Last time on the Empire Initiative. With their mission in Betagar City complete, the Crusaders return home to make plans for the future. They arrive to find a retinue of Umbermoor Paladins and a diplomat seeking to discuss Edmund's ascension and the fate of Lord Saxton. Zola Honeycutt reveals to Dart that his people suffered terribly at the hands of an orc named Blood Harvester Vren. Meanwhile, under Reign's watchful eyes, Zevari disguises herself to interrogate Lord Saxton and finally gets some answers regarding the Kenways, the former Master of Ravens, and the Emperor. This is Episode 5, Arcadia's Arcane O'Pedia.
Now, it is early morning of the next day. Everybody's
probably getting their breakfast together. Are
you two studying my book last night? Yes, you
guys will study, right? I said - Oh no, that
was while you guys were waiting. You haven't
studied again. Yeah. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah.
How was the rolling on that? Well, basically
it was like four hours. You get four hours and
then you have to roll tons to have - to be able
to stand reading longer, because they're technical
manuals. They're not like leisure reading. No.
I made four hours. Four hours. Four hours is
a lot. You guys are still getting there. Four
hours is not nothing. You know? And how many
days do you guys have to finish it now? I have
five left. I think I have five. I think you have
a start on the same day. So yeah, five days left.
You can make it. But yeah, so, you know, enter
the scene. You guys are... So you said you get
up early? Yeah, since she doesn't read very late,
she just goes to bed and then she goes and does
some endurance training. She hasn't done it in
a little bit. She hasn't been fighting. She knows
she needs to go do at least a little bit. What,
uh, do you go outside for it or what do you?
No, I feel like what she does is she goes to
the, like there's towers, right? Yeah. Like with
stairs. Uh, yeah, there's one tower with stairs
that's like intact. So she goes to that one and
then she does handstands, um, and handstands
up and down the stairs. Okay, guys, that's it.
That's it. Impressive. Impressive. Short bursts
of endurance training is where she's making an
athletics check. 16. 16? So, I mean, yeah, that's
pretty solid. I would say, you know, like, you
probably expected yourself to be rustier than
you were, you know? You're like, this is, you
know... Finding stuff is not... I happen to be
doing the dexterity training manual for the last
day so my body's more stretched and so it's easier
for me to be full extension of my arms upside
down. Yeah, that's a good point. You're already
feeling the effect of utilizing the book. That's
cool. What does your book do to you again? Just
to jog my memory? Um, it's a manual quick quickness
of action So I would increase my dexterity by
two points Which would put me up plus four for
my dexterity modifier, which would boost a lot
of different things. Yeah, it's gonna be really
good Okay, it was strategic play. Now, let's
see if I can finish this book. I'm right there
with her Yeah, so you're training up and down
the stairs That yeah, so that actually those
that tower is the tower where their sages created
like a small library His name was tree worth
in he's a portal sage he He heard of darts deeds
and wanted to join And kind of you know put his
knowledge to the cause he said he he came actually
originally because Lord Saxon was Hiking up,
you know taxes and just fucking in front of the
libraries and he was like fuck Lord Saxon And
that's also why Demelza had come because she
was like, well, I'm not doing you know I'm not
you know doing fucking work for them like and
that's her whole like it's her whole job is like
being a scribe Yeah, and so she was like, well,
I'm just gonna go do my job for someone I actually
like believe in so Yeah, so that's that's where
that's where his little library is and you actually
see Tree Orlin coming up the stairs when you're
coming down them And he is with He's with like
two or he's with another Like person who lives
at Castle Ren like one of like the laborers you
know, Dirk. And Dirk Moneyrich? Yes. Yes. Yeah.
So he's with Dirk and they're trying to carry
this like super big book up the stairs. Like
this like large ancient like water damaged book.
And you recognize this book. I recognize this
book. You recognize this book as the book that
you guys found in the Tower of Domination. In
the Avalos Lair. You may not remember this book,
but you did find one down there. Why is it here?
Because you guys grabbed it. We brought it. That's
also, I think, where you guys found the Tome
of Leadership. Yeah, that's what I'm reading.
There was a few things that... A few things that
you found in that tower, but this book was one
of that had Rain would remember and you were
like I feel like flux I have like flux is still
like the Doing the spider crab form and is like
it's like a metal chair morphed transformer -esque
the dock -op body for Flux but he is up there
helping me stay balanced essentially just like
poking the wall and so I look at them like and
this is too too easy why don't can you really
just set that on top and Flux will hold it and
I'll just like use it for more endurance training
and tree warden who has big heavy like bushy
turtley eyebrows um that like kind of like cover
his eyes his big eyebrows and you just see these
little beady eyes underneath and he's uh they
just they just his eyebrows just rise he's like
you're saying you could carry this on your butt
yeah my butt's powerful And she goes into colossal
stance, right? That's what I find. Because I
am stronger and can't be knocked over. Yeah.
Colossal stance. Yeah, and Dirk is immediately
like, because he's like kind of struggling a
little bit with the look, and like also they're
going up with like weird spiral staircase, and
it's just really uncomfortable and cumbersome,
and he's immediately like, thank God. Thank God.
I need to get back to my actual job. I'll carry
it as far as I can, but I'll help with... What's
this quarter's name? Treewarden. I'll help Treewarden.
Tree... Treewarden? Treewarden. Treewarden. Real
quick, I just have, in our like, treasury of
stuff, one large tome. Potentially a spell book?
Question mark? That's what we're... That's the
thing. What's it called? I don't think it has
a name yet. It doesn't have a name yet. I don't
know anything about it other than just it's a
big -ass book and you're doing stuff with it.
Okay. That was just clarified because I had that
written down and I was like, is that the sample?
Yeah, they don't know what it's called, but you
guys brought it and you gave it to the sage.
and a taste to look at. And they had told you
that it was a spell book of some sort, but it
was written in some incomprehensible ancient
language. That's not infertile. That they were
going to research it and see if there was anything
to be gained from it. But now he's bringing it
up from the library, trying to bring it to the
first floor, things like the library's down in
the basement. Or at least that's wearable. The
library I think is like two levels, but like
the, yeah, I was in the basement level. So yeah,
so they're like, by all means. And Dirk will
do his best. He kind of like stands it up, you
know, on its end. And she like. Pushes deep down
so that she gets lower. Oh nice. That's so nice
of you. And so we can just kind of let it fall
a little bit and then kind of lift and then like
I'm assuming flux starts to grip. Yeah. Yeah
with the little legs and he's like that thing
is so weird. It's cool. It's cool, but spiders
kind of freak me out. I get that. And it's like
a metal spider thing. And I'm upside down on
a stair king, so. See that old spider lady? God,
she's fucking creepy. She's the best. Respect
for Morag. Which way are we going? This is pretty
heavy. Okay. And then she like does her like
push up and then goes up. Hell yeah. Hell yeah.
And it's hot as fuck. She's sweating. Yeah. It's
hot in a castle. There's no AC. Yeah. summertime
perfect for like for this kind of training though
honestly can i see that book for a minute which
way to start i'm going up to the first floor
to the first floor um maybe i get to the first
floor and you're like right there right i'd like
to touch that book Can we get it somewhere where
it's not on my butt? Yeah, seems reasonable.
Where are we going? She just like keeps, keeps
Guy Sensei on her hands carrying the book. Trey
Irving calls up and he's like, oh well, um, just
like the office or some, a place where you can
throw it on a table. I was actually going to
get you guys anyway. Don't lose that put that
that lady that other lady that's always with
you the one that wears the heels Heels not heels.
Um, okay, uh, literally it's about literally
literally Yeah, where's rain is it doesn't know
which one to call you. It's like, I don't know
You wanna go find her while we go find a place
to go with the film, right Do we go to the war
room? I believe this room you turned into the
cafeteria. Oh yeah. That's where we ate dino
nuggies. But... Yeah, I don't know. Maybe...
Your guys' meeting room is on the second floor.
I believe. Let's go. You have to take it across
the whole lobby. And then up the other, because
there are like stairs in this main lobby area
that go up to the second - Raine, this is already
starting to go that far. Should I do another
athletic check? Yeah, do another athletic check.
You're just gonna take it, yeah, take it up there.
Uh, 18. Wow, yeah. I mean, yeah, and the book
isn't like, it isn't like insanely heavy, it's,
I mean it's - Pretty heavy, it's probably like,
how heavy would a big ass book be? Like 70 pounds
or so? This paper's pretty heavy. But yeah, so
it's pretty significant, but it's not, it's not
like, unbelievable, if that makes sense. Like,
you could definitely, you could definitely carry
it. Especially in colossal stance. Yeah, or you
could definitely carry it and get up the stairs.
Roll Constitution. Jesus. A save. Nine. Ooh,
your muscles are pretty sore now. Like, they
are, they don't, you don't start feeling it until
after you set the book down. And then you're
like, am I overdid it just a little? Oh, yeah.
Let me look at my book to see if there's anything
about, so she just like starts doing her stretches
that she's already learned. Like, all right,
I did my work, you guys figure it out, and just
goes to a bench and goes and starts stretching.
Treewarden is kind of, he's not very fast, so
he's still like, he isn't up there in the room
with you guys yet either. Um, Dart, do you want
to touch the book? Yeah. Um, I... I'm wearing
the helm of comprehend languages, which allows
me to... Uh, understand any written language
that I can see, but I have to be touching the
surface upon which the words are written. So...
It does take me like a minute to read a page,
though, via that method. Then maybe I can get
an understanding of what the heck we're looking
at here. Like, uh, like all amphibians, while
I look kind of slimy, I am surprisingly dry,
and I put my... surprisingly dry frog fingers
on the book that try to read like the first page
okay yeah um so i don't see why that doesn't
work um the first page um says arcadas arcadas
arcane I didn't think you guys would be able
to read the name. You guys are going to have
to just say, oh, the big magic book. We're going
to say it's Arkania's Arcaneopedia. Arkania's
Arkanopedia. Arkania. If I'm reading this correctly,
it's a big magic book. Reading it like it is
so it's in some sort of like weird language,
but like It's clearly like handwritten if that
makes sense like It has Big it has like it's
like messy. It has like big ink spots. There
are like drawings or diagrams if you're like
you flip through the pages there are like sigils
and circles and like I said, they're like drawings.
There's like notes in the margins. There's like
a few different handwritings in it. It seems
as though whoever Arcadia is may have been like
a wizard and this may have been like their actual
spell book at some point, but it is since then.
been, like, added to, and altered, and utilized,
and passed around, and whatnot. This reminds
me of the Voynich manuscript. Are you familiar
with that book? No. It is a one -of -a -kind
book. Is it made out of skin? Uh, no. But it
is... Handwritten and hand -drawn all of the
images in it are really freaking weird And it
is written in a language that no one understands
and no one can decipher exactly But yeah, but
it seems like it's you know been utilized by
other different people or different creatures
It's pretty big. I mean, it's fairly large I'm
trying to think of there be any now actually
like four or five pages in to the book, um, there
is a big inked fingerprint and it is like the
size of your hand. Like on the page, if that
makes sense. Like it's a big ass fingerprint.
We don't see that every day. Make a, uh, Investigation
on survival, maybe history. 24. 24. It's a giant's
fingerprint. And then that's when you realize
like, oh this is like a pocket -sized book. For
a giant. Oh dang. You just like you're looking
at like kind of like the ratio You know what
I mean of like you're just you're kind of thinking
about in your head like how big how much bigger
it is compared to like a human fingerprint and
how Giants fingerprints are extremely similar,
but they have like you for some reason know this
I don't know why you can you can tell me why
dart would know this but you dart knows that
like the Giants fingerprints in the middle where
it swirls the lines get wavy for some reason
So it's like very like very telling I mean Perhaps
in my adventures a giant once tried to squish
me And it left like a mark in your slimy like
layer of a fingerprint and you could see yourself
Maybe just like I escaped at the last second,
but I definitely saw the fingers. Oh, yeah Okay.
Yeah, and you just never forgot that because
it was terrifying. Yeah, I'm very small Yeah.
Damn, you were fucking around with giants. Shit.
That's a future hand fact for you. Fleeing. Fleeing?
Yeah, right. Yeah, and everybody, you know, here
would know that, like, there was a - not giants
in Vazloria, like, not this part of the world.
There are, like, giant kin, but there aren't
any giants around, so this is definitely, like,
not from anywhere around here. Maybe. Maybe.
Hard to say. That is unclear, because it is in
some ancient language, so this would be, like,
you know... Right, it's not even in giant. it's
in like some other sort of language um and tree
worthing's like you can you can read that yeah
sort of i get the gist we've been working on
it for so long no that's okay that's okay your
boyfriend should be here any minute i think if
those kids could read they'd be very upset Arcadia's
Arcadopedia? What were they thinking? What a
stupid name. Three more then. There are a few
things I was kind of hoping I could do. administrative
-wise, before we get out on the road. I don't
know when we plan on getting out on the road,
because I just realized I can read a cool magic
book. Do I have to carry it around for you? Maybe.
It does weigh like as much as I do. Let him do
my thing. Oh, yeah. That's right. I should leave
it. I should leave it with my sage to continue
deciphering. You could help him by writing like
a key for him or like certain words that you
can like write. Yeah, I could write out an alphabet
for him based on my deciphering ability. Yeah,
so that you can do it while we're gone. Yeah.
Yes. Delegating. Okay. a few administrative things
I'd like to do. What can I do? Well, number one,
I have to create a codex for this guy. Okay.
So that he can decipher this book. It's on my
list of things to do. I also want to officially
put Razalax in charge of Castlerend. I want to
write letters to my not -at -this -castle kids,
letting them know that I'm going off on yet another
adventure, and if there's anything they need,
they can reach out to Razalax, and he'll take
care of it. Tell Razalax! Yeah, and then there's
also like a bunch of money -spending things I
feel like we all need to discuss as a team. And
then there was that, uh... Consecration so we
can put those ghosts to rest that we've been
meaning to do. Oh, yeah, you need something you
can cast ceremony. Yeah So, I guess a lot of
stuff we got to do before we hit the road. Being
in an organization is hard. I know! Thing number
one, since we're already standing in front of
the book, I'm gonna take some time to make a
codex. We would like to go shopping at the magic
shop. So we could get supplies for our trip while
you were doing that. As well as I can have Demelza
help you with the letters. So that you're not
just handwriting 20 letters. Word. Well, 18 letters.
That's for us in Baltimore here. This is true.
What are the other things on the list? I'm just
trying to figure out how we can delegate this
as a team. Well, Pip and Pop are here too. That's
true. 16 letters. Because there was Scarface
Kippy. I was like, no, they're dad. Yeah. Scarface
Kippy. We put him in charge of the cafeteria,
didn't we? I feel like we did. Yeah, we did.
The cook is not happy about it. This guy's trying
to tell me how to do my job. At a certain point,
we set aside 22 ,000 gold for various projects.
Yes. We had 5 ,000 to go to Gravesford to build
a stool, 10 ,000 to go to Blackbottom to build
a school and additional housing, and then...
Wait, did we send it to Blackbottom? I don't
know exactly what we did. I just have it written
down what we... Year market for because the other
17 ,000 we had divvied up as 5 ,000 to And I'm
quoting my own notes here tents and clerics 5
,000 for druid upgrades and 7 ,000 For Edmund
to do something effective at Castle Rand So we
gave him that money, but what does he do with
it? I don't know He's had the chance to do anything
with it yet because we've just gone for a day
yeah it ended up being like two days or something
yeah yeah so we have to figure that out well
i feel like can we leave money with the clock
now they're not like a they're not we have a
number of people here who i assume are staying
at castle ren we've got my sage There's seven
spellcasters, 27 Asmodaddy, Lilac, Razalax, Morag,
and Penna. What about, uh, Giselle? Giselle and
Galen. So can we just give them the money for
Gravesford for the school? And like have them
coordinate that? We're the lords of this place.
Just make a decree and shall we tell them? Well,
I mean, I'm putting Razalax in charge while we're
gone. I just, uh, I wanted to bring those things
up. I feel like we should focus on Gravesford
before we focus on Blackbottom. Yeah, Blackbottom
is even part of, like, Gravesford territory.
We should focus on improving Gravesford. The
Blackbottom is where my kids are. This is true.
They're in a different barony. So they need to
come to Gravesford. Well, they've got, like,
Drums and tricks. Well, they can bring their
skills. They can bring their skills to our town.
And maybe they're, uh, I don't know. I mean,
like, you could, like, you could just give them,
you know, you could give them the same job that
they had there, here, and if they don't have
that job, you can create that job. it's good
for the economy oh my god so that could be part
of your letter like if you're interested in moving
here let me know let me know you have the choice
you have the or yeah you can stay in black bottom
and receive like a like a certain stipend an
allowance an allowance or you can live at graveston
and live live like royalty that you are Apparently
I'm embracing it now. My princess. Squires? Yeah,
Squires. Right. Razzlax, like, comes into the
room while you guys are talking around this big
book, and he doesn't say anything about the book.
He just goes, I think we're gonna need a treasurer.
Yeah, but not the guy from Badagar right now.
This is gonna sound crazy. How about numbers,
Val? She just knows numbers, not does numbers,
right? Or what was the... She might not say yes.
I was thinking, what about... So do you remember...
She said she does numbers, not letters, I thought.
Oh, yeah. That's right. That's right. What about
the girls at the bank? That, um... Yeah, the
girls that you met? Mm -hmm. that when you helped
them uh repair when you helped her repair her
sister's wheelchair yeah and that they were being
used as a trap in an alley to get us to lure
us into the alley yep and uh yeah that might
kick their asses yeah immediately you were ambushed
by some assholes and then they were like yeah
that was like a blender situation he like broke
my fucking wheel and then like Made me, you know,
made me do this shit. It was one of the two times
I utilized my knowledge I gained from watching
Bill Nye's master class on how to tie ancient
knots. Yeah, I remember that. Such a... But it
was such a good master class. It's important.
I'd like to see that knot sometime. That's a
good one. Why did you look at me like that? You
gave me a look. I said I wanted to see her not
and you looked at me. I was thinking. What's
the matter? What's going on? Are you okay? Do
you need a break? Before we go, do you want us
to bring you something back from the magic shop?
Make it an exciting journey. Okay. 30 -20. I'm
worried about Edmund. I am too. He's not going
to have any of us with him. Right. I know. I
just, it's not that I don't, you know, I understand
that the Umbermoors are, well, the Umbermoors,
of course. However, he's been under our charge
this entire time in our custody, and I feel,
even though he is not here, responsible for him
i as if it's a part of my oath if you may well
i agree ray wants to go to vettigar with the
charge make sure everything is set before we
go but that's just rain is that on the way it's
complete opposite complete oh no it would definitely
add So, you guys have been told that this journey
is probably going to take about three weeks.
And it's definitely going to add a lot of time
to divert from that. You instructed me to stay
here at the castle. I will do that by your instruct.
Whatever you think is best. And that is when
Taze walks in the room. And... He says, actually,
um, and he walks up to like Zivari and he goes,
I was going to tell you this like after our meeting,
but I want to go with Edmund. Just temporarily.
Okay. I just want to make sure he makes it there
safely and that, um, you know, they fire all
the shitty people that are loyal to Saxton before
I like come back. to Castle Ren. I understand
that he's like your godson. I just, you know,
I keep thinking that, you know, what if, you
know, what if there's somebody who would, you
know, go as far as to kill him while he's in
his own home? Probably wouldn't be wise to have
someone go with Edmund to make sure the transition
of power goes smoothly. But rest assured, if
I'm with Edmund, he'll be safe. Hey. I'm sorry.
I mean, I know that you're going on a trip too,
but I just, you know. No, I understand. You should
go. Thanks, babe. And he'll, like, give you a
little hug. He's, like, kind of shyly giving
you affection around all these people, right?
He just sort of more so like just leans his body
into yours just for a second, you know? She definitely
kisses his cheek anyway. And he just smiles and
kind of laughs and blushes and like looks down
and he's just like We can talk more after, okay?
But yeah, I mean I know that I've been you know,
taking care of a lot of things here at Castle
Rend but We worked for the better cars. I Understand
and yeah, I was your friend Yeah, yeah Could
you say something let me out of an audio stomach?
I mean we're all the same room yeah, well, I
just like but the umber wars that like We I would
want someone on his like his cabinet like it
was a wonder that we would trust in the people
that like the umbermoor shoots. Of course we're
gonna trust the umbermoors. Reins trying to manifest
that. But as far as like, oh. But I don't know,
maybe Razalac's being with him isn't the worst
thing. But we do need someone to stay here. Who's
gonna run Castle Red? Even if he needs to run
Castle Red. Okay, let's talk to you guys. Best
of luck with what else we have. that would be
competent and loyal to do that. I'm looking at
our morag. I'm looking at our important person's
thing here. We've got morag, penna, taste, razzle
eggs. And then everyone else either works for
the clock or isn't somebody that we're super
close to. To Belza. You're safe. Yeah, they already
have jobs though. That's true. Um, I mean, yeah.
Anyway, you have a lot of, like, allies, but
like... Okay, Resolves stays, Taste goes. Sorry,
dude, thanks for growing. You do you, bro. Thanks.
I don't know. Uh, yeah, thanks. Have I given
Taste scraps? No. Taste? What are scraps? You
deserve this. You've helped us. You've helped
Zavari so much. Here, and she just rips off like
maybe two or three scraps and she hands it to
him. These and like he'll maybe see like the
scraps on my wrist and scraps in my hair and
other people having scraps like Dart has scraps
and you have scraps. How do you have your scraps?
I imagine since with her new hairdo some of her
hair is braided and like the very end of the
braid is like a ribbon of some of the scraps
and on her staff of power there's like another
like this bunch that's been wrapped around it
as well. This is an invitation to my school.
Your school? Conservatory of the Waking Dream.
We are looking for new recruits and good honest
people who want to help communities thrive. he
looks he's kind of like looking at the scraps
and kind of like he's just really like studying
you know what i mean like if that makes sense
i mean it has ranging consideration yeah and
he's probably doing like an investigation check
right looking at the scraps and he goes well
i'm great at school so um and then he only has
six of them that you can study from he says uh
he goes is this like light powdery substance
on it that's how crystal ray she spills Oh, there
are troops? And crystals. Yeah. They grew together
under our school in this dormant volcano. And
they really only grow there. The more you gather,
the more power you have. So, would I be allowed
to say, try to grow some? You can try, but...
There is also Fool's Rishi, where people have
tried, and it's gotten real bad. And it corrupts
people. That was the opposite of what it - I'm
just - I'm kind of a plant guy. I think, as with
Reith Topier, it's - people have tried, so you
can try, but I would warn you that Fool's Rishi
- I've done Lion's Mane before. It's a little
bit more delicate than Lion's Mane. It's tricky,
and you need the right conditions, and I just
can't wait to show you. These are invitations
to the Festival of the Wicked and Dream. Well,
count me in. Thanks. And let me know if you're
a sports person. Will you be my festival date?
Of course. Sorry. Do you like sports? I like
games. That's it. Maybe not a lot of sports.
Do you like puzzles? Um, yes. But not word puzzles.
That's fine. I hate word puzzles. Dyslexia. Yeah.
For me, it's just kind of like, I don't know,
I think I take everything too literally. I understand.
So I'm not very good at like word holes and stuff
like that. Yeah, well if you want to talk about
access ball, let me know and then she's like
done. There's no take about this time Well, thanks
for your pitch And true words like we do our
thing now Yeah, sorry sorry buddy and that's
the most I've ever talked to taste I've gotten
I got hung up Go ahead, go ahead. Well, you guys
provided us this wonderful tome. This absolutely
fascinating marvel. This clearly artifact level
tome that no one seems to... Anyway, we've been
working very hard on it and we started to be
able to decipher and crack some of the intricacies
of the spells listed. inside this tome. And we
have fully translated some of the spells that
we'd like to present to you as, you know, the
thanks. And... Please do. Yeah, um, Kade's like,
uh, yeah. So, uh, yeah, basically, guys, um,
you know, here's some cool chubs that no one's
ever seen before. We'll whip it out of his...
envelope. So the way that we're going to work
DM wise, pick one, pick one spell and you just
have it on your spell list. And you can take
the other two spells that you don't pick but
you have to replace a spell you already have.
Dart for you, the cantrip option is a cleric
spell because there are no ranger cantrips. Yeah,
keep that in mind if you decide, you know, however
you decide to pick if you guys want any of these
new spells of course We you know, we were looking
for something that we thought could be helpful
on your journey Since you pick one that you can
just have if you want the other two you have
to replace spells that you already have And also
this is in your spell list now. So if you like
when you level up If you get additional spells,
you can choose it if you didn't already. It's
so hard. Sorry for interrupting the podcast.
What are we reading? Like keep in mind though,
like typically classes get like less cantrips
than like other stuff. So I don't know, like
you may not get another cantrips yet. I don't
know. I was gonna pick cantrips. Okay. That's
up to you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to like -
Yeah, you're - I don't want to try and influence
your choices. I just want to make sure we have
an informed decision. I like that it's a ranged
attack, so for the listeners. It's cantrip, called
hamstring. One action at range 60 feet. Instantaneous.
you create a missile of eldritch energy and send
it at a target you uh see within range make a
range spell attack against the target 1d4 force
damage but then it's would i what level would
this be would this be my what is your like character
level so it's so level 10 would be the level
yeah so it's 2d4 and then uh next level would
be 3d4 i think yeah yeah I at least have like
a ranged attack option as a cantrip so I figured
that would be a good one to snap. It also says
that whatever you hit can't take reactions until
the end of their action. Oh yeah that's dope.
So like if you, for example, if Dart was in melee
range of somebody and Dart wanted to get away
you could like hamstring them and then they wouldn't
be able to get an opportunity attack on his turn.
you know that kind of thing because that's usually
how people end up spending their reactions but
you could also like use it to kind of like stop
like a counter spell that you expect to come
in or like you know a shield spell or a hellish
rebuke or whatever yeah dope i'm also going to
pick the earworm melody enchantment um to replace
my unearthly chorus that i've never used Yeah,
I haven't. Ever since my first bard level, they
got it. And I've never used it. So instead, I'm
going to sing a catchy tune to only one creature
of my choice if they fail a wisdom saving throw.
And I'll get a song stuck in their head. Whatever
song of my choice. and it hurts them and it hurts
them and what else it does oh it damages their
ability to concentrate on spells isn't it constitution
check with disadvantage so it's 2d4 psychic damage
plus shitty constitution shit and reoccurring
damage that hurts their psyche i am considering
taking the light and replacing Bane because I
don't think I use Bane. I don't think you use
it. I've used it, tried to use it a couple times
and it doesn't pop off and I think I've used
it successfully once. But Rain is not gonna take
a full action to cast Bane. Yeah, so I feel like
I'm considering replacing it with the candle.
The candle is like an outside of combat kind
of thing. Yeah. It makes sense because like your
action is so valuable because of like how much
damage you can do. Yeah. Yeah. So I won't be
casting Bane anytime soon. You can always relearn
it if you end up regretting it. Yeah. That's
why I'm just penciling it. Yeah. So yeah, I'm
taking all three. Hell yeah. Candle's insight
as well so I can... um basically why sign the
light and know if someone's lying to me in a
way yeah the so um so she lights a candle um
the candle lasts for like 10 minutes and she
it she like you target like a creature i think
right or is it within a aura i think she targeted
a creature Yeah, yeah And then yeah, they have
to like if they don't answer truthfully The light
will go out the spell will end but you know that
they lie cause the Intentionally misleading or
partial answer causes the flame to flicker and
dim an outright lie causes the flame to go out.
Yeah, so Yeah, and it is not objective truth.
It's subjective truth, so it's whatever the person
believes is true, is what the candle detects.
So it's basically that idea. But it's kind of
like circle of truth where like, target it to
one, target it to one, and it like definitely
tells, you know for sure, yeah, like it's not
like kind of ambiguous. Because I think with,
you know, circle of truth, you can just avoid
the answer. And if you give half truth or misleading
information, it flickers. Yeah. I think that's
like, that's like, you're gonna need to know
the truth, half truth or the, there's like, no
truth. Yeah. And that's, I feel like Reign would
be like, need this in all social situations.
Okay. Yeah, I thought it was thematically cool.
Mm -hmm. It works. So I'm taking all three. Awesome.
I'm glad you, I'm glad you like them. Help them
trust it, she's right. She's working on it. She's
a working prog mess, it's fine. It's kind of
news of Ari. I want to learn heartache for free.
The description of this one is you force an enemy
to experience pangs of unrequited love and emotional
distress. These feelings manifest with such intensity
that the creature takes 5d6 psychic damage on
a failed charisma save. That'll help with your
charisma book. Mm -hmm. So I'm gonna take that
for free and I want to replace whole the dead
for Memento Mori and this one says This one's
a little gross it's just a heads up You transform
yourself into a horrifying vision of death rotted
and crawling with maggots Exuding the stench
from the grave Each creature within range, as
you can see, must succeed a charisma saving throw
or be stunned until the end of its next turn.
A creature that does succeed is immune for 24
hours. So it's like the range, girl. It's like
the what? Like the ring. The ring? Oh! I was
like, am I that old? It came out when I was pretty
young and it took me a sec, but I was like, oh
yeah, no, no. And, um... It's laughing. The last
spell is so cool! It is! Okay, ooh, let me see.
See, the thing is, I really like my spell list,
so I'm like, what can I get rid of? Does this
only apply to spells that I know? Like, what
about spells that I get because of, like, my
subclass? Hmm... There's a spell here that I've
used once, and I hate this spell. What is it?
Sleeve. I've used it once, and it's because I
was mind controlled. No, that does not help me.
Um, okay. Um, yeah, you can try to learn it.
Okay, yeah. So, Zavari, you're looking over these
spells and your connection to magic is a little
different from other people's. Your understanding
of magic is a little different. They don't really
make sense to you. Oh. You're kind of like...
I'm alright. This is weird. What's wrong? This...
It doesn't make any sense. You can't read my
handwriting. No, no, I can. I mean, like, the
contents, the spells themselves don't make any
sense. Um, Taste kind of like looks over your
shoulder and kind of looks at the list and he's
like... Wait, yeah, I prefer this. No, it's correct.
Are you okay? I'm fine. Oh, sorry. Can I do like
an arcana check on the bug? You can do an arcana
check, sure, yeah. Eight. Eight? Yeah. So you
were never formally taught how to read magic.
Right like you you've had to like study it You
know in school. I'm so You yeah, you don't know
how to read magic and taste is like taste will
ask you like well like How do you learn spells?
Um, I don't What? What do you mean? I've seen
you cast spells. Yeah, but how did you learn
them? Um They're given to me given to you Yeah.
Like, they're gifts. They're not exactly like
spells. They're probably like... What's the word?
They're like invocations, right? Yeah. Oh, that's
interesting. I didn't think about that. He's
like, looking at the paper... It's all right.
How are you feeling right now a little embarrassed?
Okay, but those self -conscious self -conscious.
Yeah, okay. Yeah Tastes like shit. Well, there's
gotta be like some way, you know Sorry, I I thought
well It's a it's okay true words like what's
wrong? What do you mean? Where did she get her?
Her magic. Oh, it's so good. Here, here's a card.
Let me just look at it. I can, like, look at
it and maybe, like, um, see if I can understand
it and maybe break it down. She'll, like... And
she has her Refinery check. 16? 16. Um, so...
These, so, um... Tastes a little, like, kinda
like Whispers. These are warlock spells. I don't
understand. I don't understand how do warlocks
learn their spells if not by reading. It's more
of a feeling. And so for you, you're looking
at it and it's kind of like a different type
of math in the sense of you kind of get it. But
I don't feel like you could cast them, if that
makes sense. Your understanding of it is a little
incomplete. So let's look at it together. Maybe
you know the pieces that I don't know and I know
the pieces that you don't know. Even if it's
hard to tell, but she's blushing so hard. She
is so embarrassed. It's okay. Show me one part
that you're like, okay, I know what that says.
I mean, like... I know the words, but the...
my connection to it doesn't feel right. So, hold
on. Wayward Strike. You create a tear. You're
gonna, um, you know, be that protects you. Which
one are you interested in so far? I don't...
I don't know. Well, yeah. She's like, you can't
understand any of them. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, she can't
understand any of them? No. Like, she can't read
them? No. Oh. Oh. Wow. No, you can't understand.
She can't understand anything. Like if that makes
sense. She could read them, understand like what
they do. That's why you were able to be like,
oh, I want to learn this, this, and this. But
what is the connection to that? Like it's the
description of how to manipulate the weave and
incorporate like the components and stuff. Again,
it's like for you, you know, like, it would probably
be like, oh, this is like fucking calculus. Yeah.
It's like you just don't understand that. That's
what I mean. Like you don't understand it. It's
like they're trying to explain this to her. She's
like starts holding her like pendant to Hasmodeus
for like comfort. Yeah. It's just kind of murmuring
to herself a little bit. Yeah. What are you murmuring?
Are you are you praying? I would say yeah, probably.
Okay. Um... Praying for like knowledge on this
situation, like what is going on. She knows as
well as a very knowledgeable being. Okay, like
what level, from like one to ten, what level
are you like experiencing like a panic situation?
6 .5 to a 7 if she feels like people are like
staring at her then it's gonna go up to like
close to an 8 okay so there is one that we're
like it's all about like emotion like the heartache
one right and like that's the one that you chose
that you want but can she do it then or is this
the problem setting yeah she's like She couldn't
look at them and be like, oh, okay, cool. Yeah,
these seem cool. These seem useful. But then
when it gives an explanation of actually how
to grasp the spell, it's like, I can't do that.
So for you, you can kind of read it, but it's
kind of like, I can't do it. Yeah, it's different.
There's these weird symbols, and you're not even
exactly sure what it's supposed to represent.
Even though this is translated, there's like
a symbol that you don't understand. And taste
is just kind of like, I thought, you know, I
just thought it would make sense in context,
but I guess it doesn't. But you're praying. So
as you're praying, go ahead and roll concordance.
And considering you're pretty agitated. How much
is it again? It's plus six. 13 13 You feel like
Brushed off What level of panic are you at this
point? No So rain sees that you are like that
everyone's actively like you like she feels the
pressure she feels the energy of the room and
I feel like she goes and touches you and like
tries to like... because I see that this one
is like talking about heartache and you force
your enemy to experience unrequented love or
emotional distress and you are currently in emotional
distress and so Reign just like puts her hand
on her shoulder and she's like use it like trying
to remember back to when Zaris and Reign had
their like they Reign went on patrol and invited
Zaris on patrol with her and that's when Zaris
taught Reign how to use her bard skills and so
it's just like really feeling connected to your
emotions and your like self to create the magic
and so it's like rain's like use it connect to
yourself um i'm going to say you feel it's kind
of like you know you know how you guys said you
felt brushed off you feel like a little tickle
of amusement roll for concordance again What
is your favorite season and why? Bonus that I
just thought of just now. What is your least
favorite season and why? There's a curveball
at you. Sorry about that. Oh, and for the listeners
at home and for the listeners at the table, it
is summer right now in Vazloria. The sixth month,
essentially. And it's been pretty hot. Been kind
of humid. Swassy. Now, I think the first have
already go first. Well, now I don't want to.
First off, I play Zavari Umbermor, the resident
warlock cleric, having a traumatic religious
experience actively at the moment. And her favorite
season is probably, honestly, probably winter.
Winter in Umbermor is really pretty. You know,
they live in the mountains and it's a perfect
time to go skiing. So she really enjoys winter.
Her least favorite is probably spring. It just
rains a lot and it's really gray and like what
comes after spring is really nice, all the flowers
and everything, but she's not a big fan. Third's
favorite is also spring, but it's because that's
when there's the most bugs. Hell yeah. The flip
side of the coin. That makes sense. And my favorite?
Winter, probably, because I'm a frog. Yeah, and
the least amount of bugs. Yeah, the least amount
of bugs, and also I'm already cold -blooded,
so I do not enjoy the cold. Cold -blooded. My
body is supported by a system of fluid -filled
canals, you see. My favorite season is fall she's
a fall baby as well as just like the coziness
and like harvest festivals and food and pumpkins
and all the she's a fall bitch like give me them
coziness up by a fire wrapped in a flannel blanket
with some good food and good company and then
she hates summer because summer means it's endurance
season and she has to uh like do long distance
with cross -country races to keep to build her
endurance for access fall and that's that's what
happens during the summer um so Zaris would like
to share. Zaurus's favorite season. His favorite
season is summer. Zaurus loves summer. I love
summer. I'm a summer baby. Of course I love summer.
Everything is so hot. Everybody's in like shorts
and bikinis and and there's sun bathing and tanning,
although I don't tan, unfortunately. You just
burn really badly. Yeah, plus summer is the best
time to drink really, really cold drinks. And
I love cold drinks. Oh, and you know, honestly,
like, I don't have a least favorite season I
think it's I mean every season has its place
like every season has its outfits every season
has like its you know benefits I love spring
because there's always like lots of flowers and
it's this and it's the season you know to get
sprung and that's really cute and well you know
it's you know it's it's It's great. The season
of love. It's the season of love. Yeah. And flowers.
And bees. Lots of bees. Save the bees. Although
the bees are okay in Vazloria. And the bees are
fine. Yeah. It's a fantasy world. Yeah. We are
in a fantasy realm where bees are alright. They
are a -okay. The Nimbus fall has like lots of
girly -pop stuff. And then winter, are you kidding
me? The winter outfits, the coats, the fur. Ah.
Boots with the fur? Love it. Love it. So yeah,
all seasons are great. Summer's the best. That's
why I was born in it. Okay, 14 plus 6? Yes. Room
like suddenly feels like... Warmer. It's already
hot in here. Like the room already feels a little
bit warmer. So like, there's like, there's like
a heat radiating from like Zivari's direction.
If that makes sense, like you're hit with like
a wave of I just shoulder to Yeah, and she starts
feeling like she has a feet. Right? And you hear
a voice the whole room hears this voice. What
do you want? The whole room. Shit. Get out of
here, man. Razzalax will set Pusher to dart and
put his hand on his sword. Just in case. What
do you want? Help me. please was what this the
the parchment lifts out of your hands and and
it and it's not like um if if this makes sense
it's like the parchment just lifts it's not like
something lifts the parchment if that makes sense
like it just floats out of your hands and it
starts to kind of like spin you know in the air
kind of float and he's like this old stuff really
you don't like what i give you it's not that
i just you know more is better i'm very grateful
and thankful for what you give me that's why
um the paper is kind of still for a minute and
he goes Actually, I kind of like these. They
kind of remind me of you. Memento Mori. Like
the day I met you. Faray Quill. It's ironic.
Isn't it? Mirror strike. No. Sugar. Why not?
And the middle of the page... turns black, like
a pin white, it starts to like burn and sizzle
and then like a flame, like a very small flame,
starts to like spiral out and kind of grow and
it burns like the paper up into like a small
cloud of black ash and Yeah, the ash water like
floats down. Yeah, you hook your hands out and
the ash water like floats down into your hands
And you feel like a like I said, it's kind of
like you kind of feel like oh like it It feels
like playful if that makes sense like he's kind
of like Yeah, sure. We want this shit. Whatever.
You can have it. You know, it's like it's kind
of funny like All right, sure. Why not? And when
the ash sort of like falls into your hands, you
get the feeling that you should breathe it in.
Okay. So breathe it in like very hesitantly.
Like as you bring it closer to your face, it
starts to like turn into like a mist and then
you kind of breathe in this mist like it feels
like Spire and glass and your lungs. It's it's
painful Cigarette smoke. Yeah, it's unusual like
these are extra spells He doesn't give, he can't
give them to you in the way that he normally
does, sort of like, they kind of become inherent
when you level up and stuff like that. Like,
he'll, you know, upgrade you. So he's basically
upgrading it into your body, inside of your body.
But yeah, he's using the transcription to like,
he's creating something that's consumable by
you, if that makes sense. And then... getting
it to you and you just like instinctually know
like that's like how I need to like absorb it
into my my blood stream. Hell yeah. My final
magic is weird. My bitch can't read magic. Damn.
It's like you know you kind of can kind of can't
right? Yeah. You have a feel for it. You don't
cast it. We're not sorcerers, you didn't have
magic. That's true. You bang bang, that's why.
Yeah, paladins have magic, but it's like different,
but they also do have some formal training, I
would imagine, to read it. But like, it's, you
know. Sound more like our curriculum. It's just
a different kind of stuff, you know. Makes sense.
Every type of caster understands, like has a
different type of relationship with like the
weave of magic and warlocks, it's like intrinsically
tied to their patron. So like, unless, you know.
You're like a warlock wizard. Like why would
you know how I like reading the magic like in
that way, you know, yeah but It's rough being
a warlock And yeah, and there's nothing like
that like the room cools down You are the vibes
the vibes are probably fucked up Rain is like
in the middle of them It did a stretching pose
like I'm just kidding, you know? Yeah, I'm right
here. I'm right here. It makes sense that you
would probably be like that. Oh my gosh That
means you're right here next to me as well. This
is right there. You were right there next to
us. I was that's crazy. Mm -hmm Her hot like
my hand didn't matter all this. No, well, no,
no Anyways, yeah, that's true. It was just kind
of because of our always kind of runs hot. Mm
-hmm because of you know who she is but she's
a tiefling but um she felt like she had a fever
if that makes sense like for you know for a tiefling
but it wasn't like uh like burning you burning
it was like dangerous it's just like you know
somebody's super sick how much harder they feel
it's like that so Did you like sweating now or
like is she like cooling down? I mean, yeah,
I feel like you probably have probably a sweat.
Yeah sweating a little tears. Yeah, but I like
happy tears this time but But yeah brain I would
like you to roll a d20 That's funny you feel
like right like right after um zavari breathes
in the magic and stuff and like the room starts
to cool down you feel acknowledged acknowledged
like like what you feel acknowledged like you
just have that feeling if that makes sense like
that feeling that you get when someone important
acknowledges you that's how you feel oh it's
so weird awesome nothing i'm gonna say it over
nothing else but nothing else happens but you
feel a very it's a very obvious feeling a very
like it's like it's like lady jaywin herself
fucking acknowledged you as like an equal or
something like it's like gave me my scrap something
like that yeah it's like a it's a feeling knowledge
oh my god It's just the acknowledged part, not
like the accomplished one. You know what I mean?
Just what did you do? It's just like a weird
out of place. There's a little side I look okay.
Like, I see you. Wait, sorry, you'd be aware
of this. Oh, I would? Yeah. So then we just make
eye contact. What was that? Him. Why do I feel
like this? Why wouldn't you? I don't know, I
don't like this, and she like shakes me off,
like shakes me off, and I'm like, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no So yeah, that
was real spuckered. That's the honest. Yeah,
so yeah. Yeah, give me this back. I won't remember.
My God is not interceded that directly. Right,
because like, you're a cleric, right? Like, yeah,
it's like, that's like, that's her patron. So
it's like, you know. That's what you're doing.
Yeah, basically. um although you know you haven't
really prayed that much to sylvanas maybe you
should you can definitely like you're a cleric
so like you invoke his divinity you know but
he probably like doesn't know much about it yet
i think we've only talked like once or twice
like the time where i first interacted with him
it was like oh I'm going to cleric it up right
now. And then like one time where I was like,
please, oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, oh,
please, oh, please. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe you should
pray to them sometime when you don't need something
like, you know, so you can so you can form a
relationship with your faith. I have two questions
just sort of off topic. What was the name of
the lady we rescued from the prison? Zola Honeycutt.
Not the Honeycutt. I feel like that's a great,
like, drag name. I agree. The Honeycutt? I agree.
Um... It's technically I have three questions.
Was Numbers Val with the clock? Uh, unclear.
Unclear, okay. And uh, who the fuck is Lilac?
I can't remember. Lilac? Girl, my dragonborn.
So, she's a... amethyst gemstone dragonborn when
you guys fought the shadow dragon in the underdark
for the deep nose um she was like in the wreckage
and the shadow dragon was manifesting from her
because they were they did something like she
she told you that like the mind flayers were
doing like an experiment on her and it fucked
her up and that's what caused the shadow dragon
yeah So you guys took her in. So you have a kid.
Yeah. She's a teenager. Right. And gemstone dragonborns
are illegal. They are not natural born creatures.
They are created via sorcery and it has been
outlawed by Emperor Dane when he took charge.
a couple of decades ago. And it's, like, they
are very illegal. So that's why she doesn't have
anywhere else to go right now, and that's why
you need to take her to Colia. Everyone knows
that she's cool about now. Yeah, and now she
is out and about in Castle Rand because we declared
it a safe zone. Indeed. They have a whole speech
about it. There are people like Rowlin. Rowlin,
I wrote his name down. And inquisitors were mentioned.
Yeah, and the inquisitors were. But we don't
know what that means. I don't know what the inquisitors
are. Oh, I knew. Oh yeah, but who are the inquisitors?
What I can tell you is that they are dangerous.
They are the people who would be getting... Lilac
or if you're wanting to kill Lilac or whatever
they came up with. Right. Anyway. Um, yeah. I
mean, yeah. Dar, you're not really, like, from
here. So, like, none of this shit, like, has
context for you, you know? Like, you're going...
What do you mean someone's illegal? It's like,
been there, done that. That's why I'm not...
I'm not there right now. Which is, yeah. Like,
what? It makes sense why you were, like... Well,
not legal here, not illegal here, because, fuck
that. But some of the laborers or whatever, the
people who are at Castle Rend have vocalized
their concern because of the inquisitor. That's
why I gave a speech. Indeed. Yeah. But yeah,
so what spells did you want to pick or do you
feel you want to share? I guess I will share.
You don't have to. Everybody else did, I wouldn't
know. You can share off the record, I can make
everyone else leave the room. I replaced Word
of Radiance with Faustic Touch. So now instead
of saying a word and someone five feet away from
me taking 2d6 damage, now I can touch someone
and they take 2d8 damage. and also if they were
concentrating on a spell they have like disadvantage
on their constitution saving throw for that that
that particular chick so it's like a slight upgrade
from ward of radiance which do you have any melee
stuff i mean i'm not really a melee dude so i
have sword um but like i have tolva dead and
i can do it pretty far and like I don't know,
I don't really need melee stuff real bad, but
the ward of radiance only went five feet, so
taking a touch belt for it didn't seem like a
huge loss. Yeah. And then the one that I picked
as my freebie... And how thick -touch is like,
you like, you like seep like an acid. Yes. Which
I think is like very... Very frog -like. It's
a good fit for me. Yeah. Remember what I took
as my freebie is called Featherfield. It is a
reaction to ranged damage or ranged attacks So
I can't do it to every kind of I can't react
to like melee attacks with it But I can react
to ranged attacks and get plus five to my AC
And then if I cast it at higher levels than its
normal level it lasts for one round for each
level higher So I could Potentially like react
and give mice and do it at third level and give
myself plus five to my AC two ranged attacks
for like three rounds Which could be handy that
could be? Yeah, the other spell that I chose
not to take basically gave me Advantage on all
my ranged attacks until the end of my next turn
which Couldn't be cool, but seeing as how I can
do like plus 24 to attack. I didn't feel like
it was super necessary Plus it was a second level
spell and I don't have a lot of slots for that.
So I figured man without it Sorry, I took two
of them Awesome Yeah But so dark can you make
so you're creating a cyber. Can you make like
an intelligence check? Maybe like, uh, if you
have any, what if you have any sort of, like,
int abilities that you're proficient in? Uh...
I guess with advantage, you have the Comprehend
language. I mean, I'll do advantage, but... negative?
Yeah. Nineteen. Nineteen. Okay, so yeah, you
make up a really good cipher for two of the casters,
like, that, like, grow in the book. But that's
because there's multiple different languages.
Cool. So like you're you were able to like provide
like a guide to translate a good like like most
of the book probably. Um and the tree room like
this and he like Pat is it safe to come back
in the room? Yeah. This is weird. Oh this is
perfect. And he'll say um so basically um we'll
definitely be able to translate more spells much
faster much faster that's good we'll send them
to you you guys keep working on that so yeah
now that you've created so DM talk though now
that you've created the cipher because i was
just going to charcoal in more spells like a
little at a time but now that you've created
a cipher i will give you guys more spells from
the books Well, after that, I will get them from
the vulture. Well, yeah, kind of get them from
the vulture. Alright, um... That's cool. Zavari,
you would have to... Puff more spells? Um, right,
not that. Um, so you said you talked about wanting
to visit the curator? Yes. You'd have to message
him. I thought that I did. I assumed that you
did. I didn't know if you said you did. Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, sorry. I was just going to assume that
you had already and you have received a response.
Yay! Um, Sumapp will tell you. Glad to have your
business. Really glad to have your business.
But we're not in that manifold right now, and
we probably won't be any time soon. But if you
are looking for something specific, you can just
tell us and we can deliver. You're Dash. Yes.
It's a new service that we're trying up because
it is very lucrative. Yes, yes. Do you charge
delivery fees? What are those fees? What are
those fees? No, she doesn't care about the fees.
She can afford it. She doesn't care about the
fees. I just feel like we need more housing,
as well as if like... I wanted to get a cart.
I don't think that they would have a magical
cart, but like... A cart? Because we're gonna
travel, right? So like... If we're gonna travel
and read, if we're not gonna be able to really
read on horseback, I can barely stay on a horse.
We have a flying carpet. We have a flying carpet?
I mean, they probably do. That'd be expensive.
We're not gonna spend our school money on...
carpets. Oh no, that money's already set aside,
you've still got 22 ,518 gold aside from that,
and that's not including your guys' like, personal
cash. Yeah. We can inquire about a magic carpet
and see how much it is. Sure, what's wrong with
inquiring? A floating disc. Of some sort. Of
some sort. Oh man, if I got the shield of aphandrum,
I would just use it as like a flying carpet situation.
I'd probably allow it. I'd probably allow it.
I wanted to get these spell scrolls personally
for our journey ahead. I wanted to make sure
we got some healing. I would like to see in case
we need it. They have some Revivify scrolls just
in case. We don't have any and we haven't used
it, but it would suck to need it and not have
it. Yeah, that's true. Don't you have one? I
don't have a scroll. I have uh raised dead on
the screen. It's the random spell store. Yeah.
That's why you haven't stored newer spells in
it because you have to erase them. Right and
that's like the only thing that we have is somebody
like dies. Doesn't someone squarely die? Um,
I don't. I think, wait, do you have it as dark?
No, I don't. I have the periactive room enclosed.
That's what it is, yeah. Yeah, so I'm like, you
know, none of us have died yet but it might happen
and... We should resurrect somebody. He's a dais.
I've had cases looking over your cipher, by the
way, and he's like, wait a minute. Dart? You're
a fucking genius. I can use these to make scrolls.
Dope. Oh my god. Come here. We agree on all the
kisses. We're normally both girls, but not this
time. This time it's hetero. This time it's hetero.
para para oh i get it i was like wait just take
turns for a girl for me like oh wait is my bar
is straight i know but shopping i mean no you
know the charge i believe wait no i think where
is like what are you guys doing i want to see
them oh the whole thing is the world i got it
i broke the fourth wall but yes he gets his smoochies
and he's like yeah why don't you um translate
Other spells like I can start making like wizard
spell scrolls with like this alphabet So I'll
let you know what I'm gonna figure out because
I bet you there's some crazy -ass shit in here
I've only just begun sounds like a fun thing
to Dive into yeah True more than I'm going to
Betagar Okay, take the book with me Absolutely
not! Oh man. It was worth a shot. Well, but how
am I supposed to study it? They'll have most
of it. I'm not coming with you! They'll describe
some pages for you. I mean, they're actively
translating it. They can send transcripts through
the diplomats' pouch. He just likes to study.
That's all. He's like oh He's like kind of looking
at, he's like looking at tree work and he's like,
oh okay. So like I read faster. It's the thing.
If I have to like wait on someone else. That
is speciesist. It'll take a long, no it's not
like that. Is it towards? I swear! No, I just
need you know, I actually really wants the book
magic is kind of special. Okay, so like here's
the thing like um, I'm Cheery worth it, sir.
He true worth and only he'll only like translate
for like five hours a day, you know, I I can
cry Tastes like suddenly gets like if it he seems
like competitive like he's like competitive rug
this is like this like his sport he's like i
can grind it she's like magic is like a special
interest special interest magic man if i read
this book in like screen quarter does that break
it we we can rebind it i do have mending but
i don't know if you should i don't want the book
to leave the castle okay Mostly because it is
extremely dangerous. Yeah, you don't know what
types of what other spells are in here. Yeah
Well, if you're good at grinding you better get
started like I feel like if he had Before you
leave for better grinding. Well, no, we're we're
leaving in like a couple of hours If he wants
to stay here with the book Then I would need
to put him in charge and someone else would have
to go with it But he wouldn't be in charge here
just be reading the book yeah he's like no you
can do that that's fine okay fine I'll it's okay
to leave with them I'll take the transcripts
I'll take the transcripts I'm sorry it's okay
he's kind of like I'm not even sure how you see
him like yeah it looks like he like lost a round
of work he's like fine it's fine we'll move on
move on like it's next match bro next exactly
Good game we'll play it I guess. Prove it. Right.
You know. Quit on a lose streak. You know. Take
that on. Don't ever think you have to end on
a win. That's the track. The thing is is that
you're dating with somebody so you lose and not
a win. The vibes are still rancid in this one.
I don't know. You're just like, yeah, of course.
And they make sparkly eyes at each other. Perfect.
Sparkle, sparkle. Sparkle, sparkle. Sparkle,
sparkle. Sparkle, sparkle. But yeah, so essentially
give me a list for the curator and I will provide
a letter back to you next session. Okay. Cool.
So we have to do it right now. Sounds cool. Yeah,
and he will introduce his new delivery service.
Which of course, you know, has his money. Just
put it on the Overmore account, it's fine. Well,
it says here that you don't have access to the
Overmore. What? No, I'm just kidding. There is
a spending limit though. Since when? Fuckin'
Zaurus. I am not allowed to say, but he looks,
but you can see like in his handwriting that
there's like a little thing. Yeah. It like, in
his handwriting, it looks like he's saying you're
right. Fuckin' Zaurus. God. Alcoholic. But yeah,
so that. you know that will ramp up the the shopping
and What was it that um, so You know we discussed
rise lines being charged. Yeah What was the other
Well, I figure the seven grand we gave to Edmund
it would probably be a great like way for him
to like by influence when he gets back and to
hire people that he needs to, so we might as
well just let him keep it. Cause you're talking
about sending people away. So we might as well
just use that for now. Make good use of that,
so that's the end. It's a donation to his family.
His family. But we still have the five grand
we gave to Gravesford, the ten grand we gave
to Blackbottom. The $5 ,000 we spent on tents
and clerics, I don't remember what that meant,
or the $5 ,000 we spent on... Medic attempts.
Medic attempts, yeah. And then there was getting
someone who can cast ceremony to sanctify the
church so that the ghost we promised we'd help
150 sessions ago will finally be happy. I know
the issue we've had with that is you have to
find a cleric of that specific, like... God,
saint, whoever. Yeah. So I have no ceremony,
but I don't know who we're looking for. So...
I'd have to look up the saint. I don't know it
off the top of my head. I guess, uh... Anymore.
Can I task Razalax with putting the word out
that we're looking to hire someone for that specific
task? Absolutely, I can take care of that. I
have a side question. Yes. Oh, it's a yes. Is
there still paranormal activity going on around
the town? So I remember you had mentioned that
in previous sermons. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I mean,
it's... It's mild. Because it's kind of cal -
like... So it's kind of calmed down a little
bit because some of the... work is still being
done on the chat like that makes it like it's
even though like you guys have never you guys
haven't consecrated it yet you still had assigned
people to work on it so it's still like being
repaired so like yes there's like paranormal
activity but like it's not uh they see that it's
progressing forward yeah that's kind of like
i mean they're like They're grumpy about it,
like, they're disgruntled ghosts, but they're
not dangerously disgruntled. Okay. If that makes
sense. Okay. I just thought, yeah, you just hear
about, like, people getting spooked, and then,
like, somebody, you know, feeling cold, or, like,
I saw a guy in the hallway, and they're bored,
so they're kind of, you know, acting up, but
they're not, like, hurting anyone. Okay. And
people have kind of gotten used to it. Like,
yeah, this place is just fucking haunted as hell.
Makes sense. Yeah. What are we gonna do? It's
a medieval fantasy world. Like, places are fucking
haunted. Okay, it's fine, I guess. Just don't
go into the race room. Nope. That's the danger.
Dangerous sound. Um, my kids. Yes. I have an
idea of what I'd like to do. Okay! Um, I wanna
send letters to them. basically informing them
that I am now the Lord of Gravesford and that
given the recent like issues we've had with people
in Blackbottom not being happy about my stuff
I did that it would be safer for them if they
moved to Gravesford particularly the younger
ones or they can come to Castle Rend but There's
one I would like to stay in Blackbottom because
he's a member of the City Watch. Ah, yeah. And
that is Victor. Victor. Okay. And that way I
have someone in Blackbottom that I can trust
to make sure that the money we've sent there
does get spent on a school and housing. That
way I've got... like kids where I can keep it
where I know they're safe and can keep an eye
on them and then Razalax is I assume is also
in charge of spending the 10 grand that we had
set aside for castle red upgrades okay yeah I
imagine that's been you know being used yeah
being utilized But as the official, like, regent
-in -charge while we're away, he's doing all
that. Yeah, and then I assume he probably, like,
sent... I forgot, you probably also sent a letter
to Numbers Val to see what she thought about
being higher bonds or guys' treasurer. Yeah.
If not, does she know anybody in the Numbers
games? But presumably the people we're leaving
behind at Castlerend are... They're better than
me. Oh, of course not. Penna. Lilac, Razalax,
Demelza. Ben's boyfriend Kai. Ben's boyfriend
Kai. Ben's Kai have caudal energy, but not Kai's,
like, genoric energy. I don't understand. It's
sharply corrected. So, I mean, that all seems
in order. I think as long as my kids are informed
of what we're about to go do and... what now
that we are right um yeah and you know you guys
have you know spent all morning kind of wrapping
things up getting trying to get things ready
um i imagine you're like you know uh razzlax
is like packing uh darts stuff for the journey
on bucephalus um Did we have a cart? I think
yeah, you guys would have a cart. Okay. I'm sure
you'd have a cart. It would take like 12 of your
horses to pull the cart. We could read and I
can do my stretches. It's like a mostly retired
Bucephalus since I acquired Charlie Bigbottom
and started outfitting him. Okay, load up, then
I'll load up Charlie Bigbottom. That makes sense.
Um... And... Oh, and then, uh... Zola Honeycutt
will come find you guys. She's like, hey, I'm
getting ready to probably scoot kind of soon.
I assume I won't be here at the castle anymore
when you guys get back. But you got my Jiggle
Dad's Pouch address. You got my D -mail. We'll
send you a D -mail. So, you know, let me know.
You guys have done... You guys have done a really,
really good favor to me, personally. So, let
me know if you guys need anything and I'll do
my best. You know, within reason, of course.
But, yeah. Also, I went ahead and took the liberty
of asking my cartographer could I help you guys
out? Because we sort of figured, you know, routing
this is going to be kind of hard because you've
never even been there. That's true. I always
have my cartographer plan trips for me. What's
your cartographer's name? That quest no, he has
a name though. I have cartographers tools If
you If you have cartographers tools still learning
how to use obsidian. Oh, it's not a seven kids
with no names I'm gonna name them eventually.
His name is see doll SID AL And he has planned
a route for you guys. Two routes. I'm going to
retire Morag. I feel like Morag almost got killed
the last time we did Morag with us. We're not
going to take Morag. But she needs to... Oh,
Catalyst. Let Morag live in Gravesford. It would
be a great way to have someone I know I can trust
keeping an eye on my kids. Auntie Maura, can
you put like... Oh, well, I... Yeah. Yeah. Um,
so... If you ask Maura, she will tell you she's
not, uh, gonna be adventuring with you guys anymore.
Yeah. You guys are a little out of my depths,
if I'm being honest. It was fun while it lasted,
right? Thanks for all you did. I'm happy to help
her out, help out around here. You know, I may
be in England every once in a while. Always.
We love you more, Ag. Sorry, I did not brought
it up, so it's real funny. Yeah, I'm mad. So,
Zola will explain to you that you are looking
for ruins that are in... The southwest sort of
area of the great load They don't know exactly
where it is So that is why there is a red circle
here on the map This blue X is Gravesford. So
it's like basically where you guys are, you know
relatively Doll wrath is from where the kinways
are from right? Mm -hmm. Yes. So there's two
routes. The first route is called the Long Way.
So good. Just keep it nice and simple. The Long
Way follows the actual road. So if you go to
Long Way, you have to start from Gravesford.
That is this purple line here, right? It travels
through several villages in Dalgrass. The long
way will take at least 18 days to reach the Great
Lode. So the reason that like they kind of were
guessing like three weeks is because you have
to find like the shit in the Lode. So there's,
you know, but so about 18 days to reach the Great
Lode minimum if you go the long way. And that's
assuming that there's not like any major setbacks
or there's like only like some small ones, you
know. There will be lots of places to stop for
lodging and food. But there's also probably going
to be road traffic. Sometimes there are bandits
that they like to ambush people on the roads
at Dalrath because there's blind spots. And this
is the stuff that Sadal is telling you guys about
the travel. But ultimately, like... Danger level
is relatively low if you guys take the long way
The second art is called the black forest way
You guys probably don't know that much I mean
I guess Zavari you would know because you live
in Dora the black forest is called the black
forest because it is very dense and So it is
dark inside the forest but it's not like a spooky
dark forest. It's just fucking dark. Um, so it's
typically like, it's not like super dangerous,
you know, but there are, you know, creatures
in it, obviously. So there are some risks, but
I just didn't like the black forest. I think,
you know, from a player perspective, probably
sounds like intensely spooky. Um, but, uh, typically
it's not, um, it's dangerous to like, normal
people If that makes sense, but to like adventurous
such as yourselves You wouldn't expect it to
be particularly dangerous That will take 14 days
And that's obviously assuming, you know, little
to no setbacks you guys will be camping and foraging
or eating rations to you know get your sustenance
and stuff um and traveling through the forest
is a little slow um the the black forest is kind
of a question mark in that sense like because
like although like typically it's not like super
dangerous you never know for sure and seadal
would consider it a dangerous place But like,
Zola doesn't really, if that makes sense. She's
kind of like, if Zola doesn't then... I mean,
it's like, you know, there's probably, there's
like, shambling mounds and stuff. But I mean...
Well, it's off. I mean, at least like, from what
I know. But you don't have to go through Dalrath.
You would go around Dalrath and you would also
enter the Wove kind of like, more on the west
side than like, if you went the other route.
What do you feel about going through the ORF?
I mean, I'm fine with it. I couldn't change my
appearance. I mean, I'm good in forests. I'm
good without the other way. What do you like
to have? Amazing in forests. Is it your favorite
terrain? My favorite terrain? You go with the
forest? I guess. So, um... The Great Woad is
also your... It would also fall under your favorite
terrain, by the way. And... Right, the Great
Woad would? Yeah. What do you guys think? Zavari
isn't particularly excited about the idea of
going through the... Black Forest, but she will
do it if needed. Going through the Black Forest
saves us time? That's the main advantage of going
that way? Yeah. Unless you know some fun stuff
might happen. It is, uh, faster. Yes. Sounds
like an adventure to me. Do the forest? Of course!
Well, yeah. So, she will provide you with the
map. It's more of like an overview type map.
It's not like super detailed Probably more detailed
than the one I'm presenting the players, but
not significantly more so Let's get the reading
and traveling So you guys load up on the cart
who's driving the cart? The Irish one We take
turns maybe you can read it and I read it and
you read and I read Can Daru drive? Can Daru?
Roll for it. With his tail. Daru would have to
make animal handling checks. I'm leading this
caravan on Charlie Bigbottom. I'm the Charlie
Bigbottom and he has his wings. I'm willing to
say yes if Charlie Bigbottom uses webs to like
thread a connection to the horses. So that, like,
the horses have, like, a lead. And I think that
would be fun. Are you good with that? Sure. But
he, like, attaches it, he, like, wraps it around
the saddle. Instead of, like, you know, holding
it. So he'll, like, um, Dart will, I don't know,
however he'd communicate would turn these things
on him. You've trained him. You used to live
with exceptionally well -trained. So I believe
you've trained Charlie Bigg's autumn to lead
horses. My uncle taught me spider riding. Oh,
yeah. It's my hand facts. Dr. Ryan. Yeah. So,
yeah, sure. Yeah, you guys set up a caravan of
sorts. And, you know, the cart itself. It isn't
much. There is like... So it is covered, but
it's like for cargo. So it doesn't like have
like seats or anything like that. It doesn't
make sense. That's okay, I brought my own. But,
you know, just imagine it's pretty like bare
on the inside. So you guys are gonna pack it.
However, you wish. When it comes to that, you
know, you guys are experienced adventurers with
an organization. So, like, I am... Well, right,
that's true. But I'm willing to say as far as
like, you know, camping gear, survival gear,
all that kind of stuff, if you end up needing
it for whatever reason, just like say, you know,
if you need like a crowbar. Right. You don't
need to like write down that you have a crowbar,
just like say you use a crowbar because it's
reasonable for you to have with you. Yeah. And
basically like, so if there's anything like,
we can just say, yeah, you have that. So kind
of think of it as a, you know, a loose inventory.
We have tools. A shifty inventory. Yeah. We have
one. Yeah. It's, yeah, it's shifty inventory.
It's a homebrew thing that I do where I'm just
like, well... You know, I know you didn't say
you had it before, but if you say you have it
now, sure, why not? You have it. So, uh, shit
chenna? Yeah. Just like shit chenna. That being
said, I do have, like, an explorers pack and,
um, an outlander deer. Probably have most of
it anyway. And, uh... And I'm like an expert
forager, so I forage like way, way larger amounts
of food than other people would find foraging.
Oh yeah, you can forage for everyone by yourself
easily, can't you? Yes, I can. Not to mention
I have the Landstride thing, so we like travel
more efficiently. Same with Natural Explorer,
especially if we're traveling through areas that
are part of my like favorite terrain. Yeah, so
you're like, you're thinking... We could probably
shave a couple days off if we go through the
forest, actually. I also remain alert to danger.
And I can't be lost except by magical means.
I'm a stool of the natural sprinters. We said
heels. Even though she's in her adventuring gear.
Her adventuring heels. You guys are like leaving
like at the same time as like, you know, the
Edmund party is leaving You guys before you like
leave, you know, you see like one of the Paladins
the lady Paladin she Has a scroll and she's like
casting a spell from the scrolls she's like outside
because you guys are outside pack, you know getting
ready and everything and and a big like 40 foot
diameter circle of like light sort of appears
on the ground in front of her and like a shimmery
iridescent dome kind of like sweeps like you
know coding this like this this circle becomes
like a dome and then the dome like rolls off
and inside is a unit of paladins so she's casting
battle magic to summon units and she does she
does this twice and summons two units of paladins
which is like 40 paladins Are there any wheelchair
-using paladins? No. Goodness, Sapphire Jubilee.
I already know. There's going to be so much shit
happening in Sapphire Jubilee. No, there are
a bunch of paladins, though. And it's kind of
like there's a couple of high -level paladins
and then infantry -level paladins, right? But
yeah, so they have a... I mean, it's a reasonable
size for us. It's not massive, but... Like, you
know, escort numbers. I don't know how you guys
feel about it, but that's about how many people
that they are summoning in to escort Edmund.
And then Taze is going to go with them. So he's
going to say goodbye to Zavari in private. And
then you guys are like ready to head off, if
you know, if you're ready to go. I'm ready to
run. Zavari's ready. She's wearing pants. Darts
ready. He is not wearing pants. Thank you for
listening to Roll Forth. This has been the Empire
Initiative featuring Samaria Hawkins as Lady
Zavari slash Lady Litria, Ryan Musgrove as King
Dart of the Hopkins, Rachel Vos as Rain Vosgrove,
and our wonderful M .D. Shanahan too. Now that
we've reached our fifth episode in The Adventure,
we've begun working on our Patreon. Yes, a Patreon
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friends