High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #33 | A Question of Quests (Part 2)

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

The party consider their new quests and return to the Enticing Devil tavern with fresh news about Ophelia and Tyrea! Check out the map of Caldra available FREE on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/altheya-33-map-109991028 _______________ HIGH ROLLERS LIVE in London on the 17th September 2024! Tickets live now: https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/high-rollers/ Boost your Charisma with some HR merch! https://highrollersdnd.teemill.com/ Add the Heroes of Altheya Minis to your TTRPG collection here: https://only-games.co/collections/high-rollers Enhance your bath time experience with the official Altheya themed DiceBombs at https://geekyclean.com/! Check out https://www.highrollersdnd.com/ for all the latest HR News! Love the podcast? Give us a glittering 5 star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/high-rollers-dnd/id1401508198?see-all=reviews Support the High Rollers on Patreon and get early access to Podcast episodes, vods and more: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters), Monument Studios and Jolene Khor! Check out Jolene Khor and all her wonderful work on High Rollers on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WX3ICiTmf4GpHwImnQMs6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Your teen requested a ride, but this time not from you. It's through their Uber Teen account. It's an Uber account that allows your teen to request a ride under your supervision with live trip tracking and highly rated drivers. Add your teen to your Uber account today. Add your team to your Uber account today. Rogers. Welcome back to part two of Alfea the Dragon Empire. Our heroes have been wrapping up the events at the Ball

at the Dominus Ignarum, the Duke's Palace, following the tournament of the Festival of the Forge. They have been speaking to various friends and guests. They've been accusing each other of being drunk. They have been congratulating Gruff on their knight-errant status. And then just as before we left, they were approached by Duke Ignarius,

Lady Embarissa, and their knight, Dame Cassandra, to talk about some problems or some adventures that they might need some help with here in Northvale. And that's where we jump back in today. In the small antechamber, attached to the Donner Signorum off the main audience chamber, sat on these luxurious red velvet chairs and chaise longs

with these gauzy silk drapes, beautiful stone plinths and stonework benches with marble and gold relief and mirrors Beautiful stone plinths and stonework benches with marble and gold relief and mirrors laid everywhere, very ostentatious space. Duke Ignarius has sat down looking towards all of you. Lady Imborissa has graciously lounged herself on one of these chaise longs, dramatically spilling herself over.

Her eight feet tall form, her legs almost dangling off the edge. I imagine she looks like a goddess. Very much, yeah. This is like with the draconic horns and her long red hair. Duke Ignaris looking like a warrior, like a warrior officer basically,

in a military almost cut coat with his scarred face and one broken horn, the other horn decorated in jewelry, this immense battle axe kind of hanging off the side of his belt now. And Dame Cassandra, this halfling woman, not really sure of her age. She has these big wide eyes, cherubic rosy cheeks,

but you can see maybe a little bit of age lines around her mouth and around her eyes, wearing this red velvet waistcoat with these slashed puffy white, right and red sleeves, a sash of orange with the Duke's emblem on it, and a big musketeer hat with a griffin feather in it and a pair of enchanted looking boots as well. The three of them sat opposite you, you guys all arranged together, drinks all in hand,

and Duke Ignaris will say, well, perhaps then Cassandra, you should inform our friends here of the matters that you have been investigating and that you feel that you need assistance with, my knight. And Cassandra will say, like, of course, my Draconic Majesty, well, I did mention to you all that I am involved in local problems and mysteries

and dealing with things of a less obvious military nature. Well, there are several matters in or close to Northvale that have sparked my interest, but I am unable to attend to everything, and I am lacking in aid due to several factors. The attack on Ashenrest has meant that his Draconic Majesty must divert more of his forces to defending the town and defending the local area. This means that there are no troops or soldiers of the Duke's army that I am able to requisition. We must make sure that our villages and the town are protected and should any of these lamp-lighters still be working together, working against the town, we wish to make sure

that they are found out. There is also the matter of the pursuit of Sunsword Il'Kara, I believe, who is still on the loose. Now I believe Ser Gryold and some of the, and Zaron Tekis and a few others are going to be pursuing that matter, which means that I also cannot get their assistance. and a few others are going to be pursuing that matter, which means that I also cannot get their assistance. So there are two things in particular that I am intrigued by. They might not lead to anything, but my gut instincts are telling me

that they will lead to something. Firstly, there have been a handful of reports and lots of odd rumors about the Rust Whale Woods to the north of Ashenrest. There have been incidents of travellers going missing along the Broken Road and the Imperial Highway near the woods. Sadly not too uncommon due to banditry and vaultspawn, but something to be considered. But some of the more guarded travellers have also spoken about strange lights moving about the woods at night.

It could very well be nothing too out of the ordinary. A vault spawn or some cultists up to no good, but it is still worth investigating. I have sent my squire, Pascal, to the village of Colville to try and gather more information. Colville is nested deep in Rustwell Woods, a small valley alongside the river. It's a remote place that sustains itself. Doesn't have too much involvement beyond the biannual hoarding where they must provide their taxation and things like that,

but apart from that they keep to themselves. The local Reeve is a man named Alwin Dell. Pascal, yes? Sorry, how do you just wanna spell? A-L-W-Y-N, Del, D-E-L-L, like the computer company. And that's in Colvel. So C-O-L-V-E-L, Colvell. Colvell, okay.

C-O-L. Colvell. Okay. C-O-L-V-E-L. I'm sorry, what was the forest as well? The rust whale woods. You would know the rust whale woods quite well, actually, Xantheus, because the rust end

is on the very edge of them. Ah, okay. So it is a woodland that you would know quite well. Noted for the bark of the trees has like an orangey fungus and sometimes even the bark itself has fibers of iron into it because of the soil there, like the trees almost pull up some of the iron into its bark, it makes the bark very, very strong.

Sometimes called rust wood, and that wood is sometimes used, it's not quite as strong as metal, but it's very tough. But the orange fungus makes the trees look like they are rusting. So they have like a silvery birch tree trunk that has this strip of pieces of iron and stuff in it, but then it has this orange mossy fungus

that makes it look like rust, which is where they get their name. Do I know that, if I live next to the rust wellwood, do I know of it as being particularly dangerous or? It's massive. It covers basically all around the fangs of the Empress Mountains. It's around the It covers basically all around the fangs of the Empress Mountains. It's around the base of them.

It goes across the Ruby River. It goes all the way along the Broken Road, and even curves up around towards Kelskaris. It is absolutely massive. And yes, you would know that it is a very old, very large wood. Being near the fangs of the Empress means that there are a lot of caves that back onto it.

A lot of vaultsborn often hide there. There is a belief that there are probably vaults hidden in the mountain range, and sometimes the vaultsborn can follow tunnels and caves and then come out into the woods. You would have been taught, don't go into the woods. You know, you would have been taught, don't go into the woods alone, especially as a young boy, like, oh, the vaultspawn will come out and eat you

if you're out at night and stuff like that. But also, being a very old, dense wood, a lot of bandits, people who don't want to live by the Dragon Empire's rules, they go out there to try and eke out a living and rob people and stuff like that as well. Sure, but Colvell is like this side of the forest, whereas Rust End would be the opposite side.

Yeah, Colvell is closer to Ashen Rest, yeah. It would take days to travel through the woods to reach there from Rust End, yeah. You wouldn't have probably gone to Colvell. It's a tiny village, it's not like a small, it's like a proper rural out of the way, like unless you're born there, there's not really a reason to go there.

It supplies coal, it's like a coal mine basically, and it provides coal and things like that to the empire. Okay, sorry, carry on. That's fine, these are good questions to ask, like it's definitely a good question to ask. So Dame Cassandra will say, so that is one matter. Like I said, I've sent Pascal on to Colville to try and gather some information,

but that I do not have the capacity to go there myself because the other matter is just before I returned to Ashenrest, I received a message, a courier delivered by a bird actually, sent by an old elven friend of mine. She is a priest of the elven gods before they came to the material world. She lives on the banks, just off the banks off of Lake Irivax,

which is close to the village of Hearth, here in Northvale. Would you spell the banks of Lake? Sorry, it is the Bank of Lake Irivaax. Irivaax, not Irivaax. I-R-I-V-A-Y-X. Irivaax, Lake Irivaax. Oh, cool. My friend is not one to,

and in the letter my friend has requested me to come to them rather urgently, saying that they have a fear of a growing darkness nearby. Now, being an elf, they are prone to speaking poetically and vaguely, but they are not the type to message me with this if it was not quite a serious matter. but they are not the type to message me with this if it was not quite a serious matter. Without my squire, without any military aid

from Ash and Rest, I would welcome your assistance in traveling to there and learning whatever another therar has discovered, but I am capable of doing it by myself if necessary. These are the two matters that I have brought here. As I understand, my draconic majesty, my duke, you would be willing to offer some payment in assistance for this to these fine adventurers?

Yes, of course. Normally, for these sorts of matters, we would hire adventurers or mercenaries, but I trust all of you to, rather than rely upon these, well, wayward souls, I would much rather entrust this to people I know. I would be able to offer you a payment of 500 gold each, should there prove to be danger, and you were to prove,

bring back proof of it to me. Okay, okay, okay. Okay, fuck yeah, fuck yeah. But my daughter, you also have something. Yes, I do. There is a matter that I would request your aid with as well. You have not met him yet, but there is a third knight of the realm of Northvale, a knight

of my father, Sir Eldrach Ignis, a Dragonborn knight. I asked him to investigate something for me, to head into the Ash Hills, not far from here, to recover a relic, an heirloom of my mother. My mother, the draconic lady, and Flaria, she was slain during the Battle of the Ash Hills, during the Oriat Insurrection. And this heirloom was carried by her companion knight who accompanied her into battle. It is a shield, magical and crafted by my mother. The shield is called Heart Warden. I learned that a group of surveyors and rangers who had been scouting the Ash Hills for resources

came across an undiscovered series of caves, not normally of much importance, but inside one of these caves they found a scrap of armor, an armor that I recognized immediately as belonging to Dame Vekara, my mother's companion knight. Her body was never recovered, and so I believe that if she made her way into these caves, it is highly likely that Heart Warden is there as well. I would very much, very dearly like to have my mother's heirloom returned to us.

It was something that she worked hard on and something that she was particularly proud of. I have not much to remember her by and so I would like to recover this shield. What was her mother called again? Her mother is Inflaria, like in flare or in flame. Inflaria. E-N-F-L-A-R-I-Y-A.

Yeah. Enflaria. I'll just write it out for you after. R-I. E-N-F-L-A-R-I-Y-A. Enflaria. Okay. Okay, okay, okay.

I sent Sir Eldrach to recover the shield, thinking it would be a simple affair. Travel into the hills, into these caves, or perhaps some battle with some creatures along the way. Nothing that Ser Eldrach should not have been able to accomplish by themselves. But it has been far longer than it would have taken him to go and return, and he has not returned. My brother, Obsidius, who is more knowledgeable of magic than me, says that he has attempted to use magic to locate Sir Eldrag, but the Ash Hills, due to the aftereffects of such a terrible battle long ago, they interfere with certain kinds of magic.

Divination and teleportation magics are difficult in that area. And he has not been able to locate any sign of Ser Eldrach. For this, if you were able to return, if Ser Eldrach is in danger and can be rescued, I would offer you a relic of my own from my own personal collection. I would offer you a relic of my own from my own personal collection.

If you can recover Heart Warden and return it to me, I will pay you a thousand gold and offer you another magic relic from my collection. Okay. I like this one. Um... Gruff. Hmm. Okay. I like this one. Gruff. Okay. Hello.

It's hard because she is a dragon in human form. But as she's speaking, especially when she mentioned about bringing Ser Eldrake back, there is a very odd look about Emberisa. She glances at the Duke, and you can see the Duke is almost not displeased with her,

but he's looking away like, oh, this is your life. There's some sort of issue here, and Emberisa is definitely hiding something about this. You get the impression that she's not telling you everything about this situation. Specifically around this other night, Sir Eldrack. There's something about this night that there is,

there's something about this which is being sort of like, kept back. Am I picking up romantic crimes? I'm not, you have picked up what I have given you, there is, you can't gleam anything more. Boredom. Is there, I know this is not my insight check, but even when Emberis's...

Well you can choose, if you think like there's something you can choose to make an insight. Well it's just when Emberis is talking about her mother, is there anything on Duke Ignorius' face in response to that? Is it like? Yeah, I don't think you need an insight for that. There's sadness.

Like when they talk about the battle and she mentions her mother being killed and things like that, Duke Ignaris, like his face falls, a little crest fallen. He probably would like reach out and like take her hand and like he would hold her hand for a bit when she's talking about that. Because there is definitely a kind of sense of loss there.

And also maybe something else, and I think Gruff, you're the only one to really pick up on that. It's more than just sadness. There's maybe a hint of guilt, like I didn't save her kind of like, you know, like she died in the battle that I was fighting in and I couldn't protect her

kind of thing. Am I allowed to roll an insight check on Embracer? Yeah, if you want to go further, like if you want to try and read it. The only thing is you'd have to ask her a question. So like you can insight her, but you need to ask her something to try and gain more information.

So she said it was a Knight of the Realm, right? Yeah, she said, Sir Eldrach, another Knight of the Realm of North Vale. Eldrach Ignis, yeah. Yeah, Eldrach Ignis. You can think about it if you want, if you want five minutes to think. I kind of feel like it would just be like a,

do you feel like this El Drak-Ignis, is he in danger? Yeah, that's a great question to ask with this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Roll an insight check for me then. I'm gonna do some fate, why not? Sure, yeah, it's been a point of fate. Fate it up. 13 plus four, 17 plus three.

Wow. Dirty 20. Dirty 20, I rolled pretty badly. When you ask, I think it's because of the question you ask, there is a, she's like, no, I'm sure that Sir Eldritch, he is more than capable, he must be fine. He is fine. And you get that there is a sense of like real worry that he's not okay. Like this is more than just a knight of her fathers. Like this knight errant means something to Emberissa,

a lot more than he probably should. But again, you're not sure if that's like, is it friendship? means something to Emberissa, a lot more than he probably should. But again, you're not sure if that's like, is it friendship, is it romance, is it something else? You're not sure. But like- But like a personal connection. There's a personal connection between the two, yeah. This is more than just, oh I sent this knight, Eren,

I sent one of daddy's knights out and he's not come back. This is like, she genuinely cares about this person. Okay, thank you. No, yes, I am sure that... Solodrak is a very accomplished warrior. I'm sure that he would have been able to handle anything that he discovered. Perhaps he is simply trapped and cannot,

or perhaps lost in these caves. I'm sure that you will be able to find him and return him. What does he look like? He is a Dragonborn. He wears full armor, he carries a halberd. He has dark hair, strong. Perhaps you could call him a handsome. He has, he would look, he would have human features.

Okay, thank you for the description. If anybody, you can make more checks and stuff if you want to, as long as you were asking a question or getting her talking, you can ask stuff as well. Same with Cassandra, if you have any more questions about the things Dame Cassandra talked about, you can ask questions about that as well. Um, the Ash Hills, aside from these caves,

are there, is there anything else we might need to worry about there? Any other, anything taken root there? Emberissa will, in my, I am primarily a scholar and a study of combat, but Cassandra? Oh, yes, the Ash Hills, as my draconic lady mentions, they do interfere with certain magic spells,

divination primarily, teleportation, but we've also encountered pockets where destructive magic can be more potent. It was the scene of terrible battle, and she nervously looks up at Duke Ignarius when she starts talking about it, but the duke just sort of nods. A very terrible battle,

and many of the dragons who fought in it, and many of the mortal servants of both the forces of the traitor and of Duke Ignarius and the Ignarum family, they were powerful war mages themselves and such devastation. I mean, there is a reason they are. They were not always called the Ash Hills. Now they are blackened and torched. But they have not regrown, not properly. The grass that grows there grows long and black and thick, like barbs and bristles. It draws things there.

Volt spawn, other creatures as well. It is... You must... One thing which is, my duke, may I speak of it? Yes, I believe it is important that our friends know what they are potentially dealing with. Many of the traitor dragons were slain

in the Battle of the Ash Hill. And though the duke and his forces and the Battle of the Ash Hill. And though the Duke and his forces and the forces of the Empress and the members of the church who went did their best to recover all of it, their bodies still contained much of that profane metal which gave them such power. And there have always been rumors that the Ash Hills,

well, people still seek crown steal there. Likely bandits and criminals hoping to sell it for money. And it would not be, it would likely not be much. Anything strong or powerful would have been found years ago, but it attracts an, it attracts a sort of dangerous sort of people, brigands and prospectors who are willing to kill over it. Thank you, Mark, I fished and I got exactly what I wanted. Oh, you would have found that information out

one way or the other, like, whether you ask for it now, or you encountered things later on. God, I thought, I balked it. Sounds like a fun place to go. Is that the episode title? Road trip! But, Jukie and I were supposed to say, now, again, I wish to make it very clear to you all,

I wish to make it very clear to all of you. You do not, I do not expect you to do any of this. You are not, I'm not asking you, I'm not commanding you to participate in these. We bring you these matters because we trust you, that we wish to see you rewarded for great work, because we feel it is valiant, necessary business, but if necessary, I will find warriors. I will put the call out for other adventurers.

We will ensure that people are sent to deal with these matters. We are putting it to you before others get the chance. Think of it that way. At least it's unlikely you will be able to do all of them. Depending on these will take you some time, I believe. Dave Cassandra will say, yes, unfortunately, most of these locations, you are talking about 10, 14,

20 days away from Ashenrest at minimum. But if you have, but they are not urgent either. If you need a few days here in Ashenrest to finish up, wrap up whatever business you have, by all means, there's no need. I will be departing to head towards my elven friend, perhaps in two, three days. I want to drop off my things, gather up my supplies, rest a little if I may, before I head off, but I'm in no immediate rush. If you send word to me, I can delay another day or two if necessary. So you would have some time before heading off to these things.

With the exception of Sir Eldritch, I do not believe that my matters to be urgent. Obviously with a missing knight, the sooner you could leave the better. But again, I do not believe that a few days will change much. You can see that Emberissa does not agree with that, but is like, not saying anything. Sure, yeah, yeah. When we traveled from Burnell to here, we were graciously assisted by the soldiers stationed there.

Is it possible that in our travels to wherever we decide to go, we could requisition? I'm afraid that after the business with the Lamlighters, many of my guards were injured or sadly killed. We simply do not have the troops to spare. I have them patrolling the roads, I have them patrolling the city, or searching for Ilkara Sunsword.

That is where the vast majority of my forces is why I've come to you, my good friends. If you encounter soldiers on the road, especially if you are traveling with Dame Cassandra, I'm sure that you would be able to requisition their aid. If you encounter them out there, especially if they are already engaged in anything that is related to your investigation.

By all means, I give you absolute authority to ask for their aid. You travel with a knight errant, even if you do not accompany Dame Cassandra. So I'm sure my soldiers would be willing to offer you their assistance. That's me. Oh, that's you.

Yeah, you missed that. No, I missed that whole thing. You missed it. I missed it. Okay, that's cool. Yeah, I missed that. No, I missed that whole thing. You missed it. I missed it. Okay, that's cool. Yeah, I'm trying to think, like, I'm not sure if I have any questions about the others, the other quests. And let's be clear, these are fucking quests.

These are some classic D&D, here's some quests. Go on some quests. What color are they? Yellow, gray, are they? All of them are perfect yellow level. They're yellow. There's a few of us who have been playing Wild Classic. Good money.

I will also say on an out of game note, two things. One, do not feel you have to do these things. If you have personal things you want to do here, do those. You are not under it. Just because I've prepped the ideas doesn't mean you're like, well, we've got to do it because Mark's prepped stuff. Absolutely not. If you guys got...

But as long as you guys have got another idea of stuff you want to do in Ashen West, that's perfectly fine. Like hopping out of a tournament to go speak to a ghost. Yeah, exactly like that. Perfect. Perfect. That kind of stuff. Do that. The second thing I want to say as well is

you will definitely level up when you complete these quests. These are guaranteed a level. Per one? Per one, yep. Per quest, yep. Oh! These will all be like multi-session like, you know, things so they will be a guaranteed level.

All of them have their own, okay. I mean, if there's crown steel around and then this guy. I've got an idea. We split the party three ways. We all level up at the same time. Oh, but only the people that go on the quest will get to level up, though. Oh, that sucks.

It's not shared experience. It's not like affinity. Damn. No. All right. I do have a question. Yep. In character.

In character. Yep. Dame Cassandra. Yes, Rowan, yes, hello. I appreciate that your friend Elf is elusive with their wording of the growing dark, but do you have anything else, or can you infer anything on your friendship with them?

Only that I trust them that if they have taken the care to send me a personal message, that it is a daunting problem, that it is one that they do not wish others to know about. Perhaps it is something that they are afraid of in the local area, or perhaps something they fear may cause panic or trouble if others were to learn of it.

It is also something that they feel that they cannot themselves leave the area to come and inform me of. I trust them. They are an elf. They are prone to... She is prone to drama and she is prone to flights of fancy and whimsy, but I trust that this would be serious, something of a real threat.

She cares greatly for the living. She is somewhat of a hermit. She lives a few days travel from hearth, but she likes the people. She likes the, she loves the animals of the woods, of the flint thorns to the north. I think that this is likely a great threat. Something that she feels that she cannot handle on her own

and she is powerful. She is a strong priest. She uses, she can wield divine magic and natural magic. She can transform into beasts. She is powerful. Thank you. That's all I have. Sorry, did I miss her name? Nalithera is, well, that's not powerful. Okay. Thank you. That's all I have. Sorry, did I miss her name?

Nalithera is, well, that's not her full name. That is the name that she has told me to speak to. She thinks that I could not pronounce her full name. I hasten to disagree. I think I could, but she has always been Nalithera to me. Thank you. Do it then. I don't say that.

Thank you. Do it then. I don't say that. In terms of the, yeah, I think I would just sort of, the information that you kind of gave to me about the Rustwale Woods, not all of it, like, oh, the bark is full of iron. I would say to everyone else that there was horror stories that I had when I was younger from the Rust End,

but a different side of the woods than where I lived. So... And there are several, I mean, yes, the Rust Well woods are constantly a problem. And the duke knows as well as I do, we often have to send patrols. The Broken Road, which runs from Rust End and into Gildai and then to Ashen Rest. It goes along the Rustwell Woods and often we are having gnolls or vaultspawn attacks, bandits.

But there has always been people who go out into the woods to speak with the Embered. There are people that worship the woods themselves, cults and all sorts of things. They are a dangerous place. It is an ancient woodland. One of the first here in Kaldra. It is believed that even when the emperors and the first originators of Kaldra as a province, when they came here, there were things in the woods that they fought against, but very few records of it were left. There are old things there.

And these lights there, Yes. Is there any more of a description to that? Orange, flame-like? Multi-colored, multi-colored lights. It is seen deep in the woods, so the light effusiates, it echoes through, and so details of like flame-like

or some such it does not say, but multicolored lights, never consistent, there's not as if every night they appear, but every now and then. There have also been reports of livestock from local farms near Rust End and indeed on the outskirts of Ashland Rest. Livestock have gone missing. There are people speaking of all sorts of things. They speak of the Moth Woman, they speak of...

And she lists off a name of a bunch of cryptids. The Moth Woman? I'm immediately like, I know the Moth Woman. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Supercarbondyne. Yeah, exactly. A lot of sort of real-world cryptic kind of things. The Druid's Dream.

The Druid's Devil. It'd be the cryptic kind of things. The Druzy Devil. It'd be the Rustwail Devil. The Rustwail Devil. All of these are showing shivers down my spine. The Moth Woman. Rust End is particularly known. They have a big statue of the Moth Woman out there. And get a Moth Woman pizza.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's got a big butt. I just absolutely want to go there just because of me. I know all about, I know about the Mothman. Horror village, let's go! Yeah, it's, I mean, yeah, like the woods is definitely gonna be a kind of like, and like out of game, just because like obviously for like things like purposes

of like what you guys will find most fun, the woods thing might be a little bit more of a little bit of investigation and like, ooh, creepy goings on and what's happening in this weird village and stuff like that. It'll be a bit more investigatory. Still gonna be combat and stuff like that as well. Um, the traveling with Dame Cassandra

to meet with her elven friend, you'll pass through the village of Hearth, and that might be a bit more like, you know, exploring like a dungeon or exploring the woods and fighting against monsters or something like that. And then yeah, the ash hills is gonna be like a proper go out into these magically corrupted hills, find a cave system and a good old dungeon crawl with probably some stuff

going on in there as well, so. If you don't mind me delving deeper into the rewards, Ember, it's a relic you speak of. Which one? The one that you are reclaiming, or the ones of my collection? Of the reward. I have a vast collection of magical relics, weapons, armor that I have collected.

I am something of a collector. And I would allow you to choose from my collection. Oh, okay. I'll risk my life for a random reward. It could be anything. It's Borfin time. It could be anything. It's Borfin' time. It could be a shield. So in fact, it's actually,

Emorissa pulls out a big box and it's called the Mystery Box. You can either have this magic sword or you can have what's in the Mystery Box. The Mystery Box could be anything. Could be a sword. He opens it, it's like 10 gold pieces. No, I'm not.

Aw. Damn it. I's like 10 gold pieces. No, I'm not. Aw. Damn it. Play again. I put out 500 gold. Spin the wheel. But yes, it will be, you have a range of magic items to choose from. Cool.

It's the biggest reward. I love how we're all doing that and it's just like, yeah, there's a scared elf. Fuck, am I? I just, I don't know. I mean. I asked about mean, it's about it. I asked about it. We'll have to.

Definitely have to talk about which one. It's a bit more of a mystery. You don't know anything from anything. It's like a mystery. A UFO's in a night story. Kind of. I feel like, well. It's a little bit of, not like Lovecraftian,

but a little bit like, the woods thing is a little bit like Lovecraftian, like, ooh, cryptics in the woods. And then the one with Dame Cassandra is a bit more like travel to like, travel with the FBI agent to the town and be like, what's going on in this town? It's a bit more X-Files.

Shitty plains, hopefully. Yeah, exactly. Or Twin Peaks. Yeah, Silent Hill, maybe? No, I mean, not quite that level, no. But a bit more like Alan Wake. Alan Wake, yeah. Right, okay, yeah, okay, I'm with you.

Dane Cassandra went into the darkness. She couldn't believe it, it was dark. Is that how you'd narrate it if we did that? Yes, sure. Yeah, okay. That was the whole theme. I'll do a special thing for the patron where I narrate sections of the adventure

as if it was Alan Wake. I've changed my mind, I wanna do that. Xanthias looked into the doorway. The things beyond were beyond his wildest imagination. I imagine. Where was he? Unless anyone wants to do anything else here, it would come to a natural conclusion and we'd want to discuss this.

Yeah, absolutely, and so like Dame Cassandra would be like, well, we will let you think on it. Let us know if any of this interests you. Like I said, I plan to leave in approximately three days, but if you would like me to wait longer, I can spare a day or two as well. Simply send word to consider it at ath and I will know. I will be staying here in the Ducal Palace if you need me.

But yes, and of course, my draconic lady and Embarissa will, if there are any other further questions, I'm sure I can either help field those, or perhaps we can arrange a conversation between you and the lady as necessary. But yes, that is all, that is all I have. Well, I don't wish to keep you longer. I'm afraid that I imagine that the ball itself has sort of run its course, but there may still be some people around

if you wish to. I'm so sorry, my dear. Would you like something from the kitchens to take with you? Yes. Yeah, no, no, no, I'll be fine, thank you. No one to put you up. But you would like something, dear?

Oh, it's fine, I can just take some of the fruit. Okay, yes. I pick up some oranges. What a day. We've got a new knight errant, and we've met Dame Cassandra, and had the presence of the duke and Embarissa. Quite.

You were saying this in the room with them? Yeah. Okay. You see the duke is just like, ha ha ha ha, yes. Oh, well, it is always a pleasure to be amongst our Ash and Rest's own valiant heroes, I think. Still, I will leave you to it, my good friends. I will go and entertain the last of our guests.

And then hopefully we will not have another ball for some time. But shame to miss out on another tournament, but still. And again, well fought in the tournament, Knight Herod Gruffydd. I will see you all very soon, and thank you once again for your great service to Northvale. Thank you for your time.

That's what it said. With him as he gets up to leave, Embarissa very slowly gets off the couch. She's a lot more, not languid, but a lot more careful and graceful in her movements, and she will sort of bow her head. Heroes, please do consider helping Ser Eldritch. I am concerned for them.

Good day. Well, then goes the leave. Cassandra will just say, like, oh, it's always a bit nerve wracking when the bosses are in the house, but she puts her big musketeer hat on. Oh yeah, I hand it back. Oh, thank you.

From the door. She kind of like pokes it on her head. Right, well, I think that that is everything I said. If you have any questions, please come and let me know. But I will. Did you say you were setting off in two days? Three days. Three days. Three days. And this is a map question more than anything.

She was heading to Hearth, right? We'll be passing through Hearth on the way to the lake, yes. The lake, so. Which direction is it? Do you have a map of the local region? Yep. We can't get one. No, no, no, have no need.

She takes off her musketeer hat, she reaches into it, and she pulls out, she's like, Rommeljeet, she's like, mm, yes, I think I have one, ah, yes, and she- Hat of holding. Pulls out a simple, small scroll case. That's still way too big for the hat. Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, this is absolutely a hat of holding, and she opens it up and thumbs through

a few different documents and then she pulls one out to give you a small regional map. I only have it in a small version. I'll take that straight away, thank you very much. I know I'm not playing Quill anymore, but I do love a map. Gimme. But it's a halfling sized map,

which is why it's so small. I will put it in the middle actually, there you go. Yeah, I don't know if Sam will be able to get a good view. Okay, sorry, so heading out of... We are... Where are we? So you are in Ashen's Rest. If you want to, I can... If you slide it my way, I will point to it. So sorry.

Slide it to me and I will point at myself. Sam, you're gonna have to... Sorry, Sam. Sorry, Reap's Dish. So let me sort of angle it a bit, yeah. So we are. So Ashenrest is here. Oh, top middle, okay.

Ashenrest is up here. Hearth is here. To the east. Lake Irovax. West. West, okay. To the south west, yep. So the west with Lake Irovax here.

Rustwell Woods all around up here. East and northeast. Oh, that's how I was feeling that. And then the Ash Hills down here. East, okay. Yep, so you have to cross the bridge. A gift for the map. So if we...

Oh, stop it. So the only way we would be able to travel with... Cassandra. Yeah, Cassandra is if we went on that particular quest towards the lake. I mean, yeah, exactly, you would purposely travel with her. So as a point, this is a hex grid map. Each of the hex grids is a day of travel.

Any hex that has terrain, such as a river, woods, or hills in it, adds an extra half day of travel. So it's like a day and a half basically. Very well. So for example, if you were traveling to Hearth, you would go out the north gate of Ashenrest and you have to go out either the north or south gate into the relevant hex.

So you would go to one day here, two days, and then you would arrive in Hearth on the halfway through the third day. And then to get to the lake, you would have to travel through the hills to get to the area. You don't know exactly where you're traveling there. I see, okay. Likewise, if you're heading to the south,

to the Ash Hills, you would go one across the bridge, which is two, three, and then you start to get towards the Ash Hills near the ruin of the Ashen Citadel. So it's gonna be like a week's travel, two weeks to get there and back to most places. Road trip, road trip. Yeah. Ah, sounds just like...

Okay. Alright. Yeah, we can also try and post this to like, maybe the Patreon and stuff like that. Yes, for podcast listeners, it'll be free to view on the Patreon. Yeah. There you go.

Okay, good to know, good to know. Cool man. Yeah. Nice. That was my main question was, which direction is Cassandra going? All three are in different directions. Please, different directions. Okay, fair enough.

There is no, we'll do this one on the way to this one. It's like, no. Well, it was more just, could we travel with Cassandra a bit of the way? Now, this is a bit of out of game thing, but not to add to your quest log, but do not forget you also have the matter of Tyria that you still wanted to look into, and you might have your own personal things

that you want to go into. For example, Gruff, your test is going to be like, maybe any of these could apply to your test. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, yeah. You don't know, exactly, right? You might have your own personal things that you wanna get involved in. What was the wording on your thing again?

It was like... You would know if you were there, Xanthias. Motherfuck. Oh, a deep cut. It's a deep cut. Find a place that has lost hope and restore it by sword, hand, and word. Bring me the story of your triumph

and proof in deed and heart. Restore the Ash Hills? Oh, yeah, just restore the whole hill. Massive area of magically corrupt battle. Just go there, plant a seed. Hey, I'm not. Take a photo. I'm the knight.

Restore the broken heart. Oh. Yeah? Who's got a broken heart? You got a broken heart? The knight. Oh,. Died, broken heart, yeah. Oh. Yeah? Who's got a broken heart? You got a broken heart? The knight. Oh, the knight got a broken, yeah, yeah, yeah, I stole the heart, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's not place, though. Is there a bit of a loophole? There's a bit in it. I don't know, heart could be a place. Heart is my home. Home is where the heart, yeah. That's up to you to sell that. And it's very much a part of that. But yeah, there is definitely an element here

of person quests, but like I said, Tyria is still a matter. You will also be gone, if you take one of these quests, you will be gone from Ashen Rest for some time. Now remember, Tyria's spirit becomes more unstable over time. So if she's not dealt with and you leave, by the time you come back, she will have resorted back to her ghostly state. So if she's not dealt with and you leave, by the time you come back, she will have resorted back to her ghostly state, her vengeful spirit state.

How ever shall we deal with her? You also might want to consider things like getting the repairs done before, like made while you leave. And getting somebody to look after the tavern before you go anywhere. Let's have a big old organization meeting. Great. In the, what?

Come on, don't worry. Well, it's quite late. By the time. There's just some keys in a bowl. By the time, big old organization, I was like, big old organization meeting. By the time that conversation with Cassandra and the Duke and Nembroser is done, it is quite late.

There's still time to go and mingle with people at the party if you'd like. Nope. Otherwise, it is quite late. There's still time to go and mingle with people at the party if you'd like. Nope. Otherwise, it is a case of, you are escorted out by some guards, and you can make your way back down towards the enticing devil, and you can take a long rest if you wish.

Amethyst has fully partied out. I think you're probably edging us, we're kind of done here, right? Yeah, we're gonna. So we're going, right? We booking camps? Yeah, yeah. Oh, I'm proving it's a good time to set my life on fire.

I haven't seen that of the Obsidius. Oh, well. We should go catch up with Obsidius. No. Maybe he knows because he's dealt with the magic in the hills and he couldn't get through, so we should probably ask him if he has any advice on dealing with that. We shouldn't bother a dragon.

Not right now, at least. Not right now, at least. That royalty was so lucky to have even seen them the three or four times that we have. He was really helpful, though. He was. He was a very nice man. Anyway, we've got a lot to discuss.

Yes, we do. What a busy morning tomorrow. What do you mean? What? What a busy morning tomorrow. What do you mean? What? What a busy morning. With what? I'm having a little Ophelia time. Oh.

At the shrine. Okay. Oh. Oh, I see. Yes. I don't know if I even wanna know what that means. Is it you and Percy just praying? Me, Percy, I think Theresa's going to be there.

I've asked- Theresa? Yes, and oh, that wonderful knight that we battled, I gave him a little invitation. Were we low to the wits? No, no, no, no, no, no. Vox Kel. The asshole.

He's an asshole? Yeah, apparently. The asshole? He's an asshole? Yeah, apparently. His grandmother thinks he's an asshole. Oh. Well, he's coming, well, maybe. I don't know, he didn't seem that... He was very confused. See, he's already being an asshole to you.

Probably. But he might be coming tomorrow. Okay, well. Okay, well, we'll just watch out because Tyria might get annoyed if we have people in the house. Well, she be coming tomorrow. Okay, well. Okay, well, we just watch out because Tyria might get annoyed if we have people in the house. Well, she's coming too. What?

Yes. Does she know about you having friends over? I don't, probably. I'm just saying, she said to us before, don't bring people into the house. But it's about, it's about her. What? It's about her. What? What?

It's about her. Are they gonna help us to find the thing to put her to rest? Oh, a mercenary band. Have you been hiring people? Have you been spending money again? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They know we already spent on the shrine.

Oh, yes. I spoke to Tyria while you were all at the tournament and I offered her a choice. I said we can help her with her quest and put her to rest or the Grey Father has extended a hand and invited her to the House of Shadows and I thought well I'll offer her the choice. And she took the latter.

Which she accepted? Yes. So we don't need to. So that's done. That's solved. It depends if I don't really know how, I don't know how to open the way. So my thinking is that maybe when the shrine is finished

and maybe I can try and do some kind of sermon or a prayer and open the gate and maybe Tyria can go through to the House of Shadows. And then Tyria will be at peace? And then she will be living another life. That's really nice of the Great Father to extend it ahead like that. I thought so, yes. She will be living another life. That's really nice of the Great Father to extend a hand like that. I thought so, yes.

He must be so busy. He's very busy, lots of undead to do. Well, that's a relief. Sorry, as in another life, as in return to Aztyria, but maybe in Osseus or this house of, whatever, house of shadows. She will be as she currently is now. Well, that doesn't sound like she'll be resting then,

because she's very upset. I gave her the choice and she... I was very transparent, to put it bluntly. No pun intended. No pun intended. Gross pun intended, ghosts. Just so I have this really clear in my mind. You offered her a choice of rest or revenge. Yes, well, a lot of revenge, but how do I put this?

A new home. A new home, yes. Because I phrased it, I think, when we were... Yes, a new home, yes. One where she can work on the powers that she currently has and maybe find new abilities, new ways to harness what she has. She did almost kill these people. Yes, now the abilities that she has in Rage, sure,

was almost devastating for both me and Rowan. Yes, but she will have guidance. She will have others around her where she can learn and develop those powers. Will they make her better? Make her feel better? Will the... Will she be able to forget...

The horrible, horrible things that she's been through. Hmm. Forget, I don't, maybe not forget entirely. But she'll be, it'll be a new life for her. It'll be a new, she'll find new purpose. Will it be a free life or will she be expected to have duties like your percival? I don't think she'll be like a mindless,

so I don't wanna say mindless drone, that's quite offensive to Percival, but she won't be a puppet, I suppose. You would know that a spirit as powerful as Tyria, she would be basically a noble, like she would be powerful, like she would be, you know, she would be basically a noble. She would be powerful. She would be, you know, she wouldn't just be some mindless shade. She would be kind of like you and the Countess.

She would basically be like you. She would be maybe a starter spirit who then can ascend to becoming a noble of the House of Shadow. So she'll be like me. She will have free will will and she will be able to go about her business and live another life as this new Tyria. Right.

But where? In Osseous. In Osseous? Mm-hmm. Not? Not in the Grey Father, not in the Grey Lands. She will be on Osseous, in our world still. And she chose this?

Yes. Was she like... She was like... At the time, you know, was she quite... Oh, no, she was... Curse-y, like... No, no, no, no, no. Was she shut with the shutters going back and forth?

Oh, she manifested very calmly and reached out to me and she passed through me. But, ah, she does. That's freaky. That's terrifying, I hate when that happens. But, now I don't want you to make any assumptions of Tyria or the position they're in, but a free Tyria in Ostius is just as free

to come to Althea as you were. Free to do whatever Tyria wants in Althea. Almeara, sorry. Well, under the guise of the House of Shadows, you know, she won't just go. But are you certain that this was not a choice between rest or revenge? No, it was a choice between...

I laid it out very clearly, I said. You know, you can put you to rest and you can be free of this life that she's living or she can have a new one. I think. But if she can come back here anytime. Oh, she has to cross the sea. Not many people cross the sea.

You did? I was very lucky. It was a very long way as well. Yes. But what if she comes back to the inn again? And then we've just spent all this money doing the inn up and making it lovely, and then she comes back and decides,

nope, still my home, I'm gonna break it. Well, it's her choice, I suppose. Like I said, I gave her... I don't think this solves the problem, then. Because she's not gonna be at rest, because she's still gonna maybe come back. She could come back whenever she wants. She could go anywhere.

She'd probably go back to... She'd probably find Cavan. Maybe she can lead us to Cavan. She'd probably go back to him. She'd probably find Cavan. Maybe she can lead us to Cavan. Yes. There's a long way around it, I know, but... But that's the point I'm making.

Wouldn't she be living a life filled with a hatred that she currently holds, but with the freedom to act on it? Hmm... She can get all murdery, maybe. Untethered from the tavern. And? I feel just like, now your point is? If Tyria is untethered from the tavern,

then that's a good thing. But I mean, not to imply that you know a great deal about the House of... Shadows. Shadows, but how many of the House of Shadows. But how many of the House of Shadows are these spirits that have chosen that path and are still filled with the torment and rage and anger? Are they happy?

Do they like it? Do you want to answer that question? Pretty much like most of the undead in Osseous, in the houses of the Great Father, there will be elements of that. As Xanthius is saying that to you, you know that most of the spirit nobles do still carry a little bit of that.

They're banshees and they're wraiths and they are these spectres made of vengeful spirits but they're in control. Right now Tyria is not in full control of that anger and that rage. What the House of Shadows teaches them is to control it and to use it. What the House of Shadows specialises in is information gathering because they can go places that nobody else can. And that is what the House of Shadows trains them to do. They also are, and again, this is what Ophelia knows, are rumored to be some of the greatest assassins

of the Drayfong, because once again, they are these powerful, vengeful spirits that can go places undetected and kill people without even touching them. And so that is like another path that often their members go. They're sort of like spies, they're like the secret service. So they do have that rage and that anger still in them, but they learn to control it as like a secret agent or an assassin has to learn.

Like you have to have a certain ability in you to take a life like that. Not as a soldier, not as a military soldier, but as a cold, professional killer. And they learn to control it so they can do that. That's what Othelia knows. What you say to this lot, that's not my decision. Not just be clear as well. You're a bit unaware about the assassination?

Yeah, maybe. Not to... Not to stay on the assassinate? Not to diminish the efforts of someone getting over, a human getting over grief. I imagine that for a ghost, this is like a supernatural, like it's raptured them, it's taken over them. Part of what makes them who they are, yeah.

Absolutely. Keeps them. But that's why they learn the House of Shadows teaches them to control it, so they can still exist as that thing But they're not just like Okay, it's becomes that cold they they unleash that rage on the people that maybe they want to get rid of or against their enemies Okay, things like that. Okay, so imagine a Tyria that was fully in control of what she was doing. That's what she would become. Yeah

so probably still by against people that she feels wronged her and stuff like that maybe but Even a Tyria that was fully in control of what she was doing, that's what she would become. Yeah. So probably still against people that she feels wronged her and stuff like that, maybe. But also like the house, like any of the other houses, it is a theocracy that is heavily indoctrinated in with religion and it's very rare for members of the houses to go against the will of the Great Father. It does happen because like anything, you get people that break away from religion and stuff like that, but it is a very devout religion,

and Tyria would basically be indoctrinated into being a member of the church. And again, Ophelia wouldn't see it that way. Ophelia would be like, no, no, you're taught the truth, and she's gonna be taught, you know, like a religion, you know, she's gonna be taught the truth, and she's gonna be taught, you know, like a religion, you know, she's gonna be taught the truth and she's gonna be filled with like love and acceptance and all this stuff, but really, on an out of game note,

it is very much an indoctrination into it, basically. In the same way that Ophelia was as well. I also, I 100% understand where Ophelia's coming from as well with this. It's not like I'm trying to argue against it because. Oh yeah, no, I know. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's fun.

So, yes, she will feel rage, but she will be in control of it. Like how I fight. You only watch me fight and, you know, I let the rage boil up inside me and it feels amazing. But I can control it. I can embed it within myself,

but unleash it when I need to. I understand, but it's not just rage with Tyria. Not to imply that it's just rage for you. It's grief, it's sadness, it's heartbreak. It's betrayal. Yes. That won't vanish. No, but she will control it, and she will be treated well.

It's not like she's going to be in servitude or, you know, she will have, like what I have, a lavish life. She will be given wonderful things and she won't, it's not like a prison. She's not going to be imprisoned. She will be allowed to roam to do as she wills, but she will have control. And companionship, because there will be other spirits.

And companionship. But does it strike you as, and I'm trying not to be rude, Ophelia, an easy solve. Will do not from the outside in choose eternal rest and bliss over just acceptance? Goodness, no.

No, the reason I live the life I live, the way that I live, is because of the Gravefather. He has given me the gifts and the will to live how I want to, to pursue the arts, to be who I want to be, knowing that in the end, everything that I have done who I want to be, knowing that in the end, everything that I have done was for him. And that is my payment, that is my price to him. Also, let me remind you that those of you who are from Elmira have been taught that there is not an afterlife with bliss.

Tyria's spirit, if you put it to rest, it would be reincarnated because she did not ascend. She was not worthy enough to ascend. So if you do lay her to rest here in Elmira, your characters on a religious belief would believe that that meant her spirit would finally be allowed to reincarnate. So it is not like she's going to a blissful afterlife.

She would be reborn as another living person here. Is there a part of that belief in reincarnation? Is there an idea that... I know that the worthy ascend to beyond that, but is there an idea of like your previous life has some bearing on your next one? Or you... It is not necessarily.

There are definitely parts of the church that teach that and use that as a way of like, you should be good because that will help you ascend in your next life. Yeah. But then the actual dog as a way of like, you should be good because that will help you ascend in your next life. But then the actual dogma and the actual like, element of the religion is that when you are reborn, you forget everything and everything you did is washed away.

So if you are wrong in your life, you can be forgiven to then have another chance at it. The idea is that the good things you do will accumulate, but bad things are washed away and you forget them. I guess in that case, it's not worded in such a way that it's bliss, it's that it is eliminated, that it's just gone, the terrible things that have happened to her.

Yeah, yeah. And like any things that she's did or anything like that as well, but yeah, just as a point for the world building, yeah, like there is no, it's not like going to heaven, Jesus sends you to heaven. It's not like that, it is a you are reincarnated. Whereas in Osseous, it is a very different belief.

It's believed that when you are, if you die as a mortal, your soul is either turned into a spirit and you serve the House of Shadows, your body is turned into a body for the House of Bones or the House of Rot, and then sometimes, if you are worthy enough, your spirit joins the Grey Father in the Grey Lands and you are made into some super special undead, basically.

So it's a little bit different. They have a bit more of that blissful afterlife. If you prove valuable, the Grey Father will take you to the Grey Lands and then you get to be with the Grey Father forever, unless you disappoint him, in which case he's like, prove yourself, now get back. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I understand that she's, her passing was not what she would have wanted. But I just don't want that to be the end for her. She is capable of so much. But that's where we run into a little bit of a theological problem here, because in Elmira, and she's an Elmiren, we believe that if we put her soul at rest, she'll ascend and be reincarnated.

But not expected to work, if you see what I mean. But Tyria would be gone. There would be no Tyria anymore. Like, her soul persists, but the identity of Tyria is wiped away. And that would be a true rest. Peace. And... You know, I appreciate what you've offered her, and it is very in keeping with your...

..kind-heartedness and your beliefs in Ossius. And... It sounds as though she's agreed and looking to that. But where I run into a bit of a wall with this is, is it true rest? Is it really what will make her happy? Or is she just so angry and twisted right now that she just wants to grow powerful enough to exact her revenge?

And will that lead to more deaths and more misery? Well, it'll probably lead to at least one death. Is that such a bad thing? I won't lie. That one probably has something coming to him. He needs justice coming to him, whether or not that is an execution or a trial or, you know, imprisoning or, you know,

making right his time, I could not say. I'm conflicted. I'm really conflicted. I'm looking at the I'm really conflicted. I'm looking at the new vows that I have to bring hope and comfort to those in need. And Tyria needs hope and comfort. And I just don't know if a new life as a vengeful spirit is comfort. As that question is posed,

I imagine that you are walking back to the enticing devil. Uh-oh. Oh, not again. Those cold nuts. Just the cold nuts this time? They were really spicy, aren't they? We don't have a qu cool looks in the tavern. We see Rowan dashing forward.

The clear night sky having cleared up from earlier. We see the crown kind of passing overhead. The night twinkling. We see the enticing devil. It's kind of broken frame. The iron fence that surrounds the grounds. And as you walk past it, you can glimpse into the garden where you see just the blackened silhouette of the single apple tree and the various overgrown garden within there. And just a very pale blue figure up in the attic room walking past the shutters, going about her business as if she was still mistress of the inn,

Tyria's spirit itself, making its way downstairs. As you guys approach the inn, Rowan rushing off. I can't use the shrine. Do not use the shrine! There's a garden, there's a garden out the back. I'm going around the back. Yeah. Please don't do it near the shrine, Rowan!

Use that bush to try to attack Daisy. Yeah, do that! I'm gonna use Mage Hand to dig a hole. Dig a little hole. With Mage Hand. Yeah. Let's just RP this out. Oh!

Yeah, there we go. Probe it out, yeah. It's interesting, Mage Hand to throw over the fence. Yeah. Goop into the Mage Hand. Just... There is a sewer system here. You're probably part of like the, you know, there's probably part of the tavern room

that would have once been like an outhouse or like an out room or something like that that has like plumbing, but it's all broken, doesn't work. Need that fixed. You know, it's really quite depressing that we're the heroes of Ash in Arrest. And this is our comedy. And you just hear through from the gun, ha, oh god, silence! We've just attended two nights of dukel balls and, you know, been approached by royalty

and this is where we hang our hat. No, that's, yeah, that's true. I mean, we do have some amount of funds to restore the place. We're gonna fix it, we're gonna fix it, we're gonna fix it. There it's true. I mean, we do have some amount of funds to restore the place. We're gonna fix it, we're gonna fix it, we're gonna fix it. There it's there. And when it's restored, this place is gonna be amazing.

When it's restored. It will be suitable for night gruff, because you'll be a knight by that point. That's true, that's true. Actually, no, I hope it is fixed before that, because that seems like... I don't know if I'm going to be a knight in 20 days or however long our next quest takes us.

Sir Griot said it took him something like two years. Okay, I want it to be fixed when you're a knight, Errant Nun. Also, that's only the first of your three tests. That's only the first of three tests. Okay, I want it to be fixed way sooner than that. Yeah. There's no one listening. He doesn't say it.

I listened, because I wrote it. He doesn't than that. Yeah. There's no one listening. He doesn't say, he doesn't say. I listened, because I wrote it. He doesn't say that. What did I miss? Oh yeah, oh yeah, no, I listened. You weren't there. I know. Okay.

We've got a lot to absorb. A lot to absorb. Three things to pick up. Ophelia, before we move on to my thing, really wish you'd communicate with the rest of the group about this whole Tyria thing. Oh, you were so busy having a good time. I had work to do.

Yes, but. I didn't want you to get wound up with work stuff. Work, cursed work. Okay, sure, but this is happening tomorrow and what will be the result of this thing tomorrow? I don't know. Will Tyria already have moved? If I don't even work.

Well, why don't we speak to her properly? You can, yes, well, by all means. As a group and see what she wants to do and see how we can help her, but just actually talk to her about stuff. Tonight, before. Yes? I think that's a brilliant idea.

I don't want to have to uninvite people. I've already invited people. Well, you were going to have them over to the shrine anyway. But I have nothing to show them! You have a whole shrine. And stories and teachings from a wonderful distant place. I'm going to roll a d8. OK.

Five. So Tyria... Yep. Actually, everyone. Everyone will be able to hear. Because I'm going to use my Whispers ability to allow everyone to... You can all hear in your heads now. It's a group call. Hi, team! Oh, bloody hell.

Sorry, but it's... You're very close. You're not even speaking. It's the only way to get Tyria to be able to speak because she should be able to speak, but she can't properly. Oh, Tyria can hear us now? There is also, do you want Nim to make themselves aware?

To make everyone else aware of Nim? Or do you want Nim to stay quiet? Quiet for now. Okay, yep. So you feel this strange connection with Daisy as you hear Daisy's voice in your mind. I think you have to be able to see them, so you'd have to wait until Tyria appears.

You have to wait until Tyria's there. And then I'll do that. Yep. So you all feel this kind of strange mental connection as you hear Daisy's voice in your mind, and then you would hear another voice, hello again, as you, and Tyria is just on the balcony, looking down, the scarred face, the tattered clothing,

yeah, only to Tyria's, and she's just staring down, looking at you all, and there's no expression, because the mouth is so scarred up, but this very sweet, normal voice is just like, hello again. This is Tyria. Oh, this is Tyria? Yes, Tyria can speak to us now. This is everybody else.

Daisy has given me the power to speak. Ta-da! Well, it is lovely to hear from you for the first time. Yes, andthias. Probably, I suppose. Well, this is strange. It's nice. It is nice to speak, to be heard.

Hello. Sister, hello. Hello. The face, just looks down. She drifts through the balcony floor and just floats down to sort of stand next to, almost right in front of Ophelia's face. Yeah, there's a weird no boundary concept, but because the communication's all telepathic,

it's like just a normal conversation. Hello again. Hello. How are you feeling about our discussion? Yes. It is... It was good. All good?

Yes. I would like it. What you offered. Yes? A new life. And power. and strength. To be more. Tyria, I only ask you this.

Corapheth. To be sure. Is this really what you want, because it's not rest? Will it bring you comfort to have this anger still with you? Comfort? What else? There would never be comfort. If I, if you could make

me reborn, like the church teaches us, I would not be me anymore. Everything I suffered would be forgotten. The Scions didn't help me. The Scions let me become this. They let Cavan do those awful things to me. Sister Ophelia, she's promised me more than they ever did. I...I don't want comfort. I don't want rest. I'd never want to be hurt again. And if I'm reborn, I'll just be mortal.

Another cavern or someone else, maybe they'll do to me what he did all over again. I can't bear that. But nobody could hurt me again if what Sister Ophelia said was true. It is true. I mean, you can't really argue that. If that is truly what you wish for, not just to hold on to what has happened to you,

but to hold on to who you are, then we can't get in the way of those wishes. What if I'm reborn as someone weak? What if I'm reborn as a soldier who has to go to war and suffer and die? I... I am angry, and... I hate Kavon, and I hate the guards for not helping, for not believing, for... I hate the Scions, and I and there's so much hate.

But I'm afraid if I'm reborn, I'd rather be like this, learn control, learn to find a family, a home, than face the unknown. Find a family, a home, then face the unknown of rebirth. I'll never ascend, I will never be enough. I mean, it's just a question of how religious is supposed to be. Religion is a whole thing. I think, yeah, that's the thing.

Of all the campaigns we've done, I'm actually finding role-playing religion the hardest thing. Because this is the thing, is when we've done other campaigns, the gods were very real, they were very nice, there was an afterlife, there were all these things. Fake titans. Yeah. Yeah. Fake gods. It's the same for Ophelia, right?

But even then. Like it's so ingrained into who you are, whereas what- Ophelia has faith regardless. Rhiannon knows the Great Father is not all good, that the teachings of that religion are not necessarily good things, but Ophelia is like, nope, they are good

and I believe in them. And that's hard to do, to have faith in something when you, as a player, know that like, these aren't necessarily good things. And that's the interesting part. I'm just wondering, like... And it creates these interesting moments because this might be a point where Gruff is like,

oh, God, yeah, like, this is a hard thing to, like... That's where I am because Gruff is obviously pious, he grew up believing in the signs and saints, he's done all the truth, but he's having, he's not committed to, it was just what he grew up with. It was the thing you did on a, not on Sunday, but like... Yeah, yeah, yeah, because I was gonna say, if Gruff was really committed

and devoted, I'd be like, well, yeah, of course being reborn is better. And it would almost be like, well, yeah, it is, you know, there is a scary thing to it, but Gruff would believe that it's the right thing to do, because he probably would believe, no, you can be worthy, Tyria, you can do it, blah, blah, blah. But if Gruff's having those doubts, exactly, that's what I...

Especially recently. Yeah, with Ophelia dying and the way they spoke about her and all of this, everything that's happened, devils roaming the streets, all of this, he's not convinced in his... He was never, I know we say he's pious, but he was never like... It's traditional.

Yeah, it's just what you grew up with. It's traditional. You went to Sunday school, you sang the songs, but whether he actually believed, and then all of that's happened recently, I don't think he has that conviction to fight back and be like, no, you're both wrong. Like, the signs and sights is what we believe in,

and you should be aspiring to that. I don't think he genuinely believes that. It's great, it's great stuff. Yeah, that's what I was trying to figure out, is would we as Ilmerans just like... You choose that. I think everybody would have had the same experience, right? You can choose as your players how much,

traditionally, most of your places that you grew up would have taught you religion. As if you went to a Catholic primary school or something like that, you would have been taught a lot of this stuff. Whether you choose to believe it is your character's choice. Like, your characters have all seen and experienced things that might make them think, well,

not sure I really am okay, like, so much. Now, I will say that there is a little bit of bias here because obviously you guys have seen mostly some negative stuff with the lampighters and stuff like that. Not everywhere is like that. There are very good beliefs in the Church of the Silence. There are like, it genuinely is like, no matter what you do, you can be worthy.

If you're a good person and you prove yourself, you can ascend and become like a divine saint. And then you have power and you can help everybody and do all this cool stuff. But also like, there are figures that you can look up to. There are the songs, the teachings, be kind to each other. But then there are elements where it's just like, what is worthiness?

Somebody's like, if you kill a shitload of people and are the best warlord ever, worthy! Yeah. Not necessarily a good thing, right? It's a lot of people view it as just, you won the soul lottery. Yeah, yeah. And we've also got proof right in front of us

that our power is not the only power. Yeah, yeah. Right, yeah. But, and this is the other thing, and again, it's slightly twisted, yes, the Grey Father brought Ophelia back. Remember what he made her go through to do it? Well, we don't know.

And also, yeah, exactly, but also, it's not necessarily a great relationship. It's very much a, you are my servant, do what I tell you. And Ophelia's just like, yes, absolutely. Me believe wholeheartedly. But it's not necessarily a good thing. Remember, he's not a god. He's a planar power.

He is a being of divine magic, but it does not make him a god. Like, you know. And he's not necessarily kind. He's a father, a very stern father. I don't like those. I think, yeah, just to be clear as well, like, you know, it absolutely is Tyria's choice.

Yeah, I think I'm just trying to figure out, like... Yeah, I'm just trying to hear the words from her. Well, but also, but keep in mind, the only person who's trying to convince her has been Ophelia. So she's currently team Ophelia, you rolled really high, nobody's really counted that with like a big argument.

So she's just like, yeah, that one, I want that. Yeah, I mean, no, I was tempted to... But if somebody went, yeah, but what about option B and made a good case? She might be like, hmm, I don't know. And I think that's the thing is, even though Gruff is religious, he's not, his wavering in what he's learned

has not put him in a place where he's confident he could actually really, like what she's just said, if anything, is turning him, because he's like, no! Well, yeah, I was going to say, you do have a shot at redemption, but then she said, I'm never going to ascend anyway. It's like, oh, you've considered that, okay.

Because that's also a big question as well, of why didn't the Sions and the States you do have a short redemption, but then she said, I'm never gonna ascend anyway. It's like, oh, you've considered that? Okay, cool. Because that's also a big question as well, of like, well, why didn't the Sions and the States stop Cavan from hurting me? Yeah. And that is the big thing, right? In any religion, if God is omnipotent, why do bad things happen?

Yeah. And why do bad things happen to me? Hey, what does Rowan believe? Trotsk is just like, whoa! I'm trying to think from Rowan's perspective, but at the moment he's conflicted by a Tyria cursing him. So he doesn't really want to engage that much with Tyria. He's afraid of Tyria.

He still wants what's best for everyone, including Tyria, but he thinks there's more stronger opinions that need to be heard first, and that is Gruff's and Ophelia's. I've always got the impression as well, and obviously you can change if this isn't true with Rowan, that Rowan grew up in quite a nomadic, not a nomadic, but like a traditional culture,

a family that moved around a lot, and I've always felt that in a czar, the Church of the Suns and States isn't, that it's strong, but it's not as strong as like, say, Ishar or Kaldra. And actually, because there's quite a lot of Yotnir in the Azhar steppe, some of the giant beliefs kind of like filter in.

So like, you've probably had this like, well, I've learned that stuff, because they made me. But also, my great grandmother, who was a Yotnir, told me about the stars and what the giants will believe and stuff like that. A lot of conflicting things. So I don't really know.

The giants, by the way, believe in people that live in the stars. They think that the constellations are the imprint of people that live in the stars and that they control everything. The giants believe that basically the star people control everything and that the constellations are like, there's like the shield maiden, the warrior, the tracker,

and they've got these figures that are like these personifications that they worship. I wanna believe in that. What about the star people? They do have a different name, but yeah, I like the idea that Rowan would call them The Star People. Because it would be like-

You're forgetting they're Star People here. Yeah, it'd be like stories that Great Grandma Yotnir told you and stuff like that, you know, your great great grandma who was also half giant and stuff like that. But yeah, well. I was so ready for that to turn into the most like poignant and beautiful speech.

What if Tyria goes into the stars? Become Stardust. Right, well, I think that's a good point on that nice philosophical discussion to end the episode and leave that sort of hanging in the air. Where it seems like the party's like, well, we've heard Tyria seems to want this. Sound like there's a strong argument against it.

We're conflicted inwardly now. It was just a trying to figure out how actually words empty us, or even I suppose the most pious of us. Well why don't we have a think about it, and then we can come back to it next week? Yeah. Nice. Have a think about it, think what you're carrying to a feel. With that, we are going to end the episode there.

And we will see you for the next episode of All Fair and the Dragonfly. Got some questies, got some questies. Hell yeah. Bye. Bye. See you next time.