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C1 Eberron Reduced Episode 2
424 Plays7 years ago
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This week we have another installment of Eberron Reduced, with Beric exploring his relationship with Curse-Bringer further. Come join us as Beric discovers where Curse-Bringer came from, how his father came to be tied into the Pact, and where Beric goes from here.
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Transcript
Special Edition Introduction
00:00:09
Speaker
D20 radio, your game is roll.
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello and welcome to a special edition of Eberron Reviewed, another installment of Eberron Reduced, where I as the Dungeon Master Eric sit down with a player and we delve a bit deeper into the character via roleplay. And for the second episode, we're going to change things up a bit. Oh no, no, wait, we're not.
00:00:51
Speaker
More Beric.
Beric's Patron & Weapon Mystery
00:00:54
Speaker
Yes. If, as hopefully by this point, you've watched a lot, you've watched, you've listened to the last episode of Eberron Renewed, then you know why. Yes, we have Philip joining us once again to dive a bit deeper into the stuff going on with Beric. Philip, why don't you go ahead and tell the people some of the questions that you have coming out of the last arc?
00:01:18
Speaker
Well, obviously a lot of what I'm curious about continues to relate to the nature of Cursebringer. As we've kind of said in some of our Eberron-reviewed episodes, I left Eric very much in charge of the nature of Beric's patron and of the weapon.
00:01:42
Speaker
that he received as part of that pact that he didn't even exactly make. And so I don't know really anything about the patron or much about Cursebringer, although we've gotten some hints. Essentially, you know as much as I do in all of those matters.
Airship Contemplation
00:02:03
Speaker
And so I'm very curious about the reaction of the angelic beings that we met in the last episode to Beric, and so is Beric, and also about the fact that Curspringer was able to force itself to manifest without Beric calling it into existence, as usually has to happen.
00:02:29
Speaker
So that was interesting to me and alarming to Berwick. So picking up from where we last left off in the main storyline, we are on an airship headed south. The Roving Badger.
00:02:45
Speaker
Yes. Headed for the continent of Zendric, presumably to the city of Stormreach. It just occurs to me that this is the second time that I have played a Brielish character fleeing his home country on an airship towards Zendric after being double-crossed in a game run by you.
00:03:07
Speaker
Well, you were running the first one also. I was co-running the other one, yes, that's true. But you did run, you ran the session where we fled. Yeah, hadn't put that together. Oh well. The greatest artists, you know, you can find a pattern in their work. Right. They have certain themes that come up. And in fairness to you, we picked Zindrick.
00:03:25
Speaker
Yeah, so night has
Reflections on the Deck
00:03:27
Speaker
fallen. The airship is over the open ocean that lies in between Corvair and Zendric. And it's a quiet night. No clouds in the sky. And Beric, where are you at on the ship? Well, what do we have in terms of
00:03:44
Speaker
quarters I know this is a small airship so are we just like in hammocks down in the hold or yeah I mean you all there there are sleeping arrangements in the hold for you but nothing more and Berwick is probably up on the deck if it's late he's found somewhere on the deck where he can be more or less left alone
00:04:04
Speaker
Considering that the others know enough about what's going on with Beric, it's perfectly reasonable that he even asked everybody to just leave him alone for a minute. So he's at whatever the opposite end of the deck is from Gerald piloting. Yep. Gerald gives you a wave as he sees you crossing the deck. He doesn't do the hang loose symbol. That was kind of more what I had in my head. Beric nods.
00:04:34
Speaker
uh,
Unexpected Manifestation Discussion
00:04:36
Speaker
continues on his way. And so he'd find a, a spot where he can be on his own, sit down, uh, and then allow curse bringer to, uh, manifest, um, sitting on the deck in front of him. What do you need? I,
00:05:04
Speaker
I thought I might ask you the same question. You kind of came out of nowhere a little while ago. Yes, it seemed that my presence would be beneficial. Uh huh.
00:05:23
Speaker
And what did you mean when you said that things are going to be different? I was simply referring to the nature of our arrangement and the urgency with which we need to bring things to a resolution has to change.
Power & Bloodline Revelation
00:05:50
Speaker
Well, I am
00:05:54
Speaker
I'm willing to listen to that, but I have to tell you, I'm not entirely sure what the nature of our original arrangement was, as you have not been very forthcoming on that matter. The nature of our arrangement lies within your blood. You have been given great power, and with that power comes an expectation
00:06:25
Speaker
of duty and purpose. Almost a responsibility. What magnitude of responsibility would you say comes with this great power? Like a small responsibility? Because of who your family is, you are the key to stopping what's to come.
00:06:55
Speaker
Yes, and why is that? Because of your power. Because of the abilities that I have granted you and will continue to grant you. If you continue down this path, I know it's not easy. That's why so many of your bloodline have given up.
00:07:23
Speaker
They've become distracted or confused. And they just could not handle the responsibility. Well, I understand the confusion part. Perhaps you could give a little bit of clarity to that confusion by explaining, you tell me you want me to fight the darkness and that's...
00:07:49
Speaker
all well and good, but a lot of people fight the darkness. So what exactly is it you want me to
Morality of Power Use
00:07:57
Speaker
do? Many people presume to fight the darkness. Only a few see the true threat. I seek to protect this world.
00:08:13
Speaker
What is the true threat? You have been actively fighting them since that night in Miss Mosh when you went to the faded forest. The shadows that walk amongst us would seek to bring their darkness to this world. So you are an opponent of these entities from Babar specifically.
00:08:42
Speaker
Yes, I am opposed to anything that would invade and destroy Eberron. Where did you come from then? What are you then? Where do you come from? Why is it you are in opposition to these beings from other worlds that would come here and do harm?
00:09:13
Speaker
I have been a part of this world longer than your kind or any of the races that you call equal. I was never born. I merely emerged.
00:09:42
Speaker
from Eberron. Are there others of you? They are none like me. We encountered, as you perhaps know, some beings from another plane that were not evil or interested in invading Eberron. In the plane of Serania we encountered some angels
00:10:12
Speaker
from another world, of course, but not bent on a conquest of Eberron. They did not react well to me at all. They... they seem to believe that there's... that there is evil inside me. Is that you? Beric.
00:10:35
Speaker
You studied tomes during your time with the Silver Flame, and surely you gained some knowledge of the nature of what many call angels.
00:10:54
Speaker
Have you ever heard of an instance of an angel encountering a creature which it thought to be truly evil and the angel not slaughtering that creature immediately? They may call you evil because they do not understand what you are. But if you were truly evil, do you think they would have allowed you to leave?
Angelic Relationship Unveiled
00:11:20
Speaker
Trial by combat or not,
00:11:27
Speaker
Then... Angels hate chaos. They hate a lack of order. That is all they strive for. Everything to be put in its place. Everything to act the way that they feel it should act. That's not you. That's certainly not me.
00:11:53
Speaker
See your chaos. I am not chaos incarnate. I know that the whole incorporeal voice thing might lead you to think that I'm something far greater than I may be, but I am certainly not an angel. I see. If you know about my time with the silver flame, which I didn't know you did. That's, I have to say, a little bit unnerving. But if you know much about my time with the silver flame, then
00:12:25
Speaker
You know that a tenant dear to the silver flame is the danger of doing what's evil in the name of a greater good. And several times now you have urged me to do or to allow perhaps would be the better term.
00:12:54
Speaker
To allow that, to allow evil in the name of the greater good, in the matter of the swords of liberty, you seem to believe them to be allies in this fight, regardless of what they do to other human beings. ALICE. Beric, if you came across...
00:13:16
Speaker
the knowledge that there was a great arcane user who had the power to destroy a continent or bring down an entire city, destroy everything you know, and on your way to kill them or stop them, there was a house burning down.
00:13:46
Speaker
And you knew that if you stopped, the chances of that person succeeding increased exponentially. Is it evil to pass by the house? I'm not saying do evil acts in the name of the greater good. I'm saying simply serve the greater good.
00:14:16
Speaker
There is something horrifying approaching faster than you can imagine. And if that means using any ally possible, then I say do it. Once this threat is dealt with, deal with those people as you see
Urgency & Secrecy Emphasized
00:14:38
Speaker
fit. But now, now is not the time to use terms like terrorist or criminal.
00:14:47
Speaker
They are all lives that will be extinguished. Some of what you say is sensible. I don't believe that people like the swords of liberty serve the greater good. If in a moment they're battling the shadows, but in the next they're murdering innocent civilians in the name of some mad political agenda.
00:15:16
Speaker
or trying to start a war as this Crimson Owl woman claimed to be, then that does not serve the greater good. If you let the world burn down around you while you're trying to save it, then you've saved ashes.
00:15:43
Speaker
And to your point of serving the long-term good, if I'd put you through that woman's neck, then I'd be a lot more able to continue to serve your agenda right now than I am. As it is, I have to flee because she's still alive. You may be fleeing your homeland, but what you have been told, the information you have been given
00:16:10
Speaker
You have to go to Zendric. You are on the path. So, while you may not understand all of the pieces that are required to stop this threat,
00:16:30
Speaker
You are still on the path to victory. And while you may be the key to defeating this threat, you cannot do it alone. But I have allies. I am not alone. The companions on this ship. And... This is what I'm talking about, Beric.
00:16:57
Speaker
you claiming your allies being a changeling thief and a half-orc that collects rocks. I'm not saying they are not capable fighters, but you are underestimating the threat. I'm not talking about allies in the form of individual people.
00:17:24
Speaker
Organizations, entire nations will be needed. If this goes too far, there is a very slim chance that we can stop this before
Call for Alliances
00:17:39
Speaker
it occurs. But a lot of things must happen in a very correct sequence for that to happen.
00:17:50
Speaker
And, frankly, you are right when you wonder why you don't know more. I have not told you all, nor will I. For one simple reason, if something would happen to you, if you were to be captured, I cannot allow the enemy to know
00:18:21
Speaker
all of the people that are working against them. The Red Owl does not know of you and my connection with you, nor do any of the allies. Now, if you continue to bring me out to show me to everybody that you encounter asking if they know anything about me, they'll probably figure it out. Well,
00:18:49
Speaker
I can think of a pretty easy way to stop me from asking everyone I meet who seems knowledgeable if they know anything about you.
Demands for Transparency
00:18:59
Speaker
Eric, I've just told you I can't risk the enemy knowing my plans or knowing who I am. Do you expect me to trust you blindly? No. That sounds like what you're asking.
00:19:15
Speaker
Where have I asked for blind trust? I have given far more than I have received at this point in the relationship, quite frankly. You've given me power. But I don't know where it comes from. And I'm not entirely comfortable with it. And I don't know anything about you. You keep saying there's some weird connection to my bloodline, but you won't tell me anything about what that means.
00:19:44
Speaker
You're asking me to use, you're asking me to use a power that comes from a place that I don't know, that comes from a being that I don't understand. You're asking me to, you said yourself that with great power comes duty, comes responsibility, comes
00:20:10
Speaker
And as a member of my race, as a part of humanity, it would be monstrously irresponsible of me to go around wielding a power that I know nothing about. I don't know if... You... You tried to take over my mind. I threw you on the ground and you reached out and took me.
00:20:41
Speaker
I don't know if one day you're gonna decide to do that and have me kill my friends. I don't know if one day I'm gonna cast a spell and it's gonna do something entirely different from what I expect it to do. To use power that you're giving me is an act of trust.
00:21:05
Speaker
I don't know anything about you, and you're asking me to trust you to go on this mission, to do what you ask, and you tell me that everything you ask me to do will be in the service of defending Eberron. How do I know that's true? How do I know this isn't a trick? How do I know that you aren't with those beings? You look a lot more like them than you do not.
00:21:33
Speaker
I understand. And that was a moment of frustration and fear on my part when I reached out to you. Because you are the only, the only one that I can count on, Beric. Your purpose
00:22:02
Speaker
in this plan, combined with your knowledge and your background and your bloodline, there is no other being in this plane or any other like you. And if you were to walk away now,
00:22:33
Speaker
everything would fall apart. I would not have an agent as capable as you, capable of doing the things that you will have to do. And you will not have the ability to stop this.
00:22:55
Speaker
We need each other.
Familial Connections Exposed
00:22:57
Speaker
And I know it's asking a lot of trust for you to believe me when I say that. But you've seen the Lich. You've seen the Shadows. Do you really think that if you walk away, that at some point you will be able to defeat them?
00:23:20
Speaker
I just saw someone else stop it, and it wasn't you. You saw someone wielding power that they don't understand. Stop it. Jacob didn't know what was in that locket. He didn't know what it could do. He just witnessed that the creatures from a bar are harmed by it.
00:23:50
Speaker
And he used it, without question. And it served him quite well. Well, I shouldn't believe it talks to him in an incredibly creepy voice. That locket, as far as I can tell, is much more connected to the silver flame, or at least the person who previously possessed it.
00:24:21
Speaker
I was pretty deeply connected to Silver Flame. I do know about that. I do trust that. So did your father. Your father... Your father spent a good deal of time in Thrain. He learned of the Silver Flame too. He wanted to wield its power. And he learned too.
00:24:49
Speaker
You're far more like your father than you think. But when he returned home, his people shunned him for it, didn't understand. He was a creature of a different kind of darkness. And to wield light the way that he did, his people were scared. And
00:25:19
Speaker
So he came to me. And together we worked on a way to augment the flame within him.
00:25:40
Speaker
to manifest itself in a way to where his people would not shun him and he could bring power to the drow while still allowing the silver flame to grow and bring people to the flame. So this sword
00:26:08
Speaker
This sword is a manifestation of the flame, disguised as shadow. Yes. Who decided to call it Curspringer? Do you have a different name? Because referring to you as Curspringer now, considering what you just told me, seems inaccurate. Well, your father did not approach a sword lying on the ground.
00:26:39
Speaker
Cursebringer is a manifestation of his power.
Origins & Transformation of Cursebringer
00:26:44
Speaker
And you may not know this, but the Drow are a warring people. And the first victims of your father's wrath was a warring band of Drow that killed your grandmother. And he
00:27:10
Speaker
His father had always cursed their house. And your father thought it fitting to name the power that would drive that house to extinction to be his grandfather's curses manifest. Thus, I was named Cursebringer. Right, but what do you call yourself?
00:27:34
Speaker
Like I said, your father did not approach a sword on the ground, and I am not the whole of who I was when your father approached me. Are you less now? Are you not what you were? I am a part. You see? And of whom are you a part?
00:27:59
Speaker
That is where things begin to get a bit hazy for me. Interesting. I have been gone too long and who I was has faded over time. I know that I am Cursebringer. I know that I was once
00:28:24
Speaker
The weapon of Elandar Vrim, and now I am the weapon of Beric Rowan. The sword is the form my father chose for you. Yes. If it's mine now, could I choose to make it a different?
Weapon Form Change Possibility
00:28:47
Speaker
Could I choose a different form? You could, however.
00:28:54
Speaker
How I manifest within the weapon is a reflection of the weapon itself. So you'd be different if I manifested a different weapon. And that may not be a good thing, Barry. I'm sorry, there's a whole line in comedy that just flashed through Philip's mind.
00:29:23
Speaker
You cannot change my form at will, as it were. You… This form was chosen by your father, and thus my form remained. So, if you wish to change my form into a different weapon of more your styling,
00:29:49
Speaker
then that is a possibility. It is not as simple as snapping your fingers, but it is possible. I see. I mean, I don't hate the longsword. Thank you. Interesting. I do know where
00:30:17
Speaker
We would have to go to accomplish this, but it is at the frayed edges of my memory.
Silver Flame Connection Speculation
00:30:27
Speaker
If we continue on much longer, that knowledge may be lost until I am returned to the hole again.
00:30:40
Speaker
whole with a W, of course, not without that makes sense. Well, it might. I mean, you know, there's been a lot of strange things. If you're a manifestation of the flame, if you were brought, if you were brought to the flame, would it, would it make you whole?
00:31:05
Speaker
I do not know if I was born of the flame or a servant of the flame, but it is possible that if, like the gems that you have been told about that can contain the flame within them and take them elsewhere, if that is what happened to me, then returning me to the flame
00:31:34
Speaker
would be enough. But once again, I do not know. All right. There's one last thing, since I told you of your father and how he came to join with me.
Love & Power Pact Exploration
00:32:02
Speaker
There is an element to the pact that you should be aware of. And you're going to tell me the thing I should be aware of? No, goodbye. The pledge that your father made in exchange for this power.
00:32:27
Speaker
was his mind, soul, heart, and blood. The blood is why we are having this conversation. The mind is why he maintained his focus during our time together. His soul is why I believe he will join with the flame when he dies.
00:32:57
Speaker
But his heart... This is about to be about my mother against it. Your mother was able to wield the power too, Beric. Yes, I know that. And it's because your father loved her. But because she wielded the power, she also had the responsibility. And...
00:33:27
Speaker
Even after your father faltered, she persisted until her death. I only tell you this because if you ever encounter somebody that you believe that you truly love, know that they will be your ally in this fight.
00:33:55
Speaker
whether they want to or not. All right. That's interesting. Huh. Does this make any, does it make any sense to make an insight role against something that's talking to me in my mind? Yeah.
Insight Check on Honesty
00:34:15
Speaker
Okay. Do you have a D20 handy? It's not your mind. So it's 10. That'd be a 13.
00:34:25
Speaker
Are you just rolling insight on the stuff about your mom or the stuff about you loving somebody? No. So yeah, I'd basically like to check insight to see if Barrett feels that what he's been told has been genuine, like to get just to feel if he has a sense of trusting this, trusting the information he's been given. Yeah. I mean, you, you, you feel like this is,
00:34:53
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you, you get the sense that he, Kurt Springer was especially telling the truth in the moment where he talked about the fear of losing you. And so this is kind of an olive branch of, he gets it. So here's something. All right. So Eric is quiet for a little bit.
00:35:19
Speaker
before he speaks again and says all right I you're useful I don't have the sense that you're lying to me she might just be good at it or maybe I've gone mad and you're not talking at all that is distinct possibility but
Quest Decision & Guidance
00:35:49
Speaker
For the moment, I'll go forward. We're on our way to Zindrik. You know that. We'll need some guidance on where to go. When we get there. Well, the question becomes, Beric. I can provide guidance, but where do you want to go? We are going to the homeland of your father.
00:36:15
Speaker
I've told you that I know where we can go to change my form. Then there's also the matter of the gems that can contain the power of the silver flame. If you're a manifestation of that form, and there's a way that I can wield you,
00:36:40
Speaker
more effectively, more, more completely. And it seems to me that that would be, it seems to me that that would make you a powerful ally in seeking to solve the riddle of those gems. I'm not the leader of this expedition. I have companions who I consider worthwhile and I can't dictate what they do, but I do want to know where the source is.
00:37:09
Speaker
If nothing else, this will give me the opportunity to verify what you've said and to feel more confident that I can trust you. Very well. Once we land, our expedition can begin. Alright.
Episode Conclusion & Feedback
00:37:21
Speaker
Okay, well, thank you all so much for listening. We hope that you enjoyed that insight into Barrick's backstory, learning new things along with Philip. So yeah, we hope you all enjoy stuff like this. If you do, please let us know over on the Facebook group or Twitter or Instagram, all the places you can find us. And if you have something that you'd like to dig into on one of the other two characters on this game that you think would be an interesting
00:37:51
Speaker
Abaron reduced option, we would certainly love to get other characters involved. At the moment, Barret said the most mystery presented. Dex actually, I think, has a lot more mystery to him, but the opportunity hasn't yet come up. And I say that guessing because I don't actually know what the answer to Dex's mystery is.
00:38:12
Speaker
I do. And there's a lot of intrigue. There's been a murder. But yeah, thank you all so much for listening. And we will see you next time. Once again, I am your Dungeon Master Eric. And I'm Philip. Bye. Bye.