H h h. It has been one day of travel and you all arrive
at the second largest city in the realm, this sprawling city known as Geffreida.
So that you guys are aware, this place is technically still under the
rule of Guardia and the and the kind of central realm here, which is
not quite the same as the teeth things and the elves and the the dwarves.
But this place isn't too dissimilar to those other places. It's kind of
reliant on Guardia, and it has its own council that have their own kind
of independence. Basically, people kind of treated it like a city state.
There's also a bunch of weird rumblings of some form of civil war that Goffreda
is kind of pulling away from the way that the rest of the realm is
brawled from the kingdom in the center. This place is kind of more socialist
and cultured essentially. You guys traveled along after you rested in that tower and
followed the river towards the ocean and then along a cliff side down to the
eastern edge of the realm, where you start to see these enormous walls,
huge stone walls with peaks and little watch towers along them. In the distance
during the day light you can see the peaks of the center parts of the
town. There is a huge kind of set of buildings that are pretty insane,
I think if you've never been to a big city like this, or
maybe Guardia itself. The capitol Fairness tim Arosa, the Tiefling Capitol has some
pretty good buildings, but most of the little towns of these little scraggly places
with basic little packed earth walls or palisade walls made of wood, with these
kind of ramshackle buildings. This place has some incredibly well masoned architecture in the
center a huge set of council halls ruled over by all of the Guffradian natives
here. This place is pretty massive and you can see it from the distance
overlooking the eastern shore. They also have an enormous set of docks with ships
coming and going, mostly fishing vessels, but they do kind of travel up
and down up to Some's point where you were before, down along the coast
towards Gauze Point and perio Port, and then down to where the elves are
at Elaine. But what you guys probably see here approaching midday sun high up
in the sky as well, You've still had plenty of hours of daylight,
and I would imagine a relatively straightforward trek during the day. Is this enormous
wall, and you actually end up following the wall for a little while.
Here there is a single central gate. While there are other areas where there
are gates, they don't open unless there is some sort of like military need
for it. So you follow this enormous wall walking past it, maybe a
couple of traders nearby, maybe a few wagons, and you might even notice
some of the Goffreiden Army and Watch. They have their own military here.
They're known as the Lawn, which is kind of they're they're technically just a
very powerful town watch and roaming militia, and but they kind they stand as
their own kind of military force. They act and dress differently to the the
Guardian forces that Will was a part of and that you've seen at Kira.
They have their own garb. A lot of them are trained in shield and
spear. Where Will has the round shield, A lot of these guys have
tower shields, these square shields, and where most of the guardians are trained
in spear they usually carry a longsword, and these guys have these long metallic
spears that they hold, and you will see them groups of them moving around
with the emblem and the colors of Goffreda on it, gold and green,
with this white stag crest of Geffreider. Kind of new stuff as well.
I think if anybody knows their history amongst you, it's up to you if
you want to know the common knowledge that for a long time they kind of
had very similar stuff to Guardia, but have over the last few hundred years
kind of adopted their own bits and pieces. Let's get a couple of rolls
from you all, I would like, let's see here, there's going to
be a few. Actually, everyone give me a perception check first, and
then I want Merlin to give me an arcarnate check, and Will to give
me a constitution saving throat we go, So begins nineteen on the con save.
A strange feeling watches over you will as you get closer and closer to
this place, whatever it is, seems to be a kind of do you
know what? Actually you can roll me roll me in D twenty, I
guess would be the best thing to do here. Nineteen you actually get the
sense as you get closer and closer to Goffreda, you realize that you're actually
starting to feel just sort of an opposing force to you, almost like that
magnet repellent feeling. Again. It's almost it almost feels unintuitive to move this
way, to move in this direction, and you get the sense that,
ever since being in those mines at Dandelo, the closer you move to the
mist, the more your body almost wants to reject it. It's not actually
Guffreider. It's your proximity to the mist. It's something to make you feel
physically uncomfortable, but nothing that will affect anything that you're doing at all on
a nineteen con save and you're also I think aware of it. However you
want to be aware of it, it's up to you, Merlin. There
is a sense of magic coming off of these walls as well. The Guffreidan
city walls seem to have areas of enchantment on them. Whatever it might be,
You're not too sure. But every now and then, your eyes,
maybe your gnomish eyes or your arcane senses, pick up on glyphs along the
wall that shimmer in certain catches of the daylight here, and you get the
sense that there might be some sort of enchantment on the walls themselves, presumably
something that strengthens them or warns of attacks, perhaps things like that. But
the walls of very impressively masoned. But then on top of it there is
a sense of magic, and are cane to this city? Will How long
has it been since you were last here? Do you know? Probably just
under a year, right, not too long ago. So for you this
doesn't look any different at all. This place has not changed whatsoever. The
gates ahead of you. Walking along these walls, you finally get to an
area where there is just an enormous set of double prestigates here, where one
side is down, the other side is open, and you could fit maybe
four carriages through one of them, and if they lifted both of them,
you could get like eight carriages side by side through these gates. It's insanely
large and manned by a force of maybe about thirty of these guards. There
are two towers on either side of them. You get the sense that there
are probably archers or crossbowmen in the towers, and along the balustrades at the
top of the walls. You see a decent amount of guards as well,
but the traffic here isn't too crazy for the most part. This isn't like
the comings and goings of too many other towns here. A lot of Guffreder
is kind of self contained on the inside and relies almost exclusively on trade.
There are definitely farms and things on the outskirts here, and a lot of
the food is provided through fish, but there are farms inside the walls and
little areas that they grow their own produce in Gofreder could probably last in a
siege as well based on that, and they so there's not really a lot
of comings and goings. You can see mostly traders coming in to the town.
It means that you can basically struct all the way up to the main
gates. But how does everyone look. Let me think about this the second.
If you guys, you guys have been on the road for a few
days, and you are not clean, and you're a little battered, and
you've probably got some scratches and rips, some MUDs, some blood. Merlin
is quite literally a ghoul walking along in the daylight. So it looks like
you can just strut in and out of this place. By the way,
it doesn't seem like anyone is going to stop you unless I roll particularly low
on the dice that I definitely have where it's my dice. Oh, you
have to use one of my unlucky dice. Here we go, Here we
go. Here is what happens, I think for you guys. You guys
start walking up towards the gates. There are three guardsmen standing around. One
of them glances over at you and then turns back to the other garden just
says, yeah, I don't know, mate, probably not even going to
bother really, Yeah, I don't really like it even and they just carry
on their conversation. If you just want to strut into the city of Guffreda.
None of these guards seem to even be aware of you. They're all
standing around relaxed. Yeah, I'm going to go right and while busy,
I don't let them don't really notice me. Yeah, I think not drawing
attention at this moment the best plan. Okay, bye, give me a
perception check. Okay, I would also like to be holding Marlin's hand.
Okay, you are in Geffreda. Welcome to another Brian martial arts creation of
the absolutely enormous city of Guffreda itself, and you find yourselves. Now this
map is upside down, right, so you've got you're coming in on this
side, with this being the east. Okay, that's the south, that's
the east, and yeah again, you kind of wander into this enormous city.
At the entrance way where all these gates are, you see just a
huge amount of houses and things. There is a kind of a military post
and access that seems to let them up onto the walls and into those towers.
But once you kind of clear the initial area and square here, you
find yourself in what looks like just any residential district anywhere else, twisted houses
packed in together and people coming and going. It's huge, and I think
it would be overwhelming for three of you, since Will has been here before.
If you didn't, if you weren't aware of where you were going,
you'd probably already be lost. There's no real indication of like where to go.
There are even there are signposts that point in all sorts of different directions,
but it mentions all these different sectors, noble residential council halls, docs
markets, and varying kind of religious establishments to the goddess as for example,
there's a little temple here. Will, however, is the one who has
brought you here, And yes, what what is the plan? Now that
you're inside these walls and there is just an enormous expanse of this self contained
city in front of you. What are you? What are you guys doing?
And presumably Will would be leading the way because he probably somewhat knows his
way around. And I don't know if you've been to a big city before.
It certainly helps to have been there before, but even Will was probably
a little lag. Was it that way or that way? But I'll give
you the benefit of the doubt that you kind of know what you want to
do. Yeah, absolutely. Will's wills checklist basically is go talk to Vega
Greenwood, and that's basically like ninety percent of why we're here. But it's
also one of the biggest cities in the entire realm. So if there's any
last minute shopping or preparation to do anything we're looking for, this is probably
the place to find it. So I don't know if anybody else has anything
on their checklist that they want to get done while we're here. I was
considering looking for a boat. M Buyer is just like looking around, like
trying to seem fine, but also like very lost and like I don't even
know where I would begin to try and find a place to look for a
ball. Yeah, I think Fix is probably looking around as well, like
kind of try not to give away too much that they're new to the city,
but kind of just a little bit overwhelmed by everything. Ooh, can
I can I spark any any silence around on a ten? Now? You
cannot? Can I? Maybe I got twenty one? Yeah, that your
perception checks earlier on were not for that fire gets to have a special check
for silence. What about my passive perception which is thirteen? The passive perception?
They're immune to passive perception, of course they are. What are you
talking about? They're immune to these three even looking for them. You you
only qualify under certain understandings of how they were trained naturally and maybe what to
look for and the innate abilities of your elven blood. The Yeah, it
doesn't seem like there is any any silence here, but also could be anyone.
There are lots of people here moving up and down. Your probably moving
along, and there are people doing that big city thing of like just kind
of like brushing into you because it's kind of so packed in and there are
lots of winding, little alleyways. It does seem to be a very exclusive
and large central road that is a paved area, kind of lots of open
areas, but in this opening section of the city there is it's just a
packed in residential area and most of the houses are built on top of each
other as well, so you get these like multi layered buildings that are kind
of leaning over you, very very tall looking buildings, so it's it's difficult
to get really a layer of the land even because you're kind of so crushed
in and these these roads are not very straight, they're twisting and turning.
Apart from i think the center of town where there's this new enormous set of
Gothic architecture that's sitting looming over everything else, it's really you just get no
sense of where you are or where to even go and what you did.
You've already done a walk along half of the city's wall, so you know
that it it goes pretty pretty far, so Will would know. I can't
imagine that you that Vega Greenwood would not have met with you while you were
working. You would you might have come here before with Lyra, but I
have no doubt that you would have spent time with him at his private residence,
so you probably know the way there. But it's midday and he is
a very prolific businessman, so it's unlikely he's at those residences. The residences
are in the very well. The noble residences are in the noble housing sector,
inside the internally walled area, which is south of town, which is
kind of way over here and down in this area, you guys, being
literally off the map here over here. I think you could probably spend a
while getting your bearings and head that direction if you want. Alternatively, you
know that he owns businesses down by the dock sides here, or you would
be pretty convinced that if he was going to be anywhere, it would be
inside these council halls. Inside the council halls you would have been told,
though I doubt you would have ever visited them, that there are areas for
the merchants and the nobles to run their business. If you could. If
you would have guessed where he would be, it would be there at this
time of day, and that would be the direct route to him. Everything
else will There are taverns all over town. You would know from being here
there are there's everything here kinder like whatever you're If you're looking for a weapon
smith, there's one here. If you're looking for an armor, there's there's
like forty you know what I mean. Like, there's traders, there are
market stalls. There are probably black markets. There are probably people that you
can buy some things from off the street. There are people who you can
buy things from in shops. There are markets. There's there's the dock side
market, which is the biggest set of markets. Whatever you are looking for
in general, probably you can find it, but being specific about where it
is, you're going to have to wander around and look for it. So
it really does come down to like what you want to do first, the
order in which you want to do it, whereas will going you know as
fire running off is Merlin eating someone? You know what smells great here?
Yeah? The above p Yeah, the above ruins found somebody delicious? Well,
I think rather than run all over town looking for this guy, I
probably head to his residence and ask, like what time I should come back,
Like you, when can I catch him? Okay, set an appointment,
that sort of thing. So Will starts heading south. Everyone's following,
I assume, with the intention of immediately following this place. Will ronny an
investigation check? Yes, this would be an intelligence based thing. Maybe my
strong suit. Here we go, memory. Oh, you start to get
very quickly overwhelmed and confused and lost. You're remembering that you went this way
right? Wait, no, you went't that way. Why did you let
Lyra lead you through the town. Oh that's where I used to do this,
she would say to you, holding your hand. Oh, this is
this over here, Will getting distracted by a suit of armor and remembering his
militant days while she then drags him down another alley. Waiter, this is
a shortcut, so will you try to recreate that? Even though you might
have made the strip a few times, it's still just a ridiculously overwhelming city.
And eventually you find yourself just kind of a little bit lost. You
certainly have not found the noble housing sector. But let's see anything happens to
you on your travels here Rome A D twenty please will oh boy nineteen It
you do actually find something which is pretty crazy rome a D five five out
of five. You find stuff you'd literally just stumble it. You're walking along
and you kick something, and when you look down you see a small little
box, the type of thing that would fit like a jewelry, a little
wooden thing. As you pick it up and flick it open, Rommy and
D four, damn, you find three golden rings. All that would have
been so funny if that was three golden yo yos, gold plated significantly better
than three yogos. But also golden rings probably belong to someone so well,
said a yogo. But I don't anyone would care that moment. You don't
know, Okay, yeah, probably just pick up the box and then just
look around suspiciously, like this a trap or a test or? Who left
this here? Give me another investigation check of four. It doesn't look like
a trap. There doesn't seem to be anyone here. You're in a strange
part of town. It's a little run down. You get the sense that
maybe this is an area of town that will be a little lower income.
Three golden rings just in a box in the in a ditch on the side
of the road here is kind of strange. But it looks just discarded.
Perhaps somebody dropped it, maybe it fell off the back of a wagon.
At this point, doesn't seem like this is a trap. You're like looking
up checking the rooftops and things. There's nobody kind of spying you. The
rings themselves don't seem to be magical or anything like that. Just three golden
rings in a box. Buck you find. Maybe just probably turned to the
rest of the group and say, you know, I know we're heading towards
the rich part of town, but I didn't think they were so rich.
They just you know, toss this stuff out and leave it laying around.
M find your sleepers, Yeah, take it as a gift. Maybe they
didn't fit anymore. I imagine the closet overflowing with their other hundreds of gold
rings. There just wasn't any space. Yeah, Or they're just out of
fashion, out of season. You know, it's not the fad right now.
Wow, silver silver is totally on these days. M hm hmm.
Does the Does the box itself have any marking, insignia, the name of
an establishment, anything? Plane box? This is a plane looking box,
a very simple looking carved wooden box. No paper on the inside, wrapped
up that says what it is no markings or seal on the top, that
it just it looks as well like they were losing here. So it's the
type of thing that maybe somebody would put them in. This could just be
someone's jewelry box that they keep on them. Mm hmm. Is there any
sense of magic from the rings or the box? No, but Melin,
if you want to give me an an arcana check, I'll give you the
benefit of the doubt. That's the wizards twenty three twenty three are normal rings,
right, Hey, Marlin a these rings, Matty, Oh, I'm
tempted to say so that I'll be truthful. There's time around. No,
They're just they're just plain old gold rings. Okay, find us you can
sell them you want. Yeah, I suppose so. I don't know.
I can't help but figure someone's gonna come looking for them and retracing their steps
here. But yeah, yeah, leaving them here doesn't seem smart either.
Someone else might just pick them up and walk off exactly if you don't drive
them someone else. Now, yeah, you're doing the right thing, keeping
them safe in case the the owner fire returns. Yeah, mm hmm,
I'll just put the box in okay, uh yeah, your also lost,
by the way, Well, you don't know where you're going, So where
are we going? Will that way? Okay? Point a few different directions
once that way. I'll be honest, I probably need to ask directions.
I I've been here a couple of times, but it's still tad confusing that
and I was never actually the one leading the way. I'll look around for
street signs or whatever and see if there's anybody knowledgeable, particularly like guardsmen or
whatever that I could ask points in the right direction. Everything is. There's
no gods here, uh, no street signs here. There's a there's a
a man who designed his place as a man and staring at you. You're
like deep in like a residential place. You get the sense that this is
just a bunch of people that have lived their whole lives. They don't need
signs. There's no reason to sack tourists to be there. Yeah, it's
that kind of a feeling. You get your like like lost in this twisting,
turning residential part of town. There is a man staring at the four
of you, just looking at you all, holding a sack over his shoulder.
I'll just walk right up to him and ask him. He's staring at
you, this enormous dude with armor weapons, followed by teethling in armor gauntlets
and a shadow elf, and then a child walk over to him and from
his perspective and he looks you up and down and says, all right,
or you'd doing down here? Then truth be told. I'm looking for the
what'd you say was called rather the noble housing sector? Was that what it
was? Yes, I'm looking for noble housing. But I'm pretty sure I
took a wrong turn. Could you point me the right way? You make
it worth my while. I'll take you there? Myself appointed us and maybe
we got lost on right, Well it's that way. Maybe it's that way.
There's something that's memory is not that great having to pull around these apples
all day. Just take us there, apples. What kind of apples are
you carrying? You mean, what kind of apples? What kind of apples?
There are different kinds of apples, are there? Apples? What you
eat in your mouth? You eat? Oh? Yeah, those kinds?
You want one? No? That maybe had rather green apples was like a
cover. But do you like red apples or you like green apples? There's
two kinds right there there. Yeah, you get apples where red angry?
You know read? You can get both both on the same apple. You
know that? Wow? Thank you not expect Can I inside check this guy?
Is he really just like an apple salesman? And I'm like reading into
it, give me an inside check if you want. He's just a he's
a yeah. I'm like, it's the show, not an apple salesman.
Okay, let me let me see, Like, can I pick my own
apple? Let me see it opens the sack up inside there are green apples,
lots of them, no red? Yeah you want one? Ah?
Yeah, yeah, I'm not exactly looking for what you have here, apples
and apple. At this point, I'm suspicious that it's side both of them,
Like I think I think she's I think she's speaking code to him and
that they're both. This sounds like some thieves can't stuff right out of me.
Do you want the green apple or maybe the red hand green on the
same apple. At that point, I'm convinced that she's asking him for like
directions to the black market to go upon some stolen guns. He's he's staring
at you fire, But is it gonna be? Can I just say,
uh? Do you have any red apples? But I want to say it
and thieves can't. Right, He looks left and right and says, bank
to you in thieves, I've got purple dust. Mmm, explain that to
me. But that's how I got right now, what is it? But
what is it? What do you mean? What is it? You actually
want apples? You don't actually want apples? Right? No, I don't
cut These are my friends, they're cool. Just drop it. Yeah,
right, so I've only got purple dust on me right now? Yeah?
What is purple dust? What do you mean? What is purple dust?
How do you not know what it is? What are you here for?
Do we know what purple dust is? Uh? You don't know what they're
saying. That's speaking in just a gibberish right now? You just hear apple,
yellow apple, green apple, red apple. Yeah, it wasn't code
the whole time. Remind me, you know I'm not a right? Well
do you want to wake up? Don't you? Sometimes you want to wake
up? You want to go go go? Mmmm? Well yeah sometimes purple
dust? Long does it last? And how much does it cost? But
how much? Do one little? Did dad? Now? Just a little?
No, I'm not selling little did damn for four? Yeah? We
call it five gold? Five gold for a little bit? Mm? How
about you give me enough for two of us or two each, two little
bits each for all of us, two little bits each for all of us?
Eight eight little bits? Now, how about you give me that for
five? You're mad? Yeah? You know how hard it is to get
a hold of powerful dust. Not that hard if you have bags and bags
of it. I don't have bags and bags of it. I got little
bits of it. Why did you ask me the bag to sell? Well?
Right, well, I'll do for you. Then I'll go and see
my friend Abil Kibble. How about that? What? How about again?
I'll go and see my friend Apple Kibble. That's right, I want to
see your friend. That will Kibble give me persuasion? Check? He for
the first time, crosses his arms and kind of looks at you all suspiciously.
What are you really doing here? In, he says, out of
thieves? Can we're still talking about apples? We weren't, but it's can
I just here? Can I have a how about this? And I'll give
him? I'll just say I have three gold, eight silver and one copper.
Can I just hand in that well this do. Can you cut me
a little deal we have? How about that? Okay? All right,
hold on and he puts his hand deep into the sack of apples, rummaging
around. Eventually he pulls out a tiny tell what looks I guess to you
guys as kind of a purple gem, A tiny little thing like a few
millimeters across. He looks it up and it rolls it into his hand,
and then hand you an apple with the with the gem underneath in the palm
of his hand. Looking around him. I'll just handle the apple to whoever
is next to I and put the stuff in my pocket. Yeah, you've
got some purple dust yay? All right, nice doing business, witch.
Yeah, we actually need directions also if you don't, oh, you actually
do need them. No, I wasn't kidding. Which what is the noble
housing? Right? Well? You know they've got good ship up there,
like what good purple dust? That way? You follow that down there,
you'll see your wheel. You pass the wheel straight along, you'll see the
walls follow thee the middle. Did you say purple dust? M that's not
you don't want him to catch you with that. He turns around and heads
into his alleyway fire. What the hell did you just buy? I don't
know. It's a drug of some kind. I did a drug deal?
What of it? Yes? Well, it was very confusing. We weren't
at the start, and then it quickly became code and he's yeah, he's
a drug dealer. See, I'm getting better at this. I'll be already
for the criminal underworld in no time. Mm hmmm. I'll want a closer
look at that later. Absolutely, I got enough for all of us to
try some if you want. He said, it'll wake you up and get
you going, so okay, might be useful, m hm, might be
catastrophic. Yeah, maybe both. Well, if we get desperate, only
have a backup option. Mm hmm. I should have asked him whe to
buy a bone. I'm sure there'll be more Apple dealers up in the Nobles
sector. You can ask them mm hmm. Okay, will you heard them?
Or we could just head down into the Mercanteele district and look around us,
probably about thirty fletchers in town. Yeah, if you want to do
that, then we can do that. Do you want to do that now
or after? Well, let's let me start by making an appointment, because
Vega can be notoriously hard to get a hold of. He's kind of a
busy guy. So hm, we'll set an appointment and then depending on how
far out that time slot is, you can go kill time in town.
Okay, please don't tell me times another one of those bandits. Oh m
hmm, I'm sorry. I just said you need to kill time. Uh
huh there, yeah, it was a joke. Good joke. Okay,
let's find this noble sector. Uh, so you can. Following your apple
dealer's instructions, you follow the down you come to a small mill, uh,
and it has a kind of a wheel on the side of it that
a small canal is running along, kind of splitting this residential area with a
wall that runs along the south edge of town. You can see beyond this
wall. This isn't a wall like the enormous things on the outside of town.
This really is to very clearly split the sections of the town, maybe
to keep unwanted types out. It curls at the top. There are gargoyles
along parts of it as well, but it doesn't seem like the most difficult
wall to scale in the world or anything like that. It really is just
a pretty basic looking simple wall that's running along the south side of the town.
Here, following the wall along and then crossing over the canal, you
can see that there are multiple entrances into this southern sector that you would assume
to be the noble housing sector, as the houses inside and estates are very
nice looking even from here, individually architectured pieces, strangely engineered houses, and
decent kind of portions of land around them for small gardens and things like that.
Although at the gated section here there is just over the canal two guards
that are standing in front of you, one elven guard and one a much
older looking human. The human guard is kind of leaning against the gate itself,
and while the gate is open, the elf is standing in front of
it, and he holds a hand up to you as you approach, and
he says, Hello, what business do you have, Hullo Blue, come
to visit Viga Greenwood, or at least see if he's at home right at
one moment please. He steps behind him into a little wooden shack takes a
moment. The older looking guard is kind of eyeing you up down, each
of you because you look interesting an individual compared to some of the people in
the town. A moment later, the elf steps out and says, you
have a writ of lodging or are you expected? I've gotten either right,
and you're here to see mister Greenwood. That's correct. Are you family?
You underlisted family members? Not yet? Not yet? His daughter and I
are an adem. Okay, let me see what I've got here. You
see him kind of start to pour through this ledger. He moves over a
few pages, running his hand down some of the names. You see his
hand scan over a couple of names before he says, and the name of
mister Greenwood's daughter, Lyrah Greenwood, and that would make you, That would
make me Will Ortis of Guardia. Yes, unfortunately your name is not written
down on my ledger as a family member or notable companion. Perhaps you have
a rid of lodging or some other way to prove that you know mister greenw
With that I could take to the estate. Otherwise I can't let you through.
I'm afraid in writing no. And if you tell them Will is here,
I would do the trick. Well, I can send a runner up
when one comes by. Otherwise you'll have to wait. I'm time with waiting.
How long? Mm hmm? Well, until we get word back that
you are who you say you are and that you're allowed in. Well,
I can more or less prove I am who I say I am. I
don't know if that'll be enough to satisfy your curiosity, but I'll hand them
the letter of guild membership that basically lists my accomplishments as a member of the
Mason's Guild, et cetera. My name and signature. It would be.
I don't know how much credibility you would have here, given that it was
issued by the Dwarfs, but it would have my like, my name and
a stamp on it and all that. Yeah, did you you got this
in? I effectively use it like a passport when traveling into the dwarf in
territory. I don't know how much. I don't know how willing they would
be to accept it here, but it's better than nothing. Well, I
would look it over for sure. Uh. And it's actually an in game
item. If you want the uh, you want the description of it.
I don't know if that matters here. Uh. No, I know what
it is. I remember, I know you have this, and I remember
when we plan and the guy looks it over and says, well, that's
that might get you an order of business in town. But I'm afraid unless
you're trying to visit one of these Dwarven gentlemen, of which I don't recognize
the names, you're out of luck. You could possibly visit the Dwarven embassy,
or perhaps if you know of any merchant guild. I'm not here to
talk to them, though. I just need to see Vega at his earliest
convenience, which I understand can take a while because he's busy. When should
I come back? Well, without a writ without word from the runner,
I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea. I don't know if he would be
home. I don't know if he he's currently here. He could be down
at the council halls. He might be out elsewhere. He could be out
of town. Oh don't really keep track of every single person that lives here,
and I'm afraid I can't really hand up that information either. Why are
the council halls? He points behind you at the just enormous set of buildings.
He says, in the center there, that's the palatial area. But
to the south of that, all the way down and around about this east
set of buildings. Those are the council halls. That's where most of the
guild members and people like mister Greenwood work daily and unfortunately for you, sometimes
overnight. I should also warn you that he might not be coming through these
gates. He could come through those gates or the gates all the way over
there, or most likely all the way at the south if you were hoping
to catch him. Of course, other than that, you might be able
to find a runner to send a note or a letter to contact him,
or perhaps head down towards the dock side, towards where he runs his business.
Now that we're here, like at the entrance, would I have my
bearings again to be able to know where his house is or where his manner
is or whatever. Yeah, probably he's got a residence kind of on the
furthest south side of this, quite near to where the south side wall is
over on this map. It would be kind of down in here, you
guys are like over here kind of, he would be all the way in
here on the southeastern most side, on the in the center. He's got
a pretty basic looking estate with a small garden that runs around the sides,
and then like a central tower it almost looks like a clockhouse kind of building
with two floors, two wings to it, and then as central area with
what you would remember to be an enormous dining room in it. And then
they probably found you your own room that you probably had with a big flush
of bed. And he's insanely rich, right, I'm contemplating, could I
just tell fire to like go a couple hundred feet away and to climb over
the wall and check would I be able to give her directions to said house?
But at the same time, sneaking in this area is probably not wise.
I was going to lean into well and just say, do you think
it would be helpful if we are enlightened this person a bit on the urgency
of our Do you think she can hmmm? I think he might be able
to put it in words that would make him care about Where would we find
a runner? Can I smell the brains? Ever? Runner smell the brains
of everyone? Runners are For the most part, a runner is just anyone
that you want to pay and trust enough to deliver you a message. But
runners that can go in and out of this sector probably are. This is
probably a thing I don't I don't even know, will if you would know
what this is. I don't know why you would have needed to know this
information previously with lyar on your arm, but you would imagine that this is
the type of thing where there are probably a few serving children who can earn
a few coins, who are kind of sanctioned in some way to be allowed
to take messages in and out of this part of the town. But yeah,
I don't know if you know, really, I don't know why you
would know necessarily how that works. Just generally, it doesn't look like it's
literally just you guys and this and these two guards. There's there's a lot
of people behind you in the in the residential area that you came through,
and inside of here, it doesn't look like there's anyone you're not seeing,
Like there's not like a bunch of people on the inside of these gates moving
back and forth. I don't think you probably would have seen anyone yet.
It looks pretty empty, right, No, I probably I probably wouldn't have
any inside knowledge on the topic. I would probably just look back to the
guard at that point and say, where can I grab one of these runners
to go contact him? It's a matter of great urgency. Well, the
runners usually uh move up and down the wall here. We're the ones who
tend to pass the messages onto them. You have a message, I'm absolutely
happy to do it and it is free of charge. Can we pay for
it to be very urgent urgency? The runner will take it directly, but
there just isn't one here, so you'll have to wait for one to come
up. You can pay for runners to take them almost anywhere in the city.
If you'd rather contact mister Greenwood or a member of his party directly,
I think probably the rest of the party would see like a very obvious moment
of hesitation where I contemplated telling them one thing and then just stopped instead and
say just the message should just be that Will is here to see him,
whether matter of what most importance. Right, very well, yes, you
seemed write this down, and that's for mister Vega Greenwood. Yes, very
well. There are runners posts in town. If you'd want to head further
towards the center of town. There you might be able to find another runner
if you need to pay for messages to be moved around town very quickly.
Other than that, I shall pass on your message as as soon as possible.
Well, if going to one of these runners posts will speed the process
up, then yes, I'll go do that. What would they look like?
How would I spot one? Well, it's very much like a carriage
stop. If you head straight over the canal here and back down the way
that I believe you came from, but instead of following away from the canal,
run alongside it. You'll see that you'll find a small marketplace. There
should be a runner's post on the edge, a post with a symbol of
the stag of Geffreider on it, and a little there like an envelope.
You'll find a boy or a girl there. Then, depending on who you're
trying to contact. And well, I would imagine that mister Green went a
very difficult one, so you're probably going to be paying a silver piece something
like that. Right, thank you for your time, very well, and
good day. Sorry I couldn't help you any further. Not a problem,
okay, nice suggest maybe we'd go find a runner and then check the council
harse. Yes, let's do that. Speed this up? Okay. Now,
following his instructions, I assume yes you are will head down there.
Now I'm in a roll, two dice and I'm not going to tell you
what they were for. So yeah, you guys, following the canal kind
of take the route that you came up this one of these roads, and
then see that at another small bridge leads over a little hop of canal,
a tiny little thing really, not a canal, more like a little dribble,
and you move to an area that seems to be a little more busy,
at a little more bustling, and you come to a small, little
marketed area. It seems like the type of market where they sell only basic
bread and meat and general produce for the local town, not anything like the
huge markets that might sell your bows and arrows and things like that. But
it's pretty obvious that you can pick out this runner's post and there is a
boy is sitting there. He's got to be maybe nine or ten, in
very basic looking clothes with enormous boots on, and on his back is a
satchel, and hanging from the bottom of that satchel is a ledger, not
too dissimilar to the ledger that the guard just had, and he's just standing
leaning against that runners post. As you guys approach, he looks up at
you, will then looks at Merlin and fixates on Merlin for a moment and
then says, all right, how can I help? I need you to
do a bit of running. All right? Then where you needed me to
go? You know where to find Vega Greenwood? Begger Greenwood? Where is
that? He's probably at the council hall or down by the docks. I
can take a message to Yeah, yep, that'll do, council ols,
mister Greenwood, ol dn't. He pulls the led you're off of his back
and opens it up, turns a few pages of you can see there's all
sorts of scribbling on there, and then he takes out like a piece of
charcoal. This isn't a pen or anything, and then begins to write quite
legibly. He writes Vega Greenwood, spells it poorly, but it looks like
it, says Vaga Greenwood, and says council halls And says, okay,
I've got a message. Do you want to tell us him to meet us
somewhere? Maybe one of the big taverns, probably yes, or probably best
to meet him back It is a state. But I don't want to have
to deal with getting by the guards again. You're right, what would be
whatever the name is of, like a conveniently located central tavern, probably someplace
a little bit upscale. Can I would I know the location of one of
these places? Um hmm, I don't know. In fact, give me
give me a D twenty and give me a history check. I guess history
we'll have to serve as a memory check here twenty fifteen and then history is
six another high intelligence are all from me? You know probably two things Vega
on the fifteen. You're kind of aware that, like you don't really recall
coming to town and visiting any taverns with Lyra and her dad. This this
guy doesn't I don't think, really spend a huge amount of time in the
central taverns on the outskirts of town. But you did You do know that
there are upscale saloons and taverns up in the up in that housing sector that
he probably frequents. You did stay maybe in a in a tavern here,
or visited one with Lyra that was known as the Mermaid, which is a
very central and very low and famous tavern here, probably one of the main
ones down towards the dock side. It would be on this map sort of
more northern like around here. This area here really acts as kind of one
of the big main town square areas. It's a very very busy place.
This is the this is the Manhattan Island Strip here, whatever that thing is
called of this huge city. So you know of a tavern called the Mermaid,
and I think maybe that's one of the only things you recall. But
I will say on a fifteen, you're probably where that. I don't know
if I don't know, if you get the sense that really Vega would probably
visit any of these taverns. He can. He's rich enough to just summon
up an entire feast in an evening at his whim, at his mansion.
So going to a tavern where anyone could be in ridiculous, ridiculous concept.
He's a little stuck up, right. Yeah, I'll probably just shake off
the idea and say he's not really the taverning type. No, tell him,
tell him. Will from Guardia is here to see him, and it's
extremely important, and we'll come to his residence. We're from Guardia, Yes,
extremely impotant. Yes, at whose residence? Your residence? No,
his his residence? Okay? Is that all as the sun sets? So
at least we have a time frame as the sun sets. Sunsets at different
times every day. But that's right, okay, hold on, I need
a different measurement of time. I forgot where we were all die. What
time of day is it? It's about midday few at the moment. Son
has been setting pretty regularly around five, I think. Okay, well,
probably try to say like five pm. Okay, a twenty four hour clock,
so five pm, that's an evening. Yes, very smart, okay,
red n till the time. Well, as it states, I do
have to charge you a little bit more because this has to go to Council
Wolves, which means it comes under a business writ I don't know what that
means, but that means that I have to charge you one silver piace for
it. I'll just send him to my chance to flex. He takes one
silver piece, puts it in one pocket, and then takes the other silver
piece and puts it in a little a little, tiny little person is hip.
And he closes his book and attaches it back to the statue and says,
okay, I will deliver you a message by and then he starts moving
off in these oversized boots and moving south towards that huge set of buildings,
and you guys are left in this tiny little marketplace that was adorable. One
wonders what kind of empire toppling secrets are occasionally passed along by children under the
age of ten in this city. I would consider that fast food. I'm
hungry, Merlin. You can't get children, Merlin, No, no,
just I like it. Let's get you something to eat. Yeah, right,
find him some food. And I thought I have pat Will on the
shoulder as well, like sympathetically, just gently, as I see him the
kind of choked up earlier. Surely I can't help my shelf. Do any
of the stalls have any kind of fresh, delicious brains? Then fresh delicious
brains here? Not really. There are a couple of stalls here that seem
to be selling meat, but you don't get the sense that there's any brains.
Speaking to maybe the butcher quickly, they don't have the brains. You'd
have to go and move maybe further towards the main dock side markets where there
are the meat sale. By the way, Vega is the meat guy in
town, like most of the meat and the meat man. He is the
guy that and this is obviously only information that Will would know, but a
lot of the meat here, he's the guy that is in charge of of
organizing the business of hunting, pelting and then distributing this meat and also making
sure that it is clean and some of He actually has some very small governmental
influence over the fact that you know, people are selling dodgy meat. It
might fall to him, so he kind of has a lot of influence over
that. And that would be you know, basic red meats and hunted things,
So there would be hunting lodges on the outside of Geffreda that maybe hunt
those forests. When it comes to farmed meats or like chicken and things and
fishing, that he probably does have a hand in it, no doubt,
but it seems to fall to other things. But he's very much in charge
of that kind of business. So you're kind of in the ultimate position for
claiming brains somewhat. But obviously no one really knows who will is it sounds
so Sinister ties with the government and he's in charge of all the meet no
meat comes in around of this city. He's he's got his hands in it.
He's got his hands in the meat. And yeah, so he I
mean you, I think will you might have your suspicions that it might even
be sinister. He doesn't, I don't think in your memory of him,
I don't think he's come across as a very warm man or And I don't
you know that your relationship with him isn't like this lovable bubbling in enjoyable relationships.
He's very much a strict businessman, a very cold man, and he
is Yeah, he's those things. So yeah, I think he It's very
possible he is like a meat matthia man and that influence is the type of
power that he lusts after. Who knows, But will you would know that
down by the dock side. Maybe Lyra probably took you there. I can't
see why she wouldn't, So you would know that there are a set of
stalls on the dock side, And there are many stalls around town, but
a very large set of stalls and two warehouses that belong to the Greenwoods.
And they're famous enough to have their own signage and things. They have a
green and white sign with their names on it that you'll see in parts of
the town. But yeah, so stupidly you have meat local knowledge. I'm
giving you here, so anything that falls under that jurisdiction. It'd be very
easy to purchase some brains if you headed down to the larger markets. You'd
also be able to go and get your own food at one of the many
heavens down there. And it is probably a little less kind of like humble
residential land where you find yourselves, you know, at the moment, the
moment you're in like the Bronx, you know, advantage on knowledge checks related
to meat. Welcome your character b is never forget that that was one of
your character traits ones. I think we'll kill two birds with one stone,
because now that we've got this kid checking the council hall, I can go
check the docks and simultaneously we can, you know, since they sell meat,
buy Merlin the brains he wants so desperately. I fish brains maybe,
But yeah, I guess we'll go down to the docks area and buy a
box of popcorn for me. I'm gonna eat a whole up the dead and
buy Merlin. Buy Merlin a snack. But while I'm down there, I
can also check this where CVS around. Maybe I'll get lucky and bypass the
red tape. Okay, give me another investigation check. Well, to just
try and head down there. This will be a little easier to do that.
There we go again. My knowledge checks have gone so well today.
You say, did you say investigation or history investigation please? So, yeah,
well, this is a little easier for you to do. For the
most part, it's a little easier to find a specific place in this main
section of town than it is to find a slightly more obscure place in the
Moving through the residential area, you actually probably pass under another set of through
another set of gates, nobody making any checks, but there are several walled
areas here. Gerfreider is not at all a militant town, but it is
absolutely prepare for anything, whether it's this ridiculous civil war notion that's coming,
or just the fact that the dark realm is a very difficult place to live.
This is a there are multiple sections and sectors in each of them seem
to be walled off and quite defensible. And yeah, you move into the
northeastern portion of this, this this great city, and find that it seems
to be a lot more This would probably remind you a little bit of of
Kira in it's almost exclusively trading areas, and not just trade for market stalls
and local trade, but it seems to have warehouses with carts coming and going
that probably trade to all the other towns and and do a lot of business
from this part of town. And you are looking for brains first, well,
I guess you can two birds one stone. You're looking for the actual,
the actual thing. So give me a perception check bill, Oh we're
down here, okay, twenny, And then roll me a D twenty as
well. And this is just pure luck. Die twelve. Luck twelve introducing
the luck system. Off the top of my head, I've actually been running
a luck system for years in my head, so quite often so you you
would remember and recognize a dwarf by the name of Stent, and he is
the guy who runs the stalls along the dock side on behalf of mister Greenwood.
While there are multiple stalls that he owns and they're all over town,
there are two do very large wholesale looking warehouses with these stalls out of the
front that you can go up. You can buy it anything that has been
hunted recently. At the moment, you actually probably do see deer and venison
well cut and prepared. There is a bunch of them, probably hung to
be bled, whatever that process is called. And you're down by this dock
side. You're also getting this this shock of sea air and salt on the
wind as you see that ocean spreading out again. It's that same kind of
view that you had in SOM's Point, where it there's a there's a wide
expanse of ocean that kind of hits this wall in the distance during the daytime
as that mist lingers and maybe kind of draws your attention in particular, will
for a moment before you recognize this dwarf stent, a particularly short dwarf with
You recognize that essentially he he has very big feet but very small legs,
and so he kind of waddles a little bit as he moves, but you
recall him to be a relatively friendly man. He's kind of just barking orders
at people in the distance. You'll recognize him instantly. A huge shock of
black hair that kind of curls off the top of his head, an enormous
beard, like a very very squat, hagrid looking guy. And yeah,
he's probably shouting stuff. You recognize him. Maybe you met him a year
ago as he's in the distance, and then you move it back instantly recognize
this fellow underneath that Greenwood's signage, resist the aristo column of Penguin from there,
and try to catch him before he disappears into any buildings or whatever.
Yeah, I'm just call out to him. Yeah. He immediately turns on
you and looks up and squints. They're like, the last time he saw
you, you were probably just in tunic and trousers and not in all of
your armor. You probably went armed at all. Oh yeah, every time
I've ever been here, I've probably been probably been wearing the finest clothes that
I had in every single time I've ever been here. So it look very
different. Right, Even if you had brought a sword with you for the
journey, I would imagine it wouldn't be on you. As you walk around
town and he looks up at you. It takes him a moment before he
says John close starts with a W. Wallace. Still, there are two
l's in there. Well, what is you? And we're from It's Will
And I probably wasn't all armoured up last time I saw you. Will.
We're there we later, that's me. Yah. They he's come with me.
These that group with you? Yes? Is that norm? Yes?
Actually it is a. Hey, who's come with me? Where's later?
She's not here? Hey, great, come on, come with me,
Come with me. He turns around and starts looking about. Somebody walks up
to him and he says, no, no, you deal with it,
and then he starts to kind of waddle over towards the water's edge, taking
you off behind the front facing, stalls behind a set of carriages, and
leans up against one of the warehouse sides. There's generally no one here,
and you get the sense that he just wanted to get away for a moment.
He holds out his hand and vigorously shakes yours, looking up at you
and says, Stan, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
You're a norm and I'm ray. He's uh, these are alive, as
we heard about the refuge. Yeah, that's that's why I'm here. Ah,
there was no survivors. That's mostly accurate, mister Greenwood. The Sin
group, so searching search parties didn't they find nothing. There wasn't much to
find. But here you are, Yeah, and you take your time.
It's almost been a month. I didn't want to give up on the trail
myself. What trail them's what they're they? Yes, well you said he
sent out search parties. I don't know what they found, but weren't an
accident, obviously. It's the same people that hit some point. I'm sure
you've heard of that by now. It's right across the bay, some sort
of attack. Some people saying bandaids and other people saying dragons. Apparently there's
a waiver and there's there's there's no dragons. It was just a well organized
group. Some of them were former military. They are talking. They if
that's got to be a squadron, like an army washing up the north like
that from Grant's ref you jumped to Silm's point. Yeah, that's a big
fucking group. There was a lot of them. I think they've lost a
few along the way. They hit us pretty hard and fast. It's not
right. They got me pretty good, right ay ey? I mean,
yeah, go at yourself some armor and you're walking. I picked myself up.
They thought my wound was fatal and they were wrong. Left you for
deid, Yeah right, Well, I crawled out of the mud and I
followed them halfway across the continent until I could learn their names. And now
I've got a full story of what happened there, and I wanted to relay
it to Vega. That's why I'm here. But he's kind of hard to
get a hold of. I was hoping you could help me. Also,
I need to buy food. Also, I need to buy food for the
small one here. Food, right, Yeah, we'll get your saunted.
You want you want us to cook your some numb I get the boys out
of the back a little something. Yeah, no, fascinated, I actually
can you prefer it raw? But we've only got meat. I can go
around. I'll see if I can get somebody fitches, some vege. We'll
cook you up a little meal. I think. Merlin tries to disguise,
not trying to gag. What you mentioned vegetables. Oh, this one's quite
the carnival. He likes his meat, actually metarian. Uh right, okay,
well there he look will in over there. You help yourself to anything
off that there cart He points to a car. It's just there's just a
bunch of freshly cut meat on there. As if there's any brains though,
Luckdyce coming in, yes, there's for some reason, probably I don't know,
a box of brains. There's a lot of brains. Yeah, there's
there's off cuts off all bits, and maybe you look around for a bit.
You can take a bite out of the other bits of fresh meat,
and it does seem to be freshly cut. There's probably somebody doing the butchering
nearby and bringing them from the warehouse, loading them onto these wagons that seem
to most likely be taken out. And yeah, you find some of these
off cuts, and within them you find some some brains that would probably be
dear brains, which is going to say to your hunger. And while Merlin
wanders off and just starts to devour some brains, Sten says, great,
So he's he's went on there, he's went on the road straight away.
I did, I take it that's because you you'd already go later to safety.
Hey, she's not coming back, right, I'm sorry, my boy?
Yeah, mm hmmm. Did you get any of them the bustards to
catch them? I should have come straight here, but I, uh,
grief and anger, I went after them myself instead. I was worried in
the time it took me to go raise help that they'd have vanished, right,
So I went after them myself. Oh, I ran into this lot
along the way and they it was. It wasn't entirely fruitless. Though I
learned their names, I learned their colors. Yeah, flag and spot them
right, and I caught their leader and I killed him in the streets.
And some's point shait, Okay, right, well, but there's still more
and did a lot Garadia? Well they don't now, I say that again,
your Lord Guardia. The soldiers, Yeah, are they going to do
something about you? No, it sounds like they're already aware. I spoke
to one of them, a fellow named Don Walker, one of the battle
majores from Guardia's army. Seems that they're already well aware. But the problem
is chasing these guys. Hey, But then he saw his point at the
back top they put out to see from some point. That was where my
chase ended. But where are they gonna go? Can he come here?
Down the coast? They don't have many places they can go. I doubted
here they're wanted men, they'd probably go course point or even further south.
Right. Well, well, it's good to see you all right, but
ah, it's good to see you too, mister Greenwood. Though he's he's
already pretty sure, you know, I think he made his mind up.
I don't know if I'll be happy to see you or no, bye,
I'm sure he will. I like the information about what well were there,
what happened? Yeah, I yeah, I'll have the distinct pleasure of explaining
to him why I'm alive and she isn't. I haven't he seen him for
a two week? Right? Wait, two weeks he's not been down here.
Hey, I think he's up and the council hall's locked up. Bez
In himself did the same thing after his wife. I already sent a runner
to tell him that I'm in town. If he's if he's already heard the
news about the refuge and he thinks me dead, then hearing that I'm around,
I imagine he'll make time to come talk to me. No, no,
no, no, no no no. We'll get you a business right,
you can take hours, or we'll write you up an order. Hey,
we'll do that. We'll get you an order. You can take that
up. Go straight to him the light you in into the council hall itself,
Go straight and talk to him in his office. It's probably for the
best, right, Well, did you want some of that food, get
you a spot of lunch before you go off. Might as well. It's
probably for the best for yeah, yeah, little pete, Little Pete,
I and the cook up. He's all eating a steak, right for no.
Quen's all right three steaks either? Good ship? Just no, no
no. The t bone is a big ship. Yeah, good ship,
best ship. We go just too two? Three game? Three game?
Won't you be hungry? Bad time it comes out? I don't know he's
missing two coming up right? You just give me a minute. Come here,
make yourselves at home down here by this heir stall, relax, taking
the sea breeze. Hey will fill your lungs, clearing out all that shite,
all that muck from the road, and we'll get you some food and
I'll go get you an order of business. Will be able to take that
up, walk straight and have words with him. He's doing all right,
Okay, he's doing all right. See brains, he doesn't know that's brains.
Is he think that's fish? It's it's a nut. It's a numb
thing. It's a numb thing. A couple of nomes in my time,
never seen him eight brains. All right, he's give me a minute here,
I'll be back. He steps away, moving into the warehouse towards presumably
an office in the back somewhere, leaves you guys there. There's kind of
an area behind this set of stalls that you can probably sit on on the
dock side, overlooking the sea. It's probably pretty decent, private enough.
M you trust this guy. My intuition says he's trustworthy. But well,
he's got nothing to gain by screwing me over. So sometimes that alone is
enough. Do you do you want to sit there with you? When you
talk John, you know, I I appreciate the offer, but I think
maybe, uh hm, I don't know. Honestly, it's it's hard to
talk to him. I've spent the last three years of my life trying to
prove myself to this guy, joelm could actually do something with my life other
than hit people over the head with the sword and how I got it.
Come in there and ellam, I have failed in the most spectacular fashion possible.
You haven't failed. He's not going to see it that way. You
think he's going to think you could defend an entire town from bandit crew that
big Come on, surely he's more reasonable than that. Maybe he is.
I don't know. We'll see. Most of my conversations with him have been
very formal and very surface level. But he's the he's the stereotypical stern dad.
But he's also the uh. I still don't know whether it's just me
and him getting in my head or if he really is just one of the
most intense and intimidating people I've ever met. But he's worse than any drill
sergeant I ever had in terms of staring right into your soul. But maybe
that'll work in my favor because he knows when he's being lied to. Like
maybe if I tell him the truth of everything that's happened, even if it
does sound a bit far fetched, I think you'll believe me if he staysn't
your soul is honestly a broken man trying to do everything he can to make
things right. And everything you've done since then proves that not everything. Most
of it, though, had some missteps along the way, and you caught
the brunt of a lot of it. Sorry for that. I really wasn't
ready for none of us are. Does it make you a broken man?
Will Merlin's just he's been there the entire time he slipped in, and he's
just been listening in. Ah, broken is the right word. The thing
is, things that are broken can be mended. You get back up.
I'd like to call it hurting. That was what got me through in the
Army. You know, I wasn't ready for that either. I never wanted
to join. I'm more or less forced into it. I wasn't very good
at it getting back there. We're never ready for anything. But yes,
no, you you never give up. That's something I've always admired about you.
If it means anything, I think we can all agree that you've proven
yourself to us. It does mean something. And whether or not this man
sees that, I don't think it matters that much. I know it feels
like it does in the moment, but well, honestly, I don't know
what he's gonna think of me when this is all over, and whether we
Rebuil leaves me or not. But he can be rather vengeful and having his
daughter taken from him at the very least if I fail. The guys who
did this aren't going to live very long. This is an insurance policy,
if you will, that's an And it's still my duty to go talk to
him and tell him what happened. I'm the only witness of what happened to
her. So we can wait outside, and if you feel like you need
support, maybe you can call us in or something. What's up to you?
Actually, why don't you come in with me? Okay, all of
us? Yeah, if my loin can be heave for five minutes, yeah,
I'll take a moment to wipe your brain residue from your picking pieces of
brain out of your beard trying to look No, I'm not gonna lie your
your friend's stent was already looking like like a snack. Oh, I'll walk
over to wheel and start like cleaning his arm or a little bit like buffing
bits out, trying to make him look a bit more presentable. Is it
you what once steaks made? Mm hmmm, yeah, I didn't know what
ways you wanted it, so I did one will done, I did one
medium and one rare mm hmm. Ain't on plates neither. I just got
them on these like wooden trays. So I'll put that one there for you
then, and then that one there, and then the well done one.
Maybe you should have that. He hands it to Merlin. No, actually
no, you probably want the rare one. You need the iron. You're
looking a little bit peaky. Actually right, well there, he goes.
Are you sure you don't need another one? Then tell me three of them?
No? Three is fine? All right? Well hopefully that's cooked.
Nice? Do you want anything else? We want pears? As what you've
had a pair an apple, but it's like not an apple, like an
apple, but not an apple? Yeah, why not? Yeah? Some
pears as well. I've got a couple of them. He wanted to get
you some pears. And that is where we're going to go to a break
this evening. Thanks so much for watching, people. I'm going to have
a short break here and when we come back, Will can face down the
worst encounter so far. It was the tweet I put out was that Will
has to face the worst encounter of the game so far, his father in
law. Thanks for watching. We'll be back in a few short minutes.
Welcome back to want To and you guys, Will have eaten this lunch,
maybe made an attempt to make Will look vaguely presentable, and Stent Will have
returned during this and handed you a a scroll, which is a piece of
paper that you can unwrap it's not sealed, which is a thing known as
an order of business, which he explains will allow you to get past the
permissions. It gives you permissions to pass the guards at the council halls to
allow you in to see whomever is involved with the Greenwood insignia and the sigil
of stent On there as well. Presumably that is where you're headed next.
You think, so, yeah, okay, now this one is very easy
to find because it is a hop, skip and and yump across this marketplace
end up into these sets of halls here. But this place is crazy looking,
you guys. Moving up towards where the the council halls are, you
notice an increase in sort of military presence and nobility. But once you're actually
up to the central court that allows you into the varying halls here, and
pathways and gardens that make up the center part of town to take you all
the way up to the palatial grounds as well, where the actual city is
run. There is just enormous great big stone pillars holding these huge bluestone architectural
wonders that are sitting with no real deterioration. The c is doing nothing to
damage. These things, whether they're maintained or they're magical. In some way,
these things look incredible. There is a somewhat Gothic architecture to it,
yet somehow it remains quite bright. The tiles on the roofing kind of a
greenish blue and sat once you once you move up into the center of this
city against that open expanse of sea by the daylight, it would be probably
quite an interesting site for most of you who hadn't seen it before. However,
as you approach, another one of these guards in that in the greens
and golds of Gerfreda stops you as you approach, and it simply says,
yes, do you have a written or an order? I do, and
I'll just hand him the red He looks it over and looks up at you.
This is it and says, very well, yes, you're looking for
mister Greenwood himself. Correct, right well, straight down these halls all the
way through the gardens. At the far end, you'll have to go up
two sets of stairs. On the second floor you'll find a large desk.
Now, ask the woman there for mister Greenwood. You'll have to show her
this as well, and she'll lead you in to the offices. Thank you
guys. Head on through much quieter in here as you start to move down
these halls, and every now and then a group of nobility will move past
you with the hustle and bustle as they discuss their kind of merchant matters.
And then a group of militant armored men will march in front of you and
move down these halls. Most of the doors down here have a guard or
something stationed on the front of the doorway, and there is a bunch of
hallways and twisting and turning sets of stairs, locked doors, open doors,
rooms that you can see groups of people in discussing varying things in the city.
Eventually you come to an area where there is a central courtyard, a
large ornate looking fountain at the center of it pushing clean water out, with
a few trees, varying people sitting around eating their lunches and things. Before
you move up a set of very large, kind of faux marble looking stairs.
This place starts to get really regal as you move into the center parts
and into a huge open hallway with a very large mahogany desk, and here
it is very quiet. There's almost nobody around. Once you get inside these
hallways and the there is a small, quite old looking woman sitting at a
desk who looks up towards you guys as you step in and says, yes,
he lou got a writ here for you, and I'll just slide the
paper onto the desk. Yes, are you delivering a message or are you
expected delivering a message in person? Very well? Would you like me to
deliver the message? No, it needs to be from me to him directly,
very well, very well. Okay, mister Greenwood is a very busy
man, so you'll have to make it quick. You understand, I'll keep
it short. Right straight down the ends here. You're right at the corridor
third door on your left. That's the offices of mister Greenwood. If he's
not in there, keep pushing down the corridor to the very end. It's
his private office. If you can't find him, come back to me,
well too. Okay, you're welcome. Thanks. The four of you look
very out of place here as you trudge down these always. Okay, well,
give me a perception check and fire, give me a perception check.
I am a very nervous man right now. I am also nervous, but
it makes me more if I'm hyper vigilant. Yeah. Fire. You pass
a room that is filled with shadow elves. The door is open, and
there is about fifteen shadow elves in long robes and cloaks, the type of
thing that your elders would maybe wear to a formal event, sitting around discussing
things in hushed tones. As you move past the doorway, you catch the
sound of your mother tongue the elven with that thick kind of Southern accent as
they discuss things. They seem to be discussing business. You catch something about
money changing hands and product moving. But there is a bunch of probably for
the first time in a while you've seen since the silence, a group of
shadow elves here. That's on the first door. But the third door you
come to is an office with a very large, ornate looking table, a
window on the other side that overlooks the south of town, but nobody in
there. Pushing further on to the very end of the hall, you come
to the doorway that presumably contains the the man you're looking for. I I
don't knock, I just push the door open. Let's see how that works
out. Oh, it's a it's a poll door, so he embarrassed himself.
That would be lovely. Unfortunately, that is not what happens. You
push the door open and open into a room with a pretty plain looking room
really and a little smaller than maybe you might expect, with a single desk
at the far end, a huge looking chair with leather bound back sitting at
the other side of it. There is bookshelves that line two sides of the
walls here, which all pretty much seem to contain the same kind of ledges.
These are the type of things, probably bookkeeping type ledges. Behind the
desk there is two small windows round porthole looking windows that look out over the
east of town, out to see a couple of shafts of light coming down.
And as you open the door, there are two smaller chairs sitting in
front of the desk. But at the desk is the man you're looking for,
Vega Greenwood. He's probably in his fifties, pretty much entirely bald,
save for a few tufts of gray around the sides of his head. He
does have a mustache of white that sits over his lip. He's wearing pretty
standard looking cardigan, nothing too nothing that gives away too much wealth necessarily,
But there is a pin on the side of it with three black gems sitting
in it that kind of betray a little more wealth. A decent looking blue
tunic underneath, buttoned up, and a kind of a napkin looking thing around
his around his neck tucked into his shirt. In front of him is a
clear dinner. He's sitting and eating food, and he looks up and I
think you notice for a moment there's no register and a flash of anger across
his face before he recognizes you Will and immediately pushes his food away and says
Willardson ortus, sir. He picks up a piece of paper that looks like
it was torn from a book and and and waves it around and says,
I'd assume this a joke. It's not. Mm will from Guardia extremely important.
I should say, so, are you coming in? Or are you
going to stand in the doorway like a dog? I'll start walking towards him.
He looks at the other three and says, you can stay outside.
I just look at well, yeah, yeah, very well, close the
door. Why ye yea melan. He takes the ap cain out from his
shirt, folds it and puts it to one side. He crosses his hands
and doesn't look at you, turns his head and says, so you got
my daughter killed? Is that how you want this to go? He gives
you another look and says, I knew you weren't good enough to earn a
living or to pay for that little home. And I certainly didn't think you'd
done enough through that masonry for a single day's wage. But I thought,
if nothing else, a military son like you would keep my girl safe.
Does something to know if you want me to step in at any time?
Did the best I could? Never should have let her stay in that little
village. It's too dangerous out there. Do you know why she was there?
Why she said she needed to put distance between herself and you. Tell
me how it happened exactly? Community dinner, a modest feast, not much
by your standards, but for us, kind of a big deal. We
were gathered around, smelled smoke. I and most of the other able bodies
stood up, went to go dowse a fire one of our buildings was ignited
for some reason, had no idea what caused it. Went to the whale
to draw water. We were ambushed out. A dozen of them with crossbows
shot us down whilst we gathered around the well that innute of itself right there.
I ended most of it because any of us that were capable of fighting
were the first to respond to the fire. They knew this would happen.
I survived the arrow, got up through the smoke and through all the mud
and blood. A couple of them saw me came to finish me off.
I'm stubborn and I don't die easy. I took one of their swords and
killed him with it. Then I ran to find her in all the confusion.
With her last words, she let me know that it was an inside
job. They'd paid off a local unbar the gates and opened it so they
could all get in quietly. A man named Daryl was the traitor. We
tried to sneak out of town. We got caught on the way out some
of the attacking force. They were Orcs or half Orcs. They could see
us even in the dark when we tried to sneak. I stayed there to
try and fight off about five of them by myself while she ran for it.
She didn't make it, and they left me for dead in the ditch.
Their wound wasn't as lethal as they thought. I crawled out of there
a couple days later, starving half dead but still clinging to life. Maybe
you were right. Maybe I wasn't never really cut out for business. It
was the first thought I had was to pick up my sword and shield again
and go after them, and that's exactly what I did. Maybe the wrong
decision in hindsight. Could have gone for help, could have tried to rally
down guards. But I did learn their names, their numbers, the name
of their TROOPIGNA. I hadn't gone after them, I don't think I would
have caught any of it. A list of failures with the silver lining.
The men, their names, who are they, the descriptions. I'll hunt
them down, and I'll strip them of their skin right here in the streets
and pelt them like the animals that they are. The Leon Vpium mercenary group,
or at least they wore marks before. Now it looks like they're just
bandits. The leader's name was Masimo. I don't know who's in charge now.
They had a second in command by the name of Macin, an enforcer
by the name of Borol. Those are the only names that mattered. The
rest seem to be rank and file. Their total numbers unknown. The number
that hit guarded Grants refuge about thirty. They were also responsible for the strike
against SOM's Point, where they did the same thing when I was in Somem's
Point asking around. Their front gate had been sabotaged. A mechanism wasn't working.
They couldn't close it when they came under attack. But they have a
wizard traveling with them by the name of Arius, so hiring conventional mercenaries may
not be fruitful when they come up against someone building powerful magics. Well,
I shall decide what is best and how I shall read will my vengeance.
I appreciate the news, Willerton, and I appreciate that you came here to
tell it to me. You may walk out of my office and out of
my town, and if you show yourself here again, I shall not be
best pleased. I would like to grieve, and I certainly don't need your
face as a reminder. Fair enough, It's likely that I'll not be coming
back this way again. I'm putting out to sea for two reasons. Last
we saw of these leon Vipro guys, they were in a ship leaving SOM's
point. You know what, never mind, you're going to hunt them down
yourself with what an elf? A teeth lane, and a gnome. You're
going to take down this entire force on what a rowboat? No, I'm
going to do something much more important than that, although at this point taking
on thirty man is not out of the question. Well, you seem to
be good at killing. I wish you were better at protecting that you may
have at it. I care not what you do. Take a boat,
sail right out into the midst, for all I care. Well, that's
exactly what we're gonna do. I suppose this is likely the last time that
we're going to meet, and I'm done trying to prove myself to you.
You have nothing to prove. You have failed. You had one task and
you failed at it. I suppose I did. Goodbye, Veggar, good
mine. I'm just gonna walk out. He sits there, rigidly watching you
leave. I'll just walk out and wait, sorry, go ahead, I
was just gonna say, I'll follow, and sort of cast him a scornful
glands as we go, kind of pitiful. I don't think he belly even
looks at you. He's kind of eyeing will I'll just like walk out and
wait till there, or close the door behind me. You know, I
was going to try and enlighten him on the importance of everything that's happened,
all that we've been through, but I've suddenly realized I don't care what he
thinks. He doesn't deserve to know. I don't think Vega is an evil
man, but he's certainly not a good one. It seems to me as
someone who has only the view of an outsider when it comes to his perspective
on things. It seems like he is a father who is mourning the loss
of his daughter, and I think somewhere deep down inside him that stems from
his own failure to protect her. The only reason she was in Grant's refused
was to get away from him. I met her because she didn't want to
be near him, and he knows it, and he's just gonna try and
take it out on me. It's much easier after she's gone if she were
If she were here, she'd snap at him and put him in his place.
She's the only one who ever could. But I'm I'm done trying to
prove myself to him, it's never gonna happen anyway. The only thing that
he the only thing that he can count his money. And while Lyra may
have had all the wealth in the world and come from a rich family,
I had a real father, she didn't. Mm hmm. He said,
you're never going to see him again. Well, I can't shake this feeling
that when we sail out into the water, I might not come back.
Yeah, rest of you might see the type to throw someone in jail if
they call him a entitled kunt in jail. No, he's a lot more
subtle than that. He'd take his time to sully your reputation. Hm hmm.
My reputation is very good, as we know. Well, see that
room full of elves we passed. Mm hmm. I know him because I've
heard him doing it before people who cross him. He doesn't. He doesn't
usually did retaliate directly. He just underminds you to your core, makes you
feel worthless, and make sure everyone else thinks you're worthless too. It's just
how he's always been. That's why she wanted to get away from him.
I'm so glad I made this trip. I really needed to save him.
Well, it doesn't look like she got much love from him, And I'm
sure in the time you knew her, you gave him are loan as she'd
ever known. That's not failure. You failed. Yeah, and he can't.
He won't face it, so he's taking it out on you. And
I know nothing of him, But I could tell from that one conversation that
I was witnessed to you know, deep down, you've already done so much
more than he possibly could. I can also still go back and bite him
in the ass quite literally. Yeah, I'm really Uh. I'm trying to
be respectful because I have a great deal of respect for you. Me too,
But if you unleash me, I firmly believe that a heart as cold
as his, he'll put himself into an early grave. You don't need to
help m Did you start your relationship with her after you met him or before?
After she brought me out here to meet him, Not that she wanted
to. She she is a rich girl from rich blood. Why do you
think she was camping out in a tiny, little working class town in the
middle of nowhere. She did it to get away from him. I think
he knows that. He knows that if he wouldn't have pushed her away,
and if he would have been decent bare minimum before, we were all kind
of shocked when she walked into town the first time. She wasn't exactly dressed
the part. We knew right away she was way more wealthy and way more
refined than any of us, but that only lasted a week at most.
She started working with her own hands, probably the first time she ever had
in her life. She said it was so much better than Ivory Castle here
and Giffreida. I knew he could be like this. I've heard him at
social gatherings and such. They've had me over to dinner and a party once,
but nearly every time I've spoken to him, she's been with me,
so he's been required to be somewhat civil, and if he or her brother
got out of hand, she would shut them down pretty quick. Honestly,
I feel more sorry for them than anyone else, because without her around,
there's nothing to keep them from self destructing. He has a son, too,
thanks, just as bad enough about me and them, though. We've
got a ship to catch and I don't know if I'll come back or not,
but if I do, I can assure you I'm probably not coming back
to Kerfreida. M you know, I meant to bring this up earlier,
but got distracted with certain someone face planting into a pit and then getting jumped
by orcs, and then somebody else deciding to touch an icy wall done a
couple of things distracting. But do you remember when we summoned earth acts received
as blessings? M Hm, did you hear what he called me? Child?
Why do you think you would call me child? I don't know if
I'm the youngest in the group, because honestly, I don't have any idea
how old you are, but I'm certainly not a child, right m suppose
her old children in the eyes of something that ancient, But you were singled
out. I think you understand where I'm going with this. Yeah, whatever,
all this child of light and child of darkness businesses, it's pretty clearly
going to be me. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a
bad thing. Well, I can say in confidence that it is a very
well good thing. We know who you are. You are honest and brave,
and I can say now an incredibly dear friend, I think the fate
of well, everyone here is rest assured in good hands, I hope.
So part of me is glad that it's me. Yes, I at least
trust that I'll try to do the right thing. I just hope I can
figure out what the right thing is. We still don't really know what we're
getting into. There's a temple here in town dedicated to Ayersa, a name
that's come up once or twice now. Last time we were the last time
I was in the mist, I heard a voice speaking to me, and
I suspected was her. I want to go to this temple. They're probably
more well informed on the topic than anyone else. Maybe someone can finally identify
what this little sun medallion thing is that I've been carrying around this whole timemther
try, let's go do that. I can put all this talk of fish
and meat behind me at last. Okay, so I'd imagine some of that
conversation took place while you were exiting the council halls and back out into the
city itself. I guess we'll just roll me another investigation check. We'll take
into account you may be asking a few people on the way out for directions
to one of these temples, and nine is not great. I think you
get the direction. Somebody informs you that a straight shot across the marketplace will
take you into another kind of smaller residential place. It's up on a hill
and is an area where quite a lot of the town watching military stay while
they're cadets and training. And you, guys make your way across this town
square move away. Maybe it takes you about ten to fifteen minutes to get
all the way back to pretty much where you came from with stent, and
then up and into the area where you were looking for this temple. But
you're looking around for a long time and you just don't find it. They
describe it as a small, little moss covered temple with a small bell at
the top of a little tower at the back of it. And it's just
almost impossible for you guys to find it. Seems oddly elusive. Questioning one
of the other people, they point you down one street. You walk down
that street only to find that it isn't there. You question somebody else,
they point you back the way you came. Will give me a wisdom saving
throw match. You're oh nice and eight mm hm. So if you'd like,
I can tell you where this church is. Ah, But it's going
to come at some sort of cost to you. I I feel like I
would just keep asking around rather than resorting to anything that extreme. Surely someone
in town must know where it is. Okay. Uh. You have that
strange sense of deja vous happening right now, where your memories are blending out
a little bit. You don't really even get the sense that you've been here
before your previous incarnations, but one of them is present. You get the
sense of the feeling of your most recent incarnation as this fellow known as Joe
Mae. You recall memories of him intertwined a little bit with the religious incarnation
of yourself, who was vain, the one that was with KORSCHELDI. And
there is a conflict between them in your self here, one of them so
enamored and so driven by this goddess Aursa, the absolutely fully convinced that the
voice, which is what she's also known as, is the thing that is
driving him forward, that is guiding him to some sort of divine justice or
end to whatever. The vague is that the mist is that is choking the
life out of this landscape, this realm. But the other incarnation in you
here of Joe May is in direct conflict, absolutely and completely convinced. There's
nothing to do with a goddess. There is no goddess as so there is
no guiding force that is fating anything or is guiding you to to face down
some form of mort lenemy. But I think those two things will be present
in you as you consider this church. Let's have the other three roll me
investigation checks. You guys have to beat a fifteen. Collectively, we're pretty
bad. And rolling Will is like moving up and down. Here he is.
He's moving down one street, he's asking somebody's pointing him in the direction,
and he's walking down the street, and then he's turning around saying,
I can't find it. You guys are not too sure. He seems to
be a little more confused maybe than usual, distracted, but it makes sense
after what he's just been through. He asks someone else. They point him
back up to another street, back to the direction which he came. He
wanders down that street. There's a little dissonance to him at the moment.
But you guys are all extremely aware of this very small church. You guys
have walked past it like three times, and Will just absolutely is unable to
see it. He's walked, basically walked, not like directly past it,
but it's like clearly over there. And then you guys move down this alley
and he asks someone and then he directs you back up to that church and
you're like, yeah, it's there. So just so you're aware, he
is maybe beginning to approach someone else or is scratching in the back of his
head and doesn't seem to be aware that this very small, two story building
with a bunch of moss covering it, a big, wide, open,
high vaulted door that leads into a small, relatively small, little kind of
chapel looking thing. There's a little temple on top of an area surrounded by
lots of these little houses, relatively young people moving around the area. Will
just does not seem to be aware of this church right now, even though
you three are hyper aware of it. I Will, well, yeah,
is that the building you're looking for? Mass tower? Small? Well,
there, it is really obvious, Will, How could you have missed it?
Oh? Sorry, so I can see it when they pointed out,
Yes, I I think that's it. Okay, do you want to head
inside? Uh? Yeah, Now let's go talk and see if there's a
rest around. Okay, uh, four of you step up towards this building.
You step inside this church and it is a very simple looking thing.
There are iron candelabras that are hanging down from the walls and on the furthest
wall away from you, drenched in this chaft of natural light, is a
depiction of her female elf, long hair, looking upwards, kind of etched
and masoned, and out from the back wall. There is only a single
person in here, an elf. This is a high elf, not a
shadow elf. She has black hair that's very long and running down the back
of her back, tied up in a bun. But you notice that there
are strands of like a kind of a blonde or a gold to parts of
her hair. Here. She turns around and you get the sense that she's
quite old. Her eyes are quite roomy, and she looks at you will
and I think you have this odd sense of recognition. She seems to have
the same sense of recognition with you, but shakes it off. Walking towards
you, she says, you are here for justice or revenge, yes,
which but you're for answers first, Ah, answers? Do I know you
now? Help? But feel that you know me as I have that effect
on some people sometimes I have her. But it's more than usual right now,
isn't it. M I get the sense you have the same feeling.
Have you ever seen something like this before? And I'll hold up the the
sun ambulet thing. She looks at it shakes her head. I have not.
No. I was wronged and left for dead, and I woke up
wearing this and it's taken me a while to track down the source of what
it all means. But along the way I've heard them nay ayersa mentioned once
or twice. M hmm. I feel a strange warmth from the sun that
I didn't before, so I came here looking for answers. There's a word
on the back of this medallion. There's renescuetur. You know what this means?
Yes, I do you do. Yes, it's not a word but
a phrase. What does it mean? I will not answer your questions until
you answer me one of my own? Very well, that's fair. Mm
hmm. What is your definition of evil? No, I've never really had
to sit down and define it in outright words before. But suppose people who
are willing to inflict suffering on others gain for themselves your revenge and justice that
you seek. Would that not be an infliction of suffering on others for your
own personal gain? I don't think so, don't now. I think it
would be putting an end to theirs. After all, after what they did
to me, they went on to do it again, and they'll probably do
it again. And I don't think stopping evil is evil. M. So
you are the arbiter of definition. No, you asked me for mine.
People can't define it as they like. Well, it says I am revived,
renewed, I am born again Ranastur, And don't ask me the language
or how. I know. We've not met before we met now. But
it was always going to happen, I think, M. Have you ever
had visions of things to come? I have, well, and this one
too. Perhaps I've had visions of things that have happened in the past.
Don't know that I've had visions of the future. Not quite the same.
She looks down and over to Merlin, dead in the eye. Hm,
this one is a little different. Oh my god, you could smell me
from their kids. You It is not your smell, little gnome. You
walk a similar path to me, by which do you mean? You speak
you have seen a future. Others have seen a future, and you have
affected it by befriending this man. There are others who know of possible futures,
but I think it comes to you four, you in particular, to
determine what lies beyond today, where I have seen nothing more than this moment.
However, there were many different answers in my dreams to the question I
asked. In one of them, you gave the answer that you gave in
another different, and another different. In some it was not you that came
here. It was glancing over at mm hmm t evening man. I asked
the same question, alas I always knew, I am revived, renewed,
I am born again. Do you know where it might have come from?
M I believe it came from you, dear boy. I don't. I'm
afraid you'll have to forgive me because I don't know anything of the history or
the beliefs of your establishment. But in your legends or beliefs or whatever you
want to call them, is there a mention of a child of light or
a child of darkness. A child of light is anybody who walks in Airsa's
light. I suppose that means a child of darkness could be somebody who does
not Let's see, But why do you ask me? Who else? Would
I ask? You? Have all the answers? Do you not? I
had thought to question you when you arrived? What does it all mean?
Why have I had these dreams my long life? Who are all these people?
Where are you going? Am I supposed to come with you? Or
stay here? Is my job done? Is this my job? Can I
see you walk in and you are lost? Admit I don't really know how
to respond to that. Well. It is said that ASA's voice will split
the mist and her light will once again shine on us. Tell me,
do you hear her voice? I've heard it once and this voice, what
did it say? How did it sound? She sounded warm and inviting,
but also frightening, like that same warmth could burn you to death in an
instant well, and she cautioned me against asking her too many questions, for
fear that my mind couldn't take it. In our teachings, we are not
to ask, but take action. We are to learn and to grow,
but cautiously still, there are many different teachings of the ways of the voice
in the desert. They believe it is penance, that we have somehow wronged
our gods, and only one waits for us beyond, and that when our
time in this prison is served, we will be free. I hear that
the dwarfs believe that the voice is a version of ourselves reflected, and that
we should listen to our own advice, follow our instincts, or it is
our own instinct that will save us and drive us forward. But I at
the sense that my understanding of hey, sir, was influenced by this meeting
and whatever choices you have made. Well, I can't really claim to be
a student of your teachings, m but I do follow my instinct and I
do take action cautiously to make sure I'm not doing something dumb first. But
when the time is right, I won't hesitate. Well, I shall ask
you my final question, the one that I never got the answer for in
my dreams, or very well forgot. It is she real, I think,
so long as you continue to believe in her and follow her, she
will be hmm. Well, yeah, if you don't mind, I er,
I need to go and lie down as I'm to understand it. You
have a boat to catch. I do hm, Yet it is not wise
for us to converse any longer myself, this gnome, that heefling. We
are able to affect your fate, and I don't want to do that.
If you don't mind, I'm going to close the temple for the day,
as you wish ext for your time. M walk in the light. I'll
try rest easy, Yeah, I don't let the bedbugs bite. To watch
as you leave and behind you closes these doors. You hear a bar come
down, a wooden bar. Behind you, you step back outside, that
cold air from the sea rounding you a little bit before the sounds of the
city return. Will would you like to know if the goddess is real?
I think my most important takeaway from this whole visit that's that it really doesn't
matter, and should worry less about proving myself to other people and worrying about
their definitions, and just focus on trying to do the right thing. So
now, whether she's real or not, it's not going to change what I'm
going to do next, Okay from me a con save then, yeah,
you steal yourself. There's a lot of thoughts and feelings as you step away
from this woman, this strange sense of and almost inverted or reflected deja vu
from meeting her. That sense of recognition floats away, and you have a
few different conflicted thoughts coming from alternate sources. El Darin Vain Joe May.
As you step outside, and I think, as that salt air hits you
and the sounds of the town come back around, you steel yourself and those
thoughts, those feelings, those memories, and the knowledge that comes with them
is quelled for a moment, and you pretty much return to your self as
will here. What are you guys doing as you sit at the top of
this town, looking out over the ocean and over the town itself? What
do you guys want to do next? And now the rest of you're probably
bort out of your mites. Thanks for keeping me company while I came and
visited these places. I wouldn't say anyone to rush forward. Really, Quite
frankly, I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'm not sure what I what's the word
overwhelmed that fits? No, I'm not really sure what I expected to learn
walking in there. But why do all these people have to speak in questions?
Why can't they ever just give me straight there? I am not.
My mind is not advanced enough for all of this philosophy and all these questions.
I don't think anyone say if it was, they'd be lying. You
know. For as much as I hated being forced to join the army,
sometimes I missed the days where somebody else would just tell me who to swing
his sword at, and that was life, and that was simple names.
I wasn't in the army, but that was my role. Just look where
they pointed me. It's a lot harder when we have to do all the
decision making, isn't it. Yeah, you're doing a very good job of
it for what it was. It's hard when you have three people in toe
who are also impossibly and experienced with this. It'd be a lot harder alone.
And this is our journey, not your journey. We're all here,
and that's for the best, because I've probably gotten lost by now. I
can't even find the noble sector. I'm got to say. It's not like
we've helped much with that hair. Well, don't be too hot on yourself,
now, will It's been some time since you've last been here. That's
true. It could be worse. FIX didn't even know what a pair was
I don't think we have some We don't have them in the West. You
know, I may not have actually accomplished much here in Geffreda, but I'm
still glad I came. Lets me officially close the chapter of my life and
be done with it. Nothing left to time here. I Uh. I
mentioned before I had a strong father figure life. I really didn't. Well,
That's exactly why I had to come here, because I can hear my
father's voice echoing in my head, telling me confront my problems head on,
you don't run from them. So I had to come here and talk to
him, even though I really didn't want to. But in doing so,
I just realized much better off I really was in so many ways than even
the wealthiest of people. My dad might have just been a poor carpenter,
but the very least he prepared me for stuff like this. I guess in
that sense, I'm lucky that it's me and not someone else. I'm not
gonna crack under the pressure. I'm not. It's not even an option because
we're not gonna litch you. I'd say you're the best man for the job.
I'm the best men for the job. Do you know how confusing it
is having conflicting memories in my head. No, but I can imagine so
one of them, one of them is a borderline atheist and the other is
quite religious. So it's walking into that temple was quite fun. Jokes aside,
though, are we ready? Yeah? What is our plan? Well,
the way I see it, we have two options. We have to
go investigate the tower. The answer to all of this nonsense is out there,
and we need to get it, get the answers that is. And
if we're ever going to see an end to this journey, we're going to
have to go out there and see the truth for ourselves. The question is
arias, when do we deal with him, because it's a matter of time
rather than if. Well, we do have the option of setting sail from
here and potentially getting a lead on him getting out there first. Although we
know that he can travel long distances in a very short time thanks to his
magic, he might just move himself over there. Or we can run down
to Gores Points and talk to him. Which yeah, granted I have no
real strong desire to talk to him, but who knows, Maybe he has
answers. What do you think is he? The thing is He talks in
questions too, like a lot of these, Like everybody involved in all of
this, they all speak in circles and riddles in questions. I don't know
if you've noticed, but last time he was not quite sane sounding what the
answers he has even be answers. Also remains a possibility that if he's a
threat, he's a threat that could be removed before we head out. So
do we just pay one of the silence and just yeah them to kill him
now while he's there, you know, as capable as the silence are.
I I worry that this might be slightly above their pay grade and they might
need us there. I know I'm somewhat of a contrarian, but I think
I think there's a possibility we don't. That this is like the final Journey,
and I personally would like to hear what he has to say. We
should hear him out. Yes, I agree, I agree. We may
never have an opportunity again, even if it's just circular nonsense. Again,
maybe there'll be just some sort of clue we can pick up from him in
his rambling. Yeah, oh, and still need to kill him? Yeah
mm hmm, Yeah, we do, Okay, so we go to go
a point and we meet with pristas. Do you think she was right?
Me having my own definitions of right and wrong, arbiter of justice, taking
matters into my own hands. You think she was right? Is it not
my place? Whose place is it? You go through life and you have
to make so many decisions about all the people around you, the things they
do to you, the people you love. Some small responsibility is on you.
It's true. I've spilled a lot of blood in the name of justice.
I just want to make sure that's what it really is. You know,
do you feel like it is? I feel like it overlaps a lot
with other things life for a life? Would you consider that justice? I
don't know if I'm exactly the h that sounds the person who want to ask
about this, because no, you're exactly the person I want to ask because
you're like me. You're straightforward and simple. You get to the point,
I think I'm pretty complex, and you know, okay, interesting and you
know, listen, listen. You can be as complex and interesting and unique
as you want. But you're no philosopher. Mmm. I think if you
feel like you did the right thing, then you did because it only matters
to you, just like I feel terrible. I'm sorry I asked. That's
a horrible philosophy. I know. Let's just go to point. There are
a lot of things I think. You know, I made the right choice,
and you would be like that was a bad voice, not for me,
good thing I made it. I feel like people like Orias and Macin
and these other people, they've marched halfway across this continent just taking what they
please. Macan and his men have ransacked towns and killed people. Orias has
ripped children from their families and ruined lives left and right. When they do
it without a second thought, because at least in Orius's case, he thinks
what he's doing is right. Pretty sure that Leon Viperiam know what they're doing
is wrong and they just don't care. But if you ask me, putting
an end of them, is it justice? Yes, yes it is.
I remain unconvinced otherwise then it is. And it happens to overlap with revenge
too, so I guess it can be both. Let's go to ghost point.
We'll hear at Orias. It sounds like he intends to oppose us.
I propose that we eliminate him there and if he still has his henchmen with
them, I'm not leaving Ghost Point alive. And that is where we're ending
this session today. Thank you so much for playing players and watching watchers.
Good shit, Oh my god, I had so much lord to take it
today. Well, kind of lots of questions, question people's weird. I
have something weird I'd like to bring up. Is it the boat you're going
to have a bowt Okay, we'll get your boat down time. No,
it's not. The boat will rolled like a million nineteens today. The majority
of his rules were nineteen in the nineteenth tarot carda and the deck is the
Sun, and I was like, when you rolled the last one, I
was like, okay, I'm out family Illuminati emote. Yeah. Nineteen is
also like the power number in the Stephen King Dark Tower series, which years
ago was one of the major influences on this setting. So that's even weird
as well. It's fine, you are basically a cartet. One of you
to get it, enjoy it, Okay, you know you you guys has
killed it. Thanks so much for playing. We'll do a little round his
shout outs here and next week I guess it's off to see old Aias again
down in Goareze Point. He said he would stay there until one day from
now. So you're arriving just in time. A wizard arrives precisely when he
needs to, says Merlin. But until then, we shall do a quick
round of shout outs to find out who y'all are, where y'all are from,
and what y'all are doing, and we will start with the child himself.
Merlin, you'sarting to say, well, because everyone thinks he's a child
every time to see you. Hi am Dyspy. I've played Berlin for you
today. You can catch me here every Thursday, and you can also find
me streaming on Twitch disprx. I play variety in role play. Thanks for
coming, everybody, great episode is always thanksgame, Thanks these b What about
you, Leah? I am a streamer on Twitch and I stream video games
at twitch dot tv for what'slash Leah. Please don't ask what I stream because
I don't know anymore. I'm losing my mind most of the times. I
log on and we just watch videos of things happening, and I lose absolutely
the plot. I don't know whatever. Anyway, I'll probably be doing some
RP after this, because wild ip is a way of life. I haven't
done any RP yet today. No, what about you, Bree? Hello?
I hate that you said my name like that. I can't get it
right. Both are bad now, yeah, bre like the cheese, you
can find me. You can find me streaming like every day on twitch.
I just started playing a Project Zomboid for the first time, like yesterday,
and it's super Somebody told me, and I can't remember who, but somebody
kept telling me that I would love it, and I finally tried it,
and I indeed I am addicted. So I've been doing that and then role
play at night. So if you're interested in Project Zamboid or Red Dead role
play, feel free to start by Okay, I definitely will. Oh well,
thank you? What about you fail? Like I was trying to explain
on my stream today, the moment I go the thing is over. I
can't. I'm not human anymore. This is crazy. It's absolutely the most
insane. Leah did a one shot last week and the first thing I feel
like I asked you was like, do you have the post DM brain?
I love it when people DM for the first time and you realize, like
you're like, oh wow, that was crazy taxing on my brain. And
you know I have a seven IQ as it is, so I'm like old
of you to assume you're a human to start with. Yeah, yeah,
striped saying it. I know in the in the way that I'm not human,
but like a gremlin, their light is superhuman. Let's segue back to
where he is. Hi. I'm Jesse aka Fairlight. You can find me
over at twitch dot tv slash Fairlight Underscore x Caliber just like it's just right
there under my picture in the frame there. You can find me streaming basically
every day right now, currently on a League of Legends binge because the new
season just started. But that can change at the drop of a hat the
second something else interesting comes out. Actually, I was thinking of trying out
Project Zamboid again, so maybe we survived the apocalypse together soon. That could
be fun. Maybe, Yes, that's the thing. You know this well,
they just well, so Zomboid actually had multiplayer, and then they removed
it when they updated to a new version because they added a bunch of features
and then they had to get all that stable. But now they added multiplayer
back in, so now it's like the new version with the multiplayer. There's
even our Peace server setup could be fun. So yeah, I'll probably be
doing that soon. All right, there, you go. Make sure you
follow all of these people. Their links are all around. You should be
able to find them either in the description if you're on YouTube, or in
the chat if you're on Twitch or Google it. Follow Bread everybody, follow
Brod, follow this game. I'm playing banner Lord for the second time tomorrow
Mountain Blade two, which I'm looking forward to, and I had a lot
of fun with it first time round. So it's the difficult second time playing
a game where you're like, I hope it isn't lame or not as good
or something, but we'll see. I'm starting that up tomorrow. I don't
know if Rime is back tomorrow. I meant to ask. We know if
Ryme is back on otherwise we'll be back here next week on Thursdays. We
have spell Wind on Wednesdays and at some point there is Ryme is back tomorrow,
Yes, Friday's Ryme with the Frost Maiden here and on Saturday, which
is two days from now, we have the Final Gift, which is a
Warhammer forty K show, which is a short run thing run by sheep Dog.
And if you're interested in forty k, or you just want to get
in on like an episode one of something, or just watch a short run
of a table story show, then we'll see you on Saturday. That is
the eighth, and it is at fort Eastern that that begins. Other than
that, we'll see you next week. Thanks so much for watching. Join
the Discord, follow these people