Episode Transcript
[00:00:30] Speaker A: Welcome to carrots and suffering, a DnD Odyssey. We are playing fifth edition DND, but we are not affiliated with the company or the brand in any official capacity. We also don't make any money doing this, so it is strictly a labor of love for the hobby. So you can help us out by leaving a rating and review, or perhaps tell a friend who likes DND or audio dramas, whatever else you want to describe us as to check us out. Okay, let's get into it. Last time on carrots and suffering.
Our heroes read the newspaper and made a number of discoveries.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Also, they're stealing our hot goth. We were supposed to give that. Maybe we decided to.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: I know that the reporter of both these stories is the sharp edge. I'm not happy.
[00:01:21] Speaker D: You never are.
[00:01:23] Speaker C: No, it's Mason. Mason's the problem.
[00:01:26] Speaker B: No, I know he did it, but.
[00:01:28] Speaker D: I think we did two attempts to go after the pox and failed. And he wiped our memories.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: I mean, we know that he has previous names. We're pretty sure he's this Darren character.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: The heroes met with their employer, the provincial governor, and updated him on the state of affairs in his province for exposing the corruption in Hiloche. There's going to be some family drama on my side.
[00:01:53] Speaker D: Yes, we are sorry for you for that.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: The heroes met with Archbishop Brightwind of divine mercy, the goddess of love and emotion, and figured out how they would clean up all the drama our party created as it moved through the town solving problems.
She looks over at Creighton and says, creighton, my daughter, who do you think I should send? I have at my disposal a paladin of divine mercy, or a priest of the luminous one, Robert Swavian.
Feel free to call on any help from the audience if you'd like.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Darius, do you have something you'd like to say?
[00:02:34] Speaker C: I think I would make an excellent candidate.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: And that's how Veras left our camp.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: The provincial governor set up a trial for the mayor of Sternheim. We have one official of sister truth here capable of being a judge in this trial.
[00:03:00] Speaker C: Am I that judge? You are outstanding.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: I love this.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: But to have a fair trial, we are going to need a prosecution and a defense. Boulain and Creedon, you two will see to the prosecution. Which brings us to who needs to prove him innocent. And he turns around and says, chastity.
[00:03:23] Speaker D: And Max, she will go off a little bit and she'll touch the raven on her chest and compose this message that says if Mayor Valrictus is still alive, he is due to stand trial. Please bring him to the field outside of Sternheim. We will meet you there and send representatives. Love, Xeris.
[00:03:43] Speaker C: Oh, wow. Nice.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Okay, let's get into it.
[00:03:56] Speaker C: I will need a minute alone. I'm going to go off into a little corner, and I'm going to kneel down, facing a wall or whatever, outside of earshot with these two. And I'm going to pray for a minor miracle from mask. I wish that the trickster God would grant me some obfuscation in a deceit. I will be trying. And in return, I will aid the next two agents of his.
[00:04:27] Speaker A: I see.
[00:04:29] Speaker D: Interesting.
[00:04:30] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Everyone knows worship is transactional.
[00:04:36] Speaker C: This is for purely selfish reasons.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: Kindly roll me a percentage. Dice.
[00:04:43] Speaker C: Do I get advantage on this?
[00:04:45] Speaker A: No. Your glave can't help you with this, unfortunately.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: Do you want to know more details about what I'm actually asking first, or no?
[00:04:52] Speaker A: No.
[00:04:53] Speaker C: All right.
My percentage is a 20, straight up.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: Okay. Insufficient. You pray for a miracle. There is no immediate sign of a miracle. But if you are a person of faith, perhaps it will just work.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: Sure, sure.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:05:09] Speaker C: Sometimes you also have to do the thing yourself.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: I will. All right.
[00:05:13] Speaker C: I get up and walk away.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Creedon?
[00:05:15] Speaker B: Yes?
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Dread zero walks up to you. Dread is a short, skinny guy. He's gothed out. He's wearing black leathers from head to toe. He has this half faux punk mohawk that falls over one eye in a very 90s emo band kind of way. And he walks up and just blows the hair out of his face. And he says, hey, couldn't make sure.
[00:05:43] Speaker B: That her giant monster tooth that she has showing.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: That's cool tooth.
[00:05:51] Speaker B: Thanks. Took it off a monster we killed. Doing a lot of good work.
[00:05:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
Already did your job that they asked you to do.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Well, funny, because we did yours, too.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: And he reaches into his leathers and pulls out a little stack of papers and hands them to you and says, don't tell chastity.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: I'd never tell her anything, but thank you. I'm not going to look at them right now, probably. That seems lame.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: And he says, yeah, you're welcome. Hey, you got plans for breakfast tomorrow?
[00:06:31] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I am kind of busy working on this prosecution, but I.
[00:06:37] Speaker D: Suppose I could handle just breakfast.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Cool.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: At the end. What's left of it.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Yeah. And then he, in the most awkward imaginable way, takes two steps back like he's unable to move his body correctly, in kind of like a robotic motion, then blows the hair out of his face and turns around and walks off.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: As he walks off, Greeden says, hey, man, be cool.
[00:07:04] Speaker C: Am I seeing any of this?
[00:07:08] Speaker A: You can roll me. Perception.
[00:07:10] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:07:11] Speaker D: Is he going to be a cockpit?
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Nope.
[00:07:13] Speaker C: I rolled.
I was. I was gonna insight, but worry about.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: What he's trying to achieve. Yeah, no, you missed it.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: As soon as he's out of sight, credence has her hands on the side of her face and is freaking out. It is immediately going to go try to find Bulene.
[00:07:30] Speaker D: Bulene's coming back from sending the message and says, are you all right?
[00:07:34] Speaker B: I think Dredd just asked me on a date. And I'd never been asked on a date before, and I don't even know if I want that. But I said yes because I've never had the opportunity, and I don't know what I want.
[00:07:43] Speaker D: All right.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: Oh, my God. What do I do?
[00:07:45] Speaker D: Slow down. Slow down. What is the date?
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Breakfast. Do you think he's going to try to pull something, though? They're kind of our enemies.
[00:07:52] Speaker D: Well, I'm sorry. Back up. Dread spoke.
[00:07:57] Speaker B: Yeah. He speaks.
[00:07:58] Speaker D: Oh.
I did not know he could do that. Well, are you interested?
[00:08:06] Speaker B: I don't know. So focused on other people finding love. I've never really thought about it. For me, I kind of thought I would, I don't know, eventually find some good person in the church and maybe set. I don't. I don't know what I want.
[00:08:21] Speaker D: Well, then I suggest you go to breakfast in the morning and see how you feel about it.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: I don't like the company he keeps. That chastity don't like her.
[00:08:30] Speaker D: Are they coming?
[00:08:31] Speaker B: Oh, God. They better not.
[00:08:33] Speaker D: Well, then that would make it very.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Clear that it's not a date, though.
[00:08:36] Speaker D: Well, then, sit down and enjoy your breakfast.
[00:08:40] Speaker B: Okay.
Have you been in love? You've lived so long, you've probably been in love, like, 80 times.
[00:08:47] Speaker D: I was once married to a pirate captain.
She and I married after she retired and lived together for 40 years. She was human. She died of very old age. And then there was one other who is still alive, but we are not together anymore.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: My condolences on your first relationship, but perhaps I can help you with the second.
[00:09:15] Speaker D: Well, that was over 20 years ago, and I do not need help with the second.
[00:09:21] Speaker C: Well, I also need a favor. And we have a trial to work on.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Wait, what? Where'd you come from? What did you hear?
[00:09:29] Speaker A: So, Creedon, one thing I want to get out of the way before we stop recording for the night. In your hand is.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I do want to read that piece of paper.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: It's several pieces of paper. It is a collection of, basically case notes that are pretty meticulously done. It's a lot of overheard conversations, interview notes from people around town. Dredd is apparently a sleuth. Quite talented investigator, it would seem. The notes you have include the names and addresses of numerous local farmers. And as you read through them, it looks like Val was paying them. And they're pretty circumspect. Their statements are clearly hiding things. They're being very vague with everything they have said to Dredd, or to Max, or in their vicinity. So no one's confessed to a crime, but you can roll me investigation.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: Probably not as good as he is.
I think that's just an eleven.
[00:10:34] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: I don't add anything. That's an eleven.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: An eleven.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: I've rolled terribly. This.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: You don't find incriminating evidence. But you do know exactly who to talk to that was involved in this case.
[00:10:47] Speaker D: And you just have to bring them to the zone of truth and ask them.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: Yeah, after telling you all of this, I'm like, oh, yeah, he gave me this. And I think it'll blow our case. Or help us out with our prosecution.
[00:10:58] Speaker D: Philane looks through and says, I should say so.
[00:11:00] Speaker C: I'm a little concerned about that, but we'll see. I need a favor.
[00:11:05] Speaker D: What is your favor?
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Sirs?
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Can you see if the magic is gone from this glave?
[00:11:13] Speaker D: Is he holding it out?
[00:11:14] Speaker C: It's just on my back.
[00:11:15] Speaker D: Okay. She will cast detect magic on the glave.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: No, the glave is very magical.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Fuck.
[00:11:21] Speaker A: Fuck.
[00:11:22] Speaker D: Why is this a problem?
[00:11:24] Speaker C: No problem at all.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: I can dispel magic. I could try it.
[00:11:29] Speaker C: No, that's all right.
[00:11:30] Speaker D: Can she tell that it's cursed? Wait, hold on a second. We actually know that this is cursed because poot made, right?
[00:11:36] Speaker A: You know that put carbuncle had a local reputation for making cursed weapons. You know that the mayor had this glave, and you know that Xeris has this glave now, also, the mayor was.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: Really obsessed with the glave. And people tend to be obsessed about their cursed weapons.
[00:11:52] Speaker D: But the thing that was missing from Putt's house was a.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: No, no.
[00:11:56] Speaker C: The thing that was missing from Puth's house was a shield.
[00:11:58] Speaker D: Oh, from the statue. Right. Okay. Yeah, but there was something missing from the mayor's house. From the armor rack in the mayor's house. Right.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: That would be the armor and the glave that the mayor was wearing and wielding.
[00:12:10] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:12:10] Speaker C: I made a prayer to alter the magic. And I was hoping it had worked. It sounds like it didn't. That's all right.
[00:12:17] Speaker D: Well, it was apparently built to slay that dragon. That was what mayor Val said. So that is probably the magic imbued in.
[00:12:25] Speaker C: Yes, yes, Zyrus. It's a little warm to touch sometimes, and I was just hoping that it could be cooler.
[00:12:33] Speaker D: Zerus, I can actually now remove curses. Would you like me to cast it on it and make sure it is not cursed?
[00:12:42] Speaker C: Sure. I will hold it out and I'll let you cast. Remove curse.
[00:12:46] Speaker D: Do I have to touch?
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:48] Speaker D: Yes. Okay. She will touch the raven on her chest, and then touch the glaive and cast. Remove curse.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Romi. Charisma saving throw.
[00:12:56] Speaker D: Oh, shit.
[00:12:57] Speaker C: No, I want to just put it back on my back. I want to be like.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:59] Speaker C: Okay. It's uncursed.
[00:13:03] Speaker D: Oh, that's not bad. All better now, that's a 15 plus five is 2020.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: Okay. Shit.
[00:13:11] Speaker D: That's one of my strength saves.
[00:13:14] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: When you touch this thing, there is a mind, a will, inside this. And you feel the heat of dragon's breath. You feel the rage of a gigantic, ancient, red dragon, and you push it down.
Xeris.
[00:13:33] Speaker D: And I say, not today, bitch.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Your attunement to the weapon is broken. You no longer gain any benefits or drawbacks of having the weapon. And you get to decide for yourself how valuable it is. Yes.
[00:13:49] Speaker C: Thank you for uncursing it. I put it back on my back.
[00:13:53] Speaker D: It was definitely cursed.
[00:13:57] Speaker C: Great. I'm glad we took care of that.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: It's never going to come up again. Problem solved.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: The two ways to attune to that, glave, by the way, are to spend an hour with it, purposefully attuning to it, or to use it to hit a dragon.
[00:14:15] Speaker C: Sounds fair.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: Probably the first performer.
Hopefully, our dragon slaying days are done.
[00:14:21] Speaker C: Wait, where's that skeleton?
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Is there just a massive skeleton in the middle?
[00:14:29] Speaker D: We told him to grind its bones into dust.
[00:14:32] Speaker B: Going to be working the mill. They're going to need, like, five mills for that fairness.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: You did 500 damage to that skeleton. There is not a lot of intact bones over there anymore.
[00:14:43] Speaker C: Is there any place I could pick up a scroll?
[00:14:48] Speaker B: Is there any place I could pick up a tooth?
[00:14:54] Speaker C: I'm trying to get Mistyl's magic aura cast on my glave here, but.
Shit.
[00:15:00] Speaker D: Shit.
[00:15:01] Speaker C: It's difficult.
[00:15:01] Speaker D: Good magic is so hard to find.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Good magic is so hard to find.
[00:15:05] Speaker D: Do the centaurs answer the message?
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Yes. You get a. We will be there to negotiate, and they give us a time they say noon.
[00:15:14] Speaker D: Noon?
[00:15:14] Speaker A: All right, great. They're not really a time telling people that's true.
[00:15:17] Speaker D: Midday. They say midday, and then it says, be there, be square, you two legged heathens. All right.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: Azeris, magic items are hard to buy in the province. If you went down to Turtle Bay, you could definitely buy them. If you went to North bank, you might be able to buy it.
[00:15:33] Speaker D: And Turtle Bay, you'd probably be buying it on the black market, which would be so illegal. Will Zuris do it?
[00:15:39] Speaker B: If only he knew other people that could do it for him.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: No, the problem is I need it in the next two days. So it's not going to be helpful until.
[00:15:49] Speaker B: Oh, man.
[00:15:50] Speaker A: It is about 11:00 a.m.
[00:15:53] Speaker D: I suppose we could just start at the top of the list and just go talk to all these witnesses.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: That was my thought.
[00:15:59] Speaker C: All right, let's go then.
[00:16:02] Speaker D: Let's go. So is Zuris allowed to be part of this investigation? If he's the.
The. What are the legal parameters like on these duties that we have?
[00:16:11] Speaker A: So you are in the territories. Zyrus is the arbiter of sister truth. So he gets to use his clerical authorities to set up this trial. So all you really have to figure out is what Xeris can do and still win over the centaurs. To allow this trial to take place.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Xeris, you have to make it the trial of the Centauri.
[00:16:41] Speaker A: Nice.
[00:16:42] Speaker C: I see what you did there.
[00:16:44] Speaker D: I guess my question was more like, if Creighton and Boulain have been put in charge of the prosecution, is Zuris allowed to come along with us for the investigation? We do. Because he is not in the role of prosecutor. He is in the role of neutral judge.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: A different cleric of sister truth would probably have told you that he shouldn't.
But I will reiterate, there is only one cleric of sister truth anywhere around here, and it's a barbarian.
[00:17:13] Speaker D: He's on our team.
I'm also questioning the wisdom of making him the judge. And then we're on his team. He's going to be like, I got.
[00:17:24] Speaker B: To choose a town leader, and now I'm a lawyer. This is a kangaroo government.
[00:17:29] Speaker D: It's true.
[00:17:30] Speaker C: And I'm actually built more as a prosecuting attorney and less.
[00:17:36] Speaker D: Right. You're not really the neutral judge sort. Yeah, really.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: It's going to be great to have the judge in our pocket.
[00:17:45] Speaker D: But do we have him in our pocket? We don't.
[00:17:48] Speaker C: Since you're asking. Here's how I'm thinking this goes. We look at the evidence that we find. And we build our case based on the evidence we find towards the prosecuting accusation. We need to find a transgression, whether it's murder, whether it's sedition, whatever it is, treason. We need to prove evidence that happened and then show how that's against divine will.
[00:18:17] Speaker D: Boulink considers for a moment. She says, in your experience as a pursuer of the law, Cirrus, are we allowed to call the defense lawyers as witnesses? Because we all heard Max say they could not represent his defense. If we are implementing a zone of truth for the questioning and the cross examination here, it sounds like Max and chastity, and possibly dredd, might be good witnesses.
[00:18:48] Speaker C: Well, chastity will not be a good witness in a zone of truth.
[00:18:51] Speaker D: Why?
[00:18:52] Speaker C: And I highly recommend you do not put her there.
[00:18:56] Speaker D: Why?
[00:18:57] Speaker C: Because clerics tend to be the type of person who can evade the effect of the zone of truth directly.
[00:19:05] Speaker D: I see.
But we could put Max there.
[00:19:09] Speaker C: He's more likely to succumb to the effect. It is not foolproof.
However, let's build a case without them.
[00:19:17] Speaker D: Agreed.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Do the centaurs follow any of the traditional gods in the church? Because I am wondering if we're trying to convince them to let us run this trial, we might not necessarily want it to be completely based off of our laws.
[00:19:34] Speaker A: You haven't really been into their camp, so you don't know. And your one conversation with a shaman was pretty standoffish.
[00:19:43] Speaker D: Okay, can I roll, like, a history or something to know about centaurs and their affiliation?
[00:19:49] Speaker A: You did it in a previous game, so you know that centaurs are originally fairies. They migrated to the mortal world, and the longer they stay here, the more like mortals they become. For example, they die. All the other various things that come with being mortal, like getting sick, et cetera. You also know that according to the laws of Astragar, that they cannot and should not worship their fairy gods, which there are two that are acknowledged to be existing from the church. Again, you haven't talked to any of them enough to know whether they're doing it on the sly, whether they have fully adopted the green man or the luminous one.
[00:20:29] Speaker D: We will have to figure out how to negotiate the centaurs when we get there.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: I believe that the centaurs are trying to accuse him of murdering their. Was it the chieftain's son?
[00:20:40] Speaker A: Their accusation against him was that he started all of the hostilities that resulted in the death of three people in their tribe.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: The war chief, the shaman, and the war chief's son.
[00:20:52] Speaker B: Okay. All right. Never mind.
[00:20:55] Speaker D: Well, it's a valid question, though, because for them to be willing to give him up, what do we have to offer them?
[00:21:02] Speaker B: I don't know if we're necessarily requiring them to give him up. I guess that is a question. If we do manage to prove him guilty, are we just going to turn him over to the centaurs to dole out their own punishment? That might be part of the negotiation offering.
[00:21:17] Speaker D: That might be an incentive for them to cooperate.
[00:21:19] Speaker C: I think sentencing is up to me. And so if banishment is the sentencing.
[00:21:28] Speaker D: I'm not sure about political dynamics here where the centaurs are concerned. If they don't turn him over, is that going to invite the wrath of the empire down on their heads for not cooperating with the legal proceedings of the place they're in? Is that enough?
[00:21:46] Speaker A: You were not given any indication that anyone in this area with authority wanted that to happen. But you would imagine that they have no real legal standing. There's twelve warriors in a two dozen, three dozen tribe of centaurs. You're an empire.
[00:22:06] Speaker D: Right. Okay. Well, we have a few hours before we have to go talk to them.
[00:22:13] Speaker B: Yeah, we should probably just focus on.
[00:22:14] Speaker D: We should focus on Dredd's witnesses.
[00:22:17] Speaker C: Yes. I will accompany you.
[00:22:19] Speaker D: All right. You're the judge. You are kind of the boss.
[00:22:24] Speaker A: Well, so how are you going to find these people? You have names.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Ask around. Wait. How many of them are possibly still alive? Oh, God.
[00:22:33] Speaker D: Well, if any of them are dead, they would probably be listed as such in the town register. So we could eliminate some that way.
[00:22:41] Speaker A: She meant we're killed by the dragon yesterday.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:22:45] Speaker D: Shit.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: We can probably easily get the names of those, though, at least. And cross them off.
[00:22:51] Speaker D: They have not been buried yet, so we could probably get families and whatever to identify them by name and cross off a few that way. If that is the case.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that we should first go to, I don't know, whoever is managing the dead.
[00:23:05] Speaker C: Okay, if you have a plan. I will not use my plan.
[00:23:09] Speaker B: No?
[00:23:10] Speaker D: What is your plan? What's your plan?
[00:23:12] Speaker C: My plan is to take the list of the tavern.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: That's also a great plan. And more fun.
[00:23:16] Speaker D: I will tell you what. I will go to the morgue and procure a list of all the peasants who died and all the farmers who died. You go to the tavern, start asking around, and then we can compare the lists.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: When I catch up with you, I'll go with Zerus. Tavern is more fun than morgue.
[00:23:31] Speaker D: I don't want to go to the morgue. You don't want to face your guilt head on.
[00:23:38] Speaker A: Xeris and Creedon. You arrive at the tavern first, you step in, and it is not a hoppin place right now for a couple reasons. One, it's before noon. And two, there's a lot of people who have been suddenly employed in rebuilding parts of Sternheim and are outdoing that. So there's an innkeeper here, there's a couple people sitting around, a few people nursing wounds and beers.
[00:23:59] Speaker C: Tavern keep is all I need.
So I'll walk straight up to the bar, being as official and pompous as possible.
Hello. I'm putting together a list of some of the folk who may or may not have been lost in the recent battle, as well as taking a bit of a quick census. So, have you heard of the following people? Can you identify them as the center of the social hub for Sternheim? I'm guessing you know the majority of people I'm about to ask about.
[00:24:35] Speaker A: You can choose to roll either deception or persuasion.
[00:24:38] Speaker C: It's probably going to be persuasion because I don't lie. Yeah, it's persuasion.
[00:24:44] Speaker A: That is a 22, they say. Oh, yes, of course. I heard you battled the dragon. I'm very impressed, sir. Thank you for your service to the town. And they take the list from you. Thank you for yours. Start jotting down notes.
[00:24:58] Speaker C: Great.
If you could describe them and if you know if they died, that would be great.
[00:25:04] Speaker B: How big is this list?
[00:25:06] Speaker A: She crosses about three off the list. I don't know everybody who died, but it's about twelve people.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: That dread zero apparently interrogated when he was in town two weeks ago. Three of them are dead, so they died in the dragon attack. She crosses them off. She gives you, like, farmer, farmer, farmer, farmer, farmer. West of town, west of town, north of town, north of town, east of town, east of town, west of town. And she says you might want to look for pretty much all of these guys in the rebuilding effort. I bet they're trying to pick up some coin.
[00:25:38] Speaker C: I understand. Thank you. And I'll go ahead and I'll give.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: Her a gold, please. You keep your gold. I owe you.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: If anything, Creighton will speak up and say. And most of these people are farmers in this town?
[00:25:52] Speaker A: All twelve of them? Yeah. Everybody you have listed here is a farmer. Varying levels of success. Actually, none of them are particularly successful.
[00:26:00] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:26:01] Speaker C: No, my friend, I insist. Please take it.
[00:26:05] Speaker A: Oh, very well.
[00:26:07] Speaker C: Sir, for all your service to the.
[00:26:09] Speaker A: Community, should you find yourself with downtime this evening, dinner's on me.
[00:26:14] Speaker C: That's quite equitable. Thank you.
[00:26:16] Speaker A: Boulain.
You find a list of the 18 dead. These 18 died fighting the dragon directly.
[00:26:25] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:26:25] Speaker A: You witnessed it. Another 20 or so people died before you even got there.
[00:26:32] Speaker D: From dragon destruction?
[00:26:34] Speaker A: From dragon destruction? From being in a house that was picked up or smashed.
[00:26:39] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: But you have the full list. The ones that were militia members have a special mark next to them because the city typically pays for their burials.
[00:26:50] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: You know who was in the militia and who wasn't. So 18 of these 38 names are militia members.
[00:26:57] Speaker D: Okay. So the ones that the city will not pay for, their families have to pay for it.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: You don't know the answer to that question because Bishop Brightwin made some decision. You don't know the outcome of that decision.
[00:27:10] Speaker D: Okay. Are any of their families here?
[00:27:12] Speaker A: There are many, yes. They're sort of milling about, collecting belongings, that sort of thing. A lot of them are done with that part, with anything active, and they're just here.
[00:27:23] Speaker D: Okay. She will spend a little bit of time finding out who's related to whom, especially among the farmers.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: If you roll a history check for the next kind of week or so, I will give you advantage as long as it relates to contemporary local people.
[00:27:39] Speaker D: 19 plus one is 20.
[00:27:40] Speaker A: So from chatting with these folks, you do get the impression that most of them just lived in this town. It is a trade port, and so the vast majority of them had sporadic jobs loading and unloading cargo. They're here because the rent rates are real cheap this close to the thorns. And a lot of them were in the militia, have been in the militia for years. The militia gives you free armor, free weapon, and training with the armor and weapon. And so a lot of them were more than happy to be a member of that. It usually involved fighting big beasts that come out of the thorns. So it was pretty surprising to have to deal with a bone dragon. No one expected that. And the families are not taking it well.
[00:28:27] Speaker D: Right.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: They are generally sort of proud of their service.
You get the impression that they aren't paid a great deal. One interesting tidbit you discover. So you did note from the town logs in the mayor's office that he was paying out about three times more.
[00:28:44] Speaker D: Money than normal because of the centaur problem.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: There is no indication that any of these families saw any extra money.
[00:28:51] Speaker D: Oh, all right.
[00:28:54] Speaker B: Ew, how gross.
[00:28:58] Speaker D: But who was getting it? She will give them some consolation, such as she can for their families, for the people they lost. Go find Xeris and Creedon.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: You find them leaving the tavern. I assume.
[00:29:10] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:29:10] Speaker D: I have some news about a money trail.
[00:29:15] Speaker C: What's that?
[00:29:16] Speaker D: Well, do you remember in Val's house in the city logs, he was paying the militia three times their usual wages when the centaur problem started. None of their families seem to recall any extra income.
[00:29:32] Speaker B: Well, it's likely that it's whatever he was paying these farmers for. That might be where the money was going.
[00:29:38] Speaker C: Let's go take another look at those logs, if we can.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: The mayor's house is exactly as you left it. The logbook is right there. It's the last thing you looked at when you left. So you can pick it up and you can reconfirm. The evidence is there. He was absolutely paying out about three times the weekly militia budget for about three weeks.
[00:29:58] Speaker C: All right, I'll take that. Put it in my bag.
[00:30:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:01] Speaker B: We're allowed to take stuff as evidence, given our appointments, correct?
[00:30:06] Speaker A: Seems reasonable.
[00:30:07] Speaker C: Okay, I will put it in my bag as evidence. That's what I will do. Reference it, and I'll take it out.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: One thing that I will point out about provincial governance, you are the authority here.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: I am the law.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: You get to choose whether you follow the rules or not. And that's how we get people like Chester Tanglebeard.
[00:30:26] Speaker D: There was also some documentation that he was watching poot carbuncle. And autumn found.
[00:30:32] Speaker A: Documentation that he was watching poot carbuncle. Okay, you looked up autumn on purpose and just saw that she had bought a house.
[00:30:39] Speaker D: Okay, I would like to take the documentation that he was watching poot's movements.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: We were pretty sure that the shield and sword that opened the path to the thorns was from them.
[00:30:49] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: Which also has.
[00:30:53] Speaker D: We found. And we found Val well entrenched in what came after that. So it's pretty damn.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: When you asked Mayor Val about that, he said that they gave him those items of their own volition.
[00:31:06] Speaker D: Bullshit.
[00:31:07] Speaker B: So I don't know if we need it for the trial, but we should keep an ear to the ground. We should keep an ear to the ground for their connection to the thorns. All right, let's pick the region with the most farmers and go there.
[00:31:18] Speaker D: West of town is where the centaurs have been.
[00:31:20] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:31:20] Speaker D: So should we start asking the farmers west of here?
[00:31:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:25] Speaker D: Can we get to them without crossing paths with the centaurs? Oh, but they're probably working in town.
[00:31:31] Speaker B: Let's go where the construction is, then to the mess.
[00:31:36] Speaker A: You find people doing a lot of construction? Actually, a tremendous amount of lumber rendering, setting back up the ramparts first, then building the houses. This is going to take weeks and weeks and weeks to fix. There's about 40 or 50 people here working in some capacity, and then there's two or three of the paladins that Bishop Brightwin brought are kind of supervising, giving out instructions, handing out pay. At the end of the day, Creedon.
[00:32:04] Speaker B: Just begins asking around.
[00:32:06] Speaker A: Give me a persuasion role, Creedon.
[00:32:08] Speaker B: All right, that is a 21.
[00:32:13] Speaker D: Nice.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: First person you run into does not think anything of your inquiry and points you directly to the first person on your listime. Apprentices. This is one I heard in my travels. In a small village with no name, a child was born. This child grew the tallest, the strongest, the smartest. Unlike those who came before, this child knew they were destined for greater things. And so they took up the sword of birch tree and practiced day and night, knowing they would someday need such skills. They studied with the blacksmith and mastered the craft far too fast for the comfort of the smith. They learned the ways of cooking and sewing far faster than was considered a blessing by the tailor. When the day of adulthood came, this child, now a powerful mortal, picked up the true sword they crafted and put it on the leathers. They sewed and left home, leaving behind love and family for an ill formed dream of greatness.
This sacrifice caught the eye of brother ambition, the God of all ambitious people. War and strength. Brother ambition loves the young, who know only successes and accept no limitations in themselves. The person went to the city of Genoch, known for training the greatest warriors, and promptly cleaved his sword through the largest log on display with sparks of divine power, and was immediately promoted to an officer in the Paladin corps. For six years, this paladin climbed the ranks and came to a startling realization. Would take at least ten more years to be a general. This follower of ambition would never be sated by such a role as general. They left the army and set out to claim the fame as a great hero of the land. They marched far to the east, the blasted wastelands where nothing grows, in search of the beasts of legend to tame, and came upon a great dragon. In the shadow of the dragon, crops grew and people flourished. Despite the wastes all around, the great Paladin gained audience with ease and told the dragon of their ambition to be the greatest of knights. Famed across the land in a slayer of great beasts. Like the dragon, the dragon looked upon this tiny knight and smiled. Young knight, your ambition is noteworthy, and I can see your desire is true, but you have come to the wrong place if you wish to vanquish a dragon. If I perish. All the people here shall die. What they need. What the people need is something more powerful than a knight or a dragonslayer. They need a blacksmith and a tailor. Will you be their most acclaimed hero? The knight saw for the first time the flaw in their plan and the truth of their ambitions. This world needed a great hero. Yes. But it was not the hero that this knight had imagined. In that moment, they surrendered their ambition and began to teach the people in the shadow of the dragon their skills and the power of brother ambition ran dry within them. For brother ambition cares not for those whose ambitions would wane.
But this is not the end of the tale. The Paladin was an amazing teacher and taught the people their skills. In a few seasons, again, they sought audience with the dragon and stated the dragon their true ambition. Dragon, I have done all I can for these people. There must be others in need of my skill in these endless wastes. Send me. For now I wish to be the greatest teacher of this world. The dragon chuckled and smiled. Tiny knight, it seems your ambition has found a new home. But such a profession does not give fame. Seeing the determination in eyes of the Paladin, the dragon continued. Then head east and become a wanderer. Or in the shadow of all the desert's great beasts, the people can toil to survive, many with cruel masters and all in need of a teacher. As the wanderer left the shadow of the dragon, the safety of the shade, and the love of their students, brother Ambition again found them and poured into them the power they needed to handle the desert's many perils. When one ambition dies, another can be born. And brother ambition accepts only those who strive for the best, but cares not if the best is a mighty, gleaming paladin with flashing sword. Or a teacher tending the wounded hand of a student pricked under needlepoint.
Now, as an apprentice, you should strive to be the best apprentice you can be.
Story time is over.
Get back to work.
So you walk over and I'm going to pull up a fantasy farmer name.
[00:37:16] Speaker D: Generator, because of course, such a thing exists. Because it's the Internet.
[00:37:22] Speaker C: Oh, man. There's one site that does all the names you could ever need.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: He sends you to the first person, whose name is Mather. Mather is kind of a grubby looking farmer. He is stacked like a person who works with his body for a living, and he is currently hauling lumber. You find him with a log over each shoulder, which is probably not great for his lumbar.
[00:37:54] Speaker B: Creedon will ask Zerus to go help relieve his load while we talk.
[00:37:57] Speaker D: Would you be willing to talk to us?
[00:38:01] Speaker C: I'll take his log from him.
[00:38:03] Speaker A: Oh, he says. Oh, thanks. Hey, I heard you fought the dragon dude. You guys are awesome.
[00:38:08] Speaker C: Actually, by the way, we did. We got so much wealth, I want to spread some. Here's a gold coin.
[00:38:16] Speaker A: Are you serious?
[00:38:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I just handed them gold coin.
[00:38:22] Speaker A: Wow, thank you. This is great.
[00:38:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, we got a few extra, so I thought I'd start giving it to the people here rebuilding.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: Anyway, we got some questions.
[00:38:32] Speaker C: I'll let them ask.
[00:38:34] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Yeah, sure. What do you guys need?
[00:38:36] Speaker B: Did you have some sort of financial arrangement with the mayor?
[00:38:42] Speaker D: Val?
[00:38:42] Speaker A: Oh, I mean, he paid me for some OD jobs the last couple of weeks. Mostly just standing outside of town looking scary because the centaurs were know.
[00:38:51] Speaker D: So he was paying you for a sentry duty?
[00:38:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you could call it sentry duty, I guess.
[00:38:56] Speaker C: Why don't you say exactly what it was you were doing?
[00:38:58] Speaker A: Well, we were supposed to wear arms and armor and gave us studded leather armor and short swords. And then we were supposed to keep centaurs away from the town at all costs. That was the rules, so we did.
[00:39:12] Speaker C: You weren't part of the groups that he sent to patrol the roads? Because we ran into one of those.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: Oh, no, I mean, I was in one of those groups. Yeah, not the one that you guys ran into, but I think he sent three or four out every day.
[00:39:24] Speaker D: Did he ever say why he wanted you to keep the Centaurs out of town?
[00:39:28] Speaker A: I mean, not specifically. Like, I got the job through my cousin who basically said he needed a group of guys, and then we all got paid. I didn't even really talk to Mayor Val personally.
[00:39:40] Speaker D: Is your cousin still with us, or was he one of the ones who lost his.
[00:39:45] Speaker A: No, no, he's. He's over there. Madman Neil is what we call his name is Neil.
[00:39:50] Speaker D: Madman Neil.
[00:39:51] Speaker A: Yeah, Madman Neil. He got the name because in his younger days, he had, like, a bit of a temper.
My brother. My cousin Neil. Come on over here.
[00:40:01] Speaker B: Wait, is he your brother or your cousin or both? He's my cousin.
[00:40:06] Speaker A: I mean, he's a cousin brother. Okay.
[00:40:10] Speaker B: Of course.
[00:40:11] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: He walks you over to a guy who is actively, like, planing down some boards. He looks again. Big old burly farmer, giant red beard. Turns around and says, yeah.
[00:40:24] Speaker C: Well, first, before anything else happens, let me say I appreciate what you're doing. I don't think you're compensated enough.
And here's the gold.
[00:40:34] Speaker A: Thank you. I mean, thank you so much. What can I do for you guys?
[00:40:38] Speaker D: Well, Mather has given us to understand that he, through you, also accepted some work from mayor Val concerning Centaur control.
[00:40:47] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. No, we did some OD jobs for him the last couple of weeks before he went missing were the only OD jobs.
[00:40:56] Speaker B: Standing outside looking menacing, trying to keep centaurs at bay. Or was there anything else that you were doing for him?
[00:41:03] Speaker A: Roll me. Persuasion. You have advantage because Ziris bribed him.
[00:41:07] Speaker B: Well, I rolled an at 21st.
[00:41:09] Speaker A: Okay, great.
[00:41:10] Speaker B: So that's a 27.
[00:41:11] Speaker D: Nice.
[00:41:12] Speaker A: He says, okay, hey, Mather, head back to work. I'll deal with these guys. And Mather's like, yeah, sure, no problem.
[00:41:20] Speaker C: I hand Mather his log, Mather's like, oh, thanks.
[00:41:24] Speaker A: He walks off with his log, carry.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: It to where he needed to.
[00:41:27] Speaker C: Don't mention it.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: So, hey, let's not talk, like, right around here. How about, hey, there's a construction spot nobody's working on yet. Let's go over there. All right.
[00:41:43] Speaker B: Of course.
[00:41:43] Speaker C: Let's do that. And before we get started.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: No, I think you're doing a great job here.
[00:41:48] Speaker C: Actually, I think I may have underestimated your value. So here's five more.
[00:41:53] Speaker A: He kind of stares at it in just utter disbelief, and then pockets it and says, all right, ask your questions. I've got your answers.
[00:42:00] Speaker B: You know, Zerus, you're really inspiring me.
[00:42:02] Speaker D: You're right.
[00:42:02] Speaker B: This town really needs some financial aid for recovery. I'm going to make sure to donate some to my mom's paladins that are staying behind.
[00:42:11] Speaker D: What were all the jobs that you did for Val?
[00:42:14] Speaker A: The typical job was act like a militiaman for a day, get paid for a day as a militiaman. Now, I took an extra finder's fee for finding people to be his, quote unquote temporary guard militiaman. I did that. And generally, I kind of pulled together my farming buddies, my extended network, pretty much anybody who needed some extra coin and pulled them together for the jobs. He tended to split people into three, four groups, send them out on patrol. I can tell you a few of the people got handpicked for special assignments.
[00:42:47] Speaker D: What kind of special assignments?
[00:42:49] Speaker A: Well, six of my guys died on one of those special assignments.
[00:42:55] Speaker D: When was this?
[00:42:56] Speaker A: That would have been the first day of special assignments. The first day of any assignments, actually. Group of twelve people were sent to treaty with the centaurs, inform them that they are not allowed in this region anymore.
And apparently negotiations broke down because only six of those people came back.
[00:43:22] Speaker D: Do you know why they were sent to do that.
[00:43:25] Speaker A: No. I don't know why they were sent to tell the Centaurs to move on.
[00:43:29] Speaker D: Can I roll insight?
[00:43:31] Speaker A: Yeah, roll it, credent.
[00:43:32] Speaker C: Also, would you please show this lovely individual the list and see if. Yes, you're on it. Outstanding.
[00:43:40] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:43:40] Speaker B: If any of them were in that party.
[00:43:42] Speaker D: Yeah, I got a 13 insight.
[00:43:45] Speaker A: You get the impression he is earnestly trying to help you.
[00:43:48] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:43:48] Speaker A: Your line of questioning is tipping him off that something was done wrong, and he's starting to get more cautious with time.
[00:43:56] Speaker D: Neil, if you give us information that is incriminating to others, we can take your statement in confidence so that it does not come back to you. She kind of turns her head towards yours to sort of check with him.
[00:44:17] Speaker C: That's my response.
[00:44:19] Speaker D: He doesn't say anything.
[00:44:20] Speaker B: Nothing.
[00:44:23] Speaker D: I can take an official witness statement and not say who the witness was at the trial if you approve it.
[00:44:29] Speaker C: Zerus, as the prosecutor, you'll be allowed to call the witnesses you want, but you'll need witnesses.
[00:44:38] Speaker D: We can't do depositions.
[00:44:40] Speaker C: You'll be allowed to present the evidence you want, but witnesses are much harder evidence. Now, it doesn't sound like this individual witnessed anything.
[00:44:50] Speaker B: We can call Ziris as the witness to this conversation.
[00:44:56] Speaker C: But I think you understand my point.
If you tell everybody.
[00:45:01] Speaker D: I understand your point, but when it comes to soliciting the truth out of people for a situation, if they are worried about incriminating themselves, they are a lot less likely to be forthcoming.
[00:45:16] Speaker C: I would take a different tack. But again, you're probably going to want to have some witnesses. However, Neil here probably, isn't it?
[00:45:29] Speaker B: Excuse me, sir. Are any of these people.
Were any of them on that list or on that special jobs team?
[00:45:37] Speaker A: Picks up your list and looks at it and says, yes. Riemann, Dickens and Wakefield taking notes.
[00:45:44] Speaker D: Are they here at the construction site today?
[00:45:47] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:45:48] Speaker D: Can you point them out?
[00:45:50] Speaker A: Sure. Gestures over to. And you actually see all three of them kind of working together. They appear to be in the process of rebuilding a rampart.
[00:45:58] Speaker D: Okay, Neil, I have one more question for you, if you are willing. How much did he pay you for these jobs? Like, by the day?
[00:46:09] Speaker A: In total, he paid me basically two malicious men's worth of salary. One for being on the different patrol units and one for finding all the guys.
[00:46:23] Speaker D: All right, and how many guys did you find?
[00:46:25] Speaker A: Well, I found somewhere around, like, 35, 36. Six of them died.
[00:46:32] Speaker D: All right. And they were all farmers from around Sternheim?
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:46:36] Speaker C: Neil, I don't know how much of this needs to be said, but just to make sure we're, uh. You should focus on your work for the rest of the day.
[00:46:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Yes, sir.
[00:46:46] Speaker C: Outstanding.
[00:46:47] Speaker A: Neil goes straight back to grabbing his carpentry tools and trimming down boards, and.
[00:46:53] Speaker B: We go speak with Raymond Dickens in Wakefield.
[00:46:56] Speaker C: Here's my concern with that. I don't know that we have the time before the centaurs. If we do, I think we pull them aside, we isolate them, and we play them against each other.
[00:47:08] Speaker B: That is a good plan.
[00:47:09] Speaker D: Can we isolate them in the barracks?
[00:47:11] Speaker C: Yep. It's missing a few people, so we.
[00:47:15] Speaker D: Ask them to come with us. We isolate them with the barracks, go out, talk to the centaurs, and then come back after they have been sweating for a bit.
[00:47:22] Speaker C: As long as they're stored separately, I'm fine with that plan.
[00:47:26] Speaker B: Do we have guards that we could trust to keep them separate? I suppose the paladins likely could.
[00:47:32] Speaker A: There are three paladins lying around.
[00:47:34] Speaker D: The Paladins would be willing to cooperate with that if they understood it was towards the think. I will go speak with the paladins if you.
[00:47:41] Speaker C: I will go speak with the three of them.
[00:47:43] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:47:44] Speaker C: With Creedon and toe?
[00:47:46] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: Okay. Boulain, you get to the paladins pretty quickly. One of them is sort of just watching.
[00:47:52] Speaker D: Are they all Sternheim paladins, or are they Breitwin's paladins?
[00:47:58] Speaker A: These are.
[00:47:59] Speaker D: All right. All right, she says, sirs, if I could have a moment of your time.
[00:48:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:48:05] Speaker D: As you know, we are pursuing some evidence towards the trial of the mayor tomorrow, and we have need of going to meet the centaurs. There are three witnesses among the workers here that we would like to isolate and question later in the day. Would you be willing to watch over them and keep them separated?
[00:48:24] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:48:25] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:48:26] Speaker C: I woke up to the three of them and say, all right, gentlemen, I have good news and I have bad news.
[00:48:32] Speaker D: Oh, no.
[00:48:33] Speaker A: They'll turn around and be like, oh, it's a dragon slayer. Yeah, nice guy.
[00:48:38] Speaker C: Well, that brings us to the good news.
[00:48:40] Speaker D: Gold.
[00:48:40] Speaker C: You slay some dragons, you earn a little bit of keep. And you know what? I'm a person who likes to share that around. So I will give each of you.
[00:48:50] Speaker B: Two gold and more good news. You're relieved of work for the day.
[00:48:54] Speaker C: Yes.
And more good news. Yes, that's exactly the bad news, is you're being reassigned. You'll follow me, and we're going to put you in some rooms for a bit, and that's what you'll be doing for the day. So if you'll come with me.
[00:49:10] Speaker A: Go ahead and roll me. Insight.
[00:49:12] Speaker C: Insight.
[00:49:14] Speaker D: They're going to roll.
[00:49:14] Speaker C: Love to roll you an insight.
[00:49:16] Speaker B: Can Creedon also roll this?
[00:49:17] Speaker C: That's an 18 on Insight 16.
[00:49:22] Speaker A: You both catch it. They think they did something wrong. They look like they did something wrong. They are now very nervous.
[00:49:29] Speaker B: Got them.
[00:49:30] Speaker C: Now, if you'll all head your way towards the barracks, I'll be right behind you.
[00:49:35] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. Hayden will lead the way and they walk to the barracks with you.
[00:49:42] Speaker C: And we put them into individual rooms, not cells. I don't want them next to each other, being able to talk to each other.
[00:49:47] Speaker A: The paladin says, okay, I can keep them in there.
[00:49:49] Speaker D: Thank you. And she offers him three gold for his trouble.
[00:49:53] Speaker A: Oh, I can't accept, actually. I'm on duty.
[00:49:58] Speaker D: Well, I am going to leave these three gold on this table right here. You do or don't do with it what you will.
[00:50:04] Speaker A: Very well.
[00:50:05] Speaker B: Crayden will make sure that there are refreshments in the rooms with each of these people and ensure them that we'll be back in no time to talk to them.
[00:50:14] Speaker A: All right? Good cop has been established.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: Exactly. Thank you. You see, my.
[00:50:23] Speaker A: To. You have to head out to deal with the centaurs. Yes. So when you arrive, they are waiting for you. It looks like they don't tell time real well.
[00:50:32] Speaker D: I mean, we said midday.
[00:50:34] Speaker A: Not in their culture. But when you walk up, there are six armed centaurs and they have the mayor there still in the chains you brought him out of the underground with.
[00:50:46] Speaker D: Does he look worse?
[00:50:47] Speaker A: For where? No.
[00:50:48] Speaker C: Is he gagged?
[00:50:49] Speaker A: No. That's a shame. All right, two centaurs, step forward. He recognize them both. This is Niha and Athalos. Niha is the warchief and Athalos is the shaman. Athalos says, we got your message and we are here to work towards a peaceful resolution to this criminal behavior.
[00:51:12] Speaker D: We appreciate you coming to meet us.
[00:51:14] Speaker A: How can I be of assistance?
[00:51:16] Speaker C: Have you had your own trial for this individual yet?
[00:51:20] Speaker A: No. We decided to spend the evening reinforcing the camp and moving it away from the dragon's attack location.
[00:51:28] Speaker B: I was just going to say that the dragon has been taken care of. There's no more immediate danger to their camp.
[00:51:33] Speaker A: We saw. We also are aware that some people have arrived. They look like military men, so we are keeping our distance from the town proper.
[00:51:45] Speaker C: Well, let's try to make this an opportunity.
Let's try to take this disaster and use it as something to mend our two peoples instead of further divide them. The military presence that you noticed is actually here for him. And they're staying here because that matter is unresolved. So let me begin with a proposal that I want to make equitable for you. We need him to be at a trial for our justice tomorrow.
Now, I hear you'rebuilding. We are also rebuilding. And I think we should rebuild together. We have a lot of carpenters working right now. We have a lot of folk working right now who I think it would benefit them to work with you as you are citizens, right?
[00:52:45] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:52:45] Speaker C: Outstanding. That's exactly the answer I wanted to hear. And so our citizens should come together and help each other. And to best do that, as a show of good faith, you let us take care of justice for Vel, as he has wronged you, our citizens. And we will take care of you as our citizens. We'll send masons and we'll send carpenters to help you fortify the position that you're at.
[00:53:12] Speaker A: We desire not your masons and carpenters.
We desire the truth. And this human Val has been very tight lipped. If you can promise us the truth, we can agree to your terms.
[00:53:28] Speaker C: And the truth you seek is who killed your tribe leaders?
[00:53:32] Speaker A: Who killed our tribe leaders? Yes. We would like to know who did that, and we would like to know why. These actions make no sense.
[00:53:40] Speaker C: And may we see? I assume those places have been disturbed. But if there's anything left untouched or anything from those events that we could learn, that would be helpful.
[00:53:53] Speaker A: Unfortunately, it has been many weeks.
[00:53:56] Speaker D: You have already buried those who were killed.
[00:53:59] Speaker A: We have constructed a pyre and burnt the remains. What is left is technically buried, but you won't find anything of substance there.
[00:54:11] Speaker C: Give me a moment to speak with our friends.
[00:54:15] Speaker D: She says, in pursuit of finding the truth in our own right. And we share a goal there. My friend Creden and I have been charged with the prosecution in the trial, and some other colleagues have been charged with the defense.
Would you be willing to participate in the trial tomorrow as witnesses for the prosecution?
[00:54:37] Speaker A: Yes. Although I'm afraid there's little we can tell you that we witnessed. Our tribal leaders went out to meet with the humans and did not return. We found their remains on the road as we were debating what to do and who to appoint as the new tribal leaders, three humans visited our tribe and had a conversation with the Warchief's son, who was next in line for Warchief. He was advocating for an all out war against Sternheim. They left, unable to come to an agreement, and the next day, we found his remains. Some distance outside of the village. Unfortunately, that is all we've witnessed these individuals looked like.
[00:55:20] Speaker B: And then she describes the appearance of the three members of sharp edge of the pub.
[00:55:25] Speaker A: So the two of them kind of exchange glances, and one of them says, you'll forgive us.
One of them was taller, one of them had dark hair, and one of them appeared to be wearing some kind of helmet made of hair.
[00:55:41] Speaker D: So, sharp edge of the pub.
[00:55:43] Speaker B: I see. The defining feature of humans to centaurs is our hairstyle.
[00:55:47] Speaker C: Am I correct in assuming that neither of you have a way to force the truth from Val or the dead?
[00:55:54] Speaker D: I do not have zone of truth.
[00:55:56] Speaker B: I mean, I assume that if we are able to arrange this trial, that we will have the opportunity to question him with the zone of truth.
[00:56:03] Speaker D: I mean, that was the idea.
[00:56:04] Speaker C: We will. But I'm not.
[00:56:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I could try to use suggestion on him.
[00:56:10] Speaker D: That's true.
[00:56:11] Speaker B: I'm not saying that out loud.
I assume we're doing a party aside.
[00:56:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:56:16] Speaker B: Should I try that?
[00:56:18] Speaker C: I don't think that's a bad plan.
[00:56:21] Speaker D: Oh, I can do zone of truth. I could do it tomorrow.
[00:56:26] Speaker B: Is it acceptable if I cast a spell on him to try to gain some further information?
[00:56:33] Speaker A: As long as he survives to the trial, that would be fine. We'd like to keep him, and we'll bring him to this spot tomorrow for your proceedings.
[00:56:42] Speaker B: It will not harm him. Creden will wander over to him and cast suggestion.
[00:56:49] Speaker A: Speak only in the truth, Val says. Very well. What do you wish to know?
[00:56:53] Speaker B: Are you rolling behind the screen so we don't know if he passed or not?
[00:56:57] Speaker A: A roll has occurred.
[00:56:59] Speaker C: The first question is, did the spell succeed?
[00:57:02] Speaker A: The spell was cast.
[00:57:04] Speaker C: No, I'm asking, are you under the influence of suggestion?
[00:57:09] Speaker A: I don't know. Tell me something, and I'll do the opposite.
[00:57:12] Speaker C: What is your name?
[00:57:13] Speaker A: Tiddlywigs? Sniggle? Fritz.
[00:57:17] Speaker D: So that did not work.
[00:57:20] Speaker A: I am protected by the light of the radiant one.
[00:57:25] Speaker B: Well, that would have been incredibly easy.
[00:57:26] Speaker D: So, of course, you were not so protected when we rescued you from near slavery.
[00:57:34] Speaker A: My protection then was, let's say, stifled, since I was out of the light of the sun.
[00:57:40] Speaker D: And by accursed weapon, he tilts his head.
[00:57:44] Speaker A: I don't know what you're talking about.
[00:57:46] Speaker B: Where did you get this weapon again?
[00:57:48] Speaker A: Belonged to my father, the man who slayed the dragon.
[00:57:51] Speaker C: Are you a paladin? Are you faithful enough to have divine power flow through you?
[00:57:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:57:58] Speaker C: What's your oath? What do you swear to?
[00:58:01] Speaker A: I am sworn to defend the astragarian empire and hold myself in the honor of the radiant one.
[00:58:11] Speaker C: Were you down in those caves defending the astragarian empire?
[00:58:18] Speaker A: Yes, I was.
[00:58:19] Speaker C: My understanding is that you were looking for a treasure.
[00:58:23] Speaker A: The black eye of Sternheim's history. The gold, the lost treasure, and the remains of the dragon that drove my father insane.
[00:58:34] Speaker C: You think it was the dragon that drove your father insane?
[00:58:37] Speaker A: Some men believe it was Putkar Bunkel's blacksmithing that created a cursed weapon. The one that is on your back.
But I don't believe it's cursed.
[00:58:48] Speaker D: Oh, it was cursed.
[00:58:50] Speaker C: So, just to make very certain, you will swear to me right now to the luminous one, that you did nothing to break your oath.
[00:59:01] Speaker A: For the last month, I swear to the luminous one that I have defended the honor of the austrigarian empire.
[00:59:10] Speaker D: That is not the same thing, sir.
[00:59:13] Speaker C: Richtus, did you break your oath?
[00:59:15] Speaker A: No. If I had broken my oath, my power would have left me.
[00:59:20] Speaker C: Potentially. But I tend to agree with that assessment. I'm also going to insight.
[00:59:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I was kind of thinking about that, too.
[00:59:32] Speaker A: All that 13 nine about me?
[00:59:36] Speaker C: I got a six.
[00:59:38] Speaker B: That's sad.
[00:59:40] Speaker A: You get the impression that Val very much believes he's an upstanding citizen who would do nothing wrong. And that he has done nothing wrong.
[00:59:51] Speaker C: All right, one more question, Val, and I want to make sure that you think pretty hard about this question I'm.
[00:59:57] Speaker A: About to ask you.
[00:59:58] Speaker C: Do you remember any missing time? You wake up suddenly, anywhere you weren't.
[01:00:03] Speaker A: I do remember some missing time.
It started when the Centaurs came to town. And I believe it's possible one of their shamans worked some magic on me.
[01:00:19] Speaker C: Why do you suspect their shaman?
[01:00:21] Speaker A: Believe that I am protected by divine radiance, the light of leadership of all mortalkind. The idea that something the gods did not ordain would happen must be the result of fairy magic.
[01:00:42] Speaker C: But why the Sento?
[01:00:43] Speaker D: That is the only basis you have for suspecting their shaman of casting a spell on you.
[01:00:49] Speaker A: If I were missing time, what else would cause it if not magic?
[01:00:53] Speaker D: A cursed weapon.
[01:00:54] Speaker A: My father carried that weapon for 40.
[01:00:58] Speaker D: Years and went insane.
[01:00:59] Speaker A: I believe the dragon drove him insane.
[01:01:02] Speaker D: Only insofar as the dragon had pieces of its scales on the weapon.
[01:01:07] Speaker C: So I don't think there's much value in litigating that right now.
[01:01:12] Speaker B: Is that why you wanted to run the centaurs out? Because you believed that they had been tinkering with your mind?
[01:01:18] Speaker A: The centaurs conspired to keep the gold away from stern.
[01:01:24] Speaker D: Oh, my God. This is like Astragar's QAnon right here.
[01:01:27] Speaker C: So where did you wake up Val?
If you lost time, what was the situation right when you woke up?
[01:01:36] Speaker A: I was in my office every time.
[01:01:39] Speaker D: Was the weapon also in your office?
[01:01:41] Speaker A: The weapon is always in my office unless I am wielding it.
[01:01:46] Speaker C: No surprises when you woke up?
Blood, bodies?
Other questionable things?
[01:01:55] Speaker A: No.
Maybe some missing coins, but nothing surprising.
[01:02:03] Speaker B: Do you remember when you entered into that area leading to the thorns?
[01:02:11] Speaker A: Yes. Had the items from the historic adventuring party that slew the dragon. I used them to open the door, and I went in.
[01:02:21] Speaker B: Was your father also often seeking that gold?
[01:02:24] Speaker A: My father believed that the other adventurers worked with the local fairies to hide the gold from Sternheim. He believed that the gnome and the elf and the centaur that made the original party that slew the dragon were conspiring against civilization and working against the empire.
[01:02:46] Speaker D: Val, I have one question for you. Do you want to tell us about the conversation you had with twelve individuals who you sent to treat with the centaurs?
[01:02:56] Speaker A: I sent a group to talk to the centaurs, yes. To tell them that they were not welcome in town, and apparently it didn't go well.
[01:03:06] Speaker D: Did you instruct them to be hostile in any way?
[01:03:09] Speaker A: No.
[01:03:11] Speaker D: I'm going to roll in sight.
Oh, that's better. That's a not natural 20.
[01:03:17] Speaker A: There was a little bit of hesitation there.
You suspect he's not being as forthright as he was earlier?
[01:03:26] Speaker C: My friends, the centaurs, we will do our best to discover the truth of what happened. It is a complex issue, and while foul may be related, he doesn't seem to be the one with blood on his hands. Directly, at least. And so that means that tracking down the individual is still a task. And we're working on that. And we have some suspects that we will question, but it's not certain that we can get you the truth. So I have to tell you truthfully that with that said, I would like to take Val into our custody, keep him in our prisons, in our jail, and hold him on trial tomorrow. He has committed crimes that we already know of, and he will be at least punished for those.
[01:04:22] Speaker A: Roll me. Persuasion, please.
[01:04:24] Speaker C: Sure.
That is a twelve.
[01:04:31] Speaker B: Is there anything we can do to help? I will help.
[01:04:34] Speaker D: I have something to suggest to help.
[01:04:36] Speaker A: Sure, throw it out there.
[01:04:37] Speaker D: Billain says, I think the question we have for you now, and she is addressing Niha and Athalos. Do you want the specific people who killed your kinsmen, or do you want the one who was responsible for sending them.
[01:04:54] Speaker A: So Niha goes to answer and Athalos kind of puts a hand out and Athalos says, we may not be of one mind in the answer to that question. Truth first, justice second.
[01:05:07] Speaker D: Okay. That was how Boulain was going to try to help. I don't know if that counts as help.
[01:05:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, go ahead and roll a second time there.
[01:05:16] Speaker C: 18 that time.
[01:05:17] Speaker D: Yay.
[01:05:19] Speaker C: It is my mission in this to find as much truth as possible.
[01:05:23] Speaker A: I can see you are a man of faith and that you represent the goddess of truth. Well, understand that by handing him to you, I am giving you the only leverage we have in our own pursuit of truth. This is an extension of trust that I do not have to do, nor would it necessarily be wise to do. But I can agree to your terms because I believe what you are telling me.
[01:05:53] Speaker C: I'll do my best. And if that doesn't turn out, I will look to find a way to set back the status quo. As it is now, that is the.
[01:06:05] Speaker A: Best we can hope for. And the centaurs leave. You now have Val in the middle of a field.
[01:06:12] Speaker D: Zerus draws his axe and cuts off his head. Just tidies it all up.
[01:06:17] Speaker C: Oh, no. The.
[01:06:35] Speaker A: And that is a wrap. Special thanks to Todd Ferguson and myped machine for our tunes and Julie at elaborate flight of fancy for our logo. Don't forget to leave us a rating and review. And with that, the investigation begins. Next time on carrots and suffering, a DND odyssey.
