Transcript
Speaker: I appear in it, but I am not unconscious and I can see in here. It's normal. You're like you're downloading Windows 11. I get it. Yeah, I'm updating. I'm updating. It's running his virus scans, you know, defragging.
Speaker: Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode of the Fellowship of the Tabletop, Bellum Draconis. We are a live play 5e D &D podcast set in the magical home -brewed world of Eryth in the Kingdom of Sleekguard. My name is Mark, and I am the Dungeon Master. And also with us for this week's episode, we have Darren, who plays the High Elf Artifice of Rainshadow. Howdy, Tabletopers. We've got Ian, who plays the Tiefling Warlock, Nyx Corel. Hello. Will, who plays the human cleric, Emron.
Speaker: Are you up lads? Callum who plays the Warforged Artifice of Alpha. Hello, hello. And Danny who plays the half -orc monk Marota Broken Tusk. Bonjour. And...
Speaker: on that note, heading over directly to our chronicler for today's episode. Yeah, I haven't forgotten and hopefully Danny hasn't forgotten. Let me get my coffee ready so I can sit in my armchair with my pretend fire and my fake cat and listen. Any potato peeler? That's all Darren's realm of sex toys and dungeons. I just want to hear Danny's sultry voice recap what went on last week.
Speaker: In the last few pages of our adventure, our not -yet heroes arrived at the curiosity and souvenir shop style Arms and Armor, following a lead on the notice board in Clay Peak Hall. Situated in the southern slums of Goldview, this was the last known location of Orla, monster hunter and veteran of the Blight.
Speaker: Inside the shop, Allian Hardwick, the Curio Store owner, explains that Alla descended into his basement a few days ago, and hasn't emerged since. In the basement, locked away, lives Ella, the owner's sister, who had become changed in recent weeks, and the owner had hoped to enlist Alla's assistance.
Speaker: Hearing scratches and screams below, the party opts to return to this issue after a period of rest, for it has been a long day since the dragon attack, and they wish to face whatever Ella has become after recovering their weariness.
Speaker: That's awesome. I always want to just pick up really naturally and continue on, but that was lovely. Thank you, Danny. I always loved the start of that last few pages kind of thing. Yeah, that's the trade. You've got such a good narrator's voice. You do. You do. You could narrate audio books to me and I'd be happy. You should do D &D podcasts. I've been thinking about it. I've been thinking about it. You should do a D &D podcast in Scandinavian. Oh God, if only.
Speaker: You could narrate IKEA catalogs and instructions to us. In that shirt you could as well actually. Sure. That's a great joke for an audio podcast I know. Very visually appealing. We laughed at fine. A cold dew falls across Goldview as the pale crescent moon pierces through the strafing clouds. Slow moving wind creeps down the streaks
Speaker: as Marota and Nyx step out, letting a thin glean of light from the arms and armor shop enter onto the cool night air of the street below. As you look right towards the city of Goldview and towards the southern gates, you see minimal movement. Guards on patrol, a member of the Acriska stood chatting to some nearby patrons. But aside from that, the city seems dulcet, quiet.
Speaker: As you look beyond the city to the setting sun, where the sun would have set and where the moon now has taken its place, you can see silhouetted against the light in the sky, the last few plumes of smoke now lessened, now fewer, since the dragon attack this morning.
Speaker: Nyx and Morota, you step out into the slightly bracing cold air, colder than when you left the streets not too long ago. And you're followed by a bumbling voice as the door slams open again and you see the face and disheveled body of an alien standing in front of you, looking out to you. He leans and shuts the door quietly behind himself, leaving the other three inside the arms and armor and just says,
Speaker: You are coming back, right? Not to say they're not enough in there but just...
Speaker: uh absolutely we are and you're right they are not enough in there without our presence i'm glad you picked up on this the thing is friend i don't want to stay in your creepy as fuck house oh no that's understandable i wouldn't want you either if my sister wasn't below but no offence um mr um um um and he's looking at nyx trying to figure out if he's heard your name but he hasn't um
Speaker: um corral correct mr corral i wasn't really speaking to yours more speaking to um um i'll remain unnamed
Speaker: unnamed, Debbie, Debbie. Thank you. There's a prior arrangement of discussion about Trellac and something interesting. I might have some information for you that I'd really rather like to see you again to discuss if possible. I'm a scholar. I only work here some, sometimes. And honestly, don't worry. We will be back at dawn. I just don't want to stay where I might be killed in my sleep. Crazy people would want to stay here. Exactly.
Speaker: We'll have a lovely evening, both of you. And you. Mr. Carell and Debbie. Lovely to meet you both. I'll be in... Do you want to warn him about the potato peeler, or is that something he should find out for himself? No, no, no. I think that's something that everyone should find out themselves. We have something... Forget it. Good night. Good night.
Speaker: It's very warm out here. As he walks back inside and shuts the door behind him leaving you two alone on the street as he enters back into where Alpha Reigns and Emron are currently in. Oh wow. I don't know about you but I think getting all these guys is rewards from the wanted situation that our newfound friends have found ourselves in. I think that's going to be hard work.
Speaker: Well, don't think about that. We simply are on a fact -finding long -term fact -finding quest. Quite. It's just that Emron really seems to want to go and get himself into trouble. Well, so be it. I mean,
Speaker: But then if we follow with him, like, are we protecting our assets or are we being stupid and foolhardy and will we end up on the other side of alive? I don't think that's a call we can make right now. Look, if you're getting cold feet, we can just... No, no, no, no. Just observing, like you said, fact finding, research.
Speaker: And in the meantime, we just keep their hearts beating or whatever Alpha has going on there. I can't even begin to dissect Alpha in my brain, let alone in physical form at the moment. I'm going home.
Speaker: It's really nothing special, and I'm not about to invite you, but you have somewhere to go, right? Yes, yes, of course I do. I'm well known around these parts. I have many, many a friend here. I just choose to spend some time with you, most of all, because I feel like we're one and the same, you and me. But yes, of course, Mororte, don't you worry about that. And I certainly wouldn't want to impede on your hospitality, for sure. I am fine. Thank you.
Speaker: Right, well, I'll meet you at the gates here at dawn just before you go back. Yes, that sounds like a good plan to me. Just don't get yourself killed. Ta! Tell him I've never been close to death or being killed. Well then you haven't lived in X Corel. I definitely wouldn't say that about myself.
Speaker: Still things you don't know about me, Morota. One day, maybe, you'll find out. Good night, and I'm going to walk. And you? And Morota, where are you heading? I'm heading back to my abattoir, but the abattoir I work in and I hire out one of the old abattoir rooms that I stay in.
Speaker: to rest. And on your journey there, North -West Quarter near Sphinx Arms and Shields? Sphinx's Arms? Anyway, a shop in the North -West Quarter, I believe you say, the place is near. Or I've made that up and... No, that's right, that's right. No, that's right, okay. I've got to write the right things down.
Speaker: You manage to make it back there, you walk through the streets of Goldview and the town is shutting down revelers, guards, the odd beggar outside of nothing of note as you walk back to your house and you settle in for the night. Next.
Speaker: You've left Morota to kind of walk into the city first to the southern entrance, walking north to the southern entrance of Goldview and slums to the south of Goldview. What whereabouts are you kind of going? Where are you heading? Okay, so Nix's head is very full and he's been very social as of late and like all people that get
Speaker: a little bit overwhelmed by social gatherings. Sometimes he just needed a break away from the party to just have some space and time with his own thoughts and not have to be Nick's. So all he's going to do, because obviously he has thousands of people in Goldview that he could rent a room off for free, he's going to the docks and going to sit
Speaker: far away from the Esmeralda so that the crew can't see him but close enough that he can see the ship and the little dots of people working around it and he's going to just sit near the docks probably get a little bit cold and wrap himself up in his big huge leather coat and and just kind of take in the view the smell of the sea and the the waves and just kind of tune out everything
Speaker: Is that where you're choosing to take your long rest? Unfortunately so, yes. Okie dokie, not a problem. I might come back to you in a bit then. Thank you very much. So you walk your way through to the central part of Vita Square where most of the fires have been put out. You take a right towards Clay Peak Hall actually up to the north and then you cut through an alleyway, a well -known alleyway now that you've jumped and vaulted through a few times.
Speaker: to make your way overlooking the docks, the low basin docks that sit along the side of Goldview. The sun fully sets, the moon high in the sky, illuminating the water of the bronze storm sea. You can see the Esmeralda in and amongst now ships that have been salvaged and other things that have fallen to the bottom of the ocean nearby. But the Esmeralda sits burnt sails, scorched helm but
Speaker: intact. You can't see any of the crew on the surface. You can see one or two lights, torches lit on board, telling you that there is movement and life on board, maybe below deck. However, you can see none on deck from your position.
Speaker: You happen to find a couple of barrels that overlook in a sheltered -ish position that keeps you out of the slight wind of the dock area. And you manage to sit yourself down, wiggle into a nice, comfortable, relatively safe space. Only one or two figures walk past, another noticing you. The moon's high in the sky, plenty of light. And you sit and you watch and you zone out.
Speaker: that's exactly right i would um half zoning out half also just aware of my surroundings because um i'm still me uh if anyone should cross my path that seems affable or rich or fancy uh i would
Speaker: make note of them, their attire, what they're wearing, how they're, how they're walking. Are they walking without the signs of alcohol penetrating their system? Or are they stumbling and tripping and coming in from like a good night or something like that? So just keeping an eye on the crowd. And if anyone piques my interest, I would pay attention to them. Okay, no problem. But if no one else, then I'm happy just as I am with the moon and the ship.
Speaker: That's perfect. Not a problem. Thank you very much. The door to arms and arms shuts on the inside and you see the figure of an alien pulling down, locking five, six, seven locks in a necessary, a chain gets put into place and then a door stop
Speaker: gets put under the base of the door, as he nervously turns around to Emron, Alpha, and Reigns, as he was stood in this small shop, a number of stuffed squirrels still on offer, piles of metal trinkets, doodads and whatnots, nothing really of note in this shop. And this small, thin, pale, nervous boy man turns around and looks at the three of you. Well, haven't had a sleepover since I was a kid.
Speaker: Well, before we settle down for tonight, there are a few preparations I'd like to make. I don't know about what Reigns and Alpha want to do.
Speaker: But yeah. Preparations, yes, M1, that sounds absolutely perfect. I have one myself. I'm gonna take out the potato peeler and I'm going to remove from it. The condom surrounding it. I'm going to remove from it what's like a pin hinge that looks like it's from a set of fieve tools. And as that happens, the potato peeler is just going to glow and I'm going to place it on the hatch, which leads down to the basement.
Speaker: and I'm just going to allow that to just pulsate as it starts to cast alarm. Not that I think anything scrupulous is going to come up through the floor but you did say that something terrible could happen so I'm just safeguarding it if that's okay with you.
Speaker: choice of action there. And everyone's going to look towards Elian. Now, lad, quick question. Have you got any bags of salt in your or out like that? Yes, I think so. How much salt are you looking for? Well, from
Speaker: my limited experience of this, my thoughts were to place a line of salt around the hatch to downstairs, because common belief and whether this is true or not, but I've seen it done and it seems to be all right, is that now Nefarious will be able to cross that salt line. So my plan would be to at least with Rain's Alarm put it around the hatch so at least we can be safe in the knowledge that
Speaker: nothing demonic or fiendish or undead could cross to line without the salt line being broken if you follow. By each of those three creature types being named, his eye twitches at each one of those before he quickly another bit of sweat rolls down his face and he shoots off in an instant and he's gone off to skedaddle off and finds some salt.
Speaker: Reek, so that'll, that'll be beta at personally. I mean, if we were going to do anything else, I'd also do windows and doors of the building, but, um, Nick's might not be able to get back in if the salt lands there. So we'll, uh, we'll leave that for later. Um, I'm not going to lie, rain, Google, go on. What are you going to say? Well, I was just going to say it's been a day gentleman. It has been a day. I, um,
Speaker: I think there's a worse one to come. I was stirred by your words a moment ago, but now that the emotion of the situation is starting to dissipate, are you sure this is a good idea? We've got to do something. I've seen this done. It's a few years ago now, but I've seen it done.
Speaker: think I know what to do so we'll just do our best and that's all we can really ask for really we're doing good in the world that's that's the plan right that would be that would be to plan I it's me how you doing back there alfalfa alfalfa just been kind of wandering around the shop almost just kind of touching everything that's around investigating it he's overheard obviously your compensation he just kind of looked
Speaker: I believe doing good is indeed what makes you a hero. I am all for this kind of action. Well, there's some, uh, reet smart words from you there, Alpha. Do you hear that, Alpha? Him, Ron, thinks you're reet smart. And do you know what? I agree with him. I am reet smart.
Speaker: You can have that one with your memory bank. There you go, yeah. Reet. Alper, I was meaning to say... Reet. You did some reet good work with that healing solvent. I have done more reet. You've done reet. You've done reet, boy. I have done reet. I like this word. Vlad's using it wrong.
Speaker: Well, we ain't from the hands of empire. We don't speak that southern hick. Did you speak? Excuse me, this is what us common folk talk like. Fair enough. But the point remains, Alfred. You did a really mighty fine job with that heathen, southern. It was everyone's best interest for me to help medically.
Speaker: It were a good save because, as I said in that fight, I felt like things were going to go south very quickly. We were very lucky. Did you do that from that? Out of fissory... Was that out of fissor cord, I guess, is what I'm asking, Alfred? In theory, yes. A simple sow made of medicinal herbs and a little bit of arcanic energy creates a rapidly healing
Speaker: I'm going to go into my equipment rucksack and pull out the steel mire cap that I have been working on scrupulously ever since we left Shadamend and I'm just going to toss it to Alpha and go if you wouldn't mind imparting your wisdom of that onto me I would much like to learn that of course and Alpha's just going to kind of
Speaker: They're going to see a little pulse go from his chest down his arm into his finger and he's just going to kind of touch this meerkat. And the pulse is going to extend into the meerkat and he's just going to start to glimmer a little bit and then he will pass it back to Reims. Oh, much obliged there, Alfred. You also... Hang on a minute. What's just happened?
Speaker: What is that? That's really nice, but I feel like there's a meta level to what you're just talking about. I have no idea what it is. It's just I haven't used Cure Wounds yet, but I haven't. Yeah, I have basically given him the knowledge to use Cure Wounds. They're using the arcane tinkering thing. Yeah, gotcha. Okay, cool, cool, cool. It was a very important question to ask. It was. It sounds like I'm storing a spell in it, but it's not. It's a transferring of information. Gotcha. Alpha, I've also...
Speaker: It's been mean to say you did good when they started asking you about what is powering you. Well, the full extent of my capabilities and my history, you have advised me not to divulge with everybody. Well, not with anyone.
Speaker: Yeah, because we don't know what folk would do if they were to know. We don't know them, they don't know us, and certainly that Nyx strikes me as the type who might want to turn a quick profit on stuff. You deem him as untrustworthy.
Speaker: I don't know. When he runs, he lets his mouth run off, and honestly, it's like a river flowing. He suffers from verbal diarrhea, bless him.
Speaker: It's a bit of a, sometimes what he says, like, he seems honest and sometimes like, you know, when he was talking about them rooms in the pub and he was just talking absolutely full. So it's, I don't know, I'm going to be honest, I don't know whether he's on the straight or what, but I think we've just got to be aware of it and see what happens.
Speaker: Very well. I shall be cautious around Nix. What is your opinion of Maru - My apologies. Oh, because me, hello, you are back. Hi, nice to meet you again. Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt. This is a very important conversation. I have some salt. I'll just kind of - I'll be really quiet. I'll just lay it around the edge of the -
Speaker: Zora, I can do it for you. You're going to spill it everywhere. I'm just going to go lie down for 8 to 12 hours if that's okay and just recover my... Please. You have a mighty fine shop. Never let anyone tell you any difference. This place is just a feast of curiosity from wondermen. Well, thank you. I don't own it, unfortunately. But I work here. It's fun. It pays... It doesn't pay much, but it allows me the time to focus on my real interests in life.
Speaker: No, don't want to know about them. Fine. You're right. When they say, you know, it's just to carry on what they have trailer for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's fine. No, it's fine. You mentioned your, your scholarly -ness when you were, you only were talking to Marota before you talked about you was going to tell us stuff about, about Dralak. So yes, yes. I assume you know stuff about that.
Speaker: I know quite a few things about that. I know some about the surrounding lands here, I do indeed, but my chiefest study is of the fallen empire. That's why I like to spend most of my time finding those hidden artifacts of many ages past, the forces that created us, the forces that developed these lands and raised the oceans, the land from the oceans.
Speaker: mountains made it, you know, just not the gods after the gods created by gods in the gods images, perhaps. There's certainly been the occasional trade of artifacts. I've heard of one or two in Shadow Men, some of the antique houses certainly lack to trade in such things, but I've never yet met a scholar of such things.
Speaker: yeah very interesting this is some of the uh the older lands are in sleep guard many of which has been destroyed by the blight unfortunately but here and across in wild heart the the extremes of the empire the extremes of the kingdoms that's where they settled that's where they founded their kingdoms millennia ago and that's what i look for that that's that's my study that's my
Speaker: One day I'll visit a dungeon or a hidden alcove of them and gosh, I'll land so much and I'll be rich then. This sounds rather fascinating. Do you perchance have any texts that I might be able to divulge it? No, they're mine. You can't have them, sorry. Seriously, they're mine. He's an avid reader. He won't take out. He'll just want to have a peruse.
Speaker: Maybe, okay. I don't have them with me. No, yeah, of course, yeah. We'll see how I can save my sister or not. I don't have them with me because I don't trust them in the show because I really, I'm not, I'm a bit of a wimp, I'm not gonna lie. When it comes to my books, I'll stab you in the eye if you still break my books. But yeah, okay, how about this, man?
Speaker: I should have asked your names. This is very impolite of me. Al, we'll see how this goes and then maybe I'll lend you a book on the Demis Dragon and you can learn a bit more about them all and about who they are.
Speaker: Please do not misconstrue our actions. We will help you in your situation regardless. I do not need a reward from you in regards to the text. Oh no, it's fine. I don't think I can concentrate on anything else until this is sorted. Anyway, I'm going to...
Speaker: go and lay down and hyperventilate for eight hours or so. I'll help yourself. There's any under the counter pulls out. I've pulled a little cloth off a chopping board. I've laid out some cheeses and breads and that's all I've got, I'm afraid. There's a jug of water, clean water there. So if you want to eat, drink, no toilet, unfortunately, just unlock the door. Sorry. But make yourself a home apart from that. We will.
Speaker: I'll see you in the morning. If anything screams, don't get me. And with that he's gonna turn around and slink off back and pull out a little curtain thing to a small area behind the, out the back of the store, right at the back of the store, sorry, behind the wall where he can get his head down on some sacks of hay or something like that. Well.
Speaker: Well, well, well, Emron, since this is your idea, perhaps you might want to take the first watch. I trust the potato peeler. Implicitly, I'm not fully comfortable with it all. Please, it is not necessary. I can maintain visual contact on the ground floor at all times. I know you can, Alpha, but I would feel more comfortable if one of us was just
Speaker: Completely alert if that makes sense. I mean, I don't mind. I've got a few a few bits and bobs that I want to do So I couldn't do that while you guys you start to rest reins and go from there. Yeah, no Alpha you can take a second watch with me and I got some things that I want to talk to you about are the fifth of things that I think you're gonna like Sounds intriguing. Thank you
Speaker: All right, so, sorry, what was that? I zoned out for a second. You're taking the first watch? M1's going to take... DM's not paying attention. M1's going to take the first watch, and I've got a couple of things I want to do. And then, Rains is going to take the second watch, because he only used to sleep for... trans for four hours, and Alpha's going to be all sort of there, because he gets his shit down.
Speaker: In all fairness, for what it's worth, I have what's called centuries rest. So I will basically sit down and I will watch everything and hear everything. But I'm kind of inactive. So you're like on standby mode? Yeah, basically, yeah, I'm asleep with my eyes open from a visual perspective. But I have to spend six hours in an inactive motionless state rather than sleeping. Yeah, I appear in it. But I am not unconscious. And I can see in here as normal.
Speaker: You're like, you're downloading Windows 11. I get it. Yeah. I'm updating. I'm updating. It's running as virus scans, you know, defragging. Yeah, you're running a defrag. That's what it is. That makes sense. Yeah. So you run quickly the next day. Okay. So when you're just defragmenting, uh, so, uh,
Speaker: Do you want to go for that now? Are you jumping into that long west now? Yes, same. During my watch I would have something I'd want to discuss with Alpha. No problem. As Alpha, how do you defrag, may I ask? What kind of state are you in? Do you just stand there? I sit down.
Speaker: sit down. We all do when we defrag. I sit down. I have images of him being kind of cross -legged, almost like a very meditative stance. He's got kind of hands on his knee joints, is what I will say for that one, but he's just kind of staring into space almost.
Speaker: What else would you say over the knee joints? Well, just knees. Well, it doesn't technically have knees. They're not knees as such. They're just joints, so... But they don't technically have eyes or a bum or a head. Well, sure. I look with my eyes if you can call them that. Except everything. Anyway, can you? You lean on your knees. Yeah, okay, hands and knees. Eyes, if you can call them eyes, are open.
Speaker: And you can call them hands. Yeah, exactly. And you're just the fragmenting C drive. Okay, cool. And as it takes place, and range, you drop into your meditative states and you quietly. I take a seat in the chair, put my feet up on the side and just sit back and that effectively dulls off.
Speaker: And while that's happening, Emma, and you've watched your two compatriots fall into their both, no one sleeps, sometimes you're weirdos, into their weird meditative states, and you are alone with the salt bag and the alarm trap placed on the hatch quietly in the store, and you can hear the quiet snoring of someone else finally actually sleeping as Alion drops off behind the storefront. What would you like to do?
Speaker: So everyone will lay the salt around the hatch, make a nice thin line, making sure it's nice and secure, keeping it even so it's not broken in any places, because that's what he believes, as far as he's been told and educated, salt lines are things that protect you against bad things. And then once he's done that, he's going to take out his tinderbox, and he's going to get some charcoal, and then he's going to think back to
Speaker: many years ago, and he's mentioned this in conversation, but nobody's picked it up, so that's absolutely fine. The prior experience of him having seen this done many, many years ago in the sort of poor areas of Shadow Men's capital, he's sort of seen someone undergo and purge a
Speaker: nefarious being from a person. So he's going to think back and he's going to try and use that knowledge and the knowledge he has of Alito to use the charcoal to draw symbols of protection and runes of protection around the four corners of the hatch and on the door and that kind of stuff. And that's what he's going to do.
Speaker: Is there something in particular you're wanting for that? Or is that just a bit of flavour? There is no mechanic for this whatsoever, so it's entirely roleplay.
Speaker: And he's going to have written a rune and he's going to have placed his hammer upon it. So sort of a sort of a thing and he's going to have offered a little prayer to Alito to sort of hopefully guide his hammer if he needs it. And he's got the scimitar as well and he's examining the scimitar as they picked up and he set that aside as well because he thinks he knows what he needs to do in the morning. Okay.
Speaker: And once he's got the room as far as he's aware spiritually secure From from anything that could harm them he will sit and rest and sort of It being that's just just to sit rest perhaps ponder what is to come and thinking back to those the what he's seen when he saw An old priests undertaken exorcism essentially and just think back to that and
Speaker: while you're there could you give me a perception check please just for your watch sure yeah it's not great that's a that's a five on the roll or the passive of 13 okay i'll take your passive for that then and yeah okay so what you do perceive is while you are etching the runes with your charcoal on the floor and you're making scraping noises you're
Speaker: on the floor and sound through the wooden floorboards you've got below you. And one of them in particular, the last one you're doing is you finish off the last shape, the last curved part of the rune. It finishes up. You stop scraping the charcoal and lift it up, but you hear the scraping continue. Just for an extra second or two after you stop.
Speaker: And you do notice that you wait and you pause, you hear nothing else, but you noticed that you noticed that it came from the same kind of location as where you were doing the rune. That's all you could really perceive really from that. Cool. Thank you.
Speaker: And then after an hour or so has passed, how people tell time, I don't know. And what I think is a reasonable amount of time for me to have watched, I will go over and just place a hand on reigns and just be like, reigns. Well, I've done what I can. We'll see what's happening.
Speaker: don't know whether I can hear whatever it is down there scraping about or what I think it's a kind of place that will let your imagination go wild if you let it. So just be aware. Yeah. Interesting choice that since we stepped off that bolt, I've just been meditating on it. We've been chased by a dragon. We've been attacked by giant rats. We've been attacked.
Speaker: attracted and attacked by metaphorical rats and now here we are, sleeping above a freaky ass basement. You couldn't write this stuff, I tell you. You'd write this in a book and someone would tell you it's ridiculous. That's why they write this down.
Speaker: Been an interesting day and I think, as you've said, tomorrow will be another interesting one. I'm gonna do this watch with Alpha, if that's okay with you. If art goes wrong tomorrow, just, yeah, just, yeah, if art goes wrong, you know, I've none that got us into this, so, yeah, I'll handle it and you get yourself to safety if it does go wrong.
Speaker: Emrom, we ain't leaving you, no matter what happens. You know that, right? Aye, but you know, we could unlock a very great demon from L spawn or whatever it is down there. So, yeah. Just so you know, I don't want to... Emrom, Emrom. As we said, when we left Great Haddow, we're in this together.
Speaker: Ah, alright. Well, I'm gonna go get some kip. Some of us don't just get to sleep for half an hour. A blessing of the earls, my friend. A blessing of the earls. Indeed. Moon got a shine upon you. She's doing something alright. And everyone will go and get his bed roll out of his pack and roll it out somewhere.
Speaker: Yeah, bed down, maybe eat some cheese and go to sleep. All right, Alpha and Rains, you guys are on watch. Is there anything you'd like to do? Alpha? Yes. And as Rains says this, he's just getting out the Metallical meerkat, he's getting out the head of the squirrel, he's getting out his three or four puzzle cubes, and he's just gonna... Come take a seat, Alpha. Then I will go and sit down with him. So, how you doing?
Speaker: I am currently operating with 100 % efficiency. Yeah, that's what worries me. How is that a worry? Alfred, 24 hours ago, you couldn't speak a word of Draconic and now here we are. Don't let me get you curious as to how that's happening. 24 hours ago, I could speak Draconic. I learnt Draconic from the libraries back in Shadow Man. You are only aware of it in the last 24 hours.
Speaker: I didn't see it as a curiosity, but now you mention it, I suppose. I see how it could be unusual. You think? All right, let's put that to one side, just for now. How do you feel about our new friends? Because you've been staring at that orc. Barota is an interesting character.
Speaker: I normally can remember everything that has happened with great ease. Yet, her face seems familiar, but I cannot place it from where. It is the first time I have felt such a feeling. Well, if you remember what Archibald said, he said the memory rooms would do that, that you've got living memories in you, Alfred.
Speaker: Something could trigger at some point. I don't know. Maybe whatever is in that memory room inside your chest is, um, maybe it met an orc once and it looked like Marota. I don't know, but it is possible that it is someone else's memory. I've said Marota, but I kind of place it as to what the relation might be.
Speaker: Hey, well, did you hear this guy? This guy who works here, he said he's been the Wild Heart, which means he may have been a bear of gifts. He may have been the Dash Corrin, and he might know one or two things about the memory room. It could be a topic of discussion, discreetly, if you understand what I'm saying. Indeed. I do understand the need for secrecy in our travels. Now, I'm slightly...
Speaker: Well, Alfred, how do I say this? You have done really well the last few days and I know that you see me and Emron as a father figure and I'm not always receptive to that. And I just want you to know it's not because I don't value you and I don't, you wanna call me dad, that's fine. Look, Alfred, my father never really
Speaker: I had these attempts to try and bond with me and his father certainly didn't do it with him and I'm just... I'm trying to break a nasty wheel here. Do you understand what I'm saying? I do believe so. For what it may be worth from the stories I read when this kind of situation arises, it is normally customary for me to say something supportive back.
Speaker: If that is the case, then may I say I'm aware I'm only six years old, but I believe you are an excellent dad. Thanks, Alfred. Look, I'm aware that I've put quite a burden on you with this
Speaker: memory room things and I know that you know that the day I placed that memory room into your chest, you woke up just like that. Artificer. Stuff that I spent my life working on, 20 years working on, you could just do it. And that means you probably got that from me. Now, you do understand that my grandfather and my father, if they figure out, if they figure out about those memory rooms,
Speaker: they're gonna wanna do the same. You've got enough in your memory bank about both of those to know that no good is gonna come of that, right? There's a big pause from Alfred at this moment, and he's kind of staring into you. You can see cogs turning either metaphorically or literally, I'm not too sure. Alfred. At least it's gonna eventually, yes, I do understand.
Speaker: No one must know about the memory root. Especially those two we travel with. Agreed. Now, my flirting with that Tiefling was mostly performative. Mostly. But you need to understand. To stop him finding out that information, I'd fuck him a thousand times over. You get that, right?
Speaker: It is good to know that you would take one for me, dad. Well, that was straight out of that field, man. I couldn't hold that. I tried to be professional. Well, my way with words, as we've discovered multiple times over the last 24 hours and beyond, isn't always the most clear or tactile, but you get the point, right? They can find out.
Speaker: You can't wait for your future kids to listen back to this. The person known as Nix is somebody who I instinctively do not trust. He reminds me of somebody back from Shadow Man. Really? They have very similar character perspectives. They are not the same person.
Speaker: All right. Well, let's remove him. If you don't trust him, you ain't going to tell him. Can I, do I have, I will tell him nothing. Well, I'm more worried about her. You seem mighty interested in her. Are you forbidding me? Are you forbidding me from explaining to her the origins of my creation?
Speaker: You know, forbidden is a kind of my father thing, and I always rebel against that. And if you've taken essence of me, you're going to rebel against that. I'm trusting you, Alpha, to understand that we don't know these people well enough yet to know what they would do with that information. Now, Imran knows, but I know that if agents of my father or grandfather got their hands on him, he would die before expending that information.
Speaker: And you do not believe that Marotta or Nix would do the same? I met them 24 hours ago, and they that is into a fire in the sewer. I see your point. I will remain indiscreet around their presence in the future. As this conversation is taking place, you suddenly hear an almighty thump below you. You feel the ground kind of shudder slightly for a second. And then you are scuffling.
Speaker: and then silence again and then one long scratch from the door along the middle of the store to where the counter is on the other side this isn't on the surface this is coming from below I remember that we were told that this sort of shit might happen I'm going to glance at the potato peeler
Speaker: Is it given any sign that the alarm has been broken and something's about to come through that hatch? No. I turn back to Alpha and think the best thing I can do is just take my mind off it and pay it no heed because danger is coming that I'm going to be told by the casting of alarm. Because that's unnerved me. You know, Alpha, the day I placed that memory rune into your chest,
Speaker: I tried it once before and I'm not ashamed to say it's spectacularly failed. So, Emrahm built you like a stronger chest cavity, but that's not the point. The point is, and I'm going to go into my satchel and pull out my ring, my signet ring of the Prince of Shadowmen, and I'm going to hold it up to him and say, that first memory ruin I tried, it burst into a thousand pieces, but I managed to save some of it.
Speaker: And it's right here in this ring. Now, I haven't been wearing this because of the value of its content. And I certainly don't want nicks or anyone else for that matter knowing that I got it. However, I've been thinking about the Nakavolo and I've been thinking, well, you see, to make more Nakavolo, we need the, well, we need what we got in Shadow Man. We need what we had in the Sisterhold Lyceum. Now,
Speaker: We don't have that. However, we have a certain impulses as biological creatures. And for instance, it's what teaches us to breathe. It's just a part of our being. And now you have this very specific thing with memory, which is absolutely fascinating. And I'm wondering in the way that we have a subconscious that I don't know why certain smell can make us remember something. I wonder, Alfred, and I've been wondering for a while, what happens
Speaker: if I give you this. And, well, as you can see, I point to the squirrel on the desk and the metal meerkat and I just slap the desk and the meerkat's chest cavity opens. When I place that memory room into your chest, my understanding of
Speaker: Well, what tomorrow could be was forever older than the... It got me thinking about why you choose the word alpha for your name. Do you know what the word means? No. Well, there's two schools of thought. There's the anthropological meaning, which I don't go much for. And that's that it's about placing yourself at the top of an order by strength. Now, that doesn't strike me as you, alpha. However,
Speaker: In the teachings of soul, there is a celestial meaning to what the word alpha means. And it means to be the brightest star in the sky. It means to guide the way for others. And that got me thinking about what happens if you take this ring and you put it in that homunculus.
Speaker: Alpha's going to give a really, really puzzled look at this moment. He's trying to, he kind of understands what you're doing. He's not sure what's going to happen, but he's going to take the ring and you're going to just gently place it into the metal meerkat and you're going to kind of give it a little bit of a twist and a turn and whatnot. And then almost just kind of before he pulls his hand away, you're just going to see a little pulse go through Alpha's finger into the ring as well.
Speaker: And what happens is the chest cavity closes and then this pool of just bright light surrounds the meerkat and also engulfs the squirrel. And what happens is kind of like a Megazord in Power Rangers. The squirrel and the meerkat seem to merge together. It now has two tails, one metal and one made of fur.
Speaker: It has one metal arm and one fur arm, and then the same for the legs. And then the head of the metallic meerkat just pops over with this little top hat on top. And what happens if the two eye sockets in the metallic meerkat just start to glow white as alpha and rains discover the means of artificery infusions as the homunculus servant
Speaker: comes into life. Nice. You've just become Frankenstein. Yes, I'm probably more like Eagle.
Speaker: Very nice guys. So as that realisation hits home and you both have a second looking at it and looking at each other, you descend into kind of quiet talk and again eventually into your rest. You have no more noises, no more affectations from below that seem to come up and the rest of your watch passes uneventfully until the sun begins to rise on a new day and a new morning and we
Speaker: meet Nix and Morota. Morota waiting there patiently first and Nix slowly joining from the center of town. The sun is slowly rising. It's still a cold arid day. There's deep, deep black clouds hanging over and you swear Nix as you move from your barrels on the docks and moved towards the center of town to the south, you could hear a rumble of thunder coming in from the south near Drolak.
Speaker: That might have to be in your imagination. You meet up and you see Marotta stood nearby a couple of guards, eyeing them carefully. Sorry, have I jumped something, Danny? Would you like to do something before then? Just on Nix's approach, could I do a cursory perception check to see how rested he is? Does it look as though he is hungover or...
Speaker: didn't necessarily have a comfortable night like what's his you know when you look at someone in the morning and you're like you look rough is am i getting hey now i'm used to sleeping on a ship saying am i am i getting that judging yeah give us a perception check please donny okay don't be judging me it's great is it that's a 21 whoa you're very aware the bag is under his eyes are a little bit bigger than usual and his tail is less
Speaker: move V, that's flicky, imagine it's like a cat's almost and he gets annoyed, it flicks a little bit and it's quite limp and that he's... Hey now, come on with those words! Just the tales! But the rest of him is just as jovial and expressive as you would expect of Mr Correll from your very limited knowledge, two days worth of knowledge of Nick Correll.
Speaker: The only thing that really gives it away is the bags under the eyes and the fact that he's wearing very similar clothes with the exact same clothes that he was wearing yesterday. Aside from that, please correct me if I'm wrong Danny, but that's Ian, but that's as far as I'm aware of anything that would give you away as being tired.
Speaker: You know, it sounds all good to me. I'm giving you the long, you've sort of had the long rest, but I'm saying it's not the most comfortable of long rests. Yeah. Giving you a locale. Yeah. Of course. I mean, Nix is used to sleeping on boats. Exactly. And yeah, you know, it's not exactly the Ritz. But yeah, everything you said is correct. All good with me. Awesome.
Speaker: All right, so next to your brooch, and you see Marotta about 50 feet or so away, standing out, unfortunately, as one of the very few orcs. You have seen one or two others around, but Marotta has a very specific forlorn, has a stare that just tells her very clearly apart. That and the way she holds herself is just one of a fighter. You're very aware of the danger that she naturally holds within herself, because there's a calmness to her demeanor, which the other orcs around don't have.
Speaker: Good morning. You're looking very beautiful this morning. Don't say another fucking word. But I just said you look beautiful. I mean, you've got to learn to take a compliment once in your life. Aye, and feel free to compliment me on anything but my appearance. Okay. I like your feet. Still in that category? No? Okay, I'll try hands tomorrow.
Speaker: You're going to have to learn to get better at this. I'm going to wear you down. Me and you are going to become thick as thieves. You'll see. You look like shite. Thanks. Thanks. Yeah, that's the response to what I just said to you. You know what? Don't worry about it. I had a great night and many, many people in the bed that I was in, a lot of fafolites and games were played and
Speaker: yes i'm a little bit worse for wear sure you did i'm sure you had a fantastic night and you've contracted you can be one of them i'm sure any time like you have got some sort of disease from it just whisper sweet nothing's in my ear i'm just gonna you know magic will happen i'm just gonna shove you back at this point quite quite heavily and walk back towards the the armor shot arms and armor i get the playing hard to get thing no
Speaker: And as you start to walk you with that, obviously it has been a full long rest, I should have mentioned, and we have all leveled up to the high old level of level two. So, Marota, apart from Nix, actually, apart from Nix, but Marota, what are the level one for life, baby? What did you take? What did you get? What did you get as level one, as a monk? As a monk, I have 10 extra feet of movement, which is great. So I'm super speedy. You pace off quicker. That's it.
Speaker: And I now have access to key points. So I'll be able to do some more fun things. Nice. Okay. So he's spending some time in the abattoir through the night punching meat. Punching me meditating in a montage. Yeah. Full on Rocky montage. Got you. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, Nick, you're, you're hanging around at level one for a bit longer, which makes sense, which makes sense. Yeah, I'm fine with that down in the depths of level one by myself. Makes sense.
Speaker: So as you, Nix, I imagine, yeah, almost you are surprised by this uptake of pace. You think, do I sleep a bit awkwardly or something? But she's just a bit harder to keep up with than previously, or she's being a bonnet, given your comment on her feet earlier. And you approach the door of the arms and armor, and it is still locked. What would you like to do?
Speaker: Nix is going to knock, sorry Nix, Marota is going to knock three times with a clenched palm. Three times with a clenched palm against the door. You hear a voice on the inside. What's the password?
Speaker: Fish guts! You didn't fucking set one, just open the door. Sorry, no, of course. One minute, and you hear... One, two, three, four. The password's always one, two, three, four. While all the clicking's going off, I'm just going to turn to Nick's. Copper says they got the peeler out last night. Oh, that's not a fair bet. I know for sure they were doing some crazy sex games with that flangical thing.
Speaker: And the door opens and you see Elion stood there in front of you. Very happy to see you both again. Oh, great. Come on in, guys. Come on in, please. I'm really excited to get this over with. Is this the first time you've opened the door? No, today, yes. It's still early. It smells like man fart. Yeah, just ignore the smell. It's been a long night. See, I haven't been in here. I've been in the back room. But anyway, my area smells like lavender. Just so you know.
Speaker: Anyway, come on in, come on in, come on in, just let the air out a minute. It smells a bit salty in here, but we've laid salt for the... It could be me. It could be me, to be fair. Oh, that's gross. Anyway, come on in, come on in, guys. And you enter into where Rains and Alpha and Emerald are kind of up and just kind of having a quiet chat to each other. And the three of you have also leveled up as well. We'll start with Alpha, Alpha at level two now, level two, Artificer. What have you taken? What do you get with that?
Speaker: Basically, as we've already done, we get the artificial infusions at level two. So we can basically pick four, but only have two active at any one time. They haven't come out in game yet, but they will do. Basically, I've got repeating shots and some enhanced defense. Oh, nice. Okay. And M. Ron, as a level two cleric, what are you getting?
Speaker: So I gain my channel divinity so I can do that once, put short rest. I can either turn undead or I get the forge cleric ability of Artisan's blessing, which everyone will have done before the guys arrive because otherwise they're all waiting for a couple more hours. And
Speaker: I've also picked up another spell and I've picked up a protection from evil and good as a first level spell. And I've now got three first level spell slots. Look at you smashing it. And finally, last but definitely not least, Reigns as another artifice of yourself, but a slightly different class of artifice. So if you say that, you've also got obviously the infusion. Is there anything else you've got along with that?
Speaker: And Rains has a tiny little homonchreas servant, which is part meerkat, part squirrel. It has a little top hat that it seems to wear that Rains has clearly given it at some point thinking that was an amusing thing to do. It has two tails that seems to us survive the merging. You also noticed that its limbs that looked like they had been constructed by a five -year -old have now seemed to merge with the limbs of the squirrel and therefore it seems to have an even kilter of a body.
Speaker: and it is currently sat in the jug of water, what appears to be filling with its top out or filling itself up, and Raines is excitedly explaining to the other two how it can work as a form of kettle.
Speaker: Alongside that, Rains also has two new infusions, though only one of them is active at the minute, which one is a bag of holding, so he's been able to turn the... He hasn't shared this information yet. Over the course of the night, he's been able to cast a transmutation rune onto his explorer's sack, and that has become a bag of holding. Nice. And he's also managed to find two copper coins in his bag that he has used to create two sending stones.
Speaker: though they're not currently active. Nice, thank you very much. Okay, so, level two. Now I can throw all kinds of shit at you, now you're level two. We're out of it. We're out of the low levels, guys. It's level two with double digits from level one. As in, we've gone from one we've doubled it now to level two. So, you've entered into this slightly cheesy -smelling space, and you see the party kind of all together with aliens stood there as well. Oh, Emma, was there something you wanted to...?
Speaker: Yeah, so before they'll have arrived, Emron will have... I'll have conducted my Artisan's blessing, so I'll have used my Channel Divinity ability, which basically allows me to conduct an hour -long ritual that crafts a non -magical item that must include some metal. So the idea is, I have to use metal to do it.
Speaker: and it has to be up to the worth what I'm making. So I'm going to be using my scimitar. And one will have also asked either rains or alpha if they would give up their scimitar as well. Yeah, I got no need for that. Have it. Do you want mine still? Yeah.
Speaker: I don't mind. I can use all three. It's up to you. Okay, fine. I'm using all three. Okay, that's great. So, Enron will use Art and Blessing essentially through almost like a little bit of a montage where he's almost like he's beating it with his fists and
Speaker: There's no actual hammer in his hand but it's like they spark and all of a sudden they start to glow and they merge and they start to change and essentially I'm going to create with it, if the DM will permit, I'm going to create with it 75 gold pieces worth of powdered silver.
Speaker: Yep, I'll give you that, given that it simitars 100 gold pieces apart. It's 25 gold each, that's three, that's 75. I can essentially create something up to the worth of 100 gold pieces. That has to include some kind of metal as long as I've got to use resources to turn it to something else, up to the value of 100 gold. So I've now got that, and then once he's done that,
Speaker: He will then, I will then use the spell of ceremony as a ritual and I'm going to bless some water because the spell consumes 25 gold pieces worth of powdered silver and I'm going to create a vial of holy water.
Speaker: nice amazing okay well done having used the spell ceremonies while i've used this and he'll have prayed to alito to to to bless the water in this flask uh and yeah it now becomes some holy water that can be poured or thrown at ship
Speaker: very nice and i've still got 50 gold worth of powdered silver which i might use as well yeah that'd be fun all right you keep tabs of that then excellent um so the group's together um alien kind of looks at you all expectantly so it's it's morning and you you wanted the night to um you know rest up and you're looking just strong and healthy as always um
Speaker: how about you we we go downstairs by we i mean i'm definitely staying outside miles away from here open the door all right so um i think let's uh let's do this uh how do you want to lift the axe or do you want one of us to do it for you i would rather not be in this kingdom when that happens
Speaker: That's fine, right? So I'll break the salt line so Nix can cross. And we'll go from there. So N1O. Did you say that out loud?
Speaker: Yeah, I did. That's what I said. What do you mean Nix can cross? I said it in me character voice. What I mean is, Nix, is that as far as... I get it, I get it. I had all my life tiefling. Can't cross salt. Someone holy barrier you've put down because you cast judgement on me and my kind.
Speaker: don't worry about it let's just ignore it open the hatch i'm i'm a big man i'm a big man emron that's okay uh okay i was just surprised in the basement just surprised coming up and i figured you don't have to suffer discomfort crossing it of course i'll just get rid of it for you it's okay i don't offend easily
Speaker: That's alright then. No offence was meant, so there's now to do about that. At least you didn't single anyone out, you know, or mention them by name. No, it was very good not to. I thought that happened. Thanks. So everyone will break the salt line and I'll lift the hatch.
Speaker: First, aliens are going to see this happen. He's going to just leave the store and shut the door behind you guys, leaving on your own. As you approach the hatch, as you break the salt line, you hear a groaning underneath of like this wood or stone or something groaning underneath.
Speaker: As you reach for the small metal ring that is the hatch, as you pull it up, it pulls back and a layer of dust kind of falls down from the back of it. And as you look down towards a rickety wooden ladder and shafts of light shining down through dust and salt as you look down. What do you want to do?
Speaker: Everyone will look to the group. I thought you were going to end the episode then. Sorry. I felt the build up. I thought you would, but I'm going to keep it going until you're not expecting it. Everyone will look to the others and go, whatever god you keep, may they be with you. May the leader guard my hand. And I'll cast Light on the end of my arm.
Speaker: And your balls! And I'm going to jump straight down there. I'll cast Light on my hammer and then yeah she's jumping in. You land at the bottom, dust comes up around you, the ladder is on your right, behind you is a bookcase and your wall is against, your back is against the wall. You look into a large room, at least you assume it's a large room, the walls are covered with
Speaker: dust sheets, large items covered in cream, white, green, black dust sheets, stacked crates stand high around, and six stone pillars adorn in the shape of a six dice, the central portion of this room, holding up what you can assume is the roof above. You stand silently for a moment, Marota, surveying as your eyes adjust to the light. And from the far
Speaker: right corner from your current location. You see a small pair of eyes reflecting back, reflecting off the light from the hatch that you have opened, reflecting from the light that is coming above you. You see the eyes move ever so slightly. And then you hear a voice quietly whisper, you should leave while you can.
Speaker: And that's where we're going to leave this week's episode of The Fellowship of the Table. Sorry, Danny laughing there, bro.
Speaker: Salad fingers, salad fingers in there. No, salad fingers. Salad fingers. I was half expecting, like, you see two twins going, hello. It's all gone a little bit stupid. Sounds like a Stephen King novel. It does a lot, doesn't it? No. I love it. Salad fingers. Getting my... I forgot about that. Could you get in my oven, please?
Speaker: Worth the touch of rusty spoons in my arms and armour. Oh my goodness. It's almost all gasps me. Enjoy this, listeners. That's another podcast. Extra episode within an episode meta going on right here. This is like Episeption in some ways. Just wrapping this up as we normally do, just bringing it back down to law and order. If you wanted to keep up the
Speaker: Stay with the podcast, please do so. We have a Twitter page, a Facebook page, a website. We also have faces. Our individual faces can be found on Twitter, and you can follow them individually if you want to. But it'd be remiss for me not to say thank you very much for listening, tuning in, and making us a part of your week. We love you for it. So yes, if you wanted to go back to following us individually, you can do so. I'm at I've Order One. Darren's at. Darren, page 06. Danny's at. Total Parsey Thrills. Willy, Willy, Willy, Will, Will is at.
Speaker: Natural 20, well. Callum is at TheD20Gamer. And our gorgeous, beautiful DM is at Hastily Roll DM. We are the Fellowship of the Tabletop. Tune in next week, Friday at 7am, GTM time, or whatever time it is around the world for when you listen, because we have listeners around the world and we love you all at night! See you next week! Until next time, guys!
