Politics

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Please check them out today. Let's do that thing where we go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason. I'm the Dungeon Master. Going around the table, starting with Kelsey. Hey, I'm Kelsey, and I play Voluptuous Nightshade. And Rachel. Hey, I'm Rachel, and I play Buxom Broadshoulders. And Robert. Hey, I'm Rob. I'm playing Raka Kinreaver. I thought it was Broadacres. I think it is. It was, yeah. I realized after I found out. You did real well for no prep on that. Really? Yeah. Because that was-- I just thought of it right on the spot. I'm like, I'm going for it.

So hard. So hard. So those of you out there who are hyper confused, you might have missed an episode, because the party got back to Winterhaven. I say back for Malkus. For everyone else, it's just kind of Winterhaven. And aliases. Aliases are a thing, and they were sort of-- to sort of make sure that no one recognized Malkus, like he's been using Raka Kinreaver as his alias. And the rest of the party sort of adopted their own. Just I don't know if it was Solidarity, or Theo's urging, or whatever. But-- Or Malkus's insistence and their unwillingness to fight him on it.

That's fair too. So Dirk Hardrock and the gang has been in Winterhaven. Now, you guys went to a bar called The Thin Bear. And you hung out there. And you actually got quite a warm reception, even after the bartender figured out Asura. Even after he figured out that you were Malkus Grimnus, and who you are, and everything. You got some free drinks. You got to hang out and tell stories. Some people left the bar, presumably maybe to go get the town guard. Or maybe they were just talking about it. But the town guard did show up eventually. And they approached Malkus about him being in town.

They let him know that the council of Winterhaven does want to see him. And he agreed to see them in the morning. So how's about we pick up basically the end of the last session here. You guys are still in The Thin Bear. How long would you guys-- is this a thing where you're-- because it's late at night now. Would you guys just be hanging out there? Because it's the eighth of Thorim as of now. Like it's ticked over. You guys have been there for a while. So what would you like to do here? I thought we were ready to go to bed and get ready for the next morning.

I don't know. I think that was the plan. OK. Just making sure. After you got sort of summoned. All right. So then we'll just have you guys crash. And we'll pick up things in the next morning. So it is the eighth of Thorim. It is morning. You guys have had a nice extended rest. All your dailies and stuff are back. All your wounds are pretty much healed. What's the weather like? Paint me a picture. What's the weather like? Overcast today. It's a little gray. It wasn't raining that day, but it's close. It's maybe a little spit here and there. Just like a slight, slight, slight drizzle.

Like it's going to get rainy and downpour, but never quite does. At least not yet. Now I'm just imagining like a noir intro. Like it was overcast in my soul, and the weather had gotten the memo. Oh, god. It was raining that day. That's why I specifically said it wasn't. So what's the first order of business here? Let's say the party's gotten up. You've met in the lobby, and you're getting ready to start your day. Is it right off to go meet with this council? Or is there something else that's kind of been eating at you? Is there anything else you want to do to prepare?

What's going on in your head? I mean, Malchus is in the mood to rip the bandage off. You know, it's time to-- I also don't want them to think that I'm like-- like after I gave them the whole spiel about I would come under my own power, I don't want them to think that I'm like skipping on them. Right. OK. Is the rest of the party accompanying you, Malchus? Yep. Yeah, they want us to come along. Yeah, you're welcome. Unless he stops, I assume that we're all going to pretty much follow along. Oh, boy. So this would be fun. Theo will be in tow. This is a thing. So the Winterhaven Hall, which is this huge building, Malchus has been to it a bunch.

It was the former home of Iain Severus and Talia. They lived there before that. It was Daniel's home. And this is pretty much where the leadership of Winterhaven resides. Now, the front of this building is exactly the way you remember it. And there are guards sort of waiting for you there. Because I would imagine that's where Malchus would head. Like if he was told he was summoned to the leadership of Winterhaven, this is where he would go. The second they see Malchus, they're going to approach. Good morning, sir. And they're going to give Malchus a little bow.

Good morning. We were told to expect you. The council would like to meet with you. And he's going to point over in this building, which is sort of not a church, but think of a big open space like that, sort of a town hall type of thing. If you would come with me, your party is more than welcome to accompany you, if you like. Of course. Lead on. And they're going to walk you over. Again, not violently. Like you came of your own accord. No weapons drawn, no nothing like that. It's all very civil. And they're going to lead you into this building that is empty, except for three individuals sitting at a large circular table at the end of this room.

And the vibe walking in is very much like you've been called to the principal's office. These are stuffy looking individuals in robes. Two humans and a half-elf. One of the humans is female. One of the other human who is male appears to be older. The half-elf looks to be getting up there in age two for a half-elf. You know when I recognize I take it? No. Know when you recognize. OK. And the older human is going to speak up. So grimness. Very, very rigid, very stiff about him. Almost-- do me a favor, roll an insight check. I can do those. I can't do those well.

Everyone can roll. That's fine. You were muted, weren't you, Kels? Yeah, sorry. Everyone. Everyone. OK. [LAUGHTER] Wow, I got a 2. And that makes a 12. Insight. Everyone, insight. Roll in the dice. Yeah. I was mainly asking so to be in control, because I know her thing is wisdom. That's OK. I rolled a 1. High five. Going in blind. Theo. Oh, yeah, Theo. He's a little insightful. He's not crazy insightful. Yay, Theo. Yeah, so not terrible. So Theo and Tevien are going to pick up-- it's not just stiffness in his voice. It might be a touch of maybe anger or disdain, maybe.

Not exactly like he's very pleased to see Malkus. And he's going to ask everyone to take a seat. Now, the way this room is set up is their table is elevated, so that anyone sitting in front of them, they're looking down on. Mm. Malkus will confidently go to his seat and just sit right down. Yeah, Theo would have a seat right next to Malkus. Yeah. Well, is it at a table, or is it just benches? Yeah. There's a table below them where people sit. There's chairs and everything lined up. It's kind of a long table, like theirs, but not arced. Theirs is like-- picture like a city council type thing.

OK. Yeah. Got it. All right, yeah, then Tevien would just go and take a seat. You know, take one of the seats. And he's going to speak up again. I want to thank you for coming here of your own accord. We were quite surprised by that outcome. Which outcome-- oh, me coming of my own free will? Yes. I was slightly reluctant earlier, but I thought it was important for me to see how my actions were received here. Quite. Not to be rude, I am Councillor Freeman, and he's going to gesture down the pipe way here to the female human. This is Councillor Combs, and on the far left is Councillor Orilla.

That would be the male half-elf. Combs would speak up. Nevertheless, we want to thank you for coming, and we want to assure you that this isn't a trial, but we would like to speak with you about a few things. There have been some concerns with some of the things that happened during the Battle of Winterhaven. I'm here to see your questions answered. I'm sure it will put your mind at ease when we finish. Councillor Freeman's going to make a noise, kind of a grumble to himself, like, yeah, right, that type of thing, as he's sort of adjusting some papers in front of him.

And Combs is going to look over at him, just kind of side-eye him just a little bit, like, OK, knock it off, he's here, just relax. Professional, professional. Yeah. And the entire time, Orilla's just sort of staring at the party, like, he hasn't said anything yet, just-- like, he's just sort of taking you guys in. And Combs is going to start-- We wanted to find out what the extent of your involvement was with the leadership. There's really no easy way to ask this, but how involved were you with the destruction of the Warforged, if at all? I am-- I am responsible.

I did not manufacture the tool that did it, but I am the one who-- I am the one who allowed it to happen. And she's going to-- she's going to nod her head and sort of be jotting something down, and Freeman would speak up. And at any point did it occur to you to perhaps run this past the leadership? [SIGHS] I thought it too dangerous to let the knowledge of the item in question get out to more people. I was concerned that, had the Overwatch known any more about it, had the information gotten away, rather, that they might not-- that they might better prepare for the outcome.

Counselor-- Counselor Irelia would speak up. You understand that this puts us in quite the position, Sir Grimness. Elaborate. You are a knight of Winterhaven, but there are certain crimes that you're being accused of that are quite lofty. There are certain individuals within the city that are seeking justice. What would you have us tell them? I would ask what specifically I'm accused of. There are those within the city that are of the mindset that we would not have been in our particular situation had you not signed certain documents many years ago. And furthermore, getting us involved in a messy, prolonged combat situation was not the best idea for the city overall.

And then, of course, there was what happened to Ian. And he's going to look over to the other two council members. And Combs would speak up. Again, this is not a trial, and you are free to not answer any of these questions, of course, if you feel like it would incriminate you in some way. I'm fascinated that the perception is that my actions dragged Winterhaven into a prolonged combat situation. When the whole of Theria is at the risk of falling under tyranny, we are all responsible whether we volunteer to be responsible or not. I am grateful for what Winterhaven offered to the fight against the Overwatch.

But you cannot sit by and imagine that you could have smoothed things over or laid low until the march of the Overwatch just blew by. You would have been part of it whether I had taken action or not. And Theria is a better place for that city being laid low. Combs would speak up again. We understand that something needed to be done, and we appreciate your involvement. We truly do. It's just that we are in a bit of an adjustment period now, and people are looking for answers. You-- I'm sure you understand. Let me give them an answer. It's well known that 85% to 90% of the war forged, period, were part of the Overwatch and the Overwatch's forces.

I played the numbers. And had I not done that, there would still be dead bodies on the battlefield at the end of the day from our forces. It just would have been brutal, random, messy. I picked the solution that gave us a better chance. And there are people who probably cared about those war forged that weren't on the side of the Overwatch that may never forgive me. I stand by that decision, and its decision that helped us win that battle. I do not say that I have no regrets about that decision, but it was, at the end of the day, utterly and completely necessary.

Because if I don't push that button, more of ours die anyway. More mothers and fathers don't go home to their children. Counselor Freeman, speak up. So you stand by your decision then. I do. As messy as it was, as much as it did not obey the chain of command, I do. And you don't even see it partially incriminating that you fled the scene after making such a decision. My concern when I decided to do that was that if people stopped to think about the repercussions of what I'd done, they would slow down and not capitalize on the fact that my actions put the Overwatch on the back foot.

I needed everyone to move forward, so I didn't stay around to be a complicating factor. Combs is going to lean in and whisper to Freeman. And they're going to sort of deliberate back and forth for a few moments. Can we try to hear it? You absolutely can. Hell yeah, I want to try to hear that shit. Hell yeah, I want to hear that shit. I want to hear that shit. Not good at all, but high five. I'll give it a shot. I'm going to suck. Not me. I am bad. Oh, wow. Deal. Wow, OK. I was like, this is totally Tully's thing from Mass Effect 2. I'm just saying. I just make the connection.

I'm like, oh, shit. Anyways. Theo and Tevinne. Theo and Tevinne are going to make out little bits. Combs is basically leaning over to Freeman. It's like, back off. This isn't a trial. You're hounding him and trying to-- you're basically trying to sentence him right here and there. And she's trying to get him to back off a bit. OK. And then she's going to address Malkus in the party again. Again, Sir Grimness, we truly do appreciate that you've come here today, and I think this will go a long way in getting people to move on. There are certain individuals who would like to put you on trial.

And again, if you were a regular person, I hate to put it that way, but if you were a regular person, there would be no doubt. But in light of your service to the city and all that you've done, there are those who feel that you should just go free. What would you say to them? To those who would have me put on trial? Yes. Well, what does the letter of Winterhaven's law say about what I did? There really is no law about what you did. It's never been something fathomable before. But you did make a decision that influenced thousands of people and will for quite some time.

We're still trying to figure out exactly what happened to-- and she's kind of stopping herself for just a minute to Lord Severus. He's been recouping now for weeks, and we haven't really been able to get a straight answer as to what happened. But we've been dealing with fallout from the elves and I agree, many people. Well, as those who handle the laws, you need to make a decision here. Do you want knights, agents of Winterhaven, empowered to solve problems for the best for Winterhaven, even in the event that it's messy? Are you prepared to tell people that defending your sovereignty, that defending your freedom, that defending what's good, often involves doing things that are messy and unpleasant?

Do you have my back? Because make no mistake, Winterhaven, in its current form as it stands today, stands because of many actions that happened during that battle, and mine are included in that. She's going to give a-- OK, do me a favor, roll Perception. These Wisdom checks-- Sorry, I'm sorry. Hey, you know what? Look, you get what you get. There we go. That's not bad. I'm just getting all those sub-ten rolls out before we get into a combat. That's the whole plan here. It's just one after another. That's smart. They're all on top. They're all on top. Yeah, the three old people are going to bust out some hammers and swords and shit.

Should we all roll Perception or just Malgus? Well, here's what I-- I want one more roll. And this is out of Malgus. Do me a favor and roll a Diplomacy check. That's one of the ones I'm good at. OK. Because that is deserving of one, and I need to know something. God. That's-- Ooh, yes. A 19, then-- It's not terrible. It's not terrible at all. That's as good as someone with no modifier can do. That's-- Like, normal people-- normal people have never seen this much diplomacy. I love it. Just context. OK. Are these counselors used to dealing with a 12th-level warlock?

Maybe a 19's pretty impressive. I'm just putting it out there. Oh, I love it. You do-- hey, look, I'm not the Dungeon Master. That's your job. You do a damn good job of it. Let me just hand this back to you. Oh, god. Combs-- Combs is going to give a very faint smile. Would you allow me a day to confer with my colleagues and let you know what kind of decision we can reach? I'll be honest with you, Sir Grimness, we were at a bit of a stalemate before you showed up. When you say consult with your colleagues, just the three of you, or are there others involved in this decision?

It's just the three of us right now. I will stay in town. I have no doubt you know where I'm-- you know where I'm lodged. We do, and we'll take care of whatever Bill is accrued there while you're here. It is appreciated, counselors. And your stay is appreciated while we suss this out. I have a question. Oh? Would Nathaniel welcome a visit from me? One more perception check for me, please. [HUMMING] Perception is this one. I cannot break a 10 on these dice today. It's a good thing I don't need to do any stabbing yet. It's good. Her face is going to tighten up just a tiny bit.

Mm-hmm. I'm afraid his lordship isn't seeing anyone currently. Mm. I can send your regards, if you like. Please do. And if he changes his mind, do send for me. Of course. It's the least we can do. Of course, you are free to move about the city, and go about your business. And we'll send for you as soon as we've reached some sort of decision. I thank you for the courtesy. And I thank you for your time. And I'll stand up and head out with my friends unless there's any other business. No, they would not stop you. OK, back into town. Roll out. So Theo would have just been watching that whole display.

He would have been petrified to fuck something up there. He could tell. You could tell there's a lot of history or something like that. And you're just like, I don't want any part of this. Yep. Yeah. No, Malchus had to put on the Malchus show there. That's all he-- Yeah. Yeah, Aria would have been pretty much in the same boat as Theo. This is terrifying. I'm just going to try and not do anything. So the second you guys are out the door and back into the street, Theo would come over. That wasn't a trial? I'll admit it was not a friendly inquiry, but it was still just an inquiry.

And as you can see, they're divided on the issue. Honestly, I think I did all right considering my audience. What do you think they're going to do? I am hoping that recent history will show them that things are exactly like I said. Life is messy, protecting what's good is messy. Hopefully I made my case for that. Otherwise, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we? Do you know what trials are like in Winterhaven? Should we prepare for the worst case? I don't think I've ever attended a proper trial in Winterhaven. Certainly, if it would ease your mind to study up a bit, I would be grateful.

That is your expertise, isn't it? I'm good at reading, yeah. I mean, that seems like something that would be good to do just in case. You were really good in there, though. A man defending his right to his actions and his life has to be. But thank you. Well, and also, if it does come up that you do have to go to trial, you've done other things recently that could help persuade them in your favor, like taking out the orcs, things of that nature. I wonder if the guards who heard that last night passed that on to them. I mean, you threatened to blow my face off, and then you didn't.

And they would be like, hm? Like, yeah. A decision that I have yet to regret, Tarya. And I mean that in the most optimistic and positive way possible. Thanks. Malchus just nods at you. So what do we do till tomorrow? We-- Malchus racks his brain for locals that he could contact who might be friendly to him, Jason. Well, OK, here's the thing. Malchus wasn't exactly man of the people in terms of getting to know locals there. There were people you knew in the area. Sadly, a lot of them are dead or have moved or are lost or out and about. You knew a lot of the leadership and stuff of Winterhaven.

Sadly, those people are also dead or injured. So there's not a lot of local people. I would imagine that you did-- I mean, there are people in bars and stuff like that. Like, you meet a friendly tavern owner or something like that. But nothing-- it wasn't like you knew a lot of people here. Now, there are people around Winterhaven that maybe you could reach out to or something like that. But that's up to you. I guess it would be-- I guess it'd be up to you as to why. Like, just in case you go to trial, something like that, you're trying to build up allies, that type of thing?

Someone who would vouch for you? Yeah. I mean, granted, like you said, Malchus has been more of an on-the-road type hero than a man of the people. But are the White Ravens localized? Are they-- The Evergreen. I mean, that's not a crazy-- I mean, it depends on where you're heading. Well, but that's not local enough, right? Like, I need to be here tomorrow. Yeah, that's the thing. Um-- were you about to say something? I was, but like, I'll let it ride. What do you mean, let it ride? It was-- I'll wait for you guys to do any quick history check study or something like that on trials in Winterhaven.

Oh. Oh, yeah, OK. I'm going to feel real bad if I roll a good history check and end up knowing about it. It's like, oh, right, I know all about this. But I'll probably roll a crappy one. So should we all roll then? Like, history, right? Well, let's say that that's the next step. It's like, what if you do go to trial? What happens? What do we know? Let's rack our brains. OK. So let's see it. So we are doing a history? Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Oh, OK. Oh, good luck. [LAUGHTER] Oh, wow. Oh, now we're supposed to know everything. That's going to make sense. That's going to make sense.

Well, I'm assuming my history check is like going to the library with you and just like being really good with the card catalog. Are we going to the library? OK, good. I would say that you spent an hour or so like looking this up and saying-- Oh, right. I just remembered. I know everything about trials and-- No. That's never-- that never made any sense to me. It's like, do I know? That's one thing if you guys-- it's a certain thing. But this is like, you've never been there. You wouldn't know that. So it'd be like, well, you're going to go study it. And this is what you found through-- Can Theo roll just to see?

Oh, shoot. Yeah. Oh, poor Theo. I mean, we've got it in hand. I just want to-- You just want to embarrass him? I know. I want to see how helpful he's being. If it would let me roll in the box, that'd be keen. There we go. That's not terrible. Yeah, see? He used to be real helpful. That's not bad. He used to be a good kid. Gold star to pound the head. Here's the juice box. So the group would pretty much-- here's the rundown of what a trial in Winterhaven is like. And a trial in Winterhaven is a lot more fair than what you'd get in a lot-- let's say Overwatch, up until earlier this year.

Basically, the way it works is it is a trial in front of the city. The way it works-- do you remember-- Rob, do you remember a long time ago when you sort of made this impassioned plea to the city's town folk, and someone threw a potato at you, and then Ironhide whipped you off of the porch? I didn't think that was in Winterhaven. Was that in Winterhaven? Yep. Oh. Totally in Winterhaven. OK. The details are foggy. Help me. That's OK. But it happened. Basically, a trial would be set up where you would get a week to prepare. Usually, it's at least a week. Some bigger cases, they give you a certain amount of time.

And what they're doing is they give you time to gather any witnesses that would vouch for you. And then the character of those witnesses, they'd be asked a bunch of questions, pretty much like a trial here in America. Now, normally, the current Lord of Winterhaven would preside over that. In this case, it would probably end up being the council. And while the people are present, the council would be the ultimate ruling authority. At the end of the day, they would be the ones to either say, you're free to go, we're going to absolve you of any crimes committed here or potential crimes, or a punishment would be assigned.

And on something this level, let's say things went completely south. And everyone slowly turned against you if evidence came up that either made it look like or was revealed to be like, oh, no, you did not have the people's best interest. It was you or whatever. You could be facing decades of imprisonment or possibly death. What happens if the people watching disagree with what the council says? You were muted. Oh, sorry. What happens if the people watching disagree with what the council says? Excellent question, Kelsey. Here's the thing. Normally, public opinion is a big sway.

You can basically kind of feel how a trial is going by how the crowd is reacting. But it's not mob rule. That's why the council or Lord is there to sort of govern things. It's to avoid a lynch mob. We don't-- that's the thing. They don't want anybody just like, hang them. And that's how they get justice. They try to take in the evidence, parse through it, and then reach decision. That's if this were to go to trial. Better. Better need to be prepared. OK, and I take it Aria exposition dumps all that for us? Yeah, I would imagine. Yeah, I mean, you rolled the crit there.

Well, yeah, but you were still higher than the crit. Collaboratively, you guys figure all this out. We're a team, and we work together. I'm the tall person that gets the books off the high shelf. You and Theo are being real helpful. We're carrying books. Yeah, it's nice. Malkus takes all this in, and he says, you all keep reading. I'll be back. And he walks out the door. And then he gets in the car, and he just keeps driving. Dad never came back after I was restarted. I'm going out for smokes. What's the reason for putting him in a pack of smokes? Yeah. No, Malkus is going to head back to basically where all the leadership is centered, where Nathaniel would be, where these counselors would be, where just like to get in touch with a gate guard.

OK. Wouldn't be hard to find. Huh? Wouldn't be hard to find. Yeah. And he's going to come to a gate guard, or basically whoever his primary contact in front of this area would be. And he'll introduce himself real quick, and he'll say, I'd like you to tell Nathaniel that Malkus Grimnus would like to speak with him. And just let him know that I'm awaiting a response, but preferably before the end of the day. Do tell him that it is important. I can pass it up the chain. I could do what I can, but I don't really have access to him. But I can try. Can you get someone who does have access to him just to send my request and come back with a response, letting me know if he rejects it or accepts it?

He would nod his head vigorously, yeah. Thank you. Would that be all? Is it the kind of thing where I can just be like, and I'll wait here? OK, if it's clear you're waiting, he'd be like, this might take a little time. Is there a place I could come get you? I'll be at the library. Mr. Grimnus? I just wanted to say, my dad fought the war. I think he'd be pretty proud of what you did. I am pleased to hear that. I certainly hope citizens agree with you. And Malkus will reach out to shake his hand. He'd shake you back. In a time where I'm concerned as to how I'm received and, well, how a place that I once much more actively called home will receive me, you have been of comfort.

He's going to give this kind of like-- not a sad smile, but not like beaming, just kind of like, oh, like just that. Do find me at the library when you have an answer. Of course, I'll try to find somebody. Thank you. And he'll take off. Cool. Would Malkus be just joining everybody back at the library, I guess, waiting? Yeah, he comes back in and he says, I've sent for Nathaniel. I am hoping he'll allow me an audience. I would like to be able to plead my case in front of him and get his questions before the counselors come to a conclusion on their own. Nathaniel is the current Lord of Winterhaven, right?

That's my understanding. And do you know him? I knew him at one time. He looked up to another member of my party, but I do not know how he still thinks of me. If nothing else, even if he hates me, I would prefer to be able to come before him on my own terms, be forthright with him, state my case. Do you know what happened to him? The council mentioned some sort of incident. I don't know. It didn't sound good, but-- I do not know the details, to be honest. That was after I had gone into hiding. Theo would-- maybe we should ask around? Yes, we could get back in touch with Asura.

Well, I'm starting to get a bit hungry after all this book reading anyway, so let's go. Of course. Malthus will go to the library and then say, hey, if a guard comes looking for Malthus Grimnus, tell him they have time to spend there. Going to become this chain of everything. Hopefully, it doesn't get too long. Yeah, I'm at least leaving a trail for him. Poor Daryl. There'd be two librarians there. And the one you speak to, she would be very curt. Oh. Not a fan. I would never do a favor for a Grimnus. Like very, very curt. And the lady working next to that librarian would just kind of give Malthus a nod, like, I'll take care of it.

Just-- yeah, you might want to go. I was like, does Tavine overhear that? Oh, I would say the party would hear it. It's not-- this would be an on the way out type of thing. I can't believe that Valdore from-- [LAUGHTER] --works at the library in Wintery. [LAUGHTER] Tavine might look at her and be like, hm, maybe you could do our party a favor then, not specifically Malthus. You're coming in a little echoey, Rachel. Really? Yeah. Then move. I don't know. Maybe your room's getting bigger. That's cool. All right. Yes. Yeah, so she'd just kind of be like, well, maybe you can do the party a favor, not specifically Malthus.

It's in everybody's best interest, really. I'm sure it is. Very-- just very, very bitchy, honestly. Just very shitty. Is she sitting down? No, she'd be standing. How tall is she? Not as tall as you. Human, so floating around like 5' 6", somewhere there. Probably not going to bother intimidating her. I mean, I am a bull person, but-- Yeah, her friend is already like, I got this. Like-- Yeah. It's more of a look of like, please, please don't get her started. She just won't shut up now. Like, just I'll take care of it. It's fine. More annoyance, I think. OK. Then Tavine will probably look to the other-- the nice one and just say thank you very much.

Like, not trying to be like patronizing or anything, just kind of like, thank you very much, and then walk out. Right. So the thin bear. Yeah. Walking into the thin bear, immediately Asura-- Asura would greet you. Malchus Grimness! Like, very, very happy to see you. Asura, it's a pleasure to see you again. And how are you doing, my good, good friend? Well, well, no tomorrow. Leadership harassing you? Well, deliberating. Let's just put it that way. Well, I'm sure it'll work out just fine. What can I get you and your group? Ah, just ale for me. You have things to think about.

And he'd get like drink and food orders from everybody and stuff. Yeah. Jalapeno poppers. Oh my god. You're so great right now. No. So the bar is relatively, relatively empty right now. Like, there's only a few people sitting down and just having drinks. It's early in the morning. It's, you know, it's not going to be as packed, obviously, as it is at night. And Asura would go get you your beverages and stuff like that. And, you know, food and whatever. And then you just kind of be floating around. So Malchus, if it doesn't go to trial, what do you expect will be the outcome, I guess, of this council meeting, so to speak, if it doesn't go to trial?

Well, if it doesn't go to trial, that means they've decided to back me. They've decided to support my decision. I don't claim it's a perfectly clean decision. I don't claim it's without its drawbacks. But as I said when I was talking to them, it's a decision I stand by. It's a decision that had to be made. It's a decision that may have won us the battle that cleared the way for the Overwatch to be assaulted and overthrown. And I guess what would be your plans after that? Are you planning to, I guess, reside here? Retire? No? Pick up stock in the market or something?

Or are you going to continue traveling around? And I mean, do you have more plans beyond here? And when Tavine asks that, Malchus just kind of like-- he just kind of looks off in the distance. And he just furrows his brow. And he's just-- I really haven't thought about it. I mean, ever since the battle and going into hiding, everything's kind of been about figuring out where I stand with the world, what people think of what I did. Once this is resolved, I don't know. I don't know what I'll do, Tavine. I'm going to harass you a little more then, buddy. Because if it does go to trial-- and she's going to kind of look over at Theo and Arya-- we may need some pointers on what you're going to need or want from us before you're up on the stand in front of everyone.

I see my reputation for sudden decisions without consulting my allies precedes me. [LAUGHTER] Good thinking, Tavine. If-- all right. If things go to trial and the trial is clearly moving in such a direction that I'm going to be declared guilty, imprisoned for decades, be executed, just-- it will be up to you whether to continue following me. But I have no intention of dying or being locked away. And if it means I become a fugitive to a place I once loved and served, that's their decision, not mine. By the way they treat me, by the way they try me, they will decide whether that's what happens to me.

But they do not get to put me in chains. And I do not die to a headsman's axe. Then as a companion at the moment, can you make one promise not to prematurely start swinging and lopping other people's heads off? Ever. No, if I need to flee, I mean, unless Winterhaven has some elaborate solution for escapees who are capable of sprouting wings and flying, I think the fleeing part will go well enough at least to the walls of the town. May I advise maybe not just sprouting wings and flying off in the middle of the trial? I mean, I know at that point your reputation probably isn't of concern, but it probably wouldn't look good to a lot of people.

I won't look very good a head shorter if they decide to execute me. If they declare me guilty and they're determined to give me a death sentence or decades of incarceration, unacceptable. And as much as it will pain me to do so, I will have to renounce my knighthood. After that, it's just staying one step ahead of the forces and figuring out where the road takes me next. But what I did had to be done. I'm not going to prison for it, and I'm not dying at a trial for it. You fought for and with me. I'm not going to let you die, any of you, if I can. I appreciate it.

And should you see the trial going not particularly well, perhaps stay near the back. Wouldn't want you all caught up in things should I create a scene. And Tavine's going to kind of smile when you say in the back and just kind of nod like, that's where I usually try to hang out. Yeah, our arch-wise will kind of go a bit wide, like, oh, OK. And then she'll nod, yeah. Then I guess the only other question I have, if it does go to trial and it starts going horribly wrong and you flee, what are the chances that we would be implicated with it? And on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm just wondering, should we also turn tail and run or-- Winterhaven, at least the Winterhaven I knew, has a history of governing fairly.

I do not think that they would attempt to hurt you just to get to me if you're clearly not associated with decisions I made that are on trial. OK. And if we get separated, I guess if I do have to flee and we get separated, I will make a point to go to Aubrey first. And assuming Winterhaven doesn't send soldiers there, I will wait for several days to see if you come to reconvene. If you don't, I'll assume I have your answer and wish you the best. There's no reason you should have to follow a fugitive if you don't wish to. I hope it doesn't come to that.

Likewise. Can I roll a quick perception check just to see if anyone else in the bar was listening in on that? Sure, go ahead. I just kind of realized, wait a second, we're in a public place. That's not bad at all. No, it doesn't look like there's a lot of people here to begin with. There's only a smattering of people. And then on top of that, it's more like they're minding their own business. And you're not talking loudly. You're not like, well, if they do put me on trial. That's not bad. Let it be known I dare them to catch me. I did it, now do it again. I figured there wasn't that much need to concern, but better safe than sorry.

Right, totally. They'll call me Shanks Grimness. [LAUGHTER] Oh, god. And eventually, Asura would kind of see that you guys are deliberating. And he would kind of walk up, not to interrupt us or anything I can do to help. Anything? Oh. We had a question. And she'll kind of glance towards the other party members. And he'll just be looking expectedly like, oh, yeah, sure, I can answer questions. Go. Good, all right, you started. The current Lord of Winterhaven, Nathaniel, what happened to him? We caught wind of something bad. Oh, poor kid. He's going to lean in, like kind of lean over the bar.

Well, when Strahd came rolling through, a lot of the army got burned bad. Most folks, if they were lucky, died pretty much instantly. But the word is the kid caught burns all over his face and hands and just a real mess. The folks who say that they saw him looked like he was in real bad shape. And then no one's really seen him since. No one I know. Honestly, the folks who say they did see him are lying. And between you and me, I heard he's dead. And they're just trying to keep it a secret. Whoa, good Lord. Everything he's saying right now, he really believes.

Like he's-- like it's not-- yeah, he's-- basically, there's just all kinds of rumors swirling around this because no one's seen him publicly since then. And there's only a few people who are granted access. And yeah, yeah. Like when he details that Aria's going to cover her mouth with her hand and Aria's going to go white because that's horrible. Also, so how well known is the whole Strahd thing by now? Fucking very. OK, OK. That's why I just wanted to make sure that-- You don't miss something like that. What do you mean Strahd? Dude, seriously, a good portion of the Evergreen was burned down.

Like that whole White Wolf Valley, that whole-- like fucking, yeah, tons and tons of people died. So Asura, do you know who might have access to Nathaniel or be able directly to speak to him that we could talk to? Uh, council members, maybe? I know he has guards around the clock. Someone in that house has to be taken care of. That's, again, if he's alive, I don't know. But people are kind of starting to wonder. So here's the question. In the event Nathaniel is dead, who's next in the chain of command? Who's really in charge right now? Well, there's no next of kin that I know of.

I got to imagine they have some kind of plan. It's got to be a big topic right now because I don't think anybody saw what happened coming. Do you think if there were proof that Nathaniel had passed, would it create panic in the city? Would it-- I'm just trying to think what reasons are that people would keep it a secret. Would it just demoralize the people? Do you think that's why? Well, I lived here during the siege. That was a really rough time. We lost Daniel and a good number of people. And I mean, imagine how bad that would have been if we had no one to lead us.

And Ian kind of took the reins and made us feel like we had a plan. So if I were to guess if he is dead, then they want to prevent that kind of hopelessness. Who appointed the council members? Well, I mean, they've always been here. It's just they were never really needed before. Ian usually took care of decision making. And if he were away or indisposed, then they would step in. But no one seen Nathaniel, so the council just sort of took over. Malkus kind of looks past Asura to the door and around the bar to see if he sees this guard that he talked to earlier coming to look for him or anything.

He's like, where is that guy? You know, like, I'm looking for my answer. It's been a while, too. It's been a little while. There is some-- do me a favor. Roll a perception check, everybody. Oh, good lord. Some of you are very-- oh, god. [LAUGHTER] Some-- I was just going to say, some of you are very perceptive. OK, guys, I got this. All right, Theo. Oh, yeah, Jesus. Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. Nope. [LAUGHTER] Aria's going to spot an individual in the bar who has been looking over the party quite a bit over the last few minutes. And it's one of those things where you glance over and it's like, hey, hi.

And then every time you glance over, this person's looking at you. And after a while, it's like, dude, are you OK? Like, do you need something? It's been that type of thing. OK, I feel-- OK, so she notices this for the second or third time. She's going to kind of quickly sort of duck behind to intervene almost, like, sort of like behind kind of like not sure of it and be like, do you-- that man over there has been looking at me, us? Taveen will kind of look at her and then look over at the guy and then look back at her and be like, we are a very interesting party.

I mean, look at us. And she's going to kind of like motion with her hands at, you know, Maucis and then herself and her, you know, just like, we're kind of interesting. And we have Maucis. What does this individual look like, perchance? Well, you would notice that he is about 5' 2". So not super soft. [LAUGHTER] Aw. I'll be the shortest one. It's OK. And then you'll notice that he's wearing a deep blue robe with-- he's got some books on-- is he sitting at a bar or a table, Jason? I would imagine a table, just by himself. Yeah, he's sitting on his table. He's got a mug that looks pretty full, like he hasn't been drinking a lot of it.

You'll notice that he's got some books on there. And that on his robe, there's the symbol of Uminyiro and then a symbol of a person with a sphere wrapped around him. Oh, gosh. I can't-- OK, when Maucis was talking, I know he didn't-- I don't think he's-- has he mentioned the fact that Uminyiro was the one that gave him the orb? Because I think he did it before in the carriage, but that was like two sessions ago. Yeah, I believe so. OK, so that will-- OK, so that will definitely-- yeah, I mean, I assume she noticed that with her perception roll. So then when Camille says that, she'll be like-- so Ariel kind of like nod, like, yeah, and then she'll kind of like catch Maucis's attention.

You said that the man over there that's looking at us looks like he's from Uminyiro. And Maucis will kind of like follow what she's pointing at and take a look at this guy. Certainly far from home. Just seems an odd coincidence that one from there would be here, especially at the same time you are. Is this guy still like looking at us, giving us the side eye, what's going on? I'd say he's still looking at you, but it's not like-- I don't know, based on perception how that works. But he basically looks like very intrigued. Like he's-- looks like he's trying to solve a problem looking at all of you.

It's not tough guy stare. Just-- Not like, yeah. Yeah, kind of like, let me-- I just can't figure this out. He's thinking of the line for his joke or whatever, you know, the minotaur drow and a-- He's like, "Ponobar." Yeah, it's like that kind of look. It's just coming together. So when Malchus sees that this guy's like just glancing at us over and over, Malchus like kind of-- So we're at the bar, right? Yep. So Malchus will turn around in his seat so he can kind of like lean back against the bar and put his elbow on the bar. And he just like looks directly into this guy's eyes and just kind of does the like, what's up shrug.

And so he'll look back and he'll look back and he'll have a dry mouth a little bit and be like, "Uh." And like basically all quiet. There's like that moment when you know when you're supposed to be saying something, but this is, he's a little bit more smaller than Malchus. And it's quite apparent even in this view that he's like, "Okay, should I see something?" And then he's like, "Hi." And? Uh, are you Malchus? I am. Seems like it's gotten out enough that there's no reason to hide it anymore. Yes, I'm Malchus Grimness. I'm really interested in your group and it's probably not a surprise that there's not a lot of other groups around here.

And you guys seem fairly diverse. I think I can sense some magic, but I wanted to make sure before confirming. Malchus will just kind of like drop his hand to his side and like form the shadow blade. (all laughing) Theo would be very much like, "No, don't stab him." Like just kind of like very. (all laughing) Yeah, he just forms, and he's not like holding it up and threatening it. He's just like kind of holding it at his side, just kind of like casually weaving it back and forth. You know, it just like showing that it like, it moves and everything. And it's like a thing that exists.

And he says, "You mean something like this?" Okay, I have a question. How hog wild is this sir-o gonna go? (all laughing) - Oh, that's like, he's kind of fanboying out. Like it's. - Yeah, yeah, okay. - That's his shadow blade. Guys, he's doing the shadow blade. That's his shadow blade. - Just kind of behind the bar. Ooh. Just kind of like very excited, just kidding. - So I would say that his reaction is probably not something you would expect because instead of either A, getting scared or B, being like, "Hey, you wanna fight?" He immediately gets up, grabs his book with him and he'll come up to you and be like, and just start asking a bunch of questions, like out of nowhere, like, "Wait, what?

This is not what I expected." Like, he'll be like, "So does it connect? Like, do you have like a flow? Does it, is there someplace you pull it from?" And just like totally forgets that A, you don't know each other. Like that to him, it's just like, "Oh wait, this is Brandon's research. Oh my goodness, that is awesome." And just starts asking a billion questions about how it comes to be. - You're like, "Are Arian gonna slowly peak out from behind to being?" It's like, "Oh no, this is kind of interesting. She also wants to know, but still stranger." - And Malchus looks at Arian and goes, "This one's kind of like you.

Do you have a club that you didn't tell me about?" - Immediately, he'll look at her. And then he'll look back, "Oh, sorry, I am Amvil. Amvin, sorry." - Amvin. - Amvin. - Amvin. Well, you know who I am. This is Tevin and Aria, and Theo's over on this side. - Hi. - Nice to meet you all. So if Malchus can do that, what can you guys do? - Well, the mousy one can punch a hole through a man and the minotaur can summon a cool phantom dog. - Among other things, thanks. - I drown people and you call it the dog, really? - The dog is the most regular. - Okay, Mr. Vorpal Blade of Hell.

- When he hears the word, like, you drown, he immediately goes, "Oh, is that from like a weather magic, storm magic, perhaps?" - Shaman nature magic? - And you can just see him, he starts jotting down things. And then forgets himself in the book. - This conversation is making me realize how weird we all are. I don't think about it usually, but we're pretty weird guys. - Well, don't forget Theo. He does fog and stuff. - Oh, that's right. We put him in armor, but he can do what? Theo, you do like an ice thing, don't you? - Uh, he's gonna be very much like on the spot.

Yeah, I mean, I can, yeah. Lightning stuff, yeah. - And Malkus just looks back to him and goes, "Confirmed, we're not normal. We're unusual." - So he'll look at me like, "This is excellent. Question for you, do you have any openings? I would love to learn more about you guys." - What kind of openings? - One that would allow us to go, I don't care where we're going. I really don't have a destination in mind. Wherever you're going, that doesn't allow us to just die the second we come out the gate. - 50/50. - Are you a bard? - I can't make any guarantees. - I am not.

I am a mage from Uminiro. - So you're not taking notes to sing songs about us? - No, I'm not. I am actually researching for my tome for the Great Hall. - 'Cause we need a new bard. - Oh. - Can you sing? - Eh, only when I get really drunk. But that was some games back in Uminiro. So I don't know if you would be much appreciated, but I mean, I could try. Whatever it takes. - So you want to travel with us and study us? - I would say it's more of the bonds with your magic, yes. Maybe it might make you stronger? Or maybe if there's a part of you you don't understand.

See, back in Uminiro, we have these schools where we research and the more you study with someone, usually they learn more about their power and they get better or stronger or they may discover a power they never knew about. - I stayed in Uminiro for a while. I took up a menial job in the library just to lay low, but it does sound like the kind of thing the mages might be interested in. - Arya's gonna raise her hand. Thanks. God. - Yes, Nightshade. - When you say bonds, what exactly do you mean? - Are you familiar with the spark? - She just blinks. - So I hear you punch holes in people.

I assume it's not that you just are really strong because I don't get that look. So I assume it's magic. That power, when it manifested, was there an event or some way that you feel that power within yourself? - She's gonna look a bit stunned for a second. Yeah, and just sort of slowly nod. - That feeling is the bond I'm talking about. So that is actually my research subject. So that is what I am to teach the world about and understand it even more than I do currently, which is still not enough. - So you want to travel with us. And she's gonna kind of look at, you're staying there in robes with a book.

- Yes. - And she's like, "Do you have any weapons?" 'Cause if we do get in trouble, do we have enough already to kind of deal with sometimes? - So you'll notice his eyes go wide. You know that moment when you realize you left your phone somewhere? - Oh no, oh no. - And he quickly turns around and runs back to where he was, grabs the rest of his books, throws them in his satchel and picks up his staff that he left there and comes right back. And he goes, "Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you for reminding me. Yes, I use a staff." And he shows it outwardly. - And is that to hit things or is that to- - No, I channel my bond through it.

I channel mainly storm magic. For instance, I may take our wonderful man in armor there and perhaps protect him with wind around him so he doesn't get hurt. - They would sort of narrow his eyes. (all laughing) At Amven. - Oh, I love it. - Amven's mind, he's thinking, "Oh, he's got armor, but he must be like an armor mage. He probably doesn't want to get close to the battle either. So, but just in case." It'll go his head completely. - He's gonna raise his hand. Like he has a question. - Amven will look over at Theo. - "Are you going to kill us?" - And he'll be, Amven will be taken aback.

He'll be like, "What? No. When someone's dead, they no longer have an affinity to their magic. That would, no." - "I'm pleased that that's the reason you're not going to kill us. We'd be a terrible study dead. Very comforting." - And then Theo would look over to Malkus and almost like, "All right, he checks out." Like that was like, like Malkus was waiting for his- - He was doing the Malkus thing. He was doing the assassin check. I taught him well. That's great. - Awesome. - "Well, you seem capable enough. And I don't know, do the rest of you think he'll become a nuisance if he sticks around?

Certainly it might be interesting to know a little bit more about why we can all do the things we can do. It's one way to get immortalized and one that's far less likely to end up making one a fugitive." - I'm fine with it. - It doesn't bother me. - Ariel nods. - And during that whole time, Amven is like, "Here's what Malkus has to say." And then has this like hopeful expectation. And then every time someone says, "Yeah, definitely." Or, "Yeah, sure." He's just gets like, he's like starts getting all like, smile, he's beaming. He's like, "Yes!" - I am nailing this.

- Good with people, great. - "Well, the crew seems to agree that you can come along, but try to dial back the sycophant thing. This is just be normal. We're just, I mean, we've done some pretty insane things and we've killed a lot of very dangerous stuff, but just if you keep going on about it, it gets grating. So just, just relax." - I can do that. I mean, everyone has, anyone that has the magic within them is, there's always something new to learn. - After a moment, someone new is gonna enter the bar. And it's that guard that you talked to earlier? - Beryl!

- And he's gonna look around the bar and then make a beeline right for, right for Malchus. - Malchus will stand up from his seat to receive the guard. - "Hi." And he's gonna like give like the, kind of a partial bow type thing. "I, I, I got you a meeting. They, they want to meet you here." And he's, he's handing you like this little scrap of paper that's been sealed. I was told not to look at it beyond that. - "Thank you, Daryl." - And he's gonna give you another like little half bow and then excuse himself. - Malchus will unfold the paper and see what's inside.

- "Inside is simply a location. And it is a back alley. Behind a set of shops off of one of the main streets of Winterhaven. At a time." - How soon is that time? - "About an hour from now." - Is that nighttime? - "No, no, no, no. This would be, this would be just after afternoon. Like this would be a..." - "I suppose you can't insight check a piece of paper." (laughing) - Yeah. Is it signed by anybody? - "Nope." - You said they. (laughing) - Yup. - You didn't say him. - Well, it's an unknown gender. We don't know who wrote it, so. - "The thing is generally plural." - No, not all of them.

(laughing) - "But generally." - Yeah. So Malchus looks at it and shows it to the party and he says, "Well, at least it doesn't say come alone." - "No, we don't think we'd let you anyways." - "Hmm, true. Well, we've only got about an hour, so do make sure you eat your fill and we'll see what comes of this." - I'd say that Amvin finally sits down next to them. - "Oh, oh, yeah. Yup, for getting potentially stabbed in a back alley in Pursuit of the Truth." - "The Pursuit of the Truth is an excellent pursuit." - "All right, this one's all right. I guess he can come." - "If he's willing, I guess so are we." - "So about an hour is gonna pass by and I would imagine you guys are taking off.

You're getting ready to..." - "Well, before we do that, is there any way we could ask around about that back alley to know if it's maybe a particular meeting place for..." - "Cutthroat Row." - "Yeah." - "Do me a favor. Oh, yeah, do me a favor. Everyone roll a streetwise check." - "That's the one that I'm good at." - "Oh, God. I rolled pretty well though." - "Hey." - "Streetwise." - "Yeah!" - "All right, awesome." - "Remember when I got an achievement on the wiki for creating a streetwise check? It was my worst skill." - "Yeah, Theo's not very streetwise.

- "He's not too street smart." - "Let's see. So Malkus and Amvin would be taking the lead on this one, but wow. Tevin would be right around there. There's nothing really... Winterhaven as a city really doesn't have like a real bad problem with crime. I mean, every city is gonna have a little bit of a problem, but it's definitely not like Brightport where if someone invites you down a back alley, it's like probably gonna die tonight. Cool." - "This is much more... You're getting the feeling based on these stories that someone just wants privacy. Not... Maybe not necessarily to get the jump, but you're not exactly sure why they want the privacy.

There's nothing... There's no history of violence in this particular alleyway though." - "Okay." - "It all seems pretty nondescript." - "Okay." - "Okay. So about an hour is gonna pass by and you guys are gonna make your way to this alleyway and this is really tucked away. Like this looks like people like store boxes and casks and things like that back here, but other than that, it doesn't see a lot of people and you can hear the hustle and bustle of the street, but this... It doesn't look like there's anything going on back here. Everyone do me a favor and roll a perception check." - "That one I got." - "Nice." - "I can do something to not be a complete failure." - "Hey!" - "Yay!

Out the turntables." - "So the party's gonna enter this alleyway and it sort of winds back here and gets a little narrow. And back here you're gonna see one lone figure wearing like a heavy type cloak and a hood. Just brown, not... You can tell that they're really not looking to stand out. And as you guys approach, this figure's gonna look up and they're gonna pull back that hood and it's gonna be Counselor Combs." - "Which one was that?" - "The female." - "The woman, yeah." - "The nice one, okay. We got the nice one, the mean one, and the quiet one." - "And Malkus doesn't say anything.

He just kind of gets closer and like, just kind of just like nonchalantly leans against the wall and just kind of whispers under his breath, "Counselor." - "Sir Grimness, thank you for meeting me here." - "Of course." - "We have a bit of a situation and I'm hoping I can count on your discretion here." - "Tell me what's going on. I'll see what I can do." - "You remember me telling you that the council was on the fence, a split decision about what to do if we ever did get a chance to speak to you again." - "Mm." - "Well, Counselor Iriola is still on the fence. Counselor Freeman on the other hand wants a trial and it's very much looking like Iriola is going to a side with Freeman.

Just people are looking for someone to blame, Malkus, and Freeman is very much in the camp of, well, hanging you out to dry, to be honest. He blames you for a lot of what happened. And I don't necessarily fall into that camp. I don't think that we should be blaming you for much of what had happened in Winterhaven. I honestly believe that our previous leadership was self-involved and I would get into a lot of trouble for saying this, but I don't believe that he was the war hero that he promoted himself as being." - "You are wise and perceptive." - "I don't know if I can stop them from voting for the trial, but here's something I can do.

If the decision does come down tomorrow morning and Iriola does side with Freeman and we end up doing this, I can promise to give you all the support I can. I can try to elongate the time for you to prep. I can try to stall this as much as I can, but once the trial begins, I'm fairly certain Freeman is going to want to make sure that you can't run and he's going to want you incarcerated during the trial. It's only going to be for a day or two, but once a verdict is handed down, there's very little I can do." - "Hmm. Did you come here on the basis of me sending for Lord Nathaniel?" - "I did, and that's something else I need to talk to you about.

I do have a limited contact with Nathaniel, but Mokus, he's not doing well. And there are many people who debate that he will live through the month. He was very, very badly burned. And even if he did recover, he's never going to be the same. The burns are very extensive. There is talk of using magic to infuse prosthetics, but we can't get his consent to do that. He hasn't been conscious for some time and there will be brief moments of lucidity and he will be able to speak, but he's in no position to run the city." - "Hmm. I see. I had been hoping that I could get in touch with him and perhaps sway him to support me." - "Can I tell you something, Mokus?" - "Go on." - "The way we've been running the city for some time, I've lived here for many years, we let the world pass us by, I feel.

I don't feel that we take necessary agency in governing ourselves outside. And when we actually needed allies to come to our aid, while I'm very thankful that you and your friends spearheaded that, I feel like we should have been more diplomatic with our surrounding countrymen. We shouldn't have had to rely on you to do something like that for us. I would like to see a change in leadership here. I would like to see someone who would take more action in things. Someone who would perform necessary actions when time called for it. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" - "If Lord Nathaniel were to pass, who would be due for that position?" - "It would be an all out free for all right now.

There's no one who holds necessary claim to leadership position and there's no next of kin. There's no... There'd be a few people who would want the job, but I'm sure a vote would have to be held." - "Are you among those people? You seem to have the right mindset for it." - "As a member of the council, I would be one of those people, but I don't know how much support I'd garner." - "And you're thinking I might garner more?" - "I'm thinking if we can get past all of this trial nonsense one way or the other, either avoid it completely or clear your name, I'm thinking that together we could find a solution to Winterhaven's leadership problem." - "But clear my name in what sense?

I did what I did. I've said as much." - "I know, but perception is reality and there are some people who perceive you as a war criminal, a monster, and as unfair as it seems, we may need to clear your name all over again in front of a crowd." - "You mean justify my actions?" - "Yes. I don't want to alarm you here, but if Freeman is to be believed, he says he has a witness or two that could turn the tide against you." - "But you don't know who he'd be talking about?" - "I don't. He's been very cagey about the subject." - "What of the third counselor?

Is there a way to bring him around to your opinion that I shouldn't be tried? That I've done what needed to be done?" - "I've tried. He's neutral almost to a fault. Specifically in this matter." - "Has he said what he wants for the future of Winterhaven?" - "Only so much as he wants to find justice and he would like to see someone... If you're asking if he would like to put his hat in the ring for leadership, I don't think that's the case. Freeman, on the other hand, probably would." - "Hmm." - "Is there anyone you could reach out to that might support you?" - "Therein lies the struggle.

Unfortunately, I've kept my distance from a great many people on the basis of what I did because I wasn't sure who would understand." - "Of course. I'll be honest with you. The way things are looking, tomorrow morning we will call you. And a trial will probably be underway. And I can stall that. I can probably buy you a week and a half, maybe two weeks. But I would need your word that you would come back." - "Right. Is there any other advice or insight you can give me?" - "To be honest, I don't think we would be standing here without you. At least in part.

And if we get through this and we can clear your name, not only would your night ship stand, I would honestly, I would like you to stay here in Winterhaven. I think you would be a valuable asset and ally for the entire city. As not only a figurehead for the war, but I think you would give people hope. You've proven that you can be a diplomat and a valuable ally. And before you came along, we had very little in terms of contact with the elves. You managed to rally the Dragonborn. I don't believe Ian could have ever done that. Or would have ever done that." - "On that, we are in full agreement.

Counselor Combs, you've given me a lot to think about." - "I know this isn't an easy decision, but if you trust me, I believe I can get you through this. And get you to a place in the city where you deserve to be seen." - "I will meet with you and the other counselors tomorrow to hear your opinions and the likely setting of a trial date." - "For now, I should go talk with my companions." - "Of course. I wish I had better news for you. Unfortunately, we play the hand that we're dealt." - "It is a turn of phrase with which I am intimately familiar. But I'm thankful that I can count on you and I will depend on you, counselor." - "For as much information as you can give me, as much as you can take the temperature of the other counselors and the other people in charge in Winterhaven, I will need a contact who has been embedded here as long as you have, if I am to become this figurehead that you want me to be." - "I'll do my best.

Of course, it would not be looked upon favorably if the other council members knew that I was assisting you in any way, specifically giving you information about our discussions privately." - "Of course. Certainly they would become more secretive if they knew." - "I don't think it would lend any help to your calls, but I'll do my best." - "Thank you, counselor." - "Thank you. And she's going to see herself out of this alleyway and sort of give the rest of the group a quick head nod before pulling her hood back up and then leaving." - "Um, and I take it that was all in your shot of the party?" - "Oh yeah." - "Yeah?

Okay, cool. We have things to discuss." - "Yep. Would you like to do it here or maybe back at the inn, perhaps in one of our rooms where it's a little bit more private?" - "I think that would be prudent. Let's, uh, let's convene back at our inn." - "Are we in, I guess, one of the rooms you went to?" - "Yeah, yeah, I assume we went to one of the rooms we rented." - "Okay. And are we bringing our new companion in tow?" - "I just make sure you're following behind with like a book, like held in your arms." - "Yeah, it's got one that's like, all right, I'm reading this and then I'll like swap it out with another book that has like mostly empty pages.

Like, it's like, oh, I'll write this down and then I'll swap back and then, but I'm paying attention." - "My only concern is that this has suddenly become pretty high stakes, like secret intrigue kind of stuff into which to inject a stranger, right?" - "I just made a tweet on Aria, like, how did I end up involved in all this? Like, I just got here. I don't, I really know these people and it's like suddenly right in the middle of political intrigue." - "I didn't want to say like, have a, like, as we're walking, or at least after that initial exchanges, we're locked back, you'd be like, and then we reply like, you know, you have all of my resources, should you need it?" I mean, like he's saying this is like, all right, this is a new, a new challenge.

So it's like any, any magic and he's studying things like, all right, we can study that, we can figure this out. So it's a logic problem. So he's totally in, but he'll understand if you're like, dude, who are you? - "Well, like you said earlier, I'll be difficult to study if I'm dead." - "Great point." - "So, of all the things, I must admit, I don't see myself settling down to politics. Although certainly with the right, more motivated leadership in Winterhaven, we could direct our gaze externally. Maybe it would be fulfilling. Thoughts?" - "You could also be used as a, like a figurehead where you may anoint someone to maybe this, uh, was it Combs, Jason?

I have to remember who I just met with. Well, maybe you'd want this Combs counselor to be able to think things and you're more of the, I'm here, look at me, I've got things to do to make sure there's greater good in the world." - "Well, I'll certainly be depending on my staff at the very least to get me up to speed until I'm better informed to make decisions about the future of a city if this comes to pass, but we're getting ahead of ourselves." - "Yeah, so the one thing that I took away from that, that she mentioned, is there somebody, she said that Freeman had somebody who would potentially tighten the noose, so to speak." - "Right." - "Do you have any idea who that could be and why?" - "And I don't. I mean, like I've said before, what I've gone through, traveling around Tharia, rallying leaders, and getting into and out of all sorts of trouble, I've made enemies, most of the time doing things that ultimately I'm determined to justify, but I'm trying to think who might be powerful enough and influential enough to the people of Winterhaven that it could provide as much leverage as Freeman claims he has." - "We'll also take into account that I believe he said they were a witness, or she said that they were a witness, or did I mishear that?

Sorry, Jason, out of character." - "Witness." - "Did she say it was a witness?" - "Mm-hmm." - "Okay, so I wasn't imagining it. Yeah, so not only would they have to have the power and the influence like you say, but they're a witness to something you did." - "Aria's gonna kind of glance towards Amven and then kind of just... Would the people from Uminiro who gave you the whole Warforged thing, would they turn against you? Or I mean, not they in general, I guess, but even just like one of them?" - "And you would see like Emon would look back and be like, 'Well, in what way turned against?'" - "She was addressing Malkus, not Amven." - "Oh, you said Amven." - "She was just sort of like glancing at him because Uminiro's like, 'Oh, okay.'" - "He's like, 'Should I say this?

I'm gonna go for it, but sorry.'" - "Here's the thing though. What I did to the Warforged was a favor to Uminiro. They saw the creation of the Warforged as a mistake on their part, but one that they weren't willing to be stuck with the blame for correcting. I was willing to do what they wouldn't. I can't see why they would turn against me in that case." - "Amven will be nodding. As he's like writing stuff, he's like, 'Yep, sounds about right.'" - "If we cut that out..." - "So, okay. I have one solid question. And this may be part player and part character, but are they telling you that killing all the Warforged in the war that was against them and saving them, is that what they're officially accusing you of and putting you on trial for?

Or was it the other effects as in the Strahd and their lord being burned? Or is it all of it, like a package deal?" - "The thing is, it is 85 to 90% of the Warforged were part of the Overwatch army or living in and in support of the Overwatch. I think it's the fact that I was willing to sacrifice 10%." - "That's the thing. It's never been killing all the... People would look at the killing of the Warforged on the Overwatch side and be like, 'Yeah, that's awesome.' Allies to Winterhaven were slaughtered, who were perceived as innocents and were willing to fight alongside and all that.

And then there was a lot of fallout that people blamed. None of the stuff with Strahd would have happened. Nathaniel wouldn't have been burned. The party that Malchus was leading, at least at some point, was responsible for a lot of stuff. He was looked at as the leader. But yeah, there's a lot of stuff and it would probably be going over the next day when they call you in." - "Okay." - "I guess it isn't possible that any of the Warforged would have made it out or anything, but we need more information." - "Malchus would have known of at least one that made it out." - "One Warforged?" - "Yep." - "Oh, the stable?

The one the stable hand?" - "Yeah." - "Yeah. So they're not..." - "Well, they're not all dead." - "Yeah, right, right. And the ones that survived are just in very, very bad condition." - "Uh, yeah, they're not great. Picture old, broken down war vets from Vietnam. They're forever changed." - "Does he say that he knows someone or is it..." - "Right, right. So, yeah. I don't understand how this person would have particular leverage with Winterhaven, but there was a Warforged who survived. And from what I hear, some number of them survived, but none of them unscathed.

But there was one who saw me and, well, just knew who I was and, to some degree, what I was responsible for, I guess." - "So it's possible that that might be it. And if, as you say, they're not unscathed, then, I mean, that could easily be pretty sympathetic. I don't know if that would be enough to make a big sway, but maybe? I..." - "Vin will raise his eyebrow when you said Warforged and sympathetic in the same sentence." - "Listen, look, Aria doesn't know. Hey, I mean, it's like if Nathaniel all burned up, okay, it's like, this dude burned me in half.

I mean, it's sort of that sort of thing. Like, that'd be like..." - "Right. And my character's just coming from Umeniro where they have a point of view." - "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just imagining, good old Drat getting up there on the stand." - "Let me tell you about this fucking guy." - "And then Amvin's gonna pile up. Well, maybe it sounds like we need to figure out what we do and don't know. So I don't know if there's any resources, like maybe our Asura friend who may know information that we could at least understand where everything stands." - "Well, he only seemed as informed as his general patronage, you know, the people who came to his bar.

He didn't have his finger on the pulse of the city. What we need to do is put out word for anyone who is influential and willing to speak in my defense to get in touch, that there have got to be people that I'm forgetting. And if we can spread the word that I'm looking to get in touch with people who have the leverage and the sympathy to speak on my behalf, that could give us the push we need when it comes to the trial." - "How about those that the end of the war favors, like maybe the new Overwatch?" - "That is true. Let's brainstorm. Let's think about which factions, which people, which leaders, who is better off because of how this war turned out.

And let's see who can come to my defense. We don't have to cross the bridge of deciding whether I'm the one who goes on to serve as any sort of leader in Winterhaven right now. First thing we have to do is just get things resolved." - "Well, at least if they do announce a trial, then they'll say exactly what you're being accused of and that might help narrow it down. I feel like if we're unprepared for this witness, that could go badly. I don't know what else we can do." - "Well, it'd be worth seeing if the laws say anything about what laws are against the witnesses.

Are we supposed to know of our witnesses ahead of time or before?" - "It's worth more research." - "Agreed." - "So I think we have a general plan. We need to do more research on how the courts work here in Winterhaven and we need to send out couriers to any city or place that was positively affected by the outcome of the war. We need to get... If they have one witness, we need to have three, five, many. We need it to look like the case is clearly that I did what had to be done." - "Are you all kind of towards Anven? You're sort of known to be part of this party, I guess.

I don't know. Are you any good at talking to people? I'm not. I can help with the research and stuff, but can you maybe just ask around on the opposite side? Sorry if that's asking a lot, but..." - "I don't know. This is fine. Usually, though, I have to study for what I'm going to say and then I get around and say it. And usually when I do that, I hit that spot on. You should have seen my announcement to Thesis. But, you know, I usually need some prep. Yeah, I can try. I could take the general stance of the Umineiro and see what they just think of since I haven't been associated with you.

So other than Councillor Combs, not very many know that I am associated with you. So perhaps I could just have the Umineiro badge on me overtake anything they've seen within the last 24 hours." - "Hmm. That would be helpful to get unbiased and undefended opinions from people." - "Do note that not many people like Umineiro as much as I do." - "Do you think making the case that Umineiro thinks it's better without the Warforged is a sympathetic case or is that more self-serving?" - "I think everyone will look back and be, 'They most likely will say that you helped finish something that they were on the fence for, but I don't know if they would be...

I don't know if it helped the case any because I think they'd rather not say they were involved. It may be a leverage, but I really don't think we should pull that and I don't want my credentials pulled either. So I don't know if they would be like, 'What? What device?' or if they would be more like, 'Yeah, you helped solve a problem for us,' but I don't know how detailed they would actually get into because the less knowledge given sometimes is better in certain cases." - "That's true. They did want this incident distanced from them. So we'll leave Umineiro out of it, but we will send couriers to the nearby cities surrounding Winterhaven.

Anyone who could get here within the next three to four days. And we'll go from there. I mean, I have to have done more good than harm. There's no other way about it, right?" - "Makis, one of my concerns that I think of is with the Evergreen, since I did spend a lot of time there, is there was a lot of fallout from the war that took place at the Evergreen. Yes, we may be better off without the war forged, but the damage that's been done, some of it is irreparable. So that may be a risky line to go after somewhere like the Evergreen that has been affected in such a way." - "But this all comes back to, everyone is looking for a scapegoat here.

What I really have to convince them of is that no matter what I did, you can't just extrapolate all the fallout and draw a line back to a single source. This is fallout involving multitudes of influential people in motion, chaotic, and it's more than me. To put it all on me is to give me too much power, too much credit." - "I agree. I think something we should look into is what would have happened had nothing you have done been in there. Would the same bad decision have made? Would things have gone the same way or would something worse have occurred?

But just basically distancing your actions from the other actions of the war. There are millions of actions and things that occur, and that cannot possibly just be rooted in your one decision." - "Agreed. I don't want to be blinded by my own self-interest or self-investment, but I don't think they have as strong a case as we do. We just need to convince the people to see it our way. Let's get to work." - "Hey guys." - "Yeah." - "I think that's a pretty good time for us to stop for the evening." - "Yeah. I love getting the last word. That's fine by me." - "Play in the malkus card." - "I could have just been like, 'Agreed.'" - "No, no, we gotta keep going." - "Slams the book shut." - "So how you guys feeling?" - "Good!

That is gonna be bothering me until we find out who that was. That is just sticking out." - "That witnesses." - "I... It's just like, 'Can't be any of the PCs, and when your thing doesn't fit the Warforged maybe, but that's not strong enough,' and it's like, 'What is it?' And Bree is a wall. That's the thing that first happened, that doesn't... That can't." - "Yeah." - "So..." - "Unless the only thing I could think of is if he thought Bree would be against malkus, because at the one point she was..." - "No, no, yeah. I mean, that doesn't make sense, but she's currently not available to be a witness." - "Well, he didn't say he had one in hand.

He just said... She just said that he has one." - "Well, yeah, but that sounds like more of like... To be ready to do the trial tomorrow, that sounds like more of a sure thing. It's like, this is..." - "Well, that's the thing. Both sides know that they have time to prep." - "Yeah." - "Something I thought of, like, after we got through the whole, like, 'Oh, would Uminiro help?' Like, something came back, I was like, 'Oh, well, I'm sure Uminiro would love to do, like, a logic puzzle of all the options that could have happened.' It's like... Like, just completely like, 'No, I'm not talking about anything.

Just, hey, if we were to write all the possibilities, like, that sounds like a Uminiro thing.'" - "Maybe it's... Oh, God, what if it's Valis? Oh, gosh, I thought of that, too. I was like, 'Ooh.'" - "I was like, 'Oh, no. Oh, no.'" - "Yeah, that's... It's like, let's maybe, like, okay, like, I feel like, Malchus, this would be a good time to write to your mom." - "I don't know how it looks though, bringing your mother into court to teach us the truth." - "Hey, your mom's also one of, like, the three leaders of Brightport. She might have connections. I'm just putting that out there.

That's not too bad of a thing to make connections about. Like, hey, maybe. Especially, yeah, and if that witness is Valis, we could probably use the backup with that." - "You guys, I know exactly how this next session needs to go, all right? We go into court, and then Malchus has to say, 'Just imagine the world we might live in had I never pressed that button.' And then we spend the entire episode doing, like, an alternate reality thing, and we explore the repercussions." - "We all see flashlights. We make things that what if." - "I pull out charts." - "Different people are dead, and some people have babies, and people fell in love, and it's all these repercussions that the fans want to see that they'll never get to see because it's not reality, but we can give them the cheesecake right here." - "That could be fun to do, like, a what if just based on, like, 'Hey, fuck it.' And I picture by the end of it, like, Malchus is just sitting on the stand, 'You want me on that wall!

You need me on that wall!'" - "All I imagine is, like, 'Hey, tell me the truth of what happened,' and Malchus turns back, 'You can't handle the truth.'" - "Oh my gosh, it's gonna be me." - "If you want to save those Warforged, you would have had to save yourself!" - "Nice." - "Okay, I need to get going. Great session, guys." - "No, thank you guys so much for sitting down. Oh wow, this next one is..." - "It's getting more and more..." - "You know what I like? I like that you guys aren't necessarily involved with the quote-unquote, the 'A' story, let's say.

This is not that I'm ranking, but like, the big, like, 'Hey, the world can end,' that thing is happening. You guys are dealing with Fallout from the last thing that happened." - "We're a Mass Effect side quest right now." - "Yeah, but it's interesting. It's not like you guys are just doodling around. It's fun. It's interesting. We make it to do a trial." - "And once this all resolves, I hope we can like really lean into some of your guys' storylines because it's been like a real Malkus plot lately." - "This is fine. This is awesome." - "Because it was going yinward and then that fell out." - "You deserve this." - "Yeah, dude, honestly, this is the gold watch for playing Malkus." - "Your Rolex." - "And I have this feeling that you thought I might railroad you if you ever came back to Winterhaven." - "I thought it was gonna go worse than it has." - "Okay." - "But I wouldn't say railroad.

No, I thought it would be legit." - "Okay." - "Okay, cool." - "Okay, I gotta go. You guys have a great night." - "Hi, guys. Bye." - "Hi, I'm Michael. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. It would be great if you hit up our iTunes and gave us a review. Or you can hit up our Patreon and just for $1, you can get some awesome back to scenes content, like the blooper reel that just came out. Or you could just shout out to us on Twitter at @dndrpodcast."