Hey fellow D &D and TTRPG nerds, this is Kayla
Lundgren from the Potions & Pokery podcast. Myself
and my co -host Keisha are just two gal pals
who like to hang out and have casual conversations
about Dungeons & Dragons and other TTRPGs. Our
show is loosely formatted, but we like to talk
about a variety of topics relating to Dungeons
& Dragons and TTRPGs in general, plus we do the
occasional live play. We interview guests from
the TTRPG space, and we also do improv creations
where we make things up on the fly together.
We give lots of tips and tricks, as Keisha is
our resident DM and Kayla is a Forever player.
So if you're new to the Dungeons & Dragons or
TTRPG realm, or you've been part of this realm
for a while and you want to learn some new tips
and tricks, or you just want to listen to some
goofy gals chat about Dungeons & Dragons, come
find us wherever you get your podcasts. Potions
and potpourri. the concept of miracles. We all
know the story of the demonic assault on the
world, of the vile Zomati Shab's boundless power
and cruelty. And we all know how that story ended,
what Atash and his celestial army charged down
from the sky. But let's ignore the many stories
of miracles that continue well beyond Atash's
first appearance. Take Ramin Razum, for instance.
Many of us have heard the basics of his story,
a boy and his mother viciously attacked by an
imp in their home. A demon that they say was
drawn by the crime of Romaine's birth by the
unmarried Alia Rasool. Though the network cannot
confirm that this opinion is, of course, true.
What we can call true too is the bravery of the
child who fought the end to protect his mother
and fell to its stinger. When Atash arrived at
the scene, drawn by the malign energies both
Ramin and Alia had passed on, but Atash, spurred
on by the boy's bravery, used his great power
to bring Ramin back to life. The boy's soul returned,
and strangely, he seemed to gain a sliver of
Atash's celestial power. We've ever since heard
that Ramin Rasool has begun to hone this power
as he journeys the following footsteps of his
savior and idol, the first luminary Atash. Who
the hell are you guys? Where am I? What is going
on? It has been a long, long, long, long -ass
time since we've done this. I don't remember
how to play. It's been three weeks since we played?
I think maybe almost four. I think it's been
almost four. Really? It's been a long time, man.
Why? We are playing shoots and ladders, right?
I think so. Why do these dice have so many fucking
numbers? I don't know. Throw them down. That
one's a three -pointer. Ooh, okay. All right.
It did a rolly thing. It sounds nice. I remember
that. So what does that number mean, though?
What does it mean to you? What does it mean for
your soul? It's about the journey, right? It's
about the journey of the destination. We're going
to dive in. We're going to figure this all out.
Steven, speaking of journeys. Speaking of journeys.
How was Poland, man? What's going on? Poland
was incredible. We could do a whole podcast episode
just about it. But we won't. Are you sure? Because,
I mean, we're not doing much else. We don't have
anything else to do, I don't think. Fantasy pants
unzipped in Poland. It was awesome. Saw a lot
of sites. Met up with some distant family. Had
an incredible, authentic experience there. Tried
some Polish beer. Yeah, it was great all around.
And on the topic of Poland, there... They're
known for a lot of things. Vodka. Gross. Handmade
lace is a really big export in Poland. Okay.
Where are we going? Also, amber. I'm so curious.
Amber. You know, like the bugs in amber sort
of thing. You know, like a four plus million
year old tree sap that gets. Okay. I didn't bring
you guys any of that. I was just like, where
is he going? I brought you guys something that
you could probably just buy at any other game
shop in the States. But I looked at them and
I was like, you know, those speak to me. Those
look like something my friends would enjoy. Wait,
what? Yeah, I got you guys some dice from Poland.
Oh my gosh! I got a gift? That's so nice. This
is a rare occurrence. David finally got a gift.
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. It's a cat's
dice set. Oh my gosh. Did you get a cat's dice
set? Oh my goodness. What the? Holy shit. Oh
man. This is wild. Thank you, man. I'm done.
Just one second. Oh my God. That is, that is
insane. It's in Zloty. This is my first new like
fantasy pants dice set because I don't count
the gold vein because they betrayed me immediately.
So they don't count. That was so satisfying.
Oh my gosh. Look at these. Oh, there's little
cats. Oh my. Goodness, that is adorable. And
I got my wife is gonna steal these and I got
us something kind of fun for us all to use together
Oh What is that? What is that? Oh my is that
a d100? It is a d100. That doesn't even make
sense That doesn't stand on one edge. If you
roll that it doesn't do anything. It takes forever
to like find a spot to stand. Is it cracked?
How do you know? Because it points straight up.
Yeah, it is very clearly straight up. It's it's
it's clear which one it is. Wow! I need to find
a way to use that. I don't know how I'm going
to do it, but I will find a way. It's a little
bit bigger than a golf ball. Well, maybe somewhere
around the size of a jawbreaker. Super cool.
I like it. Dude, these dice even come with a
little tray to roll it in. Oh, I didn't know
that. Oh, that's adorable. It's a nice little
thing. So David's dice are cat themed because
David. I'm a cool cat. Jeremy's dice are like
death and skull themed because. Because it's
me. Jules. He ran away. I don't think he likes
his dice. I'm sorry to say. Can I have his dice
too? Yeah, yeah. I'll take both the dice. Oh,
now I see. You got the chopsticks for the holy
water. I got the chopsticks and I am blessing
these dice. Do you keep that away from my kitty
dice? Keep it away. My kitty dice belong to me.
My lovely dice from Steven have now been blessed.
I'm going to anti -bless them the only way I
can. No, don't you dare. And I got David's dice.
Oh, man. Actually, I hope that doesn't actually
work out in his favor. Oh, the D100. We are blessed.
All right. Oh, my goodness. Bless this match.
Oh, my goodness. Well, thank you, Steven. Yeah,
of course. You good old friend -o, you. And as
if that wasn't enough. We've got mail. Mail.
Mail time. Our friend Centurion from the Discord
server sent us a nice little package here. And
it's been sitting here pretty much since before
I left. Yeah, it came like the day before you
actually left for Poland. And I'm like, well,
I don't want to open this without everybody here.
So it's been sitting. and on my dryer. So I'm
waiting for today. I hope it's not a puppy. Oh,
God. It's a bird. Oh, no. Oh, man. All right,
Stephen, what about your dangerous knife? There
was nothing dangerous about your terrifying murder
knife. I think you have a terrifying murder knife.
No, he's talking about the razor. This is my
knife. Oh, that's exciting. I want Stephen's
bloody knife. What bloody knife? What bloody
knife? When was that a thing? Just open the damn
package. Years later, there's going to be a special
on TNT. You'll be like, looking back to the podcast.
We should have known all along. I've been saying
it for years. For years. And you know I've been
saying it. Steve Rodriguez is a serial killer.
It's out there. The untold story. You or me?
Well, it's been sitting in your apartment. And
you've been just having to look at it. Okay.
That's fair. Oh, listen to that. Box cutting
sound. You're next. God, look at, Stephen's giving
me that look. Filled with hunger. Remember the
recent killings in Poland? Last two weeks? Jesus.
That was wild. Okay, let's see what we have.
What we got? I believe, Stephen, you don't even
know what's in here, correct? No, I don't. It's
a smile. It's a laugh. I love that. This is beautiful.
It's not for David. Oh, my gosh. All right. There's
also very clearly a note. Well, since the coffee
is clearly not for David, let's let David at
least read the note. All right. All right. You
know what? And then we'll talk about this coffee.
Oh, yeah. Thank you, Fancy Pants, for all the
hard work you do. Included is a bag of one of
my favorite coffees made by a local roaster.
I hope you enjoy. Your faithful listener, Strong
Ash says. Hell yeah. Thank you, Strong Ash, a
.k .a. Centurion. Thank you. And we've got a
bag of Monk's Blend Medium from Lonely Monk Coffees.
Ooh. Dude, he got it all right. We decided that
between the two of us, we like a medium. Yep.
And we got whole beans. This is perfect. This
is fantastic. Thank you. We appreciate you so
much. I'm not going to taste it. That was a once
in a 10 -year experience for me. So if you guys
want to check out LonelyMonkCoffeeRoasting .com,
that's their website. They don't know we exist,
but we have their coffee in front of us. So let's
all be friends. Why not? Let's all hold hands
in this wild, wild world of ours. Awesome. And
drink coffee. Well, no. We just had a homebrew.
A cup of coffee. So we'll probably coffee it
out for the night. Otherwise, I'll be up till
morning. But next sesh. Absolutely. Let's dig
into some Lonely Monk. Absolutely. That's really,
really, really cool. Thank you so much. Thank
you. Really appreciate it. Well, well, well,
well, well, well. Gentlemen, we're back. I'm
afraid to say it. Honestly, I'm going to throw
you guys hard into the fire. Great. Why? Because
I'm building to something, and we're all building
to something. The fire's been burning nonstop.
I know, I know, but here's what I'm asking. And
we didn't start the fire, you did. I think in
this episode, we're going to see all the current
PCs active. What? It's going to be a lot to ask,
because I've got to start off. Like I said, we've
got two timelines going on. Right now, after
taking about an hour to find the Rosas estate,
Zebulon and Jules are sitting about 10 .30 a
.m. on day one. Now, the last we checked in on
Crispin and Dresden, it was about 5 .30 a .m.
on day one as they are arriving in the port city
of Manzanares on the world of San Satyan. So
we gotta just cut back in time a little bit,
check on those two, get their story going, and
I promise, I promise both you guys, my players,
and all you listeners out there, I have a purpose.
There's a method to this madness. And this is
going to get a lot more tidy, a lot more clean,
a lot more exciting very, very soon. We should
get like a whiteboard. I kind of should get one
because like timelines are going to be wild and
all over the place. But you know what? It's going
to be a good time. I'm really excited. We have
some crazy, crazy shit to get to. So let me recontextualize
the scene for you guys as you step back into
the shoes of Crispin Dubois and Dresden Kellig.
But let me do that after I remember to plug in
Syrinscape, because I didn't do that. Oh, there
we are. Dark music to start. Welcome back, everybody.
Seriously. It's a dark world. In a dark desert.
Well, technically not so, so dark, because it's
morning. But still, it's a dark situation. Because
as the fire opal concord jewel is slowly descending
in the sky above Manzanares, and you're getting
ready to... Put boots on the ground on this world
for the first time to accomplish your missions,
given to you by Sholay and by jewels, in a sense.
You stare across from this fire opal jewel. You
stare across to the other side, to their seats,
where Jessenth Kellig and his retinue are watching
you. And here I will introduce your first obstacle.
You need to get from the jewel to the city. This
is not a packed jewel. There's not a lot of people
here. And if there's enough space out in the
wastelands between this town and San Sitian City,
if there's a point in time where Justin can make
a move without being seen and noted, he will
strike. You can read that in the way he watches
you. He's waiting for his chance. So as this...
People start to filter out into the streets of
the small town. What do you guys want to do?
All right. So we have to make the same journey
from the jewel to the city. It took how long?
It was a couple hours, wasn't it? It was about
two and a half hours. Two and a half hours. You
said it's 5 .30 a .m. now, so it's bright out.
Or it's going to be light out. You have to go
in by pure foot. Two and a half hours. Oh. That
might work. Oh. Did you know that I had this
spell or something? Like, I feel like... I don't
know. What spell? What? You guys jump again?
No. I'm not going to jump all the way to town.
I'm not going to cash jump. Give me, like, 30
seconds to read it one more time. All right.
No, you don't have to do that, really. Okay,
all right. Jesus Christ. That's why you're reading
that. Let me just say this. So while we're going
through this arc, at least at this point in the
arc where we're going to be kind of retreading
old ground, I am going to try to move a little
quickly with these characters. If we're touching
on information and things that we've already
seen before through the eyes of the others. I
figure since you as players have the foreknowledge
of what your other characters know, you won't
mind if I skip out on some detail here and there
describing landmark scenes, this and that. You
know, so long as it's within reason. I just want
to keep things going fast. That was very accurate.
Okay. So let's talk about getting out of the
jewel, I guess. Okay. So where are we sitting?
Where is Dresden sitting? Where is the door?
You guys are sitting on one. Let's just say this
way. You're about equal distance from the door.
Maybe like you're on the left side of the jewel.
Jessenthen is right and you are on the right
side. Everyone sort of moves, you know, starts
pushing towards the gate. And I will say Jessenthen
immediately gets up and shoving his way very
rudely through the crowd. You know, the small
sparse crowd to like be one of the first out
to make sure he can watch what you're doing.
Huh. He's got his bulky guards within there pushing
people to the side, making sure he's moving swiftly.
That's the first thing you see. Okay. I'm just
going to say this now. I think Dresden is doing
the same exact thing in terms of he is not losing
sight of Jessenth. Even though he's got his own
places he's trying to go, people he's trying
to find, he is... very aware of justin then he's
not going to take his eyes off him he knows justin
is following him okay and something tells me
justin knows that dresden knows oh yeah there's
a it's a game of chess right now the two you
glancing at each other as you're pushing through
crowds occasionally you know figures pass you
could catch each other's faces moving moving
maybe like around the same pace so jeremy crispin
has some stuff that he could do does does dresden
have any utility that We could use to break line
of sight sort of thing. I don't know, a distraction
or something. Negative. Okay. You know what?
I mean, I have an echo. I could do something
with it. But I... Right. It wouldn't do much.
I can... Okay. All right. I might be able to...
So are you basically... First things first, do
you intend to just get out of the jewel first
thing before making any moves? Yeah, I think
we all know that getting out fast and early is
key. And Dresden certainly isn't going to do
anything to Jessenth at all. Jessenth is going
to be the one that has to make the first move
if he's going to do something. You know he won't
hear, not until you're alone. He doesn't want
to lose sight of you until he can get you alone.
How big is the crowd? Maybe 50, 60 people as
they're pushing out. Maybe big enough to get
lost in the crowd. What does it look like on
the outside of this? I will say at the very least.
Okay, so you guys are pushing the outside. I'll
explain it once you get out. Well, hold on. I
don't know if this will really give us any mechanical
advantage to getting out, but I'm going to show
my hand and get this thing started. Once we get
up to start leaving, Crispin is going to cast
Pass Without Trace on the both of us. Oh. Sorry,
guys. Got to interrupt here. How fucking perfect
is this? The coffee that we are drinking from
Homebrew is their Pass Without Trace. Oh, man.
That's so wild. Anyways, I'm sorry. That was
a cool little nugget. That is cool. Continue.
I'm not drinking it. That was the end. That was
the end. That was all I had to say. It was meant
to be. All right. Pass Without Trace. if I remember
correctly, essentially gives you a massive boost
to your ability to hide and to like stealth checks.
I'll tell you exactly what it does. Tell me exactly
what it does. The spell reads, a veil of shadows
and silence radiates from you, masking you and
your companions from detection. For the duration,
which is up to one hour, each creature you choose
within 30 feet of you, including you, has a plus
10 bonus to dexterity, stealth checks, and can't
be tracked except by magical means. A creature
that receives this bonage... All right. High
five for bonage. Dude, dude, run in your bonage.
High five for bonage. Thank you for giving us
quality content to leave in. A creature that
receives this bonus leaves behind no tracks or
other traces of its passage. I mean, we're all...
We are adults, right? I'm 12. I'm 12. Receive
bonus. Oh, damn. Okay, all right. All right.
Adult time. Yeah, we're back. Okay. You cast
this. Seriously, this is a continuous effect
that you're going to be able to, like... try
to weave into stealth. Everything around you
seems to dampen. Both of your feet touching the
ground becomes muted. And it feels almost like
the shadows between people are almost pressing
and covering you, twisting in a strange, surreal
way to hide you almost in darkness. And I think
with that, if you do this, let's paint this this
way. You stand up. You guys are moving as described.
Dresden looking adjacent. And then... Crispin,
maybe you come up behind Dresden as this is happening.
You cast this spell as you're kind of like down
low. No one can really see. You're small. You're
low. And as this happens, almost like we just
see a person moving right in front of Jesseth.
And as he passes by, Dresden's gone. Hell yeah.
Just a veil of shadow almost appearing. Oh, that's
so cool. I love that. Just like this little lingering
shadow just like flickering, vanishing into the
crowd. And he's, what? What? Like looking around
frantically as he is received. Or Dresden has
just received your bonage. And you... Nothing
gets it. So, with that, maybe he stops for a
second, kind of trying to take this in. And you
guys push to the front of the crowd. Push out.
You're not actually hiding as you step into the
light into the small town of... You see, again,
a town of maybe like 20 or so wooden adobe buildings,
very small structures, surrounded on three sides
by great mountains, basically just resting in
a sort of valley with one singular road pushing
down to the south. And we know exactly where
we need to go, right? You have enough knowledge,
I think, to know, okay, we need to go to Sanctity
on City. Okay. You're more worldly. Okay. Then
real quick, let's talk about Wild Shape real
fast, David. What? When you and I, I think it
was before I even left for Poland, we were talking
on a walk about wild shape. And you mentioned
animals that Dresden, Crispin may have seen on
God's breath and may be able to wild shape into.
Do you remember this conversation? I believe
so, yes. You said something about a horse. Yeah,
you would have seen a... Yeah, you want to see
the horse. That's right. You definitely have
the CR for it. Yeah. Yep. So like that's by the
rules. I can just wild shape into a horse. You
can wild shape into a horse. And then it looks
like you're just going to be running away, but
I'll be on your back. Yeah. So. Fuck yeah. Wild
shape horsey boy. Let's see if I can be crisping
again. I might need like 18 tries at this. Dresden,
get on. Wild shape into horse. Ready to ride.
Or be ratted. I like the thing that you said,
Dresden, get on. Without question, Dresden just
gets on top of your rabbit body. Like, okay,
now what? This might be the weirdest thing I've
ever done. All right, I'm picking up what you're
putting down. I'll get on. Crispin is now a horse
and can no longer respond. No, you got an A.
Dresden comes up to the side of Horsey Crispin,
pats him on the head. Good boy. And does it real
quick because you're being pursued. You can hear
actually behind you like, wait, there, there,
there, stop them, stop. And are you sliding to
the top? Yes, Dresden gets on immediately. Just
jumps onto the horse, lands on the back, and
I take it you're just bolting down that one road?
Bolting. Double movement. You start to run, move
galloping faster than they could possibly catch
up to you. Dresden. What? As you... As you ride
atop this galloping steed, as you blast down
the road towards the town gates, into the desert,
to the south, I think you... Well, at last, do
you turn back? Fuck. Sorry, I'm... I'm not trying
to think about whether I would or would not based
on the fact that you brought it up. I'm trying
to think if Dresden actually just would. Yeah,
and it's go natural. I think he would look back.
Okay. I think he would look back. At least once
we have finally left the plaza or wherever we're
at, the main. You look back and you see Jessenth.
His yelling has stopped. He's just staring towards
you. And I'd like you to roll me an insight check,
because something seems off. All right. I'm using
this d20 from Poland. Yeehaw. Pressure's on.
It's only a seven on the die, plus three for
ten. Ten. With a ten. Probably ain't shit. With
a ten, you just can tell that something's different.
There's something in an expression that wasn't
there before, like something has snapped. Ingesinth?
Ingesinth. As he watches you go, as he gets smaller
and smaller. We should not have, like, fucked
around there. I should have just gotten on you
and not made any jokes about it. We break brothers
on the Fantasy Pants podcast. Well, no, I feel
like if we hadn't fucked around, if I hadn't
made silly jokes about patting you on the head,
you wouldn't have noticed anything. I don't think
mechanically that we would have gotten away.
I don't know. Consequence. So, because you're
on horseback, and you can ride out and be a horse
for, what, one hour? Yeah, an hour. So, are you
planning on staying as a horse the entire time?
Until you have to change back? Well, if it's
a two -hour walk, or a two -and -a -half -hour
walk, I'm guessing that a horse can get there
in less than an hour. Yeah, I was going to say,
you'll basically reach a city. We'll say it's
530. You'll reach a city at about 630 a .m. Sweet.
So, we'll skip over the journey. You all know
what it is. Just a lot of cactuses. A lot of
sand. Not a lot of people. And no owl? No owl.
Very good. And you come to San Satyan City. You
see the same thing that your former characters
did. The large, semi -equilateral, triangular
walls surrounding this great city. You see the
southern smokestacks of the works. You see the
lively fiesta town. And in the light of the morning
day, you can see this sort of darker area. These
sort of great manners that... Even if my distance
just don't seem quite right. Los Cavallones.
So there's no owl because it's not nighttime.
It's not nighttime. That's when... Yep. Very
good, Jeremy. Just throwing it out there. Bad.
And so you find yourselves at the gates to Sansatian
City. And I'll ask you directly. What do you
guys want to do? I mean, you move in, you see
the same thing again that Zeb and Jewel saw,
just people everywhere celebrating, partying,
not one sad face in sight, except there's one.
As you're moving around, you happen to pass a
very, very tired -looking tortle. Pay no mind
to that, though. So did you say that as we came
in, could I... Could we clearly tell the different
segments of the city? I think just as Jules had
that sort of innate sense to him, Dresden as
well would know there it is. Well, I mean, I
know that. I just mean, did we see it so that
I would know that there is a portion of this
city? Yes. You know the portion. You know where
it is. And I'll actually tell you something else,
too. You were with Cirilla. So you would know
more than anybody that... there was a large effort
to move a number of the people from Tythos, the
refugees of Sarul, to this particular place,
this city. Over a hundred of the folks to Low
City now dwell in Los Cavallanes. Okay. You might
not know exactly where. I think once they were
off the citadel, no one cared enough to check.
Okay. So in that case, with all of that, I think
the first thing Dresden does... As we walk in
and I just look over Crispin and give a nod.
This way. And Dresden is going to start walking.
Where are we going? David, how is it pronounced
again? Los Gavilanes. Los Gavilanes. You can
also say the old city. I think what you meant
to say is Papalotian Hill. We don't say that
word here anymore. Papalotian. The hill. We're
going to the old city. We're not going to find
what we need here. All right. Let's go to the
old city. Yeah. All right. You push on, push
through the old city. Say time is now around
seven. What do you intend to do here? You immediately
are met with a number of dilapidated manors,
large sort of estates covered with tents and
just people everywhere. People wearing. Just
scuffed, worn clothes. The smell of just sweat
and stink. It's everywhere. Covering everything.
We said we were going to try to avoid this, but
we're going to end up talking to ourselves. Oh,
for certain. Luckily, your selves are asleep
until nine. So. Okay, I think I got it now. So
we're ahead of time. Yes. Okay. Well, it depends
on who he is. Well, yeah. Dresden. Dresden. Zeb
and Jules took a long rest, so Dresden and Crispin
need to zoop on over and catch up in time. Yeah,
okay. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves
and rip open a time -space continuum and all
that jazz. So you think they're coming here?
I know they're coming here. They might already
be here. Where should we start? What does Dresden
know about the Old City? Honestly, probably very
little. It's not something that they would talk
about much. How about Crispin? Any knowledge?
I mean, anyone can roll a history check to see.
You would have no innate knowledge, but yeah,
roll history. Let's start rolling dice here.
Roll some dice. Ooh, look at that, a plus zero.
Let's see what we get. Yeah, I only got a five.
Four on the die, plus one. Crit my pants. Oh
my god. Oh man. Steven, what is with you and
your crits? First roll back. It's, it's, oh my
gosh, it's insane. At the weirdest times, though.
For a frickin' history check about the damn old
city. This is like where the shit is at right
now. This is the story. This is gonna be a good
check to make. Yeah, but we need it to kill time,
not go super fast. You know that the old city
is generally broken up into a number of factions,
each of which generally kind of revolve around
these main sort of estates. So, like... You saw
before there was a faction, Rosas, that lived
at the Rosas estate that seems to be kind of
like the criminal kingpins of the lower city.
That's kind of the impression you got with Zebion
and Jules when you approached those Tufts at
the gate. There are a number of other factions
like this. Salazar was mentioned to Jules. This
looks like maybe it houses the revolutionaries.
What Crispin knows is that there are indeed factions.
Maybe even no hints of, okay, this is where,
within that 20, this is where the sort of...
criminal underworld sort of resides. This is
where the revolutionaries are rumored to potentially
be staging something. You also know there is
a state called Moreno. This is essentially almost
a religious center. The main manor has actually
been turned into a church to the patron deity
of this city and this world, which is La Catrina,
essentially seen as a goddess that's the embodiment
of death. That's all I'll tell you about her.
But you know roughly what some of these estates
do, what they oversee. You know that not everyone
is part of a faction. Most of the lower city
are just people going to work, slaving away.
But the main power in Los Cavalanes comes from
these estates. Okay. And would Crispin know if
any of them are likely to be friendly to luminaries?
Ooh, that's interesting. Something I thought
about, too, because you're a luminary. and I'm
still wearing a whole bunch of guard shit. It
is interesting. We're kind of sticking out. Yeah.
We can't just roll into criminal underground
and be like, oh, yes, hello, criminals. Well,
no, yeah, part of me was thinking, like, can
we look around for, like, dirty rags or something
that we could, like, put over us? You could probably
buy some even. Yeah, some street clothes. That's
even weirder walking into a shop. Hey, I want
to buy some nondescript clothes. I mean, you
can just see clotheslines hanging in the low
city and just ask, like, you know, hey, I can
give you a few copper. And they'd be like, oh,
yeah, throw them at you. Yeah. I mean, I guess
whatever they're selling in the low city is what
everybody's wearing in the low city. I didn't
mean to derail what was happening. No, I love
it. This is flavor, man. Is that something you
want to pursue? Do you want to, like, have? Yeah.
Well, just say it's something you can do. I think
it's a very easy ask. And you guys are kind of
blending in. Yeah. Yeah, hell yeah. Cool. As
you push deeper in. Of the different factions,
you would know that... I will say you don't know
enough about Salazar and the revolutionaries
that you could just approach them outright. I
will say that Moreno, the main religious focal
point, is generally going to be friendly towards
anybody. It's really hard to say how Rosas would
feel. Perhaps they'd have work for someone, but
then again, they also are criminal, and you are
representing very non -criminal elements. Give
me the name one more time of the religious...
Folks? Moreno. Moreno? Yes. All right. We need
to speak to the families around here that, well,
they control these streets. In Moreno, they're
the least likely to send us away. You know this
place better than I do. I'll trust where you
take us. I rolled a natural 20. That's pretty
fucking good. Let's start heading towards Moreno
House, or at least looking around to see if we
can figure it out where it's at. Time will be
8 o 'clock. You're moving swiftly, and you reach
a tall and noble estate of old stone. You see
the central bulk of this particular building
rises and narrows into a tall spire, which is
sunken and collapsed on one side. Huge windows
line the building's first floor. Many of the
windows shattered and filled in by boards or
rubble, but the ones that remain have been painted
over by images of dancing skeletons covered with
bright patterns of color. You see a number of
figures in dark, tattered robes moving about
the yard. which has been transformed into what
looks like a practical garden, some food, some
medicinal herbs and plants, and you know that
this is Moreno. Okay. I'd like to roll a religion
check to see if I can go up and not speak their
language, but speak in a manner that would be
familiar to this particular religion. You know,
you're not going to go up and, I don't know,
religion talk. It's different. I get what you're
saying. So I'm going to cut trying to explain
it because I don't know how to. And I'm going
to roll the die. And I'll let you figure it out.
Okay, interesting. Well, it didn't go so well
this time. That was a natural three. How do you
awkwardly religious talk with a natural three?
Well, right. I mean, like, you know, there are
different religions with different gods and different
prayers and different, you know, some of them
do the sign of the cross. Some of them do the
sign of not a cross. So I'm thinking. Yeah. Show
me. What's the sign of not a cross? Well, I mean,
there's this one where you do like a bunch of
little crosses on your face. I don't know. I
mean, I used to be. What? Yeah. I grew up Catholic
and they did like this thing. Never heard of
that. Listeners know. Huh. That's all right.
All right. Yeah, so you just walk up to somebody,
some disciple of the goddess of death, and are
like, hey, death, that sucks, huh? What a terrible
goddess. Your god's the worst god. I think you
just kind of go in. Maybe you don't really know
exactly. Maybe this is kind of enigma to you.
Right, like doesn't bow at the right place and
time. I love this because. maybe this is really
a strange sort of disconnection for you because
you come from God's breath where like these,
I mean, like undead alligators, like death itself
is something to be feared, creeping around every
corner. It's terrifying. And these people celebrate
it. It's strange. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's
a really weird change. And maybe you have a hard
time acclimating to that, but maybe you approach,
you know, somebody and then how do you, how do
you, how do you want to go about that? We're
looking for the, Head of death. Okay. Like, the
main guy, or gal, who does the death stuff. You
see this older dwarven man in the same sort of
tattered robes, um, just kind of looks up at
you with these sad eyes, very, very weary, and
with a shaking hand, just kind of points you
towards the main door into the, uh, the actual
building. Alright, with a three on the die, it
wasn't, Sure wasn't going to go that well, but
okay. Definitely looks at you weirdly as you
walk away. Yeah. It's like, man, this guy knows
nothing about our religion. You didn't make friends.
Yeah, we'll follow his creepy pointed finger.
Okay. You push through a large sort of oak door,
and inside you see that this sort of main floor
of this large manor immediately opens into what
was once a spectacular ballroom. You see sets
of stairs on either side border this display,
like curving curtains. And towards the back of
the room, the old dancing floor has been covered
over by makeshift benches. They all face the
back wall, which still holds a raised stage platform.
But now an altar sits here, dwarfed by an incredible
painting that fully covers this wall. A woman
with shining raven hair and dark flowing robes.
A slender finger is raised to her pursed lips.
Eyes, gentle but with an edge of menace, peer
out over the room. You see a winged serpent is
coiled around her neck, its open mouth nearly
touching the side of the woman's face. It's hard
to tell if it's moving in to bite or to whisper.
Towards the front of this larger space, before
the benches, you see the makeshift hospital has
been set up. You see a number of forms emaciated
and weak, maybe 50 in total. Rows of simple bedding
and blankets have been laid out on the cracked
stone floors. A number of figures move between
the patients, checking on them and offering them
flasks. And here's where we get into a really
weird time -space situation. Because amongst
these figures, you see one that seems to stand
out. Because there's a lot of dark -looking robes
tattered. And there's one person. Brown skin
with wavy brown hair, wearing this very red tunic
with a white floral pattern. Zebulon and Jules
would know this character as Ramin Rasul. Right.
Interesting. Would Dresden know? Hmm. Dresden
likely followed Jules' exploits on Sasanko in
some of that footage. That's why I brought that
up. You would have seen that he would challenge
Ramin. Okay. I may not know the extent of their
relationship, but I know that he's connected
to Jules. You know that they at least are aware
of each other. Ramin is hurriedly moving between
patients. He looks very tired, very frantic.
He's holding a flask in hand, and as he goes
to a person who's sort of moaning, he reaches
down and pours it into their mouth, strokes their
hair as their eyes go glossy and close, and they
start to snore, entering a slumber. And you see
that as he moves back, the flask is empty. He
kind of, like, holds upside down. Not a drip
comes out. And he sighs, looking at it. Do you
guys want to do anything in here? You don't see
anyone here that looks, like, particularly important.
No one that looks like they're the head of this
thing. There's no one at the altar. Everyone
here is just tending to these patients. And I
think you can assume that these are the victims
of Sarah now. Okay. Here's where the timeline's
going to get fun. Because Dresden's not going
to not go over to Ramin. Right. So Dresden goes
over to Ramin. That's what that means. All right.
Hey. Hi. Oh. You're Ramin Rasool, aren't you?
Yes, I am. Do you need healing? I'm sorry. I'm
mostly burnt out today. I need information. Information?
Yes. Jules. He kind of smiles. Jules LaRoche.
Yes. What of Jules? Yes, I know Jules. Do you
know Jules? Where is he? I haven't... Is he here?
On Sunset Yarn? Why would he be... You haven't
seen him yet? No, no, I... We do believe he's
on Sunset Yarn. My guess is that he's going to
make his way over here soon. If he hasn't already.
I'm afraid I might miss him then. I'm actually
about to leave. He's in trouble. He... stops
for a moment, like he's thinking that over, and
then just kind of looks down to the floor. A
lot of people are in trouble. All of these people.
What's going on? What's wrong with all these
people? This is... Serenno. This is the illness
that is sweeping the low class of this world.
What the fuck? We're doing what we can for them
here, making them comfortable. And we help them
to sleep. We found that if... They sleep during
the hours of day. It will help to stave off the
exhaustion that is stolen from them at night,
and perhaps we can prolong their lives. Not forever,
though. But if we... Listen, there's something
I need to get. I have to go. I have to go soon
to the Rosas estate. There's a medicine that
we need that they have. So if Jules comes, I
might miss him. You can't miss him, because he
has serenade. Did we know that? I knew that.
You did know that. Dresden knew that. From the
message. So you would be caught up on it. Yes,
yes, yes, yes, yes. Ramin actually, like, hears
that, and he looks kind of sadly down. And he
actually looks down at himself and says, him
too, then. He can't afford to miss you. We need
your help. Then we need that medicine. He needs
to sleep as much as he can every day to stave
off death. Jules is a good person. He's a really
good person. He deserves better. Will you come
with me? We could talk to them together. Maybe
you could explain... I don't know who you are.
Who are you? Are you important? If you're important,
they might listen to you. Serapio might listen
to you. What was that name? Serapio. So now I'm
trying to decide if... Crispin thinks it would
be better to gather more information here from
the head of this house or leave with Ramin and
go to Rosa's house. Yeah, here's the weird part,
is that Dresden's mind is trying to get with
Jules and save Jules. Right. But it's also now
tied in with information gathering for Sholay.
Right. If it helps, I will touch on one thing.
You know that one of the avenues for exploration?
for investigation from Sholay is the bounty.
And if anyone knows about a bounty, it's Rosas.
You rolled a nat 20, you know that they're criminal
kingpins. Okay. They would handle all that sort
of dark work. Well, Dresden, if they're not here,
we gotta go somewhere else to check. And now
you can get us in to Rosas safely? He just kind
of smiles. That doesn't sound too confident.
Serapio isn't, um... Fond of me. For reasons.
Um, but I'll give you a reason to get in. I was
actually more hoping you'd get me in. Well, that
doesn't really inspire confidence now, does it?
May I ask your names? Um, quick question before
you ask our names. Sure. Crispin is sitting at
33 out of 43 HP. It's been so long, I don't remember
if I'm supposed to be full or not. You took a
short rest, but that wouldn't have filled you.
So no, you're actually still there. Holy mackerel.
Oh, shit. No good. No good. And I wasted a spell
to get here. So excellent. Another question,
too. Given his relationship with the family,
what would he know about their connection to...
Sansatian and Serenno, apart from the fact that
all that he heard through the stone was that
it was a success and Jules was infected. I don't
think you would know much. She only touched on
the fact that she believes that Serenno itself
is somehow, like, weaponized by the LaRoche family
and by the Tressina who may be working with them.
I think you'd have the similar... I mean, you'd
know that they are controlling Serenno. Right.
Okay. I guess maybe you wouldn't necessarily
know why. Sure. As you look over the sea of just
sick, sick people of all ages, of all races.
Okay. That's kind of about where I thought he
would land on that. Back to names. Does Crispin
recognize Ramin, or does Ramin recognize Crispin?
He doesn't seem to recognize you when you first
step forward. Ouch. I think you're one of the
lesser known luminaries because you don't put
yourself in the spotlight. Right, right, right.
I'm not chasing clout. I'm just asking questions.
Do you think you'd recognize him? There's some
stories of him. I mean, you heard his name. You
could roll a check on it. Sure, yeah. Let's let
the dice decide. History or religion? It's a
plus zero either way, so let's see. Oh. That
is a natural one. Okay. You have no idea. Okay.
Then he'll just introduce himself. Reach his
little hand out. Crispin Dubois. You have changed
from a horse now, right? Yeah. Here's a hoof
out. Who's your horse friend? Horses can't talk.
Silly Jeremy. He very vigorously takes your hand,
just shakes it. He's very excited. I'm Ramin
Rasool. I might have said it already. I'm Ramin
Rasool. And you, friend of Jules, what's your
name? Dresden. Dresden, it's good to meet you.
Any friend of Jules is a friend of mine. Dresden
looks deep into his eyes and says, Same. I was
about to leave now, if you would like to join
me. We'll follow you. On the way, I can regale
you with the tales of my time meeting Jules and
Sepulon. It was quite a story. Yeah, please do.
I'm looking forward to hearing what he's been
up to. It's been a little while. Hell yeah. If
it's cool with you guys, he moves towards the
door and steps out back into the old city. We
walking. Pushing through the crowds, pushing
through the streets, almost down to the other
side, where once again, at the very foot of the
great hill that shall not be named, you see an
estate that's actually very well built. Still
in great shape with lush rose gardens just covering
the front leading up to it. You see a gate that
says Rosas. Ramin moves up towards the front
where you see the same gigantic mustached guard
is just staying there. He sees Ramin, his eyes
narrow, just like, You again. Do you have them?
But he stops as he catches you. Crispin, his
eyes fall on you. Oh, shit. And they widen. Luminary.
We've been looking for a luminary. Oh, that's
not what I was expecting. I was like, shit, how
am I going to get out of this one? Same. He just
kind of stares for a second. Do you have business
with Serapio, Mr. Dubois? Yes. We do have some
business with Serapio. We, uh... Looking for
some friends. Well, it so happens Serapio is
looking for a luminary. If you would not mind
waiting. He rises late, but he should meet with
you around 10. Ooh, does he rise late because
he has Serenno? Or, well, 10's not that late.
You rise later than 10. I mean, 10 is like sleeping
all day for me. Yeah, I can't sleep till 10.
That's half the day gone. Um, hmm. Interesting
character trait, I suppose, but probably not
Serenno, right? Yes, we'll wait. All right. I
think he basically gestures you to come inside.
Like, you may wait inside. There's a comfortable
lounging room. I guess, yeah. They walk into
the lounging room. Sounds sweet to me. Just like
with Zebulon and Jules, he nods to a female guard
at the gate. sleek black hair she nods back gestures
leads you up the stone steps past the rose gardens
into the manor itself and you find yourself sitting
at a uh you know pretty soon after just sitting
in a sort of comfortable lounging area there's
sort of a main doorway just beyond maybe you've
moved through like a sort of main entrance hall
into some side room and beyond that is like an
office that you know that sarapia will come to
meet you in soon enough At 10 o 'clock. At 10
o 'clock. After 10 o 'clock. After 10 o 'clock.
Currently, it is probably about, maybe even moving
around the city for a bit, so like 8, 30, 9 o
'clock. Oh my goodness, we're just going to sit
in this room and wait for this guy for over an
hour? Hey, it's a lead. Yeah, I don't know about
Crispin, but Dresden is used to standing in one
spot, staying quiet. So, this is just nothing
to him. He's doing what he's got to do. He'll
wait. You. Wait. Time passes. Ramin continues
to regale you with all the stories of jewels,
probably repeating them a few times because it
really wasn't that much. It made it look like
a day. And then he used Tasha's hideous laughter.
I could not believe. I think Danza's still pissed.
Just going on and on. And finally, there's a
time where the door they give to this lounging
area opens. A guard steps in. He will see you
now. Come. All right, yeah. Crispin rises wordlessly
and follows. Same. You guys are pushing through,
and they cross the side entrance hall. Door opens,
and you find yourselves moving into a small office
space. Surprisingly utilitarian. Very nice lavish
desk, very nice chair behind it, but really nothing
else of note in this room. And you see a man
sitting in the chair. You see he is a tan -skinned
man with sharp, handsome features. Only the small
horns protruding from his head reveal that he
is part tiefling. He has a thin and finely waxed
mustache that decorates his upper lip and jet
black hair that is slicked back. You see he's
wearing a loose white shirt, the neck of which
hangs down, revealing far too much of an oiled,
shaved chest. Jesus Christ. You see boots and
gloves, black. leather just shimmering and squeaking
with each of his movements. And as you enter
this room, as you see this man, I think the strong
smell of roses kind of just punches you. I'm
picturing like Zorro. Oh, man, that's good. You
step inside and he looks up at you from the desk.
You see he looks like a man who just woke up,
basically. Despite his almost perfect appearance,
his eyes are still kind of... like he's just
kind of coming into the day with a little yawn.
Greetings. I am Serapio, Lord of Rosas, and the
man to know here in Los Capelanes. I know you,
a luminary, a fierce fighter, despite your stature.
Good, good. And he looks back on Armin. You're
here for the medicine, yes, the helix cactus
petals. And Ramin's, yes, I've brought friends,
and we still can't pay, but I promise we can
work the money up. No, no, of course. Go, go.
My associates will see that you are paid. And
he, ah, um, thank you. And he looks at you guys.
I have to get this, too. Are you okay? Um, you
know, maybe it's a little meta, but I'd like
to roll insight. Sure. On Zoro here. His name
is officially now Zorro. Uh, just a 15. Uh, seems
like he's telling the truth. Okay. And, uh, yeah,
Ramin just kind of excitedly looks to you. It's
okay, if I bring this back, I need to make sure
people are sleeping as soon as I can. I could
save lives. Thank you, Ramin. We, uh, we're fine.
Yeah. Go help those people. Thank you. Thank
you so much. Please, come to Monano when you're
done. I, I, I, I have to thank you in person.
I, I, I have to do something for you. He just
kind of stumbles out. I think there's some people
that open the door, and they're kind of waving
him impatiently, and he rushes off with them,
and the door closes. Crispin spins on his heel.
I understand your need of a luminary. Perhaps
I can be of assistance. Perhaps you can. But
we actually fade to black on this scene, because
we're going to follow Ramin out the door. into
the hallway as he's moving, you know, moving
him towards the sort of main doorway through
the entrance hall. And he's, ah, thank you so
much for this. It really, it means the world.
I, I, I knew Serapi would come around. I knew
he would. He'd understand how important it is
to, wait, what did you? And they kind of grab
him by the shirt. No, no, wait, no, no, please,
no. And burst open the door, throw him out onto
the steps where he rolls down, cracks his head
on it. And. You just hear like vaguely Feyreff
behind him just like, do not come back without
the money. Ezra means eyes begin to focus blurred
on two figures standing before him on the steps.
Zebulon? Zebulon? Jules? What are you doing here?
As he cracks this great pearly white grin and
the timeline is restored. Huzzah. And with that.
Zebulon and Jules, what are you doing here? No,
I expected a, and we'll call it there. Yeah,
same. Oh, no, no, no. I've got a better ending
for that. End two episodes, the same exact lines.
I know. Oh, my God. Oh, I'd be a devil. I was
going to say, did you go back and listen to the
ending of that just before we started this session
so that you could get those lines exactly right?
Oh, no, I remember them. I knew it had to come.
I had a feeling this was going to happen. I mean,
what the hell are you doing here? Oh, hey, God,
I can't remember. He sort of starts to climb
his feet. Helps him up, yeah. Jeez, are you all
right? Oh, my God. Hey, hey, wait, hey. You were
supposed to help me. You can't turn us back to
the other guys. Those guys are really rude. We
came here? I don't know what was so fucking hilarious
about that. I don't either. All right. Sorry.
Just, like, mushed my brain. As Arzormeed's kind
of, like, turning to them, yelling, I think the
female guard with you just kind of impatiently
nods. Serapio is waiting. He will see you now.
You wanted an opportunity, yes? Well, yeah, but
I mean... Ramin, what's going on here? I... wait.
You guys have... Can you get me in there again?
I want to speak to Serapio again. Zebulon looks
to the guard. She kind of pinches her nose. Fine,
yes. Serapio does not explain himself twice.
And right now he's already meeting with the luminary,
so you must go now if you want any chance. All
right, and Zeb grabs Ramin by the arm and...
Oh, thank you, Zebulon, thank you. As you lead
him into the room. You guys move through the
entrance hall once again. Holding Ramin, she
gestures you forth towards a door, which she
knocks at. Ah, it's good. Just a moment, my friends.
We have more guests joining us. Come in. The
door creaks open. And Dresden, Kellig, Jules
LaRoche, Crispin Dubois, and Zebulon Black all
step into the same office. What does this look
like? I mean. Oh, don't worry. Don't worry. I
got something better. I always am better. You
should like stutter start that in the episode.
And we'll call it there. That's what you're supposed
to say after you do that. Oh, no, no, don't worry.
Holy shit. Okay, yes, continue. Crispin is obviously
very surprised, but he tries not to show his
surprise. Dresden immediately runs over to Jules
and gives him a hug. They'll love this. It's
like finally my revenge for everything you put
me through. Fuck off. Talk to your own character.
I mean, I love it, though. It's awesome. I mean,
there's this moment, I think, where you're like,
maybe it's silence. Ebulon's kind of like, I
mean, Ebulon, you might know who Christmas is.
You saw him once. We'll call it right now. It's
a silent hug. Neither of them are talking. Honestly,
I like it. That's it. That's it. And the thing
is, Jules and... Jules and Dresden have always
had this relationship built on silence and hand
signals. I kind of imagine they don't need to
have that. Okay, how about we have this long
embrace, and then Dresden pulls away and just
looks at Jules and says, You good? Yeah. Yeah,
I'm good. I'm good. I think you hear from the
front of the room, or from the desk, just like,
So, you know each other. This might make it easier
for me. Teamwork. would be helpful in what's
coming. Please, if you don't mind taking a moment
and hearing me out, I... And he's cut off again.
As you hear the sounds of pounding feet moving
through the main hall, the door bursts open again.
And you see that same thick mustache man just
looks around, just like... He points towards
Jules, eyes wide, just like, Jules Roche. Yes.
Who's asking? And maybe he sees the figure right
next to you and says, Do you happen to be Dresden
Kellig? Who's asking? And Sorbus stands up just
like, what is this? How dare you interfere? And
the guard says, please, please, Sabio. There's
been an incident in Nusarul. And we're going
to cut away from the scene. Did he just say Nusarul?
We're going to cut away. He just said Nusarul.
He said Nusarul. We cut to black on that note.
And we just hear the sounds of people screaming.
running, trampling on cobbles and through dirt
as we open up on the courtyard, the sort of stone
slab courtyard of an old looking manor, smaller
than those around. I think as we kind of like
zoom out, we can see this is sort of on the outskirts
of the Moreno estate. We can see that large tower
of the sort of church state farther off. We're
not focused on that. No, no, no. We're focused
here on this smaller manor. Focused on the crumbling
masonry, the people running, running into the,
you know, inside this building, slamming doors,
running off into the crowds around. We're focused
on the face of a man staying there in the middle
of this courtyard. An old man, eyes wide, one
arm missing from the elbow. We see Grindy just
holding up his hand in front of some figure above
and just... Please, please, please. And we see
a blade drawn. We see Jessenth Kellig. We see
his retinue around him. New cerule, huh? How
fitting a place for this to finally end. I'm
done chasing them. In a city like this, I know,
I know I'll never find them, but I don't need
to find them. Not since I found you all. Now
they come to me. You aren't surreal citizens
anymore. The people on that hill, they care even
less about your faith than your prior masters.
He turns around to his men who've grabbed a number
of people. Round up whoever you can. Bind them
and bring them inside. And then he turns away
from them, away from Grindy, towards the sky
itself, screaming to no one. I start the killing
in an hour. You want to stop me? Bring me Jules
LaRoche. Bring me Dresden Kellig. Bring them,
unarmed and ready to die at my hand. Or else
I'm painting this manor red. And we'll call it
there.