Hey y 'all, this is Roll Forth and we're super
excited because it's our first ever episode.
We are four friends wanting to share the wild
stories we come up with playing tabletop role
-playing games. You know, our main weekly campaign,
the Empire Initiative, has been going on for
about two and a half, three years. And it's time
that we share this silly little adventure we
have going on and the person that's leading us
through this story is our extraordinary MD Shanna
Cantu. Can you please introduce yourself and
we'll introduce our characters and ourselves
a little bit after that. Hello, my name is Shanna.
I'm your MD, Master of Dungeons. Hi, Con. Hi,
Con. And I've been DMing for, I've been DMing
for about 17, 18 years now. I've been playing
since I was a teenager and playing 3 .5, playing
5E and soon to be playing other games and hell
yeah. I am Samaria, I play Zavari Umbermore,
your friendly local cleric slash warlock who,
you know, may or may not have sold her soul to
the devil, but that is somehow the least of her
worries right now. It's also the intro that I
have for her Spotify playlist, like if you click
on it, that little blurb is right there, right
up top. Zavari is a Just a little red tiefling.
She's five foot two red. She has two horns that
stick kind of opposite two sets of horns that
stick in opposite directions She has white curly
wavy hair that reaches down to like the very
top of her butt She's currently wearing it in
a braid during our adventures and She has a little
pet pseudo dragon. His name is Daru and he is
a dragon, but he looks strangely fox -like in
appearance, just with some cute wings. I am Rachel
Voss. I play Raine Vosgrove, the dwarf monk bard
failing school but winning life. Raine is a dwarf.
She has brown, reddish hair. Uh, it's about shoulder
length. It's a little bit longer than she normally
has it. So it's a longer it's like past her shoulders,
I guess. Um, and she is a manual wheelchair user.
Uh, she does have her own chair, but she also,
um, has her BFF flux or best friend flux, uh,
who is a mimic that uh changes into her mobility
aids whenever she needs it and um yeah i'm ryan
and i play dart of the hopkins a mad lad frog
chad with a crown and a gun and too many sons
make ryan's last please sing again do it again
All right, take two. I am Ryan and I play Dart
of the Hopkins, a mad lad frog Chad with a crown
and a gun and too many sons. Wow. Yeah, you're
going last. Yeah, put his ass in the back. I
wrote that literally as we sat down at this table.
Sometimes the first draft is the best one. Dart
is a like three and a half to four foot tall
anthropomorphic frog. He has mostly blue skin
with magenta highlights. Does he have bones?
No, he is supported by a system of fluid filled
canals. I saw that established from the very
beginning. You mean because I mentioned it every
single session? Yes, so what are your characters
classes and what abilities do you have? So I
am a level and level 10 that's eight levels into
Feywonder Ranger and two into war cleric and
as far as abilities go I think I would touch
on like obviously as a Ranger I do a lot of archery
and I have a lot of spells and abilities that
are meant for augmenting that kind of thing.
But then I'm also good at tracking and moving
through the environment and I'm very stealthy.
And then for flavor, usually, I've got the sticky
tongue and the sticky pads. that are always fun
to bring into play. And the last thing I wanted
to touch on is that if no one is looking at me,
my shadow dances. Zavari is level 10 as well.
She is a Warlock, Pact of the Fiend. She also
has two levels in Cleric, and those levels are
with the Twilight Domain. um as far as ability
goes um she has a lot of the classic kind of
warlock abilities she is very much so the blaster
of the party she does have some healing capabilities
due to her levels and cleric um she's very charismatic
but she chooses usually not to use that um i'm
trying to think like all of her ability she has
so much um One of the abilities is she was gifted
from her patron, Asmodeus. She has the Infernal
Conduit ability. Thank you, MCDM, for that. Basically,
she is able to take damage herself to heal her
allies. It's very gross when she does it, so
they don't like her to do it. Daru is also her
familiar. She can see through him. He's very
much so the Scout, oftentimes. Daru is often
the real MVP. Daru comes in clutch. She also
thinks Daru is real. Fun fact, she has no idea
that like he's not real and that pseudo dragons
don't just do that because will be explored later.
Nobody's taught her how to use magic. So she's
just winging it. Winging it with her wingman
Daru. Exactly. Also, since Zavari follows Asmodeus
and his whole thing, it's kind of like with the
trickery domain and things like that, she can
also create perfect illusions slash duplicates
of herself, but only one. Shadow Clonchutsu.
Oh god. She's just like, yeah, all warlocks can
do this, can't they? Sounds very Zavari. Rain
is also a level 10. She has eight levels in monk
and two levels in bard. Reign's Monk is something
we've been working on for such a long time. It
has been really a huge group effort between,
it is the brainchild, the conservator of The
Waking Dream is the brainchild between Wesley
McGee, Saxon, and myself for the Forge Ahead,
a party to access, which is the organization
we co -founded to increase disability representation
in games, specifically authentic disability representation
in games. And we came up with this thing. We've
been working on it for just as long as our campaign
has been going on because we've been really playtesting
what we've been doing in this Empire Initiative
campaign. And the conservatory has six schools,
one of which being the waking gravity school,
which is Reign's monk subclass. So this school
has taught her how to control gravity, how to
manipulate gravity on herself and a little bit
on others, she's really working towards being
able to do even more with that. She has her Moon
Glide, which makes gravity affect her less, as
well as Colossal Stance, which is Colossal Stance
being the flip side, where gravity affects her
even more. They both have their purposes and
they both have their different abilities, depending
on what situation is in need. and we explore
these a lot because Rain uses them a lot and
we also are starting to really tap into Altar
Center of Gravity as well because that's something
new and we've just recently kind of updated and
revamped it and so we're very much playtesting
this subclass in particular. Also in the future
Rain will be able to give Colossal Stance and
Moonglide to her allies. At least that's the
goal and some other things, but that's what we
have right now. Also, Rain is the master of ravens,
which we will explore a lot in this coming up.
We'll explore it later. Even later. Yes, yes,
yes. But basically, we haven't done any of the
like... critical role, uh, lore or anything like
that for Master of Ravens. It was more of a monk
situation. Um, I don't know if stuff's going
to happen for it in the future. I don't know.
We'll see. We'll see. Um, but, um, uh, so Raid
is able to basically, she has these, uh, tattoos
that, um, come off of her and create like a wind
spiral for, um, So she can fly and then she has
other things she can do like the voice stealer
and I haven't done that. I don't think yet, but
and she can mimic things and yeah, so I know
it's gonna come up because rain is a wheelchair
user, but Rain often in Moonglide will be able
to do when Moonglide is where her gravity doesn't
affect her as much. She's able to do things like
a backflip or like do various different things
that maybe a wheelchair user wouldn't necessarily
be able to do in your minds. But fuck it, let's
do it. And so there's various ways that she's
able to do it. So just. Is that out there in
the prologue? Yeah, if you don't like it, play
your own game. Get out of here. This is our game.
Get out of here. Get over here. I was trying
to do the opposite. Get out of here. Out of my
face. Oh my god. Okay, Vegeta. The master of
ravens. It's somewhat of an MCDM thing. It's
sort of more just like some shit Matt talked
about at some point. And I took the idea and
like, you know, designed stuff with it. But yes,
it is a power granted by some mysterious unknowable
force. I would like to know it. Reign's good
not knowing. It's like a martial arts thing.
It's something that's only available to monks.
There is only one animal master of any given
animal at any time, so there's only one master
of ravens. It is Reign. Was she became the master
of Ravens by defeating the previous master? brutally
Yes, and that is typically how what how a how
one becomes Becomes a master an animal master
But there is also a temple somewhere Where if
like an animal master dies and they didn't like
pass on their abilities It goes back to the temple.
So you can go to the temple and... Prove yourself.
Seek it out. And it's, you know, more so like,
not a super well -known thing. And nobody knows
where the temple is right now. I'm sorry, my
mouth is like... Full of baklava. Had to put
baklava on my mouth so I didn't say any spoilers
After two and a half years at the point where
we started recording Like we had we had something
good we had something going and we were at this
point where we had been playing for seven levels
Very consistently where we had a lot of history
We're at to a point where a lot of podcasts aren't
starting their podcasts. So it's something different
So we just felt like it was a good time. But
ultimately, the priority is we're just more friends
having fun. Yeah. Sharing our story. I also feel
like we are turning the cusp of where this is
where most D &D campaigns end. Like, really,
people usually don't go up to 10 or much past
it. And we're making plans to go way past it.
And I think that's really cool just to see regular
non -professionals play at higher levels. I think
that's really fun. It's scary, though. Also,
I've never played D &D. This is my first campaign.
My knowledge of D &D before this was I was mentioned
in the intro to a My Chemical Romance song. The
I'm Not Okay song. That was where my D &D knowledge
began and ended. I think this is a really good
question to talk about. Started playing D &D
because I started living with Shanna in 2014
and she was like if you live with me you need
to make a character Like if you want to be with
me you gotta play you gotta play with my friends
deadass that was it I was like you want to be
my roommate you gotta play D &D Intro later can
this could be something we are all sued Hell
yeah Yeah, they never said the word Shanna in
that song. Exactly. Yeah, so that and I designed
disabled characters for Forged Ahead A Party
To Access as well as other things, as well as
mobility aids and advocate for disability representation
in games. Okay, that's me. As far as my experience
with D &D, I had played One session of D &D before
I started playing with this current group And
now I've been playing with you guys for like
what a decade almost That first session was terrible,
but it was also the only other time I played
a ranger up until this current character didn't
scare you away Those guys were jerks pot six
is jerks That's a reference just for me Yeah,
so now I guess we have what? Technically three
campaigns ongoing and one of which I am the DM
which is weird. Hell yeah and a document of one
shots we're gonna do. Yeah saying like a slew
of one shots that we're gonna knock out eventually
I'm sure. We have a big beautiful brains here.
You've ran campaigns for me. I've ran campaigns
for you. I've done one shots for the crew. So
we've done like a decent amount of D &D. I'm
the only one that hasn't DM'd yet, but I have
so many ideas I might as well have. And we are
exploring with other systems as well, and variations
and rules, and that's one of the things I'm excited
about the MCDM. Drawsteel. Did I say it right?
They named it, it's Drawsteel now. Cortex. I
love Cortex so much. I talk about it too much.
That's why I didn't like say it first, but I
do fucking love Cortex so much. And Daggerheart
has some beautiful disability representation.
Half finder we have on the horizon. Yeah, so
we are really interested in other systems. The
avatar role playing. Shout out to... But you
have to watch Korra first. Yes. I haven't watched
Korra. I can't run it without you having watched
Korra. I can't. run it if you haven't watched
Korra. So we're not gonna run it? I haven't watched...
You have to watch Korra. Finish She -Ra. Just
take your time. We just started arcane. I can
only juggle so many messy lesbians. Take your
time. Yeah, we got time. Take your time. That's
what I'm saying. It's not even on the spreadsheet
yet. Don't worry about it. I'm wanting to play
the Avatar because I'm desperately bloodbending.
But it's healing. I think that's so fucking cool.
I just want to date myself real quick one more
time because that's been my favorite thing of
this so far by pointing out that I have been
a long -term fan of medieval fantasy and I just
want to clarify that by saying that I had as
a child the audiobook version of The Hobbit on
vinyl. What? Yeah. Nice. Hell fucking yeah. nice
very impressive also someday begging i've been
begging shanna for this to try and play vampire
the masquerade with me i don't know anything
about it other than there's a vampire clans and
that's pretty fucking cool to me i'm just waiting
for baddies Don't know who's gonna run baddies.
I'm not gonna lie Well, it's Shanna has had really
good ideas for baddies and so have I so I'm like
I'm fine if you run baddies because you actually
know how to run I don't I'll just be doing random
shit. I do have like a whole plot. I have a whole
lot I have a campaign -length idea as well. For
baddies. I also have a lot of one -shot ideas
for baddies. Most specifically the beer run one
-shot. I think that'd be really funny. I also
want to run a Night of the Living Dead one -shot
where everybody dies at the end. Honestly, this
is gonna sound insane. We need more D &D characters
that die, god damn it. Yeah, I definitely want
to do some like apocalypse. Except for us three.
I've said I'm fine with Zavari dying. I very,
very much want to do a Suicide Squad type one
-shot where we just rip that off and do it. That's
it. I've told Shannon it's fine if Zavari dies.
There need to be stakes. If she dies, she dies.
Make it so we can bring her back. But if she's
dead for a session or two. That's how I feel
about Vo. Because I went in being like Curse
of Strahd. Like a lot of people describe as a
meat grinder. Yeah. So it's like, okay, I know
this character is going to die. Just fucking
have fun. And she's still alive right now. I'm
rocking with her because she's rocking with me.
And I just want her death to be badass. That's
really all it is. I could see Vo doing like a
blaze of glory. Good God, I'm not wishing for
Vo to die. Not anytime soon. It's hard to die
in the campaign when the big bad wants to jump
your bones. Your bones, not mine. He called me
an abomination. His wife be the shit out of you.
He thinks I'm smart though. He thinks I'm just
gross. He's gonna make me dinner. Yeah, he's
gonna make you dinner. And more of what things
are back at all the way up. Sorry, that's spoilers
and you can cut that out. That's a different
campaign. These are different characters. do
we like adequately cover that we're like doing
this because we're friends i feel like yeah okay
i'm doing this because mind your own fucking
business don't steal my lines but it's just it
just feels right it does it does it does lead
into like the next thing i know already said
it but like this uh disabled character that i'm
playing is based off of me who is a disabled
person um and i really just wanted to um I'm
working hard to increase authentic disability
representation in games, so might as well play
this character that I have designed for the Forge
that was loosely based off of me. Loosely, as
in, like, she's basically me. But she's not me.
Rain is not Rachel. Rachel is not Rain. But at
the same time, I'm a human being. Disabled people
deserve to be in fantasy. And so if you have
a problem with that, back the fuck off. Go find
another podcast. Right. That magically has a
doctor and a village that just cures all your
disabled people. Even though there's nothing
wrong with them. Exactly. They didn't have to
be cured in the first place. Just your views
on society. If your fantasy doesn't have space
for disabled people, queer people, LGBT people
in general. This probably isn't the podcast for
you, fair warning. After this prologue, you'll
probably know, but definitely you probably already
tuned out TBH. I feel like I accidentally played
myself in this campaign because I was like, I'm
going to like. I'm going to tell the world that
I'm a dark, brooding, tough exterior, and the
world looked back at me and they were like, you're
just a gentle baby. I think there's something
really beautiful in that though. Thank you. I
like Dart being a hard ass, honestly, in the
first half, but then our adventures pull him
in places that tug on his heartstrings and make
him care about more than... brooding, quote unquote.
I think that's very beautiful. I've only had
these kids for 10 sessions, but if anything happens
to them, I will kill everyone else and then myself.
Damn. Speaking of that, Dart, how did you adopt
20 kids? So, didn't happen all at once, but the
catalyst moment was that we went to, I don't
know what you would call it, or what it was like
a reference to. Was it from daddy's? Bullywugs?
So we went to a Bullywugs, which as I understand
it is like the medieval Dave and Busters. Please
don't sue us. I don't even think they're in business
anymore. Um, if they are they'll sue us. Yeah,
I want the pavement token. It'll be terrible.
We can reference kicks. It was Dave and Buster's
but in Missouri Well, we have we have our own
we have our own but you have to student like
stay tuned to listen Yeah, but anyway, we went
inside and for some Some for some reason they
had I guess what I would describe as like fight
pits staffed entirely by children, like child
fighting rings. And for some reason, seeing that
instantaneously melted my dark brooding exterior
and made me want to be a dad instantly. So I
don't remember exactly how it all went down,
but I think the gist of it was I said, this is
bad. And they said, no, it's not. And then I
killed them and took the kids. I have vivid memory
of how this happened. That is generally how it
happened. You were also very drunk. That sounds
like me. I do not want to us forget Dart was
very drunk because we were like celebrating something.
And you saw the fight pit with the kids and you're
like, oh, hell no. Unacceptable. We definitely
betted on him to win and so we won. Yeah. Yeah.
And then I think I I feel like I told the kids
like, hey, you can go free. And they were like,
well, we don't have anywhere to go. And I was
like, well, then I guess I'm your papa now. And
then we went around for like two sessions individually,
finding them jobs and different careers and people
to mentor them. And then we found our favorites
and brought them back home. And I sent them large
sums of my looted money to pay for their apartments
and various needs. So that's been. realistic.
They're just rich kids. They're trust fund rich
kids with nice apartments up in like Soho. That's
all that's going on. I sleep in a tent on the
side of the road and send all my money back to
my kids so they can have a nice apartment in
town. And yeah, um, I think initially I adapted
10, um, but word spread of the, uh, frog liberator
and 11. Cause your scrap has 11 scraps in it.
I have thirty scraps now. I know, but it was
your first scrap. Well, in any case, I eventually
adopted more. I guess they came to me and said,
we heard what you did and we also want to be
Dart's kids. And so that number just continues
to multiply. I think with our... I won't go into
spoilers, but our recent connection is probably
going to result in at least another ten So we'll
see how that goes but yeah, that's that's the
story of how I acquired 20 kids Potentially soon
to be 30 kids Yeah, well some of your none of
them are mine aunties Some of your kids are our
favorite NPCs. That's true. Yeah. Can you do
the wall tour voice, please? Hi everybody Hi
wall tour. That is the gentlest and smallest
and most precious of my babies wall tour If I
remember correctly wall tour is a little bullywug.
Is that right? Yeah, he's a tiny little baby
bully rug. Yeah, and if anything happens to him,
I will burn the whole world to ash. I wanted
to be a blacksmith, but now I'm a painter. He's
our favorite. If I had to fridge all of his paintings,
would be honest. I do play favorites. Very clearly,
it's that one. I give, I give Walter all my bacon.
Gotta get that, get the muscles up. Be a blacksmithing
painter. Hell yeah. We also love Morag. Some
more than others. I love Morag. Zomari likes
Morag. Love is a little too strong. It's the
spiders that holds her back. The spiders are
the charm. The glitter. The terror glitter. I
never expected to say this, but if we're talking
about my favorite NPCs, I mean, obviously Razalax
is a given because he's dope, but someone that
I have come to really value the evolving relationship
that we have is Edmund. Yeah. Little bastard.
He's really grown on me. There's some meat and
potatoes there. I remember you did not fucking
like Edmund. It didn't. tough road with Edmund.
It's been a really tough road. Just to remind
the listeners at home, his favorite song is Numb
by Linkin Park, so you can imagine what a challenge
it's been. He is like, what, a 13 -year -old
boy? 12, 13. He's about, he's like 13 now, yeah.
So Edmund is the Baron of Betagar. once presumed
to be dead. He is 13 years old and he's been
through a lot. He lost his family. He was kept
as prisoner. And then the crusaders cleared out
the Castle Rend where he was being kept as prisoner.
And when they discovered he was still alive,
they realized he wasn't safe, so he had to still
stay in the castle, this time not quite as prisoner,
but pretty much the same. It's different. He
was the first adoptee. You know, you're always
trying shit out with the firstborn. For him,
it was kind of rough. It was almost like nothing
had changed. Yeah, and him and Dart butted heads.
A lot. Like a lot, almost every time. And now
we've got a serious mentor mentee thing going
on where I'm helping him become a burgeoning
world leader. Yeah. And he's learned like lessons
from all of you guys. Ultimately. I made him
read The Count of Monte Cristo and what was the
book? Like Reflections by Marcus Aurelius. Because
I'm a huge nerd. They seem like wise books for
a young lad to read. Oh, Edmund. Yes, it has
definitely been a long road with Edmund for sure.
Very tough. Indeed. Speaking of said road, Shanna,
it's not a question on us, I'm sorry, but would
you just get to give us like a what is the world
we're in, like kind of background? Like introducing
the world? Yeah, like what what campaign are
we doing? That kind of information. That's an
interesting question. So we are playing in a
very loose version of Vazloria, which is MCDM's
campaign setting. It takes place on a planet
called Orden. My version of Orden is really large
and has Well, let's just say... How's other shit
going on? Yeah. Yeah. So Vesaloria is just a
small part of Orden as a whole. Vesaloria currently
does not have, like... I guess what I should
say is the The way the what's going on right
now, I guess politically is that the There's
an there is an Emperor who Recently like within
the last couple of decades took over the area
he had killed the king and all of the King's
dukes and sort of left the baronies to survive,
and things became slowly, you know, more and
more disjointed over time, and have kind of,
like, degraded some. Anything else about Vassaluria?
The Pantheon is a modified version of that Don
wore a pantheon. Heavily modified. So yeah, it's
mainly a big mix of homebrew, but we did start
with the... I think it's called the Siege at
Castlerend is the name of the adventure and strongholds
and followers. And then you guys did also do
part of the follow up to that in Kingdoms and
Warfare. And then in addition to a little bit
of Night Below from like second edition or something,
you know, kind of sprinkled in there. In campaign,
have we mentioned any other gods besides Sylvanas
and Asmodeus? No, we have not particularly. I
think Pelor has been mentioned. Pelor, yes. But
other than that, no. I do have a shanthion. And
yeah, I can hook you guys up with more information
on that. But yeah. There's two fucking moons.
Oh yeah, there's two moons, motherfucker. Two
moons, one sun, no rain. Is that a no -mush to
me? Because I hope it is. No, but it can be.
Do you remember that? That story? Yes, I do actually.
Now we have two moons. So that is... We do for
now, right? Yeah, for now. Oh yeah. Yeah. I do
remember that story. You thought there was two
moons? I did. It turns out one of them was just
one of those big drums on a radio tower, but
it looked very real, I swear. Extremely moon
-like. I texted Shanna right after I got out
of work in all capital letters that she needed
to go outside immediately because there were
two moons. And then about 60 seconds after that,
I texted in not capital letters. Never mind.
I was literally getting up to look outside. I
was like, no fucking shit, bro. It's just an
average day in Vassaloria. It's weird if there
isn't two moons. One of the moons is big and
it's kind of bluish and then there's a smaller
moon that's reddish. Wonderful. Well, speaking
of the landscape, the emperor and royalty and
um we're talking about royalty in this uh universe
we need to bring up the umbermoors so um our
resident umbermore here zavari uh why why are
so who who is lady zavari umbermore lady zavari
umbermore kenway Can I? Hi, it's hyphenated.
Okay. Um, I have to think back to where we are
in the story where we start. Lady is a very umber
more Kenway. Current technically baronet and
doll wrath married to the Kenway air. Who am
I I am his wife, I I'm expected to uphold the
Kenways now, but before that, um, they called
me the Darling Jewel of Umbermoor. And I... am
perfect. At least that's how I have to be. All
the protocols I know. I know how to do everything
at the right time. And that can get really hard.
So who is who's the Umbermores? Why what is that?
What how who are the movers? Who are the shakers?
Who like how do they fit in the game of? Life
in and that's the warrior. Um to give you an
image Who are we in the game? Well, we set the
board We aren't A family of barons. We are counts.
Our land is a little bit bigger than all the
other lands. We live high up in the mountains.
Most of our region is very mountainous, so it
makes it easy for us to fend. So we have been
lucky enough to enjoy prosperity for almost 500
years. And who else? I'm thinking like you're
immediately like them. My immediate family, well,
there is my father, Count Remu. There is also
my mother, Preyas, Countess Preyas to everyone
else, Umbermore. She's just, she's so funny.
She's so great. She's really high strung. And
funny is interesting way of describing your mother.
You know, some of us do know her. I am glad to
not be one of them. Not for long. But my mom
is great. She let's she is a very neurotic, anxious
person, though. And she has a killer intuition.
I don't understand it myself. But I obviously
didn't get any of that. There is my oldest sibling.
Lord Zaris Umbermor, first of his name, first
in line for the throne. What isn't there to say
about Zaris? I don't really know. If you read
any of the tabloids in Umbermor, I'm sure you
know more than I do, honestly. First in line
for Reign's heart. If Reign will allow that,
maybe. Maybe? Maybe. Damn! You know, my sibling
is dating my friend? I don't know if Rain would
consider me a friend, but they are dating, and
that's been very interesting for me. But I try
not to dwell on it too much. And then I do have
a younger sibling, small lady, Zalia Umbermore.
She is deceiving. You would think that she is
not the type to pay attention to her environment
or the questionable people that we are forced
to interact with, but she notices things that
I don't think I ever could. She is so observant.
She is genius, I think, and I miss her very dearly.
For the very first time. My brain was like I
can't wait for Zalya to meet Edmund That means
a lot to me we'll talk about it later It just
reminds me of Dragon Friends, I'm sorry Well
now I need to tune the fuck in You've been needing
to tune in honestly. I'm so slow to watch anything.
It's fine though, you know, take your time. It's
okay. The seventh season is coming out soon.
It's the final. Oh, God. I'm very, very, very
behind. Very behind. So just take your time.
That's my immediate family. I'm ignoring my Cousins
who's your grandma some cousin why is she important
to the story my grandma countess Liliana umbermore
are by countess depending on which time line
which like you know timer referring as what her
title is. She's important because she was fucking
genius. And the history of the world i don't
think there's been a smarter woman than her she
created. firearms. She had created guns out of
nothing but the resources in her study. I don't
know anybody else that could do that. To refine
such a machine in one lifetime is insane to me.
And I also miss her dearly. She has passed a
very long time ago, but she is still my hero.
Imagine this like an E interview. Yeah. So rain.
Oh, goodness. We must know your relationship
with Zars. I'm for more is Zars the unready as
he's been called even. How did that happen? How
did you know? Give us the details. Well, you
know, I had no idea that I've already had a sibling
because they were lady literally a which we're
gonna come back to figure out who that is when
we first met and then all of a sudden this like
tall. Tall white haired twink appeared and his
entourage and their entourage and like. Uh, all
of a sudden you are now, uh, ladies of Ari and
that is your, or in, sorry, this is a different,
uh, I'm saying it's you and this is the interview.
Uh, and suddenly all of a sudden. Zara survived.
Um, and, uh, yeah, I mean, kind of saved everyone
in a big fight in the underdark and then. They
invited me to the Sapphire Jubilee and I said
yeah. And you accepted? And I said yeah. My goodness.
Uh, I mean, I didn't know really what I was getting
into, but um, I'm in it now. Don't worry, Rainn.
Your secret is safe with us. The next time he
sees him, I'm going to call him Zaris the premature.
You sure can do that. You can do anything. You'd
certainly try. um but yeah so uh we uh we didn't
it wasn't that long ago that we went on our first
real date because battle isn't dating all the
time you know sometimes well can you answer another
question for us about your relationship with
zaris yeah i guess i have i have a couple more
minutes before i have to get off you're so gracious
i'm just like this is our red carpet interview
at this What is the importance of Wisteria to
you and Zaris? Well, it was at our first date,
you know, in Blackbottom, Countess Praeus started
the beautiful gardens there, and we celebrated
in the Wisteria tunnel with our first kiss. Oh,
we know it's all over the tabloids. It is out
there. It's a very beautiful picture. Sorry,
can you tell us the significance in your relationship
with Zaris of dino nuggies? Yes, what are these
dino nuggies? So there are these lizard type
animals that look best in chicken form. So you
take chicken and mash it all up. i don't know
actually i don't let you sprinkle in some magic
while you're doing it because it's just fucking
delicious um and uh you just little little bite
-sized nuggets that look like dinosaurs that's
why they're dino nuggies and um yeah zarz is
really good at any gimmick tater tots too from
scratch perfect every like every single one was
uniform hmm i bet you sure do believe that anyway
oh i bet you It makes sense that you don't. Oh,
well, good thing I'm the one asking the questions.
It's a good one thing that I'm the one that's
dating the heir to the Umbermortis. The unready,
yes. He was trained by Chef Tyson. Oh my gosh.
I'm trying to think if there's any other questions
like that aren't on here. Rain based questions.
Well, enough about Zaris, Rain. I want to know
more about you. Where are you from? Where in
Vazloria are you from? You know, I'm not really
from Vazloria. I'm from the other side of the
mountain, but you know, it's okay. There's lots
of mini names for over there. Oh yes, the Feywild.
We know all about that story. That's really amazing
that you're from there. That's so interesting.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. That's where I'm from.
Yep, yep, that's on the record. Yep, yeah, Feywild.
Feywild Dwarf. Don't see too many of those. Faye
Bay over here, you know. Oh, is that what SARS
calls you? That's what your tabloids are going
to call me now. You're right. Put it on the presses
now. Well, word on the street is over there in
that section of the Feywild. There's some really
questionable things going on. Like, you wouldn't
exactly be welcomed back. What's that about?
Or is that just all hearsay? Oh, no, it's not.
It's... It's not hearsay and it's not fully true.
I would be welcome back and in Colia this the
city where there were I true where I live But
I don't know if she didn't tell us she didn't
get us this material before I'm sorry Excuse
me, I don't have time for the bickering, but
you know, I'm absolutely welcome in Colia. However,
the Empire over there, the Emperor of the Pages
doesn't like people with disabilities very much
and sees them as a blemish and an imperfection
to his plan. Write that down, write that down.
And so because of this, It is seen for, you know,
the greater good for people like me to not exist
anymore. Well, who has the last laugh now? Look
at how successful you are. Yeah, yeah, you know,
we'll see how tonight goes. Oh, all right. Future
Countess. Vosgrove, Umbermore, Umbermore Vosgrove.
Get the votes ready. We could put this in next
week's issue. Or maybe they make a new last name.
Graham's like, don't answer that! Don't answer
that! Graham pulls Raine. Just wraps his arm
around, like hooks his arm into yours and he's
like, no comment, no comment. But, Graham. Roger,
I have a 360 camera I have to get to. Okay, bye.
Yeah, 360 when you're in the meeting. Rain really
is everywhere. She is, in fact, so Julia. Punching
that. I need a 360 remix, but Rain now. The Bratz
summer still continues. Gram. God fucking. Don't
gram me. I hate this. No. Common I hate this
little shit. He always does this lovely to see
you. You look amazing He's like yes, it's like
he's like taking you back to the super secret.
Yeah It's time to go. It's time to go Get on
the roof, get on the roof, get on the roof! I
imagine Rain like, moon gliding up to the roof
and Graham just holding on for dear life, screaming.
It's like, I know this is normal to you and all,
Rain. And I hope this isn't ableist, but this
is really weird. Is that ableist? We need to
save this for the one shot version. Right? I
have, there's something in me. Graham that needs
to come out. I think Graham and Rain should have
a fun adventure. The bestie and the girlfriend.
The adventure to get a gift for Zara's birthday.
I was like, my name is gonna go on this too,
right? You're gonna put your names on the Tabaxi
Cat dolls? If they fucking let me. I mean, same.
Suddenly find out Rain and Graham have, yeah,
they have bro energy. and rain wing chicks for
Graham. You're not ready. You're gonna need more
than that. You're gonna need some prayers and
a can of WD -40. Well, I want that water bottle.
Exactly. He needs to stay hydrated. Goodness.
Okay, we're getting off track. Yeah, we're getting
off track. There's interviews all over the place.
I'm over here trying to come up with a cat version
of Nicole Scherzinger. Oh, I already have the
Scherzing Sea. Necco. Something of the Scherzing
Sea. Ah, that's nice. I was just like Necco,
like literally. Yeah, Necco of the Scherzing
Sea. Also... I saw a video of her shooting like
a bow and arrow where she slides down into the
splits. That's so hot. And she like fucking hits
it, like hits the thing. Whenever I make a Ranger
character, because my goal is still one day to
play all the classes. Whenever I make a Ranger
character, just know that's what the fuck is
going on. Just do what? Fucking... Okay, um...
Lady Zavari, Lady Zavari! Oh, hello! Hi! um news
uh reports have uh stated that that maybe you
go by a different name now um i mean i've taken
up going by one of my middle names occasionally
is that what you mean which one oh any of them
um not really alexandra i don't really use that
one much what about a lightrea oh that one um
That one is more of an homage to a friend of
mine who has since passed, unfortunately. Uh,
was it due to being a part of the Church of Asmodeus?
Oh, God, no. Uh, because that's what reports
have, uh, told us recently. Oh, well, you know,
Lytria is a common tiefling name, so you might
have the wrong information on that. Uh, we'll
check back in with you. I hope you have a great
rest of your night, though. My information's
never wrong. I know it's never wrong. This is
bullshit. I know, I know. There's something fishy.
We gotta follow her. There's definitely something
going on. Um, no, there's gonna have to be a
one -shot where we're reporters. Journalism.
Fuck. That would be really fun. Investigation
journalism one -shot. Oh my god. We better all
stack up our investigations. That'd be the one
thing we're using all fucking night. Can I have
a lorry, please? We're gonna do a one shot where
you guys are all paparazzi and you're tracking
down the ham crusaders. So, Shanna, DM, how was
the Underdark? Hi, God. Hi, God. How was the
Underdark? How was the Underdark? I mean, I thought
it was lovely. What did you think? A grand time?
What did you find so lovely about it? The sights
the sounds the smells yeah particularly How damp
it is there it was at least where you guys were
that was that was lovely The troglodytes were
a highlight for me personally I'm a little disappointed
that you guys avoided the grill I don't even
remember what the hell the grell is, but I'm
glad we avoided it. They're like giant floating
brains with like beaks and tentacles. You fought
one in the lore of La Rue, the hag had one in
the well. Yeah, that's right. Those things are
manly. Oh, it was my first time getting to use
a purple worm, which was wonderful. You got to
use a lot of stuff for the first time. Yeah.
Did I? I mean, well. Have you ever run an apolith
before? Oh, no, I hadn't run an album last before.
I was like, what the hell are you up to? Kool
-Aid man? No. Or that didn't end up working out
quite like I expected. Or inter -party betrayal.
Oh my goodness. So, okay. Dart. Underdart. Underdart.
What was your experience and who was Charlie
Bigbottom? The underdart. So that was a mess.
From beginning to end. What I remember specifically
is that the very first time we came there to
the Underdark, once we got through the portal
or what have you, I feel like as soon as we tried
to maneuver into the Underdark, Everything went
horribly wrong and we very nearly died. Like
the first thing we touched just exploded. Glyph
of warding. Honestly, we earned that though.
That was when you guys came back. We earned the
glyph of warding thing though. I will give that
to them. I'm like in the uh... I got a little
um... a little cavalier with my diplomacy and
made some people upset, if I recall. Indeed,
indeed. And uh... I'm still convinced, though
the DM says otherwise, that I brought the Aboleth
upon us. With like, wrath bat juju? Yeah, by
mentioning that it was like a creature that I
wanted to fight. The DM will give you whatever
you asked for even if you don't want it But we
did we did end up defeating it Which was you
know? That was a big moment for me. That was
the first time I felt like I don't know, like
we were high level characters. I mean, we weren't
necessarily high level at the time, but it felt
like a very high level character thing to do.
I thought eight is pretty high. Yeah. We're definitely
high now. It was also like a two, two and a half
session fight. It was a huge fucking fight, Mike.
It was awesome. Plus there was other components
needing up to it. Just the charge up to it was
fucking long. I think the most important thing
I want to talk about with regards to the Underdark
is the development of new slurs. I fucking love
new fantasy slurs. I don't remember what the
creatures are actually called. Kuahtoa. The Kuahtoa,
is that what they were? Was it? Yeah. No. Or
is it fish people? Is it not Kuahtoa? It is,
yeah. Yeah, because they were a worshipping blip
dual poop. Yeah, it's a Kuahtoa. Yeah, that's
right. Except Dart, despite all his otherwise
liberal politics. um does not like the gogglers
as he so calls them hard r yeah that's a hard
r on that gobbler also everyone i am black i
i can say that joke and make that joke whenever
i fucking want to don't you start with me i am
not black and it is questionable if i bring it
up first it's fine The Underdark is also where
you guys met Morag. Oh yeah, that's true. And
Pena's boyfriend. So we went to the Underdark
because Pena got stolen, yoinked, for her magey
mage powers because they were hoarding mages.
It's also where we met Lilac. Yes. They were
using her, she's a gemstone dragonborn. She's
a gemstone dragonborn, yeah. Um, which are illegal
in Vasyloria. Yes, the emperor said, uh Stop
making them They are made not born. Yes, they
are Um gemstone dragonborn are made via sorcery.
They don't occur naturally So yeah, so and the
emperor said no to that it's unnatural don't
don't do that anymore, um and And furthermore,
the gemstone dragon knights were like the king's
knights, the previous king's knights. So there's
like - Symbolism there. Also additional historical
reasons why the emperor banned the creation of
them. And if you turn one in, you do get some
money. How much? Well, this is not this is the
player wonder that's something you can reveal
I Mean it's kind of like one of those things
where okay, so DM wise I imagine it's kind of
one of those things where they pay you What you're
willing to take if that makes it and so like
they will try to lowball you but if you're like,
no No, I know like I know you find out when you
do it you dastardly class traitor exactly like
basically it's just kind of like uh, like some
people will be like, oh, you know, I got 500
gold and other people will be like 500. I got
like 3000, you know, and it's just because of
money, like also like who they are economically,
right? Like if, if they know you're poor, they're
going to start by offering you like a hundred
gold, which is a year's worth of money almost
like it's a lot, but you know, if you're of a
higher status, then they're gonna, they're gonna
compensate you accordingly. Um, Shayna, I feel
like there was an encounter we had in the Underdark
that is fuzzy at best in my memory. And I think
it was something along the lines that we ran
into this guy where we could either run into
him or his brother. The Rakshasas. Yeah. Yeah.
We saw his brother on the way as we were leaving.
I remember they were like fucking fighting. And
I was like, I'm glad we didn't do that shit.
I'm beat up. Yeah, so you guys were you were
traveling through some hook horror caverns when
you noticed some regular furniture in like one
of the chambers and At that point, you guys were
really beat up, so you guys were like, we're
not gonna look into that. I remember we hotboxed
this place. And then I, I believe, if I remember
correctly, you ended up running into the other
one. Yeah. And he was looking for his brother.
And you guys had kind of figured out, oh, his
brother was living in that chamber disguised
as a hooker. And I think you guys told him because
he like offered you something. The Crimson Mist?
No. I feel like we got the Crimson Mist during
the Aboleth fight. No, because you used it on
the siege of the City of the Glass Pool. Yeah,
you're right. I got it before. Yeah, you had
it. I think that might have been what you guys
got. Yeah, he ended up giving you guys something
and you were like, oh yeah, we're pretty sure
he was here. And when you guys were leaving,
you saw that they were fighting. But yeah, it
was just something that, like, was a background
sort of thing. Two Raksasa brothers trying to
kill each other. Oh, I remember. I used the Crimson
Mist, and then it got, like, semi -defeated,
and I just, like, bottled up its remains. And
it slowly regenerated, and now I have it again.
Yeah. I imagine you just slowly, like, scooping
it up, and it's, like, the consistency of slime.
Lovely. Because Crimson Mist is something that's
created, well, here's some lore. Crimson Mist
is something that's created from a vampire that
died via, like, sunlight, usually, like, some
kind of, like, sunlight spell or something. I
got an idea for Strahd, y 'all. Some things that
people will learn in the first episode is that
you be a king. Yeah, that's right. Long live
the king how how you be a king frog king sir
so Much like becoming a father it was entirely
accidental That's real If I if I recall correctly
we were attempting to loot a church And there
was like a puzzle or something and the gist of
it was like that it said that someone, anyone
needed to just accept like responsibility or
something for like being a defender of the realm
and if you just agreed to be a defender of the
realm then you got the loot and no one else wanted
to do it and I was like I mean whatever you know
it's cool I'll say I'll be the defender of the
realm that's fine and I did and some time later
a little loot box opened up and inside there
was like a fancy sword and a fancy shield a crown
and some kingly silk robes and I thought nothing
of it. I was like, well, I'll just throw those
on my pack donkey and we'll sell them when we
get somewhere. There was also bones. This was
before our actions had consequences. I thought
absolutely nothing of it. I just swept the bones
off onto the ground, packed up the gear and threw
it onto my donkey, Bucephalus. And we just rode
away. And I think it was what, probably like
80 sessions later when you were like, hey, remember
that shield you picked up? It was a year later.
Yeah. I was like, vaguely? Sort of. I have it
written down in my notes somewhere. And you were
like, yeah, by the way, when you did that, you
became a king. And I was like, oh my god. But
what it was, I think, is when you guys met Razlax.
Razlax. Oh, yeah. So it wasn't like... It was
probably like Ten ish. I don't know ten sessions
later something like that. I don't know because
it was when you guys cleared out castle range
And you might rise lacks. He told you what the
significance of the shield was And that's why
he like swore a fealty to you because he was
like I recognize the symbol of the shield of
Andoran. It seemed like it was so much later,
like so long afterwards. You had it for like...
D &D time is crazy. Like us playing for a year,
not like... Mind you, it's been three years IRL,
but in the game it's been like three months.
Because I didn't think I found out I became a
king then because I feel like when I found out
that the shield was significant I like offered
it to Razalax and he was like I'm not worth it.
I remember telling you about the king thing because
I remember Tace telling Zavari about it and Zavari
being like I'm gonna tell Dart and it's gonna
freak him out it's gonna be really funny and
it didn't and then you rose to the occasion instead.
But do I I do remember you telling me that like
the sword and shield sort of like in a way choose
or like choose to continue being like a Thing
for whoever has them if based on like their deeds
So it's something like that. So And also, I'm
not sure how long how much longer it wasn't like
right when you met Razalax Because he didn't
like see the shield right away. You know what
I mean? Cuz you had you weren't brand you have
you didn't have it with you I think you had buried
it at that point. Oh yeah, because someone tried
to attack us. It wasn't until later, and I think
that's when he had told you the significance
of the shield. So yeah, that kind of makes more
sense. But it is the shield itself. So the sword,
Arcturus, the Sword of Stars, it belongs to...
there's basically like a legendary group of weapons.
And so it is one of them. The party is also in
possession of Scorpius, the Sword of Lies. I'm
having so much fun doing this. And so Arcturus
and the Shield of Andorim aren't necessarily
like... But was it the shield then that was like...
But the shield is what, like, recognized like
once It recognized you as a leader. That's when
the shield granted you its benefits and started
like protecting you and, you know, kind of activating.
And so it's kind of the shield does kind of determine
your worthiness, essentially, like, obviously,
you know, there's a lot of other factors that
go into being king, but as far as the shield
is concerned, you're worthy of becoming king.
And At one point, the shield itself conferred
nobility. Whoever wielded it was king of Androm.
It now seems like a good time to say that I,
Ryan, the regular person, generally viewed myself
as having no leadership ability whatsoever. But
for some reason, I keep accidentally falling
into that position within my campaigns. Something
in you is trying to get expressed. And I seem
to be reasonably good at it. So if any of my
managers are listening, please promote me. Promote.
Promote. I have leadership ability. backtrack
a little bit. We were talking about the Underdark,
and I just wanted to talk about a moment that
happened before we went into the Underdark. That's
one of my favorite moments of the campaign. I
call it the lucky brain foot, if you guys recall.
So I think we were fighting, what's the name
of that orc? A Bonebreaker Doracor. Yeah, Bonebreaker
Doracor. For the second time? I think so, yeah.
We were outside a tower nearby where we ended
up going into the Underdark. Yeah, she was already
gone. And I can't remember, it wasn't a mind
flayer, but it was something in that realm. An
intellect of our? No. That was the brain foot
thing. No, it was something with... No, it was
a mind flayer. Because you saw mind flayers talking
with them. Mind flayers. Yeah, you guys fought
a mind flayer with Bonebreaker Doracor. Quite
a few of them. In any case, we finished off Bonebreaker
Doracor, the terrifying orc, and they fell to
the ground and then something alien -style burst
out of their head. And in the greatest use of
my gun, which we haven't really talked about
yet, but in addition to my bow and arrow, I do
have a gun and the lucky, or the, the, the intellect
devour burst out of Bonebreaker Dora core. And
rather than fire an arrow at it, I pulled out
my pistol and unloaded the entire clip into it.
Uh, terrified and screaming. then took its corpse
and put a little chain on it and it became a
little token of mine called the lucky brain foot.
It's shriveled up like jerky now. Yeah. And,
uh, it's, it's one of like, as a hunter type
character, it's one of my tokens of accomplishment,
the lucky brain foot. And, uh, one of my most
cherished memories of the campaign was, uh, me
screaming with this, uh, little toy gun that
I found in a park. not a great place to find
a gun but it's a toy it's a toy um and it makes
one noise it used to make one noises before the
battery ran out um but yeah screaming and shooting
that was a great one crying throwing up it was
i have a question yeah we haven't asked rain
what you thought of the underdark um not dare
to Reign was terrified the whole time especially
when both the umbermoors were there with her
and She had she had the air and the second and
the air and the spare together I'm sorry didn't
hurt her at all the air and the next in line
Together in one battle both went down those dying
Uh, like... Also flirting with both of them simultaneously?
In like, a weird situation? Unintentionally?
Vos Mor. No. Unintentionally? Uh, one of them.
Unintentionally one of them, intentionally the
other. You said the air and the spare and I was
like, how could you talk that way about Graham
and Leslie? No, I agree. Where the hell did you
go? I didn't write that. I just wanted to get
out. But also, so what was interesting about
the Underdark is that we went twice. And one
of the reasons why we went twice was because
We had like an attack on our castle and I felt
like that like that section of art that was so
intense was is like worth noting because we did
something I personally had never done before,
which was like a siege on our castle. We did
like actual war gaming. Yeah, looking back on
it. That's crazy. And I anticipate more of that
happening in the future. So like using our like
understanding how many units we had and working
with the clock and trying to do all of that all
while being in the Underdark. Rain's brain was
everywhere. It was just like, okay, we have to
do this because, okay, where are we in the Underdark?
Her ADHD was having a fucking field day. So that's
how Rain felt about the Underdark. And then I
was like, okay, I gotta do this, I gotta do all
these other things. Okay, now we gotta attack,
defend our castle. Okay, now we gotta go back.
Oh shit, bit blown up, okay, like. Okay, blown
up, okay, I'm gonna go to a party later, alright.
Oh yeah, yep, I'm going to a party. I'm gonna
hold my breath and go through all these walls
with these other Dwagar and like, I don't even
know. Hold my breath? Yeah. And we did see Dwagar
fucking - The deep gnomes. Yeah, the deep gnomes.
Oh yeah. Coronad and the gemfinder. Mm -hmm.
Who still like hangs out in the castle. I like
that wherever we go we come back with like souvenirs
and the souvenirs are people. Yeah Was Koronan
the one where I like threatened to destroy their
kingdom and then they got mad at me Yeah, they
did that before. Koronan's not the one who got
Koronan brought you to his queen. That's right
Well his high priestess and she was the one who
got mad at you and she was so mad at Koronan
that he that she exiled him and so he came back
to you guys and was like Rain, can I ask you
a question? What does the term gooba gooba mean
to you? Shit, I didn't even think to bring that
up. Gooba gooba. Okay, one, it is a terrible...
Not accurate reference to a community It's not
accurate because it's it's not quite Guba Guba.
Oh, it's Guba Guba It's Guba Guba. Okay Bear
down on that reference kids So it is a community
reference so that's really funny, but Basically
she had to talk to the troglodytes, but she doesn't
speak troglodyte In the Underdark she came across
chocolate lights, but she wanted to be friends
and so she somehow figured out Gooba Gooba and
like thumbs up and like hey and like she gave
them scraps and friendship bracelets and Gooba
Gooba'd and that's how they were like communicated
is via Goobas and Those are rough approximation
of their language Yeah, the complex but boiled
down essentially comes out like I am Groot. It
was just gooba gooba and we like I just like
met like friend or like yeah, please some kind
of Symbol that you guys were on the same side
and speak friend and and now you guys have a
unit of Yeah, 28 troglodytes I was something
get out of the end of dark. We got a lot of friends.
I saved as many of them as I possibly could.
I do want to give Dart a little bit of credit
here about the Gogglers. Sorry. Oh, there we
are. Even though you hated the Quotoa, you still
spared the eggs. I have a soft spot for kids.
This is true because yeah, there were there were
some mages who were going to just destroy them
and He was like he stepped in and was like no
no. No, you're not doing that So it wasn't even
like blood that was gonna be on your hands and
you still like refused like that's a man yet
I think that is the reason why the shield like
chose dart Because he knows who the king is.
Mm -hmm. He has the will of fire. Food for thought.
Alternate campaign timeline. Reign's fucking
queen. Reign was right there when Dart got that
shit, and another timeline Reign took it, and
that's fucking crazy to think about. What is?
What AU? Oh, like if Reign had sworn the oath
instead. Yeah. Oh, shit. Yeah. That's like AU.
In the EU, I don't adopt kids, but I do have
a long -standing relationship with a tree named
Charlene. It's very off again and on again. I
think you'd still have Charlie Bigbottom, though.
Reign can barely fathom the idea of being a dame.
I don't think... Oh, come back to fucking Coleo.
It's like, hey, guys, I know you all have, like,
opinions about me, but... Guess who's fucking
queen now? I'm queen now, suck my dick. I'm the
queen of the castle and you're the dirty rat.
No. My initial mount was a extremely, almost
inexplicably well -trained donkey named Bucephalus.
And then while we were in the Underdark, I achieved
a long -standing childhood dream of taming a
giant spider to be my new mount, who I promptly
named Charlie Bigbottom. And he has served me
loyally ever since. I can't do it as good as
he can. Wonderful. Well, Shanna. Two and a half
years of gameplay going from level three to level
10. One of the last things that we did All that
all that time all that laid up last things we
did was we went to bed agar and we Went to go
capture Lord Saxton we had another mission as
well But what what happened like how catch like
The first our first episode we will really be
diving into like the the what happened after
the events of the Star Chamber. So just kind
of like what happened and why was it so significant
and how has that led to where we're starting
recording? Okay. So Lord Saxton was the... Oh,
sorry. Well, I mean he is. He is still alive.
The usurper of Betagar. He is He is a lord who
used to work for the previous baron of Betagar.
I know his name. The previous baron? Yeah. Like
Edmund's father? Yeah. You've said his name before,
but I don't have it in my mind. Mr. Betagar.
Mr. Betagar. Insert name here. Insert name here.
I have it written down. I know it, but for some
reason it's escaping me right now. Yeah, I mean,
you gotta work for somebody if you're gonna usurp
them. So yeah, so he had worked with the previous
Baron of Betagar who was Edmund's father. And
Edmund was actually not the heir. He had an older
brother. He was... not meant to rule. It is still
a little unclear exactly what happened. However,
Saxton hired Bonebreaker Doracor and her orcs
to mount a siege on Betagar. Saxton let them
in. and had them kill the entire family so that
he could step in and become the Baron. The orcs.
Bonebreaker Doracor was kind of like... She wanted
to make sure she had insurance against Saxon
to make sure that she got paid, so she decided
not to kill the youngest son, Edmund, and instead
keep him captive. That way, just in case Saxon
tried any, like, fuck shit, they could be like,
well, we have this boy, so, like, you're not
actually the Baron. Fuck you. And that's kind
of where, so that's why they were keeping him
prisoner. And they were continuing to work for
Saxton, as well as they were working, they were
doing side work for the Mind Flayers who were,
the Mind Flayers were employing mercenaries kind
of all over the place, because you guys actually
had to come across some other mercenaries from
another part of like Vazloria, I think from Black
Bottom. down there, that they had been employing
mercenaries to bring them spellcasters. And that's
because the Avaleth needed them to power his
Tower of Domination. That shit sucked. Yeah,
there's a lot going on, I guess. Yeah, now that
I think about it. But that's so back to Sax and
he Well, that's where I guess, yeah, so he had
Bonebreaker Doracor killed the Medigar family.
Edmund was the one still alive. That's when you
guys came in. You guys had cleaned out Bonebreaker
Doracor's tribe. I guess it's not really like
a tribe. It's more like her, just her crew. And
that was via, like, possession. and ghostly adventures
and just a variety of hat tricks. Shenanigans,
perhaps. Shenanering. Yeah, so then it was like
now Edmund's in your guys' hands and that's kind
of how that happened. So, right from the jump,
Edmund tells you like, well, I'm gonna go kill
Lord Saxon. That's That's me me. That's what
I'm gonna do And you guys know the fuck you aren't
child chill out And you guys kind of like well,
this is our problem now And that is essentially
when you you guys were truly like Opposing saxton
in addition to that you guys had had run -ins
with one of his and one of his star nights sir
peloton and Sir pencil dick And yeah, and you
guys Pretty pretty quickly figured out that he's
a piece of work And so That is why, why you guys,
why your castle was attacked was that Lord Saxon
sent Sir Peloton with a small militia to lay
siege on Castlerend. Because he was pissed off
at you. And that's where you kill, that's when
you killed... Ser Peloton, you killed the Master
of Ravens, who also has a history with Zavari.
Which we didn't know at the time. Yeah, which
was explored later. So that is where that is
when she became the Master of Ravens. But yeah,
so it's kind of Saxon had been kind of like on
your asses for a minute. And he definitely. was
also like raising like taxes and pissing people
off and also doing some weird shit in the star
chamber that you guys ended up uncovering and
putting it into. But yeah, so he had just kind
of been a thorn in your side for a long time.
And it was a big deal, you know, for Edmund.
It was a very emotional. situation for him to,
for you guys to have finally captured, um, captured
him and you're now bringing him to justice. And
one minor thing that happened, minor as in we
forgot someone. Um. Yes. We'll have to go back
and get her. Uh, so. That'll be some of those
things that we're going to be doing when we start
our episode. Our first episode is we're arriving
back to Castle Rend after a successful, partly
successful mission to capture Lord Saxton, which
we did. And so, yeah, we'll have to see how we
deal with how we deal with that and how the story
proceeds. But we really just wanted to kind of
give you a A taste of what two and a half years
of progress was. Of course this is the spark
notes. Indeed, and there's definitely a lot of
things that will come up. Yeah, there's a lot
more. Yeah, there's so much more. If we make
a reference to something. Holla check the wiki.
I'm sure it'll get made at some point indeed
There's gonna be lore and lore and lore and lore
and one day. We're hoping to have a patreon popped
up, too So if you're ever interested, let us
know. Yeah having some fun stuff, but Yeah, so
thanks for tuning into our episode zero our little
prologue of who we are what we're doing why we're
doing and what we have done. And yes, anybody
else want to say anything? I have one thing to
mention. Yes. Zivari's time in the Underdark
sucked, especially for her. She's a lady. She's
not used to this shit. And then it got really,
really bad when her mind became not her own anymore.
And the Avaless was controlling her and making
her lie to and betray her friends and further
damaging her relationship with the rest of the
party in ways that still have not been recovered.
That will, you know, play into her mental state
as we get into this first episode and first arc.
She's not doing great, y 'all. And on that note,
don't forget to pick your toe crusties before
bed. Just throwing that out there. Words of advice
from DM? No. All right. Typical. Typical. Thank
you, God. Advice on what? It's not specific enough.
I'm autistic. I apologize. I'm like, what kind
of advice? This isn't accessible. Advice on advice.
Okay, so when giving advice, you want to make
sure that you understand the context needed for
the advice. And most of the time it's best if
you don't give it when it's unsolicited. um sometimes
people have to hear it and it's like man i gotta
be that person um which i don't like to be so
i i usually you know chicken out um so don't
be like that and uh you know drink lots of water
be conservative about your not like not conservative
jesus christ my Give advice in moderation. Give
counsel in moderation. Don't be conservative.
You're cancelled. I'm not telling you what to
be. See, this is why I don't give advice. Well,
there you have it. That has been the prologue,
the very beginning, the introduction. of what
we've been doing who we are what we're doing
all the things um thanks for making it this far
and we're super excited to share our story you
know and full disclosure the audio that we have
coming up the quality of it isn't as good as
what we have here for the prologue. This is your
what is to come audio and even now we've already
improved beyond what we did for this prologue
here. So just please give us grace, please keep
with us and please stay safe friends. Now I just
kind of want Waltor to have like a really eclectic
taste in like 1990s rap music. Like he loves
Eric B and Rakim. And Queen Latifah. It's time
for me to ask my mother, she's like, Mom, give
me your old CDs, your old consists. I need them
for research. Please get art of Waltor dressed
up as Queen Latifah. Oh my fucking God. I need
you with that.