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Ep. 99 Incarcerated Captain - Bellum Draconis
41 Plays3 months ago
Baal and Emron go to De-Ballbecks house and are greeted by the rather up tight staff. Alpha checks out the Starweaver Emporium and Nyx goes to see his old Captain.
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Intro written and produced by Joseph McDade
Music kindly provided by Fesliyan Studios
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Transcript
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Who is Dame Edna Fizzlebang?
00:02:44
Speaker
I am older. If you are referring to Dame Edna Fizzlebang, leader of Scorchhelm and Dralla, that is a different line of that family tree. Dame Edna!
Fellowship of the Tabletop Podcast Intro
00:03:28
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome to The Fellowship of the Tabletop. We are a 5e D and&D podcast set in the coastal city of Scorchhelm. With me tonight, we have me. I'm Ian. I play Nyx Correll, Tiefling Warserer. We have Callum, who plays the Nakavolo Alpha, art artificial ah if I believe.
00:03:54
Speaker
You believe correctly? Yes! We also have Pooh Bear, who plays Emron. He's a human, cleric, angel guy. you You're okay on this, hi. Yeah, I'll take that. I think I'm reading it from a page.
00:04:11
Speaker
ah no We also have Other Will, who plays the Dragonborn Druid, Balvalcon. Yeah, and he's doing it with his eyes closed, folks. There you guys see. Fuck you, Other well yeah for like bear Will. Yeah, Will. And we have ah just ah our of DND.
00:04:35
Speaker
i really I'd love to know what it stands for. d and v d and d deep yeah I don't know what how he does it, but he does make it sound good. he does You are VIP of D and D. Oh, that won't work. Don't you master Danny? If only you did that slickly without making... Will, Will, that was literally my point to say hello. Are you just so great over me? of writer is respond jo De-inspiration for you, Pooh Bear.
Stormy Ship Scene
00:05:01
Speaker
I'll tell you what, though, we do find ourselves on the deck of a ship on a stormy night. You can hear the creak of the wood as the thunder flashes in the sky and the sound a drowns everything out. And the camera pans in below the deck in the jail cell of the ship.
00:05:29
Speaker
As an old girl is sat, knees hunched to his chest, his eyes fixated on the dog close to him beyond the bars with the keys in his mouth. As his long toes stretch underneath the bars to try and reach said keys. A thought hits him. He looks towards the camera.
00:05:54
Speaker
closes his eyes, orb held, archonically aloft in front of him. He tells us.
Splitting Goals in Scorchhelm
00:06:07
Speaker
Choices! The group awake in some underground penthouse, kinda cool-ass shit with law books, trophies, a training room, some sort of mannequin, and two bedrooms. Nice! Turns out those lot can work on some different goals over this next month, and we'll find out more about that later, I'm sure, but the party decide to split. Nix goes to the harbor, Alpha goes to the arcane observatory, and Emeron and Ball go to that monument to the blight.
00:06:36
Speaker
On the way out of the door, Nyx bumps into Victoria, a pissing goblin. Scortium is alive with life in the
Futuristic Visions at Monument
00:06:45
Speaker
morning. Law and order seem to be very much the key despite the lawlessness of the land. Very strange. And we follow Bal and Emron as they make their way to the monument and they see a gnome looking stern as shit. And when they start talking about the dreamy dreams, they're all like, there's four of us. him me and a human and a dwarf and I'm not a gnome by the way and I know the human it's a she but I can't tell you who but I'll tell you who maybe later but I won't tell you and she follows Tiriani as well and the gnome has got like a full-on hard-on for the winged watch and she's gonna go or he's sorry gonna go looking for the dwarf dwarf and Bao's like do you reckon this could be some sort of futuristic vision and it maybe kind of adds up a little more and Anyway, they decide that if there's any news on this dwarfy dwarf, they could meet up at the monument at dawn. And then the gnome is all like, oh, like I said, I'm not a gnome, by the way. I'm a dragonborn. My name is Drago. Oh, shit, we know that name.
Alpha's Observatory Visit
00:07:46
Speaker
Meanwhile, in the Fenbark district, Alpha is all, like, looking over shit, and he sees some, like, druids casting some cool shit, trying to fight off the curse of Dralak, and it kind of works, and then it doesn't work, and then it does work a little bit more, and he goes himself into some wizardy wizard corner, and there's all sorts of fucked up shit with magic going on, some kind of crazy experiments. Alpha disguises himself as a male this time, probably to suit his voice.
00:08:09
Speaker
Turns out the observatory is closed, but there is a seminar in session tomorrow at about 2 p.m. about the disk in the sky, and he's like, ooh, he starts speaking to some one-armed mist man called Gideon Stonebrook, who pretty much instantly dispels Alpha's disguise, so fuck that. And then he's like, oh, you're a robot boy? Yeah, fuck it. You come on into this seminar. That's fine. He basically says that that disk, in his opinion, must be some sort of extra-planar entity of some sort.
Nyx's Emotional Encounter
00:08:35
Speaker
Nix, meanwhile, at the docks, is there, like, staring at the Esmeralda, getting a little bit weepy. He just wants to get close. He wants to touch that edit ship. You can blame him. We can't blame him. And he feels a little pickpocketed blue tiefling kitty kid who tries to get all up in his grill. And Nix is like, no, boy, I slap your hand away. And he's like, oh, wait, hold on. I'm just going to use you for a little bit of information. And the kid's like, oh, that's Lord Boston's flagship there that's holding on to the turns out that Captain Hildegard Don didn't with Lord Vossain's son, like, stepped him up whilst playing cards. So he's all locked up in the in the dungeon. And Nix is all like, hey, boy, you keep an eye on that ship and I'll give you some goldy gold. Maybe we meet back here every single day. The kid's like, okay, because apparently that's not grooming. And finally, Nix's patron starts to dim his vision as he's looking out over the boat.
00:09:29
Speaker
And then Nyx dunders sees a little bit of writing, a criminal waiting to be free. Oh, titties.
00:09:40
Speaker
So Nyx, as you are instilled in that ah temporal pausing and what feels like five, six minutes of just seeing that shadowy figure, that phrase arched over the silhouette of the spider who swims, that lurks beneath the Esmeralda. You do notice hosts of spiders are just making their way upon your person. Time is...
00:10:19
Speaker
really affected here and you are moving at such a slow pace but you're you so cognizant of everything you're seeing. We zoom out of that picture and we find ourselves watching our metallic friend move around in the mystic quarter.
Arcane Emporium Adventures
00:10:41
Speaker
Having signed up for a seminar successfully tomorrow, Alpha, what other escapades are you getting up to?
00:10:49
Speaker
In all fairness, there was the, um, refreshes week. It's like a sub story for you. Alpha is the freshest week. It's a really bad spinoff. but about university edition yeah um ah Alpha 3 AM. Get your sex toys out of here. It's what he goes to school for.
00:11:17
Speaker
idiot um I would like to ah go to the Arcane Emporium that I had walked past, the busy the area that had a lot of interchange of wizards, other than you just going back and forth. I think I actually would have been a little bit intrigued ah by the hustle and bustle.
00:11:37
Speaker
So as you approach that building, but you have to queue for a couple of minutes just to sort of wait that for that that turn to go in. And as you step inside, immediately you're filled with these huge tapestries and and and monuments to this this select coven almost of magical family members who seem to have run this establishment for a long period of time.
00:12:02
Speaker
And beneath this gallery of of elvin ah shell ah enchanted items for sale, rare spell components, magical artifacts, books, literacy, lore, history,
00:12:22
Speaker
air sort of um around the space almost has a staticness to it. You walk in and you feel healthy, you feel charged, you feel like you've just walked through literal caffeine. um there's this There's something about your your metallic being that just is empowered by this space but but but it's almost like everywhere has this static magnetic pull for you.
00:12:44
Speaker
There is a sea of customers here, and it's it's hard to get to shelves without knocking elbows or shoulders with another, uh, uh, arcanically interested individual perusing wares. you pass the shelves of of scrolls and spell books and potions and you just see at this counterless um transactional area this beautiful drow with white hair that that's almost like a lateral like it is ah goes from from head to to ankle
00:13:17
Speaker
And she holds herself with this stillness, this captivating stillness that if you look at her for too long, you are you are drawn in, you are mildly infatuated. And for you, that's an uncommon feeling of the idea of lust or love, but that just sort of mildly evokes this sense within you. And you hear telepathically,
00:13:46
Speaker
Greetings. I, Aurelia Starweaver, welcome you to the Starweaver Emporium. Know that you are watched, but you are welcome, traveler.
00:14:04
Speaker
That's all. And there is ah there is a silence here, like almost like a library silence, apart from this one constant sung tone in an elvish voice, in an elvish dialect that makes you entirely calm. It gives you a sense of protection. You you feel safe. You feel mothered.
00:14:33
Speaker
What would you like to do?
00:14:37
Speaker
um I will approach the Drow as this that a kind of unusual attraction that Alfred never felt. Not pursuing it, but obviously almost like a magnetic kind of feel that he has going through and approached the
Sand-Worn Archive Advice
00:14:54
Speaker
Drow. um He won't attempt to communicate telepathically, um but in like a low whispered tone.
00:15:03
Speaker
Greetings. I'm wondering if you might be able to help me procure some information. I wish to do some research on memory rooms and naka photos.
00:15:22
Speaker
You watch as she says nothing but lifts her arm and this jade coloured dress that is attached to the the wrist lifts and turns and her palm is extended towards you. And you watch as various other elven handmaidens bring tea, bring small bowls of fruit over and place them at your feet. Then I need you to make a wisdom saving throw. Okay, this is not what I was expecting. 16. You're asked to sit by her and
00:16:02
Speaker
You comply instantly. And you're just sacked with a saucer of tea in front of you, a small bowl of fruit.
00:16:13
Speaker
And you hear telepathically. And what information does thou require? If it's telepathically, again, I will try and return it in kind just using message as the Ken trip. Merely looking for history.
00:16:33
Speaker
ah possible sightings that may have occurred, um creations thereof. Any notable Nakavolo in history is rumoured or otherwise.
00:16:49
Speaker
I am perhaps not the leading authority on what you seek and she gestures towards a window. If it is information on races of the past, the sand-worn archive, that is where you should head. If it is knowledge on the present, if it is pursuit of the future, then you are welcome to stay.
00:17:26
Speaker
May I ask, have you seen any Naka photos before?
00:17:34
Speaker
I am not familiar with that word, though from what I can detect, that is your racial composition.
00:17:49
Speaker
It is one that is familiar with me, yes, I am one of that kind. I am searching for more like myself and heard rumours there may be one within the city itself.
00:18:01
Speaker
A person such as yourself, I'm sure, has much information fed. I am not one for gossip.
00:18:13
Speaker
Purely for knowledge. Would a creature present of such construction not be of interest to you? No. All are welcome in my halls.
00:18:29
Speaker
What can you tell me of the fizzlebangs?
00:18:35
Speaker
There are many.
Exploring Fizzlebang History
00:18:37
Speaker
This is not a library. We welcome the pursuit of knowledge. You may find a book over there and she sort of gestures and there is this this light that leaves her hand and sort of floats towards a bookshelf.
00:19:00
Speaker
The collected works of Castan Finbin Balhorn, there he writes of an ally of the same name. Otherwise, if you are referring to Dame Edna Fizzlebang, leader of Scorchhelm and Dralak,
00:19:27
Speaker
That is a different line of that family tree. big so big laugh you and the fiddle bag i love it like much already I think you should read the book by that casting guy. He sounds awesome. I'm loving these name jobs. They are just warming my soul. Yeah, my heart fluttered. um Alpha will look over to where the light has gone with these books. Am I free to take or are these two purchase? Two purchase.
00:20:14
Speaker
How much would one of these books cost me?
00:20:20
Speaker
depends. Should you wish to take one from the Valhorn collection, there are only five in print in all of Aerith. And this is one of them. I would not part with this book which pertains to one of the heroes of the Blight for less than 300 gold. Hmm, I see.
00:20:55
Speaker
It may be something that has to be purchased at another time. I'm competing in the jewel games. Perhaps I will be able to earn some gold and purchase a few books for myself. The history of the fiddle bangs, I believe, is something that may interest me. One of the prizes at the games as a token to anything in my emporium.
00:21:22
Speaker
Should the winner be lucky enough? Anything in your Emporium? Yes. What do you think would be the most valuable thing in your Emporium? Someday as fuck. Phil, you can't ask for her, Callum. You can't ask for her. I know little about your species, but I know a lot about coin and what you do not carry upon you.
00:21:55
Speaker
You will only learn what you can see on the shelves here. Until more coin, I detect.
00:22:05
Speaker
Very well. I thank you for your time. And I do apologize if it has not been worth yours, but your presence has been wonderful. I know.
Mystic Quarter Exploration
00:22:20
Speaker
Please, enjoy the tea, enjoy the refreshments. Stay as long as you wish and listen to the song.
00:22:31
Speaker
And in all fairness, Alpha is probably going to it sit and chill in this soothing area, even though he can't probably really enjoy the tea, he's going to attempt to drink it. I feel he might just be a little bit overwhelmed with this weird not emotions, but surge of whatever that's going through him. And he might not eat the food, but the very least, I think he'd try and partake in a little bit of tea. um He does have like ah an open vent around his mouth that he can at least pour some liquid down. And as you spend some time there, you notice that the song changes tone, that
00:23:17
Speaker
Various other ah customers are instructed to do the same when you see they're having the same telepathic conversation with individuals. And by the end of your time there, you are maybe one of 14, 15 people who are sat drinking tea and and telepathically discussing wares.
00:23:40
Speaker
Can you finish?
00:23:45
Speaker
and you feel a pull, that that magnetic pull just gestures you back towards the door. Not dictating your movement, but it's almost like someone is just tugging at your shoulder to leave.
00:23:59
Speaker
Alpha almost kind of involuntarily will we'll follow it. You'll have to say about the deadline, and this pull draws very weird to him, but he he does kind of give into it quite easily. OK.
00:24:14
Speaker
And as you exit that shop and step back out into the mystic quarter of Scorch Helm, is there anything else you'd like to do? What time would it be at the moment, roughly? 10.30 at best. I would probably at this stage um start making my way towards the mailing where we'll actually be signing up um with the idea that when I get there, if I am early,
00:24:45
Speaker
I would be looking at and possibly kind of and trying to gauge what kind of competition I may see if there's anybody that I feel kind of stands out or if there's any big giveaways or anything like that, out of reading people as best as what he actually could do. But I i will go and if I head there early, that's what I'll spend the time doing. Okay, so a series of things will happen. As you head there early, you pass through ah the sort of central street in the district known as Eastern Grey Glass. And and this district is...
00:25:20
Speaker
the one that is adjacent to the castle. So there is a lot more of the nobility here. And you pass two buildings of note on the street. One is the sort of arcane college here in Dralak in the seat of all, um, uh, Arcanic study. Uh, and that is called the Academy of Arcane Law, believe it or not. And it, and it mirrors the same sort of clientele and, um,
00:25:48
Speaker
activity that you would associate with how everyone in Reigns have told you about the Sister Hold Lyceum in in um in Shadow Mend. Thank you. And then across the street from that, you you spy this really beautiful um Museum-esque concert hall.
Hall of Mirrors
00:26:09
Speaker
ah Think think like how in in London you walk past sort roman architecture and just almost fax Roman architecture in certain moments. It's out of outer place, historically not quite accurate, but still feels like it should be there.
00:26:23
Speaker
And in it is so on the outskirts of this building is is sort of engraved and hewn into the columns that support it. Huge heroes of of um ah significance, it seems. Almost like we would we would worship ah folklore. We would worship heroes in in religion. did That same sort of figure and and this the the notion of the statue exists there.
00:26:50
Speaker
This building clearly identifies itself as the Hall of Mirrors. You keep walking through the centre of town, and you arrive eventually at the melee, via... So you arrive at the the melee, where all of the signups are sort of happening, and it's really hard. In this central square, the...
00:27:15
Speaker
sheer mass of people who are shopping, who are dining, who are revveeler revellling reveling in just activity. It's hard to distinguish who is there for competitive purposes at the games and who is not, but Alpha, if you could make a perception check for me to sort of yeah try and just read that.
Gnome and Soothsayer Encounter
00:27:36
Speaker
11.
00:27:39
Speaker
you feel like you need to stay there for a couple of hours to study it, and you go in this discrete, low-power mode and just take in that surrounding. And that is you for a little while. And as we sort of pull that, to turn that clock back a little bit, we find ourselves leaving the monument of the Blight where Enron and Baal had just been ah conversing with a gnome who revealed themselves to be Drago. What would you two like to do?
00:28:07
Speaker
So just as we are leaving the monument, what Ba will do almost imperceptibly, um as ah subtly as he can with his somatic gesture, with his brand new ring, I would like to not carve, but kind of make on or near the monument or on the ground of the monument, like like I say, almost imperceptibly, like it's someone's kind of traced a line in the sand somewhat, literally just write the name, Gail Fire the Sleet.
00:28:36
Speaker
And with like a sad smile, ah he'll turn back and kind of catch up to Emrom. As you would begin that process, ah you feel a very old haggard hand weight on your right shoulder. And this female voice, the soothsayer who has been tending to to lots of people who have been in mourning and contributing and and and remembering, just says, I cannot allow you to deface the monument.
00:29:06
Speaker
Not defacing, not touching the monument. I must ask your purpose. What you're contributing has not been confirmed or agreed. No, I suppose... Is this someone who fell to the blight that you wish to be remembered? Yes. And that individual?
00:29:29
Speaker
Their name? Gale Fire.
00:29:36
Speaker
I see, and you see this, what looks like quite an earnest elderly half-elf female dropped quite a serious disposition. The names on this monument are for those of the Kingdom of Dralak. And what makes you think she isn't?
00:30:05
Speaker
If you know of gale-filed sleet, you know that that flying lizard was not of our kingdom at all.
00:30:22
Speaker
And pray tell, what do you know of this flying lizard, which is vastly in superior to the mother Shondra-ka? I expect one of your color to agree.
00:30:41
Speaker
So this is completely taken ball back somewhat. Uh, and just for clarity, cause I didn't quite fully hear that. Did you say inferior or super that she's one kind of inferior to Shondra on a car? Was that all something along the way to Shondra? Okay, cool. Hmm.
00:31:03
Speaker
Agree to disagree, perhaps. Do not invoke the wrath of your sovereign mother's kindness.
00:31:14
Speaker
Again, Baal kind of tilts his head at that. Who are you? Just one who's a devout fowler of this kingdom and all who live within it. The monument is for Dralakians, who gave their life to serve the north.
00:31:44
Speaker
Bart's going to stand there for a second, just kind of taking this person in. What um heritage does this ah person seem to be? So half elven. OK.
00:31:58
Speaker
the Elven element that does exist is wood elven, or at least the notion of wood elven. You will need to give me a nature check. Oh crap. Nature's intelligence based. Damn. Be smarter. Be smarter. I'll endeavor too, but at the moment, actually I got a 15. Okay.
00:32:25
Speaker
um There is a line of wood elves in Dralak that goes right back to when Dralak was a jungle kingdom. That line is broken, that line is sparse.
00:32:43
Speaker
But what's quite distinct about that line is they have fiery red eyes, which is really uncommon for the human element to have even inherited, let alone for that the elven element to still exist. They're so displaced because it has been such an eternity since Dralak was a jungle. But she possesses it. There is a quality to her that also feels... Hmm. Make a perception check as you delve a bit deeper.
00:33:24
Speaker
o that I'm slightly better at, he says, before rolling stupidly. ah Never mind, 26. You rolled a 26. I did. This soothsayer has been resurrected. There are elements of the skin that are broken. She resembles things compatible with the undead that you have experienced.
00:33:51
Speaker
Not in their same sort of mindless hostility of of those who serve the Blight and the Blight's mission, but she has been brought back for for so and is controlled somehow.
00:34:12
Speaker
It's a wonder they let some sort of Blight kin around this monument, half-elf.
00:34:23
Speaker
I was tasked with keeping it by a champion of the blood who serves my god Akiva. And I was tasked with erasing your trace from the face of this world.
00:34:46
Speaker
transgress against me is to transgress against the eternal ones. And the company you recently kept makes me believe that might be an unwise course of action. What do you know of the company I've recently kept?
Monument Significance Debate
00:35:02
Speaker
I think we both know. The master I serve and the master that individual serves.
00:35:16
Speaker
We'll talk more another time. Emron, sun's getting high. Deface this monument again and you will not be welcome. ah Should you wish to register any names of Drolakian kin who have fallen, you are most welcome to do so.
00:35:38
Speaker
Baal will kind of have already turned his back and be walking away. And one sort of had had walked ahead and then realised that he wasn't being followed and came back. I think we were just sort of having a conversation and not getting the response. yeah i want Your monologue just became apparent. And then it goes back. And there was this eight year old tiefling with one horn staring at you now.
00:36:03
Speaker
and he yeah he He watches Baal walk away and he turns to the soothsayer. Really sorry. He's not one for gods and that kind of stuff. He doesn't understand sort of some of this. Really sorry. um And then Ron sort of catches up with Baal. What was that all about? ah She's undead filth. I mean, she looked pretty alive. Yeah, that's the tricky thing about it. But if you look for the finer details,
00:36:35
Speaker
She is being compelled to do what she's doing now. Oh, she's actually still dead, not like resurrected. Well, this is the thing. Like, you know, if you brought one of us back to life, does that make one of us all dead? Danny, my understanding was that she was kind of undead in origin rather than simply kind of resurrected. Is that the case or was it like a... Given your high perception, you were able to make the distinction there that was an undead creature being preserved okay as opposed to someone being truly resurrected. Okay, I'm with you. Awesome. No, no. Trust me. I have, as I say and have said before, I have sent enough of their kind, both
00:37:28
Speaker
immobile and severely injured off the face of this fucking world to know the stench within. She is not living, yet she's puppeteered to look after this monument.
00:37:44
Speaker
this monument that is, I understand, entirely for the people of this realm, who seem to have fallen to the blight, but seem to give little shits about those who have given everything even more so. Why fucking Dralak? Why not other places as well?
00:38:02
Speaker
I don don't know. Emma's sort of looking around, seeing the ball's getting pretty randy in the middle of public. It's full on preachers. He's got a crowd against us. Emma's like,
00:38:16
Speaker
I don't know, everyone does things differently, but you know, it's all a bit, it's all a bit weird and maybe this woman elf, maybe she's her penance is to tend to as a representation and so they don't forget what the undead are. I don't know.
Dubolbank House Search
00:38:37
Speaker
You disgust me. I don't wish to return here. Okay, you you don't have to. I'll i'll do it. um let's ah Let's go find De Bullbank. Either way. yes um Yeah, he was living... Where was he? Everyone sort of looked things back. ah There was a house, wasn't there? Scorchhelm House, was it? He's definitely in the Milk Gate region. And he had his sigil this... Yeah, he told us his sigil.
00:39:08
Speaker
um and We maybe should ask around, see if anyone knows quite a rich family, so. Very rich, apparently owns lots of property in the area, so shouldn't be too troublesome to find. Is there like a stall hold or something nearby he might? Not on this street, on this street it is a criss-cro, heavily criss-cro. Are there any criss-cro around? Yeah, literally everywhere. You you you better stay here, i'll I'm going to go and talk to the criss-cro. Yeah, but I was just going to stand there seething somewhat.
00:39:38
Speaker
And we'll go over to the nearest of Crystal Guards. The closest patrol you find, there's a cluster of about six of them. Again, in that that half plate, ah half purple robed attire. All of these ones human. And as you sort of approach, they don't mark you with any sort of suspicion to begin with.
00:40:00
Speaker
ah it' Excuse me, really sorry to trouble you, ah not from around here, but I am looking for the house of the Dubolbank family. I wonder whether you were able to point me in the right direction. I believe there was just one of those remaining, the ah Winifred Dubolbeck. That's the one. You'll find his residence residence to the north of Milkit, here in closer to the shoreline. Look for the abandoned jetty and you'll see his colours, no doubt.
00:40:30
Speaker
Ah, that's really, really helpful of you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. It'd be nice for his, his butler's incredibly rude. Okay. We've met him. He came off his road as well. So yeah. Thank you very much. And everyone go to with the ball. Right. Found one minutes ago. He lives on by the sea.
00:40:49
Speaker
Let's go. Okay, let's go.
Meeting Dubolbank's Butler
00:40:52
Speaker
So you sort of have to meander through a couple of alleyways to get to the the shoreline. And true to his word, as soon as you get to that northernmost road, there is one massive compound with that orange and black heraldry that you're looking for.
00:41:12
Speaker
It's not clear immediately how to get in, but behind that the compound itself is this sort of six, seven abreast jetty that is completely abandoned. No ships have been moored there in a long time by the looks of it. No docks have been worked, but the compound itself is immaculately clean. It's one of those that sort of operates with... the ah It's entirely walled. You step through the front and you're in this sort of orchard.
00:41:41
Speaker
It's growing grapes. The smell of wine as you walk in is abundantly clear. And there are a few sort of halflings that are sort of tending to those rows of vineyards. And as you sort of head through the center, in front of you is this sort of Spanish style château, but château is a French word.
00:42:06
Speaker
plaza villa villa villa is the word I want thank you ah villa with this really beautiful sort of hand-padded uh mudded balconies that sort of emboss around the core structure and in the front ah door open is just this figure dressed in the black suit is drinking a glass of water human collard collared as in the slave collared that you're so used to seeing. every Every dozen or so people you pass, there is there is a collared slave as well in Scorchow.
00:42:44
Speaker
Everyone will walk up towards this, approach this man. Off the decking, please, off the decking, please, back onto the dirt where you belong. May I ask why you are here? And there's this quite sort of late 50s,
00:42:59
Speaker
white, whisked human hair sort of tied back almost like um in my head, it's it's it's like ah the Commodore from yeah Pirates of the Caribbean in that that Imperial ah Empire Trading Company, yeah and British naval pompadour wig, that sort of um as aesthetic. yeah Very well kept, but just insists that you step off the approach into the villa. I'm on a sort of shrug, sigh, and sort of take a few steps back. We're here on an invitation by ah Master Winifred DeBoorbeck. I was aware of no invitation. May I ask who's calling?
00:43:49
Speaker
ah Yes, ah my name's ah Emron. This is Baal. We met your master on the road. Yeah, I see. One moment. Do not move. Emron deliberately shuffle slides her right. And this human sort of turns, shuffles, and yanks this chain and this hound appears in the doorway and just watches you. A little bit of foam at the mouth.
00:44:16
Speaker
And then you see him step towards this desk, just inside the reception area, and puts his hand upon this stone and begins to talk towards the stone. And you hear, foul with your perception, relaying the same sort of question. Master, some individuals say they encountered you on the road, or a dragonborn and a haggard, hairy, human. I should get wrecked.
00:44:46
Speaker
It speaks like one of the common rabble. For example, that comment. Emron. I see. I see. I see. Yes.
Communication via Mysterious Stone
00:45:01
Speaker
Takes his hand off the stone, slowly returns to you and says, the master regrets that he is still traveling. He asks how on earth you got to scorch helm before he did. We had an elephant.
00:45:14
Speaker
Yes, Arthur returned her to do a fucking frog.
00:45:19
Speaker
I understand. He returns to the stone. I understand. Comes back to you. He deeply regrets the incident with the frogs.
00:45:33
Speaker
when ah When will he be in the city so we can come and call upon him and we can discuss what we discuss with him on the road? He turns, goes back to the stone. You can talk to animals, can't you, Barge? You want to talk to the dog and see if it's happy? the The vagrants, Master, which to learn when you will be returning. I understand.
00:46:00
Speaker
I understand. Take his hand off. Brilliant. The master hopes he is here by sunrise tomorrow morning. ah Marvelous sunrise tomorrow. The master said he is incredibly happy that you have taken him up on his offer to attend and asks if you are parched or famished and sandwiches should be made available How do you feel, Bal? Sandwiches? Drinks? Yes, I'm fucking starving. Go make me something. That'll be lovely. I understand. He turns, goes into the villa and shuts the door. Dog on the porch, on the veranda, staring at you the whole time. Is there anything you want to do in that time? You sort of look around and there are halflings autonomously working, not collared.
00:46:59
Speaker
ah but no other real activity in this pillar. Does the wealth here look like it's a bit decrepit or does it look well maintained? No, this place looks incredibly clean, but this place, it looks like it has no um consistency in the style. Picture an individual who has no understanding of how art or design is is interpreted, and everything just looks like a mismatch of stuff you'd get out ah with no cohesive connection. ah
00:47:40
Speaker
What you're looking at is you're looking at doors that are painted in completely different textures and colors. um Inside what you spied from that reception area is this huge polar bear skin rug with the heads still attached, the hands, etc. Like a hunting trophy in this like fuchsia pink wall coverings. Nothing seems to match as though it is it is wealth but but chaotic wealth. Okay.
00:48:08
Speaker
He returns some minutes later, and you're both given a plate with cured meat sandwiches. He doesn't hand them to you, he puts them on the floor in front of you. Fair enough that the the chain dog wouldn't be able to get that, that the dog tries to. Did he did did he step close enough? Because everyone wants to like pat him on the arm with his dusty hands. The moment you make that gesture, he sort of flinches hands up and says, um no thank you.
00:48:35
Speaker
Please eat your sandwiches and be on your way. The master will expect you tomorrow. If you could call after lunch, the master might be able to get some rest.
00:48:45
Speaker
Everyone's going to take the plate of sandwiches and eat them in the most common way he can, like chewing with his mouth foot open, you name it. He's going to be deliberately uncouth to this person. His sighs and rolls his eyes and gives you daggers. Everyone does not care. He's going to pick up the plate and give Baal's plate to him.
00:49:05
Speaker
Yeah, Baal will grab the plate. ah I'm not hungry after all, and I'll throw some of the sandwiches to the dog. i No. Do not feed the animals, please. The master will surely, surely understand my ire. I'm sure he'll get over it.
00:49:28
Speaker
Now, if you are quite finished, you may leave the premises. Choose for the sandwiches and everyone tosses the plate to him.
00:49:37
Speaker
Yeah, Bart will kind of turn around and loudly as he's kind of walking away, go, everyone, do you think he was a cunt before he was a slave, as he's kind of walking off? And not you hear one of the halflings just sort of say, always been.
00:49:51
Speaker
ah
00:49:54
Speaker
Everyone just doesn't know what to say. he's He's just like, I'm pretty sure he was born with a stick up his ass. And as you were sort of beginning to leave the villa,
00:50:06
Speaker
The doors reopen, and you just hear one moment, please, as he awkwardly sort of hastily shuffles towards you.
Dubolbank's Task Proposal
00:50:18
Speaker
Out of breath, the master wishes me to convey he is entirely sorry he couldn't be here, but asks if you might be interested in taking care of a particular matter.
00:50:35
Speaker
ah We could be engaged to help him out in exchange for recompense, I'm sure. He says he's entirely bored and doesn't know what to do with all of his money. Okay. But he recently invested in a venture that has returned nothing and the individuals have defaulted on their payments.
00:51:01
Speaker
He just wanted to gauge whether or not you're into that sort of work. As in roughing someone up for not repaying. Well, the master didn't put it that way. The master would never speak like such rabble. No. But yes. Are you? ah Are you? I mean, you know, some of us have more moral, you know, compulsion. And some of us don't. How much?
00:51:29
Speaker
Well, I do not know the details that is between the bastard and his chosen associates. And you're not one of them? Who is the associate? Well, you, you oaf. No, no, no. I meant who is the person that owes him the money, you little turd. I'd know nothing of the master's finances. The master's opulent wealth is not for me to know anything about. So, turn up, beat the shit out of people that haven't paid any money and then yet have a- How are we to know who we're turning up to beat the shit out of?
00:51:59
Speaker
I believe the master will give you all the information. You just wanted to know whether or not you're able to engage in that sort of work. I'm sure members of our group would be interested. And as long as we're not beating up nuns, it might be all right. Emron, I really want to burn something or someone. I'm in. The master also says he owes you a great deal of coin and that will be ready for you tomorrow. Good. I'll be here to collect. Did you remember the amount?
00:52:27
Speaker
I'm not privy to this information. Okay. Now please leave the premises. You are souring the grapes. Everyone looks around. Which grapes? He just looks at you for lonely.
00:52:47
Speaker
ah Cheers. And everyone. Quite. Tell your master I'm in.
00:52:58
Speaker
Thank you. Not doing it for you. Fuck off.
00:53:05
Speaker
And the compound gates shut behind you. Well, he really is. I'm mad. I didn't think I could hurt someone after just meeting him. He is what he is, but it's sweet.
00:53:21
Speaker
I suppose you better call and meet up with the others. Mmm, looks like it's almost midday. Yeah. To the melee. At least we've got sandwiches. I mean, sorry you didn't partake. No, I wasn't hungry. They were all right. I'm not gonna lie. I mean, I'm pretty sure he gave us the shit meat. Well, it's in the dog now. Prick. I bet that thing then shits everywhere.
00:53:45
Speaker
ah I meant the dog, not him.
00:53:53
Speaker
Yeah, we'll make our way to the melee. Yeah. And as the the camera zooms out from you two, just hoping, that talking about all the places you hope that dog shits today, we find ourself back on the dock. Again, rolling back in time.
Nyx's Temporal Displacement Ends
00:54:09
Speaker
Nyx, the temporal displacement you experience begins to dissipate and the shadow of the spider who swims releases and turns into just current the current, the wave and the tide.
00:54:25
Speaker
you are within all faculty. the the The Russia spiders hasn't really stopped. It's slowed down. But considering you're on a jetty, the fact that you're seeing spiders crawling into you is quite a disconcerting sight. And there are some choice looks from some dock hands around that are just like looking at you with with ah with a sense of um confusion as to why you're not like recoiling from these spiders or doing anything about it. and But other than that, no one really intercepts you in any way.
00:54:55
Speaker
That just happens a lot. Happens a lot. They gravitate towards me. Nick's is going to ah take out his bottomless mug and take a heavy draft of ale and then just kind of stiffen his back shoulders and give a little shake of his head to try and clear his mind. Right. Okay. that and yeah We'll have to be dealt with later. ah Best foot forwards, Nix. Cut the captain and you know his whereabouts. Go and survey the goddamn prison that he's found himself in.
Castle of the Three Crowns Visit
00:55:42
Speaker
Who would just randomly get into a prison? I don't know. That's just it's irresponsible.
00:55:49
Speaker
And Nix will turn heel, walk back down the the deck with a clop of his boots and ah head towards the the prison, the three castle, three castle, castle of the three crowns. Yeah, castle of the three crowns. Well, like, where is it in location to where I am? So you're in the dock district, which sort of hugs the the northwestern section of the core of the city.
00:56:22
Speaker
ah On the northern edge of the city, on top of this big mound is this huge opulent palace that once belonged to the royal line of Dralak. After the blight, when that line ended, the the royal family um ceased to exist and instead it became a merchant republic and now three powers bid every three years for which three different parties pays essentially to to become one third of the ruling power.
00:56:51
Speaker
We now know that one-third of the ruling power is made up from the from from Daymidna Fizzlebang, and from Lord Vossen. And you see atop this huge castle, three the three different heraldry of those three houses, the orange of Vossen, the purple of the Epchriska, and the blue of the Fizzlebang family.
00:57:16
Speaker
This is the one thing that other than the Fizzle Bang's um ah tower that Alpha was close to, dominates that skyline. That castle sits at the very northern point of the harbor district. of the sort of the harboor district in its own sort of sub-section, its own sub-district. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like a very much a colonial fortress. And and it takes you about 15, 20 minutes to get there. You, again, walk back along that boardwalk of the harbor. You pass that the piss nude. It's only about a five-minute hike from the like incline from the piss nude to get up to that point. It's the highest point in in Scorch Hill.
00:57:59
Speaker
And it's a castle that exists in its own sort of outer wall. As you step in, the castle is shut itself. But you're you're inside the sort of inner wall that lots of people come to sort of pay respects. There there are um sort of traveling dignitaries, but not like the main person, just like the parties of the dignitaries who travel. What's noticeable, it's quite a heavy cluster of a criss-cross here.
00:58:26
Speaker
you would deduce that a person of note within the Upriskra hierarchy is probably in the castle at this point for the amount of armed guard that sort of exist. You're you're marked up and down, you look up and down, but no one is really challenging you being there. Along the walls, interestingly, it is defended by three different factions. There are Upriskra bowmen, there are Vossen archers, and there are Orcs, enchanted orcs. In this inner wall, the main palace is shut, but there is clearly a side entrance where other people, like next to a gallows, next to a stockade, there is clearly a side part where punishment is dished out.
00:59:13
Speaker
Okay, is other people milling around other than the Obcrisco? Is there like a throng of people who, I don't know, tourists checking things out or is it all matter of fact and business like? There are some travelers, particularly this time of year because of the duel, there are lots of people that are just sort of taking in the sites, walking around.
00:59:31
Speaker
um But this is very much a hybrid of ah three factions and their defensive flex, and yeah, a couple of dozen people who are just strolling. It's free to walk inside this inner wall, yeah enter that the palace itself is is is not not open to you, but there is, as you sort of take it in, there are people as well in much less much more common garb.
00:59:54
Speaker
um who are going to that side entrance and visiting people. There are a couple of people, there's one person hanging from the gallows currently that hasn't been taken down. There are a few people in the stockades and and then sort of chained up on this inner wall are two, three dozen slaves.
01:00:10
Speaker
at various intervals. At a quick glance, none of them is the captain, my captain. Is there, I'm trying to not lean too heavily into the tourists mindset here, but is there some sort of map that dictates the various parts of the castle, kitchens, stockades? Nothing like that. so It's not like ah an exhibit. It's a functioning seat of power.
01:00:37
Speaker
And you are permitted to get close to it and you are permitted that the main doors are shut and there is activity. Any windows? Yes. So upon this information and being inside it, Nick's would.
01:00:53
Speaker
um Just at first, just walk around, get a sense of ah one, the windows and looking in them and seeing if there are rooms that he can see in into be that kitchens, be that prisons, be that um han grab breakout rooms, anything like that. ah And to get a sense of. Any. Guard movement and by that, I mean, are they all with bows and arrows on the wall defense, just looking outwards, or is there a shift in, so Nix would spend some time here and he'd watch their patterns. If there's a, if there's a time, a change of the guard, for instance, um and note the time of that, hit'd he'd ah make a mental note at the time that that happened.
01:01:48
Speaker
It keep watching is that happening for like that every 20 minutes half an hour an hour time would start to lose a sense here for next because he's taking this upon himself to. He's in he's in that mode where. This isn't the first time he's had to.
01:02:07
Speaker
take a watch over a place of importance. This is going back into the days of running errands for the captain ah with the crew and going to storm, not just castles, but even just your general shops or anything like that. There's a there's a sense of the clientele that work there. There's a sense of how busy it gets, what time it gets busy, changing of the guard.
01:02:33
Speaker
anything like that. um But the main thing in the first walk around would be, is there a fucking window into the jail cells or anything like that? So make a make a ah insight check to read the personnel.
01:03:00
Speaker
That's an 11. I will.
01:03:15
Speaker
I will. I don't know if tights can be done after I've seen the result. I'm unsure. It will say if it says otherwise, you should be fine.
01:03:31
Speaker
It doesn't specifically say. I think you would call it now before I. I'm going to I'm going to reroll that tides of chaos. So just so you know, you can have me roll on the wild magic ah table for it. So yeah, I'm going to reroll. So it was 11. 15. OK, so here's what happens.
01:03:56
Speaker
You do a couple of walk-arounds at a distance from the castle. You can't get particularly close, but you can you can sort of hug the the wall that is the perimeter.
01:04:09
Speaker
Everything is sort of stained glass and it's frosted and you can't really see into any of these chambers. This once was a really opulent working house for a single family. Now it is a meeting space really for three different powers.
01:04:26
Speaker
As you take in, there's no sort of structural um significant weak points. There is very little you see and you can't get close because of this perimeter of orcish guards that just hugs the wall in a same sort of fashion as the the the tower you counted in the desert. You look around and you're looking at the personnel and the
01:04:53
Speaker
The Vossen contingent is really lax and undisciplined. They just sort of cluster, hang out like like a ah regular, um rabble they're there in a good number two three dozen you count in this this compound but they're not like regimented then you see the abciscara who have perfect distance who have that rotation right there they are staffed and they are crude and then you just see the orcs who are mindless soulless their their well-being and welfare is not really considered they're standing in their own shit half the time because their their sole purpose is to guard as as magically instructed and enchanted to do so
01:05:32
Speaker
They don't have any sort of rotation, they're just there, always sentry, always watching. And the problem is, because there are three different factions, it's impossible to establish a regular pattern. The Ecrusca change like clockwork, they are a well organized military outfit.
01:05:46
Speaker
It's such a relaxed contribution from the Vossen, the various mercenary bands that support Vossen and the orcs are just still and sentient. You don't really know what they're doing. I think that's really good. ah just As you're finishing that deduction, I need you to roll a d20.
01:06:07
Speaker
Very good. ah I assume this is for the wild magic surge table. Yes.
01:06:17
Speaker
Well, hell how's the two? Oh, it's close, but it's no cigar. What we can do next? The Vossen takes Nix's interest being the unorganized kind of informal group at all. Do they?
01:06:39
Speaker
have I spied anyone walking in and out from the Vossen clan of the the grounds in into the castle itself, into the keep, the areas where Nyx is not allowed, are anyone from the Vossen just able to walk through the doors and walk out again? No, the door has been shut. and No one of any faction is going through the main doors. The only stuff that's going in and out is this side passage that leads down into the the dungeon, you assume, because of the other areas of punishment and and judgment. Is anyone walking into the dungeons? Yes. Common folk, Boston company of Chris Crowe. Okay.
01:07:17
Speaker
um Nick says next place would be the dungeons then. Okay. He trying. He's not going to use disguise self. He's not going to do it. He's there with his fucking blue ah ass leather jacket, his boots that's clip-clopping and he he's in his audacious self.
01:07:36
Speaker
He is going to go in when there's a group of people going in there. He's going to act like one of the locals in some ways. you're not You're not challenged at any point. like Being able to to visit prisoners, it seems like a right that's given.
Nyx Meets Abram Hildegard
01:07:52
Speaker
and But you you descend, and it's really similar to to entering the layer of Chandrallaka, you descend through this very compact, claustrophobic staircase for 10 minutes or so, landing on hard stone the whole time, your ankles, your back, your neck really hurts from that unsupportive terrain. And you find yourself in this this more open chamber
01:08:15
Speaker
You pass a few people who are crying, you pass some people who who are ah waiting to to to to go and see people. um But there is this this one individual with with a ledger who approaches you after a few seconds of you being down there and just challenges you slightly and says, are you here to see a prisoner or will you be leaving shortly? ah Hi, thanks for coming up. I'm actually here to see a prisoner.
01:08:44
Speaker
And this grim-faced dwarf, very, very young, but but but almost bereft of natural light for so long that they've been working in this dungeon. Just marks you with a bit of disdain and says, may I have the name? Yeah, certainly. Let me just try and remember. ah What did my master say?
01:09:09
Speaker
Hildegard. Hildegard? Someone called Hildegard. Interesting. Nobody's come to visit him yet. Yes. but there's a there's There's more than a few people who are are interested in him. It's above my pay grade to know why. You're more than welcome to see him. Don't pass anything through the cells. Don't get too close. You'll be asked to step back or change your behavior if you do anything we find suspicious. Do you understand? Absolutely. Yes. I need you to surrender any arms or armor.
01:09:42
Speaker
Yep, of course. i have my And Nick's hands over two daggers. two gagger yep
01:09:51
Speaker
He's going to start to pat you over. So if you're holding out anything, I need you to sort of make a stealth check at all. I don't have anything. It depends what he's looking for. In terms of weapons, I have shit. All. ah Armor is just leather.
01:10:09
Speaker
but that's part of my get up. it's It's just sort of looking for anything that might. I go i got nothing concealed. Oh, wait. No, let me do it. Let me double check on. No, it's just too. Fuck me. I haven't gotten anything. Two daggers and a studded leather. And a lot of fucking gold. Yeah, but they're in a bag of holding, so it's all good. Are they in Nick's bag of holding? Yep. Oh, wow. So we all know how much money got interested. And then just marks. No, no. Nick's his own bag of holding, not the group's.
01:10:40
Speaker
marks your eye contact one more time and says, no spell casting. Absolutely. ah Couldn't, if I wanted to. So you'll be joining him. Okay. Uh, there's three, three corridors and he points to the central one and says fourth one on the right. Thanks very much. Uh, and mix all At the end of that, you're handed a single candlestick with a lit candle. And you notice that all three corridors completely pitch black, save for other visitors, ah the other visitors visiting those who are incarcerated. Okay. I was hoping for a name, but I'll take the candlestick. Thank you very much. And just gestures for you to go. Okay. First name burst. Well, thank you regardless.
01:11:28
Speaker
but you What you mark as quite interesting is that there could be no more than a dozen single cells here for an entire city. This is a very small means of imprisonment. Every cell is full. There is someone in each one.
01:11:46
Speaker
As you get to the back of this last corridor, it's pitch black. You pass three cells on your left, three cells on your right. You're now at the back of this corridor. There is a cell on your right, there is a cell on your left, and there is a stone wall in front of you.
01:12:03
Speaker
Okay, let's give this a try as Nyx walks down the corridor and goes to where the cell he's been pointed at.
01:12:14
Speaker
i have
01:12:21
Speaker
You hear a movement of chains against stone.
01:12:28
Speaker
And this very familiar face comes into the glow, not all the way, but you just make out that silhouette, that broad silhouette, the the shoulder profile, the stance, you would never forget it. Abram Hildgaard.
01:12:46
Speaker
He just says, from still within dim dimly lit space, but your your dark vision sort of does the rest for you. You see it Tim. Just says, I don't know what you're doing here, Carell. ah
01:13:01
Speaker
I don't myself right now. I am just making sure it's you and you're here. I have a lot of questions.
01:13:17
Speaker
This is not the time and place for him. I just... I saw the Esmeralda outside, Captain. I bet you did. I needed to... I needed to check on the crew. You're my first port of call. We're all gone, boyo. All of us. As in you're all gone around Scorchhelm or you're all No longer a crew. Fucked if I know. I've been in here. Rotting. How long? It's been months. Next. Has anyone come to see you? No.
01:14:09
Speaker
i I...
Esmeralda's Crew Misfortunes
01:14:11
Speaker
I'm sure they're all plotting... I'm sure they're all plotting to... You know.
01:14:19
Speaker
If they knew it was good for them, they wouldn't come. Uh, why? Because of you, boyo.
01:14:30
Speaker
Ever since you did that thing. Not but bad luck on the ship. Oh. Uh, you mean the night, uh, where I... Yeah. Bad luck.
01:14:50
Speaker
The Esmer Elder is cursed because of you. No. No, that can't be right. i didn' I didn't even know what I was doing. We kicked you off. And ever since, nothing's worked. He's been breaking. We've been getting fucked. Well, maybe the ship just needs a little tidy up, Savvy. Money invested in it. I've got, I've done it. I've had money.
01:15:20
Speaker
It's been the tide. pi we worse we Pirates. pirates. We're a laughingstock, Nix. You never cared what I only one thought of us. It was no. Because we were successful and then we stopped being successful.
01:15:43
Speaker
Nothing went right since that day.
01:15:49
Speaker
Well, that doesn't mean that it can't ah be right in the future.
01:15:57
Speaker
Oh, step one is to get you out of here and then reclaim the ship, get the crew back. I've got, i've like in my absence, um ah I've um've done it. I've got the money.
01:16:18
Speaker
I've been saving. I've got more gold than I ever saw on that ship. Captain, ah I've got enough to buy us a new ship, but if we don't need to do that, ah we can fix the Esmeralda. It's funny. None of us have made a single coin since you left. And here you are. Moneybags. For the ship, though. As a in accordance to the guidelines of the Esmeralda and and the rules put forward. I've got it. I've done it. I haven't i haven't spent hardly anything.
01:16:58
Speaker
Kept it, saved it. Just in accordance to when I signed up. Even if that is the case, look at me.
01:17:12
Speaker
I'm fucked. I still think you know a shower and a shave wouldn't fix. Not that boy at all. And he's gonna show... step forward. And he has Seth-like scarring across all his face that wasn't there before. He has been beaten. Attacked. Within inches of his life.
01:17:39
Speaker
Was that... recently i lost everything nyx i gambled i gambled and i got caught cheat 10 i heard ah it was against lord vosles and kin vos and son what are the chances i just thought he was some dickhead with a lot of money but
01:18:11
Speaker
He actually was some powerful dickhead with a lot of money. And you stabbed him?
01:18:22
Speaker
He was going to take it. He took it anyway. Because I'm stupid. Take it? What, the ship? Yeah. It's gone, Nix. We can get it back. It's not gone. It's out there. And it's still there, floating there.
01:18:38
Speaker
Ain't no ship that's floating. It can be fixed. <unk>s It's right. We just need to... How are you?
01:18:54
Speaker
Do you know what's going to happen to you? One of three things. I can either take the noose... Which is a no. ...or put into the obituary with...
01:19:08
Speaker
whoever's on the waiting list or... I'll be exiled to... What do you mean? As in like, Fossil and Vossons and the Uprisquerer and... Punishment works one of three ways in this kingdom, Nix. You either get killed, you serve, or exiled. Exiled? You're a fucking pirate! I don't get exiled at sea, Nix. You get dropped in the middle of the fucking desert.
01:19:34
Speaker
who Like we can buy your out. We can buy, we can buy your freedom. You're 45,000 gold on your next.
01:19:46
Speaker
Cause if, if I did, who would I go to? The big man himself. Lord Vossen. He holds the keys. hi Okay.
Duel for the Esmeralda
01:20:01
Speaker
We have a heading.
01:20:05
Speaker
I guess the Esmeralda is going to be one of the prizes. Whoever wins the jewel, they take at the deed. The deed to the Esmeralda is a prize at the jewel. aye Right. Okay. Okay. So, and Nix is trying to speak as low as possible, but he will just check over his shoulder. Is there anyone like within this vicinity kind of looking towards? No visitors.
01:20:35
Speaker
The prisons are pitch black. There are prisoners in them and they're all watching you. So, Nix is going to, at that point, use his... I'm going to do it. Awaken mind ah is to speak telepathically to the to the captain.
01:21:03
Speaker
um
01:21:06
Speaker
So we have a plan. I'll go and get the deuce of the ship. And I'll find a way to get you out of here. And I might find the crew before or after. It'd be easier to do it with you. um But I i would bet my life on the fact that the crew are still in scorch helm. If you're here, they're here. They might not have made themselves known, but they'll have a reason for it.
01:21:37
Speaker
We're loyal. But we have a plan. And all this is telepathically. I was going to enter the duel anyway. So, Savvy, I'll get the deeds to the ship. and ah But that doesn't make me captain. I'll get the deed to the ship for the crew. And then I will ah come up with a foolproof plan to get you out. So, all you have to do is do what you've been doing for months, which is just be here. which But hey, this is the first, like, I'm um' the first person to come and visit you. This is a good thing. That's it. I told myself the next time I see you, next I kill you. A lot of people say that. We've got to do something about the curse before you do any of this. What'd you say? The curse.
01:22:36
Speaker
Do you still see spiders? We've not stopped seeing spiders since the day you did it. What, even on the ship? Non-stop. Spiders at sea. How? We can deal with that afterwards. Get the ship. Get you. let's be It sounds like you're in here because you played a game with the wrong person and got angry.
01:23:07
Speaker
curse or not like that was always going to throw you in here we can deal with the curse after let's focus on getting you out i see what you're doing in next you're giving me hope because it's more than hope what makes you think you're in that jewel anyways i've not just been
01:23:39
Speaker
earning gold ah since I came off the Esmeralda, I've managed to make myself ah more powerful, just like the crew on the ship, to make myself more useful and a proper crew member. I think I can do it. And if I don't and I die, then hey, look, maybe the curse will get lifted that way. There's no no negatives here for you, sort of positive.
01:24:09
Speaker
Right. But if you win, there's other prizes. There's other temptations. There's no mightier prize than the Esmeralda, Captain.
Second Chances and Crew Loyalty
01:24:27
Speaker
It's a dangerous thing you've given me next, Corel. You gave me my second chance. Maybe I can give you yours.
01:24:39
Speaker
Or die trying, Captain. You get me out of here. And we'll call it square. Savvy, we have an accord.
01:24:58
Speaker
ah I lie to you, Nix. I'm overjoyed to see you again. I want to kill you.
01:25:10
Speaker
but it's like a son I hadn't seen in years.
01:25:15
Speaker
Thanks. Needed to hear that. Anyway, ah you're here, no doubt, word of the upcoming duel. I yeah assume it's a big deal in this city.
01:25:33
Speaker
And I will make sure that word travels through. There's a ah young tiefling, goes by the name of, um hang Vlad.
01:25:47
Speaker
i If you see him, no, he's from me. Same word. Don't do anything stupid, right? I can't promise that.
01:26:01
Speaker
I can promise that I'll try everything within my power and I will find the crew. I will give of ah Vasil, second commander, I'll give Vasil the money. I've done everything by the code since leaving. Edward once.
01:26:33
Speaker
Sura,
01:26:37
Speaker
you'll find her somewhere in the temple of Tirani. She's turned from the life at sea. Okay, that's that's the start though. She might know where the others are, even if she has turned from the sea. Sura, okay. It's been a while, so that'll be good to see her regardless.
01:27:03
Speaker
And it gives me a ah heading. See, Captain, you haven't lost yeah haven't lost everything. We'll get you back. We'll get you back. You've given me a dangerous thing. ah Get me out of here, Nyxcaril. Aye aye. He steps back into the shadows.
01:27:32
Speaker
But definitely bruised, aged, changed. Not the behemoth figure you larger than associated him with. Humbled, vulnerable, thin, gaunt. Yeah. So perspective of Nick's history and his dealings with the captain.
01:28:02
Speaker
Um, he was a larger than life character, very jovial, uh, very gallant and, um, quick with a joke, quick with wit, quick with the blade and looked after those crew. So this is a big shock and you fucked him. You fucked him. next Yeah. Add that to the list, I guess. Um, get in line.
01:28:31
Speaker
Nick's all deal with that mental trauma. Just just add it to the list. Nick's turn on heel and kind of walk off. Not without um giving a ah gold piece to the chap prisoner. The jailer. Yeah. Okay.
01:28:52
Speaker
He doesn't really mark either way, but just sort of is warm to to your exit. And you're, you're heading next. Are you regrouping with everyone back? Yeah. ah First off, he he goes, uh, the very first thing you do was to go to a quiet area outside, put one hand up against the wall and vomit, um, just from anxiety, nerves, guilt.
01:29:21
Speaker
everything and it'll just just heave.
01:29:28
Speaker
Then take another drink from the bob bottomless mug and ah shake yourself. Right. Best foot forward, Nix. Through the jaw. And that's where he'll start clapping, clapping, clapping, going to. And as oh the
01:29:50
Speaker
the live location map of you all by the midday sun clusters around the the melee and what that will be. Alpha, for someone who's been studying the central ah core, the the heart of Scorchhelm for half an hour, 45 minutes or so, used by a number of clearly gladiatorial held individuals who have gone with purpose come out of this this chamber, incredibly bruised and and bloodied, but but still standing. They've sort of gone in and come out in a completely different shape, like something something i has changed them. You see Goliath, you see a triplet family of halflings, you see
Suspenseful Future Conflicts
01:30:51
Speaker
humans, you see elves, you see one very familiar figure who you met on the road, flood, you would recognize that glaive anywhere, such a distance and you youre you're relatively incognito, you're not sort of addressing everyone, you're laying sentry. You see members of the Ecrisca sort of going in non-uniformed, but with an entourage of Ecrisca members.
01:31:20
Speaker
You see members of orange armbands coming and going. You see figures of all dispositions. You count two dozen.
01:31:36
Speaker
22,000. And then just as you're reaching the midday sun, and you see, you hear the familiar sounds of Emron and Baal approaching.
01:31:49
Speaker
You see Rains and Seth coming to meet you. You see one really familiar sight. An orange-skinned half-orc heading into the melee. Tattoos up and down every arm. Tattoos on the side of the head. Tattoos on the neck. A whip.
01:32:18
Speaker
coiled at the hip but broader than you remember different scars the orange skin tone is a slightly different saturation this figure just turns towards the marketplace temporarily gives it a quick scan marks you
01:32:48
Speaker
but keeps looking past as though completely doesn't didn't spot you. This female figure turns and steps into the dark chamber in this Colosseum-like facade that you can spy in the distance. And that is where we're going to end of this week's episode. The Fellowship of the Tabletop, Bellum Draconis. Donkey! Oh my god.
01:33:18
Speaker
Marota's going to beat his up in the Coliseum, it's also going to happen. That's not Marota. It's not Marota. It's Marota's twin. I have a perfect memory when it apparently toothed me. Sounds like the Valkyrie to me. She was actually tanning whilst in Goldview and we didn't realise.
01:33:36
Speaker
I really hope it's not Maro to the one that you need to send to the spider.
01:33:46
Speaker
That's what I'm worried about because it's the last one. Going in bloodied. I've got so many things. This is just like the trauma show starring Nick's career.
01:34:02
Speaker
Not the Truman Show, it's the Truman Show. I loved the, uh, I loved the Porsche, uh, servant. One moment, please. Yes. oh as He was like, he was like ask Jeeves, but i love it fucking yeah amazing. Dickey version. Loved it. I'm really glad you fed the dog. I am so glad you fed the dog. Yeah. I over this i really wanted to like, leave like a muddy handprint on his uniform. Wow.
01:34:29
Speaker
I, for one, am happy that most of you stayed awake during this recording. wow
01:34:41
Speaker
in for the For the listeners out there, Pooh Bear was almost headbutting his microphone. with trying
01:34:51
Speaker
Trying not to nod off. It's been a long day. It's been a long day. Long day, guys. And it is half ah past 12 at night on a Saturday morning. So um thanks to our cast members for staying in. um have to ah I wanted to edit that yawn out, but I feel like it's within... Sorry, yeah I had to do a thing. That was me.
01:35:13
Speaker
What i've just done here we get to all the time and all fucking podcasting rules fly out the window but does leave me to say thank you for tuning in listening make us a part of your everyday week we love you for it if you wanted to check out our x page which actually will be a helpful source of information for things like these so check us out at photoshop table then if you wanted to do one more thing and find us individually. You can do so. I'm at I World One. Bear is at Sleepy Head. Natural20well. Callum's at TheD20Gamer. Will is at Fellowship NPC PC. And our ridiculously talented and heartbreaking
01:35:57
Speaker
Story crafting. DM can be found at Total Party Thrills. Until next time, guys,