Campaign 2 (Astragar) Episode 48:To Mandra

[00:00:30] Speaker A: Welcome to Garrett's and suffering at D d Odyssey, I am Nate, your humble dungeon master. Cautionary tale. I filled each of these cities with political intrigue. My heroes don't seem terribly interested at this stage of the story, and I'm not going to force it, which means the second of this campaign may go much quicker than I anticipated, and that's just fun. So you're welcome. Last time on carrots and suffering, our heroes were confronted with a plan. Defend the magic item that suppresses the power of Vecna. Ask the fae gods for information on the book that keeps Vecna tied to the mortal plane. Find that book, travel to Maloria, the mountain city, and cast it into a tear in the veil between the realms of the living and the dead. Then fight Vecna and kill them, banishing them to the realm of the dead. They make their choice in an unusual way. [00:01:20] Speaker B: All right, so I am not a fan. The idea of going to ask the fake gods for help personally, which one. [00:01:26] Speaker C: Of these do we think is in the most well to do area? [00:01:32] Speaker A: After choosing to head to the craftsman city of Mandra, they get some magical goodies from their patron, and our heroes rest and relax. In Astragar, we're going to learn a little bit about each of them. And in that episode, we started learning about Cretan. You have been. [00:01:52] Speaker B: Mean. I always thought that it would come from divine mercy, but yet the radiant one has bestowed me with gifts. That was not what I was expecting. [00:02:01] Speaker A: Let's get into it. Hi, I'm Nate, and I will be your dungeon master. [00:02:13] Speaker D: Hi, I'm Andy. I play boulain the grave domain death cleric. [00:02:16] Speaker B: Hi, I'm Claire, and I play creden the sorcerer. That is very special. [00:02:22] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Robert, and I play Xeris, who can't figure out if it's better to be a duck or a person. [00:02:30] Speaker D: That's an existential crisis for Xeris, right? [00:02:34] Speaker A: There it is. [00:02:35] Speaker D: He misses the waddle. It was doing something for him. [00:02:38] Speaker B: If it locks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it might be Zyrus. [00:02:44] Speaker D: Mayhaps it's funny because that was, like, five episodes ago, but, you know, he is still thinking about that duck. [00:02:53] Speaker A: Listeners haven't even gotten to the duck yet. [00:02:55] Speaker D: No. [00:02:55] Speaker B: Creedon's still remembering those really good fish boobs that she had. [00:02:59] Speaker C: But fishes don't have mammary. What do you mean, fish boobs? [00:03:03] Speaker B: I was like a water nymph or something. [00:03:05] Speaker D: Right? [00:03:05] Speaker A: You were an aquatic elf. Yeah, sounds right. [00:03:09] Speaker B: Fine. Aquatic boobs. [00:03:10] Speaker D: Sorry, aquatic elf boobs. [00:03:16] Speaker C: The best guy. [00:03:18] Speaker A: You all got outranked by Vana Ulare in the town of Tuscan. And rather than follow your last lead, which was to kick down the doors of some farmhouses, you decided, screw this guy who hired us. He's kind of a dick, and marched to Astragar. Boulain, what is it something you wanted to do while you were in town? [00:03:41] Speaker D: I think she is going to go to the temple of silent judge, and she's going to seek out her old mentor, who was an elf. He's a bishop, and he's an elf named Gavon, and he's basically the one who raised her and mentored her from when she was a child. [00:03:57] Speaker A: Okay, so I think Gavon, let me scroll down to my Astragar details, was a bishop and is basically working for the church in retirement now. So he reports to Alicia death Scribe, the archbishop in the region, and works directly with them. You find him, I'm going to say, down in the lower preparation rooms where they do body preparation. And he has about seven acolytes that all look very, very young, still in their teens, looking very awkward and a little green as he's going through the details of body preparation, and you recognize immediately that he is adopting an incredibly reverent and respectful tone around this set of human remains that he's working on. And this is the same tone that you were taught to take when confronted with death directly. But the newbies are really struggling with it. They're having a very hard time finding the middle ground between compassionate and dispassionate and not ill. Are the newbies all. [00:05:09] Speaker D: Human, or is there a mix? [00:05:10] Speaker A: It's a mix, but most of them look human. There's probably, you think one of them's a halfling and one of them's a fairly young dwarf. But as you walk in, he looks up. What was his name again? [00:05:19] Speaker D: Gavon. [00:05:20] Speaker A: Gavon. [00:05:21] Speaker D: G-A-V-A-H-N-I think, is how I spelled it. [00:05:24] Speaker A: He looks up and he says, let's go ahead and take a break. Go get some fresh air. And I highly recommend some fresh running water, particularly for you, young one. And you see this apprentice, who is particularly green, walking out, looking almost like they're going to fall over. And he turns and says, boulain, what a wonderful surprise. It's been a long time indeed. Let us step away from these remains so that I can be less formal. And he steers you to a quiet meeting room. [00:05:58] Speaker D: And we're totally, like, door shut, totally alone. [00:06:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And he turns around and takes his holy symbol off and loosens his garb around his neck and then says, it's been long enough. I think I'm due a hug. [00:06:12] Speaker D: I think you're right. And she's speaking elvish, by the way, and she gives him a big hug. [00:06:16] Speaker A: And he says, so, tell me of your adventures. Last I heard, you were exploring a new relationship with a gentleman named Taemin down in Turtle Bay. [00:06:27] Speaker D: That came and went. Ended about three years ago. But, yes, she gets a little blushy. She says it was hot, but ultimately not good for me. [00:06:40] Speaker A: Well, what is always interesting about the younger races, while they tend to burn quite a bit hotter with less time on their hands, I've noticed. Exhilarating. But in my old age, I've had to give that up. [00:06:53] Speaker D: Well, seven and I were married for 40 years, right up until she died. And she was human. So I am not sure how much that theory holds up. But Taeman was charming to a fault and I fell for it. Yes, well, for a good long time. [00:07:09] Speaker A: It happens. It happens. I'm sure we've had our share of those experiences as well. So I'm very sorry to hear about Imston. That mix up was quite unusual. We sent Dorothea down there and I never received any confirmation that she arrived. [00:07:29] Speaker D: She did. With Emston. I think possibly Imston followed her down and tried to appropriate her with some fairly drastic heresies. [00:07:39] Speaker A: I see. [00:07:40] Speaker D: Gavon, I need to unload on you a bit. Well, if you do not mind. [00:07:48] Speaker A: I don't mind. Is this confessional or is this just as friends and colleagues? [00:07:55] Speaker D: Both. [00:07:56] Speaker A: Interesting. Very well. Well, we're alone and this is as private a place as we can get. [00:08:01] Speaker D: She nods and she says, first of all, Dorothea needs help. If you have not already sent down someone to assist her. She is too green for Turtle Bay. And I instructed the admiral to send for someone else and to make sure there's communication back and forth on who that person is this time. Yes, Emston was a disciple of. She looks up at him and says. [00:08:26] Speaker A: Vecna, he's going to roll a D 20. Roll one, d twenty. He says. Ah, interesting. I've heard the name, but only in history books. Of course. Imston was quite old, even by elven standards. [00:08:43] Speaker D: It was not the first run in we had had with the name Vecna. You have probably read the papers about our time in Palmville. [00:08:51] Speaker A: I have. And it was interesting to see your name come up. But as soon as it did, I was certain that there were some facts behind the assertions. [00:09:03] Speaker D: Vegna is an older, other version, I suppose you could say, of a death God who has a vestige still in the world trying to gain back his power. I have been given to understand that the thefts of corpses from the crypts here are likely in connection to that. What do you know about it? [00:09:24] Speaker A: Our investigations did not turn up the name Vecna. [00:09:27] Speaker D: No, they would not. [00:09:29] Speaker A: Yeah, I suspect, given the manipulations that must have been in place. Ducking out in the COVID of darkness, I put my bet on probably the temple of mask in conjunction with the temple of divine mercy. We have not been able to prove it, but temple of divine mercy is allowed regular access. And the temple of mask has the kind of ethos and power that could allow them the capability of slipping bodies out under our noses. [00:10:00] Speaker D: Yvonne, there is one other sect of the church that has unlimited access to the crips. [00:10:06] Speaker A: Yes, and it is clear that given the experience you had with Imston, it is likely that that is also true. I have been defending our members to the best of my ability. The inquisition has interviewed a number of them. [00:10:23] Speaker D: Any suspects of interest? [00:10:25] Speaker A: No, none that have confessed anything or appeared compromised. Imston was a bit of a loner, so we were not necessarily able to tie her to anyone in particular. But it's unlikely she was working alone. [00:10:42] Speaker D: I'm going to roll insight on him. Okay, so I get a plus ten on insight. That's a twelve. [00:10:49] Speaker A: Okay, he rolls a three, and his lying skill is not a plus ten. So you get the impression that he is absolutely covering for some people to keep them out of trouble, that he does, in fact, have people that he is suspicious of. [00:11:06] Speaker D: Okay, but she doesn't feel like he's lying to cover his own ass, like he's covering for other people out of genuine concern for them. [00:11:13] Speaker A: No, not at all. Okay, yeah, he is clearly protecting somebody. And you imagine, given your long history with him, it's probably a young person. [00:11:22] Speaker D: She says, gavon, this is quite serious. You understand that if anybody in the silent judge church is involved, we have to know. This is empire wide in terms of what is at stake. There is something huge happening here. And if there is inside work going on, even in our own church, we have to know. [00:11:46] Speaker A: Roll me. Persuasion. [00:11:47] Speaker D: Okay, not great. I'm not as good at that as I am at insight. Oh, I rolled better, though. That's a 15. [00:11:55] Speaker A: He leans back and says, boulain, with an inquisition underway and a new heresy born, I am concerned for steps to be taken against individuals beyond simple banishment or excommunication. And if the undead are truly involved. I think there's a person's life that I am defending at the moment. If you need information from them, perhaps I could get that for you. But I am not willing to risk their life. [00:12:31] Speaker D: You caught them in the act, didn't you? [00:12:33] Speaker A: Not quite. They did amend the duty roster. I caught them amending the duty roster. [00:12:40] Speaker D: Yvonne, you did a lot for me growing up. The reason I had a life outside of what waited for me in my lorry. I entirely owe to you. And there are not many who know that secret about me. Although apparently, there are a lot more than I thought. I understand the protective instinct. And if it is important for you to protect this person, then I will respect that. But I need some information from them, if you can get it. I need to know where the bodies went specifically. And I need to know what for. [00:13:13] Speaker A: I can arrange for you to have a meeting with them. But only you. And only here in the silent judge temple. [00:13:21] Speaker D: All right. Fair. [00:13:23] Speaker A: I will see you tomorrow. Same time, please. [00:13:26] Speaker D: All right. The other thing is the confessional part of this conversation. I swiped a book from Palmville that my companion saw fit to burn. There were other books as well, but I kept one. And I read it. And she pulls out the book. The one that has information about other death gods on it. And she says, I think you will respect, because I learned it from you. The need for knowledge to avoid repeating mistakes. If Vecna rears his head, I believe it is because we know nothing about him. And she slides the book across to him and says, it is only a little information. [00:14:09] Speaker A: He picks it up and casually flips through it and says. There are similar books. Carefully guarded in the archives of the translator. I could let him know that this book was found out in the providences. And has made its way to me. And it's possible that he will file it safely. Where the right people can learn from it. [00:14:34] Speaker D: And in reading it myself. I did commit a heresy. So confessional. But the other thing is that she sighs and she says, vanu Mare is catching up with me. [00:14:45] Speaker A: I see. I assume you'll be on the move, then. [00:14:47] Speaker D: I have been on the move for months because of that. [00:14:50] Speaker A: Well, then I will see you tomorrow. I will keep security as high as I possibly can. And then when next you are in town, please stop by. [00:14:59] Speaker D: I will. Thank you. Gavon Zerus. [00:15:01] Speaker A: What do you want to accomplish in town? [00:15:03] Speaker C: I've been thinking about that. And with no real ties and only r1 goal. I think what I want to do is find a brother of ambition, who's up and coming and try to carouse a relationship that results in a lot of profit. [00:15:24] Speaker A: Okay, go ahead and roll me a persuasion roll. [00:15:28] Speaker C: Out of curiosity, since this is entirely greedy, do I have advantage? [00:15:35] Speaker A: You do. Yes. [00:15:37] Speaker B: Better not prep for our trips. [00:15:39] Speaker C: That's a 26. [00:15:41] Speaker A: Okay. With a 26, you encounter a person of brother ambition who is actively running a get rich quick scheme, and they have bought up essentially a monopoly from several different street vendors of a particular type of perfume. And now if you want it, you have to get it from him. And he's, of course, raised the price 30%. But it's really hard to find him if you want this perfume. And so he needs more people on the street. And so if you're willing to spend the week selling perfume, he will give you a healthy cut. [00:16:15] Speaker B: You're going to end up in an MLM. [00:16:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm going to take the job because that's money. But I don't have any love for this guy or this job. [00:16:24] Speaker A: All right, so go ahead and write the town's role. To resist your persuasion was a natural one. [00:16:35] Speaker D: Cirrus makes bank. [00:16:36] Speaker A: So I guess roll me a persuasion real quick. [00:16:40] Speaker C: That is a 23. [00:16:41] Speaker A: 23. Okay. You sell out and you outperform all of the other people running around with this perfume. And you walk away with. Let's see you beat it by almost 2200 gold. 200200. Yeah. Should I add 200 or 200? 200. [00:17:02] Speaker B: Nice try to hustle. [00:17:04] Speaker A: No. [00:17:06] Speaker C: I thought I said 2200 gold. [00:17:09] Speaker A: That's why I was being very clear about the shirt. It was 200 gold, which you made in a week. [00:17:17] Speaker D: Not a bad hole. [00:17:18] Speaker B: That perfume just mixes perfectly with your body chemistry. So you just smell so good, and everybody can. [00:17:24] Speaker D: Everybody just was like, what is that you're wearing? And you're like, here it is. [00:17:28] Speaker B: Who are you wearing? I needed it. [00:17:32] Speaker C: You think that it's worth a plus one charisma. [00:17:35] Speaker B: Creedon probably finds you and buys them. [00:17:38] Speaker D: So Kazura still offer gold to Nodig now that Noduk's not in the glave anymore? Or is this just pure? [00:17:45] Speaker A: No, not directly. Can't give no dig anything right now. [00:17:50] Speaker C: But my love of gold has not been stated. [00:17:52] Speaker B: No, I am taking out one gold because I definitely bought one from you. And I assume that they're one gold. [00:17:57] Speaker A: Sure. Yeah. You don't get a very big vial, but you get a vial. [00:18:01] Speaker D: Wait, so 200 gold was the percentage. So he sold 1000 vials of this perfume in a week? I mean, big time. [00:18:08] Speaker A: Varying sizes. Varying sizes. But needless to say, something about Zerus's charm really brought people in. And this get rich quick scheme, suffice to say, has taught this brother ambition follower that they are immortal and infallible. And they will definitely be trying this multiple times while you're out of town. [00:18:29] Speaker C: Wow. Just think of me as your good luck charm. And when I'm around, I'll help you out if you help me out. [00:18:34] Speaker A: Creedon, you do research. So you were informed that below the temple, there is a riddle, one for each God. And these are 500 year old riddles. So you're going to need to read 500 year old texts describing each God's. [00:18:54] Speaker B: I'm hoping that they're riddles that at this point, everybody knows, like, that one guy can only tell the truth, one can only tell lies. Classic one. [00:19:05] Speaker A: That would be really great if you were so lucky. [00:19:07] Speaker B: Wouldn't that be convenient? [00:19:09] Speaker A: Yeah. So you find a section of the library which is 500 year old texts and start reading. Go ahead and give me. Let's see, what's a good measure of your attention span? [00:19:20] Speaker B: I mean, I was thinking this might be like investigation, which I'm not very good at. [00:19:23] Speaker A: Let's do investigation. [00:19:25] Speaker B: I'm pretty sure I have nothing to it. Maybe even a negative. Yeah, it's just zero. All right, flat roll 17. [00:19:33] Speaker A: Oh, nice. There is a specific riddle that when it comes up, I will alert you that you know the exact answer to it. There's a song that glorifies the radiant one, and, you know the whole song and several riddles about it. [00:19:48] Speaker B: Nice. That will probably be very useful. [00:19:51] Speaker A: Yeah, we hope that is going to bring us to Boulain. Was there anything else you wanted to accomplish while you were in town? Oh, you need to go have your meeting with. [00:19:59] Speaker D: I need to have this interview with this kid, or whoever it is. [00:20:02] Speaker A: So you come in and you find an acolyte who appears to be about 23, human, a woman, definitely. But they still have a very young face to them that gives them the impression that they look like 18 or so. And they are sitting, looking very, very awkward next to your mentor. When you step in and the mentor looks to her and says, this is Boulain. I trust her with my life. This is your chance to do right. And he walks out, leaving you two alone. [00:20:34] Speaker D: Boulain will sit down and say, what is your name? [00:20:37] Speaker A: You can call me Winry. [00:20:39] Speaker D: Is this actually your. [00:20:41] Speaker A: Is it is. It's Winry. [00:20:43] Speaker D: Okay, Winry, I need you to understand that Gavon has done a lot to protect me. Did a lot to protect me. When I was a child from something fairly insidious. So I understand where you are right now and how afraid you are. And I am not going to attach your name to anything you tell me. [00:21:06] Speaker A: Today I was approached by some high up members in the chalice who informed me that a God spoke with them. That specifically a divination of the mask told them that there was an event that was about to transpire that would give the church a new hope and new meaning and a brighter future. And that they needed my help. And I went to school with these people, so I trusted them. And they asked me to change the duty roster with about 12 hours notice for who was on the night shift in the catacombs, so that no one would be on the night shift in the catacombs. And I did that. But you have to understand, I didn't know the bodies were going to walk themselves out. [00:22:05] Speaker D: Did you know that they were after bodies? [00:22:07] Speaker A: Not quite. I assumed they were going to do something with the body of like, frikers, which was the addition that night. I didn't know that they were going to disappear. 100 bodies. [00:22:20] Speaker D: Okay, I'm going to go ahead and roll insight. That's a 21. [00:22:26] Speaker A: A 21. She is terrified. Seems to be trying to tell you the truth. But when she said the bodies walked out, you realized something that she did not say, which is that for her to know that she would have had to have stayed that night and seen it. [00:22:44] Speaker D: Winry? [00:22:45] Speaker A: Yeah? [00:22:47] Speaker D: How did you know the bodies walked out? [00:22:50] Speaker A: I was curious and so I stayed. I wasn't supposed to stay. They asked me to not stay and to not be here, but I did stay. I like to think I was worried that the catacombs and the dead would need to be cared for when untrained hands were present. But I think, if I'm honest with myself, I was worried I'd get caught. And I was looking to hide evidence. They stood up and they walked out. [00:23:17] Speaker D: These chalice members, they came in and cast a spell to animate dead. [00:23:22] Speaker A: No, they just opened the door. [00:23:24] Speaker D: They did not actually do anything. [00:23:26] Speaker A: Well, they opened the door and they walked to the body of, like, frikers. And it stood up like it was waiting for them. And then a hundred other bodies stood up and they all just walked out. [00:23:38] Speaker D: Winery. I need you to give me the names of the people in the chalice who did this. [00:23:43] Speaker A: Roll me. Persuasion. [00:23:47] Speaker D: Oh, that's good. That's a 17. Plus five is 22. [00:23:50] Speaker A: I'm going to roll a will save. Interesting. Interesting, indeed. [00:23:55] Speaker D: Do you also get a 22? [00:23:57] Speaker A: No, okay, my dice are not on fire right now. So they say one of them was a cleric of mask, one was a cleric of divine mercy, and one was a cleric of sister truth. They were young members of the clergy. They exchanged some radical ideas in their studies, but I just assumed that once they took their positions, that that was mostly the fancy of youth, that they would settle into the proper church teachings. But they definitely believed that humans have become too reliant on the gods to save them and have stopped saving themselves. And they give you three names, which will now be generated by the chat GBT. By the chat GBT. [00:24:55] Speaker B: It worked well last time. [00:24:57] Speaker A: Give me the names of three young clerics in a DND game, given the. [00:25:04] Speaker B: Job of dungeon masters falling at the feet of AI. [00:25:10] Speaker A: Oh, man, these names are terrible. Hold on. I'm gonna try again. [00:25:13] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:25:14] Speaker D: Failed. [00:25:15] Speaker B: Is it better than you would have come up with on the spot? [00:25:18] Speaker A: Yes, much so. Thorn, iron Fist. [00:25:22] Speaker B: Which one is that? [00:25:23] Speaker A: One is sister truth. Aria, lightweaver is mask, and Alicia Donbringer is divine mercy. You can tell from their names that somewhere in their family lineage. Iron Fist probably has a brother, ambition bishop. And Dawnbringer and Lightweaver both probably have a radiant one. Bishop. They seem to have kept their family. [00:25:50] Speaker D: Names, and she said these were high ranking members, even though they were young. So this is probably nepotism at work, right? [00:25:58] Speaker A: Yes. [00:25:58] Speaker D: Okay. [00:25:59] Speaker A: Now, technically, the church is not prone to such things, but the political factions are, so they're probably not high ranked in their respective churches. They are high ranked in the. [00:26:13] Speaker D: Right. Okay. Okay. Winery. You have no idea what the bodies are for or where they were going? [00:26:19] Speaker A: I didn't want them to see me, so I didn't follow them outside, but I heard carts and horses. [00:26:26] Speaker D: Whose name did you remove from the roster? [00:26:29] Speaker A: I removed two acolytes who were on the night shift. I honestly, I don't even remember. I just crossed their names off and sent a little note saying they had the night off. I didn't even sign the note. [00:26:42] Speaker D: Is the roster still available with the cross off names? [00:26:45] Speaker A: It is, yeah. I don't think. Well, maybe unless someone hid it from the inquisition. [00:26:52] Speaker D: I will ask Yvonne about that. And there were no silent judge clergy present, other than you? In secret? [00:27:00] Speaker A: Only me. The silent judge isn't really a God of change. You know this. It's a deeply traditional practice, and I guess we're not as interested in some of the new ideas as others. [00:27:17] Speaker D: If you think about it, the silent judge is absolutely about change, but it is about the singular change of life, transitioning into death. [00:27:26] Speaker A: I think your conversation becomes a theological one, where you help this young acolyte better understand their faith. [00:27:34] Speaker D: Okay, great. [00:27:35] Speaker A: I think we will leave it there. [00:27:37] Speaker D: I am going to ask if they have ever heard the name. [00:27:39] Speaker A: No, no, they have never heard that name, and they don't know what you're talking about. Okay. Actually, they might say something like, isn't that the name of the flower vendor on the. Oh, no, wait, that's Victoria. Total Bs. All right. Anything else anyone wants to achieve in town. Otherwise, we are going to hop on the road and hit the amazing city. [00:28:00] Speaker B: I did write a letter back to dread. [00:28:02] Speaker A: Excellent. Do you want to read it now? [00:28:04] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. I like to imagine that growing up in the Church of divine mercy, they kind of teach you that when you send a letter to your lover, it's got to be romantic. [00:28:14] Speaker A: You spend a lot of time in poetry? [00:28:17] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. There is so much great calligraphy. Little hearts over all my eyes. There's rose petals, stuff in the envelope. Definitely spraying it with some of that new perfume I got. [00:28:29] Speaker A: Nice. [00:28:29] Speaker B: It's ridiculous, but I imagine maybe there's more prose than what I actually wrote out. But I'm just going to read what I wrote. It says, my dearest dread, I'm so glad you were safe, and I hope this letter finds you and your family well. If you need to evacuate them, I'm sure that we could put them up in Astrigar. It was nice to be home again, but it will not be for long. We have found some new info, but I will stay vague for security. Bodies are disappearing all over the place, but we have a direction. We will go to Mandra for a short time, and then I believe we will return to Astragar. But there is a chance we will need to go to Trey Bay as well. I hope not, as I have no desire to tangle with Faye. I have been missing you when I lay my head to rest. I have had much to think about, and you're the only one I would trust with my thoughts. And your skills would aid us greatly, as I believe that we have some riddle solving in our future. But I'm trying to hone my skills so that we can manage it. I hope we will meet again in Astregar soon. Yours, creed, and Brightwind p. S. My mom wants us to have a meeting with one of the members of Divine Mercy's church, as is custom with my family. I can't imagine you'd actually want to do that, as it would be so embarrassing. Ha ha. Pps. I met Philomena, the archbishop of the luminous one. She totally sucks. Angry face. And that is the end. [00:29:41] Speaker D: Boulain is going to seek out the arch sage and tell him all the information Winri just told her and give him the names. [00:29:48] Speaker A: He thanks you. He writes them down. [00:29:50] Speaker D: She does not give him Winri's names. [00:29:52] Speaker A: She gives him the three people. [00:29:53] Speaker D: Who were the three people from the chalice? [00:29:55] Speaker A: Yeah, clearly co conspirator, agents of the chalice. He writes them down and says, I will investigate first with divination magic and should have an update by the time you're back. [00:30:04] Speaker D: Sounds good. [00:30:05] Speaker B: Also, Creedon is using one of her retainers to find where dread actually lives and send this letter to him because she only knows that he lives in Nepal. [00:30:14] Speaker A: That's all right. He heads to Napil. Okay, you folks, hit the road just like last time. Astragar north is much, much safer than the province of Ulfenrir. The northern empire has beautifully maintained roads, a large, robust, wealthy population. There are no problems with banditry. There is some poverty. It's not a perfect land by any means, but generally speaking, church officials are pretty quick to hand out coins. And so, as you traips across the country, you walk through genos, the military base outside of Astrigar where they train the Paladins. It doesn't take you very long to get by that, but once you get out of that space, you run into farmers and beggars and just other people on the road. But just like last time, over a four day trip, there's an inn. Pretty much every time you would want to rest, there's a tavern. Anytime you'd want to take a lunch. And you have a really luxurious walk through beautiful farmland for a couple of days. [00:31:18] Speaker B: Oh, God, we're walking. We really should have bought horses. It's kind of imagined that we did, but we didn't say anything. [00:31:26] Speaker D: We have the money at this. [00:31:27] Speaker B: We have so much money. Can we buy horses? [00:31:30] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. The horses take you along. [00:31:34] Speaker B: Might as well speed things up. This is pretty urgent. [00:31:37] Speaker A: Except for one of you who flies on a broomstick. [00:31:39] Speaker D: Yeah, that's right. You've got a broomstick. [00:31:41] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Never mind. I don't need a horse. I'm flying on my broom. Does Belaine tell us about the folks? [00:31:46] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Belain will absolutely share the information she gathered and also not share winnery's name. And she will also further say to Creedon and Cirrus that someone in the silent judge temple must have cast that spell before they arrived. To animate the dead. [00:32:03] Speaker B: Can Creedon try to roll anything to see if she knows anything about Alicia Donbringer? Because she was in divine mercy. [00:32:11] Speaker A: Yeah, roll it. [00:32:12] Speaker B: What am I rolling? [00:32:13] Speaker A: This is a history roll. [00:32:14] Speaker B: All right, that is a 16. [00:32:17] Speaker A: A 16? Yeah. So Alicia Donbringer is actually the grandchild of a bishop and the whole family took the name of an archbishop, actually. So she's pretty damn prominent. Her family, everybody else in the family is actually promise members, members of the conservative faction of the church, but they are in the liberal faction known as the chalice. You understand that they were just very politically active. They were always agitating for some kind of change. They fit right in with the chalice. And in your recollection, they were pretty well respected in the political organization. They're far too young to hold prominent office and things that have true power, but they were quickly like right hand lady for a number of church officials in the chalice. [00:33:09] Speaker D: All right. Yeah. [00:33:10] Speaker B: Creighton probably knew her because she was like, oh, this person getting so high up in the church so fast. [00:33:18] Speaker D: Like, I got exiled, sort of. [00:33:21] Speaker B: Creighton would have definitely been jealous and bitter. [00:33:24] Speaker D: Nate, can I do a role too? Because now I'm thinking about it. If somebody in the silent judge church cast the animate dead or whatever, can I roll religion to see if I know who in the church is advanced enough to cast that spell? [00:33:37] Speaker A: Roll me Arcana instead. [00:33:39] Speaker D: But I'm better at religion. That's not great. That's a nine. No. [00:33:46] Speaker A: Okay, now you can roll me religion. [00:33:48] Speaker D: Okay, I got that bad roll out of the way. I did get the bad roll out of the way. That's a 19. [00:33:53] Speaker A: Okay, you don't know what the spell is called, but it must be far more powerful than you. And the list of people who are more powerful than you politically is quite numerous. But the list of people who are more powerful than you magically is much smaller. [00:34:07] Speaker D: Okay. I do have the ability to cast animate dead. [00:34:10] Speaker A: You know that animate dead will not, under any circumstances, raise 100 bodies. [00:34:15] Speaker D: Okay, all right, so this is beyond that. [00:34:17] Speaker A: This is well beyond that ability. [00:34:19] Speaker D: Okay, so there's a short list of people who could have cast this. [00:34:22] Speaker A: Well, there's only about 20 in the country. Most of them are in Astragar. [00:34:27] Speaker D: Okay, do I know all their names? [00:34:29] Speaker A: You know all their names. You can generate the lists. It's a meritocracy in a lot of ways. And so the ability to channel higher level spells is very public information. [00:34:39] Speaker D: Okay, can I retcon that? She would have also furnished that list to the arch sage. [00:34:43] Speaker A: Sure. [00:34:43] Speaker D: Okay. [00:34:44] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:34:44] Speaker D: I think that would have occurred to her to do. [00:34:47] Speaker A: So you go to Mandra. Mandra is a southwest border town on the ocean. Think like seaside. [00:34:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Another beach trip. It will be our one piece episode. [00:35:01] Speaker A: Unlike the sandy beaches of Turtle Bay, this is a rocky plateau of terrifyingly dangerous proportions. There is no port area. There are only small fishing boats. But aside from the small fishing boats, Mondra is known for its crafting because there are also some decent mineral mines nearby. And this is really where most craftsmen get their start and also where most craftsmen retire. And so kind of like seaside. There are young people and there are old people, and there is almost no one in between. So as you arrive here, you know a couple things. One, Mandra is championed by Divine Hammer, and so the bishop of Divine Hammer is the mayor here. And that is always true. Whoever the bishop of Divine Hammer is, they are the mayor. And you know that generally speaking, politically, Mandra is controlled by the chalice, because divine Hammer is a rather progressive God of innovation and change. And as a result, their clergy tends to be pretty liberal. [00:36:13] Speaker D: What church does the translator come from? [00:36:15] Speaker A: I believe they are a radiant one translator right now. And again, the translators are essentially at the end of their life, they are only translators. For a year or two. They have all been human. So you arrive into town just as you arrive. It is getting pretty late in the afternoon, and there is an inn right on the edge of town called the luminous ones respite. And it appears to be a lovely little inn where most people who visit town temporarily stop and stay, particularly the first night they're in town because they tend to get into town pretty late. You can see the sun setting over the ocean in the distance. It's quite beautiful. And the town has this rustic craftsman vibe where every house appears to have had a carpenter and a stonesmith working at it pretty regularly. So it's really quite beautiful. My name is Max Killington. You can call me Max kill. Gather round, grab a round. I've got a story for you. And it's at least 70% true. You're going to love it. So, dread Chom and I, we're the sharp edge of the pub. We just got done with this big dragon battle, wrapped up some business, then we're heading home to an appeal. Now, it takes a while, right? Because we all got to stop at the sawmills, tell the dragon story to all my budies. I mean, how could you not? Right? How could you not? But we get into town, we're headed to my parents house, and we. This big shout go up. So we pull weapons, we start running. Out the front door comes my mom and all her stitching bitch buddies, the old lady lumberjacks. They get together sometimes. They do all the darning together. Anyway, mom and all her buddies, they come running out in the street. They're all holding axes. Mom sees me, and I know this is serious because she doesn't stop. She just starts running from my cousin's house. Whole crew of ladies jogging behind her with axes. We all fall in line. Well, my cousin's house, we get there, and my mom is pissed. She uses her boot. She takes the door half off its hinges. She storms right into the building. And there on the floor is my cousin. Now she's lying on the cellar door, holding it shut, screaming for help. She's like, they're going to get me. They're going to get me. Mom goes nuts. She drives right through the door, headfirst. Just leaps up through the door and through the root cellar. And then you just hear, like, her axe going, wap, wap, wap. Anyway, out of the hole, out of the root cellar door, comes this explosion of shadows. But they're, like, leaving shadows. You know what I mean? Your shadow unattaches itself. Only now it's meaner. And they all start running for the walls. And we start swinging our axes. And every foot of that house is just crazy lumberjack ladies. And in the sharp edge of the pub, we're there, man. Then it happens. From the root cellar comes all these corpses. But not slow ones. No, they're fast ones. Like, real fast. They won't fight anybody. They just run for the windows, throw themselves out of them. You can hear my mom screaming bloody murder with her axe, cracking skulls so we know she's okay, right? But we jump out the window after these bad guys and we chase them. Now they head straight for the catacombs, running, like, on all force, even though they're people, right? Like, with their hands as legs, they're running on all fours. And I cut down three of them and they explode when they die. So I'm, like, all messed up, man. There's, like, these shadow burns all over me. But two of them get through the front gate and then all hell breaks loose. As soon as the first undead foot crosses that gate, bones start to rattle in the whole crypt. The rattle in the bones, right? Scary as hell. But I'm not afraid. I'm Max kill. Now I'm going to go in and I'm going to kill me a whole crypt. But then dread, he catches up and he says he notices something. Somebody put a new ward on the gate. No undead can get through it if he closes it. And now that we know the undead, they all blow up. He's like, you're never going to make it out of there, Max. And Dredd, he's super smart, he knows stuff. So he stops me and he closes the door to the catacombs and he locks it and he calls for the bishops. So yeah, anyway, we killed a dragon. We're the sharp edge of the pup. We got here just in time. Will of the mask. Nobody messes with my people. We are going to poll together, we're going to rally the people, and we're going to show these undead what happens when they run into the sharp edge of the pub. Free drinks for everybody. [00:41:00] Speaker B: So do we know where this temple is? [00:41:02] Speaker A: It is underneath the summer home of the translator, you assume the rather large manor on the end of the plateau that's slightly higher than everything else is probably that summer home of the translator. [00:41:15] Speaker B: The summer home. Taking up the best real estate, of course. [00:41:18] Speaker C: So it's evening, or at least it's getting the evening right. [00:41:22] Speaker A: Yeah, it's dusk. [00:41:23] Speaker B: I take on my moonish glow as I lunar sorcerer up. [00:41:28] Speaker C: I think we head to the inn and spend the night there for now. Right. [00:41:32] Speaker A: Okay. You come in, they quickly get you settled into a room and ask you to come back down for dinner, which they are preparing for you. The other thing this inn is known for is a rather impressive five course meal. So you come back down to a lovely spread and a bottle of wine on the table. [00:41:51] Speaker C: Outstanding. [00:41:52] Speaker A: And a waitress standing there waiting for you. [00:41:55] Speaker C: Wow. Let's get to it. [00:41:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I want that five course meal. [00:41:59] Speaker D: Yeah, we'll dig right in. [00:42:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So she introduces each course and then wanders away and comes and refills your wine periodically. You're 45 minutes into just a really lovely dinner when an out of breath middle aged man comes running into the inn and he stops and lets out several big coughs. And he says, the bishop has died. And he coughs again and says, lucian lifespring was found dead. They suspect foul play of some kind. He says out loud to pretty much the whole inn. And the host, who is over by the bar, steps out and says, thank you for telling us. You're disturbing the guests. I would love it if you could please head back out and we will make sure anybody who needs to know knows. [00:42:47] Speaker D: Poolain stands up and weighs down the innkeeper and looks at the person says, can you take me to the body? [00:42:52] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. Right this way. [00:42:56] Speaker B: Just a random person. I guess you do have your robes. [00:42:58] Speaker D: Robes? [00:42:59] Speaker B: With the tattoo showing, it's pretty clear that you're legit. I'm just imagining somebody being like, sure, I'll show you the body. You can poke it. [00:43:06] Speaker C: Zerus will look at Creed and be like, we eat, right? [00:43:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, let's eat. [00:43:11] Speaker B: I mean, yeah, she's just doing her thing. I am kind of hoping that we get to solve a murder mystery, though. I actually was hoping to challenge you to some gambling. [00:43:20] Speaker D: I am just going to point out the lane is not as smart as Zuris, and my investigation scores are not going to be as high. That's all I'm going to point out. [00:43:28] Speaker C: I will join you. [00:43:31] Speaker B: You could always have us show up, too. I assume that you're just doing. [00:43:38] Speaker C: Let's at least wait for the dessert course. [00:43:40] Speaker A: You have time to finish eating. [00:43:42] Speaker B: We'll finish eating, and then we'll go inspect the body. [00:43:44] Speaker A: You're, like, three courses in, and the dessert is basically waiting for you. You might as well finish. [00:43:49] Speaker D: You will not get any. Debtor. [00:43:51] Speaker A: It is true. [00:43:52] Speaker B: Okay, we'll take a rain check on our gambling plans. [00:43:56] Speaker A: You finish your creme brulee and a rose tea and head out. So you arrive at the home of Bishop Lucian lifespring. [00:44:08] Speaker D: And this is the mayor. [00:44:10] Speaker A: This is actually not the mayor. This is the bishop of the whispering shepherd. So there's a large cornucopia motif over the door and over the fence. And you see several in town. Farm animals, chickens and lambs and things in the front lawn. [00:44:27] Speaker B: I thought you said the mayor had died. [00:44:29] Speaker A: No. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Okay, okay. [00:44:31] Speaker A: He said the bishop had died. There are ten bishops in every town, and one of them is the mayor. This is not the mayor. So there is a crowd that has essentially gathered here. A lot of them look like church officials. Many of them look quite concerned. There are two or three guards wearing sister truth scales of justice on banners that are standing by the door, and the door swings open and outsteps a prominent looking individual. This person is old, but definitely somebody of importance. They're wearing church robes, and they walk out and look at the crowd and just announce, I'm sorry to inform you all. It is as confirmed. Lucent has died of old age. Some type of rapid onset old age. Unfortunately, given the issues, the catacombs is closed, and Bishop Tholdear cold sorrow has not made himself available to deal with the body. [00:45:36] Speaker D: I will deal with the. [00:45:38] Speaker A: Oh, please, please come in. Then I'm afraid I don't know you. [00:45:42] Speaker D: Boulen Kualima. [00:45:43] Speaker A: As you step up, she says, lisandra civitome, this is my ex husband, Lucent, and she opens the door and brings you into the living room. So, Lucent appears to have been having some tea when he promptly aged from 60 to 90 and died. [00:46:03] Speaker D: All right. [00:46:04] Speaker B: It is so handy that we have a priest of the silent judge with us, just getting us into every crime scene. [00:46:12] Speaker D: Well, she will do a medicine check on Lucian's body, just to see if there is anything else going on with him. [00:46:20] Speaker C: I'll do a quick investigation around the area as well. Taking a look, smelling the teacup. [00:46:26] Speaker A: Sure. [00:46:29] Speaker C: That'D be great. [00:46:30] Speaker D: Check the tea. What's in the tea? [00:46:32] Speaker C: I got a ten. [00:46:33] Speaker B: Can I give you the help? Action. [00:46:34] Speaker D: I got a 21 on the medicine. [00:46:36] Speaker A: Okay. Even with advantage. [00:46:38] Speaker C: Yes, even with. There was a one and an eight. [00:46:39] Speaker A: Well, all right. So, Zerus, this looks like one man lives here. He's clearly a bachelor. He is a younger member of the bishop pool in his 60s, but still pretty uninteresting. Frankly, there's very little going on in here. You find a lot of materials for midwifeing, and that's about it. [00:47:03] Speaker C: I've deduced two things. One, the tea is not poisoned. Two, this man was probably not a bishop of the whispering shepherd, because as you can see, no wives. No wives, no babies. We all know whispering shepherd bishops proliferate like bunnies. [00:47:22] Speaker D: Boule looks at him like he's lost his damn mind. [00:47:27] Speaker B: Creedon looks at the body and it's like, oh, divine mercy did not bless this one. [00:47:34] Speaker C: All right, maybe my deduction's wrong. Sorry, what did you figure out? [00:47:37] Speaker D: I mean, that was his ex wife. He may have had children. [00:47:43] Speaker B: We are good investigators. [00:47:46] Speaker A: So, Mandy, with a medicine check of 21, there are only a couple of things that could cause someone rapid aging. One of them is a faye poison used only by vana Lunare assassins. Okay, the other one is a direct confrontation with some sort of undead ghost or wraith. [00:48:10] Speaker C: Wait, didn't I earlier drink a potion that aged me ten years? [00:48:14] Speaker A: No. You got confronted by a ghost or a wraith. [00:48:18] Speaker C: Yes. [00:48:19] Speaker A: How could I forget who aged you ten years? [00:48:23] Speaker D: Yeah, it screamed and aged you ten years. Okay, so armed with the vana Laure knowledge, I would also like to now investigate the house to see if I find any signs. [00:48:34] Speaker B: Can I roll for ghost busting? [00:48:37] Speaker A: You can roll a religion check to see if there are ghosts. And Bolaine, I'll take an investigation check. [00:48:44] Speaker D: Oh, wow. That was good. Which is good, because I don't get a good bonus on investigation. That's a not natural 20. [00:48:49] Speaker B: That's a 13 on religion. [00:48:51] Speaker A: Okay, so, Creedon, you wander around the house. There are no cold spots or Od smells, which are the things you know to look for to spot hauntings. You don't seem to find any boulain with a 20. He did drink all of the tea, but there are some odly colored iridescent leaves in it. [00:49:11] Speaker B: I didn't want to tangle with the fay. I like to imagine that if he. Just say it, it just won't happen. [00:49:16] Speaker D: Okay, she. Oh, shit. How much do I want to poke this bear? [00:49:22] Speaker A: So I will tell you one more thing. Given the knowledge that there are some odly colored iridescent leaves here that you do not recognize as natural to the material plane, you wander over to a bag of tea leaves and pop it open and look inside, and it does look like someone sprinkled a bunch of these leaves into this bag of tea. They're mostly in the. [00:49:43] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. All right. Is his ex wife still in here? Lissandra. [00:49:48] Speaker A: So she is standing, looking nervous in the corner. [00:49:51] Speaker D: All right, Boulain is going to make like she's casting a spell over the tea leaves, and she is actually going to cast detect thoughts and use her new circle of telepathy. And I would like to know what Lissandra is thinking. [00:50:04] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:04] Speaker A: Okay. Lissandra's inner monologue is a slowly building scream, and you quickly understand that she is incredibly angoraphobic and had to leave her house to come here just to make sure. I understand. [00:50:20] Speaker C: Did you say angorophobic or agoraphobic? [00:50:24] Speaker D: You mean agoraphobic? [00:50:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I think she's afraid of Afghans, llamas. She's afraid of leaving her house. She's afraid of crowds. [00:50:35] Speaker D: Agoraphobic. [00:50:36] Speaker A: Angorophobic. Okay. Yeah, she is incredibly agoraphobic. And your surface thoughts are all just utter panic that is rotating through many thoughts. Like, this is why I never leave. I can't believe all these people are looking at me. This is awful. [00:50:51] Speaker D: Okay, Zuris, can you make some tea? But with that jar of leaves, make sure there is nothing iridescent. And she is going to go and try to calm this woman down. She's going to check the tea before xeros makes it and make sure it's like good tea. [00:51:06] Speaker C: All right, I will do my best to make a tea. I guess that's nature. [00:51:14] Speaker B: I can help with this. [00:51:15] Speaker A: Xeris, roll me another investigation. Roll, please. As you are working in the kitchen, it's investigation. [00:51:21] Speaker C: All right, sweet. Love it. [00:51:23] Speaker A: 1818. So, armed with the knowledge that you are looking for iridescent leaves that aren't supposed to be in the tea, you do realize that there are clear signs of tampering throughout the kitchen. You find most foodstuffs in here have some kind of crumpled, iridescent fuck residue that has been just dusted over things. [00:51:46] Speaker C: I bring back a hot cup of water. [00:51:54] Speaker B: Hot water. [00:51:55] Speaker C: I apologize. There are no leaves. [00:51:59] Speaker D: All right, that will have to do. What about the rest of the food in the kitchen? Is everything tampered with? [00:52:05] Speaker C: It seems that is likely. [00:52:08] Speaker D: All right, Lissandra, I need you to sit down and calm down. And she will pull out some tea from her own personal stash and drop it in the water and make tea for this woman. [00:52:19] Speaker C: Famously telling people to calm down is the way to calm them down. [00:52:23] Speaker D: It is absolutely the way to calm them down. But she goes, I need you to sit down, and I need you to breathe deeply with me. Can you do that? And she will take her through some breathing exercises. [00:52:32] Speaker A: Roll me. Persuasion to calm down. The panic attacked bishop in front of you. [00:52:39] Speaker C: Yeah, hold on. I've done this with witnesses all the time. Would you just help me? [00:52:46] Speaker D: Yes, I will help you do it. [00:52:48] Speaker C: 24. [00:52:49] Speaker B: Can I have a cup of tea, too? [00:52:51] Speaker D: Sure. [00:52:52] Speaker A: 24. So you quickly talk her down. She matches your breathing. There you go. Your detect thoughts does tell you that she is still uncomfortable and would like to not be here, but the panic and slowly building scream that was her internal monologue is coming back to something reasonable. [00:53:09] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. Now you can fucking answer the questions. Good. [00:53:12] Speaker A: Let's go. [00:53:14] Speaker D: All right, Sarah, give us a little room. Lissandra, when was the last time you saw your husband alive or your ex husband alive? [00:53:23] Speaker A: Three days ago. He came to the office again. We're both bishops. I'm the bishop of sister truth, and he was the bishop of the whispering shepherd. I became bishop, of course, after we divorced about 15 years ago, but we worked together. Anyway, he didn't come into work for the last three days, and I asked someone to come look, and they came and they knocked, and he didn't answer the door, and I sent someone the next day and the next day, and I asked them to try to get into the house, and they refused. So I came, and I used my old key, and I think he's been there three days. [00:53:59] Speaker D: Three days? [00:54:01] Speaker A: Maybe. [00:54:03] Speaker D: Okay. Lissandra, why did you and Lucian get divorced? [00:54:07] Speaker A: Over time, my dedication to work became stronger and stronger, and his became lesser and lesser. He lives for family and community and all the little animals and his many, many pets, and I have been a record keeper for 55 years. My penmanship and my signature is on every city document, every clerk file in this town for five decades. The helm of telepathy tells you that she does believe that this divorce was, like, 100% her fault, and the impression you get is, the reason she works so much is because she literally will not leave her office if she can help it. [00:54:49] Speaker D: Okay. [00:54:49] Speaker B: Would be difficult to be married. [00:54:52] Speaker D: All right. Can you think of any reason anybody would target Lucian or anybody who might have done so? [00:54:59] Speaker A: Lucian has been a dedicated member of the whispering shepherd here for 55, 60 ish years. I'm sure there are people he doesn't get along with but had it in for him. No. Absolutely not. [00:55:13] Speaker D: Do I pick up anything different from her thoughts? [00:55:16] Speaker A: Spiraling anxieties begin to form as you ask that line of questioning, but nothing that leads you to believe that she is lying. [00:55:25] Speaker D: Do you know what he was working on? [00:55:27] Speaker A: Wasn't working on anything anymore. He mostly just trained midwives and attended weekly council meetings. [00:55:35] Speaker D: All right, Lissandra, what can we do to get you home without you panicking? [00:55:41] Speaker A: I'll just go home. I will just go home, and I will go out the back door. [00:55:45] Speaker D: All right. Cirrus, will you walk her home? [00:55:48] Speaker C: Of course I will. [00:55:49] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:55:50] Speaker B: Maybe, just to be safe, check her kitchen. [00:55:52] Speaker D: Yes, and check her kitchen. [00:55:54] Speaker A: I will do this as well. [00:55:55] Speaker B: Check all the t's. [00:55:56] Speaker C: Do you have a cloak? If she's not wearing a cloak, I'll give her my cloak so she can pull the hood up. [00:56:02] Speaker A: You can get her home pretty easily. Pretty well. Xeris, I need you to give me a perception check, though, as you walk through the quiet, dark streets. [00:56:11] Speaker C: Gosh, I love that you've asked me for a perception check. I will happily roll a natural 20 on my perception check for a 23. [00:56:19] Speaker D: Nice. Shit. [00:56:20] Speaker A: Fucking fascinating. [00:56:22] Speaker B: You spot the assassin, you see everything. [00:56:26] Speaker A: Okay, so you learn two things as you're walking away. One, you make it away from the crowd pretty much scot free. The crowd has continued to grow. It's not a town where a lot happens. And with people running through town announcing the death, dozens and dozens of people have begun to show up at Lucian's. [00:56:43] Speaker C: House and the killers in the crowd. [00:56:45] Speaker A: The town is, therefore empty and quiet, quiet as the grave. As you begin walking through, the only group you see is 15 figures in a small group of people, and they're not headed to Lucians, though they seem to be headed toward the catacombs, which is visible down the road enclosed. [00:57:09] Speaker C: I see. Why didn't we get stones of sending with our magic offering? [00:57:14] Speaker D: Yeah. Oh, we should have done stones. [00:57:17] Speaker B: We also have money we might be able to buy. [00:57:19] Speaker D: Should have gotten eye stones. [00:57:20] Speaker B: When we go back to Astragar, we'll pick. [00:57:22] Speaker D: When we go back to Astragar, we're. [00:57:24] Speaker B: Also in a place full of mastercraft, so we might be able to buy some. [00:57:26] Speaker D: Yo. That's true. We could. [00:57:28] Speaker C: I will shove her along down the path. [00:57:32] Speaker B: Come on, come on. [00:57:33] Speaker C: And switch my task to inconspicuously following this group. [00:57:39] Speaker B: Oh, no. This is dangerous. [00:57:41] Speaker A: Okay, I need you to roll me a deception check to avoid panicking Lysandra. Symptom. [00:57:48] Speaker C: Sure. [00:57:49] Speaker B: The worst escort quest. [00:57:50] Speaker D: I should have sent Creden. [00:57:52] Speaker C: That's another natural 20 for a 24 royal. [00:57:55] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:57:56] Speaker D: Oh, good. [00:57:57] Speaker A: Yeah. So you're like, oh, that's your house over there. Good luck. I was great bumping into you. And she seems actually quite happy to be left alone. Alone as she nearly darts. Almost runs for her home. [00:58:10] Speaker C: Yeah, you got this. Look at you sprint. [00:58:13] Speaker A: You're a runner now I need a stealth roll. All right, come on. [00:58:18] Speaker B: Three dead. Twenty s in a row. [00:58:20] Speaker D: Oh, no. Law of averages, man. [00:58:22] Speaker C: Okay? I don't have disadvantage. At least that's a seven. [00:58:28] Speaker A: Four. [00:58:29] Speaker C: A seven. [00:58:30] Speaker A: Oh, shit. [00:58:32] Speaker D: Oh, no. Law of averages, y'all. [00:58:35] Speaker A: You turn around and start following this group. They approach the front door of the catacombs, and I need another perception check. [00:58:42] Speaker C: All right, let's say 16. [00:58:47] Speaker A: Okay? There are street lights that have been lit and are still on. They haven't burnt out yet, but they're little candles, basically. And you step into one of the candlelight circles that form in the middle of the street, and you realize a couple things. You don't have one shadow, you have ten, and they seem to be circling in on you. [00:59:10] Speaker C: Very good, very good. Well, I will go ahead and can I see one shadow? [00:59:18] Speaker A: I mean, yeah. [00:59:21] Speaker C: How obvious is the producer of the shadow? Are there forms that I can attack or interact with? Or is it just like I have ten shadows around me? Literally, I have ten shadows. [00:59:33] Speaker A: So you have fought a shadow before, and you know that they are a malicious undead that appear as a two dimensional darkness. [00:59:44] Speaker C: Got you. [00:59:45] Speaker A: And you can, in fact, hit them. [00:59:47] Speaker C: It's a shadow shadow, not someone's shadow. [00:59:51] Speaker A: It's an evil shadow that is probably going to try to touch you. If you don't react immediately, we're going. [01:00:00] Speaker C: To yell, enrage, and touch them before they touch me. [01:00:04] Speaker A: Okay, go ahead and roll. [01:00:06] Speaker D: Me? [01:00:06] Speaker A: Initiative. [01:00:07] Speaker B: Oh, no. [01:00:08] Speaker D: Do we hear him yell? [01:00:09] Speaker A: Actually, before you do that, it's 1 hour and 45 minutes into this. We should probably call it. [01:00:15] Speaker B: Do we hear him yell? [01:00:16] Speaker D: Do we hear him? [01:00:17] Speaker B: Can we roll perception? [01:00:19] Speaker A: We'll have to establish that later. Let's call it here. So, Xeris, you have a small army of shadows that have surrounded you in the darkness. [01:00:28] Speaker C: It's nothing. [01:00:28] Speaker D: I'm sorry, Zerus. I split the party. [01:00:32] Speaker B: I didn't think that walking her home was going to be that dangerous. But we do know that there's assassins about. [01:00:39] Speaker D: He got assassinated three days ago. I figure the assassins long gone. [01:00:43] Speaker B: Yeah, they're gone. [01:00:44] Speaker D: I wouldn't figure they'd be around. [01:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I'm good. [01:00:47] Speaker B: You should have come back for us. [01:00:49] Speaker C: But then they would have been gone. [01:00:50] Speaker D: You knew where they were going. You just had to go to the catacombs. [01:00:53] Speaker C: My intent with the yell is to alert other people that things are happening. It's not just a rage yell. [01:01:00] Speaker B: It is a loud rage scream. [01:01:03] Speaker C: It's a familiar justice. [01:01:10] Speaker B: He goes, just. [01:01:14] Speaker D: I have to say, I'm editing the episode where we fought the dragon creatures in Bison's lair. That's a lot better than dread's sigh to signal that a fight is about to break out. [01:01:26] Speaker C: Yeah, he's meeting out justice because these people are criminals now. Like breaking into a place they shouldn't be. [01:01:34] Speaker B: There's so much going on, and shadows don't even carry any loot. How upsetting. [01:01:51] Speaker A: And that is our podcast for today. I'm going to be honest with you. I think Zerus is dead. But don't worry too much. He has a power that lets him get resurrected for free as a zealot of the gods. So this might be the time we finally get to see it in action. Moral the story. Don't run into an ambush alone. And don't split the party. Also moral the story. Support your local artists. Special thanks to Tod Ferguson of Mypemacheen for our tunes and Juliet. Elaborate flight of fancy for our logo. Don't forget to leave us a rating and review. Will Zerus live to see daylight? Find out next time on carrots and suffering A-D-D odyssey.