On Tattered Wings

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[CLINKING] Peacocks. This summer, during the biggest sporting event of the year, Peacock turns to two broadcasting legends for the Olympics coverage you can't find anywhere else. I think they mean us. Oh, [BLEEP] Um-- [CLEARS THROAT] With an incredible duo sure to take home the comedy gold, Olympic highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. New episodes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, only on Peacock. Coming to Apple TV+ on August 9th. You're the Marine? Yeah. You're the ex-con. Yeah, I did time, but you're only going to cast aspersions at me. From the director of Mr. and Mrs.

Smith and The Bourne Identity comes a new film. It's your first job. I know what I'm doing. It's a little late for a crit change. Starring Matt Damon. Everybody in New England is after us. And Casey Affleck. Go, go, go, go, go. What are you doing? Taking notes. Taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. The Instigators, rated R. Streaming August 9th on Apple TV+. Episode 161 of the DNR podcast is brought to you today by Black Shell Media. Are you looking for a game, but you're on a budget? Maybe you're looking to stream something. Maybe you're looking to just try something new.

Go to BlackShellMedia.com and you can see dozens and dozens of games with tons of replayability. Tons of hours you could be putting into them, all at a very, very reasonable price. We've streamed a bunch of their stuff before, and we'll probably be streaming more of their stuff soon. You can find them on Steam right now under Black Shell Media. And you can go to BlackShellMedia.com again and check out tons and tons of their stuff. Give them a shot, and I'm sure you won't regret it. Let's do that thing where we go around the table live at TheoryThon 2016, starting with Karen.

Hi, I'm Karen. I play arena stonebreaker, Amo Paladin. And Valerie. Hi, I'm Valerie, and I play sword, gray wing, the halfling ranger. And Kira. Hi, I'm Kira. I play Zoyaruk, the dwarf healer. And Lisa. Hey, I'm Lisa, and I play Elorath Beestinger, the halfling barbarian. Guys, last time in the show, goats were had. I had so many goats. So many goats. Goats and bees. That was a majority of the last episode. You guys actually had some downtime, thankfully. Because the last couple of weeks, again, have been really hard on you guys. Goats and bees. And breakfast. Bacon.

Oh my god. And then you actually-- you help this kindly gnome named Tepen clear out his farm and eat kobolds. I love Tepen. Do my healer powers include an inhaler for that part of him? Here's the thing. That's probably not going to change his voice as much as you'd hope it would. It would get rid of some of the sniffling and snorting and the wheeze. I hope it makes it worse. Love it so much. It'll actually-- yeah. Healer cure for allergies. But yeah, you guys helped him clear out his farm and save his prize winning for a spare rib. So let's say we pick up a little bit after that.

Now, when you leave this farm, are you leaving to go back to Irmgard's place, or are you just moseying on down the road? Or is it a thing where you would have went back, said goodbye, and then went to mosey on down the road? I just think we'd go back to Irmgard's place, because wouldn't we have left some of our stuff there while we were kobold hunting? Right, right. Go back, get Irmgard's food. Sora wants to say goodbye to the goats. Oh, absolutely. [LAUGHTER] Going to do some live goat noises. Goite noses. Goite noises. [LAUGHTER] We have to let Tuffin know that we cleared out his farm.

Well, we could have done that in the next-- Right, yeah. I would imagine that-- He probably saw. He was rubbernecking the whole time. Oh, dude, he wouldn't-- yeah. That would be-- He's hiding behind the bear dog. He owes us meat. He owes you meat. Meat and money. He said he would pay you too. Oh, we don't want your poor sniffly money. We just want your meat. Yeah, oh, god. No. That's not what I meant. Yeah, let's go find Tuffin, and we'll settle up with him and let him know his farm's safe. All righty. Tuffin would not be too hard to find. He'd be in his house, and the second he sees you guys, he's going to perk right up.

And he's going to run over and sort of try to shake each one of your hand individually. You cleared them all out. Ew. I'm sorry. He's going. I knew it was coming. I knew you were going to react. Yeah, we got them all. Oh, thank you so much. You have no idea how much of a huge help this is for me. No problem. What's funny? I'm sure we're all very healthy that we could help. Yeah, just no problem. He is going to go ahead, and he's going to pay you guys. And for the services that you rendered, this is kind of a gross amount of money. But he's going to go ahead and hand you 600 gold.

Jesus. What? That is a gross amount of money. That's too much. Who is he handing it to? He's going to try and hand it over to Zoya first. And I'm going to hand it back to him. And we don't want your money. But I did promise it to you. I said I was going to give it-- I think everyone else would agree with me when I say that we wanted to help you. You don't need to pay us to help you. Yeah, no, use it to fix up the fences and stuff that they fucked up. And she's pointing back at the barn, those things. You said you wanted to supply us with some supplies. So we'll be willing to take that, but nothing more.

Well, that seems like the least I could do now. I'll tell you what. Give me all your packs, and I will fill them to the brim with food and whatever else you might need on your way. Does that sound fair? Yes. More than fair. Yes. He is going to go ahead and start to climb up on his-- not the dinner table itself, but one of the sturdy wooden chairs next to his dinner table. Plop the bags up there, and then just start to fill these packs, like jamming, like wherever-- like tetris-ing in dried meats and things like that. His house is actually very well stocked.

Your packs are going to be almost bursting with stuff. They're going to be about 10 to 15 pounds heavier, actually. He is jamming stuff in there. And not just food and rations and such, but just little odds and ends that might make your stay out in the woods if you should have to sleep there a little more comfortable and things like that, like an extra blanket and little things like that. Aw, that's adorable. That is so sweet. I love him. I'm making a heart with my hands right now. [LAUGHTER] Kevin. Right there. Yes, yes. There. Right there. Right there. Right there.

Right there. Right there. So that pretty much concludes your business here, unless you want to hang out for a while and do anything. Otherwise, I guess it's back to Irmgardt's. Yeah, how long of a journey is it from Fair Bay to Esterholt on Hoers? Well, the lovely listeners at home can see a map. I'm pulling it out. Fair Bay to Esterholt is a hike. You're talking two days on the road, unless you are galloping like just full bore, and then you're still talking about a good day and a half. We should probably get our horses and go, guys. Yeah, I suppose we don't want too late of a start if we're going to get to Esterholt.

Yeah, it's still fairly early in the day. It's around noonish, so you got some travel time you could do. You said it's about a day from Fair Bay to Esterholt? It's about two days. Two days. Is there a place in between the two points that might be a nice, safe place to stop? Define safe. Like a building? No. A town? No. There's a forest. A miraculous area free of all monsters and-- OK, let me tell you this. When Bree was sending you guys this way, it was for a very specific purpose. The safest way to get from east to west or vice versa on the mainland is to head south for the most part.

There are specific dangers in spots. But as long as you guys don't roll really low, you should be fine. Should be fine. Oh, my laughter. We're going to stop at Irmgard's. We're going to get our stuff, and we're going to head to Esterholt. All right, that'll tack on-- yeah, that'll tack on like 20, 25 minutes, depending on how long you want to say goodbye. And then you're on your way. Yeah. All right. So I guess that begs the question, who would like to do me a favor and roll a flat d20? Lisa, Lisa, me, me. All right, you've got this. It's going to be your fault.

It is going to be my fault. We're alive. I'm just kidding. But it won't be me, so it won't be a crit one. You got this. Shut up, I forget that we're alive. OK, here we go. Man. Hey, fellow attention. [LAUGHTER] But 9 is-- Does she give her any bonuses for being cute in this section? Is it a nice day? Is this the accent? Is it a nice-- I love that that's become a thing. But is it at least a nice day? Fun fact, 9 is my favorite number, so it can't be too bad. Pew, pew, pew, finger guns. So like that's a natural 20 for Lisa. Yeah. Is that how it works? Oh, look, an extended-- yay, thanks.

Yeah. Yeah, because I used all of my dailies. I'm so glad I got that map up so that people can't see what I'm doing. Oh, no. Oh, no. Stop it. Oh, yeah, you're right, that is the perfect little coverage, isn't it? Yep. I thought of that on the fly. Proud of you. Thank you. You guys are going to move along pretty unimpeded, actually. It's a gorgeous day, which is pretty lucky. It is the sixth of Thorm for those of you keeping score at home. Now, you're going to continue on for hours and hours. And at a certain point, I'm imagining that you are tired and probably hungry and need a break.

Riding most of the day is no fun. You get sore. I would say you are about one third of the way to Esterhold, which puts you smack dab in the middle of Heroes March. Now, this is coming on-- the Therian equivalent would be like 6, 7 PM, somewhere in there. And since winter is coming on soon, it's starting to get darker earlier. So the sun is going to start to dip in the sky. Now, you guys have a decision to make. Is this going to be a thing where you just keep moving on through the night and take the penalty? Or are you going to try and find a place to set up camp for the evening?

I have a question. Hit me. I don't have to sleep for two days. Can they sleep on their horses while I guide them? Have you ever tried to sleep on a horse? No. I've never even been on a horse before. Have you, Jason? I've been on a horse. You don't sleep on that. That's not a thing. Here's the thing. If you were to walk with a horse-- because that's basically-- you're not even cantering at that point. Because you're bouncing up and down the entire time. You would have to be nearly dead or so exhausted that you just kind of fall out and you're on the horse now.

It's not a restful sleep at any rate. And you'd be moving so slowly that you might as well stop. So we should look around for a good place to nestle in, is what you're saying. You might want to. OK. Sora? Let's do that. Can we all? Well, in your party, right? Who would be the person who would be sort of your designated wilderness professional? Like your tracker, your nature specialist consultant? Like you'd go, blah, blah, nose. We're probably nowhere. Like who would you all look to and default to? The ranger. Probably Sora. I don't know. She like really messed up that one time in those woods.

But I don't know. Does Zoya have high nature? I have a plus 8. So I'm probably the second highest. Yeah, I have 8 as well. So. That's OK. I can do it. Sora, Sora, Sora. Yay. Yes. Way to go. 96. Beautiful. So I would say right about the time the sun's dipping in the sky and you're all just kind of looking at each other like, what should we do? I guess we're going to stop. I imagine Sora would be like, I got this shit. And just kind of pull everybody over to the side and find a nice little camping spot. The grass is nice and soft. It's out in the open without being too exposed.

So you're not fenced in or against any rock walls or anything. It's actually quite nice. So I imagine you get your campfire set up and your sleeping bags and stuff. And it's crackling. It's actually a pretty nice, relaxing scene. And you've seen nothing on the road so far that would indicate any severe danger. Is there anything you'd like to do before we moved on? You guys want to sit around the fire and talk a little bit? OK. I think that's a good idea. But if we're settling in, so I was going to take a moment just to go off by yourself and say a prayer to Yvandra.

So you guys are settling in for the evening. I would imagine-- man, I would imagine you're all very sore. Like probably used to riding around on horseback and everything, but just kind of just sitting in one spot all day, especially on a horse, it can't be pleasant. So everyone's just kind of sitting back and relaxing here, maybe on a log or something, or just curled up next to the fire. Cuddle pile. Yeah, a little puppy party type of thing. Oh. I'm missing. Aww. We'll sit around and braid each other's hair and-- I don't have any hair. Oh. You can braid my hair.

OK. OK. OK. I'll take a-- I'll be the back of the braid chain. Aww. That's OK. It's fine. Elorath will be like, no, thanks. She'll just be like, nah. Yeah, but come on, like bad ass Viking warrior braids. Think about it. Nah. I tried. I don't-- I don't-- I don't do that braidy stuff. No. That ain't me. I tried. No. No, I'm not mad. I'm just-- no, that ain't me. No, that was more of my sister. That's not me. You have a sister? I had a sister. I'm sorry. No. I mean, it's OK now. But like, her and my mom, they died in a fire. And that's why my hands look like this. And you're going to like look at her hands, and you can actually see some like faint kind of burn scars on her hands.

Like really faint, because it was when she was little. But that's why my hands look like this and stuff. I didn't get there. But yeah, she liked to wear the braids, and she looked real cute with them. But not me. No, I'm good. Rosaria's just going to kind of lean over and wrap around and arm around her and give her a little hug. Thanks, Beat Lady. It sounds like you did everything you could. I know that's not enough. But you did try. Yeah. Probably a good thing I didn't, because I would have run right in there. And I might not be here right now. But I am still mad I couldn't get there.

But I'm strong now, so that's what matters. I can try and save people now, which is what I want to do. And that's why I'm a white raven, because I like to save people. And I like to think that they'd be happy about that. I'm sure they'd be very proud of the work that you're doing. And she's going to look down and be sheepish and just like, thanks. I hope so. And kind of fiddle with her flail a little bit. Are you from the Overwatch? I mean, I know we're heading back there, because you're going to check in with white ravens. But is that where you're from, or is that where the base is these days?

That's where the base is. I grew up around Ebony Harbor, actually. What, no kidding? Yeah. Really? Yes. So did I. What? Yeah, I'm fine. So did I. What? So did I. What the fuck? We're all neighbors. Who would have thought that halfway across Theria, you'd run into people from the place you came from? That's awesome. What about you, Irina? Where are you from? Originally, Jern Hollow. I've been an Esther Holt for about six years now. That's where I call home now. Do you like it? Esther Holt? Yeah. There's always something to do, so you're never really bored. And I don't really like not doing anything.

I get it. Wait, so were you not originally with Elorath and Sora? No, I'm a paladin of Kord. I came over with a group of paladins to help them out in Lockford. And when they said that they were on their way back to the Overwatch, and there was just two of them, I thought maybe they could use some muscle. Because no offense again, but you guys don't look very intimidating. Bruh. I know differently, but to an outsider's perspective, people may try to take advantage of your small stature. Very diplomatic. Like that jerk. Mansour, you got him good. Are you planning to go all the way to Overwatch, or are you leaving at Esther Holt?

I'd like to continue. I don't really have many responsibilities in Esther Holt, other than my responsibility as a paladin to the temple. And I think what the ravens are doing is very noble, and seems like you guys could use some help. So I'd like to come with you guys and find out at least what your next task is. Yeah. I like you. I was going to say, as long as you guys are OK with that. I like you. Sora? Yeah, that sounds good. Cool. Are you going to come too, Bee Lady? I am here to help you however I can. I was told to be here. As long as you're willing to have me, I am going to try and help you as much as I can.

I like the way we all fight. It's fun. So let me ask a question. How long into the night would you say that you guys are just chit-chatting, just until you feel relaxed enough to sleep? I think for Zoya, that would probably be it. Just sort of listening, chatting, until everyone's relaxed. She's not really used to sleeping outdoors. That makes sense, yeah. It's an acquired taste. It's a change of pace for her. So-- sorry, go ahead. I was going to say, Irena's just going to let you guys know that she's going to stay up. She's used to staying up a lot, so she'll keep watch overnight if you guys wanted to sleep.

Are you sure? Yeah. I've done it so many times. You don't go to sleep? Nah, not for a little while. What, that's awesome. You get tired? I will need to sleep maybe when we get to Esterholt, but I'll be good for a while. So you're big and you're tall and you hit things and you don't have to sleep? I have to sleep. I just-- You don't have to sleep a lot. --as often. That's awesome. I guess the side effect of my genetics. Well, that's neat. Yeah. Wait, do you get bored? I have a book I like to read. I didn't get a proper education growing up, so every time I leave Esterholt or have some downtime, I just grab a new book and learn about the world.

Pretty boring, I know, but-- No. There's nothing wrong with wanting to learn about things. I like it. Some time is going to pass. And eventually, the hours are going to while away, and we're going to take over to the seventh of Thorm. I want everyone to do me a favor and roll a perception check. Oh, no. Son of a bitch. Hey. Even with a new character. Yay, Thor's got her back. Mine wasn't that bad, guys. Eren, you and I, we switch. That's how it works. That's how it works. Zoya and Elrath are just cuddled. We're just talking about bees and pooping each other on the nose.

And honey. Honey. In the middle of the night, the fire's going to be dwindling, pretty much extinguished, just embers. And the night air is going to set in to the party, just very, very chilly, very cool. And the sound of crickets and otherwise silence is going to be interrupted by the most tremendously loud sound anyone in the party has ever heard. All four party members are going to jolt, just wake up immediately. And Irina and Sora are the only two party members who are going to have the wherewithal to have their bearings about them, to really take in this scene.

Everyone else is going to see it, but to really take this in, slipping through the sky above the party is a tremendous black dragon. Oh, hold that dragon. The same one that G3 saw? Wait, a dragon? Mm-hmm. Now, the crazy thing is this isn't that far above your heads. This thing has swooped down. So imagine standing next to a speeding freight train that doesn't stop at a station and just whips through. That is the kind of force you're dealing with. It is loud and frightful, this force of nature that could destroy you, just blink you out of it. Blink you out of existence.

That's the feeling you get from this thing. And it is going to rip through the sky above the party, so much so that it almost moves you, the force of it. It almost pulls you forward. And it is going to roar into the night. Almost as if it's angrier in pain, something like that. That kind of visceral scream. And after a few seconds, it is going to pass completely over the party. It is going to blot out everything for just a second. Everything is going to go dark. And it is going to continue southwest, kind of hugging the shoreline. And the party's going to watch it.

This thing is tremendous, huge black leathery wings, almost like a bat, something like that, a long neck. For a black dragon, the size of this thing is absolutely unheard of. Huge clubbed tail at the end of it, just sort of the kind of thing that looks like it could take out a building, no problem. And it is going to, just as fast as it appeared, continue along the shoreline in a southwestern pattern, looking like it's heading maybe towards Esterholt or further in. And it's going to disappear over the horizon. Goodness. Was that really a dragon? That was a dragon, all right.

That was he? What? No, that's big. No. Do they get that big? I just saw a dragon. No. I thought black dragons were like the smaller kind. Or are they bigger? Traditionally, they're smaller. This one's really big. Fucking huge. Cool. Is there like a nature role or something we could do to figure out why it would be so big? Sure, let's see how much you guys know about dragons, maybe black dragons specifically. Everybody do me a favor, give me a nature check. Can I roll a history? Make your pitch. Make my case? You said traditionally black dragons are smaller, so would there be accounts of larger black dragons?

I'll tell you what, I'll let you make a history roll. Go ahead. Like Kaelthorne. Yeah. Oh my god. Wow. Almost a crit. Nice job. I do a lot of reading, guys. We just went over this. That book I was talking about happens to be about black dragons. Yeah. Apparently I need to get some book learning. First of all, let's handle everyone else's nature check. Yes, traditionally black dragons tend to be small. Thought for the most part to be hunted to extinction, with the exception of Kaelthorne in the Ymgarh swamp. Nailed it. Sora would know that traditionally female black dragons grow to be larger than their male counterparts.

Male counterparts tend to be a little more lizard in shape. Real kind of short stubby necks, big flat heads, jaws that can kind of scoop up several adventurers at once and just crack and crunch bone, that type of thing. Smaller wings, they have a hard time staying in the air because they can't support their own body mass, like that type of thing. Now, female black dragons, on the other hand, can get to be almost twice the size of their male counterparts. That is still a really fucking big dragon, even taking into account the largest female black dragons that have been recorded.

So that's still huge. Have I ever heard of anything about there being like some legendary giant black dragon? Well, now you haven't. But arena, on the other hand, arena would know of maybe one. And this is hundreds of years ago. If this were the same black dragon, it would be a miracle. But this one reportedly hung out around the Hazon Mountains, the same place that a hell of a lot of the red dragons make their home. And it's kind of a strange thing. Different colored dragons very rarely get along. But if this is the same dragon, then, I mean, this thing is hundreds and hundreds of years old, at least.

And to get that big, it's probably closer to 1,000 or more. Question, question, question. Weren't those drakes like red with a black tinge? They were. Oh, god. Wait. Bring it back around. Bring it around. OK. I have a theory. Do you? Because it could be bunnies. You need to push your glasses up. Well, I'm actually wearing my glasses right now. I know. Push them right up that bridge. OK, I did it. What's your theory? Do you want to hear it? Yeah. Is it good? I don't know. Probably not, because I'm late to everything. From thinking. I got one too. What if the dragons interbred?

There you go. Proud of you. Is that even possible? I got this. Wait, wait, wait. Black dragon plus Strahd. Because wasn't Strahd a big red dragon? Oh, shit. Wait, was Strahd a girl or a boy? Strahd was a guy. Oh, my god. Was it Amara? I'm sorry. What? No. She was white. I know. But she is white. She's not dead. [LAUGHTER] Long live Amara. I'm forever. Is there a name that went along with Arena's history? Again, that's-- no. Don't be sorry. There is a name. And this thing disappeared a long time ago. If it's the same, then the name would be Ruth Amor, which in elven loosely translates to black wrath.

So what would the-- OK. Generally, once this thing is gone and this horrific sight has passed and it didn't see you, it didn't-- yeah. But what would the overall vibe be around the party? And how openly are you discussing your-- how much of that is in character? How much are you openly discussing, OK? I think when Zoya asked, was that a dragon, I think it would just be like, that was a very large black dragon. The only one I've ever heard of was this. But that was hundreds of years ago. That would be like the extent of that. Would Elrath or Zoya have heard of it?

I would say based on the roles, probably not. So not even in like a fairy tale story-ish sort of way? OK. Well, unlike Strahd, everyone knew where Strahd was. But he was kind of in this time-out state. Like, as long as the Dragonborn didn't blow the horn, everyone knew about it because the Dragonborn wanted everyone to know about this. This is different. This is a dragon that just disappeared a long, long, long, long, long time ago. So if this is the same dragon, a lot of people just thought it would be dead. And I mean, unless there's some huge threat-- when you have a dragon that's alive, very much alive, and could be used as a weapon at any time, that's the dragon you tell stories about.

A weaponized dragon. So we probably necessarily wouldn't put red drakes with black scales together then, probably. Well, let's see here. Areena would know about Strahd. Now, who's alive? Sorra and Elorath. I'm right here. Sorra and El-- well, yeah, but this-- you're going to get sad in a second. Sorra and Elorath was around at the beginning of the party when you guys were attacked by the red and black dragons. Yeah. Up through that. So Areena wouldn't have been there for that, but she would be there for Strahd. It all depends on how much you guys are going to start working this out and talking about it.

And you said that the dragon was in line to head to, like, Esterhole or further in. It's definitely following the shoreline, yeah. And-- OK, so because I knew about Strahd, I knew-- I don't remember. Was Strahd, like, from the Hazen Mountain area, supposedly? Yeah, that's famous. Oh, yes. Everyone knows about that. And didn't he attack Esterhole? Were you there then? I wasn't in Esterhole when that happened. I was out, but I know about him because it's the big talk of the town. What's left of it, yes. I was going to say, somebody must have told you about it if you ever went back to Esterhole.

Nobody was talking about it when I came back, guys. It was just-- I had to, like, do a series of Streetwise checks and, like, why is the wall broken, you know? Like-- Like, everyone just went about their day, nobody cared. I'm like, nobody cared that a giant red dragon just attacked. Sorry. Me? OK, so you would talk about Strahd? Strahd is so famous. Wouldn't everybody kind of know about Strahd? Yeah, but I'm talking about specifics of his death and who fought him and all that. Everyone would know about Strahd. Like, yeah. But we'd know enough so that if, like, Irina was like, yeah, usually she's from up in those mountains where Strahd used to live.

And we'd be like, wait a minute. Wait, hold up. That's where I figure you guys would start putting the piece together, but I'd have you roll an intelligence check first. OK. Elareth the Barbarian, please roll-- Wait, everyone or just Elareth? No, it's funny because it's-- the person who put it together first on the party has the lowest intelligence of the party. Well, I was going to get to it. Everyone do me a favor, roll an intelligence check. Fair. Oh, god. Damn it. That's just for me. Chris. Elareth is like, wait, when a boy dragon and a girl dragon-- That's not terrible.

It's not the best, but it's not terrible. --using hand gestures that aren't technically, like, accurate. She's like, I don't-- Just waving. --like, like, eh, like, eh, like that, and boom, babies. [SIGH] All I'm saying is I know about the fun dragon that we met. The fun dragon? Are you going to talk about him? Well, yeah. That's why I asked if you were going to talk about Strahd. I would just tell you guys about the black dragon that I know about, but it's been hundreds of years since she's been seen in the Hazel Mountains. And then I would assume that you would connect that to Strahd?

I would say Zoya and Sora. [LAUGHTER] And then a little while down, after everybody's talking about it, the last horse would cross the finish line. Yeah. You got it. Oh, wait, wait, wait. OK. Dragon fucking. Got it. Huh. That was weird. Where do you think she's going? I have a concern. What? She is the dragon that I'm thinking that she is. She's from the Hazel Mountains. Strahd is from the Hazel Mountains, and he's dead now after attacking the city of Esterholt. No. And she is heading towards Esterholt. So you think that she's looking for him? I think she's looking for him, and when she finds him, she's not going to be happy.

Wait, is he at Esterholt? He's in Odysseus. Oh. Well, then maybe she won't get mad at Esterholt. Odysseus is abandoned, isn't it? Abandoned, and he's dead in there. So she's going to be angry, probably, if she's his mate. And Esterholt is the closest city to Odysseus. Oh, no. Should-- Oh, no. Should we go tell him? Well, I'm sure the dragon's going to get there faster than we will. Well, technically. We could try. We should-- we should go. We should get to Esterholt as soon as possible. I agree. Hopefully, we'll get lucky. A couple of minutes are going to go by while you're discussing this.

I would love it if everyone could do me a favor and roll a perception check for me. Heck, yeah. I think I perceived something. Ooh. Come on. Boo. Can't win them all. Zoya's going to hear something. She's going to hear a rhythmic thumping, almost a crashing, a stomping, if you will. And coming out of the tree line, down the path a bit-- this is in front of you-- a hill giant is going to come spilling out of the woods. Now, this is probably due to the fact there is a very large creature passing overhead just a few moments ago. And it may have acted as sort of just kind of something to flesh out things in the nearby wilderness.

Now, it has not spotted you yet. What would you like to do? It seems very concerned with where that noise was coming from. Just kind of spilling out a real huge, huge thing. Not too intelligent looking, big club, just kind of staring off out to sea looking for this thing. Well, since Zoya heard it and saw it, she's going to kind of tug at the nearest person and point silently and then maybe gesture towards someplace where we could take cover. Let's see here. OK, so the rest of the party, it wouldn't take much to spot this hill giant after it comes crashing out of the forest.

So how would you like to deal with this? Would you like to try and hide in the tree line? Would you like to try and find some other kind of cover, maybe bushes, something like that? I just want to confirm, a long time ago on the show, I think it was group one that came across a hill giant and then some other guy. And they got the hill giant to turn on some other guy. They're not crazy intelligent creatures, no. Right, but that was a hill giant? Actually, I believe that was an ogre, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's something that could work. Any creature with low, low intelligence like that.

They're really quick to anger, really quick to hit something instead of reason whether to rationalize, even if it's one of their own. But I don't know, why would it be mad at us? It's not mad at us. It's mad at-- It didn't do anything to you, yeah. Or in its face. Or yeah, that too. The fire's just embers right now, right? You said? Yeah. Can I just kick some dirt on it and then run into the woods? You sure can. OK. Is this the thing where you're trying to double time it and sneak off? I ain't sneaking. OK. There's nothing happening there. Cool. I'm sneaking. OK.

I'm climbing up the fucking tree. Even if I tried, guys, I can't sneak. There's no way. Well then, let's do this. So arena's going to kick some dirt over this fire and put it out the rest of the way. It's going to stop crackling. It's going to go dark, completely dark. The moon is going to be out a bit, so it's giving some illumination off. You can make your way to the tree line and probably be safe. I'm not making a tremendous amount of noise yet. Now, arena, do me a favor and roll an athletics check. Great, another thing I'm not good at. Hey. Wow. That's pretty damn good.

Plus one modifier, guys. Let's start it out there. Let's do a thing. So this hill giant, it's actively looking for this thing that made the noise, the dragon. It's actively looking at that. And so it's kind of panning the area and listening very carefully. I'm going to have it roll a perception check. And if it's, let's say, an 18 or higher, then it's going to hear arena kind of running. Because I would imagine her armor makes a bit of noise. She's full armor, sword shield, the whole nine. So it's going to make a bit of noise. So let's see if this giant even hears you firstly.

Oh, god. Well, that's not great luck. This giant's going to hear you. And it's going to snap its attention away from the shoreline and down to where you guys are going to go. Let me ask, Elrath, Sora, Zoya, what are you guys going to be doing? I would imagine arenas like, hey, come on, not just like bolting and leaving you behind. Well, Zoya already said she was going into the woods. So I just assumed-- Right, but sneaking. Yes, that's a big difference. I picture like-- it's like hill giant. Just like fucking full blown sprint towards the woods, not saying anything.

I'm sure that's not how it happened. I actually pushed somebody behind me as I went. Sorry. She just barreled through all of us like it's American gladiators or something. Peace out, bitches. You don't have to be the fastest, just faster than the slowest. Do me a favor. You're kind of pushed into this. Sora, Zoya, Elrath, do me a favor. Roll an athletics check. OK. Now why are we rolling? Is this because we're running into the woods? Oh, no. Am I already going to get eaten by a giant? No, you're not going to be eaten by a giant. I won't let you. Oh, lord. OK. But wait-- It's because we were cuddling.

It's because we were cuddling. Zoya, we have to untangle ourselves. Oh, god. OK. Is the athletics because we're running into the woods? Yes. Are we already in the woods? No. We were in a clearing. Like a clearing, yeah. So Irena is going to take off for this treeline, shortly behind, followed by-- ooh, OK. Elrath's going to do pretty good. Hey. Zoya's going to lag behind a bit. And I think Zoya may be caught off guard by this entire thing. She figured, oh, well, we'll just be stealthy and it'll be fine. Full blown sprints. Zoya's going to trip. All right, we're running now.

Right. Oh, no. Zoya's going to trip and fall, just flat. No. This hill giant is going to start to close the gap very, very quickly. Everyone-- Can you use diplomacy on hill giants? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Elrath speaks giant. Please don't eat me. Elrath speaks giant. I'm not kidding. You do speak giant. --voice and be like, back the fuck up, huh? You can absolutely-- you are the only one in the party who has a chance to either-- Speak giant. You sound so relieved. I do, because it was so dumb. It's like you're halfling what other language do you want to speak, giant?

When's that ever going to come in handy? [LAUGHTER] I'm going to give you a chance. You can either try and diplomasize with this thing. You can try and bluff it. You can try and intimidate it. You are the only one in the party who speaks its language. Fun fact, all of those are plus 2, because they're all fucking charisma banks. Oh, no. And she's a part fairy. Remember-- OK, here's the thing. Well, it's better than nothing. It is better than nothing. OK, depending on the action you choose, and you make a case for it, I'm going to give you a little bit of a bump, because you speak its language, obviously, because you're the only one who can really take a swing at it.

Now, on top of that, this is not-- you may have low charisma, but this is not a very, very intelligent creature. OK. So what would you like to say, I'm guessing yelling at the giant as it's stomping club raised toward Zoya? She'll probably say, there are a lot more of us than there are of you, giant. Go the other way. Intimidation. She's going to try to intimidate it. OK, here we go. I'm going to give you a plus 1, because you speak giant. On top of that, if you roll a 14 or higher, this giant's going to stomp. OK. OK. OK, here we go. Intimidate check. Let's do this.

Plus 1 modifier. Yeah! Oh, my dick is massive today. Hey! Thank you for that. Let me paint a picture for you. What, Lisa didn't already? Well-- [LAUGHTER] That's what I should have-- --jumbled. It's like, my dick! Just screaming into the forest. Zoya is going to be face first on the ground, just kind of getting ready to kind of scramble and get up. Elorath is going to stop her run dead, turn, and square off with this giant, screaming at it. And the giant, to paint a picture, is, well, gigantic. Towers over Elorath. It would tower over a normal-sized person, but definitely towers over Elorath.

And it is going to stop dead and sort of lower its club, almost like a dog that's trying to-- like it does that tilty head thing, like, mm, like that. And slowly take a step back, because it appears as though Elorath is standing her ground. Now, to the giant, that's almost like, all right, she might know something I don't, because she should be running, or I would normally be smashing. And yeah, so that just does not add up to the giant. And it is going to back up and sort of slowly, Bigfoot-esque, stomp away back into the forest. Because you are not what it came out to investigate in the first place.

I just came out here looking for a good time, and honestly, I'm feeling so attacked right now. My bad, bro. Basically, you are a delight. What-- OK, Zoya. What would Zoya's reaction be to all that? She is going to look at the giant lumbering off, look at Elorath, and pretty much just lunge at her to hug the fuck out of her. Like, oh my god. I can't believe you did that. That was so brave. Did you see that, bee lady? That made it go away. You saved me from a giant. I have no idea how you managed to do that. You are amazing and very lucky. I'll give you the look part.

I like you. I can't let the troll get-- or the giant get you. Guys, guys, it went away. Come back. Yeah, I would have-- by the way, yeah. I would imagine that they would have stopped. I'm already in Esther Hall, guys. Zoya, stop yelling at that damn goats. Come on. I went all the way back to the goats. Like, just nope the fuck out of there. Go back to the happy place. I wasn't very good at goat, but. That's actually your-- that's what I should have done. I just should have just yelled. Ah! A goat noise in giant. Just confused the shit out of it. What? I feel like we should get you a can full of pennies now that you can shake. [LAUGHTER] That's the thing.

It's like a bear. It's like if you like re-arrap me, like, I'm bigger than you thought I was. The bear's like, oh shit, man. That's only for either a brown bear or a black bear. I'm not sure. One of them, you're supposed to get as high as possible. But the other one, you have to get as tiny as possible and pretend you're done. And if you do the other for the other, you're screwed. And I'm pretty sure with polar bears, you don't bother with either because they're just going to eat the fuck out of you. Also, what the fuck are you doing around polar bears? [LAUGHTER] They're my favorite animals.

Fun fact. Love bears. They're great from a distance. Yeah, well, yes. All right. Oh, goodness. So I would say you guys are probably up for the day, right? Yep. OK. It's still nighttime, but like up. Yeah, it's very, very, very early. We're talking like 3.34 AM somewhere in there. Like very early in the morning, like before the sun would rise. But long enough for you guys to have gotten an extended rest, that makes you feel better. And I'm not dead, so I'm totally happy. That's always a plus. He says he's not dead. No, better. Not dead yet. I feel happy. I'm so happy. [LAUGHTER] So is sleeping outdoors usually that adventurous?

Sometimes. One time, we were in a cave, and there was a fire. And then there was like this fog, and it was like-- [WHISTLING] I'm going to come and get you. And we were like, no. And then we saw these eyes in the fog, and it was like really creepy. And then the thing like ran around and stood on top of our cave. And we were all like, oh, god damn, we're going to die. But we didn't die. Oh my god, are you serious? Yeah, and it turned out-- well, actually, I don't know what it turned out to be. But it was me. We never found out. I'm pretty sure out of character it was Haven, but I don't know that in character.

Was it? I thought it was more of a drag. I mean, we did make-- We didn't see it. It was in the fog. Werechicken? Isn't that what it came out? Werechicken. It was a Werechicken. Yeah, I was going to say, I think out of character, wasn't it a giant Werechicken? Like, Chicken Boo the werewolf? I don't know. You guys are going to take this seriously. We're totally taking it seriously. It's a real threat, dammit. All right, so I would imagine you guys are going to get back on the road, kind of head back at it. Still heading toward Asterhold? Am I still riding with Irina?

You can ride Bailey. Oh, OK. I seemed kind of silly to have three people on one horse. OK, I just wasn't sure, because I remembered I was riding with you before, but we never said this time. Honestly, why not? So you guys are going to continue, and you're going to get to a point where the sun has risen. It actually looks like it's going to be kind of a cloudy day, maybe a little overcast. It might actually end up raining, which isn't great. You're going to get past Highmanal Forest, and it's going to be sort of a crossover, and smack dab in the middle of Heroes' March.

So you are actually about seven hours out, six, seven hours out from Asterhold. So you'll get there before dark, which is great news, because you don't want a repeat of last night. Mm-mm. But since you have been on the road for hours, you're going to have to ask that someone roll a flat D20 for me. Nose goes. I have my finger on my nose. I do too. Oh, I'll do it. I have no idea what that means, so-- But do you really want me rolling it? Did it. Yay! Wow! Almost a crit. Fuck yeah, Karen. Almost a fucking crit. Oh my god. Yay! This is my area, guys. I know this shit.

And I know that has nothing to do with it, but-- Wow, guys, that is a huge stroke of luck. Not only are you going to finish your ride to Asterhold completely fine, there will be no further excitement in the form of random monsters, or dragons, or things that could just crush and snap you. But it's not going to rain either. The sky's going to clear off eventually. And at worst, it's going to be a little windy here and there. But you guys are going to arrive in Asterhold and be perfectly fine. What's the first order of business having arrived in the city of Asterhold?

First of all, I would imagine seeing civilization again is a relief to the party. Are we going to find an inn or something? I feel like we would kind of leave that up to Arena, right? Because we are-- I don't know. We're stomping grounds. Yeah, I don't know if, actually, Elorath's ever been to Asterhold. I feel like maybe if we went to the temple, there is like a barracks. You guys could probably spend the night there. There's probably a lot of empty beds. Oh. [LAUGHTER] Yikes. Aw. That went dark. OK. Too soon. Jesus, Karen. Sorry. Just being realistic here. Well, somebody needs to keep the beds warm for your fallen brethren.

Aw. So to the temple? I guess so. Good god. [LAUGHTER] Why'd you have to bring it down like that, Karen? [LAUGHTER] Jeez, Karen downer. I'll see myself out now. Now without you, we would probably have been eaten by like random-ware chickens or god knows what else, manic pixies. Come back, baby. I love you. [LAUGHTER] So the Temple of Kord is an interesting place if you've never been there before. It can be a little jarring to walk in. This is a place where strength and courage are pretty much honored over all other things. So where a lot of temples are about silence and contemplation and kneeling and prayer and all that stuff, and maybe just doing good in the world, the followers of Kord pretty much believe that, oh, we do good in the world by being the toughest, strongest, bravest fuckers in the world and going out and righting wrongs and all that stuff.

Usually righting wrongs means beating the shit usually, at least to a lot of followers of Kord. Craig Mason does not look like most of the people of the temple. He's a little on the older side, kind of barrel-chested, a little bit of a belly. Like he's getting up there in years. You could tell that probably his best years in terms of going out in the field and fighting shit are behind him. But the guy doesn't look like he's feeble or like he couldn't beat someone's ass if he were into a fight, just a little unassuming compared to the rest of the strapping young people in the temple.

So walking in, what you'd probably hear is a cacophony of swords or hammers striking shields as a lot of these temple of Kord initiates are sparring. Ah, yes. Sounds like home. So I was going to look over at Irina and say, this isn't really what I pictured when I thought of a temple. It's different. It's loud is what you mean. It's different. But yes, you're right. It's loud. It's just I've never been in a temple of Kord before. It's like I was saying before, there's always something to do. And it's definitely a very different experience. Anybody around, Jason?

It would be most of these initiates are just kind of like training back and forth. And then Craig would be back to you looking over these kids. Most of them are kids. We're talking like 16 and up. Some of them are in their very early 20s. But yeah, a lot of young kids. And a lot of these are faces that Irina wouldn't recognize. And there's two reasons for this. One, some of these are out of town members that were training in other temples. And Julie kind of put the word out to strengthen Esther Holt when she was trying to lock down the city and deal with Una and the crew and stuff, but also deal with Seraph.

And two, a lot of people kind of heard about the thing that you missed. It's like, oh, man, Strahd. They fought Strahd? Fuck, I want to-- they're going to tell stories about that for years. So all the people looking for fame and glory, there's a lot of young kids looking for that. Cool. OK, so Irina is just going to go up to Craig and tap him on his shoulder and be like, sir? And he's going to turn around. And you can tell right away, it's like, oh. And he's going to get ready and speak. And then he's going to turn around and yell, shut up. And everyone's going to stop dead.

And then there's one guy in the back. He's just a little delayed and drops his weapon. And there's a clatter. Fucking Timothy every time. That asshole. He needs to get with it. Then there's the one who takes advantage and just punches his training partner in the nose. What you get for dropping your guard? There's always that douche. Craig's going to reach out and do that wrist handshake thing with Irina. Yeah. Do it right back. Yeah, and at the same time, take his other hand and just kind of like bopper on the shoulder. Just like, fucking, hey, nice to see-- that type of thing.

Just really happy to see you. Can we talk not out here in a room full of a lot of new people? And he's going to look back at them, like, them? And then back at your party. Sure. You want to go into the office? Yes, please. Thank you. And he would kind of bark back. It's like, go. And then they would just start fucking wailing on each other again. And he would lead you and the party back, kind of back behind these curtains and stuff, back toward his office, which is a small space. It's not a very huge office at all. So much so that it's kind of cramped having everybody stand in there.

It's a little on the small side. OK. It's for very tiny. Yeah, that's true. OK, so she'll probably introduce Craig to the rest of the party. She'll just be like, this is Elorath and Zoya and Sora. Guys, this is Craig. He's the leader here at the temple. I met Sora and Elorath in Lockford. They're part of the White Ravens. And he's going to go from sitting down to standing up, like, oh, like that? Wow. And how did that go? Well, the werewolves were taken care of, we believe. Brae and Cyril didn't make it. He's going to kind of cast his eyes down like, fuck. So these guys are on their way back to Overwatch to get instructions for what to do next.

Just wondering if they could stay here at the barracks for the night. We've been traveling since Lockford, so it's been a couple of days. No, of course. Please just grab a cot and settle in. Cool. When they leave, we're going to go with them. They could use some assistance. You mean permanently? Potentially. Well, I won't lie. It would be nice to have someone to help train recruits, but I understand. I've been here for so long, and I've been looking for something to be excited about. And they're doing good things, and I want to help them with that. He's going to step forward and kind of put his hands on Arena's shoulders.

Then you should go, as long as you think that you're going to be doing some good in the world. And he's going to lean in. Did you see the dragon? And just a big smile on his face. I saw the dragon. I was worried it was coming here. I don't think so. At least not yet. I'm hoping it stays in Odysseia. That's where I think it was heading. That's where I think it was heading to. It's probably not going to stay in Odysseia. And he's kind of staring off into the middle distance. That's going to be a problem. I read something once. It was in one of the books that I've checked out.

It's about a very large black dragon. Hadn't been seen for hundreds of years, but this one was so large, it had to be the same one, I think. I called her Ruthamore. And she's from the Hazon Mountains, historically. Think maybe she was connected to Strahd. Do me a favor, roll a perception check. Cool. Hey. Ah. His face, that smile's gone. It's much more grim, really. If this is that dragon. And what do you think the odds that it isn't? Smaller than slim. I'd have Julie look into it, but she's not here either. Look, don't worry about it for now. That's something for us to deal with later.

You're not going near Odysseia, are you? I don't think we had plans to. That's kind of a little out of the way. Have you and your friends eaten? Just what we have in our packs. And he's going to kind of look at your packs. They look pretty fucking heavy, so. [LAUGHTER] We'll fix you something to eat. Just go settle in. A nice hot meal would be good. So he's going to kind of peek around and start rummaging through her bag, pull out some honey from her bees, and hand it to Craig as a little gift. Thank you for letting us stay here. I hope you would accept this.

He's going to stoop down a little bit. He really does not mean to be pandering or patronizing at all, but it kind of comes off that way just a tiny bit, and sort of kneel down, well, thank you very much. So he's just going to smile at him. She is not going to take it badly, so. He kind of has a way with dealing with people who are smaller than him. It's a little-- he kind of handles him with way too many kid gloves. He has been known to tussle here. Oh, homie no. [LAUGHTER] I was going to say, that might be a step too far. Right. You have to get through the hat.

He has to get to know you a little bit. Oh, I have something for you too. And Irena's going to take her pack and sling it-- there's like a desk, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. OK. It's not just an empty room that he sits-- Like, sling it down right on the desk and make a loud noise or whatever. And I'm going to pull out those artifacts that we found in the woods. Oh. [HUMMING] [LAUGHTER] I know it's-- yeah. I know it's a little off topic or not in your purview, but I recognize these. We found them in the woods. I'm not sure exactly what they do, but I know that they are very wanted.

And I thought the temple of Kord could make some good use of them. Wait, what? Hand over the artifacts? Unless you guys object. You found those? Give them to me. Well, Sora found them, and I just took them. That's right. That's right. We would have run about it. I took them right out of her hand. You didn't know what they were. I was just like, I found these. I don't know. Paperweights? I don't know. These things? I forgot that Sora found them first. And we were all like, wow. And then you were like, I'll just hold on to these totally innocuous things. Well, Craig's face would light up.

Normally, he prefers to get weapons as a gift, but you're putting a premium on it. It's like, oh, these are really important things. Because to him, it looks like, well, that's a chess set, and there's some dice. I mean, it doesn't leap out at him immediately. And normally, his chief researcher, he'd be like, hey, look into these for me. What do these do? She's gone. But yeah, his face would still light up, because you're giving him a gift, and it's really nice. Well, thank you. Look into these as soon as I can find somebody to help me research. Where did you find them, by the way?

In the woods. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Speak. The Silver Glade nailed it. Crushed it. Sora would speak up and say, we found them while we were in the Silver Glade. And it's going to take him a couple of seconds, but he's going to put two and two together. You were hunting. And he's not judging Sora, just looking, just kind of taking Sora in. Because Sora's been really quiet up until this point. Yeah. She'll say, in a sense, yes. We were trying to finish off the werewolves. And he's going to look over at Arena. I'm sure the town's better off now. Much. A lot of it was gone when we got there, but there were some survivors.

And now that that threat is gone, they are looking to rebuild. Well, again, go settle in. Don't worry about a thing. We'll handle it. You get some rest before your trip. Will do. So let's see here. Is there anything else in town that you guys would want to do before kind of resting up for the day? What time of day is it? This is heading into evening. You guys made it before sundown, but it's like 6 o'clock, somewhere in there. It'll be sundown soonish. And how long do we have until dinner? At the temple? It's usually like something like in a big ass pot, something that people-- I mean, it's kind of rare that they'll have like a big getting together meal type thing.

It's kind of like, well, grab a bowl of that when you feel like it. So it's pretty much whenever it's heated up. So it'll sit there for a few hours. Delicious. So he's going to look over at Elorath. And have you ever been to Astrahold? No. Do you want to go take a look around? Sure. Let's go find some stuff. Guys want a tour? Yes. Can we? Are you able to show us around? Are you not today? Yeah. No, let's go. OK. Show you all the hot spots. Especially where the dragons landed not that long ago. Oh, god. Show us your decorative ruins. So along this walking tour of Astrahold, there's a bit of a famous tattoo parlor.

There's some nice spots. But there's also-- they're still cleaning up. There was a minor dragon attack. This was a couple weeks back where dragons kind of landed in the city, smaller ones. Sort of like the ones you guys fought, but a little on the larger side. Large enough to swoop into a city. And they set some fires. And they did a bit of damage. Strahd was the real mess, though. And in the middle of the city, they've gotten rid of most of it. But there's actually one large ballista bolt. And that is from the Overwatch, actually. They were fired into Strahd.

Strahd landed outside of Astrahold, pried them out of his body, and then flicked them into the city. That's right. And it fucked up some property, guys. I'm not going to lie. There are repairs to be made. And the paladins have been helping out with that type of thing. I feel really guilty about leaving. Well, if it makes you feel any better, that character probably would have died before you even got started. Cool. Yeah. So again, you guys are going to be on this walking tour. And I would imagine during this arena, it would be like, oh, and that's where this happened.

And that's where this happened. And that's where this happened. A lot of it is actually a very nice place. There's some swanky digs around here. I mean, this is the kind of city you go to. It's like, oh, I want some great wine and fancy cheese. And this is the city to do it. There is a pretty high-end portion of the market here. There's also one of the largest outlet of orphanages in all of the mainland. So you're going to see a lot of children running around. Not unattended, but I mean, you know, they're around. Mostly unattended. Mostly somewhat unattended, somewhat.

Depending on their age, like if they're in their mid to late teens, they're mostly unattended. The little kids have some kind of chaperone. But it'd be like one adult for every 12 children, something like that. So they're miserable and want to die. But yeah, they're at least taken care of. Is there a spot that you would want to check out above anything else? Or is it pretty much just taking in the sights? Hey, look, there's that awesome house up on that hill with a nice hedge garden. We should go check that place. [LAUGHTER] Wow, Elarath, I might just agree with you.

Let me ask a question, actually. I always wondered if you see a hedge garden. Let me ask a question. How much would-- let's-- you know what? Streetwise, Irina, do me a favor. Let's see how much you know about that place or Darmok or anything. Let's see. I'll give you better history. I'm like, no, no, no. This is one of my biggest things right here. Cool. That's not bad at all. Irina would have obviously lived in Esterholt long enough to know about Darmok. Anybody who's been in Esterholt for any length of time knows about Darmok. Moreover, Irina would actually know a little bit about that house currently because of the big fucking dragon that was sleeping in there.

What? How would I know about that? It's a white dragon. No, no. I was playing coy. And rumors spread about that really quickly. And some of the party there had some dealings in the temple accord. And yeah, she might have heard an offhand conversation, something like that, every once in a while. But yeah, she would also know that Darmok's dead. And it was a huge spot of unpleasantness in the city. So we're just going to glaze over that building, unless somebody specifically asks about it. The thing is, it would be one of the larger buildings in the city is the hard part.

Just pretend that I don't see it. Yeah, it'd be one of the larger residential buildings. The rest of it's all too short to see. I feel like there's this big stigma around it, then and now. You're like, there is a place where this one guy lived and some really creepy shit happened there. And then some other people took it over. And then our previous leader, Julie, took us up there and she was like, I want you to attack this house and take it over. And they can't have it. But then her sister came back and now they're gone. And so we just leave that place alone.

That is the gist. Pretty much. That's the creepy house in the neighborhood. We just don't go there. We just don't talk about it. Just to sum up-- That. All of that. All of that. That's neat. Now let me ask a question here. We're pretty much going to assume that you guys are spending the night and you're unwinding. Because you've got a journey ahead of you. Because from here on out, you guys would be heading from Esterhold. Now you got a couple of options. And I think I know what you're going to pick. There used to be a checkpoint between the northern end here of Esterhold and Overwatch.

That's gone. There's no more checkpoint. That's been taken down, obviously. So you could have the northern way and cross over through the Black Rock Mountains and the Blistering Peaks and just continue past Betrayal Ridge through White Wolf Valley and then end up in Overwatch. That's a hike. It's going to be a hike. It'll probably end up being two and a half, maybe three days. Getting through the mountains is slower. Or you can hit the open road, go south fucking around Odysseia, and then wrap around to Overwatch. Everybody likes mountains, right? Is there kind of like a space between the Black Rock Mountains-- And the Blistering Peaks?

Oh, yeah. There's a road that-- No, not the Black Rock Mountains and the Blistering Peaks. I mean in the Black Rock Mountains. To go through. Yeah, because it looks like there's less mountains in the middle. Do me a favor and roll a Nature check. OK. 17. 17 would be enough to probably clue Sora into the fact that there's a reason there's no road that leads through there. And it's probably not the best idea to attempt it. And that is all I'll say. Aw. [LAUGHTER] OK, then I mean, I think the only option is to go north. Yeah. Because fuck that dragon. Yeah, fuck that dragon.

Baddragon.com. There you go. Waiting for it. Are we taking off in the morning, or is this the thing where you're going to spend more time in the city? I feel like just one night, right? Because we're like, well, we've got to get back to the Overwatch now. Yeah, we should get back there as soon as possible, especially if it's going to take days. And the only person you'd really have-- oh, I'm sorry. No, go ahead. I was done. Oh, the only person you'd really have business in Estradolt would be Irina. So it would depend on if she's done. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we can go out in the morning.

All right. Everyone is going to settle in for the evening and get some well-deserved rest, because you guys have a hike. Getting ready and taking off in the morning. Sorry. No, please go. I want to say goodbye to Craig. Oh, please, yes. Would this be in the morning? Yeah, in the morning. Do you want to do it privately? It doesn't matter. It could be on the front steps or something. It's not really that big of a deal. Might be to Craig. I'm trying to play it off like it's not a big deal. Single tear. Craig would be really-- he's one of those guys who doesn't get emotional often.

He'd be really sad to see you go, and he would be-- like anyone who's competent and kind, like looking to help others. For Arena, he kind of gets the sense it's not for personal gain or glory or anything like that. Just a genuine want to do good. So he'd feel a little beat up about that. Like just that's really sad. And you can kind of see it on his face as he's saying goodbye. So sad, guys. Do the rest of us perceive that? Roll perception. I think Arena would see it right away because she knows Craig. But let me see what you guys would-- you roll-- yeah.

There you go. Hey. I perceive nothing. Soaring Alarath would, though. Just get uncomfortable and stare at our feet. So Arena's going to give Craig one of those handshakes. Like it's a goodbye thing. [SIGHS] I really want to thank you for everything that you've done for me. You gave me my life back, and I could never repay you for that. Just take care of yourself, all right? I will. Don't worry about us. Don't worry about the dragon. We've taken care of a dragon once before. We took care of the drow. We'll handle things here. Oh, should we tell him about the-- Oh, we didn't tell him about the drow.

Shit. Oh, can I do it? Yep, go ahead. When he says the drow, Alarath would probably be like, oh, oh, oh. Craig. He's going to almost like-- Like, waving in the air. Well, actually, I literally put my hand out. I was like, oh, wait. I think it'd be almost like calling on a student, oh, you with the flail. Like-- [LAUGHS] When we were in Fair Bay, there was a drow. Speaking of drow, actually, there were a lot of drows. But there was this one, and he was all, hey, can you check in on some people in Esterhold and just let me know if they're there? And he was being really weird about it.

And he wanted to know if there were a group of adventurers here, something about drow children and stuff. But he was wanting to take notes on whether or not some people were here. And I think he meant them harm. And his name-- wait, did I know his name? He introduced himself, right? Yeah. Yeah. And his-- Remember when you left him a note? Yes. This guy named Serif. I don't know if that means anything to you, but he tried to hit us up to find out if there were people here. Damn it. Sorry. He seemed to be very interested in the workings of the city as well. He didn't have good intentions.

Mm-mm. And you're sure of that? Yeah, no, he was-- I'm positive. Yeah, he was a bad guy. All right. Could you do me a favor before you leave? Of course. I want to keep an eye on this dragon situation. And I would be lying if I wasn't planning some sort of expedition to see if it were still in Odysseum. Would you please tell our mayor about this? Probably look at the party. OK. Right? Did I know that there wasn't a mayor and that there is a mayor? I would say you were out of town for that, but that would be-- There's a new mayor. It's a long story, but it's linked to the drow problem.

So the new mayor deserves to know. And they're going to have a vested interest, trust me. OK. Who's the new mayor? Her name's Jadzia Grace. Whoa! Sorry! Whoa! Shut up! [LAUGHTER] Don't shut up, please. I'm sorry. I'm imagining the chat is going wild right now. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Honestly, that's probably a good time for us to stop for the night. [WHISTLE] Oh! Oh, my god. Oh, a big reveal. How cool. I didn't think we'd get to that at all. That's kind of cool that we did it for-- I think we almost skipped over that. I know, right? I totally forgot about the drow.

I know. Yeah. Way to go, Lisa. On the ball. Imagine if we just left and just-- No, it just would have happened. Yeah, it just would have happened. Well, guys-- Wait, did he tell us that he was looking for Jadzia Grace? No, he never gave us any names. Never named. We never got deep enough into negotiations to get the names from him. We doped out of there-- Pretty damn quick. Yeah. That makes me so happy. Oh. Guys-- Wait, does this mean-- does this mean, like, Bree's going to play with us? Bree! I hope we'll have to see on the next session. Oh. That's, like, how fun. [LAUGHTER] Um, thank you guys so damn much.

That was actually really fun. We got to a lot. And that's two major sessions during Theoryathon. How fucking cool is that? Yay! Yay! I don't think that would have went that well if we would have planned it, to be honest. Today's going so good, guys. Oh my god, we're in the home stretch. Just GMT to go. How are the donations? I believe we've kind of plateaued last time I've checked. Let me-- let me-- let me check just to make sure, because I could be wrong. Hold on. I am incorrect. We are up to $1,705, guys. Shut up! Yay! Good job, everyone. God, that's so amazing.

Guys, that's awesome. So I'm going to let you guys go while-- while me and Bree start getting set up for GMT and do all that. Probably give us both the chance to take a break before we get started. And then we'll get ready and start closing things down for Theoryathon. It's been almost-- Jesus, what's been 10 and 1/2 hours already? Yeah. Good luck with GMT. Thank you so much. Yeah, bye, Ben. Yeah, you guys have a great night. I'll talk to you later. Bye. Bye, guys. Bye, chat. Howdy, folks. Brianna here, and the episode you just heard was recorded during Theoryathon of 2016.

Thank you so much to everyone who was there. And real quick, before I let you guys go, some reminders of where you can find us. You can find us on Twitter @dandrpodcast. You can find our website at dandrpodcast.com. You can also follow us on Facebook by searching Dungeons and Randomness. And finally, if you'd like to support the show, which we appreciate every little bit, you can follow us on Patreon. And give us a little patronage. $1 gets you so much. Patreon.com/dandr. If you follow us right now, you'll be able to catch a bunch of videos of me and Jason hanging out.

Those will be posted pretty soon. And also newsletters and a bunch of other fun stuff. So thank you all so much for making Theoryathon 2016. It's such an amazing experience. And next week, you'll hear the other episode that we recorded.