Anthony 0:00
Greetings, adventurers. Welcome to the Adventure Incorporated Podcast. I am your Dungeon Master. My name is Anthony Reed. This is episode 29, and it is part of the Darkness Rising story arc. I want to say thank you, thank you to our Patrons at patreon.com/adventureinc. Seriously, thank you so, so much for everything that you do for us. Patrons everything that you support us with, it’s really, really helpful to us. And we’re so grateful that you’re getting enough value out of this show to support it and to make it a part of your world that we can all share together. So, thank you to them. And if you are not a Patron, head over to patreon.com/adventureinc. Become a Patron. One of the things we do because we have such great Patrons are the Tavern Nights. We’re still doing Tavern Nights every third Thursday of the month over at twitch.tv/srsbiz_network. And yeah, we’ve got a story we’ve been telling over there in our pseudo-canon Tavern Nights. They’re a ton of fun. We just have a blast doing those live shows. So, if you can come join us at 8pm Eastern on a Thursday night, the third Thursday of the month. Come and join us. It’s a blast. It’s so much fun. And of course you can join us in our Discord as well or on social media. Just follow the show notes down below. Hit any links over there to head to those various places or go to our website adventureincpod.com and get links there as well. Hey, you know what, let’s get started.
Nobles and farmers, knights and scoundrels, gather round, gather round to hear a tale of excitement and mystery. Brave adventurers facing grave dangers.
Belroth, the Ranger.
Belroth 1:59
She’s a Grimalkin. That’s, uh, but that’s understood. No pets allowed, even though she’s not a pet. I will wait outside. Everyone, if anyone needs anything, I am outside
Anthony 2:09
Skarpin the Cleric.
Belroth 2:11
Should I just try and snipe them from over here?
Skarpin 2:14
Yeah, okay. I did say there was good as dead. I would hate for my, you know, to break my word on our first contract with Adventure Incorporated.
Anthony 2:22
Ellori, the Bard.
Ellori 2:24
We would want you to leave this warehouse.
Anthony 2:28
He points behind it. Church!
Ellori 2:31
Oh, sorry. We want you to leave this church.
Anthony 2:35
Deeran, the Wizard.
He say, you no worship Shattered Fang.
Deeran 2:40
Yeah, man he’s like, super wrong. We love Broken Tooth- uh, Shattered Fang, man.
Anthony 2:45
Prepare yourselves, for these are the tales of Adventure Incorporated!
You feel cold grass beneath your face, light drizzling, sprinkling down on you as you begin to open your eyes in the dim light of pre-dawn as the 5 of you are laying at the edge of a forest and the gray cloudy sky above. As you stand up and get a sense of your surroundings, the place is somewhat familiar to you. A small hill in the distance you are pretty sure that if you go over to the edge of that hill you will come down into the town of Redbridge. You are fully rested, having apparently spent the whole night at least. And we’re also gonna do a little bit of character management because you guys leveled up.
Deeran 4:08
Love to level up on a loss.
Belroth 4:14
A big L.
Skarpin 4:17
A big ol L.
Belroth 4:18
A participation trophy.
Deeran 4:29
I feel like the Pokemon that gets put at the front of your party that you like, switch out immediately at the start of a battle to like, level them up, you know? Except then we fainted.
Anthony 4:48
All right, let’s go around and talk a little bit about what these new levels have in store for you now that your level 5. This is where the game gets serious. So, I’m going to stop-
Deeran 5:02
Oh, great.
Anthony 5:03
Yeah, I’m gonna stop pulling punches from this point forward.
Belroth 5:06
Great. It’s not like everyone on the discord is like, I’m pretty sure Anthony is trying to end the campaign early.
Anthony 5:15
Anthony’s bored of this one. That’s what they’re all saying. If you want to say it with us, come join the Discord. Link in the show notes.
It’s in the show notes. Mike, tell me what Deeran gets for level 5.
Deeran 5:30
Well, so Deeran got a high average of a 1d6 for hit points-
Anthony 5:39
Plus constitution modifier.
Deeran 5:41
That’s right. So, now he has up to 33 total hit points.
Anthony 5:46
All right, nice.
Deeran 5:48
For that 11 AC. The other thing Deeran gets his third level spells.
Anthony 5:58
Are you going to tell us what you took or are you going to keep it a secret?
Deeran 6:01
Well, I mean, I guess-
Anthony 6:05
How many third level spells do you get?
Deeran 6:08
So, I get to learn 2 spells a level plus I can swap out any spell that I’ve learned before for any other spell that I could learn.
Anthony 6:20
How many third level spells did you take?
Deeran 6:22
- Anthony 6:23
So, do you want to tell us the 2 that aren’t Fireball or are you just gonna surprise us.
Deeran 6:30
Wow. I will tell you one of the 2, how’s that?
Anthony 6:33
All right, I’m excited.
Deeran 6:36
The other spell that I took in addition to fireball was haste.
Anthony 6:41
Ooo, exciting.
Belroth 6:43
Baby I love your way every day.
Ellori 6:46
Is this like, a direct result of that last fight. Like, you spent the whole last fight thinking “I wish I could move faster!”
Deeran 6:58
I don’t- I- you know what, I’m feeling attacked so let’s talk about somebody else’s level up. Wow.
Anthony 7:04
Okay, Belroth what do you get at level 5.
Belroth 7:08
Um, so at level 5 I get a few minor things, but I think they’re pretty big. First of all, Extra Attack-
Deeran 7:17
“A few minor things, but I think they’re pretty good.” It’s got to be pickaxes and extra excavation equipment.
Anthony 7:26
Yeah, a helmet with a light on it. A canary in a cage.
Belroth 7:32
Yeah, I got a really good pen. Belroth gets Extra Attack.
Ellori 7:41
I’m sorry. Do miners use pens? Like, it’s not a tool of the trade?
Skarpin 7:51
I bet they do use pens.
Belroth 7:54
How does someone make a map?
Skarpin 8:00
I might use a pencil, Rob.
Ellori 8:01
They make a map with their chisels in the cave.
Skarpin 8:04
That’s not probably correct. I don’t know.
Belroth 8:06
What if they move do they have to make a new map every time?
Anthony 8:10
Hey, the foreman of the miners has to use a pen to sign them paychecks. Am I right?
Belroth 8:21
If I’m being honest I didn’t catch the joke until it was- the word “pen” was out of my mouth.
Anthony 8:27
No?!
Deeran 8:29
What?!
Ellori 8:29
What?!
Belroth 8:30
And then I went, “I’ve made a huge mistake”
Skarpin 8:37
Steph let you know though.
Ellori 8:38
That’s what I’m here for.
Belroth 8:38
No, I’m aware. Then I just had to fight myself out of a corner.
Deeran 8:44
Good friends have your back. Better friends push you down.
Ellori 8:50
You know what they say, “the pen is mightier than the ore.”
Deeran 8:57
I hate how much I liked that one.
Belroth 8:58
That one rocked.
Anthony 9:02
All right tell me what Belroth gets.
Belroth 9:04
Let’s dig deep into this. Okay, Belroth got Extra Attack for the 15th and-
Deeran 9:11
You have 15 attacks?!
Belroth 9:14
What’s cool about that is now I can use one of those attacks to have Freya also attack. She can take one of my extra attacks so I can do like, Bonus Action Hunter’s Mark attack, she attacks which is cool. I also get second level spells, and I get to learn a new spell. I am swapping out Fog Cloud for a second level spell, Pass Without a Trace and also learning Spike Growth. And, being a Tiefling, I also get darkness.
Deeran 9:51
Deeran will help with fog cloud just as soon as we get a pharmaceuticals supplier that he knows.
Belroth 10:02
That’s it.
Anthony 10:04
Ellori, what does your level look like?
Ellori 10:19
Now is when after a Short Rest, I can get my Bardic Inspiration back.
Anthony 10:23
Oh, good.
Deeran 10:25
Is that directly because we couldn’t do it last time?
Ellori 10:30
Yes, I’m calling Wizards of the Coast and telling them thank you for putting this rule in today so that I could make up for the last episode of our podcast. Um, I get a spell. A new spell.
Anthony 10:44
I’m excited.
Ellori 10:46
That’s it. All right. Yeah.
Anthony 10:51
Okay.
Ellori 10:53
I’m excited about it.
Anthony 10:54
Me too. Skarpin, what does your level look like?
Skarpin 10:57
I feel like I might be the most excited? I got big things, and I think that they’re big things. The fact that Proficiency Bonus went up to 3 is great. I’m excited about that. My Channel Divinity got better. Whenever I Turn Undead and they fail their Wisdom Save, then they die if they’re like, weaklings and stuff. And I get access to level 3 spells which there are several that I want to use.
Anthony 11:34
All right.
Deeran 11:36
Level 3 Cleric is cool.
Belroth 11:38
Level 5 Cleric.
Deeran 11:39
Er, level 3 Cleric spells is cool.
Anthony 11:45
All right. So that is our round of levels. And so I will go back into as you feel this, you know, the weight of what has happened here you glance down at your hand. You notice that the mark that was placed upon you is gone. The symbol has been removed, and yeah, you are just outside.
Ellori 12:11
We used both of our one-shot “Get Out of Jail Free” cards in the same episode only to lose?!
Anthony 12:20
And you’re just outside the town of Redbridge.
Belroth 12:23
To be fair, we didn’t know that one of them was a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. We just had it.
Skarpin 12:30
What do we do?
Belroth 12:30
The marking on our hand is gone, right? We didn’t know what it did. We were just like, you got a marking on your hand. All right, cool.
Skarpin 12:39
I feel like we also didn’t get to talk to Colliesto and now we just left the town. It was like “hey, y’all get out of here now.” They’re dead.
Deeran 12:55
Yeah, probably. Pour one out for General Sergeant Knots.
Belroth 13:00
I hope he’s okay. I hope he got out.
Deeran 13:02
And Bucket.
Ellori 13:05
I’ll pour one out for Bucket.
Belroth 13:08
Everyone, if you’re listening to this in the car, pull over right now and pour out whatever beverage you have.
Anthony 13:13
Open one.
Ellori 13:16
Don’t do that.
Belroth 13:20
Don’t, don’t open beer.
Ellori 13:23
Don’t waste your day’s caffeine on Bucket.
Skarpin 13:27
Don’t waste your road soda.
Belroth 13:31
Pull over to the side of the road and spit on the ground for Bucket.
Ellori 13:37
There you go. A stunning tribute to a stunning NPC.
Deeran 13:43
That feels right. Bucket would have wanted it that way.
Anthony 13:48
Pour some of your human fluids out for Bucket.
Deeran 13:54
Welp. Thank you. Thank you for that, Anthony.
Anthony 13:58
You’re welcome. All right-
Belroth 14:00
Let’s get into the serious business.
Deeran 14:04
Yeah, Deeran is crushed right now. Like, when he picks his head up the like, the look of disappointment and like, just sadness washes like, across his face as he looks at everyone and he says, I’m really sorry everybody. I just don’t think, I don’t think I would have made it out there.
Skarpin 14:40
What we leave and we just, we just nothing happens. I thought we were going to see Colliesto. Deeran?
Deeran 14:48
Don’t look at me, man. I just-
Skarpin 14:51
You said that you spoke with them.
Deeran 14:54
I mean, you, you saw the angel come down and say hey, do you want to get out of here or I’ll fight with you.
Skarpin 15:01
Yeah, they made it sound like we’d speak with Colliesto, and they talked to you. Isn’t that what this- I thought that’s what would get their attention, the thing on our hand.
Deeran 15:17
Yeah, I don’t know, man. You’re the, you’re the holy one.
Skarpin 15:22
I could have sworn- I would have bet- No, I don’t know. I don’t know. Now that town, that city’s gone.
Ellori 15:34
We don’t know that for sure. I think that there’s- I think that we should, I think we should- I think… I don’t know. I don’t know what we should do.
Skarpin 15:55
Let’s, uh, head into town and resupply and come up with a plan.
Deeran 16:05
Yeah.
Anthony 16:09
Okay, so the 5 of you make your way over the hill and down into the town of Redbridge. The sun has started to creep up over the horizon, though it is still obscured by the cloudy, overcast day. But it is now- you see a few people milling about as the day begins here in the small town.
Belroth 16:42
Well, what is our next step?
Ellori 16:52
I mean, I think we should check back in with Adventure Incorporated to see how we can best help whatever front lines are left. We went out there for a reason, and if we don’t go back, and if we don’t try to recoup any of the losses that we caused.
Belroth 17:09
No, you’re not wrong. I’m just taking it all in, I guess. I’m not, not quite, not quite sure what I was trying to do out there.
Ellori 17:26
Well, we were trying to kill demons and now we know that we didn’t. And there- at least we have a little bit more information on the things that they can do, the way that they can slow down time, the way that they can fly, the way that they can move and the way that they can change the way we feel about, you know, what’s happening.
Belroth 17:47
I mean, yes, we do know that. I meant I was ready to just keep going. I didn’t not think about going forward. Because Deeran was right, we were going to die, and it never crossed my mind. Because I didn’t want to fail so stupidly bad I was ready and willing to kill us all.
Skarpin 18:17
I mean, Belroth, we had an angel on our side. We didn’t know that it was the Accuser. They were convincing us that this was happening. They were giving us despair.
Belroth 18:26
Not a single one of us knew that an angel was going to pop out of nowhere. And I mean, we didn’t know what that marking on our hand meant. Now we do, and now we know what it is. And now we know it’s gone. We could have just gone- that could have done something else, and we could have just died.
Ellori 18:43
We could die any day walking down the street. We might as well die doing something for the good of the world.
Skarpin 18:52
I mean, did we? I feel like we didn’t.
Belroth 18:54
I also feel like we didn’t.
Ellori 18:55
I also feel like we didn’t. And now we know that there are vampires roaming around and that the demons have, have taken hold over more and more cities, and the fight that we have is, is bigger, and I, I appreciate Deeran that you drew a line.
Deeran 19:22
Should I have just let us die instead?
Belroth 19:24
I’m not even remotely mad at you. I think you are correct. I think I was stubborn. Because I was so tired of failing I was ready and willing to push myself to the end.
Deeran 19:38
Ellori, your face says otherwise.
Ellori 19:42
I’m not happy about it.
Deeran 19:46
But really, should we have just died there then?
Ellori 19:50
I don’t know if it’d be better to die fighting than to just leave.
Skarpin 19:56
I don’t know that we would have died. We had an angel. And we were feeling despair because of the Accuser. Hope wasn’t lost.
Deeran 20:05
Oh, no, I was feeling despair because I was gonna die out there. That’s pretty despairful.
Skarpin 20:12
Yeah, I, I don’t doubt that you believe you were despairful. I don’t doubt that. I just don’t think it was real. I think it was her that was causing that.
Belroth 20:23
I mean, I’m still feeling a big amount of despair right now because-
Anthony 20:29
Uh, the word we’ve established is despairful. I would appreciate it if you would-
Belroth 20:34
No, no, no, do you want me to take it back to 1? I’m feeling despairful because we don’t know where any of any of those soldiers are. We don’t know if any of them got out. We don’t know if Sergeant Knots got out. We don’t know if-
Ellori 20:53
But that’s, that’s what I’m trying to say. All I’m trying to say right now is Deeran, I appreciate that you drew a line for yourself. And that kind of communication is why we left because it was clear that you weren’t ready to risk dying. And that’s okay. And we can be okay with that, but now, we’re back and we’re safe, and we need to figure out our next steps. All I’m saying is that we can’t just have a day of shopping and spas because we have more to do.
Deeran 21:29
Yeah, I agree. I think we need to get back to the compound as soon as possible and like, share what we learned so that like, whatever did happen there isn’t like, a waste, you know? Like, we need to be prepared and like, understand what we’re facing, you know? And I think for as much as, you know, we didn’t know beforehand I feel like we’ve learned a lot more now.
Ellori 22:02
That’s what I’m saying.
Deeran 22:07
Yeah, like, maybe it’s a, maybe it’s like, a setback instead of like, a total loss, you know?
Ellori 22:16
You know, my grandma always says every time you lose a game you learn how to play it better next time.
Belroth 22:25
I mean, that’s not that far from Teachings of Diam. It doesn’t make it feel any better. Sorry, everyone. I’m sorry if I’m-
Ellori 22:33
No, it feels awful, but I think instead of just chatting about it, we should move back to the compound.
Belroth 22:39
Yes, let’s go I guess then.
Skarpin 22:43
Yeah, let’s head back to the Brass Palace.
Belroth 22:46
I’m not in the mood for shopping, and I don’t have a lot of money.
Deeran 22:52
Yeah, Anthony, can you remind us how far we are?
Anthony 22:56
Yeah, you’re about 2 weeks from the Brass Palace.
Deeran 23:01
Is there like, a stable in town that we could like, buy horses at?
Anthony 23:08
Um yeah, I mean there’s definitely a stable.
Deeran 23:14
And so yeah, what if like, it’s a long walk. Like, we should probably get animals to make it faster, right?
Skarpin 23:24
Absolutely, I agree.
Ellori 23:25
As long as everyone agrees we shouldn’t just hit him on the butt to make them go.
Deeran 23:32
Not like, “just.”
Ellori 23:35
I think if we learned anything, we learned that proper communication with whatever you’re riding is a lot more ethically conscious than just slapping them and saying, “go, Bucket.”
Skarpin 23:52
No, not “Gobucket”, Ellori. It’s just “Bucket.”
Anthony 24:04
Okay, yeah. You head to the stables? There’s a stable hand there-
Belroth 24:12
Oh, my God! Whose hand is this?!
Anthony 24:16
It’s the stable’s hand. I was very clear.
Deeran 24:18
It’s so steady though.
Anthony 24:26
Yeah, she’s a dwarf. As and as you approach she says, Oh, good morning.
Ellori 24:35
Good morning. We’re looking to rent some horses. Please and thank you.
Anthony 24:40
Oh, okay. I can rent you horses for the day.
Ellori 24:45
Oh, I guess, actually. I guess we have to buy them don’t we? What a weird system. How does that work? How do people just, do people just buy new horses every time they’re in a new town? They just buy new horses and then-
Anthony 25:00
Only if you lose your old horses.
Ellori 25:03
That was clearly not in character because this season I have a character voice.
Anthony 25:09
No, I think people would take their horses to a stable and like, stable them. And they take care of your horse while you’re in town. And then when you leave, you get your horse out.
Belroth 25:20
And then you go to another stable and like, you load your horse to that stable, like they do in Breath of the Wild.
Deeran 25:27
Yeah, we need Zip-horses, Anthony.
Ellori 25:28
Yeah, we need Bird-scooter-horses.
Deeran 25:30
Yeah, we need to use the horses without having to do the upkeep.
Ellori 25:36
Actually, is there a way that we could rent the horses and return them to another stable?
Deeran 25:41
Oh, smart. Yeah, we can pay the RELO fees if we need to. You know what I mean? Like, to move the horses back from wherever they go to. Like, do you have a counterpart at the Brass Palace that we could like-
Belroth 25:56
Or could we find some sort of transportation to the Brass Palace like, I don’t know, a cart driver or something?
Deeran 26:04
That’s like, super fast though. Like, as fast as riding horses individually would be?
Anthony 26:11
Well, you’re probably not gonna find a cart that’ll take you there that quickly, no. But, you might be able to- I don’t have any contact setup at the Brass Palace now, but perhaps for the future if you could set me up a contact at the Brass Palace. I could understand making a deal, and arrangement that would allow us to, you know, transfer ownership of the horses back and forth.
Belroth 26:33
A side quest
Ellori 26:38
I honestly don’t think we have time for a whole side quest. If we, if we can rent the horses now and then ride them back to the Brass Palace. We promise we will coordinate with them to send someone to talk to you.
Deeran 26:56
Wait, like, what’s a horse cost anyway?
Anthony 27:01
I was just pulling that up because I figured that was coming. A riding horse is 75 Gold.
Skarpin 27:16
To purchase?!
Anthony 27:16
Yes.
Skarpin 27:18
Oh, my god. Oh, yeah, I’ll take 4.
Anthony 27:24
But just so everyone knows Skarpin owns those horses. So, once you’re done with them, he’s got another use for them.
Belroth 27:36
I mean, couldn’t we get away with 2 and have like, 2 people on- well, I guess not with Skarpin. Hmm. We need at least 3.
Anthony 27:42
2 people on each horse?
Belroth 27:43
Yeah.
Skarpin 27:48
Oh, I’ll take my own.
Belroth 27:51
I mean, I guess I’ll buy a horse too.
Anthony 27:55
Okay, now you have 5 horses, I guess.
Belroth 28:01
I don’t care who like, owns my horse. I just want to be able to ride one.
Skarpin 28:05
That’ll be 100 gold, Belroth or that’ll be 85 gold per day.
Anthony 28:19
Skarpin gonna make that coin!
Skarpin 28:22
He’s already got control of the bank account.
Anthony 28:27
True. True.
Deeran 28:30
Yeah, um, all right. I will take one horse as well.
Ellori 28:36
I think it’s pretty clear that we need 4 horses and we’re happy to pay full price for the 4 horses.
Deeran 28:42
Individually.
Ellori 28:44
We will each give you 75 Gold.
Deeran 28:46
I don’t want to, I don’t want Skarpin to own my horse.
Belroth 28:49
That’s fair. I guess I will buy my own horse too. If Skarpin wants to buy 4 horses he can do it.
Deeran 28:55
He can figure out how to ride them all the way back. That’s not my problem. No offense, Skarpin.
Skarpin 29:01
Oh, it’s not your problem…definitely.
Anthony 29:05
You know, you can spend a little extra if you want a nice saddle. Maybe some extra food or a cart to carry behind? There’s some other options here if you’re interested.
Ellori 29:16
Belroth, do you think that Freya needs to be pulled in a cart behind the horse?
Belroth 29:20
Actually I don’t know how fast can a horse move? Let’s find out. I don’t think so. I would not-
Anthony 29:28
I think, I think that I will allow you to have Freya on a horse with you. I think that would be fine if Freya is comfortable draping both legs over. Maybe she runs along, but she’d probably get tired eventually.
Belroth 29:42
Okay, then she’ll drape over me like- yeah, okay, okay.
Deeran 29:47
My question, Anthony.
Anthony 29:49
Yes.
Deeran 29:51
Mechanically, doesn’t make a difference-
Anthony 29:53
Your butt’s gonna hurt a lot because you don’t have a saddle.
Deeran 29:57
That’s not what I asked. That’s narratively.
Ellori 29:59
Roll a d4 for butt damage.
Anthony 30:01
Just saying, there’s a possibility that those sore muscles could come into play later.
Belroth 30:06
Like, do we get a Short Rest if we’re riding on a saddle for like, a long period of time?
Anthony 30:12
No.
Belroth 30:12
Well then I don’t give a shit.
Anthony 30:14
Well, okay.
Deeran 30:16
Yeah, no, I’m gonna take my butt soreness. Well, how much is a saddle, man?
Anthony 30:22
Oh, a saddle? It’s not much. It’s 10 gold for a saddle.
Ellori 30:28
I’ll take a saddle.
Anthony 30:30
She hitches a saddle onto your horse.
Deeran 30:33
I’ll give you 6 gold for a saddle.
Anthony 30:35
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Deeran 30:37
That’ll put me an even number of gold pieces.
Anthony 30:40
I’ll take 6 gold from you, and then I’ll take- well, I’ll tell you what, I’ll do one for 16 gold.
Deeran 30:47
No, cuz then it’s not as even as I’d like.
Anthony 30:50
I’ll sell you a saddle for 10 gold and then I’ll sell you a saddle pack for 5 gold. And then I’ll send you enough feed to get you through for another gold. That’ll even you up.
Deeran 31:01
Thanks anyway.
Anthony 31:02
Okay.
Ellori 31:02
I’ll take the feed for a gold.
Deeran 31:04
Yeah, I will take the feed. That’ll also even meet up in a way that is aesthetically pleasing.
Belroth 31:10
I’ll also take the feed.
Anthony 31:12
Okay, okay.
Deeran 31:14
Where do I put a horse, Anthony?
Anthony 31:17
In a stable.
Deeran 31:18
On my character sheet.
Anthony 31:21
Treasure.
Ellori 31:21
List of items: horse.
Belroth 31:24
I already have something in my saddle bag.
Anthony 31:26
You do need to describe your horse, and you will need to name your horse. Both of these things are now your responsibility.
Belroth 31:32
Mine has no eyes!
Deeran 31:34
You didn’t even give me a chance to like, prove that I could earn this horse.
Anthony 31:39
You didn’t have to. That was the gold. You earned yours with gold.
Deeran 31:43
No, but I mean, like, you know, I didn’t have to keep a goldfish alive. What if I’m irresponsible?
I’m certain you are.
Skarpin 31:51
“If”?
Deeran 31:53
Wow, okay. I’m getting a lot from a lot of angles.
Anthony 31:58
If you lose your horse or fail to take care of it, they’re 75 gold. That’s all I’m gonna- there’s always more horses I guess.
Deeran 32:08
Wow.
Anthony 32:12
You are pretty impressed though because you would have described this as a one horse town, but it was- they had 4 horses, so you were in good luck.
Skarpin 32:23
I’m hoping that they have 7 horses since I bought 4 of them. Yes, and I’ll take enough feed for all of them and one saddle.
Anthony 32:36
One saddle for 4 horses, okay.
Deeran 32:40
It’s like, 4 butt spots like, in a row. Like, they all have to walk next to each other very close.
Skarpin 32:50
You can go like, single file.
Anthony 32:52
It’s like when they make you buy 2 tickets on the airplane.
Skarpin 32:58
Safety.
Belroth 33:00
I have to come up with a horse name?
Deeran 33:01
All right. I have horse in my notes and feed.
Belroth 33:04
And what’s the name and describe it.
Anthony 33:06
What’s its name?
Deeran 33:10
Its name…
Anthony 33:13
Not so easy, is it, Mike?!
Deeran 33:15
No, it’s hard! …Black Lightning.
Belroth 33:20
And it’s brown.
Anthony 33:21
It’s an orange horse.
Deeran 33:25
No, it’s white with a, with like- or no, it’s black. Sorry, with a white like, chest like, it like, has like, you know what I mean?
Anthony 33:34
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Deeran 33:36
And so when it runs, it looks like a streak of black-
Anthony 33:38
I bet real horse people would know what that area of a horse is called, but I don’t.
Deeran 33:47
You knew what I meant.
Belroth 33:48
I’m on a horse-name generator. I’m just gonna take whatever the very first thing I generate. That’s my horse’s name.
Deeran 33:55
It’s Black Lightning.
Anthony 33:57
I honestly thought you named your horse “Generator.” You said, “I’m on a horse named Generator”.
Belroth 34:03
No, but worse. Um, I click the “Get horse names” button, and the first horse name was Plunkett. It’s a piebald black and white horse, and it’s great. It’s cool.
Deeran 34:21
You also have a black and white horse from your horse generator? I mean, mine was entirely from my own brain.
Belroth 34:32
But it’s black and white in a different pattern so we never mix them up.
Deeran 34:36
That’s right.
Belroth 34:39
Plunkitt, good lord.
Ellori 34:43
I’m gonna name my horse Mushroom.
Deeran 34:49
It’s all red with white spots.
Ellori 34:51
No, it’s like, tan and, and brown like a mushroom.
Anthony 34:59
All right. Great.
Skarpin 35:02
Skarpin has- one of his horses is a Shire horse. It’s big, and its name is Orchid. And then the other 3 horses are- one’s all white, one’s all brown, one’s all black, and their names are Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner respectively.
Deeran 35:29
Oh, no!
Skarpin 35:29
Where my equestians at?!
Ellori 35:32
Oh, no I just got it! Oh, no.
Skarpin 35:50
Yeah, 325 I took off.
Anthony 35:52
Especially because you’re gonna, you’re gonna eat those horses and you’re still gonna be hungry.
Ellori 36:00
I was like, that’s a cute name for a horse like, as a trio of horses: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
Skarpin 36:06
Oh, I thought that was a cute like, Ellori bit, but that was real.
Ellori 36:20
It was real.
Skarpin 36:22
Yeah, uh, Skarpin is gonna eat these horses if that wasn’t clear.
Ellori 36:25
Now I- thank you.
Skarpin 36:30
But not Orchid.
Belroth 36:31
Never Orchid.
Deeran 36:33
Well, maybe Orchid. On a long enough timeline, probably Orchid.
Anthony 36:43
Trying to sneak out of town without saying hello, ay. Hobern has come up to the stables. He saw you standing outside them buying horses. Well, hello. Hello, old friends. Acquaintances I never see any more. How are you?
Ellori 37:02
Hey, Hobern. We’re so sorry. We’re just, we’re in a bit of a rush.
Anthony 37:06
Oh, you got some fancy new clients to speak to. You know, you don’t have to come back and talk to your old handler anymore.
Deeran 37:15
No, it’s just like, things are really bad man. Like, a whole bunch of people are probably dying right now. And so like, we gotta, we gotta go help.
Anthony 37:26
All right, I mean, I got a letter here for you, but if you don’t want it that’s fine. You can go do your thing.
Belroth 37:33
I feel like you should have led with that.
Anthony 37:35
I wanted to lead with saying “hello” to my friends. I didn’t know, I didn’t know we had to go all business all up front.
Belroth 37:42
I’m sorry. I’m a little touchy right now. I apologize.
Skarpin 37:44
Say hello while we’re reading the letter. Can I have it?
Anthony 37:49
Well, we can go back to, we can go back to my place and grab it. I didn’t bring it out here. I didn’t know you were here. I just ran into you. Because you didn’t come and visit me. That’s what I’m saying. If you come to visit me-
Deeran 38:03
Hey, uh, horse person, what is, what is like, your job title? Sorry, that’s super rude to call you “horse person.”
Ellori 38:16
My grandma always says some people have got a bird face, some people a horse face and some people a… muffin face.
Deeran 38:24
But that wasn’t what I meant.
Anthony 38:25
It’s fine. You just, you just pronounced it incorrectly. It’s Horse’ Pers’on.
Belroth 38:32
The stablehand?
Anthony 38:35
My title is stablehand, yeah
Deeran 38:38
Oh, cool. Like, how long is it gonna take for you to get these 7 horses ready?
Anthony 38:48
Oh, well, I’ll get them all brushed out and cleaned up and fed before you go and watered. So, we’ll say maybe 40 minutes.
Deeran 38:55
Perfect.
Anthony 38:58
Okay, I’ll get them ready.
Deeran 39:02
Yeah, and then Deeran looks at Hobern.
Anthony 39:05
Follow me, guys and he marches off toward his his establishment.
Deeran 39:12
Hey, Ellori I feel really bad about like, treating Hobern like a jerk. But like, you know…
Ellori 39:22
Yeah, no. It’s okay. Tensions are pretty high, and I’m sure that he’ll forget about it in 5 minutes anyway.
Deeran 39:30
I hope so.
Ellori 39:34
Or you can apologize.
Deeran 39:37
Oh, yeah. Hober, I’m sorry, man.
Anthony 39:41
Oh, no, don’t worry about it. Don’t worry. You guys are busy. Don’t worry about it. I understand. But, you know, we’ll all get together now. We’ll have a little bit of a chat. You got 40 minutes. It’s fine. Come on, come on, come on, come on. And he heads into his brokerage.
Ellori 39:56
Hi, Teavana.
Anthony 39:58
She is sitting in the corner as you enter reading a book. She looks up, sees the 4 of you, and immediately looks back down at the book.
Belroth 40:09
Hello Tea.
Skarpin 40:10
I don’t think she heard you.
Ellori 40:13
Hiya, Teavana!
Anthony 40:15
I, I heard you. I heard you.
Deeran 40:17
Hey, Teavana.
Anthony 40:19
Hi.
Ellori 40:20
What book are you reading?
Anthony 40:23
Uh, you know what? I’ll just go out back. She just like, stands up and goes out back.
Hobern is flipping through some some papers, and he pulls out the envelope, and he says, here we go right here. And he opens it up, and he says, oh, okay, here you go. It says that I owe you your stipend.
Skarpin 40:50
Oh, great because I just spent a lot of money.
Anthony 40:55
Well, it says that you’ve been contracted on a special assignment. You’re doing research and looking into things about- oh, about the demon stuff going on?
Ellori 41:07
Yeah, that’s why we’re so, that’s why we’re in such a hurry, and we were a little bit short with you earlier. Because there are a lot of, there are, there are a lot of demons. There are a lot of them.
Anthony 41:21
Yeah, I could see how this could be important. Well, they have given you a stipend, and I’m supposed to fulfill it of 2000 gold pieces.
Belroth 41:29
Whoa, each?
Anthony 41:34
That is not what it says here. It says 2000.
Belroth 41:38
Each of us get 500.
Anthony 41:42
If that’s how you break it up, that’s how you break it up. That’s not, that’s not my business.
Ellori 41:47
Well, thank you so much, Hobern.
Anthony 41:49
Yeah, no problem. Well, you know, demon stuff sounds scary.
Ellori 41:58
It is. It’s, it’s a bit overwhelming. I’ll be honest with you. We’re really, you know, facing some demons of our own as we tried to fight these ones. You know what I mean?
Anthony 42:09
A lot hasn’t gone out this way. You know, I’ve heard, I’ve seen a couple of contracts come across people looking for information about them, but I haven’t seen, you know, or heard too much about what’s going on. But, you know, it sounds like, sounds like something’s brewing down there in the Isles.
Belroth 42:29
That is a way to put it.
Ellori 42:30
Uh, yeah. Yeah, it’s definitely, you know, if, if the Demon Isles are still there, there’s definitely some stuff happening.
Anthony 42:44
Well, you know, maybe, maybe there’s something I can do to help. Anything I can help you with or try to, try to work an angle for you?
Ellori 42:56
Oh, if you know how to kill a bunch of demons, that would be helpful.
Anthony 42:59
Well, I don’t. I don’t, I don’t have that at my disposal. No, no, I would not say that.
Ellori 43:07
I guess you can spread the word that silver’s really good at fighting them in case they start to encroach on here and you need to pull together, you know, some defenses. Maybe put up silver fencing all around. Some of them can fly, but some of them can’t.
Belroth 43:25
All of your contracts, if you want them to succeed, that’s probably demon related that might just be a helpful thing for them so that you, I don’t know, get paid, I guess.
Anthony 43:40
All right, good information to have. Good information to have. We can pass that along. While this conversation is happening, Deeran you feel a tap on your shoulder.
Deeran 43:53
Deeran jumps and spins around, puts a hand out.
Anthony 43:57
Like, offensively.
Deeran 44:01
Yeah, to get ready to cast a ray.
Anthony 44:07
Behind you is Tiviana, and she puts a finger to her mouth and motions for you to follow her.
Deeran 44:15
Deeran does. Deeran, for a moment, forgets everything else. A secret is a-brewin’.
Anthony 44:25
So, she quietly slips slips out the front door and has you follow her. And just outside she says, you’ve been dealing with demons stuff?
Deeran 44:39
Yeah, it’s, it’s pretty bad.
Anthony 44:45
Deeran, this isn’t more your bullshit, right? This isn’t one of those things where you come and you asked me about all the dumb stuff that you asked me about?
Deeran 44:54
No, look. And he pulls out the like, one of the barbs that like, hit him but didn’t sink in all the way. And he like, he pokes it into his finger to draw blood with it to see what happens.
Skarpin 45:15
Oh, thinking. Thinking face.
Belroth 45:17
Thinky face. Thinky face.
Anthony 45:20
Give me a Con Save.
Deeran 45:22
Oh god, okay.,
Belroth 45:23
Welcome to my life, Deeran.
Deeran 45:34
It is a 7.
Anthony 45:37
You poke this into your finger, and the blood begins to well up. And then veins of black crawl from the wound site like, all across your finger. And you do take 10 damage as the poison takes hold very quickly.
Deeran 46:05
Yeah, um he tries to like, keep it together and keep it cool. He gets a 4 Performance Check.
Anthony 46:28
What are you doing?! Give me that. Give it to me.
Deeran 46:33
No, it’s dangerous!
Anthony 46:35
Yeah, I can see that it’s dangerous.
Deeran 46:38
I didn’t know what else to do to show you that like, it’s bad.
Anthony 46:43
Okay, listen, you give me that. Then go and get your crew. Get them away from Hobern, and meet me out back over the hill in 10 minutes.
Deeran 47:03
Deeran is gonna try and do like, a- he’s gonna try and raise his eyebrow like, in a way that signifies like, is there more to Teavana than she’s led on so far?
Anthony 47:17
I think they would call that in the business an Insight Check.
Deeran 47:23
Probably. That’s better. That is an 18.
Anthony 47:29
Yeah, I mean, you just get that feeling like, that you are describing, right, where you’re like, whoa, hold up. Am I in way deeper right now than I thought I was?
Deeran 47:43
Yeah, then he sheepishly just like, hands over the needle.
Anthony 47:50
She takes it and palms it and says quickly, and then-
Deeran 47:55
Belroth has one of these in his chest.
Anthony 47:59
Okay. I mean, that’s good to know.
Deeran 48:02
I didn’t know like if it, you know-
Anthony 48:05
Do your thing, and then she moves to the edge of the building and climbs up the exterior of the building.
Deeran 48:14
Okay, uh, Deeran turns around and walks back in.
Anthony 48:21
Hobern’s saying, yeah, we had a couple of adventurers come through here. They, you know, they were talking about a real big contract they did. Fought a couple of goblins. Yeah, they said they, they massacred it. No problems at all. Just wiped him off the map. You know, the whole den is gone.
Deeran 48:38
Cool. Hey, guys, sorry. I was outside and I got hurt so I think we should probably go. And Deeran puts up his finger to show the spreading blackness.
Anthony 48:54
Yikes. Yikes. That does not look good.
Ellori 48:56
Deeran, hold on one second. Uh-
Deeran 49:03
Yeah, we should probably like- as, as Ellori starts to like, clear her throat he’s like, we should probably like, take it on the road so that like, you know mess anything up in here.
Anthony 49:17
Yeah, you’re bleeding all over my filing system.
Deeran 49:21
Yeah, I don’t want to like-
Oh, yeah. No, no, let’s get out. Let’s go.
Anthony 49:26
All right. Well, it was, it was good seeing you. Don’t forget to come back and visit me again the next time you’re in the area. Don’t sneak off. You know, hey, hey, we’re all friends. You know, I might not provide the caliber of contract you’re looking for, but come on.
Ellori 49:40
We’re such good friends. We love you, Hobern, and we’ll see you soon.
Anthony 49:43
Yeah, get out of here. He just goes back to his papers.
Ellori 49:49
Ellori is gonna grab Belroth’s- nope, Deeran’s finger.
Deeran 49:54
Uh, Deeran farts.
Ellori 50:02
Ellori drops it.
Skarpin 50:05
Skarpin holds up a hand.
Deeran 50:06
Yeah, high 5 for sure. But guys, seriously, um, there’s something cool about Teavana.
Belroth 50:14
We all know about your crush, Deeran.
Deeran 50:17
No, no, this isn’t that like-
Belroth 50:19
Oh, so you admit it?
Deeran 50:19
Also, she’s like- well, anyway, um, she climbed a wall and told me to, told me to get you guys and like, meet her over there. And Deeran points to where she like, told us to head. She knows stuff about demons.
Ellori 50:41
Oh, well, if she’s got information then that would be super helpful. She’s always reading the book so I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew a lot of things.
Belroth 50:49
Yes, that’s a fair point. I mean, does she not want, does she, does she not want Hobern to know?
Deeran 50:56
I don’t know, man. It was pretty hush hush so like, I’m letting you guys in on like, a pretty big secret.
Skarpin 51:04
I don’t know, Deeran. It just sounds like she was trying to get rid of you. You know, she literally climbed a wall to get away from you. Oh, yeah, meet me out of town. So, I hope, I hope it’s true.
Belroth 51:19
That is a fair point.
Ellori 51:20
Oh, it would be very awkward if we were crashing your date.
Deeran 51:23
I don’t think it’s that, you guys. Come on.
Ellori 51:28
I’m coming.
Deeran 51:29
Deeran’s like, loping. Doing that big, goofy-
Skarpin 51:36
Like, normal mood or-
Deeran 51:39
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, just normal walking. I picture him looking- pretty much anytime he is physically moving to look like a baby deer like, more than a human. You know what I mean? Just like, really struggling with the length of his limbs.
Anthony 51:59
So, the 5 of you move to the backside of the hill that Deeran pointed to. And as soon as you crest that hill and head to the other side, notably, you can see no part of the town from the other side of this hill. It’s like, almost perfectly shaped that it completely blocks the sight of the town from here. And you are now isolated, but it is just the 5 of you. No one else has- you don’t see Teavana yet- er Tiviana either.
Belroth 52:33
I’ve been calling her Tea, it’s fine.
Skarpin 52:38
I’m sorry, Deeran. I’m sorry, Deeran, but you know, we can head back to the stables and get the horses and head to the Brass Palace like we planned.
Deeran 52:48
She, she made it seem like it was really important that we wait here. She took one of the barbs from like, the demons that we’ve been fighting.
Skarpin 52:58
You gave her a barb as a gift? Deeran we got to talk about your wooing and just different skills and approaches.
Anthony 53:09
She appears-
Deeran 53:10
Well, probably but like, that’s unrelated.
Anthony 53:13
She appears coming up over the edge of the hill and she quickly moves toward your group. She says, let’s go a little bit further down the hill.
Belroth 53:25
Oh, okay.
Anthony 53:28
All of you. She walks down the hill a little ways. She turns back and she says, I am… Honestly I’m, I’m shocked that it’s you I’m looking for. I could not be more surprised.
Belroth 53:45
You asked us to be here.
Anthony 53:48
Indeed, yes. When I heard about what you’ve been working on, I would never have guessed that they would put the 4 of YOU in charge of this, but if that’s where we’re at, that’s where we’re at, and I, I’m going to work with the tools I’ve got. She says, I have someone I think you need to meet. I would request- and I cannot control your choices from here. I would recommend that when you meet this person that you be very respectful because I think they can offer you a lot. And I would request that after this meeting is done that we not discuss what has happened here with anyone because it would be very inconvenient for me.
Ellori 54:43
Okay.
Anthony 54:44
You can make whatever choices you will make. I’m going to begin first by making things a little easier for our guests and then we’re going to go somewhere and then we’ll come back to here, so don’t be surprised.
Ellori 55:04
Okay.
Anthony 55:07
She reaches into her pocket, and she pulls out what looks like an egg. And she cracks the egg and the area around you is bathed in darkness instantly. You are now just completely surrounded by magical darkness. She reaches out and touches your hand Ellori and she puts your hand in Skarpin’s. Skarpin, she puts your hand in Deeran’s Deeran, she puts your hand in Belroth’s. Belroth, she like, has you touch Freya.
Belroth 55:40
I figured I’d grab her by the scruff.
Anthony 55:42
Yeah, she guides Freya through the darkness, and there is a sensation like a, like a popping in your ears. And then the darkness sort of coalesces down to a single point. And you seem to be in a very- like a hall of a luxurious mansion. Like a meeting hall. Tapestries all along the walls depicting the Shadow Fall and the 1000 years of history before just like the barest of the great mythological stories of old. And a large wooden table, very beautiful, like, very expensive looking wooden table and chairs all down it. At the end, there sits a portly gentleman, we’ll say. He is human and very heavy set. And he is in a juxtaposition to what you are seeing here he is dressed like a beggar. Like, just in like, you know, less than commoner clothes like, he looks like he’s wearing- he could fit in a trash heap. But he’s sitting on a beautiful, luxurious looking hall. And he says, what have you brought for me today, my prince?
And Tiviana says, I present to you, TESSA, who is working with Adventure Incorporated to deal with the demon issue.
Ah yes, the demon issue. That is certainly something I have been interested in discussing with somebody. Come, have a seat please. I am afraid I do not know your names yet, and I try to make it my personal duty to know everyone I am dealing with. So, please, if you would introduce yourself.
Belroth 57:58
Hello, my name is Belroth Beacon. I am a Chimerologist, and um, I’m here.
Ellori 58:11
I’m Ellori.
Deeran 58:15
Hey, I’m Deeran, Deeran Lincoln. Um, Hunter of the Truth, and he like, shuffles nervously.
Skarpin 58:31
Skarpin gives like, a discreet thumbs up. I’m Scarpa Nightholder of the Nightholder clan. Who are you?
Anthony 58:43
Oh I have a few names that I go by. I am the Hidden Opal. I am the High Sparrow. I am the King of Thieves, and I am most importantly, the leader of the Court of Beggars. And I have come to discuss with you the matter that you have come across in your travels.
Belroth 59:08
Oh, and this is Freya. And Belroth like gives Freya a little scratch.
Anthony 59:15
Well, it’s nice to have pets I guess.
Skarpin 59:22
Anyway, Mr. Thieves, it’s nice to meet you.
Anthony 59:28
You can call me Your Majesty.
Skarpin 59:32
Okay, Your Majesty. What makes you so interested in the demons? Most people don’t even seem to think they exist?
Anthony 59:45
Well, most people don’t know a lot about what’s going on around here. And I would say that’s what makes me interested in the demons is that they pose a certain problem that I don’t think most people are going to be able to deal with, and a problem that we can’t deal with a Empire is a problem for me being able to do what I need to do to keep my job going. See, there’s no money to be made in extinction. So, it is in my vested interest that you all are successful in whatever it is that you need to do to stop this from happening so that I can do what I need to do.
Skarpin 1:00:32
That’s sound business logic. Yes, yes. Okay, how do you think that you could help us because I gotta admit, we seem to be in over our heads…a little.
Anthony 1:00:43
Well, there are many things that I can do for you, and it is up to you what it is that you would need from me and then we can discuss what I might need from you. So, my question to you would be what exactly your needs are? Do you need resources? Do you need information? Do you need services of perhaps armies, of soldiers and soldiers of fortune? There are things that I can provide for you if you are interested, but it is up to you what you want from me. I am nothing but reasonable. I am here to deal with whatever it is you would like.
Skarpin 1:01:35
Skarpin looks at the group, and says, yes. Yes to all of those things, honestly.
Anthony 1:01:43
Well, if not get ahead of ourselves. There’s only so much we can do at any given time. So, let’s talk about what your needs are.
Skarpin 1:01:55
Silver. Can you get make lots of silver weaponry. That, that would be helpful. We don’t have anybody doing that for us.
Anthony 1:02:05
That would be something we could try and put our focus on. Silver is something that you think will be beneficial in this case.
Belroth 1:02:13
It is very well known. It, well it’s something we learned that is very effective against the demons. It’s very well known.
Anthony 1:02:21
It’s very well known. Everyone knows.
Belroth 1:02:27
Nailing it.
Deeran 1:02:28
It’s very well known by us. We’ve talked about this with 4 different NPCs.
Skarpin 1:02:28
To be fair, it’s one of the few things we know for sure.
Belroth 1:02:38
For sure what we know is that silver is very effective against the demons, so getting silver weapons into the hands of those fighting the demons is probably a boon for both you and us as well.
Anthony 1:02:56
Well outfitting my people with silver weapons will not be cheap, but I can see how that could be of value if it is something that will strike through the demons.
Deeran 1:03:12
I’m gonna kind of pay one forward here I think. There’s a power struggle at Adventure Incorporated right now, and with their proximity to leadership at the Brass Palace, there’s a lot of politics going on. I’m, I’m sure you know this, sir. They’re not taking the demon threat seriously.
Anthony 1:03:57
When we started this conversation I did not expect assassination to be on the list, but I am happy to add assassination services if that is what you were looking for.
Deeran 1:04:07
No, I was just kind of- like- oh, god, no. No like, I would never. I would never want that to happen like, I would never- oh my gosh, no.
Anthony 1:04:21
You don’t think there is anybody in the upper ranks of Adventure Incorporated who if just one person disappeared, one domino were to fall that you might be have an easier time getting done what you need to get done because I can make that happen.
Ellori 1:04:33
Well actually there’s a domino we’d like to put back in the game I think that might help rather than taking a domino out. Put in, put in finding a domino, finding a domino and putting it back.
Belroth 1:04:49
I think what Ellori is trying to say is that there is someone we would like to install into a position of power within Adventure Incorporated-
Ellori 1:04:55
No, no, I was talking about-
Belroth 1:04:58
Oh, then nevermind. I have no idea what this metaphor mens.
Ellori 1:05:01
I was talking about Elder Hawktalon. You know how he’s missing? And he’s a voice of reason that, you know, Elder Riggs was saying that he needed him, and now that you know, he’s gone that Elder Carapath is wanting to take over.
Anthony 1:05:16
Yeah, that might be a problem.
Deeran 1:05:18
Yeah, wasn’t trying to get that- wait, what do you mean?
Ellori 1:05:22
Did you murder Elder Hawktalon?
Anthony 1:05:24
No, I did not murder Elder Hawktalon. No, no, no, no, no.
Ellori 1:05:28
Do you know who did?
Belroth 1:05:31
Do you know if he is murdered?
Anthony 1:05:33
Okay, there’s a lot of questions coming at me at once so, I’m gonna need you to go one at a time.
Deeran 1:05:42
Is he alive?
Anthony 1:05:43
No, Elder Hawktalon is not alive. No, no, no, no.
Deeran 1:05:51
Deeran points, 2 fingers at Skarpin and Ellori- or like, and then he gestures.
Anthony 1:05:59
No, there is no question that your friends are alive. They are standing here before us. They can talk, they can breathe-
Skarpin 1:06:06
Well.
Anthony 1:06:06
-and I am certain that your friend there has an insatiable appetite. Yes? So, they are by my metric, they are very much alive, and Elder Hawktalon is very much not.
Ellori 1:06:21
Do you know who- did he die of natural causes?
Deeran 1:06:38
Nice.
Anthony 1:06:41
That’s such a difficult question for someone in my position to answer. Naturally everyone dies when you stab them, yes. He was absolutely murdered. It was absolutely foul play, and if you are looking for the place where that may have originated from, you might not want to look at who was holding the dagger, so much of who ordered that decision made? And I am sure that you would find that-
Ellori 1:07:12
Is that something you can tell us, or like, if we guess it can, can you give us a nod?
Anthony 1:07:19
This individual did not contract through my organization, so I am more than happy to tell you about Carapath’s transgressions.
Ellori 1:07:27
Yeah, that was gonna be my guess.
Deeran 1:07:30
Is there evidence of that?
Anthony 1:07:33
Well, that would be the very difficult thing to come by, wouldn’t it? A man like Carapath does not leave a trail from point A to point B. So, like I said, you find the man who held the knife, and that man will go away for a long time, probably killed by a Justicar, but not going to get you any closer to the resolution you’re looking for. And you could find the man who hired the man who held the knife, and the man who hired him, and the man who hired him, and you still wouldn’t be at Carapath.
Deeran 1:08:05
Well, that’s kind of why I asked if there was a way, you know? Like, I figured that was the case, man. I know deep these secrets go. Listen, you know, you don’t have to tell me about how deep it can go sometimes, you know what I mean, man? Like, I know, I know that. Like, you know, there’s only a few people that have that kind of control, and it makes sense Carapath would be one of them, but like, hey, how do we connect it, you know?
Anthony 1:08:31
That is something that unfortunately I cannot help you with because if I knew the answer to that, I would have already told Carapath I knew the answer to that and expected him to pay me forthwith.
Ellori 1:08:43
Okay, this is, this is definitely valuable information though. Thank you.
Anthony 1:08:52
So, let me pitch to you something I had in mind because I think that there is somewhere that you could maybe gather much needed intel on what’s happening with these demons and maybe it could be a mutually beneficial situation.
Ellori 1:09:12
Okay.
Anthony 1:09:14
Have you ever heard of an Aurora Orb?
Ellori 1:09:19
No.
Anthony 1:09:21
Supposedly they were crafted by a powerful sorceress hundreds of years ago. Someone called the Brass Witch. The Aurora Orbs are filled with Fate Magic, and they are designed to allow one to see Fate, to see a thing that they must uncover when no other options will avail them. Now, such a thing as you might guess many people believe them to be No more than trinkets, but those who believe them to be powerful as they may be, find that the price of such a thing goes very high. They are highly sought after. Now, I might have a lead on where one might be found, and I could help you in acquiring such a thing, and you could use it to your heart’s content. And when you are finished, if you bring me the spent orb, I think we could call it even.
Ellori 1:10:38
Um, I mean, that sounds pretty cool.
Deeran 1:10:48
Yeah, Deeran puts a hand up and like, pulls everybody in.
Belroth 1:10:53
Okay.
Deeran 1:10:59
Does that, like, sound like a thing that we should do?
Skarpin 1:11:05
Sounds useful.
Belroth 1:11:07
It does sound useful.
Ellori 1:11:07
It feels like we’re gonna get a lot more information from something like that than anyone else or anything else. Everyone we’ve talked to has not known anything. And so if we can maybe use magic to our advantage.
Belroth 1:11:24
I mean, we did talk to that- that angel did say that, you know, there are things fated for us. It would be helpful to know what they are. Why would he want- Belroth breaks off from the group and turns around. If it’s spent, and we use it, what do you get out of getting it after it’s spent?
Anthony 1:11:48
That, my friend, if my business
Belroth 1:11:52
That is fair, fair enough. Belroth turns back to the group. All right. I don’t have anything else.
Skarpin 1:12:03
Good question, yeah.
Deeran 1:12:05
It was a great question.
Belroth 1:12:07
But is there anything else while we’re in this little huddle? Is there anything else we can think of that we could ask of him? Ask from him?
Deeran 1:12:16
I thought- I’m honestly I’m kind of surprised that he wasn’t interested in like, the you know, influencing that power struggle. But you know, what do I know?
Belroth 1:12:30
From the sound of it, it sounded like he already kind of knew about it. Right?
Deeran 1:12:37
Yeah. Yeah. I just, you know-
Belroth 1:12:43
Can I- if no one has anything else, and if we agree with this, that’s fine, but can I ask him something for me personally after this? I just wanted to ask for the group’s permission before we do something crazy. It’s not crazy.
Deeran 1:13:00
I mean it’s crazy.
Ellori 1:13:01
Oh, it’s pretty crazy.
Belroth 1:13:02
Well, that’s fair.
Ellori 1:13:05
But yeah, go ahead, Belroth.
Belroth 1:13:07
Well, first, we should probably agree. Yes, Aurora Orb? Then I’ll ask my thing. Yes?
Skarpin 1:13:15
Agree, Aurora Orb.
Ellori 1:13:16
Okay.
Deeran 1:13:18
Yeah, let’s do it.
Belroth 1:13:20
Okay. Belroth turns around. So, you give us information as to where the Aurora Orb is, we use it, and then we give you the spent thing. Follow up question, if we, for example, are not able to get it what are we on the hook for?
Anthony 1:13:46
You are on the hook for the spent Orb.
Belroth 1:13:51
That, that’s fair.
Skarpin 1:13:55
Great question.
Belroth 1:13:57
He looks to the rest of the group and like, looks for a thumbs up.
Skarpin 1:14:06
We will find your orb.
Anthony 1:14:09
Excellent. I was hoping you would say that. He reaches down and he pulls out 4 glass vials and a dagger. And he slides the vials and the dagger toward you. We can seal the deal after you fill those up for me. We call this an insurance policy.
Ellori 1:14:31
With our blood?
Anthony 1:14:34
Yes, if each of you would fill one of those vials and that seals our contracts. I don’t have the advantage of a Guild of Contractual Arrangements to handle my deals for me. So, sometimes we have to go by a little more magical means to ensure that our deals are correctly upheld.
Ellori 1:14:57
What is- this is like, not in character. What is Ellori’s blood like? What does it look like? Is it like, normal blood? What about Skarpin’s?
Anthony 1:15:09
Your blood would be like-
Deeran 1:15:10
What about Deeran’s?
Belroth 1:15:11
What about Belroth’s? What about Freya’s?
Anthony 1:15:16
So, for Ellori, Belroth, and Deeran your blood is like normal blood. You have blood blood.
Ellori 1:15:26
Okay.
Anthony 1:15:28
I bet your blood, Ellori is very high in iron. Just like so not anemic it’s not even funny. But for Skarpin, your blood is like an almost like a sludgy black- yeah, it’s sludgy and black. It’s still blood, but it’s like, sludgy and black.
Belroth 1:15:54
What about Freya’s?
Anthony 1:15:55
I don’t know. You’re the Chimerologist, Rob. You tell me.
Belroth 1:15:59
I’m not the Chimerologist. Belroth is.
Anthony 1:16:02
Belroth will have to tell both of us.
Belroth 1:16:04
Okay, well, he’s not going to.
Anthony 1:16:07
There’s no vial for Freya either.
Belroth 1:16:10
That’s good.
Skarpin 1:16:12
Yo, Majesty. Once we return with the spent Orb, we would like these vials to be destroyed. Is that reasonable?
Anthony 1:16:25
Oh, of course, I am not a barbarian. I’m happy to give you back the vial of that which belongs to you. You make me whole, and I will make you whole.
Skarpin 1:16:33
Excellent. We can seal it with wax. We can press something into it so we know it’s not been broken.
Anthony 1:16:39
I am satisfied with that, of course.
Skarpin 1:16:43
I’m okay with that. What do y’all think?
Ellori 1:16:46
No, I think that’s really smart.
Deeran 1:16:47
I’m not gonna give up my blood until I know what I’m agreeing to exactly, and the information that I have to make that happen first man. Like, my blood is like my identity. You know, like, I’m not just gonna give my identity to someone without being able to like, totally understand everything exactly, you know about the deal.
Anthony 1:17:08
Very well, you can fill the vial, and you can decide to give me the vial after you have received the information.
Deeran 1:17:20
Deeran wants to do an Arcana Check on that.
Anthony 1:17:22
Okay.
Deeran 1:17:24
To see if he knows like, how this blood will be used in a magic ritual, you know what I mean?
Anthony 1:17:33
Sure. So, go ahead and roll an Arcana Check.
Deeran 1:17:43
- Anthony 1:17:45
So, here’s what you’re familiar with, with blood. That if someone is in possession of your blood, the most, the simplest thing that they can do with it is to track you with it. They can find you using your blood. There are rituals that exist that could take more direct control over you using your blood even insofar as to like, like mind control you with your blood. Although the rituals for those are much more powerful and require a lot of components. Looking at this vial, you don’t see any runes or see anything like, inherently magical about the vial itself. It appears to be a straight up glass vial. So, anything that involved like, a real ritual would require that component. Just being in the glass wouldn’t be enough for him to do anything with that. He would need it and to prepare a big ritual with it.
Deeran 1:18:52
Okay cool. But like, just, yeah, so just, okay, okay, okay.
Anthony 1:19:04
Like, there’s no fear that like, you hand this over and then you keel over dead. That’s not a thing you’re aware.
Deeran 1:19:10
No, no, no, no, no, no, right. Right. I was more worried about I bleed into this and I’ve already agreed to be bound by-
Anthony 1:19:21
If you looked at this vial, and it had like, runes on it, you’ve definitely seen in the past vials that would like, seal instantly. And that was like part of the enchantment of the vial is that it was sealed. That doesn’t appear to be the case here.
Deeran 1:19:35
Okay. Deeran looks to the group and then back to yo Majesty and says, yeah, I agree, Mr. Majesty.
Anthony 1:19:51
He motions to the vial.
Deeran 1:19:52
Deeran is going to try to draw the blood out of his like, poisoned hand, you know what I mean?
Anthony 1:20:04
Yeah, the black lines have subsided significantly, but you can still slice that finger open and drip from there.
Deeran 1:20:10
Yeah, yeah, that’s gonna be the one that he uses and he’s gonna try and like, squeeze down the tube, you know? Like a toothpaste situation, starting at the bottom and going up.
Anthony 1:20:24
You fill the vial.
Belroth 1:20:25
Belroth grabs the knife and like, if people are looking they will notice probably that it is weird how comfortable he is with bloodletting his own hand because in like, his own rituals from the thing he was brought up in, like self pain and self harm is like, a little bit of it, but like, always minor, but like, this is not a thing that Belroth is-
Ellori 1:20:51
But a big deal to you.
Belroth 1:20:54
So, Belroth just kind of like, grabs and quickly fills the vial like, quicker than you expect.
Skarpin 1:21:00
Lets a little bit too much. It’s like, overflowing.
Belroth 1:21:05
He’s a little overzealous, but he doesn’t spill a single drop.
Ellori 1:21:10
Um, Ellori is gonna- this business with the knife is taking too long for everyone else.
Belroth 1:21:15
I said it took no time with Belroth.
Ellori 1:21:20
That’s too long.
Deeran 1:21:21
Yeah, guaranteed Deeran is a fucking baby about it. He’s still holding on to the knife to like, make sure like, it’s deep enough to get full, you know?
Ellori 1:21:41
So, Ellori is gonna use her tooth to puncture her skin and fill up her vial.
Anthony 1:21:47
Perfect.
Skarpin 1:21:49
Yeah, Skarpin uses his undead hand, stabs it on top of his silver shortsword, drips in some black sledge. He has to like, scoop it a little bit. Kind of like, shake it off his finger.
Anthony 1:22:08
Once the last vial is filled, the head of the Court of Beggars says, well, it looks like this deal is sealed then. So, let’s get started.
Hey, everyone. DM Anthony here, just reminding you that if you’re enjoying the show, tell your friends, tell your family, let people know word of mouth. And you can support the show at patreon.com/adventureinc, or you can check out the shop at adventureincpod.com/shop. Make sure you check the show notes on the website for all our social media including our Discord where you can come and hang out with some great people. We’ll see you there, and until next week, I wish you nothing but critical success.
Adventure Incorporated 1:23:17
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai