rebellion, now seemingly having turned over the beloved Theazi Fang, boon companion of one thimble,

Speaker 2 over

Speaker 2 to the sundered houses to meet his death at the end of the hangman's rope.

Speaker 2 We have traveled north in pursuit of the treacherous Casimir Gavondale, but also, perhaps more closely, in need of rescuing one of his potential victims, that being

Speaker 2 Sid, Talcidimir Pride's sire, Teor's younger brother.

Speaker 2 Pursuing his tracks out from Dolnakyar after the events of Theazi Fang's funeral and having put together the pieces of what went wrong in the attempt to save Theazi's life, which was proven impossible to do, we instead see here,

Speaker 2 in these moments,

Speaker 2 where your footsteps have led you. Following Cid out of Dolmakyar, he and Casimir splitting up, finding the gnomish Arcanist

Speaker 2 Ulbidmorn,

Speaker 2 a father of some long-lost heroes of the Falconers Rebellion,

Speaker 2 who parted with a very capable enchanted toy sword, and against his knowledge, also parted with a knife.

Speaker 2 A beloved handle of lapis lazuli and ivory.

Speaker 2 The handle returned, but the blade itself unknowingly kept in the possession of one Cadogan Vale.

Speaker 2 Your footsteps led you down from the fireworks and goat-protected walls of Albin's sort of observatory, where he keeps an eye on the magical happenings of the storm rack, but also on travelings of the road.

Speaker 2 The banner of the king headed south, just as Casimir Gavondale, that worm, heads north. That son of a bitch.
That son of a bitch?

Speaker 2 You killed our friend! And he was your friend! That's the worst kind of killing, my friend.

Speaker 2 Traveling north.

Speaker 2 Sid made his way through the forest, but on foot versus Casimir's carriages, and through the dense forest against Casimir traveling on the king's road.

Speaker 2 You have to wonder if Sid, even if he makes it out of the Dahopshini Wood, won't have a trap waiting for him on the other end of the forest.

Speaker 2 And indeed, it was that premonition within a crystal that Thimble saw.

Speaker 2 You...

Speaker 2 Or it was either at the... Was it the Hag's Lake? No, that was when you gave your memory away.
More sad stuff. A lot happened last episode.

Speaker 2 You made your way to Hawthorne's Glade. Found at the edge by Hawthorne herself and some of her glade's finest warriors.

Speaker 2 Notification. No, no, that was just a sprite.
That was a sprite!

Speaker 2 That was a little fairy.

Speaker 2 You were saved in the nick of time by none other than Wakander Halo Vars. Unlikely.
Unlikely summoning of the light!

Speaker 2 Wings of light surrounding people. We both have wings.
We're basically the same.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 you made an impression on Hawthorne. You made more than an impression on Shuffa, a shambling mound who appears to, with no central nervous system, still be possessed of a religious conviction

Speaker 2 in your sacredness.

Speaker 2 You saw the glade of fairies that have fled danger. And in some cases, it seems persecution, perhaps even at the hands of the Candescent Creed, if that grasshopper Fae can be believed.

Speaker 2 You also met Sallow,

Speaker 2 a hag who betrayed the secrecy of the glade to tell you that yes, Cid not only was here, but had been sent to his death at the Wraith's tree.

Speaker 2 A terrible plan, but one that the Fae had made to keep their glade safe by feeding those mortals that had found their glade to the Wraith, such that more undead would patrol the woods at night and keep people far from this place.

Speaker 2 You made quick work of the Wraith animated within the tree, and even sending it back to the underworld with a divine smite.

Speaker 2 The tree began to summon it back before Thimble could douse it in Cadogan's oil and set it to light. As the zombies

Speaker 2 disanimate all around you, it is to this moment we return as

Speaker 2 fire fills the forest around you.

Speaker 2 Flickering fire as the tree goes up.

Speaker 2 It is bright as day here in the dark forest. This tree sputters, and though you do not actually believe it to be fundamentally supernatural,

Speaker 2 the oil of the dead tree pops and screams as the wood splits in the flame. The steam escapes and hisses with these loud, shrill cries.

Speaker 2 As you are surrounded by, in Terry's case, a kind of comforting hellfire. Looking around, seeing the most freshly dead are indeed closest to the tree,

Speaker 2 you can breathe a sigh of relief that Sid's body is nowhere to be found

Speaker 2 so he made it

Speaker 2 as far as we can tell I think so

Speaker 2 I ran up to Wick oh you're so cool you're so cool what did you know you could do that I did not know I I did not and um

Speaker 2 uh

Speaker 2 but I

Speaker 2 I don't even know what that was

Speaker 2 it could be

Speaker 2 it could be that monster blood or whatever in me. I don't even know if that's good or

Speaker 2 whatever. Um.
Sounds really good to me.

Speaker 2 Did you say monster blood?

Speaker 2 The angel.

Speaker 2 Yes, the angel thing. It was.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 2 I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know. It remains to be seen.
But if your brother isn't here,

Speaker 2 have we.

Speaker 4 Are any of the zombies fresh enough to be looted?

Speaker 2 fucking

Speaker 2 listen

Speaker 2 listen listen never die

Speaker 2 what a absolutely marvelous question go ahead and give me an investigation chip you're so polite too with it

Speaker 2 there is no doubt

Speaker 2 that's a 22

Speaker 2 22 hell yes um

Speaker 2 I would like you to go ahead and please on a 22, we'll call it for every five, starting at 10, and if every five above, we'll go 2d10. So give me 6d10.
Oh my god.

Speaker 2 6d10 for me. What?

Speaker 4 I'm so happy. I don't even know what this is doing, but it feels really good.

Speaker 2 Go ahead. You're rolling your demise.
That's who she's. Okay, wait.
Okay, 6D10.

Speaker 2 That's good.

Speaker 2 Don't know what you're doing.

Speaker 2 That's really good.

Speaker 2 Six. I mean, okay, okay, okay.

Speaker 4 And what am I trying to do?

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 Go ahead.

Speaker 2 Get high or low.

Speaker 2 Go ahead.

Speaker 2 Go ahead. Oh, you're trying to get high.

Speaker 2 38. Yeah, bro.
That's what he said.

Speaker 2 You find

Speaker 2 38 gold pieces in several different denominations scattered throughout those people here.

Speaker 2 I'll even go ahead and say it's probably like, we'll call it 31 gold pieces.

Speaker 2 That's seven. And then

Speaker 2 call it like, you know, 56 silver pieces and then uh call it

Speaker 2 call it 104 copper pieces okay so but you know over but this is by the way thimble this is going to be 20 minutes because each of these poachers these are these are poachers and smugglers as you look at those assembled and gathering out here

Speaker 2 the terrible calculation of the Fae who are themselves some of them are good but not all of them and even some of them that are not good didn't approve of this this plan.

Speaker 2 But, you know, Hawthorne is a spirit of wild nature, maybe neither good nor evil. She sent a lot of people here to die, but you do look out here and see there's no like neighborhood school children.

Speaker 2 This is a lot of

Speaker 2 people that for one reason or other wanted to take deep into the adoption knowing how dangerous it was. You see a lot of people trying to find new smuggling tracks to get into and out of Dolmakyar.

Speaker 2 But again, that describes a lot of people you're friends with.

Speaker 2 There's a lot of poachers, people that are coming here, knowing it's a magical forest. You see that there's some people here, also, you know, 22.

Speaker 2 Go ahead and roll a D100 for you. What the? Yeah, is anybody carrying some sought-off satyr horns from our home back in the glade when we return?

Speaker 2 Punk ass

Speaker 4 ninety

Speaker 2 ninety. One second.
You're dead.

Speaker 2 Zombie fairy. Hell yes.

Speaker 2 On a particularly large, fearsome-looking

Speaker 2 hunter. And you first you see this hunter looks sort of like Wilder's Man.

Speaker 2 He's got like a couple of what looks like pelts around his shoulder from small animals from the sort of oil saying into the pelts.

Speaker 2 You think it's probably like either otter or beaver, some kind of like some, or maybe some kind of like

Speaker 2 water rat kind of pelts. You see he's got,

Speaker 2 and then you see the tools that he carries on them are pretty ferocious looking, and you smell a stench of cold iron.

Speaker 2 You grew up close enough to humans that you don't have a particular vulnerability to cold iron, but the fairies that

Speaker 2 grew up way far away in fairy are harmed by cold iron. He was hunting them.

Speaker 2 You see a pair of

Speaker 2 horns on his belt.

Speaker 2 You also see the horns don't seem to have any magical property other than that they are of the poor, that they are a horrifying visage of this man's evil work uh you do however see um that there are two small vials on his belt

Speaker 2 um

Speaker 2 each of which appears to be some kind of potion as you open the kind of he has a sort of thick leather harness that as you open it up the belt almost like a bandolier many of them are empty but two are actually buttoned and undoing the clasps on them light spreads out you see two thick glass vials with a slightly luminous,

Speaker 2 it almost looks like it's one color, and then you realize it's two. It's kind of a helixing or lava lamping, even though that's not a verb.

Speaker 2 Gold and like a pearlescent silvery white.

Speaker 2 Give me a nature check if you'd be so kind. Yes.
You're good at that, right? Yes. Okay.

Speaker 2 Not right now. I'm not good at it, but nine.

Speaker 2 Anyone else that wants to take a crack at it, can, especially if you have proficiency in nature. Let's go, Caddy.
Come on, come on.

Speaker 2 Let's go. Strange.
You've seen some of these things. You can easily leave me up.
It's pretty poor. Here we go.
Why is your nature so shit?

Speaker 2 I rolled. Oh, what's that? A 13.
Did you roll the one? That's a 13.

Speaker 2 I did not. That's all for a 14.

Speaker 2 That was the one that you rolled. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, this was a one.

Speaker 2 14.

Speaker 2 I think

Speaker 2 on scent alone, as Wolfrick is kind of here with you, you don't have a deeper insight, but you know that whatever that is, it is probably

Speaker 2 a potion made on the fly, which makes you think it's pretty close to being some kind of biological fluid of a magical creature. Blood, tears, something like that.

Speaker 2 Drink it, this fucking asshole.

Speaker 2 Who it's you can see.

Speaker 2 You can see that.

Speaker 2 oh you give the gold to Teor under the armpits

Speaker 2 my super pouches

Speaker 2 um so you mark down these two mystery potions you don't know exactly what they do but I will say that for whatever it's worth this guy uh had them on his belt.

Speaker 2 So in in terms of if they do something he clearly wanted quick access withdraw right um

Speaker 2 and I think that you see this horrifying man who you see he sort of has a

Speaker 2 lumpin, angry-looking face, even in death, partially rotted through the he's probably been a zombie for at least a year at this point with the rot that's that's you know even animated through in death these guys still slowly decompose but you don't sense that this guy was uh pleasant to be around even when fully alive and unrotting.

Speaker 4 I'm just gonna take my pin

Speaker 4 sword and stab it in his eye.

Speaker 2 You see, a little bit of putrescent filth

Speaker 2 oozes down his face. It is for this man that this policy was adopted by Hawthorne's Glade.

Speaker 2 And perhaps some of the dead here would blame the fairies, but maybe in some way, some blame should be reserved for men like this that make those choices necessary.

Speaker 2 Is he dead?

Speaker 2 He's dead. Does he look like this?

Speaker 2 What are the odds?

Speaker 2 What are the odds? How did you know?

Speaker 2 How could you have known? Wow.

Speaker 2 It is dead of night.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 as the tree, the tree will be burning for some time.

Speaker 2 And you also can't guarantee, thankfully, this is a rainforest. so the death of these trees means that they are largely waterlogged still.

Speaker 2 You don't think there's a real chance of a fire spreading out through here.

Speaker 2 Um,

Speaker 2 but I think that you can feel Thimble, like, reaching out through the forest here.

Speaker 2 Something really horrifying and dangerous has died in this forest. You guys have,

Speaker 2 insofar as chasing Sid, have rid the world of a deep and profound evil,

Speaker 2 but also

Speaker 2 made this forest more accessible for whoever wants to access it.

Speaker 2 And the last piece of your looting is the two corroded bronze halves of that holy symbol that the Wraith held, which you can see are withered, desiccated. It looks like that bronze symbol

Speaker 2 must have you know aged some like centuries or whatever in the time that it like fell to the ground.

Speaker 2 But you have that as well if you wish to carry it, though none would blame you if you did not. Do you want to take it? I wouldn't mind just because it's

Speaker 2 a relic of an old time.

Speaker 4 Pick up the two abs and fly it over to him.

Speaker 4 Do you recognize it?

Speaker 2 Do I recognize it? Give me a religion check. And we started

Speaker 2 last time.

Speaker 2 It's a symbol of...

Speaker 2 You know it simply as a symbol of Tansul, who was the

Speaker 2 um,

Speaker 2 who was the shaper of the Sun. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I'll hold on to it just because. I'm a child when I'm trying to spell names.

Speaker 2 It's just like going purely. Yeah,

Speaker 2 I'm not telling. And even though it's not seen in my character design, there are nifty-ass pouches under the underarms of my

Speaker 2 arms. Definitely, definitely planned in advance and just blocked by the arm.
It's very anti-them. That's right.

Speaker 2 There's all sorts of shit under that cape, y'all.

Speaker 2 Character Design 101. Hide shit with capes.

Speaker 4 Are there any freshies around? I'd like to just pop off a finger.

Speaker 2 I'm kind of hungry. Wow.

Speaker 2 What?

Speaker 2 You eat people? She wants to pop off a freshie.

Speaker 2 You eat people. He's dead.
Little Nathan hot dog out there. Let's go.

Speaker 2 I did not know that you did this.

Speaker 4 I don't do it. I mean, I don't do it when we're back at your family's house, but it is something that I can and will do.

Speaker 2 From time to time.

Speaker 4 Am I a little hungry? Yeah, we've been fighting, so I'd like to find one of those.

Speaker 2 That's desecrating a dead body. The last thing I'll say in terms, as you swallow this finger, there's obviously tons of other stuff here, loot-wise, none of which is as good as your current.

Speaker 2 You can basically scything through a bunch of mundane weapons that none of which are worth equipping. If you know, if there's a random dagger, I'll take one just to have an extra dagger.

Speaker 2 By all means, yes. You can grab, there's hunting knives, there's a lot of daggers out here,

Speaker 2 but nothing you find is really of worthy make that would be worth you know unless you don't have one what kind of finger do you middle finger uh-huh yeah you get the most meat off of the bone yeah

Speaker 2 can i also ask while we're doing that sort of searching of the bodies i would be trying to canvass in this battlefield and with the fire and all those things any sort of signs of sid

Speaker 2 flecks of fur or any kind of equipment that he might have dropped in order to flee quickly under the sputtering of this massive bonfire and this wraith tree, which is sort of a funny thing to watch because it is a sacrilege of a sacrilege.

Speaker 2 So it feels you doesn't, it's not like you're watching something that's pleasant or good, but there is a weird feeling of, I think, tyranny watching this tree burn.

Speaker 2 You feel a sort of demonic pleasure. This is sort of sacred to demons, the destruction of something worthy of destruction.

Speaker 4 Well, I say, I feel like it's sort of like when just a regular person looks at a campfire and you think, oh, I am connected to every person who has ever watched a fire and been sort of mesmerized it.

Speaker 4 And even the smells of kind of rotting flesh and moss and

Speaker 4 seeing this like horrifying thing get taken down. I don't know.

Speaker 2 I'm feeling oddly tender.

Speaker 4 I'm feeling kind of sweet. And

Speaker 4 I've moved on to viscera.

Speaker 2 I love it.

Speaker 2 I love it. You are not surrounded by aesthetics this pleasant back in Dolmakyar.

Speaker 2 You could absolutely make an attempt right now in the dark of night under the light of the Wraith Tree. It will be made with disadvantage.

Speaker 2 But I don't know if you guys want to camp out at the burning Wraith Tree. So

Speaker 2 this house is clear.

Speaker 4 I mean, it's nighttime, though. Like, how deep into the night is it? Is it time

Speaker 2 to sleep? You guys got here a little bit after sunset. Okay.
So it's early night. You guys could try to push through.
You're not too far. But like...

Speaker 2 There are more undead than just around the Wraith tree. It's not like this was the...

Speaker 2 Yeah. There's a...
You sense that this was a very like

Speaker 2 a center of activity, but none of you have

Speaker 2 like an inventory of every undead or even just monster. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I think Katigan would warn them that that's a possibility that it might be more sporadic, but yeah, for sure.

Speaker 4 So keep going. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Go ahead, give me a survival check.

Speaker 2 We'll call it a DC 10 just to keep navigating through the night to get out of here.

Speaker 2 But if you can hit a DC 15 or higher,

Speaker 2 and you'll be rolling with disadvantage because you are doing it at night. So

Speaker 2 but Wolfrick can cancel that out so you can roll straight. Okay.
And I have dark vision, so maybe I can help. Well,

Speaker 2 even

Speaker 2 with light added, it's still just the added of like moving to the woods with a flashlight versus being able to make get an actual lay of the land.

Speaker 4 And we both get to roll.

Speaker 2 And shadows are moving.

Speaker 2 Yeah. You have dark vision too, you said.
Oh. Ah, Dookie, bro.
Super Dookie. Miserable failure.

Speaker 4 Well, I don't know if yours is as miserable as mine is.

Speaker 2 Mine was a one.

Speaker 4 Oh, yours is almost as miserable as mine. No, I'm just kidding.
Mine is almost as miserable.

Speaker 2 Seven.

Speaker 2 Okay. I rolled two.

Speaker 2 I'm sorry. I rolled a one five or four.
It's not a competition for kids.

Speaker 2 It was a role failure.

Speaker 2 We both suck.

Speaker 2 On a seven,

Speaker 2 we fall short of that DC-10.

Speaker 2 Moving through the woods, I think you guys get...

Speaker 2 I think you guys get well and truly lost.

Speaker 2 Feels bad.

Speaker 2 Moving.

Speaker 2 Through the woods away from the Wraith Tree. It's also just like you get further out.
That's a cracking. The red light stays behind you forever.
It messes with your own light.

Speaker 2 The fire sputtering makes the shadows move.

Speaker 2 No sign of Sid anywhere.

Speaker 2 So

Speaker 2 Sid's trail has gone totally, totally cold. How long into the night do you travel before you collapse and just try to sleep somewhere? I think once we go beyond the

Speaker 2 immediate light of the burning tree, I would also try and like kick on my divine sense just to sweep for any new undead, Fae, celestial, created.

Speaker 2 You continue to move forward. You're sweeping for Undead and Fae.

Speaker 2 How long do you travel before you either collapse just?

Speaker 4 I think a few hours. I can always go up into the trees and see if we can maybe camp out high, stay away from the

Speaker 4 shamblers.

Speaker 2 When we're talking about being lost in the woods, are we talking about having lost all sense of direction? Like we wouldn't even know

Speaker 2 without the sky, who knows what way it's going.

Speaker 4 I could go up above the trees and look for the moon. Doesn't that help at all?

Speaker 2 There's no moon. Stars?

Speaker 2 We got three moons. Take that.

Speaker 2 And they're all haunted. They're all haunted.

Speaker 2 No, there is but a single moon in this world, but the...

Speaker 2 You could fly up if you would like.

Speaker 2 If you want to head up.

Speaker 4 Yeah. I mean, I already rolled like shit, though, so.

Speaker 2 Hopefully there's nothing wrong with that. I was going to say, I think flying up, you just see that it's overcast, which is often is in this part of the world, rainforest.

Speaker 2 As you guys are moving along, I think that your choice is either just park it in the dark

Speaker 2 or

Speaker 2 if you want to not sleep, you guys could just try to push through till morning or there's at least gonna be some light, but I'll probably be a constitution save associated with that.

Speaker 4 We also might get more lost.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 4 Can it be possible to get more lost? I told you guys we should. It was kind of nice at the Wraith Tree.
It was kind of vibey.

Speaker 2 I don't know. There was food there.
I think in this case, you are correct. Thank Thank you.

Speaker 4 God, it's so nice to be acknowledged.

Speaker 2 Should we push campier? You've got a little fingernail on your tongue.

Speaker 2 We could.

Speaker 2 What do you think, Edith?

Speaker 2 I don't know. I want to keep moving, but

Speaker 2 moving where?

Speaker 2 We should make camp.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 2 Hi.

Speaker 2 How high up is the canopy? Can we tell?

Speaker 2 In this part of the forest,

Speaker 2 the canopy, actually, because there's so many like conifer trees around here,

Speaker 2 branches start maybe like sometimes as low as like three or four feet off the ground and then shoot up for another like 80 or 90 feet. You know, some of these trees are truly giants, right?

Speaker 2 But if you're looking for a deciduous tree that actually doesn't give you like somewhere to build like a hammock or something easier, there are some where the canopy would be like

Speaker 2 40 or 50 feet up, but you'd have to scale up a massive tree to go do that.

Speaker 2 I am generally adverse to being up in trees.

Speaker 2 Well, you know,

Speaker 2 getting stuck in a tree, but uh

Speaker 2 when I was a week up

Speaker 2 to send for the fire brigade? We did. It was very embarrassing.

Speaker 2 I uh I'm not opposed to going up.

Speaker 2 Let's go up.

Speaker 2 Hell yeah. Um

Speaker 2 up in the tree. Just flap your wings.

Speaker 4 Yeah, you want to stay on the ground where the zombies can eat you?

Speaker 2 No.

Speaker 2 But won't we fall?

Speaker 2 We'll tie you to a branch. We'll tie you in.

Speaker 2 Alright.

Speaker 4 I guess that could be trust him. I mean, I got these hooves, so I'm pretty good at climbing, although not as good as that one.

Speaker 2 Surely you've climbed a great number of trees in the city, yes?

Speaker 2 As a boy.

Speaker 4 Have you seen how soft his hands are? I have.

Speaker 2 They're like mush. I was not allowed to climb trees.
Ah.

Speaker 2 First time.

Speaker 2 You all get up into the tree.

Speaker 2 It's like

Speaker 2 scaling the tree and building something, like putting a plank out that you can lie down.

Speaker 2 You can feel the wind moving the tree under you. You're like tying ropes around yourself so you don't fall out and crash to your death.

Speaker 2 You You are able to rest far from the ground. You only get the benefit of a short rest.
Oh.

Speaker 2 I'm going to roll my last hit thigh.

Speaker 4 Can I, while we're resting? Are we taking a snooze? We're taking a short snooze.

Speaker 2 I just clock Fimble.

Speaker 4 And her wings are sort of shivering in the wind. And I go, hey, come here, come here.

Speaker 4 I've been told that my ears are really soft.

Speaker 4 Um, if you want to just snuggle under it, you're about that size. You don't have to, but they're really-no, of course not.
I eat dead bodies. Oh.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 4 And, like, you know, his food and stuff.

Speaker 2 But, anyways, you can snuggle on in.

Speaker 4 I land on her shoulder and kind of feel her ear.

Speaker 2 Oh.

Speaker 4 Hey!

Speaker 4 I grab a hold of your earbar.

Speaker 2 Oh, my earring. I have one too.

Speaker 4 Oh my gosh, it's just like mine.

Speaker 2 What?

Speaker 2 You have the same earring. That's so cool.

Speaker 4 Wow, I mean, I guess you could hold on to it.

Speaker 2 It's like a be like a roller coaster anchor.

Speaker 2 I want to climb up and like...

Speaker 2 Wiggle in.

Speaker 4 Get cozy, girl. I'll see you at the end of our snooze.
All right.

Speaker 2 We just become best friends. Yes.

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Speaker 2 With a sort of safety bar so that you don't fall out of the tree, as well, even though you can fly.

Speaker 2 You wake up the following morning

Speaker 2 and Cat again, I think,

Speaker 2 you know, first, you're first up, and

Speaker 2 you can actually hear for the first time the distant noise of like

Speaker 2 a finch or some kind of, maybe like a robin

Speaker 2 coming back into a part of the forest that you realized when you were coming here from Hawthorne's Glade had had no insect life, no bird song.

Speaker 2 Just hear that like a brave little songbird has come back to explore this part of the forest and feel that you have made the right call in terms of getting off the forest floor.

Speaker 2 Now that the sun comes in, you actually see joining the cloud line because you can kind of peer through the canopy this high up, a little bit of smoke from the smoldering wraith tree now joining the dull gray morning light.

Speaker 2 And your journey can continue.

Speaker 2 Traveling north, again, Sid's, you guys have gotten well and truly lost. Go ahead and give me another survival check to try to at least Sid, Sid's trail has gone cold, cold, cold.

Speaker 2 That would be a very, we would need a DC-20 survival check to encounter his tracks again. But DC-10 will get you headed back in the right direction, and you are no longer rolling with disadvantage.

Speaker 2 Yeah, since we're taking fun on this, I will guide you. Yes.
Doing

Speaker 2 50 shirt.

Speaker 2 Whoa. Oh, no.
Here you go.

Speaker 2 Why? Oh, guys, we're getting cooked here. Rolling advantage with Wolfrick.
Oh, with Wolfrick. That's right.
Can I?

Speaker 2 That's better.

Speaker 2 On the Advantage from Wolfrick, it's 18.

Speaker 4 18. That's way better than my 11.

Speaker 2 Amazing.

Speaker 2 I was just focused on, but proficient.

Speaker 2 You head north.

Speaker 2 As you guys are traveling at a pretty fast pace. There's no need to be stealthy.
You burned a tree down last night.

Speaker 2 Anyone within miles would have been like, something going on over there.

Speaker 2 You guys head out.

Speaker 2 And while

Speaker 2 the sun still hangs low in the sky,

Speaker 2 the cloud cover changes overhead from the sort of deep, stormy, dark gray of the mountains to something much lighter.

Speaker 2 The clouds here are still gray, but much closer to white, you know, like a light, light gray as a sort of misting drizzle starts to come down over you that doesn't even really soak your clothing.

Speaker 2 Your own body heat kind of evaporates the

Speaker 2 mist as it clings to you. And you guys look down, cresting over a ridge.
There's still some trees around. There's some forest moving down.

Speaker 2 But you get your first sight of the end of the forest and rolling pastures,

Speaker 2 low stone farmers' walls, and often the distance from sort of high up as the mountains begin to slope down,

Speaker 2 you see the kingdom of Timani.

Speaker 2 Peeling out before you and this is probably like early afternoon by the time you arrive here So you have some ability to travel even further in.

Speaker 2 Go ahead and give me a group perception check, if you'd be so kind.

Speaker 2 Good.

Speaker 4 17.

Speaker 2 13.

Speaker 2 16.

Speaker 2 7.

Speaker 2 Four. Great.

Speaker 2 13 is the median roll there. Can we start over? Can we start over? These darts are not good.

Speaker 2 You look down and see Timony.

Speaker 2 The landscape that

Speaker 2 you move to now in this place

Speaker 2 is a land of gray stone and drifting mist.

Speaker 2 The trees are lush and full of life, but you see that the ground is rocky and hard in all directions.

Speaker 2 As you look out, you see that there are little white dots of sheep moving over pastures everywhere.

Speaker 2 Even over the distance, you see like a small dot, like a small herding dog kind of moving sheep over a pasture.

Speaker 2 Timani is a land with a lot of woods for hunting and pastures for grazing and cattle and sheep.

Speaker 2 And it is a country that has a lot of poor areas because you can't grow shit here.

Speaker 2 There's a lot of even looking out, you're like, are there any like orchards?

Speaker 2 Is there any anything that would sort of spell abundance or plenty big things of wheat no some small gardens maybe a sort of shelf of someone growing you know like a hardy kind of like underground vegetable like turnips or something like that but for the most part it is a gray landscape and you look out and see some tattered pennants and on a 13 you can't see anyone traveling on it but you see far distant sort of on the horizon, that king's highway once again that you come out just south of.

Speaker 2 Subri Subri.

Speaker 2 Um,

Speaker 2 she mentioned

Speaker 4 she mentioned seeing Sid in in

Speaker 4 chained behind carriages.

Speaker 4 Oh, shit.

Speaker 4 That's right.

Speaker 4 We might have lost some time getting lost, but.

Speaker 2 Did she happen to say anything about the carriage itself today?

Speaker 4 She said she saw feathers, crow feathers. Fuck.
It's gotta be them.

Speaker 2 The people here, they're skittish, but kind, for the most part.

Speaker 2 I spent some time here recently.

Speaker 2 We gotta get down to the King's Road. Could be worth speaking to some of the crofters, see if they've they've seen anything.

Speaker 4 Yeah, people close to the road, at least.

Speaker 4 Is there anyone that you know here?

Speaker 2 No, it's a broad word.

Speaker 2 If he was, in fact, chained behind the carriage,

Speaker 2 it might not be safe to assume they did him the courtesy of letting him walk.

Speaker 2 So we may have to double our speed and try and catch up with them.

Speaker 2 This is not good. No, we should go.

Speaker 2 How, uh.

Speaker 2 In in the recent contract that I fulfilled, maybe in the in the weeks before, um, how close are these communities to where I was working?

Speaker 2 Like, sort of, I assume it was close because we had some undead problems.

Speaker 2 Yes. Um, give me

Speaker 2 uh two skill checks here. I'll ask for give me any two skill checks that you feel you would be applying to see what you learned in your work in this region?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean,

Speaker 2 I think

Speaker 2 recognizing communities via the type of work that they do would be one. So I think that would require perception.
If I'm unfamiliar with this specific space.

Speaker 2 Give me perception is one of them. Okay.

Speaker 2 Oh.

Speaker 2 Pretty good. 16 plus 4 is 20.
32. 2020.
Hell yeah.

Speaker 2 Perception. And then I would say this, it just has to feel right.
So I would say, even though it's not my best, maybe like insight. Yes, go ahead and give me an insight.
Okay.

Speaker 2 And 14 plus 2, 16.

Speaker 2 Yeah, not bad. Journey 20 Perception.
You look down, trying to figure out where you move from here. You're out of the woods and into the place that you have come for.

Speaker 2 On Journey 20 Perception, you know that you are in

Speaker 2 the thief you are in here is Valo. Valo is the first, it's the farthest southeast in Timani, and it's the, it is the feet that is just south of Gourmalay, which is where you're headed.

Speaker 2 So this is the place you have to go through. I think on a 20 perception you look around and you see a couple markers.

Speaker 2 As you guys head down through the trees, you see a couple things on a 20 that you expect to see here.

Speaker 2 There are a couple very old trees that have

Speaker 2 rope tied around them. The rope has moss growing on it.
It's thick cable tied around trees many, many, many, many, many times.

Speaker 2 And you can see that there are a number of little red threads, some of which have dropped, some of which have grown into the moss on the rope, that have small little pewter or tin charms on them.

Speaker 2 The charms always have two letters.

Speaker 2 For a lot of the crofters and Timony that get married, they would come up and leave these tied to to these fairy trees at the edge of the woods to basically ask for luck in their marriage.

Speaker 2 You see that

Speaker 2 a little bit further away from those trees that you can tell have kind of been abandoned,

Speaker 2 you see

Speaker 2 there are some fence posts.

Speaker 2 The fence posts

Speaker 2 appear to have these long sort of threads on them that have cowbells tied to either end of them. It's not a perfect solution by any means, but you see that a lot of the

Speaker 2 sort of rope, these like thinner, thinner cords, will have fences with

Speaker 2 natural geography that slope down towards a fixed point and the thread will go across that because they don't expect the things coming out of the woods to be worried about traps.

Speaker 2 Basically, where is natural gravity going to make a shambling thing come and hit a thing to make a cowbell go off on the hillside for us to hear that we all need to run or get out of here?

Speaker 2 That's what you see on that perception check.

Speaker 2 On the insight check, looking down, you see this is like so deep into these little crofter villages up here, there's hardly even roads, like little footpaths, essentially,

Speaker 2 for where people would go.

Speaker 2 Down at the base, you see there is a small,

Speaker 2 looks like a freshly sort of constructed chapel

Speaker 2 down at the base of the hill.

Speaker 2 And you can see at some of these cowbells, there are also hanging

Speaker 2 scrolls that are capped in these sort of scroll cases that have a symbol of the candescent creed on them.

Speaker 2 That's your people, isn't it?

Speaker 2 Yes. Yes, maybe they'll have food for us.
And also, I think we might have inadvertently helped them.

Speaker 2 These people have been besieged. I've done some work here, but nothing to the extent of what we did last night.
Yeah. Besieged by the undead.
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 I fly away while they're talking and go over to the tree with the charms.

Speaker 4 I didn't want to interrupt.

Speaker 2 I just

Speaker 2 take a look at all the little charms.

Speaker 2 You see

Speaker 2 each one of these little charms is just a tiny small imprint. Many of them are in the shape either of a paw or a hound's head that have just small little etched or poked like letters in them.

Speaker 4 And looking for a little one with T.

Speaker 4 A little one with a T?

Speaker 2 I think you find one.

Speaker 2 Just saw it off.

Speaker 4 This was a gift for me. This is a gift for us.

Speaker 4 Your marriage is now blessed.

Speaker 2 Don't you feel like you should conduct some sort of ritual as you take it and give them your luck?

Speaker 4 Shimmy and give a little fairy dust and spit on it. There you go.
I hooked the tea onto my belt.

Speaker 2 The old shaken spit. I've seen it many times.

Speaker 2 I bet you have.

Speaker 2 On that 16 insight, I think you just look down and see.

Speaker 2 Getting down farther away, you, I think,

Speaker 2 get a feeling of

Speaker 2 you just see a tree further down that looks like an much older tree that has a weird shape to its trunk, and you realize that one of those ropes was cut off

Speaker 2 and all those charms removed from this tree that's a little bit closer to the village, that's behind the fences, essentially. On that insight, you maybe think

Speaker 2 let's make it quick, but go have a talk.

Speaker 2 See what they've seen. We can use some eyes.

Speaker 2 Um, you head down

Speaker 2 into this tiny little, it's like

Speaker 2 smaller than a hamlet. It's a thorpe.
It's like three little structures close together, and that's downtown, baby. You know, that's the, that's

Speaker 2 hopping. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Um, uh, and you see that there is a small chapel. It looks like it's been built here.
Um,

Speaker 2 it is

Speaker 2 uh sort of a wood frame that appears to have like cob, like sort of clay and mud packed with straw as the bricks in it.

Speaker 2 And this has been given like a sort of whitewash with some kind of like folksy, sort of like thick, clumpy, chalky white paint. So it's like a little white building.

Speaker 2 One room. You see, there are some benches in it.
They don't even have backs to them.

Speaker 2 And there,

Speaker 2 in a

Speaker 2 sort of humble

Speaker 2 brown sort of cassock, You see, there is an older,

Speaker 2 rotund man who's sort of sweeping the floor

Speaker 2 with a little broom.

Speaker 2 Looks up,

Speaker 2 a little bulbous red nose, a human man, looks up and says, Oh,

Speaker 2 hello,

Speaker 2 welcome. Hello, the light is all.

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 2 no, no, no, no need to be

Speaker 2 nervous. Uh

Speaker 2 it is I, Wakandra Halovar. I'm I'm here to um

Speaker 2 uh check in on uh one of our outposts.

Speaker 2 It's all right. He collapses.
He collapses, grabs your hands.

Speaker 2 Yes, yes, yes, it's all right. Yes, yes.
Please, no. It's all right.

Speaker 2 I am. Dry me.

Speaker 2 Thank you.

Speaker 2 She says, I am, I am your acolyte, your humble servant.

Speaker 2 What are you doing here?

Speaker 2 We are so glad to see you.

Speaker 2 Please, please, please, be at rest, be at ease.

Speaker 2 My friends and I are

Speaker 2 on a journey to check on the goings-on of the Candican Creed and

Speaker 2 all of our operations in this area of the world.

Speaker 2 We just wanted to make sure that you have everything that you need, all the resources you need.

Speaker 2 It is all right.

Speaker 2 It is all it's okay. Here, have a sip.
Have a sip. I'll take out my little chalice and get some water from a water skin.
No, it doesn't. It's just.

Speaker 2 He takes a sip of the water and is just staggered and blown away.

Speaker 2 Just like...

Speaker 2 He...

Speaker 2 He takes a sip of the water.

Speaker 2 I have everything I need for... For...

Speaker 2 The light is all.

Speaker 2 And all we need is the light. It's all in the light, yes.

Speaker 2 Can you tell me, good silver? Is this a test? No, no, there's a... Yes, it is a test, and I'll hit like a nearby pew.
Oh, sure.

Speaker 2 Still

Speaker 2 Right, this is a test. We want to make sure that

Speaker 2 all everything is on the up and up here.

Speaker 2 Oh!

Speaker 2 What's your name? I demand it. Folomoin.
What? Folomoin. That's a really cool name.

Speaker 2 Following. Oh, yes.
Folomoin.

Speaker 2 I am uh I am not the luxe of this chapel. Um the the this area uh has several chapels that the lux travels between.
I am merely an acolyte. I've been studying.
I know I am old.

Speaker 2 And that

Speaker 2 I know that.

Speaker 2 Radiance will find you, old timer. It's all right.

Speaker 2 It's all right. Please.

Speaker 2 I know what our operations are out here.

Speaker 2 But just

Speaker 2 so I know that you know.

Speaker 2 What are we doing out here?

Speaker 2 The Creed? Yes, yes, yes. All these new chapels that have popped up and the Lux.
What is he off to do right now? Well, I believe that that the Lux has headed over to

Speaker 2 Auderin

Speaker 2 to

Speaker 2 meet with.

Speaker 2 There was a call for all of the Luxes in Vallo to move to Ardern

Speaker 2 because there's

Speaker 2 something that we're.

Speaker 2 Are we expecting you?

Speaker 2 I would keep that on the...

Speaker 2 the down low if you could.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 that could be why they're moving there. But every secret is a shadow.

Speaker 2 That the light can. You're right.
That

Speaker 2 test passed, yes.

Speaker 2 Yes. Good job.
Yes. But wait, also, the knowledge of the light cannot be shared with those who are not ready for it.
Oh, you're not ready.

Speaker 2 It's a summer. Does your

Speaker 2 community have a shepherd?

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 2 yes, our Lux

Speaker 2 has journeyed to Audren quickly.

Speaker 2 Yesterday,

Speaker 2 they departed quite quickly, a messenger.

Speaker 2 With anyone else, or just alone?

Speaker 2 By themselves, we are a two-person operation.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 2 They were called there suddenly. Yes.
Yes.

Speaker 2 By a missive, by a letter? Do you have any sort of record of that? A courier,

Speaker 2 one of the knights of the Earl, the Earl of Vallon. Earl of Valo,

Speaker 2 that's where we are. That's where we are, where the Earl of Valo.
Sure, sure.

Speaker 2 But we are busy here tending to the people of this place.

Speaker 2 We are

Speaker 2 tending to their wounds, providing them guidance and counsel.

Speaker 2 We are

Speaker 2 keeping an watchful eye on the terrible cursed forest with its the spirits of of death and madness in the wild. I'll fly closer to him.

Speaker 4 You know why they were attacking?

Speaker 4 Cause you cut down all the fairy charms.

Speaker 2 Wait.

Speaker 2 You you are a you are a

Speaker 2 sad, but

Speaker 2 you but yes, yes,

Speaker 2 that's all right.

Speaker 4 We are we are What's in your stupid creed anyway?

Speaker 2 All sorts of things. What do you specifically ask?

Speaker 4 Do you not like fairies? Do you not like pixies?

Speaker 2 I don't have anything wrong with fairies, but

Speaker 2 there are some texts that mention

Speaker 2 those of being worthy of being anointed, and I don't believe that fairies are among those, but

Speaker 2 some.

Speaker 2 What I think Sister Thimble means to say is that our readings and teachings have not covered that part of the creed.

Speaker 2 I know, I am.

Speaker 2 You see, you see, he goes, Her! It's part of the test to destroy that fairy! No, no, no, let her go. She's...
I'm a pixie!

Speaker 2 What?

Speaker 2 Foul word!

Speaker 2 She's not right in the head, obviously. We are here to cure.
Even those who are cast in shadow can be shown the light.

Speaker 4 So many of us are on our way, but we're not just quite there yet. And I just use a little daumaturgy to just rumble and clean.

Speaker 2 This is a creature.

Speaker 2 Are you a fairy as well? No, I'm a demon, baby.

Speaker 2 Uh, he's gonna throw a punch.

Speaker 2 We gotta screen these people better. What's happening? I thought.

Speaker 2 With a natural three, he falls down hard in a way that as an older person, you do not think is good.

Speaker 4 Okay, I would like to help him out.

Speaker 2 He goes,

Speaker 2 It's okay. I'm part of the light.
Ever bright, ever bright.

Speaker 4 You're okay.

Speaker 2 We're all learning. My lord, wait.

Speaker 2 You truck with demons and fairies. This is a trick.
I adjure you.

Speaker 2 I absure you. While she's helping him up, Ed Thimble leaves, as I'm going to follow her out.
But as I do, I'm just...

Speaker 2 As I'm walking by Dwick, I'm going to say, these people are simple and their beliefs are pure. Don't mess with this man any longer.
And I'm going to leave. Alright.

Speaker 2 He looks at you. I'm going to need a...

Speaker 2 persuasion check from you, which you have advantage with because of who you are, but you have disadvantage with because of everything that's been happening. So this is a straight roll.
Straight roll.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 I will cast friends. Okay.

Speaker 2 Which I can do at will. I will cast friends and say to this man, please, please, please, be at ease.
We are all in this together. and we must all raise our friends and our foes to the light.

Speaker 2 We mean you no harm, and we will not overstay our welcome. All we need is some food and possibly a horse if you have one.
And we'll be getting on a couple horses and we'll be on our way.

Speaker 2 Um,

Speaker 2 I have no

Speaker 2 role for this. Yes, go ahead.
Give me a persuasion.

Speaker 2 With advantage with friends? Unfortunately, advantage is always cancelled out by disadvantage, no matter what. Okay, well, that's fine.
I still got a dirty 20. Okay.
You see, he looks and says, said,

Speaker 2 if I

Speaker 2 if I had a horse, my lord, it would be yours. But the chapel has none.
We tend to the people on foot. Food I have,

Speaker 2 and would be glad to share with you.

Speaker 2 Let me to the rectory. And you see, he gestures to just another area of this one room.

Speaker 2 Really nice.

Speaker 2 Anything but porridge, please.

Speaker 2 Bread. And you see, he walks off.

Speaker 2 He comes back with a loaf of bread, and that's it.

Speaker 2 Not even some butter or jelly.

Speaker 4 We love charity, don't we?

Speaker 2 We do.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 4 Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 Thank you. Bless you.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 You speak with the warmth of the light.

Speaker 4 The beam has reached me, and I'm on fire, baby.

Speaker 2 Oh, my.

Speaker 2 He just smiles and says, says,

Speaker 2 he goes,

Speaker 2 guided

Speaker 2 even a demon?

Speaker 2 Yes. You see, he just starts weeping, looking at you.

Speaker 2 All is possible. All is possible.
Maybe you should give him a hug. A hug? A nicer hug.
A nice hug.

Speaker 4 Would you like a hug?

Speaker 2 Okay, bring it in. Bring it in.
He gives you a hug.

Speaker 2 He gives you a hug. You see, you feel him weeping into your shoulder.
And you see, he goes,

Speaker 2 I know that I am almost.

Speaker 2 I know that I do not have a long career of service ahead of me, but if you would consider allowing me to take my test,

Speaker 2 to keep my vigil, to join

Speaker 2 the creed as a bringer of light, I would be so honored.

Speaker 2 I will send word.

Speaker 2 of your request, and perhaps you can join the luminous.

Speaker 2 but you've done a great thing today thank you for uh telling us what you have and providing us with this bread and is there anything else we need from this guy

Speaker 2 i'm out i'm out i'll follow thimble out

Speaker 2 okay

Speaker 2 deep curtsy yes may may the beam reach you yes thank you may the beam reach you

Speaker 2 You see that he he goes and immediately goes in devout prayer. Catigan, you step outside with Thimble.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I are you just are you just staying?

Speaker 4 I'm flying and I'm gathering up little rocks as you come out. Just flying down to the ground and gathering its many rocks.

Speaker 2 What you doing?

Speaker 2 I'm gonna pelt that motherfucker when he comes outside. Wait, what, motherfucker? Wick!

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 2 I thought you meant the old man.

Speaker 2 It's not his fault.

Speaker 2 Sounds good to me. You know, when I asked him if they had a shepherd in town, I was being literal.
And I'm scanning up in the

Speaker 2 scanning up in the hills for a literal shepherd, if this is a farming community, someone who would be outside

Speaker 2 and be seeing the goings on.

Speaker 2 No role necessary. You absolutely see there are like so many sheep around here grazing.

Speaker 2 You see that there are two of these sort of like

Speaker 2 big sort of like

Speaker 2 bounding sort of

Speaker 2 sheep dogs that are running shaggy black fur with a kind of warm caramel brown chest to them run

Speaker 2 after these sheep

Speaker 2 go running off and you see not too far away there is a um

Speaker 2 uh yeah has like the shepherd the shepherd's crook it's got a little sort of like woolen hat has sort of wool lined hat on his head walking along uh just right pretty much right outside of the town um and you see he whistles off to his dogs that sort of move the sheep back towards away from like a dangerous sort of ridge edge back towards where the grass is uh he looks up at you

Speaker 2 i

Speaker 2 i i'll jog over to him and uh wolfrick was by my side and he was just salivating to go play with the other dogs i'm like in a minute

Speaker 2 hello friend

Speaker 2 uh you see uh he looks up at you um

Speaker 2 and you see his eyes dart over to the wolf with you

Speaker 2 the fact that it's that wolfrick's wearing armor certainly like

Speaker 2 his thing for a second. Do you know you're walking with the great white shark?

Speaker 2 He goes,

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 2 traveler, uh,

Speaker 2 well

Speaker 2 how may I serve you and your

Speaker 2 companion? Oh, put your mind at ease. He's well trained.
Your flock is safe.

Speaker 2 Well,

Speaker 2 if you've managed to train a wolf, then you are a

Speaker 2 remarkable man indeed.

Speaker 2 How are your people?

Speaker 2 Safe?

Speaker 2 Well?

Speaker 2 Yeah, they are safe, for

Speaker 2 the most part. Many of us have

Speaker 2 moved off the southern slope across the creek. But

Speaker 2 are you traveling here under the Earl's call? I know that there are rangers that have been helping us patr patrol for the edge of the forest.

Speaker 2 I'm part of No Trooper Guild.

Speaker 2 Simple man. Though I am traveling with some friends, so to speak.

Speaker 2 Do you have tatshoes?

Speaker 2 They're a motley crew, but so far good-hearted. I've only known them for a few days.

Speaker 2 I'll make this brief. I know there's work to be done.

Speaker 2 He sort of shrugs.

Speaker 2 Um,

Speaker 2 You see that

Speaker 2 he sort of shrugs to you and just goes,

Speaker 2 strange, yes.

Speaker 2 Forest

Speaker 2 more dangerous than it's ever been.

Speaker 2 We um

Speaker 2 I don't know if you've met with

Speaker 2 the acolyte in the chapel,

Speaker 2 but they've

Speaker 2 give me a persuasion check as you spit over your shoulder.

Speaker 2 Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Are you visible in this?

Speaker 4 18. Yeah, I'm kind of flying a little bit behind.

Speaker 2 As you go 18, you see, he goes,

Speaker 2 Pixie.

Speaker 2 He takes his hat off, puts it over his chest. I fly forward.

Speaker 2 You see that he

Speaker 2 smiles and says, oh,

Speaker 2 well,

Speaker 2 I'm

Speaker 2 very.

Speaker 2 You see, he just

Speaker 2 gets a little misty-eyed and says,

Speaker 2 it's an honor.

Speaker 2 Ever since this...

Speaker 2 Ever since they started walking out of the forest, it felt like nothing good would ever come out of there again.

Speaker 2 But I remember. I remember the fair folk.
I remember going up there when I was a youth after the Midsummer's fair and leaving

Speaker 2 bottles up at the forest edge and waking up in the morning to find

Speaker 2 acorns and herbs and the bottles all empty.

Speaker 4 It's nice to see a man of culture.

Speaker 2 He goes, pleasure,

Speaker 2 my friend.

Speaker 4 I'd shake your hand, but it's full of rocks.

Speaker 2 I'd shake your hand, but mine's full of hat.

Speaker 2 I'm Tasker. It's a pleasure to meet you.

Speaker 2 Well, Nat Tasker.

Speaker 2 This is Thimble. Hello, Thimble.
I'm Cadigan.

Speaker 2 You see, he says, well, if any help I can be to you, I'd be happy to.

Speaker 2 The Creed placed those scrolls up.

Speaker 2 They did help us put up the fences, which have been very useful.

Speaker 4 Hopefully, there'll be less undead bothering you

Speaker 2 in the future. She's right.
Have the fair folk.

Speaker 4 This fair folk.

Speaker 4 Well, I'm not scruffy looking.

Speaker 2 You see, he says, he says, well, one who walks in the company of wolves and fairies is fair enough on his own. You see, he gets down on one knee and bows to you.
He goes, I appreciate it very much.

Speaker 2 Is it safe to go into the woods again?

Speaker 4 I would be on edge still.

Speaker 2 Keep your defenses up, but if in the next few nights you don't hear the sounds in the dark,

Speaker 2 it could be worth venturing into during the day. But be cautious.
But we may have...

Speaker 2 We may have helped you have a few brighter nights.

Speaker 2 You see, he smiles and says, That's incredible. Well, I'll need to, um,

Speaker 2 uh, my need, I'll need to get back there into into the woods as soon as I can. So I appreciate you.
Um

Speaker 2 uh I've been

Speaker 2 I

Speaker 2 there are

Speaker 2 uh plants that only grow up in the woods that I need to get, so um

Speaker 2 uh how can I be of service to you? I'll get right to the point, Mary.

Speaker 4 I have rocks to throw, and I'm gonna go camp out over the chapel.

Speaker 2 Oh wow. Have you noticed any on the roads from the vantage? Any sort of caravan? Any

Speaker 2 one one perhaps? One of the Earl's knights came through,

Speaker 2 riding through the villages along the forest,

Speaker 2 calling the Luxes back

Speaker 2 to Arderan. But the

Speaker 2 EC looks and says,

Speaker 2 there's been some activity. I believe the king

Speaker 2 has left. We have word that the king has headed south for

Speaker 2 meeting with

Speaker 2 the orcs of uh Qahad, the the Revolutionary Council and and beyond. Um

Speaker 2 I I hear only what passes through on the road, um, but uh

Speaker 2 what news are you looking for in particular?

Speaker 2 Any word of

Speaker 2 lionfolk or

Speaker 2 crows, what she said for me. He goes

Speaker 2 he goes, Lion folk,

Speaker 2 yes

Speaker 2 Please, please tell me more.

Speaker 2 One,

Speaker 2 a village or two down the road, towards Arderan,

Speaker 2 I've heard a rumor that the

Speaker 2 just heard it last night,

Speaker 2 a

Speaker 2 lionfolk had come out of the woods, miraculously, survived,

Speaker 2 and

Speaker 2 we don't have too many of the Nama that come through here. When was this?

Speaker 2 Yesterday, he

Speaker 2 appealed to

Speaker 2 the sanctuary of a chapel built in that town to sleep. He was exhausted, been traveling on foot for days,

Speaker 2 and in the depth of his slumber, he awoke to find that the lux of that chapel had informed the Earl's knights, and he was arrested.

Speaker 2 Arrested?

Speaker 2 Where would they have taken him?

Speaker 2 I would.

Speaker 2 he says

Speaker 2 the carriage

Speaker 2 He was being sh

Speaker 2 what did that what did what did old Robert say he said something about the um

Speaker 2 I know this is a lot, I'm sorry, but no direction in

Speaker 2 any sort of in a small town like this. This is the most exciting thing that's going to happen all year.
So we've all been talking about it.

Speaker 2 You see, he says, uh,

Speaker 2 there was an argument between the Lux and the Earl's Knight. I believe that the knight

Speaker 2 was to take him to Arterin and was shown something by the Lux to send the carriage straight to

Speaker 2 the Baron of Sloak,

Speaker 2 um,

Speaker 2 uh, uh, which Sloak is up in Gourmalay. I just got a new baron, Sloak and Gourmalay,

Speaker 2 Tasker.

Speaker 2 you are a good man. Thank you.

Speaker 2 He smiles. He says, were you traveling through the forest on your way here?

Speaker 2 We were.

Speaker 2 Fools or heroes, maybe both.

Speaker 2 You see, he says,

Speaker 2 did you see any

Speaker 2 ruby fold on your way through the woods?

Speaker 2 Rubyfold is...

Speaker 2 You would know it's a medicinal plant.

Speaker 2 Oh, I think that I would know that.

Speaker 2 Do I need to roll for it? Or if I dropped it?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I might as well.

Speaker 2 No,

Speaker 2 I can't read it. It's bad.
Only an eight. I guess it was dark.
Oh,

Speaker 2 you didn't see hardly any up there.

Speaker 2 You saw almost none. Okay.

Speaker 2 But enough. No.
No, none. Yeah, none.

Speaker 2 I'll almost have died in the forest.

Speaker 2 I don't know. But

Speaker 2 if you do venture back in, stay close to the edge of the meadow. For the time being, you might be alright.

Speaker 2 I'm sorry, I wish I could give you a turn. No, no, no.

Speaker 2 It's good to know. I would hate.

Speaker 2 If you didn't see any, then I'll know how to search best. My um

Speaker 2 my wife, uh, Wendy, uh, she's uh

Speaker 2 uh

Speaker 2 she's taken with uh uh

Speaker 2 cough that uh is lingering.

Speaker 2 Might be something worse. We'll see.
Um

Speaker 2 any venture into the forest would be worth it.

Speaker 2 I hate to thank your kindness with curtness, but no.

Speaker 2 On your I don't know your business,

Speaker 2 but

Speaker 2 you travel

Speaker 2 in the wake of a fairy and uh

Speaker 2 he looks up at the cot at this sort of gray mist.

Speaker 2 I don't know who in Timony feels like the light has ever looked out for us, but sun doesn't shine here that much. And you see that he

Speaker 2 nods to you and walks off.

Speaker 4 From the top of the chapel, eh?

Speaker 2 From the top of the chapel.

Speaker 2 Give me a perception check with advantage.

Speaker 2 Come on, Mora. Come on.
19. Nice.

Speaker 2 As he goes off, you see he walks off towards his dogs and his sheep.

Speaker 2 that little charm you cut off has a T and a W on it.

Speaker 2 Oh.

Speaker 2 Tasker and M and D.

Speaker 2 You stole

Speaker 2 the wedding gift. And now she's coughing to death.

Speaker 2 Uh.

Speaker 2 Um.

Speaker 2 Is that just information for Laura? All that you know? Uh, oh, you can give me a perception check as well if you'd like. I would.
See if you notice it too.

Speaker 2 No, bueno.

Speaker 2 You guys, head off. For those of you still in the chapel.

Speaker 2 Yes, I'll take my bread, share it.

Speaker 4 Oh, I'm full. Thank you, though.

Speaker 2 You have it.

Speaker 2 I'll

Speaker 2 thank our host for his time, and then I'll make fun of you. I'll exit first.
Thank you.

Speaker 4 Wick exits, he's bombarded with a bunch of rocks thrown at his head.

Speaker 2 I've seen this before.

Speaker 2 Ow! Ow! What? Why? I. No!

Speaker 2 I.

Speaker 2 I found.

Speaker 2 Ow! Wait, it's not me! I didn't write the thing!

Speaker 2 Also, aren't we supposed to be like

Speaker 2 mean and condescending? I thought we were putting up a whole show.

Speaker 2 Ouch! Stop it! Ow! I thought we were supposed to be making you sound like you were some force to be reckoned with on the road. It seems.

Speaker 2 Yes, I guess so. Yes, you're right.
Stop being so kind.

Speaker 2 It's my nature. I'm sorry.

Speaker 2 I can try to bush it up a bit. Oh!

Speaker 2 I think you've got really good information, though.

Speaker 4 You don't need to butch it up. Let me just say,

Speaker 4 can you just keep throwing those rocks? It's so funny.

Speaker 2 And also,

Speaker 2 Shield. Shear.

Speaker 2 We're trying to find Theor's brother.

Speaker 4 We can't be...

Speaker 4 undoing every single thing that his family has been doing. Does he hate, do you hate fairies?

Speaker 2 Not inherently. No, it's.
It is. No, of course not.
It's just, it is one of the.

Speaker 4 I don't believe that we are not worthy of your

Speaker 2 seven shining tenets. Ow.
It's one of the seven shining tenets is: seek out the dim soul, the shadow, the demon, and snuff it out like a dying ember. However, you want to snuff out demons?

Speaker 2 I'm just saying that's what was written.

Speaker 2 It's maybe not literal, right?

Speaker 4 You seem to take it as literal.

Speaker 2 Well, right. So he, that's.

Speaker 2 I was trying... I was trying to...

Speaker 2 I was trying to get down. From the inside.

Speaker 4 That's the only way I'll ever forgive you.

Speaker 2 Well, that seems like a tall order.

Speaker 2 Take him out.

Speaker 4 Why don't we focus on finding Sid first?

Speaker 4 And then we can take down the Candescent Creed in a way that is smart for us to do so nobody gets snuffed out.

Speaker 2 And I don't think that you need to.

Speaker 4 I don't think you need to butch it up. I think that you just need to

Speaker 4 make sure people are talking about you in a way that you are. Be as nice as you want to be.
How long does she stay up?

Speaker 2 Not very long.

Speaker 2 With that, I will run down for my combo with the shepherd and relay all of the information I got from him to Tayor and the squad.

Speaker 2 We gotta go. I think so.
Wait, are you saying that the Lux of this place was somehow in league with

Speaker 2 not this village, another one down the way? Perhaps we don't know for certain. So he was taking a gourmal.

Speaker 2 I believe so.

Speaker 2 We gotta

Speaker 2 Fast.

Speaker 2 How?

Speaker 2 How fast? I mean, we could.

Speaker 2 I can't fly.

Speaker 2 Should we're all sprinting? Should we buy some horses? I don't think there are any. There are no horses.
There are no horses.

Speaker 2 I think maybe a bunch of mules. I don't know.
I don't know.

Speaker 2 I'm getting blisters.

Speaker 2 You could walk for a bit and find some horses.

Speaker 2 But, like, let's actually, if you guys want to keep an eye peeled for horses, we can let the dice decide. Yeah, I think we would have to.

Speaker 4 How long of a trek is it to Gourmalay from here?

Speaker 2 I mean, we are behind.

Speaker 4 Yeah, we are like a whole day behind you.

Speaker 2 So, I think we'd throw a caution to the wind a little bit. Spin some time.

Speaker 2 We have gained a day because he had a two-day lead on us. And if he was just snatched up yesterday,

Speaker 2 we are gaining on that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 That's true.

Speaker 2 Yeah, you realize for sure Sid

Speaker 2 did not have your speed getting through the forest, but did push through to a level of exhaustion sleeping by himself in the woods with monsters. He just wasn't going to risk it.

Speaker 2 So he just let himself get dehydrated and delirious, just getting out of there as fast as he could, and then conked out and slept long enough for the fuzz to find him.

Speaker 2 You

Speaker 2 looking out at this, we'll go ahead and roll as you guys are heading in the right direction. First of all, let's see if you guys know offhand where Sloke is.
You know where Gourmole is.

Speaker 2 Go ahead and give me, we'll call it a DC-15 history. Cadigan, you can roll with advantage because you've spent time until then.
Yeah, okay. We're all rolling.
All rolling. Just a DC 15 history check.

Speaker 2 That's good.

Speaker 2 Oh, man.

Speaker 2 Can I roll with advantage because I am proficient?

Speaker 2 No.

Speaker 2 The proficiency is already a mechanical bonus.

Speaker 2 I love it. What do we got here? 19 for a dirty 20.
19 for a dirty 20. Only with the advantage.

Speaker 2 For dirty 20,

Speaker 2 Cadogan, Sloak. Sloke is uh way towards the southern border of Gourmale, which means it's quite a bit closer.
And uh, Sloak is a barony within Gourmalay that is, uh, I mean, talk about destitute.

Speaker 2 It's like clinging to the side of the Cavrosi Mountains. Like, as bad as this place is, at least it adjoins a forest with a lot of water.
So it's like good grazing here.

Speaker 2 Sloke is one of the saddest places you've traveled through in Timani. It is a fucking narrow spit of land.
You knew the lady Sloak was

Speaker 2 like

Speaker 2 she was the widow of the old Baron Sloak. So the Baroness Sloak, but you had just heard a rumor about her on a, like, so 15, you know exactly where Sloak is.

Speaker 2 On a 20, you had realized something in your head.

Speaker 2 She,

Speaker 2 a few years ago when you were traveling through here,

Speaker 2 what was it? The Baroness Sloke had just gotten remarried in her old age. And you remember hearing, I mean, it was in a tavern.

Speaker 2 Like, you didn't, you wrote it off as just being fucking, but someone said that, someone asked who she'd gotten married to, and someone said a member of one of the sundered houses.

Speaker 2 And suddenly you go

Speaker 2 on a dirty 20.

Speaker 2 New Baron of Sloke.

Speaker 2 Is there anyone you know that's just recently come into title? Yeah, as I'm hoofing it, I tell them all this.

Speaker 2 I'm not one much on politics, but.

Speaker 4 Who do we know? Anyone that would have just come into title?

Speaker 2 You know someone that just inherited a castle?

Speaker 2 This Casimir fellow?

Speaker 2 Well.

Speaker 2 Yeah, right? Casimir, he had the title.

Speaker 4 So he's the Baron. That's who Sid is being delivered to.

Speaker 2 Oh.

Speaker 2 So. This is a tangled web.

Speaker 4 That's great because we're looking for both of them, right? So, two birds, one stone. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, but you just made the world's biggest asshole in charge of one of the shittiest places I know.

Speaker 2 Well, at least he has a shit stand in front of him. Best log line ever.
You just made the world's biggest asshole drinker.

Speaker 2 The world's biggest asshole just became in charge of one of the shittiest places I know.

Speaker 2 Coming summer 2026.

Speaker 2 Um,

Speaker 2 hell yeah. So, Cadogan, you know exactly how to get to where you're going.
Okay. Um,

Speaker 2 I think on that on that dirty 20 history, there's a couple ways that you can get there. Fastest, most reliable, you will get horses is the King's Way.

Speaker 2 Kingsway is exactly as dangerous as it was when you were just come out of Dolmatyar.

Speaker 2 Um, it's it's got uh the king's forces on it, it's got all of these regional earls and barons and lords and shit like that. Uh, and

Speaker 2 you heard this thing from Thalomoyne about like

Speaker 2 something about the Luxes and keeping an eye out for someone coming.

Speaker 2 The Creed is active in these parts. And they'll be the most active on the King's way because that's going to be traveling from large city to large city.

Speaker 2 You also, there are a lot, as you get deeper into Timony, away from like the woods and shit like that, there will be more actual roads and like not paved roads, but there'll be dirt roads connecting communities and and there'll be ferries going up rivers and there'll be other things like that so there'll be other ways if you want to try to byway it you can definitely do that it'll slow you down but it'll maybe keep eyes off of you and the last thing i'll say on that dirty 20 history check uh is that you know valo uh is one of the sort of areas with intimidate that has the grant of passage which means typically

Speaker 2 you are okay as a traveler to cut through people's pastures and grazing lands. So it's way safer than wilderness.

Speaker 2 And if you want to just hoof it through these long tracts of sheep and cattle land, you can do that. And it's legal.
No one's going to give you a hard time. They're going to say, these are wanderers.

Speaker 2 These are travelers. They're allowed to pass through here.
I'll give him the rundown. And then I'll just go to Teor.

Speaker 2 Your brother, your call.

Speaker 2 So it's grazing land, which means it's fairly clear, right? So long line of sight. Yes.
But slower?

Speaker 2 Slower than the highway. Slower than slider, but it's off the road.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Or faster and more dangerous. This feels like the byroad is.
Peaks and valleys, like Rolling Hills, kind of semi-mountainous terrain, too. So it'd be like backpacking through like

Speaker 2 Northern Europe, sort of. Okay.
Do we have an idea

Speaker 2 how far ahead of us he is now?

Speaker 2 If he got nabbed yesterday morning,

Speaker 2 but he's in a carriage. But he's in a carriage.
We're on fucking foot. He was walking behind it, so I mean, again, unless they're dragging his ass.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Right, we can always hook it.

Speaker 4 We can always hoof it off the road until we find horses, and then we'll make faster time. It's just a matter of if we want to take the ferry upstream or if we want to.

Speaker 2 I would hoof it on the road till we find horses, and then maybe we could either go by the by road or through the pastures. You guys are about 50 miles from Sloke right now.
In a straight line,

Speaker 2 if you get lucky, like crossing rivers and creeks and stuff, you could make it there by like end of day tomorrow on foot if you push hard.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 you think in a carriage, yeah, this would be like collapsing at the end of the day, marching, right?

Speaker 2 In a carriage, 50 miles, horse drawn, he'll probably get there much sooner than that, but not much sooner if they're not pushing their animals.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 We have to try and find a horse. Or something to speed us up and slow them down.
Because once they get there, we're fucked.

Speaker 2 Yeah, there's not a lot of entertainment in Sloak, if you know what I mean. Yeah, and just numbers.

Speaker 2 Can we push it hard on the King's Road until we try and find some horse?

Speaker 4 It's just a matter of if we get stopped because of him.

Speaker 2 We do have this enchanter's egg.

Speaker 4 This is a place where the Creed is active, and so if we can get our stories straight, then

Speaker 4 I see no reason why we shouldn't have an easier time because of your radiance.

Speaker 2 Sure, yeah.

Speaker 4 We should have a, we should have clear passage if,

Speaker 2 if,

Speaker 4 you can exercise some of that authority.

Speaker 2 Butch it up, like you said.

Speaker 2 Okay, this is my time to shine. Yeah.

Speaker 4 I have a question for once we get to Sloke.

Speaker 4 What would you be doing if we weren't here? Would you be confronting Casimir directly? What is your plan? Because we can assist in that, but here's what I don't want.

Speaker 4 I don't want to leave it up to this guy

Speaker 4 not knowing

Speaker 4 what he's going to do, because he's kind of unpredictable. And that's coming from a demon.

Speaker 2 I say this with full knowledge of how much Theazi meant to Pimble.

Speaker 2 I believe Casimir would be the priority. My brother knew what he got into.

Speaker 2 But if we were to tell him that we focused our efforts on him instead of bringing Casimir to some form of justice I think he might kill all of us so I think we would try and locate Kazimir first unless freeing my brother and adding someone to our ranks would be advantageous to us okay

Speaker 2 are we gonna

Speaker 4 sneak into his

Speaker 2 I don't think we can know that until we are there. But to your point about on the King's Road, we also have these chanters eggs.

Speaker 2 The blue, the yellow, the rainbow, the mystery, the sick egg, and the unseen. I don't know what the blue unseen means, but if I need to disappear,

Speaker 2 or if you need to disappear, you can do it by your fucking self. I have the stealth one.
The blue one?

Speaker 2 That's what I wrote down. Okay.
Yeah, the blue one. Yeah.
And I have both the yellow and the rainbow inserted, so I have them. Inserted?

Speaker 2 In your

Speaker 2 internal

Speaker 2 purse. Maybe you don't know what those.
If you sit down hard, you can actually. The yellow one was a sickness.

Speaker 4 The rainbow is a mystery, but whatever it is, it's something that'll cause a big enough distraction that we can do what we need to do.

Speaker 2 All right.

Speaker 2 To the King's Road.

Speaker 4 Ready to be a big boss man?

Speaker 2 So you're keeping inventory tabs.

Speaker 4 I don't need to hove an inventory.

Speaker 2 I think it never hurts. Okay, good.

Speaker 2 Okay. No, you're doing great.

Speaker 2 Hell yeah. You guys head off to the King's Road.

Speaker 2 Traveling along these pathways, it is fast, man. Like, all roads lead to...

Speaker 2 You're like very quickly...

Speaker 2 We're just communicating telepathically. I'm sorry.
I'm listening. I'm listening.
No, you're looking at it. You're like...
She feels like old comrade tried.

Speaker 2 There may have been some disagreement with that. I'm thinking.
We'll get there.

Speaker 2 On the paths you guys are getting, it's just a few, you're a few miles away from Ardern, maybe like, you know, like 15 or 20 miles away from Ardern.

Speaker 2 This is the...

Speaker 2 the capital of this fief.

Speaker 2 But even within that, it's compared to Dolmachar, it's like

Speaker 2 there's a castle and there's some buildings, but there's maybe like a few thousand people who live here, and that's it, right?

Speaker 2 Approaching it on the road,

Speaker 2 you see that as the farmers' roads get into an actual like dirt track that has two sets of wagon wheels for like carriages and wagons to be able to pass each other in both directions, which is sort of the upgrade from these little crofters' villages you've been in.

Speaker 2 You begin to see these small little shrines that you're passing by that are neither sort of these

Speaker 2 fairy shrines or the candescent creed, but you see that there is some druidic writing on them,

Speaker 2 which I don't think anyone here can speak. But what you see is they are small little

Speaker 2 stone shrines that have

Speaker 2 a statue of a dog at the front of it, the statue of a hound that has reached down. And there is a stone sort of granite trough, like a bird bath set low that has fresh water in it.

Speaker 2 And as you pass some of them, you see there's usually about two or three dogs just sleeping in them. Some of the dogs have like a small

Speaker 2 collar that will have like a chest or something, almost like those St. Bernards that have a barrel, they have like a small chest around them.

Speaker 2 See the dogs will either be snoozing, and you can see that it looks like there are some plates or bowls in a corner that are left that appear to have like food that has been actually set out for these dogs.

Speaker 2 It appears to have some like

Speaker 2 either some slop or other things like that that have been set out for them to eat.

Speaker 2 And you just pass by some of these.

Speaker 4 There are dog symbols on the tree, too.

Speaker 4 Do we know what that's about? Do they

Speaker 2 give me a skill check if you'd like? Like a

Speaker 4 history or a.

Speaker 2 Yeah, give me a a history check. Call it a DC 15 history check.
Abigail, what does your dog like to eat?

Speaker 2 Oh, a natural 20. Natural 20.
Oh, shit. Oh, I'll answer your question after that.
Natural 20.

Speaker 2 Um, uh,

Speaker 2 so on a natural 20 history check, uh, Fiazzi loved traveling through Timone. You guys traveled through here on your last trip up to the Morn Vale to get that Stone of Night song.

Speaker 2 Um,

Speaker 2 and

Speaker 2 uh,

Speaker 2 the like a lot of places,

Speaker 2 after the

Speaker 2 Shapers' War,

Speaker 2 Argosia was this larger country

Speaker 2 that fought in the Shapers' War. It had pro-God forces and anti-god forces.
And when the gods fell, a lot of places embraced Druidicism as a way to find answers and find meaning.

Speaker 2 And a lot of the druids of Timony,

Speaker 2 in their earliest ability to commune with animals, This place has always been a shepherd's place and has always worked with dogs.

Speaker 2 And a lot of how they got people to embrace druidicism here as another way to practice medicine, as another way to tend to communities and heal people, as a way to reconnect with fairies,

Speaker 2 which druids have a lot of connection with the fair folk as well,

Speaker 2 was the ability to that people could speak with dogs and do medicine on people's dogs, like literally ask dogs what is wrong. And so

Speaker 2 Timony didn't exist as a country after the Shapers War. It was part of Argosia.

Speaker 2 On that Nat 20, you would, I think on a Nat 20 history check, you know that the War of Axe and Vine, which happened like during people's lives, right?

Speaker 2 Like not that like about, you know, well, let's answer it.

Speaker 2 Let's give an actual answer.

Speaker 2 The War of Axe and Vine ended in the year 45. It's currently the year 71.

Speaker 2 So this is only 26 years years ago, right?

Speaker 2 The

Speaker 2 that war was.

Speaker 2 The war of Axe and Vine happened in many places all over. It was actually many, sort of an aggregate term for a lot of wars and conflicts that were happening.
Timani was founded in that war by King.

Speaker 2 Hold on one second. I know everything about Jim.

Speaker 2 Timony.

Speaker 2 How do you think?

Speaker 4 We talked a lot, me and Theazi.

Speaker 2 King Augustus Valian,

Speaker 2 who's called by many of the people that like him King Gus,

Speaker 2 created,

Speaker 2 is the current king of Timony and the first king of Timony, which fought against Argosia and became its own country. So Timony has always kind of been a region, but it became its own.
kingdom after

Speaker 2 King Gus won a war against Argosia.

Speaker 2 Wow, now 20 history check.

Speaker 2 What you would know about him is his banner, three red hounds on a white field.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 he sort of established, like,

Speaker 2 like invited a druidic circle deep into his court to like help advise him. And a lot of these shrines were built like 20 or more years ago

Speaker 2 because there were so many druids and like folk healers and sages and witches and and things like that around that could speak to dogs that they made these shrines as part of the grant of passage.

Speaker 2 So communities keep these as waypoints for dogs that are traveling on business.

Speaker 2 All these dogs with like carrying messages, these are basically like little dog hostels where they are honored as part of the druidic faith of this land. That's so cute.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
It's like that, the, the, um,

Speaker 2 so a lot of these dogs you see are just sleeping here because they've got a long way to travel with these messages that they're carrying.

Speaker 2 Good thing we've got some druids in this group, right?

Speaker 2 Um

Speaker 2 uh

Speaker 2 so

Speaker 2 um

Speaker 4 oh sorry I interrupted you guys were talking.

Speaker 2 What does your dog eat?

Speaker 2 Like, would he want to sample some of this stuff or?

Speaker 2 Me.

Speaker 2 My dog eats meat. Alright,

Speaker 2 is he hungry? Is there meat in the both?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 How nice of you.

Speaker 2 Give me a persuasion check.

Speaker 2 Give me a persuasion check from Wolfray.

Speaker 2 Oh, from Wolfray. For persuasion.

Speaker 2 Cox, but it was good.

Speaker 2 Wait, what is his persuasion?

Speaker 2 Whatever his charisma is. Whatever Wolfray is.

Speaker 4 Wolfrick has charisma?

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Wolfray's got charisma.

Speaker 2 I don't even know how to check.

Speaker 2 This is all new for me.

Speaker 4 Wolfrick's got charisma, uniqueness,

Speaker 2 nerves.

Speaker 2 We'll probably just call that a minus one.

Speaker 2 I rolled a 14. Okay.

Speaker 2 Wolfrit steps up. The dogs all wake up

Speaker 2 as a wolf approaches. Yeah, massive.

Speaker 2 And sort of snarl at Wolfrick's approach.

Speaker 2 No,

Speaker 2 no response. This is like

Speaker 2 an like the alpha energy doesn't feel the need to snarl back. Yeah.

Speaker 2 As Wolfrick approaches and just starts eating the food, the dogs snarl a little bit more

Speaker 2 and then just hunker down, glaring at Wolfrick as he eats.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 eats his fill, but doesn't eat it all. Yeah.

Speaker 2 He's so gentle.

Speaker 2 He's a gentleman. He's wearing a nice suit.

Speaker 2 You guys depart.

Speaker 2 You guys depart and continue to see these signs. Yeah, there's a lot.

Speaker 2 You can just see, it's almost like, you know, if you travel in a country, you begin to see certain architectural design things come up.

Speaker 2 It's like seeing the saltier in Scotland or seeing other things around where it just recurring, or the Triskel in Ireland, little shapes that come over again and again.

Speaker 2 You just see there are a lot of dog statues everywhere. It's just part of this country's, especially like a newer country.

Speaker 2 It was a thing that's like, even though it's always been really important to the region when they became their own kingdom it became a thing that everyone could rally around as being like a central part of their culture or their heritage um

Speaker 2 um

Speaker 2 you

Speaker 2 we are gonna roll a really important role

Speaker 2 oh god oh no what you guys are going to the kingsway i told you that was the riskiest part

Speaker 2 i did

Speaker 4 are we all rolling

Speaker 2 soldiers no no no uh actually who's feeling lucky

Speaker 2 I am. Travis feeling lucky.
Great.

Speaker 4 You're going to have to make the choice.

Speaker 2 You said you're looking for horses.

Speaker 2 I think

Speaker 2 horses feels like 16 or higher to me.

Speaker 2 And I also said there was danger on this road. I think danger.

Speaker 2 Let's make danger a little bit more than the range for horses. I think danger feels like one through seven.

Speaker 2 But I think you really don't want to get a three or lower. Come on, one through seven.

Speaker 2 What are you rolling? What is this skill? Just 60-20? Straight? I just, I want to keep it honest. I didn't want to punish you guys.
I said there was risk, and risk means variability. So here we go.

Speaker 2 It's a 10. Okay.
That's in the middle.

Speaker 2 That's no horses and no danger.

Speaker 2 We just stand here idly.

Speaker 2 You guys

Speaker 2 get your way

Speaker 2 out of

Speaker 2 the village

Speaker 2 all the way to Arteran.

Speaker 2 Are you traveling openly with your garb?

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 You are. Okay.
I was told to butch it up.

Speaker 2 That was what you were told.

Speaker 2 Throw an egg. Some mystery egg.

Speaker 2 Tyranny. and thimble and taor,

Speaker 2 hoods up or hoods down?

Speaker 4 Hoods down.

Speaker 4 I'm CC, baby. I'm walking right alongside.

Speaker 2 Okay. Yeah.
Actually a little bit.

Speaker 4 I don't know if it makes much of a difference for me, but sure, I'll take my hood on my little

Speaker 2 tank top and pull it up.

Speaker 2 Or it's like, are you traveling? Or like, are you traveling?

Speaker 2 Are you traveling like on someone's person in someone else's hood? I was going to go hoods up. Oh, okay.
And I think it's just our natural disposition.

Speaker 2 Tell me if you feel differently to like give you space. So it's either on the other side of the road or distant

Speaker 2 as well. In front of or behind.

Speaker 2 Without, you know, you guys, you guys see horses, you never see four,

Speaker 2 and all of them are someone's plowhorse, someone's working animal. You don't see any stable.
Even as you get to Ardern, this place is,

Speaker 2 you know,

Speaker 2 it's the throne of some regional earl, but fundamentally it's a,

Speaker 2 you know, you don't see a place that's doing business selling horses. You see a place where people keep their horses.

Speaker 4 Does Wolfrick travel next to you the whole time, or is he?

Speaker 2 He can go wherever he please. He just does whatever he wants, but he does obey commands.
So he can be put where... Is he traveling near you? Yeah, maybe.
I mean, I think he's in the group currently.

Speaker 4 Then I'm going to just ride down on Wolfrick like he's a giant steed. Incredible.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Love.

Speaker 2 So funny. Gorgeous.
Should you try to commandeer

Speaker 2 a horse of some sort? Meaning steal one?

Speaker 2 I don't like to steal, but you told me to be assertive, and we could

Speaker 2 use your

Speaker 4 authority to maybe not demand, because be true to yourself, but I think that people would be happy to give you a horse because you are in charge, right?

Speaker 2 I think

Speaker 2 so. Do you guys think so? Are you saying these are mostly like working horses, like not riding horses?

Speaker 2 I think what's the point is that there's not a rideable horse on the one. Yeah, again, you're seeing lots of horses, horses, but you're seeing a horse with a knight on top of it riding something.

Speaker 2 You know what I mean? Like,

Speaker 2 you're not seeing spares.

Speaker 4 Are we just moseying down the highway? Are we going at a nice pace? I think

Speaker 2 we are approaching Ardern. As you do,

Speaker 2 I think it is getting a little bit later in the day as you get to Ardern. This is a...

Speaker 2 We'd call this, I think for those of you who have spent time in Dolmachia, we'd call this a

Speaker 2 large town. Like maybe they call it a city in Timony.
This is a large town. It's got a castle

Speaker 2 moat around it. The castle has a stone component, and then sort of like it's almost like a motton bailey.
There's like a wood part that comes out that has a palisade.

Speaker 2 Plenty of knights around here.

Speaker 2 A lot of other shepherds and peasants. The city, as you get to it, right, Ardern,

Speaker 2 it has big byways, like wide thoroughfares.

Speaker 2 There's not a street in here that is not 50% sheep or cattle. As you're moving through it, that's what's moving through here.

Speaker 2 You see a

Speaker 2 quite a large,

Speaker 2 like up on a hill, there's an abattoir. There's a place where they're like processing these cattle that are coming in,

Speaker 2 shearing wool. You smell, it is a

Speaker 2 big center. There's a lot of people here.
There are definitely taverns.

Speaker 2 The smell, that sort of woollen, lanolin smell with a lot of meat and a lot of that very grassy manure smell is everywhere throughout this place.

Speaker 2 As you're moving through it,

Speaker 2 you are not seeing any horse that is not dear to someone's profession, whether that is some knights with shields on their back and weapons stowed riding up towards the castle to report something, or whether it is a horse that is drawing a cart.

Speaker 2 Nobody's got like a horse for sale, horse for sale, ding, ding, ding.

Speaker 2 So the question is, are you, as the sun's getting a little bit lower,

Speaker 2 time is still of the essence, you want to keep traveling on the road as it gets into evening time?

Speaker 2 But if you do, you'll be leaving this,

Speaker 2 you're getting to the city in an interesting time. Like, you still have some hours of travel possible to you.
Would another night's worth of travel get us there, or how far do we have to go?

Speaker 4 We only got a short rest last night, too, so we have we're going on not even a long rest right now.

Speaker 2 Yeah, um,

Speaker 2 because you didn't go straight, you went off to get to the road, you'll travel faster, but it's still about

Speaker 2 yeah, it's about 50 miles.

Speaker 2 Money, we could buy something.

Speaker 4 We could go to a tavern and see if, I mean, how do you feel? Do you need to have a full night's sleep? Do you want to keep going? Because we could rent a carriage or something to take everyone?

Speaker 2 You got money? Could try.

Speaker 2 These carts don't look very comfortable. Well, if I'm being honest, but I could probably sleep in the back while you guys drive through the night.

Speaker 4 Why don't you buy a driver? And then everybody can sleep.

Speaker 2 That's a very good thing. Money bags.
Sure. Sure.
I could try.

Speaker 2 Uh,

Speaker 2 hell yeah.

Speaker 2 Sun is setting in Argorin. There's wagons going in all directions.
There's some, definitely there's wagons headed north. That's the capital Timney, of course.
Have to send tribute to the king. So,

Speaker 2 uh...

Speaker 2 What I would ask is this. The first thing we're going to do is we're going to make a group stealth check.
And because you guys are hoofing it, you're trying to move fast.

Speaker 2 This will be made with disadvantage.

Speaker 2 We're going to be fine. You're fine.

Speaker 2 Is this a vital role?

Speaker 2 Oh, I don't know.

Speaker 2 I'm pawing. Can I? Actually, I take offense at hoofing.
Okay, pawn

Speaker 2 loping forward.

Speaker 2 For one of us, I think.

Speaker 2 I think for one of us, I can undo

Speaker 2 this disadvantage. Okay.

Speaker 2 I rolled real low on my disadvantage.

Speaker 2 When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you is about to roll a D20 with advantage or disadvantage, you can take a reaction. So I only get one reaction.
So somebody I can undo their disadvantage.

Speaker 2 I'll just mutter a little prayer and I'll grant you just

Speaker 2 a straight roll. A straight roll.
A straight roll?

Speaker 4 Alright, does that mean I get to take my higher one?

Speaker 2 Because I rolled an 18.

Speaker 2 You will not

Speaker 2 be able to take your higher one. You will instead have a fresh roll.
You'll roll straight. Oh shit.

Speaker 2 Or I could use the egg.

Speaker 4 13.

Speaker 2 15.

Speaker 2 15. Okay.

Speaker 2 We got a 15 here.

Speaker 2 What did we get for our stealth here? I rolled two natural 20s.

Speaker 2 Are you serious?

Speaker 2 A one in 400

Speaker 2 chance? What the fuck? Wow, you are.

Speaker 2 That's awesome.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 We don't know how. A natural 20.
We got a

Speaker 2 15. 14.
14. What did we get, Thimble? 12.
12. 16.

Speaker 2 So wait, with disadvantage, 16, what do we get over here again? A 14. I've got a plus 6.
So the, so these are our two lowest. 16 of the top three is the lowest.
And with a natural 20.

Speaker 2 You guys are not doing anything to disguise yourselves. And yet, I think, Wick, on that Nat 20, as you move through this place,

Speaker 2 there is nothing

Speaker 2 as

Speaker 2 there is nothing as,

Speaker 2 for lack of a better word,

Speaker 2 diffusive of attention and scrutiny

Speaker 2 as walking with purpose. like you belong.

Speaker 2 There is no skulking. We're just moving through here.
And what you see I think on that Nat 20 is Bardaran

Speaker 2 is crawling with the candescent crate.

Speaker 2 That's good and bad.

Speaker 2 Such that, and I think as you're traveling, because you've been going through the woods, you look a little bit like dirtier, you've been sleeping, you slept in a tree last night.

Speaker 2 You don't, you're not walking with a fucking radiance of whatever. You're just walking.
And as you look out, you look more like someone traveling.

Speaker 2 You see, there's plenty of white robes walking around, plenty of people with tattoos of filament. You see there is one person as you walk towards the north of the city.

Speaker 2 You're not looking to stay here long. You just see one person standing up going,

Speaker 2 brothers, sisters, listen to me. The light reaches all of us.

Speaker 2 Those that put the light before themselves walk in the light. Those that put themselves above the light cast a shadow on us all.

Speaker 2 Those that would put themselves above the light, we name them, don't we? Don't we? And you see that there are people who are like looking up, a small crowd has gathered and are smiling and cheering.

Speaker 2 Don't we? We name them tyrant. We name them tyrant.

Speaker 2 Anyone who would put themselves above the light puts themselves above us all. For we are all children and servants of the light.

Speaker 2 We know their names, those who put themselves above their brothers and sisters. We know that they do not mean us well.

Speaker 2 Would you serve each other or serve darkness? And people go, ah, and start to cheer. And you hear someone say, tyrant! Tyrant! Tyrant King!

Speaker 2 Oh.

Speaker 2 Oh! Uh-oh.

Speaker 2 A little uprising going on here. That's all you're doing for the.

Speaker 2 And you see,

Speaker 2 you see the girl

Speaker 2 small

Speaker 2 that this sort of gathering,

Speaker 2 there is a gathering here.

Speaker 2 Looking

Speaker 2 out through this,

Speaker 2 you begin to,

Speaker 2 as you move forward,

Speaker 2 I'll also ask now, with that Nat 20, I'll allow this next role with Advantage.

Speaker 2 Got to honor two Nat 20s. This is going to be a group investigation.

Speaker 2 with advantage you see

Speaker 2 pretty bad someone if someone hits a nat 20 on disadvantage you kind of gotta get an

Speaker 2 30 20 30 20 11 11 16 16 23 23 12 12. um getting north of the city uh you pass by these sort of crowds of the candescent creed uh

Speaker 2 you see that there are a n I think on that high uh group investigation you guys see a number of of wagons.

Speaker 2 And you see that actually here,

Speaker 2 there are many like hay carts and broader wagons heading north.

Speaker 2 Hay is a commodity in a place that doesn't get to grow a lot of long grass.

Speaker 2 So you see a lot of this hay is like either from the few regions in Timony that can grow it or it's from further south and is moving up the road.

Speaker 2 You

Speaker 2 see that there are plenty of drivers that appear to be just headed north. On that high investigation,

Speaker 2 There are lots of wagons that are headed up. You see, a couple of them have a good sign for you, which is lanterns on the front.
Lanterns on the oxen or the horses that are drawing them.

Speaker 2 Good night, baby.

Speaker 2 Is this me?

Speaker 2 I do this. Yeah, you do this.

Speaker 2 Hello. Hi.
Hi there, you. Hi.
Hey, ho. Oh, hello there, sir.

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 2 a brother of the creed. Yes, of course.

Speaker 2 Big brother, yes.

Speaker 2 Super important brother.

Speaker 2 And in fact, one who needs, needs,

Speaker 2 nay, demands something of you.

Speaker 2 I want you to give us a ride.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 2 Go ahead and give me Intimidate.

Speaker 2 Take off your clothes.

Speaker 2 That's a one.

Speaker 2 That's an A1.

Speaker 2 You see that he goes, uh-huh.

Speaker 2 And spits in your face.

Speaker 2 He looks at you and says, I'm Gus's man, through and through.

Speaker 2 Fuck you and fuck your creed.

Speaker 2 And he...

Speaker 2 Let's try a different one.

Speaker 4 Maybe a different strategy, also.

Speaker 2 Maybe you should try it. You don't have to be...

Speaker 4 Sure.

Speaker 2 Really? A demon?

Speaker 4 Maybe Teor should talk to somebody.

Speaker 2 You're intimidating.

Speaker 2 We can say, this cart's burned.

Speaker 2 My cart's gone.

Speaker 2 You do see this guy say, I'm Gus's man through and through, and head off

Speaker 2 on the road. Perhaps we will have a little that is gusting.
Yeah. Which, would you?

Speaker 2 What? Yeah, I'll handle it.

Speaker 2 You see, you see.

Speaker 2 After a few minutes, another cart pulls along.

Speaker 2 Another cart pulls along,

Speaker 2 heading north. This one

Speaker 2 is much more covered, and you see has what what looks like some hard scrabble like barrels of apples and other food in it and things like that um

Speaker 2 that you can see is mostly empty maybe someone actually returning from market here in the big town um you see there's an older woman she's got like a wide sort of sort of uh thatched hat on to keep the drizzle off her face um uh looks up as you're approaching any lanterns on this one yes

Speaker 2 may I trouble you for just a moment? Oh easy, easy. I'm sorry, some of my traveling companions and I have...

Speaker 2 We are in need of a express journey northward. We can, of course, pay you for your troubles, and I will shake the bag of of money, eh?

Speaker 2 Oh,

Speaker 2 travel. Well, I...

Speaker 2 I've no seats in the back to speak of, and there's no...

Speaker 2 I I'd be poor accommodation for you and your your friends if you would if the the it's it's not a carriage by any means it's just a uh a cart.

Speaker 2 We don't mind riding atop and perhaps providing some uh extra uh security and some peace of mind for your travels.

Speaker 2 You see, she looks out and says, Go ahead and give me persuasion. Yeah, and I'll uh I'll also put uh four gold in her in her hand.
Uh, she sees four gold, go ahead and roll with advantage.

Speaker 2 Uh, persuasion.

Speaker 2 What if

Speaker 4 what if we pay her even more? Can we pay you more to ride?

Speaker 2 Oh, Cadigan, thank you for that guidance. That's

Speaker 2 I regret taking that initiate.

Speaker 2 It's just a flat 10. Flat 10.

Speaker 2 A flat 10 with a D4 or no?

Speaker 2 Oh, I didn't roll a D4 for the guidance, but I...

Speaker 2 Guidance!

Speaker 2 How'd you? Call it DC 12. Plus three, so 13.

Speaker 2 Such a great play from me.

Speaker 2 Such a great play from Cadigan.

Speaker 2 Cadigan, what do you say in this moment? Because you can see that, like, like, an armor, it's just all a little too strange for this woman.

Speaker 2 It's about, she's about to get sort of scared off and try to beg off because

Speaker 2 shining armor, lion man, fairy, demon, it's all like you're saying, you keep telling these guys, it's simple folk here. So, with that little guidance, what does Cadogan say? Yeah,

Speaker 2 money talks, don't overcomplicate it. Yes, of course.
Uh, she looks and says, Oh, f uh, four gold is far too much, sir. It's not, I, I can't, I, uh, you can't put the price on your troubles.

Speaker 2 It is, please, the least we can do.

Speaker 4 It's also so you can ride faster than you normally would.

Speaker 2 And you see, as you give that little bit of, of like, oh, that's why they're paying me extra, you see, she goes, oh,

Speaker 2 all right. Well, they've, they've had their water and an apple-ish.
So,

Speaker 2 hop in?

Speaker 4 Before we climb in, I'd like to take my, uh, just the corner of my apron

Speaker 4 and I wipe the mucus trail from the spit off of just the side of

Speaker 2 wick's collar

Speaker 4 and i say hey you don't have to be mean

Speaker 2 just

Speaker 2 yeah

Speaker 2 but be yourself i thought that was the that was the

Speaker 2 was to be was to be butchered up was to be

Speaker 2 right i see

Speaker 2 i see most people don't ever try to be like taor only taor can be like taor you can be kind and still be a leader in fact that's what you're supposed to be that's your job right um

Speaker 4 okay While also knowing that your family is putting the hammer down in many different ways, so I think the cover is that you agree, but you don't have to be that. Please don't get spit on anymore.

Speaker 2 I'll try not to. Only Teor is Teor.

Speaker 2 This you will hear every morning and night.

Speaker 2 Of course, only Teor is Teo.

Speaker 4 Every morning when we were traveling in the fucking car.

Speaker 2 Get in the fucking car.

Speaker 2 You see that the

Speaker 2 older the older woman turns around and says,

Speaker 2 feel free to lie down.

Speaker 2 We sold most of the apples off, but for gold,

Speaker 2 you couldn't possibly eat enough apples to make up for the...

Speaker 2 So feel free to lie down, have as many apples as you'd like.

Speaker 2 Is there a place where I'll have gone too far?

Speaker 2 Should I...

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah, we're going to Sloke.

Speaker 2 Sloak? Oh, well, then I'll stop at my home.

Speaker 2 I live in Gourmale, so I'll stop before we...

Speaker 2 And you'll continue the rest of the way on foot then.

Speaker 2 You see, she says, sleep well and

Speaker 2 keep moving through the night.

Speaker 2 And you see that she

Speaker 2 gets the horses moving again, and you trundle off.

Speaker 2 uh great uh

Speaker 2 everybody

Speaker 2 uh everybody here can take a long rest

Speaker 4 oh can i do the great weapon mastery then uh or the weapon mastery switch it over to yes you can switch your weapon mastery uh one of your weapon masteries over to

Speaker 2 yes yes yink

Speaker 2 amazing i don't know what that is

Speaker 4 I was chilling.

Speaker 4 That's not it.

Speaker 2 That's a character shape change.

Speaker 2 Um, the horses head off trundling through the night. All of you sleep in the back of this carriage.
Is it a two-horse carriage? Four horse. A four-horse carriage.
Oh.

Speaker 2 Got some serious horsepower.

Speaker 2 At least four.

Speaker 2 Um, uh.

Speaker 2 You journey through the night, uh, trundling along pretty quickly. Um,

Speaker 2 uh,

Speaker 2 after about going into the night, it is still early hours of darkness. Uh, you know, she's traveling like what look around

Speaker 2 eight or nine miles an hour, something like that.

Speaker 2 So it's a few hours into the night, and you get uh off the King's Highway and start traveling along through villages, uh, going into Gourmalay, heading further and further up in altitude.

Speaker 2 You pass a little area that seems to actually have some rows of these like black barked apple trees. So it's like these black trees, dark green leaves, red apples all throughout.

Speaker 2 And you get higher than that still, and those trees kind of, you know,

Speaker 2 start to thin out. But the wagon stops,

Speaker 2 and she sort of pokes her head in the back and says,

Speaker 2 All of you can rest and then continue your way.

Speaker 2 Are you

Speaker 2 headed to, are you, are you servants of the new baron?

Speaker 4 What have you heard about him?

Speaker 2 Not not much.

Speaker 2 Um

Speaker 2 we thought that

Speaker 2 you know we uh well, it's not it's it's the barony just north of here, but we had thought that there would be a young Baron Taconis

Speaker 2 But it seems not. It seems that it will be the Baron Gavendale

Speaker 2 So just wonder if we wonder if he is a if he is a decent man or a good man.

Speaker 2 He's a real shit.

Speaker 2 Dang.

Speaker 2 Well.

Speaker 2 In that case, for letting us know,

Speaker 2 we'll let my

Speaker 2 sister hear that maybe time to pull her head inside. The old lady's sloke was

Speaker 2 temperamental, but fair, more or less.

Speaker 2 I'll let her know. Thank you.

Speaker 2 I have nowhere inside. I have no room for you to stay, but you may stay in the wagon for as long as you like.

Speaker 2 It's very kind of you. Thank you.

Speaker 2 You guys finish your rest in there.

Speaker 2 As you do,

Speaker 2 I would like a perception check for anyone else that night.

Speaker 2 Perception check. Yeah, difficulty of 20.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah, guidance. Yeah.
To me or to you? To you. Okay.
Does dark vision help? 23.

Speaker 2 23.

Speaker 2 Um.

Speaker 2 That helps. Thimble.
Everyone else, deep asleep, slumbering.

Speaker 2 21. Um,

Speaker 2 Thimble,

Speaker 2 you look out

Speaker 2 across a little stream. You see a shrine on the other side of the stream.

Speaker 2 You see,

Speaker 2 there's a shape sleeping, canine shape sleeping in the shrine. It's night.

Speaker 2 You look out. There's a hound that for a second you think is a statue until you realize...

Speaker 2 It is a

Speaker 2 fully awake and alert dog looking across the dark stream. It must be,

Speaker 2 you know, a few hundred feet away. There's no way that, even with dark vision, they would be able to see you guys here.
But you just see a shape gazing out across the stream towards you.

Speaker 2 And I think of that 23, you even feel like you make eye contact for a moment.

Speaker 2 I'm gonna fly down and

Speaker 2 kick Cadigan in the nose.

Speaker 2 Good morning, Bimble.

Speaker 4 In all your travels through this area. And I'm going to ask myself the same question in my travels with Diazi as we were coming through.
Do I know anything about that kind of a

Speaker 4 large dog or anything that

Speaker 2 would bark?

Speaker 4 And I'm going to tell you about it too.

Speaker 2 23?

Speaker 2 Um.

Speaker 4 He didn't see, he seemed menacing.

Speaker 2 And he saw us. You would keep a watch on us.
You would recognize that as as a... On 23 Perception, you just saw in the dim light of sort of the shrine's near a little tavern over there.

Speaker 2 It's like some sputtering embers or candlelight, even at this late hour. It's like wee hours of the morning.

Speaker 2 Looked huge. You remember there was a...
They have a lot of different hounds and herders and things like that. You recognize that as a rocks mastiff named the Timmins Rock.

Speaker 2 They're enormous

Speaker 2 guard dogs.

Speaker 2 They're kept specifically for that purpose.

Speaker 2 You've even heard that some people keep them. They're a rare breed.
Some people keep them to kill wolves.

Speaker 2 Sure do.

Speaker 2 You better keep Wolfrick away from that thing.

Speaker 2 They are usually guarding important people, though.

Speaker 2 Rare to see one out in a far-off boonie with a kingdom like this. That's quite a creature.

Speaker 4 But

Speaker 4 they're guarding a tavern.

Speaker 2 After you kick Cadogan in the nose to point out,

Speaker 2 you look back.

Speaker 2 Not there. No, don't you say it! Don't you say it! And that's where we're gonna go ahead and take our break.

Speaker 4 What's a dog doing?

Speaker 2 What's a dog doing? What's a dog? We're in trouble. Danger! Danger! He's all as, he's all as.

Speaker 2 Front row.

Speaker 2 And we'll pick up with the mysterious events in the night

Speaker 2 after we conclude this break.

Speaker 2 And that's where we'll leave our story for now. Part two of this episode of Campaign 4 drops this Tuesday.
Thanks for listening, and we'll see you soon for more Critical Role.

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On the Scent | Critical Role | Campaign 4, Episode 7 Part 1

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