Latest / Smooth Critical / C1 Ep.16: Deep Water

Transcript

C1 Ep.16: Deep Water · Smooth Critical

0:19
Welcome back to Smooth critical. I'm your DM ofni.
0:23
Hey, quick question. Avni, are you OK?
0:25
Avni, are you OK? Are you OK, Avni?
0:29
That's a good radio voice, Charlie.
0:30
You'd be really good on the radio.
0:32
Oh, he's he's giggling, blushing.
0:34
OK. Sorry about that.
0:36
Damn you look so cute. Right now I know Charlie is so
0:39
cute right now. Welcome to FRESH AIR.
0:43
Fresh air. Welcome to Kung Fu Pandemonium.
0:46
Oh. My God.
0:47
All right, all right, let's go. I am am stuff about last.
0:51
Season. How did Tai Long escape?
0:53
How did we let that feather get to him?
0:54
Anyway, go on. All right, but I know.
0:57
That that scene was the most expensive scene that.
0:59
Works. Out how many times I can.
1:02
Get you guys are going to lose Max HP.
1:04
Yeah, I had the DM. I'm just going to come into the
1:07
game and kill you. All right?
1:09
I am amped up about last session because, God, I love a bar
1:14
fight. But, you know, in theory.
1:16
Of course, I've never actually gotten into a real fight, unless
1:20
you count punching out two of my older siblings already wiggly
1:23
baby teeth when I was 6 and they were eight.
1:26
But that enough about me. This is fantasy world.
1:29
So let me introduce you to my three gorgeous gladiators.
1:32
He my, this. Is Abdu Kadir Elrich named after
1:35
the Uzbek legend Abdu Kadir Kushner of also known as Abe?
1:39
Harry. Bonsu Gale Song Willow Wind now
1:42
with a new shiny bronze pocket watch.
1:45
Looking slick as ever. And Charlie?
1:50
Bo. We were all patiently waiting
1:56
and we got Bo. He's got to keep us on our, on
1:58
our, on our bows, on our bows. There we go, There it.
2:02
Is Harry bringing in the pun this time?
2:04
I am Bo now. And Bo is bond with the armor.
2:09
Oh, it's new armor now. New armor now.
2:12
Your new armor doesn't say bond on it.
2:14
Is that a magical effect? No, he Bo got plus one studded
2:19
leather armor from the. Oh no.
2:22
From the bandit. We can hang that in our ship
2:24
when we get it. Maybe I'll just cut.
2:25
Off that part of the armor and put that on top.
2:29
All right, let's start our recap.
2:31
You all entered GAIL Song's glasses and guest houses where
2:34
you were met with an eclectic group of merchants who
2:37
immediately started a bar fight. During this fight, you all
2:40
realize that your weapons and class skills and magic were
2:43
gone. Well, except for Bond, who
2:46
retained his magic. He noticed a painting over the
2:49
bar of a drow woman and a halfling man and realized this
2:52
protective magic was coming from that painting.
2:55
Bond also clocked a wood elf named Mieleth watching him.
2:59
Mieleth is Co owners of the bar with their wife Reen and after
3:02
gambling with them Bond won the dice game and Mieleth trusted
3:06
you with the secret of the painting.
3:08
Mieleth told you about the Dragonborn Sarvani who got the
3:11
painting from the Verrillion shards.
3:13
The painting had some words on the back stating that it was
3:16
High Priestess GAIL Song and her husband.
3:19
Mieleth also informed you that Sarvani had a bag of other goods
3:23
that she hid when she ran from the dock.
3:25
She now lives on the second floor of this inn and repeats
3:28
the phrase and she was chosen and she was chosen.
3:32
You'll convinced Miele to let you talk to Sirvani.
3:35
Sirvani noticed Bond and somehow knew he was a Willowind and a
3:38
Gale song. She also then somehow revealed
3:41
that Bond's pocket watch was bronze, not silver and whispered
3:46
in his ear telling him to keep his blood safe.
3:49
She also gave him a Riddle of where her stuff was hidden and
3:52
she said when the tyrant strips the walls and the ink is turned
3:56
to ash, the light will strike the empty stone to yield my
4:00
hidden stash. She then went back to her
4:03
rocking chair where she proceeded to glassy eyes stare
4:06
out the window and whisper. And she was chosen and she was
4:10
chosen. And that's where we are now.
4:13
Mialeth is rattled. I've I've never seen her do
4:17
that, but before I have to I have to talk to to reen about
4:21
this. She's, I don't even think I've
4:23
seen her stand from that, that chair in years.
4:28
Yeah, we'll, we'll, we'll come with you.
4:30
Obviously you wouldn't want us to be alone with her so.
4:33
Yeah, did you did you want to say anything else to her?
4:39
She seems unresponsive, but I mean, you could.
4:41
Yeah. Go for it.
4:42
Oh, yeah. By the way, I'm Neelith.
4:45
I heard you were you were friends of Ali and Bon and they
4:48
were helping care. One second and I'm going to walk
4:51
over to Servani and I kind of put my hands on on her chair and
4:57
I say this is really important, Sirvani, I need you to lock in.
5:02
And I try to make eye contact with her.
5:03
And she's just staring out the window and.
5:05
She was chosen and she was chosen and she was chosen.
5:09
Did you meet a boy who looks like me?
5:12
Alphons Elrich. She starts going back.
5:15
And she was chosen, and she was chosen, and she was chosen and
5:19
she was. Chosen or two older people that
5:21
also look like me, Marta and Louise.
5:24
Also Elrich. She was chosen.
5:27
Abe, when did your parents leave and when did they come back?
5:32
She was gone. She left seven years ago and
5:35
came back six years ago. They, they left 10 years ago and
5:38
they arrived back four years after that, so six years ago.
5:45
So they arrived around back the same time I suppose.
5:48
But yes, different places though.
5:50
Well, you don't know about your parents.
5:51
But I don't know anything. Alphonse arrived back in Doctor
5:55
Vallas area, but your parents never arrived back.
5:59
So give me a persuasion check with disadvantage right now.
6:05
With disadvantage, it's a nine. She is rocking back and forth.
6:11
She's rocking back and forth whispering and she was chosen as
6:14
she was chosen. But she moves one of her dragon
6:18
claw hands and puts it on top of your hand and just kind of rubs
6:24
her thumb along the side of your hand in a very comforting
6:27
manner. But she still keeps saying and
6:30
she was chosen and she was chosen.
6:31
She doesn't address you. Does Bunty say anything?
6:35
Yeah, fight her, get her to listen to you, grab her by the
6:39
face, put your face in her face and go.
6:42
What happened? But.
6:44
Stop. I'm not going to do that.
6:46
She's clearly unwell. You asked for my advice.
6:51
Maybe, maybe if you show a picture, maybe show a picture of
6:55
your family, maybe show a picture of your family to her,
6:58
put it right in front of her face and maybe she'll be like,
7:01
oh shit, I know them. We used to hang out on the
7:03
Screaming Reef together and have Bruce Keys.
7:06
All right, all right, Bunty, listen.
7:08
First I thought it was a good idea, but now I can just tell
7:10
you're making fun of me and I don't appreciate it.
7:13
Can you give me an insight check on Bunty Right now he's in your
7:18
head. Do it with advantage.
7:19
I mean, I'm assuming it's going to pass, but 22?
7:24
Sorry, 2424. You hear Bunty shut up and start
7:29
to kind of You can't. You can tell maybe he's crying
7:36
slightly and maybe that was his sincere attempt.
7:42
The the photo one, not the one where he tells you to grab her
7:45
by the face, but the one where he says show them a picture of
7:47
your family. Maybe they used to hang out.
7:49
What's his sincere attempt? Bunty knows about the Virulian
7:54
charge through you. Bunty has no external knowledge.
7:57
Bunty doesn't study this stuff. Bunty just kind of listens to
8:00
you and does his own thing. He doesn't know that.
8:05
Maybe that was like he knows it wasn't the best suggestion, but
8:08
he didn't know that you would take it as a joke from him.
8:12
Bunty and I kind of rubbed my head and it kind of caressed my
8:17
face. Hey buddy, that was actually you
8:20
know what, that was actually kind of a good idea and I'm
8:24
going to pull out my journal. I do have a sketch of them.
8:26
I don't have, I don't have any like small paintings or.
8:28
Pictures. Yeah, yeah.
8:29
That so I I'll be like, I'll show her.
8:31
I'll show her what it looks like.
8:33
Is Keelith still or Meelith? Meelith.
8:36
Yeah, Meelith is by the door right now.
8:38
OK, OK, and I and I show the the drawing, a good drawing of of my
8:44
family and Alphonse as I remembered them.
8:47
Give me another persuasion with disadvantage, right?
8:54
That is a 12. Sarvani lifts a little claw
8:58
finger, puts it and taps. Alphonse puts her hand down and
9:04
starts rocking back and forth. And she was chosen, and she was
9:07
chosen, and she was chosen. I look back at you guys,
9:11
assuming you saw that, and I'm like speechless A.
9:17
Quick question, so Savani, she doesn't even acknowledge me.
9:20
Does the phrase they found it mean anything to you?
9:24
Sir Arvani doesn't acknowledge you and just keeps rocking back
9:29
and forth. OK?
9:30
Mila turns to you guys and goes. I think that's enough action for
9:36
her today. We might just we should probably
9:39
step out, yeah. Sorry, sorry about that.
9:42
No, no, no worries. I I'm glad to see that some of
9:47
her is maybe still there in tact or something her memory.
9:52
Maybe they're like guiding you out of the door at this point
9:56
and locks the door behind you guys.
10:00
I I worry about her and what she remembers and what happened to
10:05
her down there, but I can't tell if it's good or if it's bad or
10:11
it's very just confusing about what happened and then she
10:14
shouldn't have gone. You should not go to the
10:16
Viralian charts. We are all for breaking rules,
10:19
but maybe this is one that you shouldn't break.
10:23
Just just don't go. Just don't go and kind of
10:27
shaken. They lead you guys back
10:29
downstairs. Have you ever taken her to a
10:33
doctor? Yeah.
10:35
I mean, we've had. Or anything like.
10:36
That we've had clerics look at her many, many times, but they
10:42
don't know what's happened. It's like she's kind of locked
10:46
into this moment and we just, we haven't seen her have this sort
10:51
of clarity until now. Yeah.
10:53
I mean, I'm familiar with the being locked in to that specific
10:56
phrase, very familiar with that. But I haven't seen someone with
11:01
that condition and I'm trying to dance through the sentence have
11:08
clarity either. Yeah, I, I, I couldn't nudge 80,
11:12
but I'm like be crazy, be crazy. Me and little seemed like they
11:22
were going to respond to you before you went there and then
11:25
sticks a step back and it's like yeah, maybe they just need
11:30
something. Maybe they're mostly gone,
11:34
right? Maybe she's mostly gone, but
11:36
maybe there was just some some part of her that that just needs
11:40
something to be triggered, right?
11:41
But I I don't know if she'll ever be back to where she was,
11:46
but. No, no, no, I don't agree with
11:48
you on that take at all. I mean, I'm just postulating.
11:53
And you should stop because you clearly don't know anything
11:56
about her condition. OK.
12:00
Yeah, Mia looks a little offended because like they've
12:03
been taking care of Sarvani for the past six years when the
12:06
other option was jail and turns to Ollie and bond and goes I you
12:16
should take your friend and. Yeah, sorry.
12:20
Prefer him. Don't pay him any mind, you
12:22
know. I, I guess we'll, we'll get out
12:24
of your hair. I I appreciate.
12:26
It there is a there's a room open for you if you would want
12:30
to stay here. It's just is 1 gold piece for
12:32
3:00 rooms. Yeah, absolutely.
12:35
Sure, I'll give up the gold piece.
12:38
Safest place in all of Emberhold.
12:41
And has anybody ever, you know, you, you use the name GAIL Song
12:47
as like the name of your establishment and it was from,
12:52
from a piece of art from the brilliant shots.
12:55
You know, that's that's pretty illegal, like travel to there
12:59
and it's not really talked about too much.
13:01
Has anybody ever come looking come like knocking, trying to, I
13:09
don't know, like the government or something?
13:13
Smiles. Yeah, no, umm.
13:17
The Imperator, the, the, the Imperial guards come here every
13:23
two months and they just head over to the library, they check
13:29
out the docs and that's just all they do when they head back.
13:32
The Imperator himself. Oh man, I, I can't even remember
13:36
the last time he was here. And the other, the regular Ember
13:39
hold guards are just, you know, people off the street that
13:43
signed up to be a guard in the city there.
13:45
There's nothing special about them.
13:47
No one seems to know where we got the name from.
13:51
Just a nice name that has alliteration with glasses and
13:54
guest houses. Cool.
13:58
What time is it right now? It is evening time.
14:02
Is pocket watch. Your pocket watch, your bronze
14:05
pocket watch shows 8:15 PM. OK, Mila turns to you guys and
14:11
goes. You know, Ember holds Merchant
14:14
City, kind of a late city. Definitely some things to still
14:18
do if you want to go out and about.
14:20
I think shops probably close closer to 9.
14:23
But yeah, the our doors are always open.
14:27
Since you got a room here, you can always just come through and
14:30
head up. It'll be open 24/7.
14:33
Awesome. Thank you.
14:34
Yeah, I think we could probably do some stuff.
14:36
So you guys head out of the bar and head out onto the street and
14:42
yeah, you're in front of the the bar.
14:44
Slash in. Bunty.
14:46
She's. Finally out everyone give me a
14:48
perception check. Oh God, 8. 19. 26.
14:55
Abe, I need, I need you to do that one.
14:56
This advantage, sorry. 12. OK, Bon, you see this bow?
15:02
You just kind of walked out. You were leading the pack as you
15:06
walked out, then was Abe and then was Bond.
15:09
And Abe. This is really hard for you to
15:10
see because Bunty physically pops out of your head with a SAT
15:16
and he just goes and jumps onto the ground and Bond.
15:20
You totally just see Bunty jump out like 3 feet above Abe's head
15:25
and then just plop on the land and goes.
15:29
Oh my knees fuck. Like oh shit that hurt.
15:32
Look guys, I have knee problems. I saw my Asia.
15:35
I told my amcia. I told my meniscus.
15:38
I had to get surgery. And that was on both legs.
15:40
OK. And then I tore elbow muscles as
15:43
well, but I don't remember what those are called.
15:45
No ligaments, tendons. Bunty, that's not that's not
15:49
true. No, I did.
15:51
I did. I did.
15:52
As you say that Bunty's making this up, you all watch as
15:57
Bunty's eye shrinks back to the human form slightly when it was
16:03
Posh Bunty. And do they see this?
16:05
Yeah, everyone sees this. And Posh Bunty turns to you guys
16:09
and goes, no, he's he's telling the truth.
16:13
And Bunty's eyes goes back to normal.
16:16
I I I'm telling the truth. I promise I'm telling the truth.
16:20
Don't like that? I look over to Abe.
16:23
Do you? See what I was talking about?
16:24
There was a refined Bunty. That was him.
16:26
That was him. I wasn't lying.
16:28
That's that's freaky as shit. Man that's so fucked up I really
16:32
hate that. What are you talking about?
16:34
What the fuck? It's it's unnatural.
16:36
I'm not a natural, I'm natural, natural born citizen.
16:40
No. Bunty, bunty, you are quite
16:43
literally the most unnatural thing I've ever seen and I am
16:46
made of metal. He's he's sensitive right now.
16:49
He's sensitive right now. Guys, I didn't have a body for
16:52
hours. Hours, I'm telling you.
16:54
Imagine if you had nobody. Just look over.
16:57
There I had nobody next to me holding me close and tender at
17:01
night. OK.
17:02
OK, he's back to normal. That's good.
17:04
I think he's all right, yeah. I I just opened my cloak up.
17:07
Get it. Get in buddy, get.
17:08
In Take a nap. See you later, losers.
17:12
Where, where do you where do you guys want to go?
17:15
He couldn't have taken a nap while he was in your head.
17:19
He did. He did, actually, briefly.
17:21
I did hear the me. Me.
17:24
Wait, that's you alright. It was a power nap.
17:27
But I couldn't, I couldn't help but notice your your pocket
17:31
watch, your wristwatch, it it changed.
17:35
Yeah, so much just happened. I, I didn't, I, I forgot for a
17:40
moment and I look at it and I'm, I would love to do some sort of
17:43
religion check or insight check just to like make sure that I'm
17:47
not broken. Yeah, Avni, I want to, I want to
17:50
take off one of my gloves and remove the disguise on my hands
17:54
so that it's the bronze, my like original bronze hand and see if
17:58
it's like the same alloy. Awesome, yes.
18:01
So first let Bon give me give me a religion and also give me an
18:09
Arcana check. Religion is going to be a 16.
18:14
With the 16 you can tell you are not broken.
18:18
Your pocket watch seems to be perfectly fine working in ship
18:22
shop order. You can still blow a nick Shard.
18:24
You can still cast your spells to it.
18:26
Now with that, give me Arcana with advantage.
18:29
That was A2 and A1 again. Wow, I'm getting these two and
18:34
A1. All right.
18:35
So that's a, that's a six. OK, you're not entirely sure how
18:40
Sarvani did what she did. And Bo, you take off one of your
18:48
these are like if you've ever worked in a lab and you had to
18:52
get things from the -80 freezer. Like it's that type of gloves,
18:56
like thick padding all the way up to the elbow nose like.
19:00
I'm just imagining like oven mitts kind of.
19:02
Yeah, but just very long. Yeah.
19:04
And so you take off the glove and you make your hands back
19:08
into its bronze form, and you put it next to Bond's pocket
19:12
watch. The only the alloy is the same.
19:16
The only difference is that yours looks dirty.
19:19
Interesting. Yeah, fair enough.
19:22
And Rusty I, I calm, I definitely calm down a little
19:24
bit at this and well, just seeing this makes a lot more
19:28
sense to then. This also confirms something I
19:32
think. I mean, it actually doesn't
19:34
confirm anything. It just kind of is more data to
19:37
the point that when we were in there, you could use your magic
19:40
bond and bow your hat still work.
19:42
Yes, I think, Beau, I think that you actually are one of this
19:47
mirror's chosen ones. I'm sorry, Bon, I'm not saying
19:49
this as a joke, but I think something to do with his magic
19:52
has to do with this mirror as well.
19:54
There's no other explanation. You're saying that as if that
19:58
wasn't a foregone conclusion, like we didn't already
20:01
established that I'm this mirror's chosen one.
20:03
But I'm glad that you you agree. I'm just kidding.
20:09
I have a couple beers in me at this point and I just kind of
20:11
like slapping both on the back and, and I'm just like, it's all
20:17
right. It's all right, guys.
20:18
Bunty at this kind of pops out and goes.
20:21
Guys, I watch everything. I listen.
20:24
I observed because, you know, like I said, I had no body,
20:28
couldn't feel myself up because I had to do something else.
20:31
So I had to use my other senses. What was I saying?
20:34
OK, so me with you said it like Gaelin said something about like
20:40
this place being a safe haven. Bo, do you think you would have
20:45
been safe without the hat? I, I think you're, you're right
20:49
about that, Bunty. I think it had something to do
20:52
more with the protection aspect of it.
20:55
That's why I think maybe you were safer in Abe's head or
21:01
something, but. That the spell is intended to
21:05
protect people from harm, yeah, rather than preventing them from
21:09
doing harm. Yeah, I think it's, I mean it's
21:12
both. Identifies like.
21:13
I think it's both. I don't know why.
21:15
Huh. Maybe it's just that my magic
21:18
is, I think in it's essence, intended to be more of like a
21:23
helpful thing. Like, you know, clerics tend to
21:26
be healers and, you know, we fight, but.
21:29
That that could be it, no. That makes sense.
21:31
It could also be that your name is on the back of that painting.
21:35
Oh. Yeah.
21:37
That's where I was going with the whole thing, but that's
21:40
actually a really insightful comment, Bunty.
21:44
Yeah, thanks. What?
21:46
What time is it right now? Well, it's probably like 825.
21:49
You guys have been talking for like 10 minutes, OK.
21:52
I think we also hopefully in this time just kind of fill in a
21:55
bond everything else that we've. Shared yeah.
21:59
Obviously you see the person now, but we we give you the
22:03
whole back story about the Beryllian shards, but I think
22:07
you gathered that from the situation.
22:12
Is there anywhere you guys want to go before before the shops
22:16
close up? Yeah, maybe the, you know, the
22:18
Late Night Haberdashery and Glove store.
22:23
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I I know just the place.
22:29
Bon, you usually war on the docks, right?
22:34
You were part of like the larger merchants, so you were
22:38
colloquially known as a Cliff face.
22:41
Those are the people who work on the dock and live on the face of
22:45
the Cliff, AKA Cliff faces. While the overlookers, like I
22:49
said from last session, are the ones who kind of live on top of
22:52
the Cliff. So that doesn't mean you've
22:54
never been to the top of the Cliff.
22:56
You've actually been here quite a few times.
22:58
You were definitely more adventurous than some of your
23:01
other deckhands. You like to explore the city,
23:04
and so you lead them to this conjoined shop on the top of the
23:08
Cliff. It's both a glove, a hat, and a
23:12
belt store all lined up next to each other.
23:15
And it's called Leather Daddy. Awesome.
23:18
So this is the place I've been telling you guys about.
23:29
Yeah, so Leather Daddy has both gloves and.
23:32
Glove, hat, belts. Gloves, hat, belts.
23:34
I'm assuming also a wide variety of of beats.
23:38
Leather accoutrements. Yeah.
23:40
Von's been here quite a. Few times, leather daddy, this
23:43
is this is your kind of place, Bon.
23:45
Yeah, you know, I've never. Actually, I've never.
23:48
You've never been. Inside.
23:50
That's fine. Hey, it's each their own, you
23:52
know? This was deep when Bon was like
23:54
missing his father and his family and saw oh, a daddy
23:58
story. Going to like it opened up a
24:03
whole new world that was that was Bond's sexcapade arcs.
24:09
Bond's got Bond's got quite a few ladies, men, both, neither.
24:14
All of the above. All of the above in the in the
24:17
city that if they saw a bond they would they would try to get
24:20
him back into their little their Little Mix.
24:23
We got to do a prequel arc, Yeah, for that.
24:29
Great. So you guys entered the the
24:31
glove section of the store. You see a do you see a tiefling
24:35
woman there looking very sultry at you beau?
24:39
Oh, hey. Hey, Hi.
24:43
Hello. How you doing?
24:45
Hi hi. Do you need anything?
24:48
Oh yeah, I could use a hand. Ha ha, ha ha ha.
24:52
Glove. Actually, not a hand, it's a
24:55
yeah. Excuse me, is it all right?
25:01
Yeah. Gloves please.
25:04
Yeah, it seems like the those little like oven Mitt things you
25:07
have on you, they wouldn't really help in some, you know,
25:11
fun situations, am I right? Yeah, these these things.
25:15
No, of course not. Yeah.
25:18
What type of gloves you looking? What color I What type of
25:22
leather? Well, is it off base to assume
25:24
that in a world where prosthetics are common, there
25:27
would be kind of gloves that are made to go over like a
25:31
prosthetic hand and kind of like pad it and stuff?
25:35
No, totally. They definitely will have stuff
25:37
like that. It's like there are larger
25:40
leather gloves that have some sort of like stuffing on the
25:43
inside. So it's like, yeah, like a like
25:46
a fur lining ish, you know? Something like a fleece kind of
25:49
thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:51
We definitely have gloves like that.
25:54
Are you looking for brown, black, red?
25:57
And she kind of steps forward when she says red, because she's
26:00
a red tea fling. I don't know what do you think?
26:04
What do you think would look would look good I.
26:07
Mean the world's your oyster, but I don't know, Red would look
26:12
kind of good on you. I whispered a bond.
26:16
Does she have a crush on him? I I look over at Abe and I'm
26:21
just like, she, she's she's she's just kind of I kind of get
26:28
lost in. I get lost in thought a little
26:30
bit. I was.
26:32
Thinking about all the times. His sex debates I.
26:38
Was thinking about his seafaring people.
26:41
Yeah, I think some like nice deep red gloves would look so
26:45
good on you. Yeah, that sound, I think I'll
26:47
just brown, brown gloves. Brown Brown sounds good.
26:51
OK, unadventurous, I guess. And she lets you pick out a pair
26:57
of brown gloves, whatever shade you want, and brings them up at
27:03
the counter and puts them in a little like gift bag type of
27:09
thing. And it on the front of it, it
27:11
says leather daddy on it, like in these big bold gold letters
27:16
so you know where the bag came from.
27:18
And she hands it over to you and goes, yeah, don't be a stranger.
27:22
You know, maybe open up your mind a little bit and I'll see
27:25
you back here. Yeah, actually I have.
27:28
I have a another quick question, Could you could you embroidery
27:31
something on the front of this armor for me?
27:33
Yeah, I can totally do that. What do you want it to say?
27:37
I'm going to, I'm going to look up Bon and I'm going to look at
27:40
Abe and I'm going to say I want it to say Abe Bon.
27:45
Abe Bon, is that like your safe word or something?
27:50
I look at them both, both of you, pretty lovingly, completely
27:54
goes over my head and I goes, yeah, it makes me feel pretty
27:57
safe. So she takes it over.
28:04
A few minutes later she gets it to say a bond on it.
28:09
That'll cost you about two gold pieces between the gloves and
28:13
the embroidering. Awesome.
28:15
Great. And then Bunty goes.
28:18
OK guys, let's get my pirate hat fitted.
28:22
Yes, but bunty just be like really chill.
28:26
Is the pirate hat made of leather?
28:27
Does this place do that? Yeah, they could put a leather
28:31
fitting on the inside so the shape won't change, but it'll
28:35
fit to his head so it doesn't slide all the way down his
28:37
little body. I pat Bunty on the back.
28:40
I'm just like, go get him. Can I get him Bunty?
28:44
Can I have one gold please please?
28:46
I give him. I give him the hat.
28:48
I want to see how the T fling is looking at Bunty.
28:51
The T fling looks over at Bunty, Bunty makes eye contact with the
28:55
T Fling and Bunty goes, yeah, how you doing lady?
28:59
And the T fling goes, oh hey there little guy.
29:02
And Bunty goes. You know I back a punch.
29:06
And the T fling goes Oh, I bet you do.
29:10
OK, I got to go get my hat. No.
29:13
And he runs off bare ass in the winds keep floating in the back.
29:19
So Bundy goes to the man in charge of the haberdashery part
29:24
of the store, and they get something fitted on the inside
29:28
of the hat for Bundy. This man is like large orc man,
29:33
like a septum piercing, piercings kind of everywhere,
29:37
wearing all like black leather. But you see him and Bunty get
29:41
along really well. And as you watch Bunty, he puts
29:45
Bunty on his shoulder and they're like laughing together.
29:47
And Bunty goes. Guys, guess what?
29:48
He's a pervert, too. Yeah, like.
29:54
We're getting that vibe from this whole place.
29:56
Yeah. Anyways, do we want to hit up
29:59
the belt store? Are we good?
30:01
I look over at Abe. No.
30:04
No, and I as as we walk out I blow each of the cat like people
30:14
working there kiss. They blow you one back and they
30:18
go bye Bond. We'll see you later.
30:23
For all the viewers, Harry just winked.
30:27
I forgot that that doesn't come out coming over.
30:31
Again. As we walk out, I assume it's
30:34
like 8:45-ish. Yeah, just about.
30:38
I think we should touch base about, you know, what we want to
30:41
do in and behold, we don't have a ton of time here if we want to
30:45
get to the we want to get to the horde quickly.
30:50
So I don't know about you guys, but I think it would be very
30:53
valuable if I, you know, my magics been growing stronger.
30:57
I think it would be helpful if we bought some some components
31:01
so that I could cast Revivify if anything ever ever happens to
31:05
one of you 2. Is that what they did to to Abe?
31:09
Yeah, that's that's the spell that saved Abe's life.
31:12
Yeah, I think that I think that could be a little useful.
31:15
No, that's a good idea. I think we should also try not
31:19
to get into more situations like that one.
31:22
And I kind of look down, but yeah, I think it's a good idea
31:25
if we're prepared for situations like that one.
31:27
Yeah, of course, of course. I just, I don't want something
31:30
to happen. Oh, you were talking about
31:32
dying? I thought you were referring to
31:33
the sex shop. Yeah.
31:36
I also thought you were talking about Listen Avis.
31:40
It's just the store. They're really nice people.
31:43
No. No, no, not the.
31:44
Daddy the I was talking about Council Fury Festival.
31:52
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
31:54
Of course we won't let that happen, but just in case, yeah,
31:58
they do. The components are pretty
32:00
expensive, however. So, you know, another thing we
32:05
could do is try to make a bit of money fast in like the
32:09
underground fights before we buy those components, before we buy
32:14
anything expensive. That could be a good idea.
32:16
How long do we want to stay here guys?
32:18
Well, let's think of what we what we have to do here.
32:21
So we have an address we need to go to.
32:23
Yeah, I think that's probably one of the last things we'll do.
32:25
Yeah, the library. Go to the library the shanty
32:30
which is the bar with the great Guild do.
32:31
We. Hang.
32:32
Out Do we need to go to the shanty?
32:34
We should figure out what's going on with the the situation
32:38
on the roads. I also feel like we're uniquely
32:40
suited with you bond because you could affect that.
32:44
There's also you could just go down to the docks and try to
32:46
talk to deckhands if you'd rather not go to the shanty and
32:50
talk to the captains. Either one.
32:52
You're going down to the docks anyway to go to the address so.
32:58
Yeah, fair enough. You do always have sticks seal.
33:02
Yeah. I think that's, unfortunately, I
33:05
don't think that's going to get me in, you know, too many places
33:08
without making a big scene. And I don't know if that would
33:12
go over well at the shanty. Do you know where you want to
33:14
walk off to 1st or? I mean, what else?
33:17
What else do we want to do? There is limb upgrades, I think
33:22
each of you wanted to get a level if not more.
33:25
Obviously that's expensive. Then there is looking for the
33:30
component for revivify which is like the black Opal.
33:33
We switched it from diamond just for funsies.
33:36
Then there's the dock or the shanty, whatever 1 you want to
33:40
get into. There is the underground
33:43
fighting pits and then you need. To go to the library, but that's
33:47
probably during the day. Yeah, library and the address I
33:50
think are the last things. So our options right now are the
33:54
the address, the docks, fighting pits seems like.
33:57
Yeah, the stores are open for another 15 minutes if you wanted
34:00
to get an upgrade and or by the Opal, but if you wanted to wait
34:04
on that, you could do that too. I think it's better to have more
34:07
money going into the fights, more to gamble with, but I could
34:11
probably, yeah. Do you think the fights are open
34:13
late? Because that's something we can
34:15
do tonight. Definitely, definitely the
34:17
fights, the fights go on. They probably start like right
34:20
about now, I imagine. Then that's the first thing we
34:23
should do and then we could we could maybe hit some of the
34:27
shops in the morning. Well, do we want to get the the
34:29
gym? The Opal.
34:31
No, I think let's let's keep it's it's expensive.
34:34
So it's. Yeah.
34:35
But that might be like that's a, that's an investment we're going
34:39
to make, right? Yeah.
34:40
For sure. And what if something happens in
34:43
the underground fighting pits? I see your point.
34:47
I mean, it's illegal fighting pits, right?
34:49
So this is like Bond, You've actually never been to one of
34:53
these before, but you've heard about it.
34:56
While you were exploring your sexual side on the top ground, a
35:01
lot of the deckhands would go here and gamble some of their
35:05
money. They wouldn't necessarily fight,
35:07
but they would gamble. And they'd be like, oh Bond,
35:09
like this crazy shit just happened and like blah blah,
35:13
blah, blah, blah. And so you know where to go, but
35:17
you've never actually been yourself.
35:19
The Gale song stands for Goody 2 Shoes.
35:25
I don't know, I I think the chances of us dying are pretty
35:29
low there, but I can also understand the argument.
35:32
Yeah, fine. I mean, we're not going to
35:34
gamble all of our gold away anyway, right?
35:36
Like so let's let's pop by the magic shop.
35:39
Great. As you are going towards the
35:43
magic shop, Bo has kind of filled you in.
35:46
Also about the Great Merchant Guild.
35:49
So we never kind of did a check for that.
35:51
Bon, do you want to roll history?
35:54
Check with advantage to have this history about the Great
35:57
Merchant Guild. 19. Awesome.
36:02
So Bond, you know that the Great Merchant Guild, like I said
36:05
before, is the overarching Guild that comprises of the four major
36:08
merchant guilds from each empire.
36:10
Nerix was Guild master of the Noctavalis Merchant Guild, but
36:14
there's also an overarching Guild master.
36:16
So there's five of them for for the empires one as the
36:20
overarching great merchant Guild.
36:22
And that Guild master is a woman named Swan from Pharaoh Malik's.
36:26
She's a Goliath woman who took her title as Guild master very
36:29
seriously, and she was a huge advocate for smaller merchants,
36:33
even the independent ones outside of the guilds and
36:36
Pharaoh Malik's doesn't have a port city like the other empires
36:39
do, so they're much weaker when it comes to international
36:43
merchant Mariners. So Swan took her job very
36:45
seriously. She was someone who would
36:48
normally be seen around Emberhold.
36:50
So as Bonn is kind of updating you guys about this as Bo's
36:55
talking, you guys make your way to the edge of the Cliff.
37:01
So at the edge of the Cliff is a shop called the Gilded Vault.
37:06
It's a high end gemstone boutique.
37:09
It is all glass on the side that looks out over the Cliff.
37:15
And right now at night you see that there is light fog rolling
37:20
out. If you guys get close to the
37:22
window and look down, you see that it's about like an 800 foot
37:27
drop all the way to the bottom. You can't even see the bottom of
37:31
the Cliff right now. It is like this nighttime
37:34
stunning view right now. High end boutique.
37:38
Is the is the veil the night veil up right now?
37:43
Are the stars like they were last night?
37:45
Great question. The stars are very few and very
37:51
scattered now that you're near a city.
37:52
Oh yeah, true, true, true. OK, cool.
37:55
So pop into the shop. So there is this high elf
38:00
jeweler who is just standing there very politely, and she
38:05
turns to you. Oh, hi.
38:07
Are you looking for gems for your loved ones?
38:09
Are you looking for gems for any sort of spells?
38:13
What are you looking for? I'm I'm looking to buy a black
38:17
Opal. Oh, is this perhaps for personal
38:22
use or for magic use? It's for magical use.
38:27
The revivify spell, yes, we know it very well.
38:30
Yeah. Hmm.
38:31
So black opals are they're very rare and 'cause they're formed
38:36
deep within the volcanoes of Ignovarama.
38:39
I'm sure you know this, but recently the Imperidor has
38:44
seized many of these black opals.
38:47
He's not really banned them, but he's collected the the vast
38:50
majority of them. So it's, they were already hard
38:56
to find. They're a lot harder to find
38:57
now. And obviously not all black
38:59
opals can perform this resurrection magic.
39:02
You have to have like a keen eye and some deep spiritual ties.
39:05
So you can actually pick which stone is able to bring the soul
39:10
back to life. And she, she beckons you come,
39:14
come with me to this backroom. She leads you to this very dim,
39:18
dark backroom. And there is this table with 10
39:25
black opals on it. These stones are pitch black,
39:29
smooth and heavy, and webbed across their surfaces with
39:33
shimmering dark blue and bronze veins.
39:36
So here everyone can do this, but you must make an DC15
39:42
investigation check to kind of narrow down the pile.
39:45
I'm going to cast guidance on myself.
39:47
Awesome. Jesus Christ, that's a Nat one.
39:53
Oh no, you. Said we're all rolling.
39:55
Yes, investigation check. Yeah, DC15 investigation.
40:00
It's also a Nat 1 for me. Oh no.
40:03
OK so I think both me and Bond pointed a rock that's not even
40:07
one of the Opal. Yeah, that one's cool.
40:10
It's so black. It's so much blacker.
40:12
Yeah, it doesn't. It seems so much more pure it.
40:14
Doesn't it doesn't even have the veins?
40:16
11 In the same mind, Obviously there's one something special.
40:21
It's a 23. And Abe, you're kind of
40:25
thoughtfully looking at these stones right now.
40:27
You're, you're a very thoughtful guy and you kind of the hands
40:32
behind the back are looking over the stones and your keen eye
40:37
notices that while the veins on most of the stones are
40:42
completely stagnant, dark blue and bronze veins on four of the
40:46
stones are moving ever so slightly.
40:49
So you kind of narrow it down and you see these three kind of
40:53
have that, that living component to it.
40:55
The veins are kind of shifting. This time though, I'm going to
40:59
need only Bond to roll a religion tech DC 20.
41:04
I'm going to pat him on the back and give him a bardic
41:08
inspiration. Incredible.
41:10
Do I have to use it right now? No.
41:13
What's the deal with that? Do I have to choose do it
41:15
beforehand? No, you can add it after, yeah.
41:18
OK. I'm going to cast guidance on
41:19
myself as well. So that is 11 on the die, A1 on
41:25
the D4, and then a nine for religion.
41:29
So that is 21. Incredible.
41:32
So, Bon, you were kind of distracted before, but then Abe
41:36
kind of beckons you and is like, look at these four rocks and Abe
41:41
kind of, you know, Abe positions you in front of those four rocks
41:44
as like look at the stones. You can kind of see bunty like
41:48
vibes in these ones. I guess so, yeah.
41:52
And Bon, you're just staring at them, Just staring at them.
41:56
And you tune out the ambient noise of everything that's
42:00
happening outside. You stare at those 4 remaining
42:04
stones intensely. Your surroundings fade and your
42:08
chest begins to rise and fall, breathing in and out and in and
42:16
out, and you notice that the shimmering veins of exactly 1
42:20
stone have completely locked onto you, slowly pulsing in
42:25
perfect rhythm to your breath. That is a worthy stone.
42:30
I pick it up and I say we'll take this one.
42:32
Oh yeah, great. Incredible.
42:34
I mean, I hope it works. I'm not really sure which of
42:37
these stones are good or bad. So that'll be 300 gold pieces
42:40
please. Well, let's test it.
42:42
I slit abes throat. No. 300 gold pieces, I mean.
42:50
Yeah, I mean, these are exceedingly rare.
42:52
Yeah, but you don't know if it works.
42:54
Yeah, that is true. I mean this 300 gold pieces on a
42:57
gamble and I I look over it though.
43:00
Yeah. I mean, I kind of.
43:01
Wide eyed dough out just. Like it it is true, you know, we
43:08
don't we're we're, we are kind of taking a, a leap of faith
43:11
here. So I mean, you don't even know
43:13
if this one works. This could might not even be
43:15
worth 300 gold to you. So I mean, would you be willing
43:19
to do like 250? Give me a persuasion check.
43:23
With guidance. Oh.
43:26
Thank God. Finally, I'm rolling.
43:28
Well, awesome. So that was a four on the
43:32
guidance and a 19 on the dye for a total of 29.
43:37
I should have gone lower, lower. Yeah, 250 works.
43:41
Well. Thank.
43:43
Thank you, Beau. Would you actually do 225
43:46
actually? Let's go back.
43:49
She shakes your hand and she's like, OK, it's got to lock up
43:53
the store now. So thank you all for coming in
43:56
and, and and purchasing one of our beautiful Opal stones.
43:59
Yeah, absolutely none of you have to use it.
44:02
Quick quick question, do you know if there's any other kind
44:04
of spell it can be used for? Is it just revivified?
44:08
Can it be used for any more powerful resurrection spells or
44:11
things like that? So that's a great question.
44:15
I'm not a cleric or anything like that so I'm not entirely
44:19
sure, but from what I know just magically is that when someone
44:26
dies and this stone is used in the revivify spell.
44:30
I've seen this, I've seen this once before.
44:32
The black in the stone kind of gets drawn towards the person
44:38
and goes inside of them and then the stone becomes more of like a
44:41
Milky white. It changes color when it's been
44:43
used. I'm not sure if that means it
44:46
can be used for other more powerful spells because it seems
44:49
like all the black inky magic that's in the stone is used in
44:53
the revivified spell, so I'm not sure if you can use it for it.
44:58
Was there a specific spell you were thinking about or?
45:00
Nope, Nope. I was just curious.
45:02
Do you know if this is a oddball question?
45:05
You know if it could be like you can make the revivifier spell
45:08
into like a potion or something like a file that you could.
45:12
Carry to an artificial alchemist or something like that they they
45:17
would probably know best. But that's that's something that
45:20
they or oh, they, you would have to ask them, OK.
45:22
Yeah, I I have no idea unfortunately.
45:24
OK. Yeah, that's fine.
45:25
But thank you for coming to my. Store, absolutely.
45:28
Thank you so much. Thank you.
45:29
So you guys head out stone in the pocket now and bon as you
45:36
put like the stone into, are you putting in your pocket?
45:39
Are you putting into the bag of holding?
45:41
I feel like I should keep it on me.
45:43
Awesome. As you put it into your pocket,
45:47
now that it's out of sight and you can't see it sinking,
45:50
sinking with your breathing, you can still kind of feel it pulse
45:55
in your pockets to your breathing.
45:57
Any chance that either of you caught a glimpse of what liquid
46:00
was inside that vial the Imperator gave the little girl?
46:04
Oh wow, I'm going to be completely honest, Beau, I don't
46:08
even remember that that he gave the little girl a vial.
46:10
I don't even remember that there was a little girl.
46:12
The one that Bond crushed to death, Yeah.
46:15
The one that bond crushed your dad.
46:17
Bunty, Bunty. I might have.
46:20
I might have seen it. So Bond, since you were up close
46:24
and personal, give me an intelligence check straight up.
46:31
17. 17 Yeah, that potion was inky black with some dark blue
46:38
winds bronze in it. OK, yeah, maybe he's mass
46:42
producing potions like that. Maybe that keeps him alive.
46:48
I don't know. Interesting.
46:50
That's a good point. Interesting.
46:51
OK. To the pits.
46:54
Let's make some money. OK Bon you you know where to go
46:59
for this. This is hidden illegal.
47:01
So you know, it kind of has a front to it.
47:04
So you lead everyone to the Cliff side eastern face.
47:09
You got to go down the Cliff side and bond.
47:11
This is this is normal to you. You know, you've traversed this
47:14
very well, but Bo and Abe, it's, it's a little scary.
47:19
You're you're climbing down something that doesn't really
47:22
have guardrails or anything like that.
47:26
So you guys are out on the cliff's edge and the open air
47:30
kind of hits you with a blast of like heat and and wind and you
47:35
smell sulfur and the tangy scent of the sea from from deeper
47:40
below is kind of wafting up. So you guys navigate this
47:44
dizzying network of narrow hand carved stone stairs that hug the
47:50
rock face and it's slick with mist and soot.
47:54
Bond, you're fine. But can Beau and Abe just give
47:57
me a deck saving throw with advantage and then they come it
48:01
to your death for 800 feet? Oh great.
48:04
One of those was in that one, but the other one was an 11
48:07
which in a way is 2 ones. 15. Incredible.
48:11
So you're able to wait. It's actually a 17 in total, but
48:15
yes. Oh, OK, 11 was fine too.
48:17
You were able to kind of catch yourself as you almost slip on
48:22
that slick stone. And you see parallel to these
48:26
steps are this steep, zigzagging switch back roads that the carts
48:30
usually take. And they're these brutally sharp
48:32
turns where the heavy wooden carts kind of grown under their
48:36
weight. And the drivers are kind of
48:37
shouting over the edge to warn those below.
48:40
Even though it's about nine, 9:15 PM at this point, these
48:44
cars are still making their way down South.
48:46
Looking outward, the view is just spectacular and, and, and
48:50
terrifying. And strung between the gaps in
48:53
the rocks are rickety wooden ladders that kind of drop
48:55
straight down and swaying slightly in the wind.
49:00
And far below, the entire lower city is completely shrouded in
49:04
the thick blanket of rolling fog.
49:07
So you just kind of climb your way along these stone steps.
49:11
You have to take one or two ladders at some point.
49:14
And clinging to the rock face is this shop called the Inkwell
49:20
Inscribe, and it's a parchment shop and a book binding shop.
49:24
And bond. You know that the deckhands used
49:27
to say that that's where they would go for the illegal
49:32
fighting pit. So you walk in and luckily all
49:35
the doors on the Cliff edge push inwards.
49:37
They don't push out, so you don't have to kind of navigate
49:40
your way. They push inwards.
49:42
And when you push it open, the roar of the wind on the outside
49:47
and things like that gets deafened when the door closes.
49:50
Very good insulation. And now it's just kind of
49:53
silence. And it's a dusty, cramped
49:56
interior. The shelves are packed to the
49:58
ceiling with yellow ledgers, stacks of loose parchment, and
50:02
jars of ink, and this frail, indifferent gnome clerk sits
50:06
behind a cluttered counter, writing in a Ledger and just
50:08
kind of ignoring you guys. Bo, you know thieves can't.
50:12
Yeah, I was about to say, this might be the first time in DND
50:14
I've ever used thieves. Can I was?
50:17
I didn't want to freak out, but what do I say?
50:22
Alright, I. I walk up to him.
50:24
Hello. Are you doing the same?
50:26
Thieves can't. Yes, the hello part is just
50:28
hello I think but. Hello.
50:31
I I'm looking for some, you know, you got a lot of
50:36
parchment, a lot of books here. I'm looking for some action
50:39
books, you know. Like comic books?
50:42
Something like that. So you know I'm looking for.
50:45
We don't sell comic. Books for a fight scenes or
50:48
something like that just. He turns to you and goes.
50:52
I'll get you drift, but what's the password?
50:56
All. Right, I haven't had someone
51:01
speak to me in Thieves. Scurvy.
51:03
Long time no. So I haven't had someone speak
51:07
to me in Thieves Can't in a long time and I get your drift.
51:11
Are you new in town? Yes.
51:13
OK, the next person that comes in here, watch what they do and
51:18
then just mimic it. I can't let you in unless you do
51:21
the thing. OK.
51:22
Yeah, sounds good. So you back up and you head over
51:27
to Bon and Abe, and a little while later this wide little
51:31
goblin comes into the store, hands the clerk a gold coin and
51:35
says. Not too windy out there.
51:39
And the clerk responds. Windy enough to blow little
51:42
fellows. Off the ledge and the little
51:44
goblin woman says. Good thing there's a bottomless
51:47
sea down there. At this last phrase, the clerk
51:50
slides a light blue rough piece of parchment across the wood.
51:54
The goblin takes a quill and dips it into this gold ink
51:57
that's off to the side and writes something on the page.
52:01
Everyone can give me a perception check.
52:04
Peer over the book I'm pretending to read.
52:07
While we're doing this, and we've been kind of listening to
52:10
this person talk, I'm just going to whisper to bond.
52:13
God kind of sounds like you a little bit.
52:20
Which one? He's he's equating the cockney
52:24
accent. Oh OK, British accent.
52:28
This one's for the Brits that listen to this bike.
52:31
Yeah, it's rage mating. Them OK everyone give me their
52:34
perception check 11. 19. 13. OK was a 19.
52:40
You notice that the goblin writes the words Deep WATER, 2
52:44
words all caps, and the moment the ink dries there's a sudden
52:49
silent pulse of smoky purple arcane energy flaring from the
52:53
paper. The purple air wraps around the
52:56
goblin, and with a sharp of displaced air, she vanishes on
53:00
the spot. I hardly know her.
53:05
To which part? Multiple deep water.
53:08
The the goblin lady disappearing.
53:10
There's levels to this, there's layers to it.
53:13
Onions. That should have been my guess
53:16
for the password. All right.
53:19
I walk up to her and I say not too much wit today.
53:23
Windy enough to blow a little fellas off the edge.
53:27
Well, good thing there's a bottomless C below and I'm going
53:30
to slide 3 gold pieces across the table.
53:32
Great. She gives each of you a piece of
53:35
parchment paper and gives each of you a quill.
53:38
And I assume you guys write. Deep.
53:40
Water All caps 2 words and. Abe writes hardly nowhere under.
53:48
Abe writes hardly. Nowhere, nothing happened.
53:50
Abe stays in the store is the 2 of you disappear?
53:54
I do say it out loud though as I write it.
53:57
Say deep water. And that's the last thing you
54:00
hear before you guys disappear. You guys are transported
54:04
somewhere. The air hits you instantly.
54:07
Hot, thick, heavy. It's stifling.
54:10
It smells like blood and sweat. And you stand in a massive
54:14
amphitheater carved directly into the massive cliffside Bon.
54:19
You are feeling deeply unwell. There are no windows from what
54:24
you can see over here. You are like trapped inside this
54:27
giant mountain. The ceilings are high and it's
54:29
it's technically spacious, but like those oppressive stone
54:33
walls are kind of giving you like that visceral memory of
54:36
when you were escaping. And your chest kind of tightens
54:39
and you're thrown into this flashback of escaping your
54:42
village through the terrifying, claustrophobic underground
54:45
tunnel system. Oh.
54:47
Man, that the air, the air is, it's, it's very thick in the
54:53
air. It's kind of hard to breathe.
54:58
And I just, I try to calm my nerves a little bit, as much as
55:01
I can. I think I'm probably getting a
55:05
little bit better at it. Yeah, especially after the ugly
55:08
arena. Do we still have the little
55:09
piece of parchment? No, the the parchment is gone.
55:12
It kind of, it turns into the smoke that kind of damps you up
55:16
and. I try to like, I blow some air
55:18
on you. It was just.
55:19
Like. We're going to fan him.
55:22
Blow from the other side. You take out the wind fan to
55:26
like blow bond and it casts gusts of wind and blows him.
55:29
Imagine there's a breeze bond. It actually helps a little bit.
55:36
So as you guys are kind of standing there, you're kind of
55:38
you take in the arena and you see the layout of it and you see
55:42
that you're on the top layer right now of this overlooking
55:47
mezzanine. And you're looking down below
55:49
and you see this very tight spiked arena cage below where
55:54
two orcs are just beating the shit out of each other.
55:56
And to your left, you see a thunderous crowd, but it's
56:00
mostly goblins, orcs, gnomes, goliaths.
56:04
This isn't what was described to you, Bon.
56:07
It's not like the merchants hanging out and fighting and
56:10
stuff like that or, or betting, excuse me, it's not the
56:13
merchants coming here and betting and things like that.
56:15
It's definitely more of those like shadier folk that are here
56:20
and. Comment on goblins works.
56:22
Goliaths got something to say. Yes.
56:26
Evil. I'm sorry, No, we are friends
56:31
with orcs. You're friends with two lovely,
56:33
lovely orcs. These are just the shady ones,
56:36
right? I'm digging a hole.
56:39
I'm digging a hole. I'm digging a hole.
56:42
Give me a perception, Jack. Motherfucker 4/12. 21.
56:49
Beau and Abe, you guys are just too distracted by everything
56:54
that's happening. It's loud cheering you're trying
56:56
to blow on Bond's face to make him calm down.
56:59
And Bond, you're standing and looking out over and directly
57:04
hanging above the center of the fighting pit, suspended from a
57:08
thick rope is this gruesome sight.
57:11
It's a pair of massive severed red, orange and cream feathered
57:15
bird wings crudely pinned to a wooden beam, and they sway
57:19
slightly from the movement of the pits below.
57:23
Bon seeing these wings triggers a memory.
57:26
You recall a warning from Narex. Narex had also talked about
57:32
these illegal fighting pits and told you you might want to stay
57:36
away just because of how crazy things get, how drunk everyone
57:40
gets. You know, keep keep yourself
57:42
clean. Which is why you went to the
57:43
orgies and not here, right? Keep yourself clean.
57:46
And he told you this ring was run by an utterly insane and
57:53
ruthless Eric Okra woman named Bearda.
57:57
There's two different types of winged creatures.
57:59
There's Air Cocra, there are wind creatures celebrated for
58:02
their innate flight and combat mobility.
58:05
They're just these giant bird folks.
58:06
They can fly around Canku like the Empiratrix.
58:09
Seraphine Vexalia are a little different.
58:12
They're cursed, flightless crow folk who are more into like
58:16
espionage, mimicry, forgery and stuff like that.
58:20
But looking up at those severed, dangling wings, like the
58:23
realization hits you. Bearda is dead.
58:27
Someone has taken over these fighting pits.
58:31
Someone more crazy than her. I say this place isn't the same
58:35
as it used to be. I think those wings are the
58:39
person who used to run these pits before.
58:42
So I'm not not quite sure what we're in for right now, but be
58:46
careful. Did anybody notice us arrive?
58:49
No, a lot of people have arrived this way and you hear someone
58:54
from down below shout. New competitors, come here and
58:58
let me assess you. After I give you a score, you
59:01
can sign up against some of our long standing gladiators.
59:04
Let's get to it. Let's get.
59:07
Killing. And that's where we're going to
59:10
end our episode. Awesome, So that'll.
59:12
Be like us. Let's get killing guys talking
59:15
to us. Talking to everyone, if you want
59:18
to go down, I don't think, I don't know if Abe wants to get
59:20
into the pits. Yeah, I know it's funny.
59:23
Abe is probably our best bet in the pits, but it's also like.
59:26
He's probably going to be. Seriously.
59:28
Scared plays for Abe to be. Are these team fights or
59:30
one-on-one? One on 12V2.
59:33
Oh, interesting. Very.
59:35
Interesting. Think.
59:36
Think about that. Me and Bon Abe and Bunty.
59:40
Yeah, I was going to ask. Him if Bunty.
59:43
Popped in right? Like how did that work with this
59:45
bell? Yeah, Bunty popped in.
59:47
He was in your cloak that he counted as an extension of you.
59:50
Yeah. So they're going to assess you,
59:53
see what, what level you're at. You can of course, present
59:57
yourself as is, Present yourself as higher, present yourself as
1:00:00
lower. And then the odds are going to
1:00:02
populate based on who you sign up to fight against, and we can
1:00:05
go over all that next session. Interest.
1:00:08
There it is, all right. Maybe me and Abe can fight and
1:00:13
Bond can be our cleric in the hole.
1:00:14
This time I. Know I'm I'm actually that would
1:00:16
be kind of. Yeah, I'm curious.
1:00:18
I'm curious if they're you're going to be able to cast spells
1:00:20
from the sidelines at all or anything like that.
1:00:23
Also you could you could cast other spells too I'm sure.
1:00:26
I mean if if that is allowed, there are so many other spells
1:00:29
you could cast to help. Yeah.
1:00:31
Well, if you like the podcast, make sure to follow and rate US
1:00:34
on Spotify or Apple Music or join us on our social media for
1:00:38
updates, official art and more. We are on Instagram at smooth
1:00:41
critical podcast and Blue sky at Smooth critical.
1:00:44
All right, we'll see you in the pits next time.
1:00:47
Bye. Bye.