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C1 Ep. 97 The Eyes of Breland Chapter Three
304 Plays6 years ago
This time the party’s quest to reinstate King Boranel of Breland finally comes to a head. Everyone finds themselves in one room to sort it all out, if they can find a way to. Join us to find out what happens next.
This episode is brought to you by the generous donations of our amazing Show Sponsors: Laura Pickrahn, Jessica Smith, Irene Viorritto, Ryan Royce, Darrell DeLaney, Jon Cary, Charles Compton, The Kamm Family, and David Scrams.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorships
00:00:01
Speaker
This show is brought to you by the generous donations of our show sponsors, Matt Lewis, Laura Pickron, Irene Villarito, Daryl Delaney, Nico Batson, Darren Katska, Ryan Royce, John Kerry, Jessica Smith, The Cam Family, Charles Compton, and David Scrams, as well as all of our generous patrons.
Introduction to the Podcast and Recap
00:00:49
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Eberan Renew, the D&D 5th edition actual play podcast set in the Eberan campaign setting. I'm your dungeon master, Eric.
00:00:55
Speaker
And I'm Philip. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. And welcome to another episode. Gentlemen, what happened last time? All kinds of fun stuff. Got into a fight. Barrick was a Sparrow. Briefly. He was also confused briefly.
00:01:20
Speaker
That's true. Not a confused sparrow though. That's true. But yeah, I got to use Dex for a steed. Steed. A noble. Bornell's pet ghost tiger has arrived.
00:01:33
Speaker
And I got a horse. And Tidal. Oh yeah, I am officially the Lord of Mistmarsh. I think that happened two episodes ago, though. So yeah, where we last left you, you all are in the courtyard of a very nice part of town.
Courtyard Encounter and Mert's Arrival
00:01:54
Speaker
I feel like Barak's been to Rowett a few times. Do I have any idea where I am?
00:02:00
Speaker
You're just in the nice part of town. You're right outside the door of one of the most reputable wine merchants in town.
00:02:12
Speaker
that courtyard. Dex wants to examine the area dumpsters. Doesn't know why he just does has a feeling deep within his soul. But yes, the the storm raging seemed to clear everybody out of here. So it's just you all in the courtyard. You still hear the sounds of battle off in the distance. The city is not quiet, but this courtyard is for the time being. And you have two prisoners.
00:02:42
Speaker
And two guys coming towards us. And two guys coming at us. Yes. Mert and his friend are running down the street towards you. A portly, fancy-hatted, now out of breath guy named Mert. I gotta say, as soon as like
00:02:57
Speaker
The more you have described him, the lower he has fallen in my estimation of his status of dignity or something like that. He looks funnier every time you describe him. Now for some reason, as soon as he became out of breath and a little bit chubby, the hat got really small.
00:03:18
Speaker
Right. In my mind. Remember when he was the furlined commander of a squadron of King's allies? He just had to run 500 feet as fast as he could. And I was like, tell me how dignified you all will look after that. Not at all. 500 feet as fast as you can. I mean, I don't know that I would be that red faced.
Negotiation and Confrontation with Mert
00:03:38
Speaker
Okay. That's true. You know what?
00:03:40
Speaker
I can't run very fast, so that would not exert me a whole lot. Hey, our two prisoners that are kneeling, do either one of them look like they're injured fairly badly? No, they took a couple licks, but nothing bad. All right. Booyah's not going to heal them then. But they also see Mert coming. All right, don't get excited. Look, fellas, we're not going to tie you up. We're not taking you prisoner. We just needed the five feet gap.
00:04:09
Speaker
I literally opened my mouth to describe Barak tying them up. Deck says as Barak ties them up. As Barak reaches for, as he sees Barak pull out rope and, nope. Nope. Okay. Barak just stows the rope back in his pack. I just, we don't need to tie him up. Nope. That's fine.
00:04:32
Speaker
I mean, if they act funny, we'll just put them on the ground. They are on the ground. Unconscious. In the ground? No, that's dead. I know. That's the other guys. Technically, we're all on the ground.
00:04:47
Speaker
One way or another. Jeff left again, everybody. So what does Mert do? So Mert, once he arrives on the scene. He's more outnumbered than he used to be. Yeah. Stops and composes himself. All right. Now you've killed some of my compatriots.
00:05:13
Speaker
To be fair, they tried to kill us and don't try to kill King. Yeah. I just took down the guy that was trying to kill the King. I think you'll thank me for that one later. One of your, one of your boys tried to kill the King. Actually cast a spell on me that actually caused me to kill him. So that you should get better at the fact that he's dead, but I don't actually feel personal remorse regarding and see other to live.
00:05:40
Speaker
Listen, I don't. These men were sent here to apprehend three for questioning.
00:05:50
Speaker
I still have my orders to apprehend the man who claims to be born. Whom? Michael Andrews. Whom has given you these orders? All right, well, we're interested in going and seeing her. So that's where we're headed next. Also, you know that apprehend is a real hostile sound in word, right? Like escort, like gives escort a try. Okay. We are sent to take them back to our headquarters to question them. Right. Surrounding the incident currently going on around. It sounds a little bit. Allow me to put something to you, Mert.
00:06:20
Speaker
I'm going to try one more time. You need a drink of water? You look tired. Do you have prior experience with Commander Zerda? She's been my commander for the past month and a half. And before that? No. Did she know of her before that? Right.
00:06:48
Speaker
No, and I don't see how that's relevant. You don't see how that's relevant that she arrives at the exact same point that the false king arrives. I? You don't see how the false king arrives, creates a new entity, and puts someone you've never heard of. You've been in the Citadel for years.
00:07:07
Speaker
And you don't see how that's relevant. And you're so, and you're so concerned with coincidence when it comes where the real King comes back now, right after the false King died that coincidence. They don't put stupid people in the dark land here in the Mert. So you aren't stupid. Listen, clearly you all either were never, or were very poor military men.
00:07:37
Speaker
I have my orders, and until those orders change, if I don't follow them, then bad things will happen to me. It's not self preservation, but I am doing what I can for my country. You can kill me, that's fine. You'll just show who you really are. I don't look over it. I laugh, I actually laugh.
00:08:06
Speaker
Oh, Mert, far worse people than you have condescended to me like that. And I turned and I look at three and I said, do you happen to know where core and this commander is there to are right now? Sorry. Who are you looking at? Three, three, three.
00:08:23
Speaker
Presumably they're the Citadel headquarters. Well, we heard they were organizing matters regarding the, uh, the riot. They would be doing it from there, organizing troops and trying to do what they can. Right. Uh, three, you have, uh, well, I'm going to ask this out because I think Phillip would know, or I think Eric would know, um, does Eric know three command a detail?
00:08:54
Speaker
No, is it just okay? It's just three at this point Mert steps in between you two talking three You know me come with me make this easy What's funny I Admire your persistence This is not going to go the way you think it is I
00:09:26
Speaker
We think you lead us to trap. I'm not asking to lead you anywhere, right? Wherever you please, including with you to trap.
Resolution and Agreement to Visit Citadel HQ
00:09:35
Speaker
Now, wait a minute. You just told me that I've killed some Citadel agents and you're going to let me just walk the city guard.
00:09:42
Speaker
can deal with you. I have my orders to take the man who claims to be King Bornel and the Agent 3 who the false king has been operating beside this entire time in for questioning. Now you said we can go where we please. Does that include along with you and the king? No. Well then no dice bud. Then kill me.
00:10:08
Speaker
Come on. I feel like there's a lot of options between here and there. So dramatic, Mert. Come on. If you're not gonna give me what I want, then you should just kill me. No. That ain't how we're gonna do this. Are you done bullying? Are you done? Oh, am I bullying you? Is that bullying? This is an adult. You're strutting around here, claiming how you can
00:10:38
Speaker
Get past me, kill me, do whatever you want to me. We're trying to give you advice. I'm not interested in your advice. I'm interested in doing my job as an agent of the Citadel. They're not just following orders. You are standing in my way of doing that. We are. We are. What are you gonna do? Yeah. No, what are you gonna do? I'm not killing you. What are you gonna do? Because they're not going anywhere with us. I'm standing in your way. Do something. He attempts to walk past you towards three.
00:11:06
Speaker
I step between them. I, and I, I come right up next bow bow, like quarterstaff looking. You pick are we fighting or are you stepping away? I'm reading a spell. Um, so the two guys look like they're getting froggy or they just still on the ground. They're still on the ground watching what's happening. And the other guy with Mert he's, he's watching. Okay.
00:11:38
Speaker
And it's not his caster. Yes. The other one that ran up with him is a caster. Yeah. Okay. The one that was with him. Right. Can I roll a perception to see if it looks like he's prepping something? Sure.
00:11:59
Speaker
Yeah, it's a big one. Thirty one. Thirty one. It doesn't seem like he's prepping a spell pre-combat or anything like that. It has to be like gathering opponents for me to notice. Yeah, not that I would know any of the somatic stuff, but he was, you know, gathering eyes of Newt or whatever.
00:12:22
Speaker
I mean, you might not be able to identify the spell, but you, you hung around with Barrick enough that you know the, you know, what somatic gestures look like. Fair enough. What's Mert doing? Um, he just really stood back, taking stock of what got him here. I mean, that that's factual.
00:13:01
Speaker
Uh, Barrick 19. He moves. No, he's, he's attempting to physically do something to you. Like what? He's trying to trip you to get you out of his way. 19. Okay. Uh, yeah, that hits me. Okay. Now wait.
00:13:25
Speaker
How is he doing this? Because he's sidestepping to where one of his feet is next to yours and pushing it you up against his extended. Is that not an opposed attack? Is that not an opposed check to physically grab me and throw me on the ground? When Dex trips people, I don't oppose it. Yeah, I just I just I've never treated as a tech for unless he's okay. So you stumble out of his way and he reaches out and grabs three's arm.
00:13:54
Speaker
Okay, I hit him with Eldritch Blast. Well, see, I was going to hit him in the back of the knee. As soon as I saw him go drop Barak, I just want to put my thing in the back of his knee, pin him to the ground with it.
Arrival and Interrogation at Citadel HQ
00:14:05
Speaker
But, but Philip's working through some stuff, so I'm going to let him. Three beams of Eldritch Blast, 16, 19, 20. Jeez. But yeah, it's obviously going to pop his spell off.
00:14:28
Speaker
Hey Booyah, what were you doing? Cast silence on the forehead of the spellcaster. Oh, that's cool. Okay. So what's the mechanic there?
00:14:41
Speaker
Silence in I believe a 20 foot radius. But what does he need to? And nothing. It's just silence is cast on him. No sound can be created within or passed through a 20 foot radius sphere centered on a point you choose within range. He is immune to thunder damage and creatures are deafened while entirely inside it. Casting a spell that includes a verbal component is impossible there.
00:15:09
Speaker
OK, how close is he to us? I mean, so we're all silent now, silent and deafened. OK, once I see those Eldritch blasts hit, what happens to? I mean, he goes sprawled out on the ground. I mean, he just got unexpectedly hit in the side. Did I hit him? Yes. Oh, with how many of the I thought. Sorry. Hold on. Oh, you're the magic missile, weren't you? Because I 16, 1920. Yeah.
00:15:41
Speaker
All of those hit. Yeah. 24 force damage. Total. OK. Yeah, and he's just stand back up. He didn't get moved or anything. Oh, yeah, he got moved out of the way. So. I'm going to go stand back up and I put myself between him and three again.
00:16:12
Speaker
If he sprawled out on the ground, I'm just gonna put the end of my ribbon weave in the center of his back, just like pinning him a little bit. And he didn't even move far enough to be out of the sphere, did he? No. Okay. Well, he's gonna try to stand up, so I guess a pose strength check for you to hold him down. Okay.
00:16:37
Speaker
I have an 11. He only got a nine, so he's trying to stand up, but can't. He is portly, remember? He's an old soldier, like, who up until today had largely a desk job. And I lean down and I say, that's right, nothing.
00:17:00
Speaker
because somebody cast a silent spell. That's smart though. It is smart. No, that was really, that was really good. It's clever. It's just, what are we gonna, everyone give me perception checks. I mean, it's not hearing based, is it? No. Natural 20. Okay. 23. 23. I mean, it's a 26, but I rolled a natural one. Okay. Oh, you rolled natural one. Okay. Um, Philip, what would you like to do with your 20?
00:17:30
Speaker
Other than, I mean, I can't stop you if you want to use your 20 for ghost tigers, but. There's plural. That's what I said. I said, ghost tigers. Oh, okay. It cut out the S got dropped. Um, no, I'm going to be more practical because I think I know what we're about to do. What, what, what our next move has to be. Um, okay. This is what I would really love more than anything else.
00:17:58
Speaker
This, I don't know, this is complicated. It's not very big though. Meanwhile. Meanwhile, Lauren has successfully located Drakir and Bala on the edge of the river. Okay. Okay. Bidding farewell to Stratos the shark. They have been making their way back into the city because Thorin has alerted them to information, to relevant information.
00:18:28
Speaker
on their way back into the city just a few minutes ago, they came upon this wonderful horse riding away from our battle scene. And Drakir has befriended it with animal friendship. And now comes riding up with Bala and Thorin.
00:18:51
Speaker
Complicated, but. Sure. But it's cool. What you see with your perception check. But Jeff's one is that Drakir kills the horse after he's done it. No, it's now it's now Drakir's close friend. I know. That's what Jeff's one is. Son of a.
00:19:12
Speaker
Well, you know, unfortunately, you guys toying with me like this has made it to where the only thing I care about until the end of this campaign is getting a horse. I will derail every single mission if it means I might get a horse. Go buy a horse. I can't. I have no money. I'm sure Booyah'll give you a reasonable loan. Yeah, I don't care about money. No, there's probably, as Lord of Mistmarsh, you get to collect all the rents. Oh, yeah, I can take their horses.
Guard Confrontation and Entry to Citadel Office
00:19:41
Speaker
What you two see and you
00:19:57
Speaker
You all finally notice you see Borenel standing nearby and he's trying to scream something but the silence is caused to where nobody can hear him or turn to look at him. And as you all turn, you see from behind him, Drakir, Bala, and Thorin on a horse riding up. Well, you all see Drakir, Bala, and a dwarf riding up on a horse. I mean, Drakir's the only one on a horse. He doesn't do the, he's not carrying anyone.
00:20:27
Speaker
Oh, so they're just way back there walking? No, they're walking. They're walking. Oh, not like he's not coming in full gallop. He's just found this cool horse. Okay. He's got a ways to go after all this. So, you know, fair enough. Useful horse. So it's a utility horse. That's what you all see. And Mert is still on the ground. Okay. Well, I mean, if you all aren't going to do it, Mert's going to try to stand back up again. Well, hold on. We can see Bornell trying to scream something. Yes.
00:20:57
Speaker
So I like looking around is born. I'll trying to shout a warning of some impending danger. He seems to be shouting at all of you. Right. But I'm, I'm, I'm just saying, I just wanted to make sure, make sure it's not, make sure what he's not trying to shout is look out. There's a dragon. Look out. Drow. Um, well, this is going to, that's behind him. He doesn't see it. Booyah is going to calmly walk up to the magic user and just say,
00:21:23
Speaker
Like, see if he'll follow him, just move away. Okay, so he confusedly follows Booyah. And gets him out of the range to the point where, yeah, where you guys can suddenly born out. Mid syllable, you just hear him screaming stop. Stop. We've already killed Citadel agents. There's too much going on.
00:21:54
Speaker
Murt is a good man. Let him up. I step aside. Murt stands up and kind of wipes off his cloak and looks at the king and says, you know, I can't stop. I know. Let's
00:22:26
Speaker
Let's go to HQ, you can question me there. And Murt kind of looks and... Okay. Eric falls in line next to the king. Yeah, so does Dex. Booyah releases the spell, falls in line. And then we see. Murt! Murt, where are you taking the king? He knows Murt, they were lanterns together.
00:22:56
Speaker
I'm, oh, Thorin, I'm taking him to HQ for questioning. Now, Thorin, you know, based on your time in ROAT, since all the changes in the foundation of the eyes, the eyes headquarters is not at HQ. They have a separate facility that they do questioning, so it's highly irregular that Murt would be taking the king for questioning at HQ. Okay, so, but I would know when he says HQ, he was talking about the Citadel, not the eyes.
00:23:28
Speaker
Y's headquarters called the retina. Not the socket. The socket's pretty good. The iris. The ocular cavity. The oculus, that would be sci-fi. As Dracure rides up, seeing Dex, he says, Dex, I took your advice and killed the false king. I turned to Baron.
00:23:57
Speaker
No, no, no. I did not. He misunderstood something I said. You said we needed to do things to support Beric. This seems very supportive. Oh, okay. I can see how you... Well, I mean, you're not not wrong. Also, this is Stratos, my horse.
00:24:28
Speaker
Eh, he looks slow. See, I would just like to point out, there's elements of my narrative that frustrate you and get your blood pressure up. Philip actively antagonizes you. I kill the horse. Dracure would have no reaction to that. I pull out my dagger and I fireball this beautiful horse just because I'm angry. Jeff Forsey is angry.
00:24:59
Speaker
I rolled a 27 you don't roll the cast fireball you just do it the horse gets a Dex save will Dex save it
00:25:11
Speaker
Anyway, um, what are we doing? Oh yeah. We're, we're going to escort Mert to Sidel headquarters. Okay. There's four Citadel agents. There's now seven agents. Yeah, but one of them's on our side. There's now, I mean, he is now seven. There's also the commander Bala. So six deposed. I mean, not by anyone who had the authority to do so. Uh,
00:25:42
Speaker
So there's seven of us walking with four of them. Who's escorting who? We're armed, only two of them are. Because Krast is there. And Krast is the link to all of this stuff that he's heard little bits about. Oh, Krast, is this your party? The barrack and the decks?
00:26:07
Speaker
Oh, sorry, when you're speaking to Craster's Thor and I immediately go to Randy, you must respond now. Yeah, these are the people I was telling you about. Yeah, wonderful. So I guess we're all going to HQ. Looks that way. Yeah, we're taking Mert and his companions here with us.
00:26:29
Speaker
Now three, did you want me to go deal with what we were trying to deal with before these people showed up? Um, and three says it's that was crass. Yeah. Crass was speaking to three. It sounds as though the fighting is still going on with the swords of Liberty. If you wanted to go tend to that situation. Um, obviously I cannot be of any assistance over there and trick here who
00:26:57
Speaker
really doesn't get the social awkwardness that's going on here. It says, oh yes, swords of liberty were responsible for it all. And just quiet watches over everybody in the circle is. And your kid nods conspiratorially to Krast. And Thorin just like does not look either one of them in the eye.
00:27:23
Speaker
But Drakir wrote up and said, I killed the king. I killed the boss king. It's because of everyone in this situation. Drakir is the only one in a good mood right now. Drakir has had a fantastic day. Well, anyway, I'm going to go deal with that situation.
00:27:50
Speaker
Good luck. I'll see you all later. And Crass breaks away and begins heading towards the sound of the raging battle.
Meeting with King Boranel and Zierda
00:28:06
Speaker
Well, there goes my connections to everything. You want to come Thorne? Oh, no, I'm definitely going.
00:28:13
Speaker
With me? Or with them? Is it with Krust? Yeah. No, I'm going with the king. Okay. Well, see you later. Bye! So anyway, I'm Thorin. And I guess we're going to my headquarters, so I may as well go with you. I'm Derek. This is Dex and Booyah. Alright.
00:28:44
Speaker
Thorin? Um, I was. I've met your brother. Half brother. Yeah. A couple of days ago, and we have been working together since then. Is this, are you grokin' what I'm puttin' down, Beric? Am I what? Is that Dwarvish?
00:29:13
Speaker
No, it's actually English. Yes, I understand that we understood that Krast had a contact here. I presume that to be you. And I got to say, I appreciate the information you brought and the results it led to.
00:29:40
Speaker
Yes, we didn't quite know it was going to escalate to this level. Boy, me neither. But no, I can't say I'm unhappy to have the right king back in. Oh, this is King Bornell. I don't know if you've actually met him. Yeah, I guess I'd probably drop to a knee. No, would that happen? Barret gives a look at Mert.
00:30:04
Speaker
Your lordship, it's wonderful to have you back. I hope we can work towards fixing all the stuff that really broke while you were gone. I hope so too. Thank you for your help, Thorin.
00:30:22
Speaker
Um, and I'm still on my knee because he, all right, we're, we're getting further away from, we get up Thor and catch up and I get up and I say, Mert, isn't it great? The real King's back. Why are we going to HQ? Why can't we just take him to, uh, his throne room office? Because we need to.
00:30:41
Speaker
Question slash debrief. Commander Zerda. We need to debrief Commander Zerda and ensure that she's not in fact a changeling agent of the reedrant inspire. Do I do I know that name? Yeah. Okay, I just didn't know how secretive they were. She's the head of the eyes. So I guess the eyes if they have emblazoned of tabards are not super covert. No, no, it's very, it's very much an inquisition as opposed to a spy network. You know, that seems
00:31:10
Speaker
like a weird thing to say but at the same time that makes so much sense to me now. I thought so. Yeah like that's not that's not my orders, Thorin. Well that's what we're doing anyway. That's what they may be doing.
00:31:23
Speaker
that's what we the king three uh and everyone here i'm sorry sense it's going to be doing the king agreed to come with me to headquarters to headquarters of the citadel which is wherever you're welcome to ask question you know what i would invite you to ask the king all the questions you like as we go and rakir looks down because he's rakir he just would
00:31:49
Speaker
and looks over to Dex and sort of nods towards Mert and goes, does the hand across the throat gesture? The throat slit gesture? Definitely not yet. Maybe not ever. Definitely not yet. All right. Andrew Keir falls in line with everyone on his horse.
00:32:17
Speaker
And Thorin, Thorin looks to, I guess who? I guess Booyah. And goes, uh, can he, can he really do the stuff he says he can do? Referencing trickier. Okay. Oh, he do all kinds of crazy stuff. There's a shiver and a gulp.
00:32:40
Speaker
Okay. So yeah, after a few minutes of walking, you all reach a very well fortified building across the bridge to the center island of Rowatt, where things seem to be well fortified. There's some guards posted. Mert kind of as you all approach turns to you. Here's Eric shouts make way for the cane.
00:33:08
Speaker
the two guards kind of look at each other and the prince is in- Are this King Shields? Garnath. Yeah, King Shields. Well, I mean, they have eyes there. I assume the king is walking near the front of our procession. They see Boranellan. They drop to Anin, my lord, we heard you were dead. I'll take this one.
00:33:37
Speaker
as Borneau begins to speak. What do you have? I don't know. Go ahead. I was there. The person who drank the wine that killed them was actually a false king. It was a changeling.
00:34:01
Speaker
had been disguised as the king. The real king has returned and we'd like to get inside, please. I don't know if Thorin used to be a shield. He probably wasn't. He probably was just a soldier. If he would send right ahead to the king's brother, that would be helpful. We'd love to have Kor here. Also, round up the ghost tigers. My understanding is they have a special bond.
00:34:27
Speaker
Remember how this happened several months ago? The false King Boranell tried to talk to one of the pet ghost tigers and it nearly attacked him? That would never happen with a real Boranell. We should check that out. You know what's crazy? I think he's just making this up, but that might actually be accurate. I don't remember if the mage red tigers are bonded to the king particularly.
00:34:53
Speaker
All right, so... See, you steal my horse, I give you tigers. No, that's fine. I love you for it. No, that's fine. We have a one-sided relationship. Yeah, that's fine. Great for me.
00:35:11
Speaker
So the King's shields look very uneasy as they look up in a tower and the gate begins to open. Mert turns to Boranellan III and says, once we get into headquarters, we have, I called ahead on the walk and we have a room prepared for the debriefing. Barag looks to the King. Yes, my lord.
00:35:41
Speaker
If you want to grant this man an interview, that's obviously your prerogative in a place to tell you otherwise. But considering what we know, considering what has happened, is it not more important that we first ensure that a high-ranking member of the Citadel, who is currently, as we understand it, with your brother,
00:36:11
Speaker
is not an agent of the inspired. When that is settled and things have been settled, I, you know, then at your leisure, let this man ask you all the questions he wants. But surely right now, the priority has to be on ensuring not only your brother's safety, but ensuring that someone with access to enormous resources in your realm is not an enemy.
00:36:43
Speaker
Barrick, my reluctance to being questioned by Mert has already resulted in multiple deaths. If we try to walk past him and he stops us, what would you do to him? Knock him unconscious, leave him here tied up. I would like to think that these two gentlemen who are sworn to protect your life
00:37:13
Speaker
would be more than happy to restrain and sit with a perfectly healthy murk here by the gate until it is your pleasure to call him to ask you as many questions as he desires. If he's not willing to trust three's word, then he's not going to trust anyone's word. He's not going to trust your word. My half brother here can cast his own of truth. He's not going to take our word for it. This man is fixed on orders that are not legitimate.
00:37:45
Speaker
The realm is at stake. I have no desire to shed blood. I mean, it's a good point. Hey, Mert. Everyone give me insight checks real quick. 21. 14. I've rolled a lot of things that have masked out to 21 tonight. That seems improbable.
00:38:15
Speaker
I got a seven. Oh, Thorin though. Actually, Thorin would not, yeah, Thorin doesn't have the context for this. Okay, gotcha. Yeah, it's a text roll to seven. Drakir actually would have the context for it if you want to roll for Drakir as well. Remember what Drakir's insight gets you.
00:38:45
Speaker
Uh, Dracure has a 17. Okay. Um, what did you get Booyah? I said, yeah, 14. Okay. Um, so Barak, you're the, you're the only one that notices this as you're speaking to the King and he kind of takes a moment and stares off into the middle distance, just thinking through everything. And for a brief moment, you note that all of the,
00:39:14
Speaker
the light and fire and joy that you had seen from the king through like when you all would get into a fight or sneaking around towns that's all just gone at this point and the the weight of these decisions that he's having to make again it seems that he he just seems tired
00:39:34
Speaker
The Boranell that you met before that day in Stormreach seems much more in line with the Boranell you're seeing now.
War Possibilities and City Riots Discussion
00:39:42
Speaker
Um, and he just hangs his head and Drake here, you can cast Zona Truth. I can. Mert, if one of your mages can detect magic and know that Zona Truth's being cast.
00:40:01
Speaker
And I verify that I am Bornel Iruinarn. Would that suffice enough for me to go with my companions to resolve the issues with my brother? And then I will return for your questioning." And Murt leans over and whispers in his mage's ear, and the mage kind of nods, and Murt says, very well.
00:40:36
Speaker
Presto. And I guess he's not trying to, you can choose not to resist. Yeah, you can yield on the saving throw. And so then after Drakir snaps dramatically, he cast the spell. Drakir's having a wonderful day. The mage kind of holds his hand up and you see Shimmer in front of his hand and he looks at Merton nods. Are you in fact, King Boranel Irranarn of Brelit?
00:41:04
Speaker
And Boranell looks at him and says, I am. Truth. Well, I mean, there you go. Dex, that poison we found, it made the person melt, not simply die.
00:41:23
Speaker
I wish I had rolled to save because all I can do, I'm compelled to be like, gross. We should be more careful with it. Well, I mean, we've been pretty careful. Melt, you say. And someone goes, oh yeah, I saw it. Merk kind of nods and says, my king, I will be awaiting your instruction. And...
00:41:53
Speaker
Yeah, Merck just kind of turns to his mage friend and shakes his head and walks away.
00:42:03
Speaker
Right. Uh, I, I could take you to where the eye is headquartered. Is that where Zierda? No, there is. We understand she's here. Oh, there was Mertz attempted a compromise as he would lead you all to where Zierda was unopposed. So he could question the King while you all did your business.
00:42:27
Speaker
Alright, in that case, Thorin keeps his stupid mouth shut, and Dex says... So, uh...
00:42:34
Speaker
Yeah, there we go. All right, let's go. Thorne swipes his badge. Let's everybody go in. So yeah. I've now looked it up. There's no evidence that the ghost tigers are particularly bound to him. But a weird fact, killing a ghost tiger of any kind in Breland is punishable by prison or death.
00:42:58
Speaker
because Boranell really likes them. It's like the king's deer in Robin Hood. The king's ghost tigers. So yeah, you all are able to easily follow Boranell as he makes his way to Core's office in a very well-fortified structure building that is the Citadel HQ. And you all see two
00:43:30
Speaker
two swords or two shields standing guard outside the door of Kor's office as Boranell approaches. And they kind of see you all coming and avert their eyes and like, I'm sorry, can't let anybody in.
00:43:50
Speaker
Look, look at the man to my right and try again. We were specifically told, I don't care if Bornell himself walks up to this door, do not let anybody in. Who said so? Zera. Zera is not the commander of the Citadel. And they're just stone. They can't even look any of you in the eye. Like they're, they're mortified right now. Listen,
00:44:21
Speaker
It's been a day. We don't want a fight. That's stupid, but let me tell you something that I believe to be absolutely true. I believe there is a good chance that Zirda is a changeling. In league with the same people who placed an imposter on the throne of Berlin for the last two months. She is in there. With the King's brother. And that means the King's brother is in danger.
00:44:53
Speaker
You want to come in with us. You come in with us, stand aside, open the doors or come with us, but we are going in. We can go around you or we can go through you. We really don't want to have to go through you. We'll be very happy to go with you. Absolutely. You, you hear one of them mutter very softly. She has our families.
00:45:21
Speaker
How would you like to fall down and pretend that you have been knocked unconscious? And we'll make quite a big ruckus. Sounds like a fight. But we wouldn't actually like to knock you unconscious. You could say you never saw somebody snuck up behind you. How big is the space that we're in right now?
00:45:46
Speaker
Uh, it's, uh, it's a set of double doors. So, uh, let's say the hallway total is 15 feet wide. Drake here. Dismounts. He turns his way to us. You suck. Um,
00:46:12
Speaker
The one that muttered underneath his breath. The other one seems petrified that this guy is talking to you. You don't need to actually knock us unconscious, but at least rough us up enough to where it looks like we took a beating. Eric punches him in the face.
00:46:30
Speaker
Okay, that's it on that. I mean, it's not very strong. And he's not trained very much in like this kind of hand to hand fighting. So it's not gonna be a great punch, but bear can hit somebody hard enough to like leave a bruise. Yeah. And he just sort of hopes that this guy's gonna cooperate and just go down. So you punch that one. And he falls to the ground. The other one begins to like freak out and reach for his sword. Please don't
00:46:59
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, well you got like six other people with you. Is anybody going to deal with that guy? Thorin says, Thorin says, uh, so you don't want to do that. But yeah, kneecapsing.
00:47:10
Speaker
which shoots him in the kneecap. Punches him, hits him in the knee. That's not gonna do anything. Thorin punches him square in the nose. Okay, so one in the knee, he bends over, the dwarf punches him in the nose, and he crumbles on the ground. I mean, I've got some real strength here. Yeah, I'm walking up and just punching him in the kneecap.
00:47:35
Speaker
You can at least kick him in the shin. That hurts. I could've hit him somewhere else. That's true. I know, but it just makes me... Oh, wow. When you said kneecap, I thought you just pull up plate of justice and just pop one of his knee. Dex turns to bear. Took the arrow to the knee. So they're both down. They're both down. Dex turns to bear and says, should we tie him up? Because one is actually unconscious and the other one's faking it. I don't think there'll be trouble.
Resolution with Zierda and New Instructions
00:48:01
Speaker
Well, especially not this guy, right? Right. So the door. Do the door swing in? Please? Yes. Please? Yes. Are we just going to kick it open? Try? Oh, I want to do the, I want to do like the arrow door and it helms deep. It's like a swing them open. Go for it, buddy. Live your bliss. Why don't you ride your horse? It just shoves the doors open.
00:48:26
Speaker
And we're like, just very like the hero pose, a raid behind him. Barret, Dex, Booyah, kind of surrounding Borneo. Thorin's in there, Drakir's in there, Commander Bala's back there, there's a horse.
00:48:43
Speaker
Everybody who has things that glow, they're glowing. Everybody that's got things that shine, they're shining. Dex is resplendent in his white armor. Let's just air down. You know what, I got my Ioonstone on. And Thor is just like, these people are terrifying and amazing. I'm here, should I be here?
00:49:12
Speaker
He looks at Commander Bala, the only other normal, close to normal person in the room, and turns out she's got tentacles now. I don't know what's happening with her. She has tentacles, your cure kills her. Oh yeah, good point.
00:49:29
Speaker
So yeah, I think the most dramatic formation would be Beric flinging the doors open, and then immediately flanking him, or Borenella and Bala, the wrong parties, and then right beside them are you two. Sure, rewrite my thing, that's fine. Nevermind, I'll put on my channel each night. No, don't, I'm joking. I am joking. Don't you dare cut that.
00:49:50
Speaker
So yeah, the doors fling open and you see Core and Zierda over Core's desk looking at a map of the city and they start and look at you all. And. And Barak says. Zierda's title is.
00:50:13
Speaker
I think we've heard it. I mean, she's head of the head of the king's eyes. But what's the what's the title of a head of the branch of this? The court is a is the commander of the Citadel. What's the head of a branch called? Yeah, because she's well, she's just over the sharn dark lanterns.
00:50:34
Speaker
Oh, well, the head of the King's eyes would be the Grand Inquisitor, obviously. So has anyone called her that in? You would know if we want to if we want to just add in that you referred to her when Thoran referred to her when you found out that they were going after Zierda, you said, oh, the Grand Inquisitor. And he felt gross about it because I don't like that. If not, then that's fine. No, I'll let you have the moment. You've heard a title. Eric says Grand Inquisitor Zierda.
00:51:05
Speaker
If, if you are in fact, simply a loyal citizen, then I apologize for this and I touch and I, and I summon, um, uh, Erebus and cast moonbeam directly on her. If she's a shape shifter, she has disadvantage on this saving throw, which is a constitution saving throw. I believe. Let me double check. Yes. A constitution saving. That is a 19.
00:51:36
Speaker
OK, with disadvantage. Oh, no, she doesn't have disadvantage. Oh, fair enough. Cool. I thought. What? I thought he said she had to make. If she's a shapeshifter. Oh, yeah, if she's a shapeshifter. Cool. Then she takes some damage.
00:52:04
Speaker
She takes seven radiant damage. Okay. And seeing that she does not immediately revert into a changeling, I do not concentrate on the spell. Oh, and we're going to try to shift it to core just to see, just to check out core. It feels like we should check out core first. Oh, that's a fair point, but
00:52:27
Speaker
If you think Barak thinks rationally today, you are very wrong. And so, and so Dex says, why didn't you check? What is it with you people? You check the one, the one person and then three did the true side thing just on one guy and then killed it. He could have come back here. That thing lasts for a while. He could have come back here and he could have seen a dozen people that were actually changed things, but instead he was just like, well, this one's right. And you, the decor's right there. I swear, I swear.
00:52:57
Speaker
I love that that happened right after the moment in the silence that follows. That's how it would happen. Oh, no, I love it. Zira kind of straightens herself up and says, who are you and what do you want? Well, this is Borenel Irwin Narn. He's the king of Braland. And we're trying to put things back the way they are.
00:53:27
Speaker
Excellent. Welcome back. Keen boy. Now we have much to discuss and core kind of walks around his desk and walks up and rather quickly and then stops and extends a hand and shakes Borneo's hand. You've, uh, you've been missed. You too.
00:53:53
Speaker
Let's get to work. And so he walks over to the desk as well. And Zierda walks up to you all as Kor and Borenel begin frantically talking back and forth, not aggressively, just like trying to sort out everything. Thank you for your role in returning King Borenel. You will be compensated accordingly.
00:54:24
Speaker
Can I? Eric does not move. Yeah. I'd like to ask, can we ask you some questions? Very well. I mean, you know, I don't know what the irony, uh, but, um, w where were you, you apparently from what we've heard and it's only been from a few people.
00:54:40
Speaker
Oh, has the Thorin had Thorin heard of her before? Before she was Grand Inquisitor? Yeah, no. Okay. More than a couple people have told us that they didn't even know who you were before you got this big job. So do you mind if we just ask where you came from? Oh, that's fine. I'm actually not a realish citizen. I mean, either. I don't know if you can tell from the accent. No, I'm from Stormreach before it fell.
00:55:09
Speaker
Oh, well, apologies for that. It's, it's, it's fine. But would you were you one of the Oh, what they call the people down there? Didn't they have a guard down there? They had the storm cloaks are the city guard and then the iron watch iron watch. That's the one you're there. But they're all warforged. Okay, yeah.
00:55:35
Speaker
Well, that would be insulting maybe to ask her. No, I was under the tutelage of Stormlord Seljandra. Is that the one that hosted the party? It's the one that spoke to you at the Red Ring, the gnome. Oh, right. The creepy one. Yeah, she sucked. Well, the creepy one that wasn't possessed by a crab monster. He was creepy. That was also creepy.
00:56:05
Speaker
Oh, right, actually, you know, I met her once. That's neither here nor there. Again, apologies for the, it's likely that we were in Stormage at the same time then. I left here shortly after the invasion. I was a refugee to Breeland. We were there the day it fell. We were leaving it and it began to, yeah. And some insight. That's a good idea. Pour for more.
00:56:32
Speaker
Is she a dirty rotten liar? I'm not gonna be the best to. Okay, Dex didn't get it. 16. 15, Beric, 18, Dracure. Natural 20 for Thorin. Yes, Stone Knuckles. Of course, of course it'd be Thorin. Dex rolled a nine, which is a 14. What would you like to do with your 20?
00:57:01
Speaker
Man, I'm open to suggestions. This is a weird place for it to hit. Uh, if, I don't know, if Core is a changeling, he does something to tip his hand for Dex. Yeah, that would be great. I'd like to be able to kind of glance over at Core and see if I notice he only put four fingers on one hand accidentally or something. Okay. Um, no, um, Core does not give any indication that he's a changeling.
00:57:29
Speaker
What about? Is she all dirty a lot rotten liar? You get the sense there's a lot of half truths coming out of her mouth. Not totally lying, but she's being cagey. But we do know for absolute certain that she is definitely not a changeling because she would have reverted under the moonbeam if she was, right? Well, if she had failed her save, she would have.
00:57:51
Speaker
Okay, so because in fiction, you all do not know whether or not you have a disadvantage. That's what I'm saying. We know, they don't. The spell is only if they fail the saving throw, do they revert back to their natural form. So we still don't really know. Okay, cool, fine. It's an awkward situation because meta, we know, but in narrative, we don't. I should have rolled twice and just told you, like, I'm going to roll twice to master. That's a good idea. That's never occurred to me on how to deal with that spell, but that's a good solution.
00:58:22
Speaker
That's what I was thinking.
Conclusion and Audience Engagement
00:58:28
Speaker
Okay, well, nope, not him. All right, well, nope, not him. He doesn't know. Okay, here's the thing. Grand Inquisitor. There's a guy right now who is being held by the eyes. A, was it Leonardo?
00:58:51
Speaker
I think so. A Leonardo Castellantern. Castellantern, Castlevania. Yes, the wine merchant. I guess I have to tell you that he had no idea what was happening. Are you saying that you knew what was happening? That was me. Yeah, I'm saying that he knew what was happening.
00:59:19
Speaker
Okay, and who killed the city official? What city official? The inspector that was found behind the wine merchant shop killed, who was sent to inspect the wine. I don't know anything about that one. Yeah, I genuinely don't know. I saw, I never saw a wine inspector. Well, we were not holding the wine merchant for regicide because obviously it was not the king, but he is being held for murder.
00:59:48
Speaker
No. Well, that is a shame. I can assure you he didn't kill anyone. Just simply of the... I was there at one point in the day, you know, around the time of the festivities, and I was there earlier. If you would like to come speak with my inquisitors to give a testimony on his behalf corroborating his alibi, we'd be more than welcome to have you.
01:00:15
Speaker
I, does Thorin know anything about? The inquis, the Inquisition is like really overbearing and like people aren't a big fan of them, but Thorin wouldn't have gotten a sense they were evil. Like, does he, does he know? Has he heard tell that when you're questioned by the Inquisitors, it's not just in like an interview room. It's like with thumb screws and whatever.
01:00:44
Speaker
There hasn't been a whole lot that's come out about the questioning processes of the Inquisition like some of the stuff they do is Able like Thorne would know because he's a Citadel agent Like when that guard said they have our families
01:01:01
Speaker
All Citadel agents, once the eyes were created and Zirdra was made the Grand Inquisitor, she set up lodging for all Citadel agents' families to where you could live there for free, but a lot of people question
01:01:19
Speaker
The since it like is this a kind gesture or if people get out of line You know where our families are kind of thing. So there's a lot of shady stuff that is Bothersome, but nothing out and out evil and you haven't heard people coming to testify being tortured
01:01:37
Speaker
There's, there's like prisoners, like, like they found other spies from other nations. It went poorly for them. So here's what Thorin says. Thorin says, well, um, I really don't think I have the time for that, but you know, I told you and you're their boss. If you tell them, you know, that's, that's bad. Yeah. There you go. You want to give me a persuasion check? What'd you say? We don't know anything about this missing wine inspector. No, I know. That's what I'm saying. Could we possibly testify on this poor man's behalf?
01:02:07
Speaker
You're right. I don't know anything about the visiting wine inspector. I just, I'd be more of a character thing really for the, for the, for the wine guy. You know, I'm just saying. We only spoke to him for a very short amount of time. Yeah. Well, we will do our investigation and act accordingly.
01:02:29
Speaker
Eric has stepped over towards the King because it has now occurred to Eric that what those guys said and sort of leans in to the King and says, my Lord recalls that the guards said that the Grand Inquisitor has their families. I'm sorry.
01:02:48
Speaker
Borneo, who is this? Oh, sorry, this is Beric Rowan, Yorick's boy. Oh, hello, Beric. So the, they told you that we have their families? Not you, not we, she in particular.
01:03:08
Speaker
We've set up lodging for all Citadel agents' families to make them comfortable and just provide lodging and things like that for them, sort of a barracks-based type situation. Some of the conspiracy theorists think that Zirdra would harm the families of those not in line, but that's- Well, I have some knowledge of her former employer, and I can tell you that's not entirely unplausible.
01:03:39
Speaker
Yes, I'm familiar with Lord Seljandra's tactics and I've kept a close watch on Zirdra and I haven't seen anything to give me indication that she's done anything yet. This is strange. Have you ever seen her in danger? No, why?
01:04:03
Speaker
Well, I, I was going to ask you if some sort of strange purple translucent crab claws manifested themselves out of her. Uh, but if you haven't seen her in danger, you wouldn't be able to answer that. Well, I can say with 100% certainty that no, I've never seen that. Right. It seems to manifest primarily in situations of danger. Very well.
01:04:30
Speaker
There were no crab claws as our fake king melted, were there? No. Okay. It happened awfully fast though. That happened very quickly. I'm just saying. That's a situation where you feel like that crab claw monster reactive is like, oh darn it. Okay.
01:04:56
Speaker
So is there anything else that I can do for you individuals, or we have much to attend to with the king? I think Dex might say, excuse me, your lordship. What would you like of us now?
01:05:27
Speaker
Um, nothing actually. Um, you've been great help. Um, I can reach into our coffers to give you some reward money for your efforts in, uh, these trying times for Breland and you can receive your coin and go. That sounds pretty straightforward.
01:05:54
Speaker
Well, forgive me, I don't have much time to, we have rioting in the city and a ruler that has shown back up on our doorstep. Do you want help with the rioting? Oh, the Citadel agents are already out there dealing with it. I don't mean to be of offense to your Citadel agents, but
01:06:17
Speaker
We've had tussles with them in the past and we don't tend to lose those. So would you like some help with the riot? And she turns, looks over her shoulder to Cor because I'm assuming this conversation is loud enough to like fill the room and Cor kind of looks at her in shrugs and couldn't hurt. So she doesn't.
01:06:41
Speaker
Very well, we will, if you can quell the riots and assist our Citadel agents, we will pay you a handsome sum to go with the money that we are offering you for restoring the monarchy. And I say to Berwick, I mean, we got nowhere to go till the ship gets here, right? You say to Berwick, what? We got nowhere to go until the ship gets here anyway. I'll be here. You have fun.
01:07:10
Speaker
I mean, there's nothing I can do here. So. All right. Yeah. I just need to know, has either reacted to the horse in the hallway? I mean, it's been a weird day, you know. Yeah, but we are we get money. We always need money, use money. But yeah, go help decks do what need be done.
01:07:40
Speaker
Unless we need. Says the goblin weighing down the ship with gold lining the walls. I assume Commander Bala and Thorin would be on riot quelling duty anyway. Maybe not, because there's lanterns, not shields. Well, I mean, it's kind of an all hands on deck situation. Plus, you remember, lanterns operate as members of other agencies. You know, long we no need nowhere else, and you know, we are happy to help.
01:08:12
Speaker
I mean, Burke, you don't, do you need us to stay here for some reason? Do you, uh, if you want to go, that's fine. All right. I'm just looking for a desktop here. You want to go mess up? Yes. You want to go mess up some swords? That will seem to make it harder to frame them. Pardon me.
01:08:38
Speaker
Oh, yes. Part of our escape plan was to frame swords of liberty for the killing, but it seems since the King turned into a changeling before dying, that is unnecessary now. I suppose that's true. And you seem awfully intent on framing the sword of liberty for the crime you keep... I thought it would make Christ happy. That you keep confessing to.
01:09:00
Speaker
I thought it would make Krast happy. Well, Krast is out there fighting him right now. He's probably having a blast. That's fair. That's fair. He's just cracking heads. I have been taking your advice and trying to do more things to make other people happy. I know. And you're doing, I mean, I got to say, I'm real proud of you. End of episode. I will stay here with Beric in case I am needed.
01:09:27
Speaker
Well, okay. And if we're needed, I guess hit us on the stones. Very well. All right, well, um, I suppose this is where we parked. Yeah, I have a feeling, see you soon is more accurate for this. Perhaps. Okay, bye!
01:10:00
Speaker
Let's go. OK, so who is leaving and who is staying? Thorin, Dex and Booyah and Bala would be going right because it all stands on deck or she got to get debriefed from her. False incarceration and near execution is not going to stay here like Bala Bala doesn't belong here, so she's going to. Go deal with her own stuff and Booyah is not going to let Dex go off by himself.
01:10:30
Speaker
Okay. Um, so you all leave and the door shut and zero just turns around and says, no, what helped you hope to be here? You too.
01:10:57
Speaker
Oh, I've just built your cure up as a very honest person. And also in, in, in so many ways recently, uh, except for that one thing, um, that he was very not honest about just a minute ago. Um, but you didn't even make me real deception for it. It was nice. Uh, Eric, Eric says I've been with the King for the last.
01:11:28
Speaker
Two months, maybe not quite two months. And, uh, uh, no offense, but until I'm more sure of things here, I think I'll stay. To what end? May I be blunt with you?
01:11:58
Speaker
You may do whatever you like. You appeared at the same time as the impostor king. Or nearly so. And we've been encountering re-edron agents with startling frequency. And I don't know about you yet.
01:12:27
Speaker
Well, I, being quite honest, don't know about you, so. I swear. I suppose we can't have any high-level discussions about the defense of our city as long as there are people we don't trust in the room. I believe that I may flatter myself and say that the king trusts me. I do. What needs to be do, what needs to be do, dude?
01:13:02
Speaker
What must we do to defend the city? Well, the writing is problematic.
01:13:14
Speaker
But what is more is that word has reached the Andarians that there are murmurings of blame at their feet for the death of King Boronel. Word has not spread up there yet of the false nature of the former king, but fighting has begun on the Andarian border with our troops.
01:13:40
Speaker
So, similar agents here. We'll try to quell the writing as best we can, but my king, it is time that we prepare for war. End of episode. We're at over an hour, Philip. It's time to call it an episode. I know. I want to go. I'm sorry. I'm gonna sit here and politic.
01:14:05
Speaker
now that we've split the party in a very meaningful and... I couldn't think of a reason that I would stay. Yeah, no, I'm not begrudging anybody their decisions. And we couldn't just... Beat the truth out of Zierda. I don't know that we need to beat the truth out of her yet.
01:14:24
Speaker
She's all kinds of shady. She seems sinister for sure. Thank you all so much for listening. If you'd like to be part of the conversation. We haven't met anyone sinister who wasn't evil. You want to start that over? Thank you all so much for listening. If you want to be part of the conversation, you can head over to the Facebook group, the Geek Pantheon. We're also on Twitter and Instagram at the Geek Pantheon.
01:14:46
Speaker
If you like what we do and like to be a part of our Patreon community, we have a wonderful Discord and a DM spell book where things like Drakir's Class that Philip made is located. So head on over to patreon.com slash TheGeekPantheon to check all of that out. Once again, I'm your Dungeon Master, Eric. I'm Philip. I'm Randy. I'm Jeff. We'll see you next time.