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Campaign 2 Episode 033 Transcript

Anthony 0:00
Greetings, adventurers. Welcome to the Adventure Incorporated Podcast. I am your Dungeon Master, Anthony Reed. This is episode 33, and it’s part of the Whisperer of Lies story arc. I want to give a big thank you to our Patrons, patreon.com/adventureinc. I say it all the time. The Patrons are amazing. They support the show in a direct financial way. A lot of our Patrons are over on our Discord. They’re supporting the show that way. They’re telling the people that they know and love. They’re supporting the show that way. And these are all things that you can do also to help support the show if you’re not currently. If you’re listening to this and you’re digging it and you want to provide some sort of support for the show, those are the ways to do it. You can head over to patreon.com/adventureinc. You can head over to adventureincpod.com, and you can find links to all of the things that matter. That’s the best way, and we really appreciate everyone who supports the show. And we hope that they feel like they get adequate value out of it. We’ve had some great guests for our Patron bonus episodes so far in this new season of the campaign, and oh boy, more exciting stuff to come on that. I’m thrilled. Thrilled, thrilled, thrilled. Don’t forget about our Tavern Nights. Every third Thursday of the month we do a Tavern Night, which is a live stream semi-cannon adventure night that you can find over at Twitch.tv/SRSbiz_network. And there’s also links on our adventureincpod.com. We bring on special guests there’s some very silly continuity and worldbuilding happening over there, and the stuff is semi-cannon. So, you know, sometimes characters that the players have met in the game world get to show up. Sometimes little things bleed back in to main story. So, it’s worth checking out. They are a ton of fun. They’re silly, silly blasts. And you should come and check them out too, the third Thursday of every month at 8pm Eastern Time on twitch.tv/srsbiz_network. 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 2:40
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 2:50
Skarpin the Cleric.

Belroth 2:52
Should I just try and snipe them from over here?

Skarpin 2:55
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 3:03
Ellori, the Bard.

Ellori 3:05
We would want you to leave this warehouse.

Anthony 3:09
He points behind it. Church!

Ellori 3:12
Oh, sorry. We want you to leave this church.

Anthony 3:16
Deeran, the Wizard.

He say, you no worship Shattered Fang.

Deeran 3:21
Yeah, man he’s like, super wrong. We love Broken Tooth- uh, Shattered Fang, man.

Anthony 3:26
Prepare yourselves, for these are the tales of Adventure Incorporated!

So, you guys want to- just to be to clarify before we actually play-

Deeran 3:37
Yeah, we want to play the game.

Anthony 3:39
You want to travel back to Redbridge and meet up with-

Deeran 3:47
Teavana.

Anthony 3:49
Tiviana

Belroth 3:53
Drop off the orb, maybe buy some magic items, then head off.

Deeran 3:57
Yeah, cuz the orb is used now, right?

Anthony 4:01
Yes, it is spent.

Deeran 4:03
Great.

Skarpin 4:06
I thought we were just gonna fast jump to the like, action every single time now. I thought that was like, our thing. Like, we’re never going to role play again.

Anthony 4:12
I mean, I like, I considered it, but I think that this is a worthwhile conversation to have.

Deeran 4:17
With who

Belroth 4:20
Well, I think traveling is worthwhile when traveling is interesting. Like, you guys have to travel across this, but like, something big has happened so now travel is difficult and things will be along the way. As opposed to like, you all spend two weeks on horseback. There might be a random encounter.

Anthony 4:40
Tiviana. I think talking to Tiviana is valuable.

Deeran 4:44
Sure.

Belroth 4:46
I also think buying magic items is valuable.

Ellori 4:49
I also think getting given magical items is valuable.

Belroth 4:53
He would never do that.

Ellori 4:55
I’m just saying I think it’s valuable.

Belroth 4:58
Well, Steph, did you not know that the most valuable magic item is information.

Ellori 5:02
Friendship?

Anthony 5:03
I gave, I give a lot of that.

Deeran 5:05
Friendship? Have you?

Anthony 5:08
Also that.

Skarpin 5:09
Information.

Anthony 5:10
I’ve given some amount of friendship.

Deeran 5:13
All right, that’s true. You have given a quantifiable amount of friendship to us over the years.

Anthony 5:24
Thank you. Thank you for recognizing. So, let’s get started.

Belroth 5:32
Let’s do it!

Anthony 5:34
The orb in hand, the lot of you head back to Redbridge. You know, it’s slow going back through the forest, but you get yourself- one of the things you you notice as you carry this item back through the forest is that it seems almost like the stuff around you has- it’s almost like you’re repelling things away from you in the forest as you move like, birds fly, animals scatter- what’s up?

Deeran 6:06
Oh, no. Keep going. Once you’re done I’d like to, yeah.

Anthony 6:11
Okay, birds fly-

Deeran 6:12
Is that all right?

Anthony 6:15
That’s fine. I don’t see any reason why not. Birds fly, animals scatter, and you head for the edges of this forest where your horses are all grazing by the river. Uh, Mike Ellison?

Deeran 6:32
Yeah, hey, I was just wondering, while we walk through the forest, Deeran would like to have an eye out, just in case there are some of those Traveling Stones in this general area of the world. Because, you know, walking is like, really hard, you know? Like, it just feels like it would be way easier to like, get around if we started to kind of figure out where all these things are. You know what I mean, you guys?

Belroth 7:07
I do. I think that’s a good idea.

Deeran 7:09
Hey, thanks. Like, if we’re already here, you know?

Belroth 7:17
When Deeran brings that up I also start keeping an eye out. I would like to assist in having my eyes-

Deeran 7:23
Out.

Ellori 7:26
Yeah, honestly knowing that the, the old itch scratchy is heading towards Eviara, and that my family might be in danger makes me want to get there a lot sooner than, you know, just walking through the forest. And Ellori still does not keep her eyes out.

Deeran 7:45
But she does desire-

Ellori 7:47
She wants to be aware, but she’s not.

Deeran 7:49
So, your heart is open.

Ellori 7:51
My heart is out. My eyes are still distracted.

Anthony 7:56
Are still in. Yes, you keep an eye open for a set of Standing Stones as you travel through the forest. However, on your path back to the river across from Mare Glade, you do not see any Standing Stones.

Belroth 8:21
Man, you know, it just felt like, hey, here’s a really important temple, you know, normally in Legend, right, like, the hero goes to the place. And then they accomplish their great mission and then they’re whisked back where they came from, you know? Like, I thought for sure that it would be around that kind of area, but I guess not.

Skarpin 8:50
Yes, yes, but, Deeran, this is real life.

Belroth 8:55
Yeah, but like, you know all those stories are based on real things, you know? Like, sure, they’re, they’re exaggerated, but like- No? Skarpin, you’re making a face. What do you mean, “well.”

Skarpin 9:10
Well, just some of them are probably based in reality, but you can’t, you can’t believe all of them. Some people just like to tell stories.

Ellori 9:21
I think it’s exactly like having a dream. You know, it’s rooted in something that really happened to you, but the way that it happens, it doesn’t make any sense. So, when a storyteller has a dream, it’s like they know something is a good story, but then everything happens in such a crazy way that you get, you know, you move from one place to another place and you don’t even realize that you’re moving.

Belroth 9:47
You just skip over the more boring parts, and you just sort of include the more interesting parts.

Ellori 9:54
Yeah, that’s what I’m saying that it’s like when people tell stories. It’s like, they cut out all the parts that nobody wants to see. Nobody wants to listen to a story where people are walking down the road for 17 hours.

Deeran 10:07
Yeah, that’s probably a good point. You know, maybe it’s too bad we’re not heroes in a story because then we could have just gone-

Ellori 10:15
Deeran!

Deeran 10:15
What?

Ellori 10:16
We’re heroes in our own story.

Deeran 10:20
Okay, yeah, we just won’t tell anybody about this part then.

Ellori 10:23
Yeah, when they tell our story 1000s of years in the future, they’re gonna say, oh, they went to the temple, and then they ended up in Eviara eating pizza with Ellori’s grandma.

Deeran 10:33
I can’t wait.

Ellori 10:34
I also can’t wait.

Belroth 10:36
I mean, it’s not like we have anyone particularly listening to this part of our journey. This is just sort of normal journey banter, right? Like, no one would ever include this in any form of storytelling, right?

Deeran 10:49
Well, that’s what I’m saying. Yeah, I guess that’s, I guess, yeah. Yeah. No one mentioned a word of this to anyone, okay? TESSA on 3. And Deeran puts his hand in the middle.

Ellori 11:02
1.

Belroth 11:03
2.

Deeran 11:07
3.

Ellori 11:07
TESSA!

Anthony 11:12
So, you guys walk down the road for another couple of minutes. Go ahead and tell me what happens then.

Ellori 11:21
Ellori puts one foot in front of the other. And then the other foot in front of that one.

Belroth 11:29
Belroth does the same and also starts breathing and starts becoming aware of-

Ellori 11:34
A werewolf?! Starts becoming a werewolf?!

Skarpin 11:37
Oh, this story’s getting good.

Deeran 11:40
Yeah, worth telling.

Skarpin 11:44
Have we recovered our trusty steeds?

Anthony 11:46
Yes. You have acquired your several horses. On average like, there’s about 2 horses per person on average, and you guys are ready to start heading back down toward Redbridge.

Deeran 12:01
Oh, hey, Black Lightning. And gives it scratches behind the ears, and then hops up into the saddle. Hey, I was thinking like, I was just doing math in my head on the way from the temple here, and maybe you’ll appreciate this. I assigned an arbitrary value to like, how strong I am in combat, as far as like, my ability to be hit or not. And then like I looked at the past week, right, and like, I only cast Mage Armor on myself once to make myself stronger in combat. And so I realized-

Belroth 12:38
Deeran, are you talking to your horse?

Deeran 12:39
Yeah, sorry, am I too loud?

Belroth 12:42
No, no, no.

Ellori 12:43
I think it’s important to have a bond with your horse. Me and Mushroom have conversations all the time.

Deeran 12:51
Do you want to hear about my arbitrary strength conversation with my horse?

Belroth 12:56
Well, we have at least 2 weeks, so I’m sure I will.

Anthony 13:04
2 weeks pass, and you Redbridge South through Mughamar.

Deeran 13:12
Do we see Sending Stones along the way?

Anthony 13:16
You are aware of one set of Standing Stones between here and Redbridge, which are the ones that were in the woods- the first set of Standing Stones that you came across. Those are sort of a halfway mark or almost between where you are now and the town of Redbridge. So, after a week of travel, you are aware that they are there. You could use those Standing Stones to head West to the Wolf’s Eye Lakes or to the Demon Islands, but that’s it. That’s the only places you-

Skarpin 13:53
Or the Tower of Vorai because Archimedes rushed us out when we left.

Ellori 13:58
Because we were dead.

Skarpin 14:00
No not, not then. We were living.

Anthony 14:02
It was still in the dark though. He took you through the dark still.

Skarpin 14:06
Okay, okay.

Deeran 14:07
Yeah.

Anthony 14:07
So, that one’s not unlocked for you.

Deeran 14:12
Well, we don’t need to go to any of those other places yet.

Anthony 14:16
Right. Okay. So, you continue on then to Redbridge until after another week of travel, you arrive at the small village. It does not look like much has changed here in the few weeks that you have been gone. They did get some new horses in the stable to replace the horses that you have. How many horses do you have now, Skarpin?

Skarpin 14:47
We arrive in town with 4 horses. Total.

Ellori 14:52
Wait, for the 4 of us or for you?

Skarpin 14:56
Just for the 4 of us. Orchid has carried me safely on this journey, and I’m grateful for her,

Ellori 15:04
So we come up on some horses named charcuterie board, tapas, and midnight poutine.

Skarpin 15:14
Lunch and dinner were had, and, you know what, it was a great trip.

Belroth 15:24
I can’t wait to meet Brunch and Appetizers.

Ellori 15:27
I’m sorry, Jenna.

Deeran 15:28
Appetizers is like, a miniature horse.

Belroth 15:31
Oh, of course. Yeah.

Ellori 15:32
An amuse-bouche.

Deeran 15:34
A pony.

Ellori 15:34
No.

Anthony 15:41
So, you and your 4 horses arrive to Redbridge. Where are you headed?

Deeran 15:51
So, okay, guys like, if we go see Teavana right now she’s definitely going to like, whisk us away to give the orb away. Is there anything else we need to do before then?

Belroth 16:07
Well, I mean, I feel like I have some income I would love to spend, but if this is more important, I can wait.

Skarpin 16:14
That sounds fun.

Ellori 16:16
I’m, I’m nervous, but I’m okay with maybe buying some things that might help us in the future.

Belroth 16:25
We didn’t find any spending stones, but we have some spending stones.

Ellori 16:29
What?

Belroth 16:30
I messed up, and I tried- don’t worry about it. It’s fine. I’m just-

Ellori 16:34
I’m worried, Belroth.

Deeran 16:39
Yeah, it was- I saw you’re going for, man. It was pretty good.

Belroth 16:44
I tried to make a pun and then I misspoke, and then I panicked.

Skarpin 16:48
Wait, do you want to go buy magic items, or were you just joking about that too?

Belroth 16:53
No, no, that was, that was not a joke. That was a real, that was a real sentence that I would like.

Skarpin 16:58
There might be something useful for fighting the demons, Ellori. We’ll go real quickly.

Ellori 17:03
Right. Yeah, that’s sure I’m thinking. Like I said, I’m nervous, but I think that getting things to help us fight the demons would be beneficial.

Belroth 17:11
Wow, wow, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Anthony 17:14
So, the 4 of you make your way into Elrgoman’s shoppe. You come in, and he says, welcome to the shoppe.

Ellori 17:25
Hi, Elgroman.

Anthony 17:27
It’s you lot. I haven’t seen you in a while.

Ellori 17:29
We’ve been very busy.

Anthony 17:31
I figured you moved on to greener pastures.

Ellori 17:34
No, we would never forget you or your shoppe.

Anthony 17:37
Well, I appreciate it. No touching still though, just so we’re perfectly clear.

Deeran 17:44
Of course.

Belroth 17:45
Belroth is enamoured by a longbow that looks very strong. Very, very strong.

Anthony 17:54
Oh, you like this? I see already. I can see the twinkle in your eyes there Belroth. This longbow is a very powerful, very powerful, longbow. If you’re interested I’d be willing to part with it for mere 63,000 gold.

Belroth 18:14
Elgroman, I’m very upset because I really want this, but I do not have a 1/60th of this.

Anthony 18:28
Look, I mean, I paid 55,000 for it. You know, I can’t take a bath on this.

Belroth 18:31
No, no, no, no, Elgroman I understand. I just, I’m just admiring art. When you see art, and you want it, but you can’t have it but you know it’s art. I’m just gonna. I’m just gonna look at this for a while I think.

Anthony 18:47
It’s a beautiful bow. It’s a beautiful bow.

Belroth 18:49
It’s beautiful.

Anthony 18:52
I feel like it hits like, 3 times harder than most bows.

Belroth 18:55
Well, I feel like more additively 3.

Anthony 18:59
Well, okay. I mean, it’s a piece of craftsmanship. You know, how do you put a quantifiable number on something like that?

Deeran 19:06
Well, hey, man, I got a system that I’ve been developing over the past few weeks on my horse. If you want to hear about it some time I could tell you.

Anthony 19:14
Yeah, maybe, maybe sometime, but I’m real busy right now.

Deeran 19:17
Sure. Yeah, that makes sense.

Anthony 19:18
Inventory.

Deeran 19:19
No, I get it.

Anthony 19:20
So…

Deeran 19:21
Yeah. All right. Well, let me know if you want to talk about it sometime. I think it’s gonna change the game man. Like, the way we assess how strong someone is both in and out of combat. I think, you know, I think this is a pretty good system I’m coming up with. So, you let me know.

Anthony 19:40
Okay. All right. All right. I’ll let you know. In the meantime, you know, Deeran I know last time you were here you were eyeing my tattoo collection. I’ve got another little tattoo here if you were interested.

Deeran 19:58
Yeah, I don’t know man. The more I think about it, the more like, maybe I’m not a tattoo guy, you know? Like, I don’t know that I could pull a tattoo off.

Anthony 20:11
I think you’re selling yourself short.

Ellori 20:13
Elgroman, I was kind of thinking that I take this Scroll of Faerie Fire because that’s one of the spells that I could learn if I wanted to. And, and maybe I could test it out. See if it’s something that would be beneficial for me.

Deeran 20:31
Oh, okay.

Ellori 20:36
Oh, Deeran did you want one?

Deeran 20:40
I was thinking like, if I bought that I could put it into my spellbook, and I could cast it all the time forever. And I would only have to pay the, you know, the cost on it this one time.

Ellori 20:52
Oh, no. Then you do it.

Deeran 20:55
Do you mind? And then like, if you see it and like it like, then you could-

Ellori 20:59
Yeah, no, of course you can. Yeah, no, that’s fine.

Deeran 21:03
Um, is Faerie Fire a Wizard spell?

Belroth 21:07
I don’t think so, but I can look that up for you.

Anthony 21:11
I’m pretty sure they’re all Wizard Spells, all the Arcane ones.

Belroth 21:18
It is not. I don’t think they can learn Faerie Fire. I don’t think you need to learn Hunter’s Mark either.

Anthony 21:23
Well, Hunter’s Mark isn’t Arcane.

Belroth 21:27
Oh, well. No, it doesn’t look like you can learn Faerie Fire.

Deeran 21:30
Neither is Faerie Fire apparently.

Anthony 21:35
Just Bards and Druids. Interesting.

Belroth 21:38
I think there are some like, sub classes, but like, not naturally.

Deeran 21:43
Yeah, yeah. So as he’s like, talking about it and looking at it: oh, never mind. I can’t use this one anyway. I can’t do this one.

Ellori 21:54
So, is it okay that I take it?

Deeran 21:56
Oh, yeah.

Ellori 21:58
Because I was thinking there are some times when, you know, whenever I get a boost of energy I found out just very recently that I could learn a different spell than I had learned before. And I could maybe take one of the spells that I know, and move it to the side and into the back of my brain where I don’t know it anymore. And know a new one instead. Mike told me this morning that every time I level up, I can change out a spell. I didn’t know that, and I’m mad that I didn’t know that.

Deeran 22:38
Your season one character could have also.

Ellori 22:40
No.

Anthony 22:41
Yeah, that’s also true.

Ellori 22:43
No,I-

Deeran 22:43
We’re just broken Steph.

Ellori 22:48
Because I thought I explicitly asked Anthony when you said you can change at like, level 3 or whatever when you said, now’s the chance that you can reset your stuff. This is the only chance you’ll ever have to get new spells from the ones you have. I just assumed-

Anthony 23:02
No.

Deeran 23:04
Check the tape. You know what, listeners? Check the tape.

Anthony 23:10
That’s right. Uh, hey, Belroth.

Belroth 23:13
Yes.

Anthony 23:14
Come here.

Belroth 23:14
Okay.

Anthony 23:16
I want to show you this. This just came in. I think you’re gonna like it a lot. And he reaches into the scroll case, and he pulls out a scroll of Hunter’s Mark. And he says, look at this. You could cast this spell. iIt would make your shots that you fire from your bow. You’d almost be like a real adventure with this. I mean, it is a powerful effect.

Belroth 23:37
It is a powerful effect. I like that effect quite a bit, yes.

Anthony 23:41
So, hey, what do you say? It’s only 140 Gold.

Belroth 23:44
That seems a bit steep for something I can already do, but um-

Anthony 23:49
No, good for you.

Belroth 23:50
Well, you know, I’m not seeing a lot of things I like, Elgroman, not today. Well, I mean, I’m seeing one thing I really like.

Anthony 24:00
I have this longbow. I’m just gonna remind you this longbow is here.

Belroth 24:03
I have a question though. This arrow- and he shimmies over to back to the bow. There’s like a smaller case underneath it. There’s like, clearly like, they’re doing the thing that they do in stores where they’re like, on different tiers.

Anthony 24:16
A bundle.

Belroth 24:16
Yeah. Now this is an Unbreakable Arrow, allegedly?

Anthony 24:22
Yeah, you see, I wrote it on a card right in front of it so you could tell it’s unbreakable.

Belroth 24:26
Like, how does that work. Does it still need to be charged with Spellstone, or is it just forever unbreakable?

Anthony 24:31
Well, yeah, I mean, like, if you take this arrow, right, and you fire it then, you know, it won’t break until the magic in it runs out. And then you would have to charge it with Spellstone or else it would break. But it won’t like, if I pull it out here and it’s like, he pulls it up out of the case and he just taps it and goes to snap it over his knee, and it just doesn’t.

Belroth 25:02
Does that expend a charge?

Anthony 25:05
Yeah, no that did. The magic is a little weaker.

Belroth 25:08
If you did that 5 to 10 times it would eventually break. So it’s like a durable arrow.

Anthony 25:13
Well, no, but it’s unbreakable, but only sometimes. It’s unbreakable until it breaks.

Belroth 25:19
It’s unbreakable as long as you give it proper maintenance.

Anthony 25:23
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Belroth 25:23
Okay.

Deeran 25:25
It’s like a Toyota.

Anthony 25:33
I call it the Sarubu arrow.

Skarpin 25:40
Hey, Elgroman. I am interested in something, but first I got you this. I have this big flower that I found in the Untamed Forest. I thought she might be interested. And he slaps a big old flower down. It’s like, a muted green. But it’s, it’s not pretty.

Anthony 25:59
Yeah, it’s very wilted at this point, I suspect.

Skarpin 26:02
Yeah, sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Anthony 26:03
Well, I mean, this is, this is a lot of, a lot of plant material here.

Skarpin 26:10
It’s a flower.

Anthony 26:12
It’s great. Thank you. Yeah, thanks.

Skarpin 26:16
You’re so nice. You always bring me back whenever you find something interesting so I figured I’d return the favor.

Anthony 26:22
Well, well, that’s very kind. He hefts the large like, bulb of the flower off of the counter. Like, plops it on the floor. It’s like, I’ll take care of that when you guys leave.

Skarpin 26:35
Great, great. And now this Perfume of Bewitching. I think I could find some use for that.

Anthony 26:42
Well, okay. It’s uh, a lovely scent. I don’t know what this item does.

Skarpin 26:53
Contains magic perfume. One use. You can use it as an Action to apply the perfume to yourself. Lasts for one hour duration. You have Advantage on Charisma Checks directed at humanoids of challenge rating one or lower. They are not aware that they have been influenced by magic.

Anthony 27:10
Uh, yes, this was sold to me by a swamp witch, and I have to assume it works because she got a great deal. So, I’m pretty sure that it’s effective. It worked on me. I’ll say that.

Skarpin 27:25
Wow, you hate haggling.

Anthony 27:28
I hate haggling with haggs especially. There are a few things I hate more than a haggling hag, and I just- a couple of whiffs, and I was on board. So, this might do you some good, Skarpin. Not that you would need it of course. You’re so charismatic and good natured, but you know can’t hurt.

Skarpin 27:50
You’re right, it can hurt.

Anthony 27:55
He collects 60 gold from you. The potion works one time, and basically you’ll use up a lot of the potion to apply the effect. There will be a small amount at the bottom that if you recharge with Spellstone, it will be recharged.

Belroth 28:16
Elgroman what is this tattoo ink here?

Anthony 28:21
Ah, yes. Thinking about another one are you?

Belroth 28:26
We’ll see. I mean-

Anthony 28:28
All right. Well, this tattoo, you know, we could maybe do like a sick vine or something on your arm. Maybe like, across your back? I don’t know, but if you tap into it, you could summon a spike growth from the ground.

Belroth 28:48
You know, I love that effect, Elgroman, but I don’t know if I need it again.

Anthony 28:52
I think, you know, honestly, this is a thing that I think you would get a lot of use out of. It’s really tied to like, the idea of the forest, and I think, you know, it could really make you feel like you’re part of the team, like you’re doing something out there.

Belroth 29:06
Yeah, you know, that would be-

Skarpin 29:10
That’d be a nice feeling, Belroth.

Anthony 29:17
Just think about it. All right, just think about it.

Belroth 29:19
I’ll think about it. And this crossbow I really like, but I also- I mean a crossbow is great, but I like longbows. I like this longbow because you don’t need to reload it. I’m quick now I can make 2 attacks, but a crossbow-

Anthony 29:36
I mean, I don’t think there’s, I don’t think there’s anything like this bow out there. You know, this really is a one of a kind. It’s, it’s so powerful. And, you know, someone’s going to come and snap this up. I’m gonna get a buyer through here in no time. It’s gonna be gone, and you’ll probably never see it again, you know.

Belroth 29:51
Yep, I do, I do, I do. So, here’s my question. And this is I guess, this is out of character, Anthony. It says “9 Spellstone for recharge and uses: one.”

Anthony 30:05
So, we would say like, that would be like, once per adventure.

Belroth 30:08
So like, one shot per adventure?

Anthony 30:12
No, no, no. For weapons what I said was basically like, as we like, prepare to go on a thing that would be like, maintenance. You go into the thing, you come back, it’s maintenance time, right? That’s when it’s expended.

Belroth 30:26
Okay, okay, because that’s like, very strong and then worthless.

Anthony 30:33
Yeah. Yeah, not quite like that. Not that bad. And of course, I do want to point out this, the silver sickle we have over here. I’ve had a bit of a run on my silver weapons, but this weapon here, the Moon Sickle is, you know, the blade here is made of pure silver. And it has some, some other varying effects here as well. You know, you can get a bonus on if your casting of magical spells are of a natural variety they will be more attuned to you if you cast with this sickle in your hand. Your Nature spells will be much more powerful.

Ellori 31:18
Honestly, I was kind of looking at this. It reminds me, first of all, of the tools that we use at home. And second of all, I was kind of thinking that I could wrap some strings around the edge of it, and maybe, you know, double it up as an instrument of some sort.

Anthony 31:32
Oh, that would be interesting. You know, it does have a second property too. If you heal someone while you carry it, the healing is more effective.

Ellori 31:41
What? Elgroman, that feels perfect for me.

Anthony 31:47
So, when you cast a spell that restores hit points you can roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the amount of hit points restored, provided you’re holding the sickle.

Belroth 31:55
That’s pretty nice.

Ellori 31:56
That is pretty nice.

Belroth 31:56
But the bonus is only for Druids and Rangers?

Anthony 32:01
It provides a bonus to DC of Druid and Ranger spells and spell Attack Rolls, but they can use it basically as a focus. But anyone can use it as a weapon, and anyone gets the healing effect. Druids and Rangers get the using it as a spell focus.

Ellori 32:19
Belroth, is this something that you want?

Belroth 32:22
No, I don’t think so. I feel like I cast spells so little. It’s kind of pricey for the amount of spells I cast. If I was say a different caster type, yes, I would want this very much. I mean, Ellory the sickle below it looks more affordable. Looks pretty nice too.

Anthony 32:52
Yeah, I mean, this sickle is fine if you really just were in the market for a cheap sickle then, you know, this one might be fine, but if you want it to really pop, this is the popsicle. This is the one that’s really- you’re really gonna love.

Deeran 33:07
Yeah, that one seems really cool, Ellori. If you want like, I would be able to give you like the gold that I have to help toward that cost if you like-

Ellori 33:24
Oh, you mean the normal one? No, the normal when I can afford.

Deeran 33:27
No, I meant the good one. I don’t think you should buy the normal one.

Ellori 33:32
No, I don’t think I should buy the normal one either. I just, you know, sometimes, you know, my grandma always says that sometimes your eyes are bigger than your gold.

Deeran 33:40
Yeah.

Anthony 33:44
I don’t, I don’t understand that saying. I have always found that it’s best to just put the gold down, and go for it. And when it saves your life it’s paid dividends.

Belroth 33:57
Anything I want here I can afford so, I’m willing to contribute too if you feel like it’s really helpful- because the plus two bonus doesn’t help for- out of character- doesn’t help for Steph’s spells, but the healing does.

Anthony 34:12
The healing does still affect her. Yes, and if she used the sickle as a weapon, the plus 2 would still be enough.

Belroth 34:17
Okay.

Skarpin 34:21
I’d contribute to that too. I feel like the whole party would benefit from that.

Ellori 34:25
I honestly don’t know if we as a whole party- is Freya hiding some money somewhere because I kind of think that 4,100 Gold- I only have 510.

Deeran 34:39
I have 1,005 because I haven’t found anything I want.

Belroth 34:43
I also have like, 1005. So, it seems as though- no, I have 1000 and- I have more than 1000.

Ellori 34:49
Still not enough.

Skarpin 34:53
Elgroman, do you work on credit at all since we’re regular customers.

Anthony 34:59
Okay, well pile up what you have. Tell me what you have and then maybe we can make an arrangement.

Deeran 35:04
I’ve also got 70- no, not 70 anything. I’ve got 26 Spellstones too.

Belroth 35:11
I also have 13 Spellstones and some in the bank.

Deeran 35:14
I think, I think we should keep like, probably a handful, right? Like, 5 each or whatever. So I guess like-

Ellori 35:22
Yeah, Elgroman, how many Spellstones would equal how many gold?

Belroth 35:27
Yeah, how much is Spellstone going for? What’s the rate? What’s the turn of prices? I’m sorry-

Anthony 35:32
It’s hard for me to turn around Spellstone, but, you know, I do like you guys, and I want you to be set up well, so I would do 20 gold a Spellstone?

Belroth 35:44
A Spellstone?

Anthony 35:46
Per Spellstone. Yeah, 20 gold per Spellstone.

Belroth 35:48
Okay.

Skarpin 35:49
Deeran, how much did you have again? I just got to do some quick mental math.

Anthony 35:53
You don’t have to do mental math. Here’s some paper. You can really figure this one out.

Deeran 35:59
So, I have 1,425 gold if I put all like, all 5 of my Spellstone in.

Skarpin 36:14
I have 750, and Belroth, you said?

Ellori 36:17
I have 710 if I put all 5 of my Spellstone in.

Skarpin 36:23
And Belroth?

Belroth 36:25
Hold on. I’m, I’m doing, you know, I’m doing some mental math.

Ellori 36:28
Skarpin, what did you say?

Deeran 36:31
Oh, he’s taking down the notes. He’s doing it for us. We just have to tell him what we have.

Belroth 36:37
I have 1,335. I only have bought the tattoo which helped once.

Anthony 36:52
See, useful. Valuable to be here.

Skarpin 36:56
That’s 4000 right there. I think that’s enough. What was the price again?

Anthony 37:02
4100.

Skarpin 37:03
Yeah, that’s 4,220 right there. I think we have a sale.

Ellori 37:13
Are you, are y’all sure because I wouldn’t- I don’t want to take everything you have just for something that- but honestly, the way that y’all have been getting hurt lately.

Deeran 37:23
Yeah.

Ellori 37:25
Really does kind of feel like it would be a group beneficial-

Deeran 37:31
I see it as like, an investment in my continued future.

Belroth 37:35
Yes. And it is silvered as well, which we’ve already determined is very valuable for us.

Deeran 37:41
Well, not crazy valuable, Elgroman. Don’t get any ideas, man. Like it’s, it’s cool. Silver’s cool right now. It’s very hot. Jeez, Belroth. We can only barely afford it, man.

Belroth 37:55
Jeez, Louise. Okay, well-

Deeran 37:59
If he goes jacking up the prices, we’re gonna be shit out of luck here.

Belroth 38:03
Well, okay. I’m sorry. It is, it is a lot, and I feel like there’s just a lot of value to it that I would just have to get rid of most of my- yeah, I’m in. I’m in.

Ellori 38:13
We also remember we have a couple 1000 Spellstone in the bank, so if we need to-

Skarpin 38:18
That may be tied up right now, but…

Belroth 38:21
What?

Deeran 38:22
What?

Ellori 38:22
What?

Anthony 38:22
He’s got some long term investment?

Skarpin 38:26
I wrote, I wrote the banker a letter. I invested half of it in silver mines, but, you know, I think it’s a good investment.

Belroth 38:40
Wait, do I, do I have to- real question: do I have to take- I have like 40 banked Spellstone. Do I have to take half of that off?

Anthony 38:51
You counted your banked Spellstone?

Belroth 38:54
Well, not for this instant. I have how much Spellstone I have on me, and then how much we divided?

Deeran 38:58
Yeah, is this a bit or is it real?

Belroth 39:00
Yeah, I want to know, are we really-

Anthony 39:02
No, no, no, this is a bit. There’s no letter to the banker. That didn’t happen. I didn’t know about it so no.

Skarpin 39:11
All right.

Deeran 39:11
So, everybody will end up with 30 gold leftover.

Anthony 39:18
I appreciate the effort there Mikey, but I’m not gonna let your gold work for you just because you said so on a whim.

Skarpin 39:26
Well, I’m writing you a letter later.

Belroth 39:32
30 gold and then we’ll just have to get some Spellstone from the bank.

Deeran 39:36
Yeah.

Ellori 39:39
Elgroman, this has been really amazing-

Anthony 39:43
Well, let me go ahead and give you this. I also have a- I do have a protection plan if you want. I can add in on top for 90 gold. It’ll be protected for the next one year or 15 swings.

Belroth 40:01
15 swings?! That’s not even a lot of swings.

Skarpin 40:03
That might actually last a year.

Ellori 40:05
Elgroman, I worry that buying the protection would jinx the item in a way that we wouldn’t need it anymore.

Anthony 40:16
I hear what you’re saying, but what I hear from customers most often is when they don’t take the protection plan, that’s when it gets destroyed, right? If you take the protection plan, you’re really just guaranteeing you’re never gonna need it.

Belroth 40:26
Elgroman insurance policy.

Anthony 40:30
But I understand, I understand. I mean, you really shelled out a lot for it, and so I will just provide you with that and the care kit, which comes with it. Some nice oils to oil the blade, keep it sharp. And, yeah, please take it with you today. It’s ready. It’s ready now. It’s sharp and ready.

Ellori 40:53
Thank you so much.

Anthony 40:55
So you now have a Moon Sickle +2. So, any attacks you make with it attacks will be at +2 damage will be at +2. And it has the d4 additional for any healing spells.

Ellori 41:10
Yeah, that’s good.

Anthony 41:12
While you’re holding the sickle.

Ellori 41:14
Oh, I will always be holding the sickle. I’m gonna say that right now. Ellori fixes the sickle to her back so she is always actively holding it and it is never in question. Yeah, she’ll string it up later.

Belroth 41:30
That’s rad.

Ellori 41:32
But she is always holding it.

Anthony 41:34
Yeah, yeah. I think it’d be good to have it strung up because I think it has to be in your hands. So, if it’s your instrument that means it is in your hands, and it’ll work out well.

Ellori 41:47
Great. She’s going to work on the wood so that it kind of comes over almost like the umbrella handle like, you know how an umbrella scoops so that it’s like, as she’s walking it kind of swings over her shoulder so she can- you know how people hold backpacks with their thumbs?

Anthony 42:06
Sure.

Ellori 42:07
So, she’s always holding the sickle.

Anthony 42:10
All right, great.

Ellori 42:11
Great. Great, great, great. Cool, cool, cool, tight tight tight.

Anthony 42:18
Okay, so with your magical sickle in hand, I guess you all leave Elgroman’s shoppe. He’s very excited with his pile of Spellstone and larger pile of gold.

Belroth 42:33
I need to go to the bank to get Spellstone later, but we can do that later because I have none.

Anthony 42:37
So, where are you headed next?

Ellori 42:44
Tiviana, I guess.

Skarpin 42:47
Hobern’s.

Belroth 42:47
Let’s go give Teavana her orb.

Anthony 42:51
Okay, you walk into Hobern’s, and Tiviana is behind the desk. She is reading a book, and as you walk in she says, just put your name down on the page, and we’ll get you a contract as soon as we can.

Ellori 43:19
Uh…

Anthony 43:19
She has not looked up from the book.

Ellori 43:21
Ellori is like, winking. Like, um-

Anthony 43:30
Look, Hobern’s not here. Just write your name down. He’ll get back to you.

Ellori 43:34
Oh, we’ll write our names down for sure. And she winks again.

Anthony 43:41
She looks up and she’s like, oh, okay. Sorry. She slams the book shut. She looks around. She’s like, okay. Did you get it?

Belroth 43:52
We did.

Ellori 43:53
We did.

Anthony 43:55
All right, okay. That’s- we can work with that. Oh, I’ll take it then.

Ellori 44:05
Well, I think we were kind of hoping you know, that, that maybe the delivery could that there was maybe something we could get out of the exchange with, you know, his, his his His Majesty

Anthony 44:20
Well, he’s a little indisposed at the moment.

Ellori 44:27
So like, doing crimes?

Skarpin 44:30
Pooping?

Belroth 44:32
Skarpin.

Skarpin 44:37
I thought it was funny.

Anthony 44:41
It’s probably best I don’t say and I just let you know that he’s not available. But if there is something that I can do, then I’ll take the orb from you, and I will help you however I can.

Skarpin 44:57
Any headway on the silver weapons?

Belroth 45:00
Yes, because if anything, I would love more silvered arrows.

Anthony 45:05
I mean, I don’t have them but the word has been spread. We’ve got the silversmiths in full production.

Skarpin 45:15
Nice.

Anthony 45:18
But like, nothing for a hefty profit to be made from the Empire on this.

Deeran 45:23
Nothing for like, us to help fight demons with though?

Anthony 45:29
She looks around, she says pulls a dagger from her boot. She offers it. It just looks like a steel dagger.

Deeran 45:40
It’s not silver?

Anthony 45:42
No.

Deeran 45:44
Thanks. And Deeran takes it like, disappointed, but he takes it.

Anthony 45:57
I, I’m sorry. I don’t have- truly, I wasn’t really convinced you were going to be back. So, I, I wasn’t really prepared for, you know, providing anything. I hope you got some value out of it.

Deeran 46:24
Yeah, we met someone really weird. Well, a memory of someone really weird.

Ellori 46:30
Value feels hard to define.

Belroth 46:33
Mmm. I found it to be, you know, enriching in sort of a personal sense, but not necessarily a financial sense.

Deeran 46:45
Yet, and Deeran like, waggles his eyebrows and like, puts a hand out?

Belroth 46:51
I mean, uh- sorry, remind me, Rob the player, what were the actual terms of the contract? We get the orb, we give it to them-

Ellori 47:04
We use it and then we give it to them.

Anthony 47:06
You get it, you get to use it, and then you return the Orb.

Deeran 47:10
All done.

Ellori 47:10
Yep. All done.

Belroth 47:11
Okay, cool. Just wanted to make sure like, because I was like, were we promised more?

Deeran 47:16
No, no, but Deeran doesn’t know that Teavana doesn’t know that.

Belroth 47:22
Got it. Got it. Got it.

Anthony 47:23
Tiviana was in the room.

Ellori 47:24
Ellori is nervous because-

Deeran 47:25
Yeah, but maybe she forgot.

Ellori 47:26
-she doesn’t want to like- she knows we’re breaking kind of the- like, she’s worried about the promise they made like, the very literal wording promise that they made to the ghost, to use this for evil. That’s what Ellori is nervous about?

Deeran 47:46
Yeah, that’s why Deeran is asking for money, personal enrichment, baby.

Ellori 47:49
No, that makes sense. I’m just saying that’s why Ellori’s a little ~ugh.~

Belroth 47:52
Okay, okay. Onboard.

Deeran 47:54
Evil.

Ellori 47:56
Yeah.

Deeran 47:57
Greed. Avarice.

Anthony 47:59
Great. You give me the Orb, and I will help you how I can. What do you need?

Ellori 48:08
Um, we would also like our blood back, and anything else, maybe magic weapons that you have that could help us…kill stuff.

Deeran 48:21
Yeah. Anything we might want to kill.

Belroth 48:23
Or some sort of personal enrichment that could help us buy things to kill stuff.

Anthony 48:29
She says, the blood I can do. And as far as things to kill stuff-

Belroth 48:37
Or money to buy things to kill stuff.

Anthony 48:40
Yeah, that wasn’t the deal.

Deeran 48:47
Wait, does Belroth make that sad, droopy face that you’re making right now?

Belroth 48:53
It was a visual bit. You’ll never know.

Deeran 48:58
Yeah, but for the audio medium I feel like I had to ask.

Anthony 49:03
Belroth put your lip back. I don’t need to see this. Look, this isn’t- you don’t get to shake us down now. Trust me, he’s not someone you’re gonna want to shake down. You made an agreement. Hold up to your end, and he will hold up to his. Break your end, and he will be happy to break his.

Deeran 49:25
Oh, yeah, no like, we weren’t trying to shake down. We were just hopeful.

Belroth 49:28
Yeah, you always ask for more because even if they say no, you get what you wanted. And if they say yes, you get more.

Anthony 49:36
Nobody says that. That’s not a thing. You don’t always ask for more. That’s a good way to get stabbed.

Ellori 49:42
Oh, you know, my grandma always says, if you never ask for more, you’re never gonna get more than you already have.

Anthony 49:48
Sure, ask for more at the start. Not at the end. Not when things have already resolved. Do have the Orb? Do you have the Orb?

Belroth 49:57
Oh yeah, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I assume Belroth takes it- I assume Belroth had it, and he takes it out.

Anthony 50:06
Literally, Mikey he just sent me a letter to the bank.

Skarpin 50:16
He secretly passes Teavana a letter after this.

Anthony 50:22
Okay. All right.

Belroth 50:28
Yeah, I mean-

Skarpin 50:29
It was a private message.

Anthony 50:34
I just thought it was a defiant message.

Belroth 50:38
Belroth gives thumbs up to the rest of the group who seems to see stuff in return. Yes?

Deeran 50:46
Yeah, man we already agreed to do this. Like, it’s too late to not give it to her.

Belroth 50:50
Just double checking. Here you go.

Deeran 50:52
You shouldn’t. Like, we already did this. You should just give it to her.

Anthony 50:58
She snatches the Orb from you, and sighs heavily and says, unbelievable. She slides it over.

Belroth 51:09
I feel like we handled this encounter well.

Deeran 51:14
I don’t.

Anthony 51:19
Then I guess our business is done. Whatever. I don’t even- I’m so flustered. Just stay, you know, maybe just as best if you stay out of our way. Okay? You know, you’ve given us what you can about the demons. We’ve tried to help you the best we can, and just let’s part ways amicably.

Ellori 51:50
Like, forever though, because, honestly, I thought our friendship was really growing and, and, and it would be really sad for me if, if this was it. If we part ways forever, then, then we’re never gonna see you again. And, and what if we come to see Holborn? Then maybe we just have to bypass the front desk, and we don’t even say hi to you. Or you just treat us like, you know, you’re not even looking at us. And we don’t even know you. And we don’t even know the secret that you’re like, crazy talented with, with the climbing up buildings and everything.

Anthony 52:20
Okay, I guess I met more the Organization than the individual, but also when you come back, I probably will treat you that way.

Deeran 52:31
Well, yeah, but like you always treat us that way. That’s part of your charm.

Anthony 52:35
Okay. But I meant more the Organization. Maybe we just, we just part ways Organizationally. You stay out of the way of the Court of Beggars, and we will stay out of your way.

Deeran 52:49
But I feel like we could have like, a really good partnership to like, continue doing stuff, right? Like, we got that Orb just like you, you asked, right? And like, we wouldn’t have known about that Orb without you. And so like, I do think that there’s still a lot that both of us, you know, your Organization’s knowledge and TESSA’s ability to like, get stuff done. I feel like there’s a lot, a lot of pluses there to that. I tell you what, what if next time we come back after doing something, we don’t let Belroth handle the trade? Because like, that seems like the worst part of the whole thing so far, you know?

Anthony 53:33
Give me a Persuasion Check it Advantage.

Belroth 53:36
I wasn’t the only one asking for more things. I was just explaining what we were doing. I feel like I’m not even at fault here. I was just agreeing to what the group was already doing except Skarpin who’s still writing a note for some reason.

Skarpin 53:48
I’m almost done.

Deeran 53:52
That’s an 18.

Anthony 53:57
Fine. I will keep you in mind if I think anything is crossing our plate that would- you could help serve our needs and we could help each other. Okay? Anything in which we could help one another will be on the lookout for.

Deeran 54:17
Hey, I really appreciate that. And as a show of good faith: I don’t know what I would do with this. And he gives her back the dagger that she gave him.

Anthony 54:28
Okay.

Deeran 54:29
Like, I just- I don’t- I’m not really, you know, a close up magic kind of guy. You know, I don’t know that I can make this disappear like you can.

Anthony 54:42
She, she like, raises her eyebrows like, yeah, okay, fair enough. And then like, tucks the, the dagger back into our boot. Okay, then we will maintain a conversation- some of us will maintain a conversation, and if things happen, they happen.

Belroth 55:10
Great.

Deeran 55:10
Cool.

Belroth 55:11
I’m glad we asked for more.

Deeran 55:19
I’m sorry. Let’s leave.

Belroth 55:22
We did ask for more! We got more!

Skarpin 55:34
Skarpin hangs back. Teavana, it was great to see you. Good working with you. I look forward to working with you again. Can you just send this out real quick with the other outgoing mail? I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Anthony 55:47
Just give it to me. She just takes the letter and puts it on the table.

Skarpin 55:53
Skarpin rushes out, but like, slowly.

Deeran 55:57
But he feels like he’s moving fast.

Anthony 56:00
He feels like he’s moving normal speed. Everyone else is moving very fast.

Skarpin 56:04
He feels like he’s moving fast.

Deeran 56:09
Yeah, he might be looking like he’s moving normal speed now to the rest of us.

Skarpin 56:15
That’s how magic works.

Anthony 56:27
All right. What now guys?

Ellori 56:33
I was just saying I guess now it’s time to go home.

Deeran 56:37
Oh, we were supposed to ask Teavana to take us in her special portal.

Ellori 56:43
Oh. Oh, Teavana!

Deeran 56:47
Do you run back in?

Ellori 56:48
Yeah.

Deeran 56:50
We should wait out here, you guys.

Anthony 56:56
Ellori, you open the door. She’s still reading.

Ellori 57:00
Teavana, I’m so sorry.

Anthony 57:02
~sighs~

Ellori 57:03
No, no, no, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. It’s just, um, my hometown is probably in a lot of danger right now from a demon and, and we were going to go fight it. And we were wondering if you had one of those magic portal stones that could get us there much faster than riding our horses that Skarpin will probably eat on the way anyway.

Anthony 57:25
I don’t know how you would ride horses. You’re, you’re like, you’re from the Southlands, right.

Ellori 57:32
I’m, I’m from Eviara, yeah.

Anthony 57:35
I mean, you’d have to either ride through the Crystal Wastes or like, take a boat. No, I-

Ellori 57:46
Yeah, that’s why we were hoping.

Anthony 57:49
I think I can do something about this, but it’s- I don’t know how to tell you this, but it’s a lot. You’re asking a lot here.

Ellori 57:59
Yeah, no, we know, but that’s what friends do, right?

Anthony 58:06
And eventually, friends knock on your door when they need something really big.

Ellori 58:12
Are you, are you implying that one day you’re gonna knock on our door and need something big because I hate to break it to you, but we don’t really have a door.

Anthony 58:20
I’ll find you.

Ellori 58:21
So, you’re going to have to- it’s going to be a metaphorical door, and I understand that. So, I’ll agree to it, but I just want you to know that you won’t be knocking on our door because we don’t have one.

Anthony 58:32
I can, I can accept a metaphorical door.

Ellori 58:34
Okay.

Anthony 58:37
She gets up from behind the desk and says, outside.

Ellori 58:43
Okay.

Anthony 58:44
And she, she follows you out. She looks around shaking her head as she sees the 5 of you.

Deeran 58:52
But yeah, so like I was saying on this scale, right? So like, I would say that normally on this scale I’m like an 11. You know what I mean like,-

Belroth 59:03
What am I on that scale? Oh-

Ellori 59:07
Are you talking about how handsome you are?

Anthony 59:10
No.

Deeran 59:10
Deeran like, beet red blushes, uh-

Anthony 59:16
No, none of this. Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.

Belroth 59:19
Well, now I want to know the answer to this question, but let’s move on. That’s fine. That’s fine.

Anthony 59:26
You can find out later. I’m busy. Here’s what we’re going to do. I am going to move you through space. This is very, very difficult, and it’s going to cost me a lot of Spellstone.

Deeran 59:46
I’ve got 5.

Skarpin 59:49
I’ve got 12.

Belroth 59:51
No, you don’t.

Deeran 59:55
How do you, how do you have 12?

Ellori 59:56
No, no, no-

Anthony 59:56
No, he did the math.

Deeran 1:00:00
Wait a minute, man.

Belroth 1:00:01
Wait.

Skarpin 1:00:03
Shh. Teavana’s talking.

Belroth 1:00:03
I gave all of my Spellstone.

Ellori 1:00:06
Hey guys, she’s doing this because she’s a friend and she’s gonna be knocking on our metaphorical door later.

Skarpin 1:00:15
What?

Ellori 1:00:17
Like, we don’t have a door because we don’t, we don’t have somewhere that we live all the time.

Anthony 1:00:20
We don’t need to go through that again.

Belroth 1:00:22
I mean, I don’t have any Spellstone.

Skarpin 1:00:24
It seemed important.

Belroth 1:00:24
I used all of my Spellstone.

Ellori 1:00:27
Well, that seems like your problem, Belroth. I kept some of mine.

Deeran 1:00:32
Yeah, we all said we were keeping 5.

Belroth 1:00:35
Okay, well then we’ll just say I did that.

Skarpin 1:00:39
Skarpin gives him 5 Spellstone.

Anthony 1:00:44
Elgroman is like, counting everything. He’s like, wait a minute. What the hell?! They screwed me out of 5 Spellstone. That’s 100 gold. They left 100 Gold. This is ridiculous.

Skarpin 1:00:59
Belroth you have 5 now.

Belroth 1:00:59
Thank you.

Skarpin 1:01:00
From me.

Belroth 1:01:00
Thank you.

Skarpin 1:01:04
See, now Skarpin’s a good guy now.

Deeran 1:01:10
It’s fine. That’s fine. You know what, that’s fine.

Anthony 1:01:13
He hasn’t pointed out how much gold he has left.

Skarpin 1:01:19
Zero.

Deeran 1:01:21
Everyone should have 30 gold.

Belroth 1:01:23
Well, why do I have 130?

Deeran 1:01:27
Because you did it wrong.

Belroth 1:01:28
No, I did it 100% right.

Deeran 1:01:30
He told me a number, and I wrote it down.

Anthony 1:01:35
All right-

Skarpin 1:01:37
Teavanna, hold on. We’re busy.

Ellori 1:01:38
No, no, no. Teavana, can you magic us to Eviara?

Anthony 1:01:45
I can get you to Eviara. I don’t have a lot of accuracy. This is a big distance.

Ellori 1:01:53
Wouldn’t it be funny if we ended up just right in the middle of my grandma’s house?

Anthony 1:01:58
No, that’d be bad. That would be very bad. I hope that doesn’t happen.

Ellori 1:02:02
She would be so surprised. She would see us and she would say, ‘Oh!’ and then she would say ‘Ellori!’

Anthony 1:02:08
She would be very surprised. Yes. No, you’re gonna want to hope you wind up somewhere pretty open.

Deeran 1:02:16
Ellori’s grandma apparently makes really good pizza. We’re gonna find out. So like, if we ended up in her house like, it wouldn’t be the worst thing, right? Like, pizza right there.

Ellori 1:02:25
We would be so much closer to pizza.

Anthony 1:02:27
But okay, I’m just trying to say that if you wind up in her house, it will be the worst thing. When I say ‘in her house’, I mean, you will be IN her house.

Ellori 1:02:41
Like in the walls? Like, like, when I was little one time I looked up in the middle of the night, and I thought I saw a face coming out to me at the wall. And I thought like, like, you know how sometimes there are knots in wood and you think they look like eyes and a mouth and and there are some eyebrows and some hair standing up? Like it’s, like it’s a spooky ghost story? Well, I woke up in the middle of the night, and I, and I saw this, and I thought that there was a person coming out to me through the wall!

Anthony 1:03:09
Okay, so I’m gonna do this, and I don’t really know where you’re gonna wind up, but just good luck, I guess. Are you ready? Do you need anything?

Belroth 1:03:21
How much? I’m sorry. How much Spellstone does this require?

Anthony 1:03:28
For the distance we’re talking probably around 600.

Ellori 1:03:35
We appreciate your friendship Teavana. Thank you so much. We’re ready to go now. And Ellori holds out her hands for whoever’s next to her to grab.

Skarpin 1:03:43
Skarpin grabs it.

Anthony 1:03:44
You don’t have to. Okay.

Deeran 1:03:46
Deeran sheepishly reaches out one toward her.

Belroth 1:03:49
Belroth grabs Skarpin and Deeran’s hand and also like, then takes his hand out and puts his hand on Freya.

Anthony 1:03:58
Okay, okay. All right.

Skarpin 1:04:00
Well bring you back pizza too!

Ellori 1:04:02
We will. My grandma would love to make you pizza.

Anthony 1:04:06
She pulls her pendant out from under her shirt, holds it or their eyes closed and opens them. And then you feel this ripping sensation as you are torn from your position like, you’re just almost launched it feels like. And as you feel this sensation going you feel the heat and dryness, you feel an ocean spray, and then there is this muggy jungle feel as suddenly the world lurches to a halt. And you are, the 5 of you are standing in a densely lush, jungle.

Skarpin 1:04:53
Oh, that was, that was great.

Belroth 1:04:55
Um, Belroth would like to immediately observe what the plants look like to see if they are- because Eviara is- the Demon Isles are off the coast of Eviara, correct?

Anthony 1:05:06
Correct.

Belroth 1:05:07
So, he wants to make sure that we didn’t accidentally end up on the Demon Isles.

Anthony 1:05:11
Okay, give me a Nature Check.

Belroth 1:05:14
Sure thing. That will be 26.

Anthony 1:05:20
Yeah the flora here is uniquely Eviaran. There is something about this place where things, similar to the untamed forest, but in a very different vegetation here, but it all grows a lot. And so, you are- you can tell immediately like, yes, this is we are in an Eviaran forest area.

Belroth 1:05:56
Okay. Well, we’re here. I guess now we just find the direction of your home, yes?

Anthony 1:06:06
It is raining.

Ellori 1:06:06
Okay.

Belroth 1:06:06
Oh, well, let’s find shelter first.

Anthony 1:06:10
You’re in the trees. It’s raining through the trees.

Belroth 1:06:12
Well, we could put shelter off then I guess.

Deeran 1:06:19
Ellori, you’re from here. What do we do?

Ellori 1:06:21
Okay, give me a moment. Aloses her eyes and she tries to smell home.

Anthony 1:06:31
So, let’s think about what skill do we want to use here. I guess Survival.

Ellori 1:06:38
Nostalgia Check.

Belroth 1:06:40
Very skilled.

Deeran 1:06:41
You should have said, ‘this was my play forrest.’

Ellori 1:06:47
That’s true. Oh, nat 20! I got a nat 20!

Skarpin 1:06:49
Definitely her play forest.

Ellori 1:06:55
Plus 2. 22.

Anthony 1:06:58
You close your eyes, and you breathe in the scents of the forest, and you are awash with memories. Just the scents here, the sounds, the feeling of the air, you are home. And even more granular than that, you remember being in this place with your mother and your grandmother, that you traveled here as a child once to- just to see more of Eviara, to experience more. And that this forest is a few days away from your home, but you’re not far. This is close by.

Ellori 1:07:47
Ellori opens her eyes, and she says, this way.

Belroth 1:07:50
Okay.

Deeran 1:07:54
Wow.

Ellori 1:07:55
Did we get transported with our horses?

Anthony 1:08:00
No, you didn’t mention it so, no.

Ellori 1:08:04
All right, and then she walks instead of rides.

Anthony 1:08:07
Okay, yeah, the horses are in Redbridge.

Belroth 1:08:10
Oh, boy.

Skarpin 1:08:12
Skarpin gathers some flora on the way.

Anthony 1:08:16
So, you travel West from here, and after about an hour of travel, you come across a large lake. The lake is probably the most famous one in Eviars. It’s called Lake Seochain. If you look at the map, you’ll see that it’s a big landmark. But your village, Ellori, is on the Northern shore of Lake Seochain. Not directly on the water, but like, not too far off either. So, it gives you a good landmark to follow to get home.

Ellori 1:09:08
Okay, if we just follow around this lake then we’re going to be there in just a couple of days.

Skarpin 1:09:16
That’s great.

Anthony 1:09:17
What are you guys looking for as you travel?

Deeran 1:09:20
Standing Stones.

Skarpin 1:09:22
Skarpin is casting Detect Magic here and there.

Anthony 1:09:30
So, I think the first time you cast Detect Magic as a ritual you immediately are- you sense around you just the inherent magic of this place, which is something you’ve kind of grown accustomed to across the Empire like, everywhere has just got latent magic existing. And so, the magic here is its own sort of blend that is specific to it, but a little bit different. Like, there’s a feeling of Transmutation in the air. There is a feeling of Enchantment in the air. There is a feeling of a small amount of Illusion. All the magic is present, but these ones are maybe more present than you’re used to. And additionally you do sense some of that Void, some of that Destruction Magic that you have not been able to sense before until now. That one that your sight has been opened.

Skarpin 1:10:35
As he’s getting closer to whoever Ellori is leading us does it feel like that Void is getting larger or same or less?

Anthony 1:10:48
Larger. Stronger.

Belroth 1:10:52
Belroth and Freya would like to- since Ellori knows the way, Belroth and Freya would like to sort of stand on like, use their Survival skills to see and observe any sort of potential threats in the area around to make sure our travel is safe, and like, avoid any sort of natural predators as well as encroaching demons. So, kind of keep alert, whether that involves like, branching off a little bit in case they do hear something or if it’s just keeping an eye open.

Anthony 1:11:28
You’re scouting.

Belroth 1:11:29
Yeah, you get it. Do you want me to do a Survival Check?

Anthony 1:11:34
Yeah.

Belroth 1:11:35
Cool. Nat 20, wussup?

Skarpin 1:11:37
Nice.

Anthony 1:11:37
Okay.

Belroth 1:11:38
And if natural 20s don’t really matter, then it’s 25. So, there you go.

Anthony 1:11:43
So yeah, as you are marching forward on this you are scouting around, you’re checking things out, and you’re looking for, you know, problems. A couple of times you notice like, creatures. Basically because of the perimeter you’re keeping you’ve chased away some creatures that could have been a problem, but they’ve dispersed. And then last one would be Deeran. Give me an Investigation.

Deeran 1:12:11
Gladly.

Anthony 1:12:13
A Passive Investigation.

Deeran 1:12:15
Wait, Passive?

Anthony 1:12:17
Sure, I’ll give you a Passive.

Deeran 1:12:18
Oh, no, I want it Active.

Anthony 1:12:20
Then take an Active.

Deeran 1:12:21
Good. That is 25.

Anthony 1:12:26
Okay, yeah, you are acutely aware of your isolation from the mainland of the Empire. You have been on the prowl for some Standing Stones.

Deeran 1:12:41
This is the furthest I’ve ever been. I don’t know if that’s true.

Anthony 1:12:48
Probably equidistant from the Demon Isles.

Deeran 1:12:52
And no one knows where the Tower is so, like, could have been really far then. But still.

Anthony 1:13:02
After two days of traveling, you’re just about a day outside Ellori’s village. You are walking across the shoreline on the edge of the forest, and you see a like, a ledge up above, a rock ledge with a little rocky shelf. And you just get a feeling about it, an inkling that something’s not quite right. And so you cut into the woods. Make your way up the side of the ledge so you can come around, and there at the top of that ledge is a set of Standing Stones.

Deeran 1:13:37
Ellori, did you know these were here all along?

Ellori 1:13:40
I mean, I, I knew that there were giant rocks, but I never, I never would have even thought that- I didn’t, I didn’t know what standing stones were so we used to just call these the Pillars.

Deeran 1:13:53
Oh, sure.

Ellori 1:13:57
You know, sometimes in our festivals someone would try to climb up to the top of them. And, and they would sit on one and then we would throw bread at them. And if they cut the bread, it would mean that there would be a good harvest for the next year. But if they weren’t able to catch the pieces of bread that we were throwing at them, then that was bad.

Deeran 1:14:18
I, I bet you climbed up to the top of the stones all the time and caught all the bread, didn’t you?

Ellori 1:14:24
Deeran I’ve never, I’ve never been able to get up.

Deeran 1:14:28
Really? No, I don’t believe that.

Ellori 1:14:29
No, I couldn’t.

Deeran 1:14:30
You’re so athletic, look.

Ellori 1:14:33
That’s the kindest thing anyone’s ever said to me.

Skarpin 1:14:35
There’s demons around! I’ve sensed them, but not like, acutely around, but just keep a lookout.

Deeran 1:14:50
No, yeah, sorry. Well, at least now we know that like, we can get back to the mainland really fast, and like, get back to like, your village whenever we need to.

Ellori 1:15:04
No, this is really exciting. I can’t believe that they’re here.

Deeran 1:15:11
So, now that we have seen them-

Anthony 1:15:17
It’s unlocked.

Deeran 1:15:18
Great.

Ellori 1:15:18
Yeah, great.

Belroth 1:15:19
Achievement unlocked.

Deeran 1:15:26
Perfect. Yeah, and so Deeran’s like, all right, should we keep going then, Skarpin?

Skarpin 1:15:33
Yeah, yeah. Demon scent getting stronger. So, Ellori, I’m sorry. It seems like it’s getting stronger the further you take us towards something, your village.

Ellori 1:15:47
No, it’s gonna- don’t be sorry. It’s gonna be okay. They’re not going to be there. Maybe they’re like, they’re like, farther from there. You know, coming from the other direction.

Belroth 1:15:55
Well be that the case. This is the deceiver, right?

Skarpin 1:16:00
The Whisperer of Lies.

Ellori 1:16:05
Yeah, this is, this is Old Scratch.

Belroth 1:16:07
Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Skarpin 1:16:10
It’s good name for them, though.

Belroth 1:16:13
We must be wary then. All we know is that it is a whisperer of lies.

Ellori 1:16:22
And maybe that, that when we fight him, it’s like you’re getting a scratch. Like, you know when you wear a fabric that is very uncomfortable, and it feels like you’re getting scratched all day. Maybe that’s like, it’s like, not maybe like, terrible. It’s just a minor annoyance-

Skarpin 1:16:37
It kind of wears on you.

Ellori 1:16:37
-that you feel like you could prevent. Yeah, exactly, Skarpin. Exactly.

Deeran 1:16:42
Or like, when, you know, like, when Freya hasn’t eaten, and like, you try to like, wrestle with her. And then she’s like, kind of moody.

Ellori 1:16:51
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Belroth 1:16:53
She keeps meowing at you because she wants food. Yes, I understand.

Deeran 1:16:56
Yeah. And then she gives you that scratch, you know? 3 or 4 days later it’s still annoying, you know?

Skarpin 1:17:02
And it’s inflamed.

Deeran 1:17:02
Because like, it’s influencing you. Yeah.

Belroth 1:17:05
Well, I think then, okay, we need to keep aware of two things. One, things that scratch us. Okay? And you know, Freya, you’re on notice. 2, we have to think of anyone we might meet might be telling us lies because we don’t know what Old Scratch looks like. And if he’s the Whisperer of Lies, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is the only one whispering lies. It’s not necessarily just coming from him.

Skarpin 1:17:31
That’s fair.

Belroth 1:17:33
The whole town could be deceived of something.

Ellori 1:17:36
Well, well, I’ll know if they’re lying to me.

Belroth 1:17:40
Okay.

Ellori 1:17:41
My grandma always says you know when someone’s lying to you.

Deeran 1:17:44
How?

Ellori 1:17:45
That’s all she said.

Anthony 1:18:13
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 1:18:47
Serious Business.

We’re super serious!

Transcribed by https://otter.ai