Tales of Yavon | Empire | Ep. 4 | Dead Man's Tale

[00:00:00] The following is for mature audiences. Listener discretion is advised. See the description for details. Hey, you're listening to Tales of Yavon, two D&D tables in one shared world. I'm Micah, DM of the Empire Table. And I'm Sarah, DM of the Pirate Table. This episode is with the Empire Table. Long live the Empire.

[00:00:22] As we re-enter into Zolara, the floating capital of the Empire. And where we currently are, it's still twilight. We just witnessed a horrific fight between two great worms off in the distance.

[00:00:52] The Golden Empress, Zoa, was victorious after snapping the neck of her brother Bayrosh, the bronze dragon. And slowly began to drag him back towards a different part of the city. Coming directly towards you, though, was an angelic-looking figure with two ethereal wings floating high.

[00:01:15] As she came down onto the balcony, her presence and aura immediately put most of the party frightened. Except for Brynn, who is currently hiding behind one of the dead bodies from our last battle. Of a noble that we lost. Of a noble that we lost. And this captain of the guard, Rin Sadoba, looked to her guards, who were compromised. And in anger, went up to the one that had survived and immediately decapitated him.

[00:01:45] Body on the floor. The strike so quick that the pulse of the blood is still pumping out of the neck. She reaches down and grabs the guard's head in her hand. The blood dripping down from it. Looks to everyone here. And goes, damn, I shouldn't have done that. Zoa won't be pleased.

[00:02:15] Bring me a priest. As you see two more guards come flying in. And they immediately exit. Presumably to get a priest. As this is happening, though. Some familiar figures start walking in from the door in the back. Where you enter from Zolara to this balcony. You see Pakushrador running back in. With at least a dozen members of the gilded guard.

[00:02:45] All armed to the teeth as they run in. And they say, my lady, we came as fast as we could. And what looks like a lieutenant, based on the tattoos that you see in his face, bows his head and says, I have dishonored you. We did not know there were silent spells. If it wasn't for Pakushrador, we would not have known at all that this was happening. She's still holding the head of the guard in her hands.

[00:03:14] She says, we will sort out what happened here. And she beckons all of you to come closer. I know you are currently frightened of her. What do you do? Brynn, you are still hidden. So it is entirely up to you whether you interact with anyone that's seen. I think I will take one more stealth roll from you. Since we have about 14 new people that just came in the door. All right. I'll go ahead.

[00:03:42] We'll call this a DC 18. Well, it's a 13 on the die plus three. So 22 total. 22. Okay. You are still hidden. So it's up to you whether you want to review yourself. For him, he's going to stay hidden. Okay. You are watching a disagreement of lords and ladies in front of you. As you see, there are maybe two nobles left.

[00:04:12] One lowly senator. Everyone else is dead. Fully dead. That means at this point she is beckoning towards Nico, Poppy, and Swoop, who recently just recovered from being dead about three times. Yeah. You see Swoop kind of by the doorway, start recovering, like recovering himself off the ground, pulling himself up by the railing by the stairs.

[00:04:40] Boy, this is how you welcome all you fucking guests. And he'll kind of wipe off his brow and start start kind of slowly walking towards hesitantly, kind of glancing around the room, prepared for anything to happen. It is Nico is a guard, a lowly guard, but still a guard. So they're already stepping up right in front of her. I look at Almas.

[00:05:10] Okay. And I look for direction on how we're playing this. Almas is going to telepathically link with you and say you don't fight a storm. Just answer her questions and we'll be free when we need to be. All right. I will get up and I will make my way over to Almas to stand with her.

[00:05:39] Can I maybe perceive that, if any, just Poppy just looking at Almas or sort of if I can roll or my passive is 16. If I can just notice Poppy looks to answers from Almas. I would say it is, it is going to be, I'd say let's let it roll. I think it's going to be something you'd have to be looking for to notice. So if you want to roll for it, give me a perception check.

[00:06:09] If this is something you're hiding from the rest of the group, go ahead and give me stealth. Okay. Absolutely. I'll set, I'll set the DC based on whatever your stealth is. Let me see what's frightened again. Am I, is it all rolls? No, it's, it's specifically if you're. Attack rolls and movement. Yeah. Towards her. Towards her. Okay. So this is a tough thing trying to go towards her while she's frightened. Right. But, but hiding my little check in with Almas before doing that is just a straight roll.

[00:06:39] Yes. Okay. Oh yeah. Dirty 20. A dirty 20. Okay. Dang it. I got a 19. Oh, it was 15 plus five. It was just. Mine was 13 plus six. Oh my God. Just barely miss it. You are keeping a sharp eye, but there's just so many people in this room now that it's hard to keep track of who to look at. While this is happening that way, I will say within 19, you notice a couple more figures enter.

[00:07:09] From the same entryway? From the same entryway that you first came into to come from the balcony. Um, one individual in particular I say is going to probably stick out the most as you see a female. You don't know what species wearing dark purple robes that sweep all the way down to the floor. Um, they're like almost an eggplant type, dark purple.

[00:07:36] And instead of sleeves on these robes, it's two vertical slits on either side that slash kind of through the fabric vertically and reveal two bone white hands. And then she comes walking in. She's wearing this headgear. It's kind of like a cone on the back for head with incense sticking out, burning.

[00:08:00] And over this cone shaped hat, this Hinnin and over her face is this dark maroon laced veil that goes over her face and completely hides her face from you. As she walks in, she ignores everyone in the room except Rin Sadoba. Walks straight up to this captain of the guards and says, I have been summoned.

[00:08:32] Rin lifts up the head of the decapitated guard and says, I need to ask some questions. You'll see she pulls out one of the incense from her hat. As it begins to twirl in front of her, she gives an incantation and the smoke itself of the incense begins to form strange symbols that are hard for you to even read the harder you look at them.

[00:09:00] And as this happens, she casts Speak with the dead over the head that's currently in Rin's hand. Dope. A faint, dull green light begins to fill the head. And Rin asks, first question, did you fail your duties as a member of the Gilded Guard?

[00:09:27] And you hear this head say back, yes. Her second question, she asks, how? And the head answers, we partook in the festivities, although we sworn not to.

[00:09:52] We were offered drink and I remember no more. Third question. What do you know of this plot against the Empress? And the guard answers, I know nothing. Rin kind of pauses as she's holding this head.

[00:10:24] And she looks to the rest of you that she can see, points to all of you with her glaive and says, did these people rebel? And the guard says, no. They fought for the Empire. She will look to all of you as the frightful presence begins to fade a little bit and all of you are able to regain your composure in front of her.

[00:10:53] And she will say, we have one more question. If anyone here has the wisdom to ask, ask now. It is up to you what you want this last question to be. I'm choosing to refrain to keep my stealth. Okay. Bren is going to refrain.

[00:11:23] I think Nico is going to lean forward and to Rin maybe. Perhaps, perhaps we ask who offered drink. Interesting. Okay. That's a hell of a question. Choice, choice. Let me roll for this. Snaps.

[00:11:59] So I was rolling a history check to see if it would be someone that they knew. If they can give you a name. I rolled a four on the die. Ugh. But I'm going to give you something for the question. I know not. The tavern winch. She could have been from one of the taverns.

[00:12:27] She could have been from one of the traveling vendors. But it was female. It was a woman. She was middle-aged. Dark brown hair.

[00:12:48] And as that's being said, the light leaves the head and the head itself begins to shrivel up a little bit in her hands. As the last question has been asked and answered. Rin is going to think for a moment.

[00:13:14] She'll look to the rest of her guard and say, as far as anyone is concerned, as far as this man's family is concerned, he died faithful to the empire. We will know the truth. But we will not spread his treachery.

[00:13:45] He'll look to the priest and ask, please tend to the body. As she will begin to make sure the body is carried out of the room. At this point, though. Before she goes, does she have another one of those spells for the other guard? Interesting. That's a great question. Let me check the stat block. I don't know if this was a once-a-day thing.

[00:14:17] To brother Bricell. Can I possibly find something in the noble's pockets? No, no. This is not what you think. Yeah, I was just going to... I'm going to hear you out here. I was just going to ask as well, could I possibly look at the other guys, the guys that turned on us, like kind of pick pockets and see if they have anything incriminating on them?

[00:14:42] I was going to see if I could find something to throw at Nico to get Nico's attention from my hiding spot. If not, I can just throw a coin at him. With a noble, I'm going to say that there is probably some gold on the noble that you could potentially try to flick towards him. I would like to do that. Okay. Roll to hit. Roll to hit? Yeah, why not?

[00:15:12] Uh-oh. Too hard. Not 20. You decapitated. 17 on the die. 17 on the die. I'm trying to decide whether you'd be proficient with a... A coin? A coin flick. I mean, even without it, just my plus dex is already 22. I'm going to assume that would hit. Yeah, that hits for sure. You feel the flick of a gold coin against the side of your head. I mean, I didn't mean to dumb Nico, but sure.

[00:15:43] Makes the most satisfying sound as well. Gold hidden copper. Make that sound for me, baby. No, I can't. Let me find one real quick. I'm just playing. Nico's going to slowly turn around like, ooh, the fuck. Just hit me inside the head. She's going to quietly do that and turn around. You see a hand come out of the sleeve of this noble's robes, whatever they're wearing. So there's one limp hand and you see another hand just go

[00:16:12] and beckon you over just with a quick flick of the fingers to come this way. Dude, that is crazy. That is so funny. Nico's going to walk over to the corpse while Poppy is talking to the officials and pretend to inspect the body and turn it over. What is it? Opens the jacket, starts talking into the jacket.

[00:16:39] So still hiding underneath the robes of this noble. Brynn's going to tell Nico, tell maybe Ray or somebody that the blabbering assassin with that crazy dagger was speaking of Bissell and speaking of betrayal as Wren mentioned. They mentioned, quote unquote, this is the undoing. And then he's going to cower back. Not cower, but...

[00:17:08] Huddle back now. Yeah, huddle. Thank you, small man, I tell her. And I'll walk back up to the situation. I'm waiting for my opening after she answers Poppy. Sorry about hitting you in the head. So technically no. Okay. But let's have a little fun with it. Why don't we have the roll decide? I'm going to say, I didn't plan on this, so I don't want it to happen. Right, yeah. But if you can hit a nat 20,

[00:17:37] I'll say we can do another speak with the dead. Okay, hell yeah. Just a straight nat 10. Just no modifier, no nothing. Just a straight. Just a luck roll. If you can do a straight Russell luck roll, then we can 100%. You got this. Okay. Oh, I thought for a second, but it's a two, not a 20. I thought for a second. You see that, Beth? You see that? The 20. They're right next to each other, yeah. Oh my God. If it would have hit the wall of her dice tray, it would have been a 20. Oh.

[00:18:06] What do you give us for that, Micah? Just almost the 20. Yeah, what do you give us for almost? Yeah, two is very close to 20. Okay, come on. You see all of the incense in her head gear is already fizzled out as she leans down her head and kind of gives you a side nod very silently and says, the dead can only be spoken to under unique circumstances.

[00:18:37] No. I'm gonna do a roll real quick. As I think you would know. And she will begin to walk off. Oh, I like it. Um, Nico is going to lean forward into Ren's path before she can take off with the body and kind of block her a bit with an arm. Um, you are easily, easily a foot taller than Ren,

[00:19:07] but she is still the most intimidating woman you have ever stood in front of. It's like standing in front of a raging bull. Uh, feeling this and knowing her rank, uh, Nico is going to lower their head. Uh, I have information for you. Uh, they're gonna flip out the blade that they picked up off of the leader's corpse. Uh, flip it in their hand so that the handle is facing Ren.

[00:19:37] This was leader of Ku's weapon. Uh, I've been told they were speaking abyssal and they said, uh, this is undoing. This is undoing. Yes. Never have I heard of such treachery since the day of darkness.

[00:20:06] She will take the weapon in her hand and kind of slap it against her other hand, the flat side of it, as she's thinking, I do not know who to trust and I don't like that. She's gonna think for a moment as she sees people in one of the most safe sanctums of this city.

[00:20:37] And she looks out to where Bayrosh, the governor himself, just attacked the Empress. And she's gonna hand it back to you. You, are at least one I know, is not part of this plot. Keep it hidden. Keep it safe. And when the time comes, we'll investigate further.

[00:21:07] Yes, Captain. Thank you. She's going to duck back and tuck the knife in her sash. She'll address the room at large at this point and say, none of you are allowed to leave. Oh no. Until we have understood this tragedy further. She'll look back to Nico and almost a little disheartened and as if she's, she regrets what she has to say.

[00:21:39] For the time being, I am relieving you of your duties until I've had time to investigate further how far this goes. You are not dismissed, but I suggest you find other work for the next few days and make sure that work is above board.

[00:22:08] Oi, listen here, lady. I got some important shit that I've got to do. I don't really have time to play by your rules. He is just trying to get himself killed. John, I just want you to understand how much I appreciate you as a player, man. I just, you are nothing but joy every time you are in here. I just, I can't get enough. It's amazing. Yeah, so I mean, obvious question I've got to ask is that seriously what you just say

[00:22:37] to the captain of the guards? Listen here, lady. I know it may not be a big deal here in your little city, but back home, my father is a rather important person and the fact that he's been murdered and his wings have been stolen is a little bit of a big deal. You get what I'm saying here? Son's name dropping already. Give me a persuasion roll at disadvantage.

[00:23:13] Man, both of those were terrible. That is, uh, 13. It's actually not as bad as I thought. She's going to reach out, lay a hand on your shoulder, and heal you to full hit points. Good for you. With laying on of hands.

[00:23:44] And with her other hand, she's going to lean back and she's going to strike you right in the face. Yes. Okay, so I like her again. I'm surprised she didn't do it to Nico because I'm looking at Nico's character sheet right now and Nico's down to six health right now. Oh my God. I mean, Nico's been respectful. Shush. Why would you say that? 16 hit. 16 definitely hits. It was a bug board. Swooper probably didn't hear. Actually, I'm going to, well, no, that would still mean, never mind.

[00:24:13] So, so here's the thing, right? Fuck, I hate when you say that. Here's the thing. When you challenge a level 20 paladin to a fight, fuck yeah, dude, um, things tend to happen. Okay. I'm going to roll damage. I haven't actually worked the math out in my head to see if the damage alone, I don't even know if she needs it. Fuck off. I don't know if the damage alone off of a high roll would be enough to instant kill you,

[00:24:43] but I'm about to check. I love that she healed him first. She was like, I'm, you know, this is just going to be a lesson and then she's just going to instant kill him. And he's going to, as she kind of heals him, he's going to be like, listen here lady, I understand what you're trying to get out of here, but we're going to have some more important shit going on here. She, she hits you for 29 damage. And just as he's talking, just like, she's immediately going to reach back down.

[00:25:11] This is the fourth time he's gone unconscious. How many hit points do you have? Just to be clear. You have 20 hit points. Total. You're going to be healed to total again as she brings you back from the brink of death one more time. Cool. It goes all the way down and out and then comes back. Oh, what, what the fuck? She's going to look at you and say, I am aware that wings are the honor of the Aarakocra,

[00:25:39] but don't be so ignorant to think you're the only one that wears them. You, a small fish in a big pond and you will show more respect. she'll turn back to the room at large and say, if I get one word, what is your name? The name, the name's Swooparian.

[00:26:09] You can call me Swoop. Son of Squaculous himself. Pitiful. Pitiful. If I hear one word that Swoop areas here has stepped out of line, this will happen again and it will be the rest of yours responsibility. Are we clear? Brandon whispered whispered to himself. Noted.

[00:26:39] Did that fucking boy just make a noise? You, I'm just playing, I'm just playing. You are, you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, but you could be here for the right reasons. If you are here to ascend, as is your purpose of your tribe, I suggest you follow the path. She'll look to the rest of you,

[00:27:08] give a stern nod. Kind of reach down to her chest for a moment. Anyone that wants to give me a perception check can, but she is going to start to leave the room with rest for guard. 21. 21. 11. That is a nat 1. Ooh. I'm doing terrible. A nat 1. You're still cross-eyed from that punch. Yeah, she, she, she literally

[00:27:38] punched a new life into you. Oh, oh my God, where are we? Um, what did, did Nico want to try? Um, no. 13. Okay. That's a 13. I don't think. Only Brynn notices this, uh, but in the moment of frustration when she punches the thing that she's touching and tucking back under her full plate armor is a small golden locket

[00:28:06] in the shape of a heart that she begins to look around very quickly and suspiciously to you, Brynn, can see this tucked back in under her plate as she walks out. Um, as that happens, Alma Zephulani is going to come back up and go, well, this has been the most exciting dinner party I've been to in a long time. Wouldn't you agree,

[00:28:36] young swoop? Oy, he's still kind of rubbing his, his bird jaw. Yeah, definitely the most lively one I've been at in a minute. Yes, I would, well, plead, perhaps is the right word that you don't do that again. Oy, she's got mean right hook. I like that in a lady. Did she appear aerodynamic to you?

[00:29:06] She does have wings. me having to rewrite all of these NPCs to be aerodynamic. Did you think the angelic wings came out and swoop had little sparkles in his eyes as it happened? Did you picture her with eight legs? I didn't initially see the wings if you know what I mean. I really turned the bow around. Um, you're gonna get a little snicker from Alma's as she goes, well, we're not dead. That's wonderful news.

[00:29:36] Lovely. where I'll soon not live. As Pacushrador is still kind of nervously standing there. As you remember, he was a almost a panther-like tabaxi and he had these kind of haunty, you know, golden rings all over and a golden kind of grill almost in his teeth with diamonds that stick on his fang and a very, very low-cut shirt

[00:30:06] that is showing off some of his chest fur. Um, as he nervously taps his chest with both of his hands, looks at everyone and goes, well, now this is a change of events most unfortunate. Wouldn't you agree? Question, DM, does he look like a panther again? Because he changed shape before he left before. He is a panther once again. Okay.

[00:30:36] I think that was a pretty wild fucking ride. I agree. Where were you at? I am a merchant. I am no soldier. I went to alert the guards. Seems like a pretty valid fucking response some more I think about it. Question just out of character. I'm trying to remember

[00:31:06] back. When he saw what was going down, was he just terrified because someone was chanting some shit or did he recognize them? Did we have a chance to like. So with the check that you got. Yeah, I was about to ask, did we inside check him back then? Yeah, we had the chance. I chose to perceive him. I believe you also chose to perceive him. I believe Nico and Swoop chose to perceive the dance of the dragons.

[00:31:36] Yes. I perceived everyone to see if there was anything weird. I did the dragons. Gotcha. Yes. Gotcha. Yes. Everyone was correct. All gold stars. Correct inspiration. Double inspiration. It was the moment that things started to change. We had an arcana check happened and everyone noticed that Nico noticed that the guards had started to shift. The moment he saw knives drawn

[00:32:06] and the dragons attacking, he immediately hit himself and booked it. Okay. Okay. That makes sense. Cool. This is sad news here in Rashima though. I am but a lowly senator but Bayrash had no heirs. Who I wonder will take over responsibility as the governor? Oh. Who do you think?

[00:32:39] He'll flash you a toothy grin and you'll see the diamond shimmering in his teeth. That's right. It all depends on how we play the game, doesn't it? I like games. I like games too. Wonderful. Although I have never quite been able to beat El Malsir. And he gives a little bit of a courteous bow to

[00:33:09] Alma Zephaloni in a very playful way. Can I inside check him just to see the way he's playing this? Does it feel like he's hiding anything or is he being kind of authentic here with just like the... Yeah. Go ahead and give me a... Does it feel like a persona or does it feel like this is kind of who he is maybe? Good question. Let's go ahead and roll off for it. Let's see where my hands. Nico also wants to make a check. He was

[00:33:39] stepping closer to Alma's because he needs to talk to her for a moment. But he wants to make the check and see if this is threatening. Like is he trying to threaten her in a really subtle way? Yeah, go ahead and roll. Damn, even with all my shit, it's just an 11. And what check is this deal? Because I got that other... It's going to be insight. I got that for the next 10 minutes. So I started at that last round of combat, I think, for the next 10 minutes I get to add a d6 to

[00:34:09] my intelligence, wisdom, and charisma rolls. Yeah. Okay. Nico only got a 13. I mean... I don't think that either one of you are able to pick up anything off of his mannerisms. Best maybe with a 13 is you can remember what Almas said about herself, and that is I am an opportunist.

[00:34:39] And you get the sense that that maybe is a trend here in the capital. In terms of threats though, or whether there's any veiled deceit, complete unknown. Bren is also very wary of oh my gosh, Pacrush Rador. Yeah. Yes. Pacrush Rador. Okay. Yes, very wary of him.

[00:35:09] And since we are all stuck here for the moment, if he decides to gallivant around Nico, or not Nico, Bren from where he's at, whenever Pacrush door kind of walks closely by, he wants to whisper in abyssal and copy the saying, this is the undoing. He wants to whisper that and see if

[00:35:38] anything. Interesting. Okay. Let me actually, how are we going to rule this? Um, I think we're going to treat this almost like a persuasion. I'm not good at charisma. I know. I think it has to be some sort of charisma check to try to allure him into a response of some sort.

[00:36:08] I feel like it would be a deception check for Pacrush door because he would, if he knows something and he hears it, he'll be trying to hide it. well, but the role isn't for me, it's for, it's for Reed. So let's go ahead and get a persuasion check on this or it can just be straight charisma. I mean, either way, I'm not proficient in anything charisma. So, um, I assumed it would be like an opposing thing, you know, um, I, I think I will let

[00:36:38] it be, but we're just a seven. Um, he's going to look at you. If, are you visible? No, I wanted to do this while still in stealth. If we wanted to keep that 22 and just, if he got close, just a whisper. And then, you know, whatever, abyssal.

[00:37:08] I think in that case, what's going to happen is he's going to walk by, he's going to pause and you're going to see a little shiver go down his spine. There is a bad omen about this place. And he will begin to make his leave as he says, I do not like to stand here among the dead. Can I insight that then to see if he actually believes that? Yes, we'll entertain

[00:37:37] one more roll for this. If he believes, oh, this is a bad omen. Gosh, dang it. It was almost a 19, but a three on the die, so insight would be nine. You're not able to tell. Nope. Not able to tell. And he is going to make his way out as Elmez will beckon to all of you and say, I recommend a rest if you are looking for jobs, legitimate reasons to

[00:38:07] continue to traverse the capital as I am quite certain we are all going to be watched with a careful eye. There are job boards at every tavern on every floor for adventures. You can find simple things there, but like Rin said, and she'll kind of wag a finger at Poppy and Nico, keep it above board. I, for one, am in need of some

[00:38:37] desperate beauty sleep and maybe some elvish wine. Elmaz, will you be safe without me? She's going to have like a mischievous smile as she looks at you and says, my dear, it was never about you keeping me safe. That's what I

[00:39:07] would you like to do? At this point, the balcony is starting to clear off. You do see some of the grave clerics are still moving through, removing bodies, putting blessings over them so they can rest securely without any evil infiltrating them and making way for proper burial. What would you like to do? Yeah, about how populated is this balcony? Most of the guards have left. I'm going to say there's two guards still watching the

[00:39:36] affairs and maybe four or five clerics have joined at this point to remove the bodies. But in terms of the living outside of the guards and the clerics, it's pretty much just the four of you. Okay. Kind of during the hustle and bustle of the bodies and these clerics wanting to clear them before Nico, you know, before one of these clerics comes to the body that he is hiding underneath, he'll scamper out and

[00:40:06] just act like, you know, he was kind of just already part of here. But then he will go, he'll want to go to Almaz before her bedtime as well. and kind of want to whisper to her and try and get her attention. But Ms. Ms. Almaz, if she is she still here, do I have that chance or is she? I would say if you want to

[00:40:36] kind of split the party, we'll do this momentarily as she is starting to make her way to leave. You're still on the third floor, which is a much more aristocratic area, a third level of Zolara. As she's walking out, your stealth completely scares her though, and she just immediately jerks, oh my god, don't ever do that again. Sorry, may I

[00:41:05] escort you? And then while he does that, he's going to like point to his head and point to her head to sort of, you know, indicate, hey, we talked this way before. Can we do that now? I'm just picturing the Seder and Halfling in the middle of a bustling city street and you're just going like pointing back and forth. She'll regain her composure. Yes, of course. Walk and talk, walk and

[00:41:35] talk. And her mind kind of lingers and yours a little bit. And so I guess the rest of the party is going to go off some tavern elsewhere. Where would you all want to go and start a long rest? Is there anything end of the night? We're kind of in the evening. You can see that a lot of the guards in a lot of the area, they're doing damage control right now. They're trying to explain what's happening to all of the civilians on the ground below the city.

[00:42:05] They're also trying to explain it. The major images that were going up that same dragonborn has gone up and given an emergency warning just to let everyone know. There was an unexpected event that happened during the dance of the dragon. Please no one be alarmed. It is being handled by the golden empress. Kind of dissipates. There is general unrest kind of within the city as you're walking about. But the show of force right now is keeping everyone kind of in check.

[00:42:36] So swoop kind of as he's like still like you know plucking whatever leftover shrapnel or shards are still left in him kind of cleaning off whatever dried blood is on him. He's like might as well get a fucking stall on the work and he's going to go over to the job board and just kind of peruse the posting before turning in for the night. So the job board is going to be in in any of the taverns. So are you making your way to a tavern? I would

[00:43:06] say so then. Yeah. What about the rest of you? Nico wants to check in with Poppy. Of course they're going to go check the job board and get some sleep because military training is hard to shake and the captain did tell her to do that. Okay. But she wants to talk to Poppy first. Okay. So I'll be trailing Poppy wherever it is. Poppy is. What we're going to do just to resolve this all of you are leaving out the same entrance that you came from. So right now we have Bryn

[00:43:35] and Almaz kind of leading up by themselves talking. The rest of you are trailing. I'm going to try to resolve this with Bryn first so you don't have to split the party and you get the opportunity to look with the rest of the party. But yeah, go ahead and we'll let you guys do a scene. Okay. Is Poppy like very quickly doing something or does Nico have time? No, Poppy's not doing shit. Nico's going to walk right up to Poppy and lean down

[00:44:05] a little bit because I'm sure they're very much taller. How tall is Nico again? 6'9", baby. 6'9". Yeah, she's like 5'8", 5'9", ish. Yeah. So leaning down a bit. We got little side direct. Did you figure out what creature was? What creature was? The small blue one. Oh.

[00:44:35] Well, I'm not sure if it's what you were seeing, but it sounded like something from the Feywild. It's called a quickling. Small and blue and fast. That sounds dangerous to be here. Most things from the Feywild are. I'm sure we figured that out later. I did see them, Nico's going to describe. They were

[00:45:05] taking things, but I also have this, and she's going to stealthily try to show you the blade. Do you recognize? Hmm. Do I recognize? Any markings or anything like that on the blade? What languages can you speak? Hell yeah. Draconic and giant. No. There is an eloquent

[00:45:35] font, or kind of inlaid golden runic script from the blade that it was, and then something's been etched in rather hastily and without much artistry over that. I do remember from the combat when we first spotted this, was it an obsidian dagger? It was just a dagger made. That was shard broken. Okay.

[00:46:05] You did tell us that there was celestial writing on it, but something was etched over it, correct? Okay. So I recognize neither of those, but I could see the craftsmanship of being something I don't recognize, but very detailed. Can I go ahead and just kind of run a finger down and see, can I make an arcana check to see if I can feel if it is imbued with any sort of magic or has anything going on with it? Yes, give me an arcana check. Okay. Arcana is an intelligence.

[00:46:34] Am I still within the ten minutes? I think we're just, I'll give it to you this one roll, but I think we're going to cut it after that. Got you. Let me go ahead and mark that down that I don't got it no more. I'll use it for this last little roll. Okay. Fucking, okay, this has got to go in the dice jail. Oh man. It's upset me. That's another two plus arcana. That's an eight plus four is a twelve. Twelve. Okay. You got

[00:47:04] twelve from the two? Nice. My arcana is I think the highest thing I've got other than like deception or pressure or something. Yeah. I think you can tell that something of the blade has known a magic you have absolutely no idea what it is. If it is etching, if it is the blade itself, or if it is something foreign that's been put on the blade. Got you. Yeah. Got you.

[00:47:33] I'll try my finger along it and then just go, spicy. I don't know. I think it's something involving magic, magic, but that's all I've got. Thank you. Very helpful. I appreciate your knowledge, strange creature. I am, thank you. What now? I don't know what you can do.

[00:48:04] I will sleep and find job. That is what Captain told us to do. Do you want to team up? Sure. When or till? Oh, should we keep, should we stick with the bird? He is rule breaker. I rather like rules when they are convenient for me. I would just like to remind you, Swoop is with you guys. We're very loudly, but quietly. We're like whisper yelling. It's just, I ditch him, but if we get in, if he

[00:48:33] gets in trouble, the Captain of the Guard said we'd get in trouble, so we should probably. It is true. Very intimidating woman. She'd probably kill us, but I don't. And if we don't want to die, we should probably watch him, and if he gets out of line, kill him first. I suppose so. Bird, you'll come with us. Can we say this whole time that I've been like walking just ahead of them? Like the camera moves and you're right to the left of us. You know the anime walk when they're trying to play it cool, but then it goes black and

[00:49:03] white and their faces overcast. Yes, yes, like I'm walking just ahead of them. I can hear everything that they're saying, but I'm trying to pretend like I can't because I'm super defeated after the last situation we dealt with. I can't hear anything. My ear holes. I heard everything. Absolutely. I'm down with that. But yeah, I'm going to be walking and just kind of, you know, licking my wounds after the defeat and I'm going to be like, yeah,

[00:49:31] it seems like we best get to know each other better. I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm not intending to be an asshole. It, uh, my father was killed. It, uh, it's, uh, my dad died. Yeah, the investigation led us here and, uh, I guess I, uh, got some more grown up to do. I don't think dad

[00:50:01] would be too proud, but I'm just trying to do him right. And Brynn missed the apology. Yeah. Yeah, you're up front. Yeah, but between me and the two of you, fuck the little guy. Oh my God. I'm just playing on this. Meanwhile, we zoom out on this, we go back towards Brynn and Elmaz and Elmaz is waiting patiently to hear what Brynn has to say. Uh, and so mentally in this link, um, he asks

[00:50:31] her, you I have many listening ears all around the empire that tell me all sorts of little things. And you knew it was me. You even

[00:51:00] mentioned my little persona in your letter. Well, if I am to be honest, your little rebellion stirred up much more than perhaps you know. And it is not through your own skill that you have stayed discreet in the city. Well, then I would like

[00:51:30] to thank whoever has helped in that regards. So, thank you. you'll hear her voice in the back of your head and a small voice go, you're welcome, love. And then, you know, he can leave it at that. There's nothing really he can push forward with that and that seems all Almez is going

[00:52:00] to be is off the top, you know, vague and stuff like that. So, he sees that, but trusts, which is hard for him to come by. But just in this sense and scenario, if she hasn't said anything now, he can trust that she's not going to say anything else after this as well. So, he'll, he'll, you know, after,

[00:52:29] after the mental link breaks, he'll, well, if you don't need any escorting, then have a good evening, Macifalon. Thank you for your patronage. And you too, Master Brain. And then he bows awkwardly, not knowing if that's what he needs to do. Almez is like a bit of a plump woman, but in this moment, she smiles and gives you the

[00:52:59] most courteous bow as if you were the empress herself as she makes her way to her own bed. Not to give you guys too much freedom with it, but these job boards are pretty much in any tavern. You are in a pretty expensive area right now, kind of in the Ritz. If you want to go to one that's closest you can, if you want to go somewhere else in the city, you're more than welcome to. Oh, I know of a tavern. I was at one this morning, the Lazy Ogre.

[00:53:29] Yeah, we can go back to the Lazy Ogre if you want. That's on the first level. Oh, it was, is it going to be worth the coin? I'm trying to make sure it's worth the pay, you know, I'm saying, I think around these parts might be a little bit better paying jobs. Um, I don't think, I don't think the money's worth it, but it's got some homely retired gladiators that might have some cool things to talk about, maybe? It's like the most piss cheap place in the entire city.

[00:54:00] Oi, I don't know too much about these parts, so if you tell me it's good, then it's good to me. As a native of this place, um, this is the third level? It's the third level. Third level, and we're talking about going back to the fourth? You're going down to you can expect to probably drop a gold piece or two for drinks on this level. It's that type of expensive.

[00:54:30] You get down on the first low, it's a couple coppers, you know? Yeah, I helped a guy out, he gave me a free drink, you know, I caught one of these little forgotten children around town, and that's weirdly how Almez contacted me, but I mean, I helped a tavern guy out, he gave me a drink, and that's just one I know of. Nico, give me a history check. I guess would Swoop know, kind of,

[00:55:00] I know he would know about the levels, like he saw it from the outside of the city, but would he know that the first level is going to be like shitville, or would this be a surprise to him? I don't think you'd know about the tavern. It's not necessarily that it's just bad, like grimy, it's that it's like the lowest quality, it's like the struggling. Yeah, it's the struggling for residential, but also like almost half of the first level is traveling vendors. So there's so many people coming in and out of it. It's like it's kind of like

[00:55:29] going to a sports arena and you being in like the worst seats, you know, the ones they don't clean that much that still have the beer stains on them. It's not that the arena itself is bad or it's like a low quality or inexpensive. It's just that in this particular area, it's not as up kept. Yeah. Also question with what happened previously with shit being stolen

[00:55:59] in like the Coliseum. Is that specifically like on the first level or would we know? That was on a private box on the second level. So the gladiator pit itself extends the first two levels and it's a big bowl shape. So the first and second level have access to it. You were in a box on the second almost like an opera house kind of deal where the private boxes are up top. The second level in particular is known for more like

[00:56:29] it's it's not the rich of the rich, you know, diplomats don't live there, but you know, there's there's opera houses there. There's some nicer entertainment there for people to see. And that's where you met the high elf woman. And that is where some things are rumors of things going missing would have been. Okay. Cool. All right. Decision, y'all. Where are we going? Nico rolled an 18 for the history.

[00:56:59] There's a lot of gladiators that are in the lazy ogre. And that's all I'm going to say about that. I believe we should go one level lower, not bottom level. More money and middle round. Oh, level two. I've never been to level two. I've always just done work on level one. So I'll follow you guys. The way I see it, you's the city folk. If you tell me one level it's better than the other, jolly be good.

[00:57:29] Let's fucking roll. Okay. So you make your way back down to the second level. The second level, like I said, there's a lot of the arts on this level. A big focus on a more elevated entertainment experience here. opera and bards and music. You make your way to the second level and you come across a tavern called the Yawning Fairy. The Yawning Fairy is definitely quite a

[00:57:59] bit better than the Lazy Ogre. It's kind of known as the Glade above the Arena. So we're on the second level. You can oversee the arena from this particular bar itself. and it feels almost like a moonlit forest clearing when you go in. As you walk in, there's terracotta tiles underneath you that are very soft, like soften your steps as you walk through. There's vines that kind of

[00:58:28] crawl down the walls of ivy all around and there's dancing lights, the cantrip, all around of different colors floating all around this tavern. As there are not too many patrons now that the gladiator fights have ended, you do see two, you see an elven woman behind the bar with almost white blonde hair

[00:58:58] that goes straight down and big droopy ears and bulbous eyes that are silver. She looks at you and goes, welcome. It's so good to see visitors here at the Yawning Ferry. And then a smaller figure comes up to you and he goes, it's a small gnomish man with a bit of a pointed goatee as he goes, Bremble Korg, I am the

[00:59:28] bouncer of this fine establishment. As you look at him, you see that there's little vines kind of woven into his beard as he sits in front of you. Please stick your reason for being at the Yawning Ferry. We're just staying for a little bit of a wink. You get what I'm saying, mate? The elven woman is going to look over at all of you and say, you don't have to answer his questions. He doesn't actually work here. Oh, I got you then.

[00:59:58] Get the fuck out of my way, you little wanker. Nico's going to walk over to Swoop and put a big clawed hand on his feathered shoulder. What's up, mate? It's okay. Bring it down notch. Let us do a little talking, yes? Before you start another fight. I think that's a wonderful idea. It's just little shit standing right here trying to pick a fight. Yes, yes, I see. Very good point, friend. Very good point. And she's

[01:00:28] going to turn to Brynn for a second. We have forgiven bird, friend. He says sorry. Wait, what? And Swoop while they're having this conversation will be like fucking just looking this guy dead in the fucking eye and the little gnome you're looking down. Down, down, Adam dead in the eye and I'll just kind of Swoop will slap his chest with his left hand and then just mage armor will happen. It'll be like a red wave that kind of goes over his body and

[01:00:58] he'll go, you don't want this fucking problem, mate. And then Brynn again sees you do the magic. Wait, what? Brynn's just confused. Meanwhile, Bramble is in front of you and he goes twirling one of the vines and his little short goatee beard. He goes, perhaps I could allow entry if the next round was on you. I think

[01:01:27] Nico's going to lean down and grab this guy by the scruff and put him up on the table so they're closer to eye level. Pick him up, put him up there. I buy you a drink if you shut up and stop making a big mess for us, yes? Perfect. He's going to turn to the barmaid and go, one drow kiss please. This kind of dark, almost black wine is

[01:01:57] going to come out and he'll take one sip of it and immediately pass out onto the bar. As she'll look at all of you, it's kind of a dreamy look and go, so what can I do for all of you? So I'll just walk up and be like, oh, is this one available? Yes, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to sleep. He must have had a rough day.

[01:02:28] Seems like somebody can't quite hold the liquor, you know what I'm saying, the weak bunch, these blokes kind of swirling around, kind of looking at it, does he get any kind of visual indicators that this is actually dangerous? I think you technically have to have a brewer's kit to know that, so go ahead and give me a sip if you want. Possibly a medicine check, I don't know. Yeah, if you want to give, I'm going to set a high, if you want to give me a medicine 17. Sure.

[01:02:58] Poppy's going to look at the elven woman behind the counter and she's going to float up to her and go, so you're saying that if he drinks that, he'll pass out? Oh, yes. 16. Looks good to you. You absolutely should have some. Oh, my character would 100% be like, this guy's a pussy and just take it, but I don't know if you can't back now. Oh,

[01:03:28] you are on this fucking level. A bunch of fucking softies, ain't you? I think Nico's going to reach for him, but then stop and make eye contact with Poppy. He's going to take a big old healthy swig of his soup is just going to you fucking lot of softies. While Nico looks at Poppy, I give you an elbow in the shin to shake his head real quick. the barmaid's going to look at you and go, well, when you make a wine that's

[01:03:57] got just a drop of drow poison in it, a delicacy, of course, but some people can't help their liquor. As it's 21. You are able to shake the effects of it, but this is a drunk that you have never the kind of shit I'm talking about. Let's get another round for the bar. It tastes

[01:04:25] like a wine made of chamomile. Oh, my sweet, sweet lord, they do not have any shit like that back home. Oh, wonderful. Usually the elves are the only ones that can resist it. Well, you gotta get you a sip of this one, little one, and he'll take kind of Bren in the arm, he'll kind of slide over the remainder of the drink. Come on, little one, and he'll slap him in the chest a few times. Come on, I saw you,

[01:04:55] you're a tough little bugger. I mean, you're not wrong, but I mean, I would like to take a look at the job board first. Oh, the jobs always look a lot more enticing after a drink or two, I find. How about we let him drink for a bit while we go look at the job board? Sounds good to me. It's a job board. Her eyes are protuberant as she looks at you. Of course, it's just along the back wall over there. Feel free to take any posts that

[01:05:25] you see. As soon as Bren hears feel free, he bolts over there away from Swoop. Swoop is just like not paying attention and then looks down. Oh, where the hell did he go? Nico's going to lean kind of over the bar towards her. Thank you, mother. May I have drink that is not that dangerous concoction? Oh, yes. Would you like a gilly water? Absolutely. And she's going to put a gold coin, which I'm sure pays

[01:05:55] for whatever drink this is. Plus this drink. Yeah. Go ahead. Are you taking a drink of this? Yes. Give me a constitution saving throw. I'll be back Swoop. I'll go with you. The bugger, what the hell would he get? Well, whatever. That's a 21. 21. You fight down this urge to start giggling uncontrollably as you start to drink this. It's almost like a ranch water, but with more of a floral aftertaste to it.

[01:06:26] Bryn, you have successfully paid to the job board. I found it. I'm with him. There are a number of posters. Some of them have nothing to do necessarily with job boards. You see one that just says Cobalt bands with a Z. Playing with two words. Playing tomorrow no date in

[01:06:57] alley no location. But you do see some legitimate jobs here. I'm just going to read off a couple of the ones that you see. A couple of gems, yeah, they're good. You see one that says adventurers needed for experimental potion quest. Interested parties can get more details at quintessence herb and apothecary pays 150 gold plus potions. Ooh, I like those.

[01:07:27] Can you give location again? You're fixing to pass out on the table. This is why we're looking while he's getting sloshed. He's too interested in chugging whatever noxious liquid he comes across. Okay, we got to keep him away from the experimental potions 150 gold quintessence. Yes, the second one that you read says my name is Alba and I need someone strong to help me rearrange my furniture

[01:07:57] pays 25 gold. It's going to be the one y'all take please please tell me none of us are strong imbued in these like this is just a magical world you read it like a growler from Harry Potter Alba 25 gold move furniture does it give a location for that one? Residential area second level

[01:08:25] the third one that you read says I need help clearing out chickens that have taken up residence in a sacred temple near the hall of gods will pay extra for discretion and no questions asked 200 gold and this comes from Jorphix Brin um I think Nico would have come up behind Poppy by now can she have browsed these 100% there's one more thing

[01:08:55] that you notice and I do have to ask is it because I'm short I didn't see it no everyone notices it it's not actually um one of the posters it's actually etched into the board itself does anyone speak thieves cant no no okay how close is it to halfling it's a thieves can is not close so I'm gonna

[01:09:26] yeah it's like hidden yes if you can figure it out for yourself fair enough good for you um I might even let a luck roll if y'all want to try to figure it out um but this is going to simply say um are the apples in your harvest hard to come by try the second branch in the deepest shade

[01:09:55] of the darkest leaves and you will find exactly what it is you are looking for okay so second branch it's gotta be second level darkest shade shade I'm sure it's a dark alley somewhere that is uh avoided by the general public uh chickens in the temple of the hall of the god 200 gold what was the name Jorphix Bryn

[01:10:25] it is suspicious that they're giving us 200 gold to get rid of some chickens but also they want this under discretion so that and no questions asked and no questions asked seems to a swoop has lumbered his way up there already very tipsy at this point how many hey does he have to do another check to see if he goes under after another drink are you taking another drink he was over there like he said he bought another round your pressure to get John to take another drink

[01:10:55] is so funny to me I really want to just carry him like a sack of potatoes honestly okay we're taking a long rest you already told me we were fuck it it's fine swoop yeah he definitely on his way over he's gonna realize that he's been left alone at the bar after his first sip oh fucking lord he's gonna fucking stand up and just take another massive swig of this drink as he kind of lumbers over as he's lumbering over to the job board give me another constitution save Nico's gonna lean a bit over poppy and put a clawed clawed finger

[01:11:25] on the chicken one and then trail it down to the message etched into the board is a bit suspicious no both of these that's an 11 do you question i would think so do you speak lizard no i am part dragon not lizard you speak draconic uh

[01:11:54] yes actually and then she will rapid fire say in draconic so you can hear me when i talk like this oh yes absolutely i mean i can hear now anybody can hear you all that you guys was was meaning to kind of stand up make his way over to the job posting decide on a job and then go to bed but what really

[01:12:24] happened was what really happened was the moment he starts to step off of his stool you hear and go and then you hear as he immediately drops down beak first and it's like a dart into the floor of this tile just sprayed out his beak into the boy wait was he just speaking chicken uh maybe actually um fucking son of a bitch can you even talk with your beak embedded into the

[01:12:54] floor though to everyone else it's just nico's gonna strange large bird creature why why are all my friends strange and then she's gonna reach down with one clawed hand yank his head out of the floor and throw him over her shoulder are we friends yes absolutely do you not consider me a friend I don't know if I've ever had one before hmm I can

[01:13:24] be your first okay this is getting really flirty over here yo um yeah so you've got uh almost half dead bird at this point buried into the floor you've got three jobs you also have that note that I said if you guys want to if you think you can dissect it on yourself you're more than welcome to and I'll tell you whether you're right or we can do one designated person do a luck roll if they roll on that 20 I'll tell you what it is fun

[01:13:55] got you I was curious if the talk of apples and or any of this is familiar as in have I seen these same words etched at any other job board in the capital I imagine I've only been to a couple of them I would say you're used to seeing the vandalism with the nature of thieves camp every time it's just a little bit different got you but this is pretty standard for something to be scratched yeah I mean for most people that are just going to pass by it just looks like

[01:14:25] vandalism vandalism got you and are apples significant at all in the capital do they have some sort of symbolic meaning no got you cool cool yeah can you give us that message again are your apples I mean I did that off the top of my dome but I'm going to try to paraphrase there's a lot of this I'm improv for you guys it sounded like you were trying to remember what you had written down because you just couldn't

[01:14:54] find it but you actually had it before let me let me if the picking of apples is slim apples and harvest hard to come by try the second branch try the second branch where the shade leaves is darkest I think I said something along that you will find there what you seek

[01:15:27] who would like to be the designated I mean there's only three of you conscious who wants to be the designated luck roller also we take a heroic inspiration for your moment without Maz yay so the luck roll would just be a d20 just a d20 and we're looking for a natural 20 could I give someone bardic inspiration has to be a natural 20 has to be a natural 20 okay that's what the thing here's what I'll say to make it

[01:15:57] interesting has to be a natural 20 what if we for the person and then that person that wins the roll rolls the 20 oh you want to roll off that's fine sure I that's up to you I mean I like it we can roll off and see who does the luck roll wait hold on what dice

[01:16:28] are we using well we could just yeah like a d20 18 8 17 okay okay who got it me okay let's see it you got this Beth at the table rolling for this nat 20 and she got an 8 good job so we don't know you had a guess though does anyone want to try to pitch their guess I mean I think

[01:16:57] I think we all immediately deduced second branch is possibly second level okay I was thinking it's going to be a dark alley that people avoid okay question on the second level what is here on this level I know it's the second part entertainment district is there possibly a cider vendor here that sells apple cider or yes

[01:17:30] so tell me someone tell me what they think the message is and what is it trying to say okay here it is again apples are your apples and harvest hard to come by try the second branch where the

[01:18:13] you oh shit hell yeah john let's go drunken kung fu master okay we still haven't decided on a job yet yes that's the question yeah I think you know what what if what if Nico tries to wake him can I

[01:18:59] do and dream as as Bryn thinks this over as Bryn Captain Bryn said pretty much Nico you don't have a job anymore you don't have a position here anymore if I was noticed I would be in that same situation but since I wasn't do I still have a station does that mean do I still have a like place to stay given you know

[01:19:29] like a barracks that I can go to you yes you are in a bit of a unique situation because on the um on the third level near the hall of gods there is a temple um of of the gilded monks essentially the the beat cops um it's welcomes many people and in fact this temple also usually if if there are children left about that are

[01:19:59] willing it's not by any means a great residence it's not even really a comfortable residence sometimes you go to bed hungry as they will just do what they can afford but they do offer room and board for any who need and long term

[01:20:29] you are patrolling the lower levels in particular to make sure that nothing is happening and if you do come across any criminals you are reporting back to this temple with them okay then Bryn might take that liberty to go stay there and

[01:20:59] yeah maybe we can all meet here tomorrow if you know if we can boil something down and you know we all well the rest of you don't really have jobs here but we can I can help with you all and we can try and figure something out I think it would also be fair to assume I mean well I'm not going to speak for your character you can tell me for someone that's probably

[01:21:29] a little bit sharper and maybe this is Bren it might be safe to assume that at some point word is going to reach captain Wren that you were there there were too many witnesses involved for there to not at least be a mention of a halfling that was in the room with them especially with Almez I mean Acustrador saw you when you first entered so they knew you were there there might be some expectation that if you do go back you might be in the same situation

[01:22:02] go back to work if you go back to work and report I mean you'd go back and reporting which is maybe good but right that is just going to be something I'll say yeah okay with that in mind he will still go take the liberty to stay at the temple okay but then yeah he doesn't want to he doesn't want to ruffle these feathers this scenario

[01:22:31] is not a fight that he's wanting to fight and doesn't really see a reason to hey I don't have a job that's fine I was only here a year and I've got job boards that you know and I've got you know other people that I know are looking for jobs they're looking for money we can all help each other out get this money so he yeah he'll he'll go stay at the temple and

[01:23:15] we'll call this episode and I will have you guys decide beginning next episode what you guys do okay sounds good can't hit yep and if you want this has been tales of Yvonne the empire table beyond the empire's reach the pirate table sails dangerous waters be sure to follow their side of the story to uncover more about the world of Yvonne follow the show to stay ahead of what's coming and if you're enjoying the journey leave a review

[01:23:45] it brings more souls into the