In His Defense...

This transcript is machine-generated and may contain errors in names, terminology, or attribution.

[clink] [clink] Pickaxe. Coming to Apple TV+ on August 9th. You're the Marine? Yeah, you're the ex-con. Yeah, I did time, but you don't gotta 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. I'm 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+. 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.

Um, I think they mean us. Oh, s***. 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. Episode 181 of the DNR Podcast is brought to you today by museumreplicas.com. Folks, every once in a while we get a sponsor that is so right for us. It is so perfect and fits so well that it's impossible not to get excited about that. And this is one of those times. Since 1985, Museum Replicas has been producing time-tested, period-specific weapons, armor, clothing, anything you might need for cosplays, renfairs, conventions, or if you honestly just want to look badass.

And it's not just medieval either. If you go to museumreplicas.com you can peruse all kinds of different time periods and it's honestly just too much for me to go into right now before the episode. But I guarantee you, if you go to that site you will find something that you're interested in. And to make sure you find something you're interested in, we want you to use the code THERIA10. That's THERIA10 at checkout and you'll save 10% off of your entire order. That is exclusive to DNR listeners. Myself and Bree are getting ready to decorate an office within the next few months and you better believe that we're going to have some sort of claymore or warhammer hanging on our wall.

Because why wouldn't you, honestly? And these are not just flimsy recreations, cheap metals and things. These are battle-worthy pieces. So if the zombie apocalypse ever does actually break out, we'll be prepared. And I want you guys to be prepared too. So go to museumreplicas.com and go check that 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, start with Rob. Hey, I'm Rob. I play Malkus Grimness, Tiefling Warlock. And Michael. Hey, I'm Michael and I play Anven Yamil, the half-elf Stormage.

And Rachel. I'm Rachel and I play Tevin Brathaw, just the Southern Vale. And Kelsey. I'm Kelsey and I play Arya Lethea, Drowsyon. Last time on the show, guys, you met with the Council of Winterhaven. And depending on what you thought might have happened before going in there, it went better than expected. They're at least hearing you out and there seems to be a bit of a debate behind the scenes about what should actually be done. One member of the Council, Strawn Freeman, believed that Malkus should be put on trial. There's a lot of things behind the scenes that are either that he believes that Malkus is actually responsible for, or that maybe someone's looking for a scapegoat in some areas, something like that.

Elsie Combs, who is another one of the Council members, actually went to Malkus's defense and believed that he could be used for a source of good. And maybe do something for Winterhaven, like kind of make some tough calls and stuff later on. And then there was Councilman Orilla, who was just kind of on the fence. Half-elf guy, very reserved, wasn't really coming down on one side or the other. Later on, the party actually met with Councilor Combs and kind of found out a lot of behind the scenes stuff. One, Nathaniel's very injured and could die. There's a debate behind the scenes about whether or not to try and use magic and prosthetics and stuff to heal him, or just let him try to heal naturally.

And there's a lot of debate behind that, and as of right now, the Council members are the ones pretty much running the city. So it's the 9th of Thorm right now, and you're supposed to meet with the Council members the next day and kind of find out what they've decided, but it sounds like they're leaning towards some sort of trial. And Combs kind of gave you the heads up. If that does happen, you'll be given some time to prep and try and find people to speak in your defense, or at least prep a case or whatever. So as of right now, what would the party like to do?

I know there was an idea of like, since it was that night and Anvin hasn't really been around that much, like people haven't been associated, we were throwing around the idea of me going and getting some info before they find out which allegiance I had. So I don't know if it's the next day or if we're still in that room or if we adjourned. Well, I would say it's like a little later that day, because it was obviously you guys had adjourned from the alley, and then you were kind of hanging out and discussing what your next move would be. But there's a lot of different ways you can go with this.

It all kind of depends on what the council members decide, and you haven't exactly found that out, you won't find out until the next day. So you guys won't. You can just get some sleep, and we'll fast forward right to that moment. I don't think there's anything else that Taveen would want to do that evening besides, I mean, we were eating, I believe, already. So dinner is important. I feel like Anvin would want to ask Malkus a question. Go for it. Well, he'll, as I guess, I don't know if Taveen and Arya are leaving, but I feel like he would look at Malkus and say, "Why are you going through all this?

What is Winterhaven to you?" You mean, what am I expecting to be charged with, or? It sounded like there was a way out for you, and I'm kind of curious to see why you want to fight, why you want to go through with this with Winterhaven. Why'd you come back? Well, it's a bit of a matter of this place having meant something to me at one time. Certain people here, certain, this is kind of where I set out trying to do this adventuring career, whatever you want to call it. It's the closest thing I've ever had to a home where I was respected and even had some prestige.

I'd say that he smiles and says, "I can understand that, actually." And then he starts jotting things down in his book and leaves with everybody. Very, very awkward saying things like, "I understand." But I'm like, "Wait, that's it? What?" So I'm getting the sense he's very much a chronicler, much more of an observer than... Might need some work on his peopling? Yes. Okay. I wanted to make that clear, but when he talks, it's very like, "Okay, here's what my thoughts are. Okay, cool, next thing." So cut, break, the transitions need some work. But whenever he's going to have a big topic to discuss with people, he has to study for it.

And then he's like... That's where his high diplomat actually comes in handy. But it'd be more like, he's ready for it and he can understand, "Oh, that's what I should say," instead of just leaving. I feel that, yeah, that's good. I like him. May need some people teaching, though. Better than teaching party members about sex. I don't know. That could be debated. You could use diagrams. So is the party just getting some rest and kind of... I guess once they all go back to their rooms, Aria's going to want to talk to Taveen about some stuff. If that's okay. Sure.

Okay. Yeah, Taveen would probably just be figuring out how to sleep on the tiny bed. Oh no! I forgot about that, yeah. Yeah, so you're kind of like, as they're getting ready to go to sleep or whatever, Aria would probably be lancing at Taveen, and sort of building up the courage to say something, and sort of after a while just do that. Taveen? Yeah, Aria, what's up? I just, I kind of feel like I should, I don't know, apologize for what happened with the orcs and everything. Just kind of scratch your head for a second and sit down on the edge of the bed?

What do you mean apologize? You did everything you could. I mean, we all fought as hard as we could, and what happened to Ville was none of our faults. You don't have to be sorry for it, and you certainly don't have to apologize to me. Yeah, she'll kind of just wince a bit and then sit down and she's kind of just looking down and sort of toying with the edge of her scarf a bit. I know. I mean, I think I know, but then I should have been able to do something. I was able to protect Theo when he was about to get hit, and then I tried, but it just didn't happen that time, and then he was dead.

And then afterwards I was just, I couldn't do anything, and that wasn't good. It's okay. You fought through the battle, so you didn't collapse in the middle of it, and you did protect Theo. And I'm certainly grateful for you protecting Theo because he's a good kid. You did what you could, and we all tried to protect each other, but it's really... You have to admit when there was nothing you could do. It's not like a fault of yours. It's just a fact that we all did whatever our powers grant us, and that's all we can do. So you don't have to feel sorry for it.

It sucks, but it's okay. It's okay to not be 200%, as long as you're giving 100% when you can. Thank you. That means a lot. I've been trying to figure out whatever it is that I do for a while, and it's just hard because I save people, but then not all the time. And I feel like if I were stronger or something, then I'd be better at it. Well, certainly got a lot of gusto in it, because you didn't hesitate to jump in and do what you needed to do. So it's not about physical strength or mental strength. It's just focusing when you can and doing what you can.

It's just sort of like, she's looking at Taveed and she's not absorbing that. Taveed's there, and just kind of smiling, like, "I'm not a fighter either." I mean, if I had my way, I'd have a garden and I'd sew and maybe do some healing on the side, but we got to get out there and fight for what we believe is right. I mean, for not a fighter, you did some pretty incredible things out there with the whole water torrent and, I mean, everything. And your dog, you had a dog. Does your dog have a name? Yeah, it's Duchess, but it's more of a spiritual companion than obviously a physical dog.

And she's going to kind of look around like, you know, "Not here." Yeah, it's the attacks I do. And she's going to kind of scratch her neck in that awkward, uncomfortable way. There are more side effects of the fact that I'm trying to heal than explicitly attacking. So I'm trying to help everybody, but it's kind of a, I guess, win-win because I'm whittling the enemies and helping my allies. It's not so much targeting them as targeting you guys. That's really cool. I mean, thank you for, you really did help everyone out. I mean, everyone did help, but still.

Oh, and you turned into a little, and she's got to do like this weird zoom motion with her hand. Like a comet? An arrow? You turned into a good little powerhouse there, definitely knocking things around for being such a small person. She'll kind of like look away and blush a bit. Like, it just sort of happens. I mean, when I'm in that mood, it just, it is, and I'm not thinking about it. What, and she's going to kind of smile and like raise a hand. What kind of mood would that be specifically? Just so I know. And just smile at you, like, you know, trying to make you feel good.

She'd blink a bit. What do you mean mood? It usually helps when I'm around other people, I guess. And if there's trouble or something that it's kind of just happens before I can think about it and then it's over. So you're not angry or upset or happy? She's going to kind of frown thinking about it. Kind of yes and no to all of it. I've tried to, I mean, it kind of goes with my emotions, I think, but I can't really, it's not an easy one, like one of those, I guess. I mean, when I'm just angry at something, I don't get all, you know, and I think it does have something to do with other people, but that's all I know.

And the bad thing happens, then it's a lot easier. Okay. So it just kind of happens? I mean, if I'm trying to do it and really like actively trying to, then I kind of have to focus. And then I usually just think of someone that I'm close to kind of that, that helps. And that can usually get it going. But I mean, like with the orcs, it just, that just happened. And then I'm sorry, it's not really making any sense. No, it's, it seems like it's a little bit more complicated than maybe somebody else's magic. They can just kind of like me, I can just kind of, and she's going to do, Jason, I'm actually basically summing up my dog in like the corner of the room.

I'm assuming I can do that because it's like an at will thing. So she's like, I can just kind of, you know, think about it. And she's got to like kind of wave her hand a little bit and you hear like mumble, maybe some elven. And then the dog is going to kind of like appear in the corner of the room. It doesn't take any specific action or event so much for me to have to use my magic. I can just do it. Sorry. He's like looking at the dog. That sounds nice. I wish I had that much control. I mean, for what it's worth, I think it definitely comes from me at least in part because afterwards I'm always usually like really hungry and tired.

It's definitely an interesting sight to see watching you just turn into a little angry version of you, so to speak. But maybe with Amven's help, you can actually learn more about it and you can learn how to focus it and call upon it at will. Yes, I really want to talk to him about that. He does stuff about like magic and powers and everything, so hopefully he'll know something. But I mean, with everything else going on and hopefully we'll find the time at some point. I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep tonight with all that just happened. Oh, I'm sure we can have a nice maybe maybe tomorrow morning after we talk to the council, we'll find out that they think Malkus shouldn't be put on trial.

And then you'll have all the time in the world to talk to Amven. Yeah, well, I guess there's no harm in hoping for that. Not in the least bit. Perhaps we should get some sleep, though, so if you do have to do a bunch of reading tomorrow, you'll be wide awake for it. Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Thank you, T'Vinh, really. Yeah, no problem. And don't worry about it. You did great. And once we figure out how to focus it and use it to your advantage, hopefully not to anybody else's advantage, it'll be even better. That sounds like a good plan. She's going to go ahead and dismiss the dog then before they go to bed.

Yeah, like a ghost dog working in the corner. Ghost dog is watching you sleep. Yep. So you guys getting some rest? Yeah. Is there anything that Amven or Malkus want to do before turning in for the night? You want to have a good heart to heart? Follow up that? I feel like Malkus and Amven walk into the same room and Malkus just looks at the bed that he slept in last night and he goes, "This one's mine. Good night." See, I picture Bro nods like, "Hmm." I would imagine he would just be like, "Okay." Not even saying anything, but just the nod. And then eyes go back to his book and closes it and then goes to bed.

So did Theo get kicked to the floor then? Theo watches you as you sleep. Oh, gosh. I totally forgot. I feel bad. That's right. Actually, I think I'd have my own room, right? Well, I would imagine you were staying somewhere before. Yeah. So I'd be like, "Jeez, new guy wanders in. Theo gets kicked to the curb." I remember the last part of the last conversation, it was like I was leaving because I was expecting that I was leaving to go to my room and it was Theo's and Malkus' room. Yeah, that makes more sense. Yeah. Okay. So I'm not going to have any heart to heart.

Heart to heart was awkward. What about Theo? Does Theo need a heart to heart? I don't know about a heart to heart. My heart looks at Theo like, "Well." Just shrug, "I'm good." I think he'd be kind of worried about the trial. That would be one of those things where if Malkus were to care, if it were to be one of those things where it's like, "What's wrong?" That type of thing. But he'd be worried about the trial. That's a pretty heavy thing because I think in his mind it was that thing that was like, "Well, everything will be fine. I imagine you're probably going to get hoisted up on some people's shoulders.

You might fall. That's your biggest problem." But yeah, everything's fine. In his mind it's like, "Wait, wait, wait. There could be a punishment?" And then death is maybe on the line and some alternate terrible reality. Yeah, he'd be worried. Does he push that as a topic of conversation or does he let me sleep? No, not at all. Probably not to bother you with it. I think he'd be the type to be like, "Yeah, it's going to be fine, buddy. It's going to be fine." But he doesn't have a good poker face, Theo. Yeah, Malkus will probably just go to bed pretty quick.

He wants to settle tomorrow's issues so he can figure out whether he needs to prepare for things. Right. Okay. Picking up the next day, it is the 10th of Thorim. Early in the morning I would imagine you guys would pretty much get brought to the Counselor's Chambers and they would not waste your time. So is everyone ready for that? Sure. You sound excited. I mean, I'm excited, Arya. Maybe not so much, but... So this time there's a little bit more to do about it. Kavik, the half-orc, the captain of the guard here in Winterhaven is bringing you and he's like big salute when he shows up to find you and there's a little bit more pomp and circumstance about it.

Like actually treating you like a knight of Winterhaven. So this time they bring you to the chambers and just sort of open the door for you and show you in. Yeah, I'll go and take my seat. So the three council members will be sitting there. Right off the bat, Counselor Combs would sort of give the solemn head nod thing. Thank you for joining us this morning, Malkus. What news do you have for me? It is the decision of the council that in 12 days time there will be a public hearing and an official trial of your actions. Specifically looking into, and she's going to look over to Counselor Freeman, what is being called a treacherous act to allies of Winterhaven.

Speaking of course about the Warforged specifically. There is also some concern about the party that you led. There were certain acts committed that we would like to question you about, though you would not be held specifically accountable for actions they committed. So why would I be questioned about those at the hearing? Well, and again looking over to Counselor Freeman, and Freeman would speak up, we would like to know if we should be pursuing those individuals. Hmm. Does that part of the hearing need to be public? Can you just ask me these things privately?

Combs would look over to Freeman and then back. Unfortunately, this has to be part of the trial itself. Again, we are sorry to have to put you through this, but you do have 12 days. This will not take place until the 22nd of Thorm. You are free to come and go as you please. Leave the city and find anyone who might speak on your behalf or you feel would be a good character witness, so to speak. Does Winterhaven assign a defense for me? We absolutely could assign a defense. Do I know any lawyers, Jason? I was going to say, I don't think Malchus has met any lawyers.

No, and it's not, lawyers specifically, it's mostly, that is a job in Theria, but it's not exactly a huge business. Because there's a lot of cities that don't even really have a "trial system". It's usually, did you see this person do this thing? Really? And then they kind of get to the bottom of it. It's not like a huge drawn out trial. Big cities like Winterhaven and Overwatch now, they're working on it. There's an actual trial system, so yeah, there are people who sort of know the ins and outs of that city's legal system and I don't want to use the word "exploit", but try to use that to their clients benefit.

Play to win. Yes, play to win. Okay, Malchus says, I would like a defender then, someone who knows the system. Certainly I'll have things to say in my own defense and some of my own opinions to state, but it would probably be best if I had an advisor who understood the finer points of how things are arranged here. Absolutely, and we can arrange that. If you give us one day, we can take care of that and send them right to you. You can start preparing your case. So, am I to understand correctly that this is not so much a hearing as a, obviously not a "did or did I not do that which I've already said I did", but rather to set a new precedent in law to decide whether or not this sort of thing is defensible by Winterhaven or to be condemned or to be is this really what the law is saying?

She's going to speak up again. Again, this is new ground for us. This is never been something we've had to worry about and to the point we're worried that people could be taking the law into their own hands and there are some very powerful mages out there and some of them are knights. If people get these sense, and then she's going to take a pause and again she's going to ever so subtly like bat her eyes back toward Councilman Freeman. There are those who are concerned that people will just decide what's right and what's wrong on their own without taking any sort of law and order into account.

It could be a huge problem for us in the future. I see. Well, you'll be assigning me a defender. Anything else I should know before I... You said I should get character witnesses. Can you tell me a little bit about the protocol of the trial? The order of things? Well, that is the next bit of business to attempt to. Usually these things take anywhere from one day to a week, usually the former. This will be public. That's to ensure that there will be no bias or tampering. You will be questioned by both your defense and that is to prove your point and there will be a cross examination.

Normally you will also get a chance to... and then she's going to look over to Freeman. You will also get a chance to question any witnesses brought to speak against you. We try, whenever it's possible, to give a complete list of any witnesses that will be at the trial. In this particular case, there are two or three that must be kept secret in order to keep these individuals safe. From who? These individuals have said that they fear for their lives if they were to be found out that they were speaking against you in some fashion. Afraid that I'm going to hurt them or afraid that someone else is going to hurt them on my behalf?

Either way. Hmm. Okay, anything further? Twelve days, defender, character, witnesses. What am I missing? Any further information, we will send you in written form where you're staying. If you do decide to leave the city, that is completely up to you. Just as long as you're back by the trial day. We'll start early that morning. Very well. I will... unless any of my companions have any questions? None here. In that case, I'll see you on or before the date of the trial. Thank you very much, Malchus. And we'll leave. Yeah. Do me a favor, roll insight, just for a second. ♪ Doop-a-doop-doop, wisdom's my low stat ♪ All of us or just him?

All of the party kin. Oh, good. I get my sheet. Insight. That feels accurate. That's okay, Tavine's got this. What do I know about them and their breakfast? Yeah, Tavine and Imvo will be picking up, like, yes, she's delivering this bad news. And yeah, it's not exactly a shocker. You kind of knew what was going on, like, going into that. But you can tell that it's not something she wants to do. And it's probably something she was either fighting or is still fighting behind the scenes. Okay. Nice. Something I noticed from when I re-listened to the episode was there was talking about incarcerating Malchus.

So I didn't hear that come up, so I was like, "Cool, I'm not fighting it." Nope, that was something... Death or nothing. Yeah, that was kinda... Well, originally, for most people under trial, it's like, "Okay, well, we're going to make sure you don't run, because there's no incentive for you not to run. So we're just going to keep you imprisoned until the date of the trial." Malchus is actually being... He's given quite a lot of leeway, and that's probably because of Combs. Free to leave, come and go as he pleases as long as he's back, and that's probably because beforehand he's like, "Hey, you promised me you were going to be here, right?" And then...

And that. And I am... Be sure that that's something Freeman was pushing for. It's like, "Oh, let's jail him so he doesn't get away. He's a flight risk." Literally! I was so ready to fight that, that's what I expected. So it could be worse. Yeah, it could be worse. So you guys are leaving here, right? Theo? Theo's expression is going to be much more worried now. It's like, "Oh, this is a thing. This feels official and... It's almost creepy. It's like, "Oh, wow. Okay." Because it's not how they do things in Brightport. In Brightport, they just kill you. It's almost worse this way to him, because it's like...

It's like a parent is like, "Oh, you're going to get it when I get home." And then it's like, "But it's 10 in the morning. You don't come home until 5. That ruined my day. Now I've got to sit and wait." That's the kind of thing. It's like, "Oh, Jesus." The waiting's the worst. So, what would be going on through Malkus' head? Malkus looks agitated. But yeah, he's kind of racking his brain for who would be in the city or who would be in a nearby city to take as a character witness. He's solution-oriented, but he's clearly bothered. Well, you have options. Firstly, there's any allies that you built up over the course of building the army and talking to them and convincing.

You've done it before, and those people were obviously on your side at one point. There's friends, family. There's all kinds of people. And 12 days is a long time to reach out to people, to get people to help. That's enough time for travel, at least on the mainland. Running is also an option. Always an option. Just throwing it out there. There's a bunch of different things that you can do. I would imagine, if you're going into this trial, I would imagine Malkus would go in guns blazing and say, "This is all the things I've done to help. You need to look at that." Like the jingle keys defense.

It's like, "No, no, no. Look over here. Look over here. Don't look at that." Right, and he's got a list of that. I'm trying to think who would be a quality representative. Maybe we should talk to that lawyer? Well, I think we should try to see Nathaniel too. Or at least you should. I don't necessarily have any reason for... Well, we can put in that request again. I have a feeling that that's going to be a dead end, but we can try it. Never know. Well, if you're going to be calling him as a witness, perhaps. If you think he might be... Can I call him as a witness?

I don't see why not. Can we go get the hunchback out of the cathedral? Make sure you use the leash and the muzzle, okay? Can I subpoena him or something? What's the term I'm looking for? Yeah, you have to come. Summons? Summons, yes. Here's the thing. If you put it forth that it's like, "No, no. I need him because of these reasons." That could be something Combs could probably use to... It's like, "Hey, he put forth a request. It's a legitimate request. We gotta try it." It would be something to kind of grab hold of. I mean, you'd have to have a good reason why.

Well, the other thing too is if you argue that you need him and they decline it, you could bring that up at the trial that they declined one of your witnesses and letting you see him. But here's the other thing. So that could work in our favor also. I still don't know what Nathaniel thinks of me. Like, I wanted to talk to him to take his temperature. I didn't want to talk to him because I knew we were buddy-buddy. Well, he doesn't know me, so I can make him flowers. That's about it. That can only help. But maybe that's not a good place to begin. Man, as much as Malkus stands behind a lot of the things he's done, regrettable or not, it has not made him a great deal of a long list of friends in Theria is the conclusion I'm coming to.

Well, it might help to start listing out potential allies or people who at least used to be friends. Because here's the thing. Twelve days. You could get a lot done in twelve days. You damn near built an army in a couple of weeks. So it's not something that is impossible. Finding people and talking to them, at the very least, my life might be on the line. If you hold a grudge against me, fine. If you truly think that what I did was that abhorrent, then... But most people probably don't wish death upon you. Or a lifetime incarceration. Yeah, names just aren't coming to me.

I don't remember. Well, let's open it up to the table. Yes. Guys, you've listened to the show. Yeah, well, that's things. I have a lot of people that I know, but I don't want to medicate or anything. Well, no, no, no. I'm saying outside of character. Okay. Suggesting names to Rob. Yeah, because I guess this is more of a case of it's been however many years and Rob is literally... Yeah, like, these are ages ago. Your mom. Your mom. Well, what about... We are even. I don't think she's mad at him. Well, actually, I think she is. But still, I think that's a really good thing to get.

Because if we can get her on our side, that's a good one. And especially if we can have her and your mom, who is also a pretty big, important figure. And they're both like, kind of like, good cop, bad cop, maybe not. Well, I'm just trying to think, like, how well known would my mother be in Winterhaven? Like, we're across the continent, right? Oh, well, okay, here's the thing. That might not be a name necessarily that carries a ton of weight, but it's the position. That it's like, okay, and you're from where? And you do what? Like, people know. Like, the houses of Brightport have been known.

That's a decades old practice. People in Winterhaven know all about that. And that's not... that's definitely not something anyone could just say, "Oh, yeah, I'm from..." And there are only three of them. So to be a leader of one of those is a pretty big deal. You're basically running 33% of the city. And as far as the Overwatch goes, every fucking buddy knows about the Overwatch. And the fact that there's a new queen there. And hasn't waged war on anyone, is openly trying to reach out and help out other communities and towns and cities and stuff. That's a huge deal.

And part of the reason she got there is because of the stuff Group 1 did. Okay. And then you also met the dwarves, and I think you and the dwarf king had a lot of good roles. Because I know Duncan was... it was a big joke in the room. And Malchus kept saving the day with good diplomacies. Because I think there was a good joke in there. And so I think you guys got along well. And they got to fight because of you. So I think that's the other... Any previous citizens of Winterhaven is a good one? Any leaders and stuff? And Malchus has met a lot of them. So I'm gonna throw this out.

And I know it could go one of two ways. But Jadzia, because she is now the mayor, right? Isn't she now mayor of... Yeah. Even though she is married to your brother? Yeah, that's the plug. That's a big, big... Well okay, so what we do is we get Tessia first. And then we go next. I mean, I've just thrown it out there. I've thrown out people who are important. And, you know... We get a reunion and a trial. Awkward family reunion. Have Malchus and Jadzia ever interacted? Yeah. Yeah, you did. Very briefly, but yeah. Like episode 100? No, 61 and 63. Oh, geez. So it's been a while.

It's been a while. 110 or so episodes ago. 112 episodes ago. Who's counting? Well, you're looking for people that have weight behind them, so... Those are good ones. Mm-hmm. I'm seeing Aubrey. Which guys? Uh, the... The heat... What's his name? Father White? Yeah, that guy. You guys were there recently and you helped them out and... Where did we kill those vampires? Oh, Aubrey. Okay, that was Aubrey? Okay. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, that'd be a good place to check. Is that where the bookish girl is, too? Who's name? I can't remember. Clarissa. Clarissa, thank you. She's good.

Well, good golly, there've been a lot of NPCs. Dude, you don't even know. Jason's head is an asylum. All the crazy people. So, yeah, Father White and Clarissa and... They're like priests. That's a pretty good character witness, I'd say. That'll give you a battle plan. So, somebody help me out with history here. Why would Jadzia be sympathetic to me? Well, you guys fought on the same side. Yeah. I mean, you guys weren't necessarily buddies and you and your brother don't get along, to put it mildly. But that doesn't mean that she would want to see you dead. You guys were fighting for the same side.

You were trying to do the right thing. She also seems like the type to me that would want to fix things. So, she'd probably want, maybe for her side, making Valus have a resolution between Malgus. Not in that way. There's some kind of resolution so she has that resolved. Mm-hmm. That might be, I don't know if we can do it in the 12 days that we have. But that might be a good thing to put on the list. Just figure out why Brother was mad at me. He didn't really cover that. Esther holds not that far. Yeah. It's days or something, is it? Three days? Yeah, about one horseback if you're booking it.

So we send a letter to Tessia to meet at Esther. I really feel like having the Malgus-Valus interaction without her there is going to end very poorly. I just, I think something bad is going to happen. That's a good point. The thing with Tessia is do you think she'd be able to leave the house? She hasn't dragged her for how long? She has a dragon! Send like teleporting stones or whatever. Get group three to give her a ride or something. There's a big one we're avoiding. Dwarf Leader's name is...? Stone Sunder. Stone Sunder. I'll tell him, "Hey, F those minotaurs, right?" And then he'll be like, "Oh, yeah!" Hey!

It's the minotaurs that are plotting. Oh wait, okay, hold on. We lost, that's right. We lost one minotaur, but there's still a minotaur on the team, so I can't throw the minotaurs under the fence. There's always another minotaur, am I right? Beep beep. It's the orcs. It's the orcs. That's why we fought them, because they're trying to keep us away, so they're plotting with Winterhaven to take Malgus down. Dude, that might be, if you think about it, that's a good in, in that it's like, "Hey, we just killed some filthy fucking orcs near this city. You want to come check that out?" "Oh, why you're here?" 50 doves.

Yeah. There we go. Take the long way around. There's one more fighting anyway. Oh, I love it. Uh, okay, so Stone Sunder's on the list. The leader of the Evergreen. I don't remember her name. But I don't think, from what they've said with all the fallout from the dragon, that she would be particularly jumping. Brittana? What is it? Brittana? Yeah. That all depends. No one's really, uh, no one's really, after, after the war was done, no one went back to the forest to speak to them. Well, I would have been there, though. Mm-hmm. Well, on the outside edges of it. Right.

That's what I'm saying. Like, to, to, yeah, like, it's been, it's not really, it's been like Winterhaven where it's just no one really... Followed up. Yeah. You need like a letter that says like, "Are you with me?" and then it's like, "Yes or no?" I feel like I can't call them mages, really, because I kinda told them, like, "Hey, thanks for the tool, and at your request, I won't make this your problem." Mm. 'Cause they wanted to be, they kinda wanted someone to do something about the War Forge, but they didn't wanna have their, their fingers on it. So they're probably a bad choice.

That has not worked out crazy well for them. Yeah, I feel like we have a good list, like, considering, like, how far distance everyone is. Like, I feel like this is actually a pretty good list. Oh, good. Malka still doesn't really know the whereabouts of Bree, does he? Mm. Not concrete, but... But I mean, if that's something he wants to look into, I mean, we're gonna be talking to Liara. Yeah. And she knows that they should, that she should know, so... Sure, let's bring all the chickens home to roost at once. It's on the list. Damn it. If that's resolution. We can't bring Valus and Malkus in the same room.

This could not go wrong. I think we need the witch, too. We should just bring the witch. Yeah, yeah. Malkus might not make it to trial. Jesus, let's... Yeah, right. If, uh, we can't get the witch 'cause it's like, "I wanted to eat that child and you didn't let me," it's really, really terrible. [Laughter] You're terrible. Um, okay. So this is, this is, that's what, a list of seven here? That's a lot. Yeah. That's a lot. There's a lot of powerful/influential people on that list. I do like the idea of trying to get Tessia to where Valus would be. [Laughter] So that, like, it's kinda hard to kill your brother in front of your mom.

Right. At least I'd be led to believe. Well, I mean, if there are two people on the planet that would, that would stop Valus from trying. Okay, so, there's one thing I'm gonna have you do. And this is the part. This is the, depending on how this goes. Oh no. Don't say that. Jason. Malchus. Oh no. The legal system is a tricky thing. And there are lawyers of all types of skill level. Oh no. What I would like you to do is roll a flat D20 for me to find out how good the public defender is that is going to be assigned to you. You are the lawyer? Is this like on a scale of law and order to better call Saul? [Laughter] Um, actually it'd be on the scale of, like, better call Saul would be in the middle, cause at least he's competent.

He's sleazy but competent. And then like, at the top, it's like, oh my god, you got the dream team. And then right around the bottom would be that chicken lawyer from Futurama. Like right around in there. Oh no. Okay. And there's no pre-roll activities I can do to enrich this role. It is assigned to you. And it's based on how busy are we, that type of thing. Or how much, maybe if it's a really low roll, it's how much Freeman influenced. Like, give him that one. Like that type of thing. But you might get a stellar lawyer here. Can I roll 2d10 and get the benefit of a curve? [Laughter] I'll allow that, because there's so much on the line.

I would fairly rather not get the dumpster lawyer. [Laughter] But it's so much fun. Okay, here's the thing. By doing, okay, by doing b-flat d20, it's like, what are the odds you're gonna get a one? What are the odds? You just jinxed it. Thanks, Jayden. No, I did not. The table does not listen to me. Mmm. Doesn't listen to anybody, does it, Michael? You know what? Hold on. I have to roll the d20, because if I don't roll the d20, somebody's gonna pitch a fit that I conned my way into 2d7. Into a 2. Yeah. Oh, you're not easy. It's not like people get... You savages.

No. [Laughter] And...go. Hey! It's a saving throw. It's a saving throw. Solidly mediocre. That is an average carriage of a lawyer. That is, yeah. You know what? That's... Too true. Too true. Either better nor worse. And here's the thing. This isn't like you were prevented from speaking on your behalf. If your lawyer is doing such a terrible job at some point that you're just like, "I'm ta--sit down. Just sit down. I'm done with you." Shut the front door. Just sit. You can do that. There's nothing stopping you. You are not helpless in this situation at any point. So, you will be assigned an attorney, someone to speak on your behalf at this trial, and someone to cross-examine witnesses and kind of do all the stuff a lawyer would normally do for you.

You will have one of them. And a pretty competent one. Cool. Solidly competent. Graduated from Therian Law School and everything. Gonna have Amven bring the lower one into a room and just have a cram session. [Laughter] So, you're gonna find out the--here's--okay. I would say over the period of hours during this day, like, information's gonna start flowing in. Because once this is set, it's like, "Okay, we're gonna start getting going here." So, the lawyer's gonna be representing you is named Wren Rabishaw. Older gentleman. Been doing this for a while now.

Decades, actually. I like that name. That's a great lawyer name. Do you seriously have a list of 20 different guys? I sadly have a long list of different outcomes that could have happened there. And you know what the funny thing is? When the fuck is that list ever gonna come in handy again? Ever. You'd be surprised. There's an hour of your life you can't get back, huh, Jesse? [Laughter] Coming up with imaginary lawyers. [Laughter] I appreciate it. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate it. But also, you're right. You're never gonna use that list again. Yeah, I'm never ever gonna use that list. [Laughter] The only other person on the planet who might have gone on trial is Ironhide.

And that's not gonna happen, so it's fine. I don't think that would have ended well anyway. I don't think he would have gone quietly, so. [Laughter] So, Wren Rabishaw. He's gonna be--and what you can do is roll a streetwise check to find out a little bit about the lawyer that's being assigned to you. Can we all do that? I'm good at that one. Yeah, I mean, I would imagine it's like--so what's gonna happen is there's gonna be-- Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wowza. Look at these rules. Jeez. Oh, good lord. Okay. Seven. So Anvil's gonna tell you guys some stuff about the-- [Laughter] --about the lawyer that's been assigned to you.

So I would imagine that after, like, toward the evening, I would say, there's gonna be a package delivered to Malkus at the place you're staying. And there's gonna be a letter from Counselor Combs that is essentially, it's like, "Yeah, there's not much I could do to stop that. I'm sorry you have to go through this. Here is everything you need. We're providing the best attorney we could," and all that stuff. So finding out a little bit about--he's won more cases than he's lost, firstly. That's good. I would say the average is 60/40. Okay. So Anvil has a lot of experience, and most notably, a lot of his wins come from, like, murder trials, that type of thing.

Like, he has spoken to the defense of a lot of people who have been accused of murder and solidly gotten a lot of them off. That's good. That's good. That's promising. Kind of a southern twang to him. Real down-homie, Matlock type of guy. So that's gonna be your-- That's gonna be a thing. Yeah. Now we have the Matlock theme run through my head. [laughter] [singing] This guy's a real corn-cob-pipe type of dude. Like, you're gonna, like, very, like, down-home--you know, you're--yeah, that's the guy who's gonna represent you. And you're also gonna find out a little bit about the guy who is going to be speaking against you, and then kind of spearheading the trial on the other end.

And that is a tiefling by the name of Raelius Evel. Do me a favor, roll a streetwise check on this gentleman. Yeah, I got a one-hire. I got an eight this time. Wow. Thirty. Oh, god, yes. Okay. It's nice he's a tiefling. Mom gives us all about him. See, all tieflings know each other. That's the-- [laughter] Well, that's my cousin. [laughter] Raelius actually has quite a reputation in Winterhaven, and he has about an 80% success rate in cases that he tries. Now, he's done far fewer trials than your lawyer, though. He's only been doing this for about five years.

So, far less experience, but he's very aggressive, and he has been known to sort of hound witnesses, things like that. Just very, very aggressive. He's gone through quite a few nicknames. Not good ones, by the way, but yeah, he's been accused of some things. Not being crooked or anything like that. Just being heartless. Mostly. So, yeah. That's kind of the way the cards have fallen here. Gotcha. I'm like a perfect match for it. Well-- Make him cry. Should we--is it fast enough to just send letters to our list of people here? Or do we need to go formally collect them?

Or should we talk to the lawyer first? I guess we should talk to the lawyer before we do anything, as far as him knowing what the flow of the trial's gonna be and what the council's going to expect. So, the council's the judge here, right? Yes. Yes, it would be a collective of that. And popular opinion is going to weigh in heavily here. Not that they really get a say, but-- We're gonna throw a rave? We're gonna throw a rave in Theria? And I'm going to come up and just start, like, I'm just going to make it rain? Right. I'm just gonna, like-- The reason the trial is public-- Like Margra.

Normally, again, normally the Lord of Winterhaven would just be like, "Yeah, this is what's happening." Because, you know, that's kind of what would happen. But because it's this ruling council and all this, it's such a time of turmoil here for Winterhaven, this is to prevent bias. So let's say you pissed off all the council members, right? Let's say you really peed in their cornflakes and they are just all-- Like, let's say it's a--like everyone kind of took the position like Freeman. This is to keep you from getting railroaded. Because let's say a bunch of evidence was presented at this trial for your side that's like, "I did not do that for this, this, this, and this, or I did it for this." And everyone's like, "Yeah, alright, good." That's to keep the council from just saying, "Yeah, we don't like you.

Die." Geez. It's better that the public opinion was-- It's better, yes. Well, let's touch base with our lawyer first, I guess, and then we'll decide how to amass our bench, so to speak. Alright, fantastic. So, Ren, Ren is an older human, and he has an office on the outskirts of town here. Tiny little, tiny little office, like this little tiny building. And knocking on his door, he would answer it. The guy doesn't have a scheduler or anything like that, he just pretty much works by himself. "I'll help you." And he's very much like, he's wearing these glasses very low on his nose, so he's doing the librarian, the reverse librarian, like, you know, just kind of like staring through the tip of his nose at you.

Kind of tilting his head up. Shorter guy. "I'm Malchus Grimnus. I take it you were informed to expect me?" "Ah, yeah, yeah, Mr. Grimnus. Come in, come in." "Oh no!" "What? What am I missing?" "Just the accent." "Oh, okay." "You can tell how excited Jason is to do this voice." "Oh, dude, I always get excited when there's a new voice." "I know. I love it. It's great." "Alright, how is his office appointed?" "Do me a favor. Give me a perception roll. The whole group can give me a perception roll." "Perception? That's what I can do?" "I was just to take in the office, like how it looks, that's all." "Oh, okay." "That's all I'm asking.

Right, right, right." "See every stain. High five." "Let's see. Oh yeah, Aria and Seveen and Anvil. Everyone's gonna take this in, but the guys got a bit of an organization problem. Again, not a huge office. There are chairs and stuff like that. There's a few chairs scattered around. He's got his desk and stuff. Lots of parchment and paper and scrolls and stuff like that. Just kind of all over. Books that are open and like he kind of dog ears pages and stuff like that. He doesn't use bookmarks. Just kind of disorganized a bit. Kind of looks like he might be a little scatterbrained.

And he's gonna say, "Why don't you go ahead and take a seat?" And again, older gentleman, he's gonna kind of hobble back to his chair and just goes like, "Ugh!" as he sits down. Are there enough seats for everybody? Because you said there's a few chairs and there's five of us. Yeah, there's three. Seveen will offer to wait outside then. If it's a little small area, she'll just stand outside the door and watch people. I'd say Amfin is trying not to look at the mess of study stuff because he so wants to organize it. He's like, "You could do so much better.

You could do so much better." And he's like, staring at him. Just staring. Don't look at it. Don't look at it. As he's speaking, "Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm." Like, just clearly. Yeah, exactly. Aria will also duck outside when Seveen does that and still listening to what they're saying in there. Oh yeah, you'd be able to hear them. Escape, yeah. Okay, well, Malchus will settle in and anyone else who wants to is welcome. Okay. Yeah, Thethea would hang out. He's pretty concerned. Amfin will chill as well. I think I'll take the third spot. Now, Mr. Grimness, you are charged with some pretty lofty accusations.

I suppose I am. It is what I did. This hearing isn't a question of whether or not I did the things in there. It's a question of whether or not I suppose Winterhaven as a city chooses to defend it, right? I suppose so. That should also speed things up. Oh. You understand this is the largest scale of trial I've ever attended. Does that bother you in any way? It would have been good had you handled something of this size before, but I am told you're experienced. That I am. I should also say that I don't think anybody's experienced anything on this scale before.

If it makes you feel any better. Well, are you looking forward to setting precedent? Oh, absolutely. It should be fascinating to get to the bottom of all this. And hopefully you'll walk out a free tiefling. We all hope. So, tell me a little bit about yourself. Well, I walked from one end of Theria to the other, pretty much assembling a coalition to fight the Overwatch. And as questionable as many people think some of my methods were, it worked. As you can probably well see. Right. Look, I know all about the technical aspects. I meant more you as a person, something I can present to the people of Winterhaven.

Garner sympathy, that type of thing. Your family, your friends, allies, things like that. I have not historically been the most sympathetic figure. I do what has to be done, Ren. There's not a lot of people who appreciate that. People who work in a peaceful town every day. People who work in the government, in a castle. People who don't see violence every day. I do what must be done away from civilized people to make sure civilized people can continue to be civilized. As far as family, connections, I would think some fair number of people I've traveled with would vouch for me as a trustworthy fellow combatant.

One who concerns himself with making sure they survive. My mother leads one of the houses in Brightport. I have a brother and a sister, but I haven't been particularly connected to either of them as late. I've had a complicated life, Ren. Through some magical fluke, I missed 17 years. Not sure how to better put it. I'm not sure if it was a time travel or a stasis or what it was. As a result, there's a gap in my history. Certainly I've done what I can and become a divisive figure. Loved by some, hated by some, whether I like it or not. But at the same time, I don't necessarily have the traditional network of long-term relationships to call upon.

And he's jotting things down as you're speaking. Mr. Grimness, can I give you some advice? And you may call me Malchus. Go on. Malchus, I would start making friends or getting in contact with anyone who might still be a friend. Anybody you can speak to in person, do so. If you can get them here by the 22nd, that would be even better. And anybody you can reach out to in written form, do that to anybody. So the presentation of character witnesses is actually a very critical thing. It's more critical, would you say, even, than any points that might be made by either the defense or the prosecution?

Well, let me put it this way. The Evel, the lawyer we're going to go up against, he's going to go for your throat. He's going to do everything to make sure to prove that you're a monster. And he's, I hate to say it, he's not afraid to play the tiefling card. I see. So we need to remind people constantly if we can, that you're a person with feelings and thoughts and all that. Malchus just kind of swallows. He's like, "All right, we won't play to my strengths then." So, any other advice other than get in touch with friends and contacts? What will you be doing to prepare?

Well, believe it or not, and I'm sure I don't really need to tell you this, but a lot of the city's history is tied up in decisions you've made. So I'm going to be digging into a lot of that and building a case to remind people of how much better their lives are with you in it than with you not in it. Well, I certainly hope you can convince them. There have been a number of interactions I've had that, let's just say, good news isn't news. Everybody likes to look at the drawbacks and trace a line back to my behavior. Well, we've got a bit of a two-pronged approach here.

One, remind everybody that you're a person, and then two, cold hard math. Remind them that they'd probably be dead if not for things you've done. At least that's the goal. I did intend to. That is one thing that I can actually confidently say I feel quite strongly. Math is not pretty, but the math of doing what I did, it did add up. Alright. How quickly do you think you can get people to the city? If they're not already here now. No idea, which is why we'll start writing letters and making contact today. Alright. Here's what I'm going to tell you. Three days, three days before the trial, on the 19th, I would like to have another sit-down meeting with you and we will start formally building a case.

Whoever you can get to show up to the city by then, we'll have a sit-down with them. Make sure they're on the same page, and we'll prepare as well as we can. Does that sound alright to you? You're the lawyer. Does it sound alright to you? I don't aim to lose, Mr. Grimness. Then we'll go with your plan. So, if there's nothing else from Ren? That would be it. Okay. Yeah. Malchus will wish him well. Someone chiming in? I was going to say, because we were standing outside and could hear, before you duck out or finish, to be my poker head in it and be like, "Ren, would you by any chance have any sway in being able to grant Malchus an audience with Nathaniel?" Hmm.

In my understanding, no one's been able to see that voice since the incident. Actually, while we're on the subject, I might have a question or two about the incidents with the previous Lord of Winterhaven, because it's going to come up. I'll tell you whatever I remember. Alright. What would you say your relationship was with Iain Servers? Antagonistic. Our first meeting did not go well. He was arrogant, and from there it did not improve. Hmm. I mean, you feel like there's anything that they could use against you in terms of evidence? Something that would paint you as a monster, or someone who's overly antagonistic, overly sensitive?

I would... Rob would have to have a better memory of everything that went down. Wait, wait, wait. So what's he asking for? He lost his hand somehow, and I can't remember if we're at fault for that, or if he was just totally, like, overstepped his capacity. Yeah, that was more him overreaching to compete with you guys. As far as whatever happened in Winterhaven, yeah, he was essentially chased out of the Overwatch due to embarrassment, or overdale at the time. Went away for years, and then when you guys came back, he was the Lord of Winterhaven. There was a couple of interactions, mostly your party speaking for you, that type of thing.

Yeah. Ironhide. Let's just say Ironhide, mostly. Yeah, that was when a lot of that stuff happened. Also, you can bring up the fact that he, like, hid his son. I mean, I feel like that might help, because I know this dude really was kinda not great, but... I committed genocide, but you're a beater! With a dicks. I don't know. Okay, yeah, I wish I could say I more clearly recalled more, but it's been a while. When you got time, if you want to go back and just refresh, or, like, what we could do, and this is something that other groups have been doing, what we could do is we could actually start building a case on the group page.

So at your leisure, you guys can talk about, you know, speaking to potential people and, like, remembering stuff that has happened that you guys could use. Rob, hit up Steve on the forums. Yeah, if you have a question, Steve has the answer. He's listened to the show, like, six or seven times. He knows everything that happened, so just ask him for the lowdown. Oh, wow. Also, Steve's a nice guy. We're gonna be like, "Hey, I'll buy you a DNR t-shirt. Build my case." I can hand-deliver it to him, too, because he lives, like, 20 minutes from me. Oh, wow. Yeah, we played Whirly Ball.

Oh, cool. Cool. Okay, yeah, I don't remember the finer points of... I'm sure we were super jerks to Ian somehow, but I'm also sure he super deserved it. Mm-hmm. Well, let's... unless there's anything else... Taveen asked her question, and so I guess we go and start trying to find those witnesses, huh? I was gonna say you can say that you were not in the... you were not there when he died, so, like, you were not associated with his death. Unless you've heard otherwise, you probably don't even know how he died. Yeah. Yeah, I really don't. So, like, ask him about it.

Just, like, how exactly did he die? Because I was here for that. Say that, because that's the... he legitimately doesn't know. I don't know. Did Ren even bring up that Ian died? Oh, you'd know. You'd know that he died. Like, that was, like, the most basic streetwise check in the world. Unless you were literally covering your ears and walking through the city, you'd know he died and that there's a new lord and all that stuff, technically. Okay. But has... okay, tell me what Ren asked me again, the second question. Ren essentially asked you is there anything that they could bring to the case that would paint you as someone who's either unsympathetic or antagonistic or someone who treated the previous lord badly.

Because the problem is he was considered, like, a war hero. Like, this guy was considered, like, "Oh, he's our savior." Because during... okay, Jesus Christ, here we go. Just get ready. During the siege of Winterhaven many, many years ago, he murdered the previous lord, Daniel, and... That's right. His war herohood is false. ...is completely false. But the people of Winterhaven don't know that. And there's... oh, man, I'm so sorry. There is only... Well, that's only three, but she's not going to be available to us because they already took her. Dang it. Not necessarily.

Not necessarily. Timeline-wise, that could be something that happens. Listen, we know you guys need to save the world or whatever, but we have a court case to deal with. That's the thing. Bree... and Malkus knows this because Malkus was there when Bree revealed it, but Bree is an actual eyewitness to Ian doing that. Yeah. Well, she's on the list. She's on the list. Right. I'm just saying, that's a thing. That would be one of the things that she would bring to the table. But that's something they're probably going to try to use to defame you. I mean... man. Jason, would it look good or bad if you talked down about the Warforged?

Because I'm thinking you could talk about how you had to keep track of Ironhide and just like, unruly Warforged and everything, and he messing everything up or something. And then you use that as a scapegoat almost. Because it isn't actually... That's up to you on how you'd like to present that, because you don't know how the opposition is going to treat that. If they're going to really go the route of like, "These noble souls, they were going to help defend the city and you mercilessly..." You don't know how they're going to go with that yet. They say that and then they bring a Warforged on the witness stand and then it's like, no one believes him.

With a cane and a neck brace. That's stuff that we can do once we get to that three days before. So right now we need to focus on getting the witnesses, I feel like. Yeah. So, okay. So let's focus that down. Because my concern now with being refreshed on the whole Brie and Iain Cerveris thing is that what if having her come up creates backlash? Where the mob refuses to believe, "Oh, you bring someone up here and try to defame our war hero, you're the shame of the city." I could see that playing out too, unless Brie has... Does Brie have concrete evidence?

You'd have to talk to her. Yeah. Yeah, you'd have to talk to her. Plus then she'd also be backed up by definitely Liara and probably Tessia as well. If we can get both of them and then Jadzia too, if we can get all, like she'd be backed up by all of them at least. So that would be... I'm going to owe a lot of people. I think it's like, I think it's the rules for like someone helping you move. You buy him a pizza and I think you're square. We can give him rides in the carriage. Yeah. Okay. So, Stone Sunder is obviously wherever the dwarves are. Yeah. I think he's not as high a priority as the other dwarves.

Boy, is this feeling familiar yet? Oh, are we building a coalition again? I don't know. At least this time in the sense of the army it's just like people. Malchus better just replace his boots. Like he can already tell he's going to do another lap around Theria and he hasn't gotten any boots yet. So Father White and Clarissa are in Aubrey. Tessia is in Brightport. Jadzia is in... Estherhold. Ersnothroch. And here's the thing, you would know, I would say by now it is the 10th. Now there are things like town criers, things like that. If there is huge news, everybody in the party do me a favor, give me a Streetwise check.

Oh good. This is one I actually want Theo to do it too. Theo is not in the Streetwise. Oh good. Oh good. At least someone... Never mind. Theo doesn't know nothing. Anvil and Malchus would have heard this to the grave find that by now that the previous mayor of Estherhold was murdered in her office. There is a short list of suspects, but they don't have it pinned down exactly. Who would have done such a thing? They chop off her hands, paint them black and throw them in a river. No, she was... Who would ever do that? I know some people. I'm just saying. I may have a lead.

But she was murdered. Mayor Keller was murdered in her office and by this point Jadzia would have taken over on the 8th. She would have taken over and news would have reached Winterhaven about that. So you would know on the 10th that Jadzia is the new mayor of Estherhold. Okay, Jason. Question. So how long would it take? If we were to visit all of the places ourselves, how long would that take? There are probably easier ways to do that, but just saying if we took the super long route, how long would that take? Would we be able to do it in time? I'm guessing not, but just...

Did I say Anvin? You said Anvil. Anvil. I'm an idiot. It's okay. It's okay. I was like, "Ah, it's alright." No, it's not alright. I'm an idiot. So let's say you just charted out a course. If you did like the walking tour here, if you were to hit up each one of these places, like you got the carriage. Yeah, I grabbed the carriage. Yeah, you got the carriage. So you have a means of transport. You're not doing it on foot. Let me do a little estimate here. If you were to head out from Winterhaven, let's say you just, you could either just go south and head for the Overwatch Hotel because Liara would probably be a bigger ally to you than the people of Aubrey.

Like that would be a bigger name. If you're going for big names, let's say. I feel like Liara is a pretty important thing to get. You could send word to Brightport and just tell Tessia, "Hey, could you meet us in Esterhold? It's a big deal." I feel like Tessia would show up for that. Okay, also put the, like, talk about how you're going to try and patch things up with your brother. Bao's family. I'm sorry, I don't know why. Yeah, put that in there and show Bao's. I'm pretty sure she would show up anyways, but yeah. With the letter to my mom talking about how I'm going to patch things up with Valis, I specifically want to use the phrase "bury the hatchet." Just so it's a little ambiguous.

Oh yeah, he'd want to bury the hatchet too. Okay, so, well, can Malgus set foot in Overwatch without, like, yeah, I know it's a different place now, but many of the same people still live there? Oh yes, here's the thing. It's an interesting place right now. Group 4 is finding that out. They just had a session there. Essentially, the Overwatch, while technically, technically it is a place where anyone can go, there are certain neighborhoods where not everyone can go. And they're working on it. There are a lot of racists in that city. Do me a favor, actually, everyone roll a Streetwise check.

Let's see what you'd know about, let's see what you would have heard about the city of Overwatch right now. Amvin, okay, Amvin, Malgus, wow, you guys are just on fire with this stuff. Hey! Holy crap! So Ari would have heard some stuff too. Yes, anybody can go to the city, anybody can live there now, it's much more open. They are having problems basically keeping all out riots from happening. There have been two, two attempts so far on Liara's life. Two. I'd like to remind everyone that this is with the Crit 20 diplomacy check I did at the end of the war.

It's not perfect. It's not perfect, and it's going to take time. It's not perfect, it's going to take time, but they're working on it. So there are some really hardcore races. The way I described it to G4 was there's a few people who, let's say, they hang the old Overwatch flag in their windows type of thing. It's not about slavery, it's about the history. So for them, they see it as a violation that these halflings and drow and tieflings and people can open up a shop next to mine. I've had this bakery for years, and that type of thing. So legally, yes, they're allowed to be there.

Socially, it's a bit of a thing. So I would watch out. I would keep to Main Street and the castle and stuff like that, but you know, yeah, I mean, you can go there. I would just be careful. Also, we can send a letter ahead of us so that Liara's expecting us and we might get an escort of some sort. Here's the thing, if you went straight to Overwatch, you'd probably beat any letter that you'd send out there unless you send it by regular mail. Because what they do is they gather up the mail and then they plunk it down in a carriage, pretty much like you're going to be driving.

You might be side by side by the carriage that gets there. Now you will, that's the thing, sending a letter out Tessie's way would be hugely helpful. Oh yeah, we'll definitely want to do that. So what you could do is you could actually head out from Winterhaven and if you wanted to, you could either head to Albury first or just head south to Overwatch, then loop around through Odysseus and go to Esterhold. That sounds like a good plan that nothing can go bad around that area. That's one option. You could go, there's a dragon maybe around that area, we don't know.

You could also just head through the gap between the Blackrock Mountains and Blistering Peaks, that's about equal time to get to Esterhold and then speak with... Okay, what if instead we spend the next 10 days trying to hunt down and kill a dragon so I can bring a dragon head to the court and be like, "You really want to put me in a cell when I could be doing this?" That's like the slice of Winterhaven, I don't think we'd be able to send it forward. Okay, hold on a second. Don't rule that out. That is a stellar defense. If you survive. If you survive, if you live.

I'm saying that is a... My burnt quartz, that's my defense, is that I'm already dead. You can't kill me. It's a little trial by fire. I'm saying that is a damn good... Picture, trial opens, I like to call my first witness, bring it in, and they just cart this giant dragon head, it's like plunk. Let me tell you guys a story. I mean, that is an option. Is there anything similarly terrifying to the populace but slightly less dangerous overall to us than a dragon? Well, if you're asking if there are problems to solve that you could go solve, yeah. If you really wanted to garner favor with Stonesunder, they have an orc problem.

They've always had an orc problem. We're trying to lean away from like... Let me put it this way. I'm trying to lean away from anything that involves killing more bipedal sentient lifeforms. Generally speaking, I feel like it doesn't reflect well on me. Even if they're angry green ones, if they're bipedal sentient lifeforms, it's not going to reflect well on me. So what you're saying is you want to get cats out of trees and... I want to slay a displacer beast to get a cat out of a tree. Okay, you want it to carry enough weight so that it's really impressive, but not...

It's got to be big, but it also has to be completely unquestionable. You know what I'm saying? It can't have any baggage around it. If you cart that dragon head in and somebody is like, "Well, that's just what dragons do. And this dragon was just living its dragon life and you can't hold it against it." Hey, hey, hey, hey, Rob. So this is the dragon that the reason she's upset is because she's mourning her dead husband. Don't know that. You don't know that. Okay, okay. But what I'm saying is... That's a bit horrifying to find out. I'm just saying that there's some...

But that is... Here's the thing though. That is the dead husband that killed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people, burned down half of the largest forest in the mainland. And like, there's a bunch... I mean, the gray area. That dragon was literally summoned to murder. Okay, so that one's pretty good. But like, what about something that the people have heard of? Like, I need something popular, dangerous, and unquestionably a problem to be solved by adventuring types who do this sort of thing. All I'm thinking about is when you go like standard RPGs, when you go to the inn, look at the bulletin board, what quests are they looking for?

Yeah, yeah. Well, there'd be lots of little stuff, but it'd be... I mean, like, okay, here's the problem. Your reputation is so large at this point that you're kind of above the bulletin board. Like, could you take care of these kobolds for me? You're above that. Like, you're done with that. Like, there's nothing that you could do that's going to outweigh genocide. Like, you need something that would compete with that. It's like, I killed this horrible thing that could have murdered thousands of people, and I did that for you. Do you really want... That's what you're looking for.

The dragon is... The dragon's a huge one. That one sticks out. Helping... Maybe helping the Overwatch with their current problems. That could be a huge thing. And on top of that, if I were to say so, helping Liara with her problems in the Overwatch might help her pitch it to Bree that's like, "Hey, he helped me with this, this time." Maybe you want to hear him out. Okay, so we go to the Overwatch, send the letter to Brightport, and after Overwatch, go to Esterhold, potentially. I think that sounds like a good game plan. Sure. So, what if... Help me out with...

Oh, hell. Link me a map. Where's the... This crazy continent you've made, and I need to see it... Can I... Let me just send you a map, Rob. I'm going to email you a map. Okay. I'm going to open my email and receive that. I hate to be this guy, but at the same time, if I told you I wasn't this guy, I would be lying to you. That's okay. Let me... Hold on. Here's what I'm thinking. What if we send letters to the closer places, and... Because the Overwatch is further than Esterhold and further than Aubrey? No. Overwatch is closer than Esterhold. I mean, it's kind of on the way a bit.

I mean, it's a bit of an L rather than the straight diagonal thing, but it definitely works as being on the way. And I really feel like, go to Overwatch, do stuff there, immediately send a letter to Brightport, and then ask by the time... If, when we get to Esterhold, when Tessio will probably be there already, and we can do that stuff too. I feel like those kind of three people are kind of the best shots, especially if we also get Bree in there as well. Okay. That's right. Overwatch is to the south. I keep thinking Overwatch is to the east. Well, I sent you an email.

Michael also linked you a link. The email is just... You can have that on your hard drive forever and whatever. Oh, you sent me a tiff. I did. It is detailed. It's a big old detailed file. You can zoom into the trees. Alright, so... Okay. I can't wait to get the new map done. I see... Oh, man. Wow. Names of places. Okay. It's his whole life, hold on. I forget how many localities there are. I forget how many... Dude, there's like six more continents. I can't wait until the new map is done. You're probably never gonna visit them, but it's still... It's a world-leading appointment.

It's a lawyer thing all over again. Oh my gosh. Okay. So, I see Esterhold. I see... Which direction from Ester... Oh, there's... Oh, gosh. Wow. This is bad. These cities are far apart and divided by mountains. Actual mountains. He didn't realize they were actual mountains. This is... That is terrible. I have just like a big meadow and maybe like a forest or two with some werewolves between these. Okay. Here's the other thing. If you think... If you could... If you got there a little earlier, you could have solved Lockford's werewolf problem. They would have totally vouched for you.

That would have been great. That would have been... Yeah. That would have been great. Man, the things that could have happened that would have been great. There's a list. So, quick question. Why were you suggesting go around to Odysseia? Well, I mean, specifically for the dragon thing, if you got more information on that and brought that back to Aubrey for Clarissa, that type of thing. But that's not... I mean, here's the thing. The journey south is a little quicker because you don't have to go through the mountain pass. The mountain pass is slow. It's meta information you wouldn't have, but they've had some problems with slavers and things like that, ambushing travelers on the way, that type of thing.

Bears? Well, bears. That's more White Wolf Valley stuff. Okay, so looking at places, I feel like the most central way to get everyone together and tell me if I'm wrong is to tell everybody to meet in Esterholt. Right? Because anyone from Aubrey we can pick up along the way. If we go straight to Esterholt and be like, "Hey, Overwatch people come to Esterholt. Brightport people come to Esterholt." Stone Sundra just beat us back at Winterhaven. I will also... I feel like we need to talk to Liara in person. I don't think a letter is going to cut it there. You're going to have to talk to her in person.

She's super duper busy. And so I feel like it's more like we need to go talk to her. And also, we can just send a letter to the Aubrey people and they'll probably show up in time for the trial. That shouldn't be that huge of a deal. Yeah, they're close. And we don't really have a need to convince them to do it, honestly. I think they're pretty much on your side. Okay, let's go to that racist place I helped overthrow. Fine. I don't think they have everyone from Esterholt to go to Overwatch. That, again, that's probably going to take time. Yeah. And again, the problem is...

Here's the problem with meeting with important leaders. It's not like they could just hang a sign in the window of the city and just walk away. So say we can't just all meet in Overwatch. We're going to have to go to Esterholt to talk to them. Okay, so we... Liara is probably a more valuable contact for this trial than Jedzia. Yes/no? Yes. Which means we go down, we hit Overwatch first, we send a letter ahead to Brightport to tell my mother to meet me in Esterholt in estimated number of days to Esterholt after hitting Overwatch. That's my pitch. Yep. Also send a letter to Aubrey.

Yeah. That sounds good. I think that's the best we got. Yeah, and the Aubrey people don't need to come down to Esterholt. The Aubrey people, we can just meet at Winterhaven and be like, "Hey." Yeah, exactly. Because that's not... Okay, here's the thing. It's not like you have to pitch to Father White or Clarissa. Of the people that you're approaching, they probably have the least sway in terms of power. It's like, "Look at these awesome people." But they're also the most on your side, probably. Yeah, they're kind of gimmies. Yeah. We can also pick them up on the way back from Esterholt if we go straight north through Durnhollow, where we just were like three days ago, guys.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, you know, it... Let's do another quick trick. Hindsight in a formal listing of your accusations is 20/20. Right, yeah. Okay, so let's execute that plan. Letters go to Brightport now. Party takes the carriage to Overwatch. Then party takes the carriage to Esterholt, at which point the Brightport people will hopefully be there. Gather in Esterholt, make final plans, head back to Winterhaven. Does that sound good to everybody? Letters to Aubrey as well. Yeah. Letters to Aubrey. Are we standing by Aubrey and picking them up on our way through, or are we gonna just let them...

They should meet us at Winterhaven, yeah. Okay. Yeah, we don't wanna... Officially, for the canon of the show... When is it? Go ahead, sorry. Go ahead. Well, I was gonna say because if there are orcs again, because they were between Aubrey and Winterhaven... Oh, no. They probably won't be going just alone. They have like a warrior girlfriend lady that... Laren? Is that who it was? No, Laren is in Durn Hollow. She's a tiefling. It's Alex, right? No, that's not... Yeah, I thought it was Alex. Haha, I did remember it. Yeah, so I mean, they won't be going completely alone.

What is the theory of equivalent of chartering a bus? If we want to just be able to add more people to our protection and our... Like, can we like, hitch a second carriage on the back of the first carriage? We need to call a caravan, Rob. This sounds like you're trying to like, Mad Max Fury wrote it. Where you're just like... There's... Okay, there's... Okay. Anyone who's traveling usually takes precaution. It's not like Clarissa's gonna walk. Or Fatherhood's gonna walk from... They usually... Like, okay, the people you met heading out from Durn Hollow. Like, that dwarf hired those two to keep them safe.

Now, they weren't exactly prepared for the orcs, but that was a freak occurrence. There's obviously something up with that. That we know of. Right. Now, if they were heading in the opposite direction through the Divide, like the Dead Woods, stuff like that, then it would be... Oh no, we're gonna need more than just, you know, these two, but that's because it's notorious for being attacked by orcs. The opposite direction, toward Winterhaven, that's kind of a shocker. That's new. Okay. So, we're gonna try to just like... I guess we're just gonna like, pick people up and stuff them in our carriage, or tell them...

Or pay to add more carriages to our caravan as we go. I feel like that's a bridge to cross once we actually get people on our side. That sounds like you're making it tougher on yourself, because again, people know the dangers of traveling in the world. Like, they're not ignorant to it. Okay, I don't have to babysit them. No, it's not an escort thing. Yeah, but we want to make sure that they get there safe. Right. And I understand that. And for people traveling from... First of all, for people like Father White and Clarissa, I understand that you might be worried about their wellbeing traveling and stuff like that, because they're not fighters.

Again, Liara, Jadzia, Valis, all these people, it's like, okay, yeah, you know the score and they're further away. But like, the fucking Queen of the Overwatch is not going to be traveling by herself. Queen of the Overwatch. Okay. So for the canon of the show, before we wrap things up today, I want to nail this down. You are in Winterhaven. It is the 10th of Thorim. I'm guessing you are either going to... You're going to set out in the morning, like fresh start, set out in the morning for your journey. Yeah, no time to waste. But today you are sending a letter to Aubrey, you are sending a letter to Brightport, and you are sending a letter to Esterhold.

Mm-hmm. And we are physically going to Overwatch. And you are physically going to the Overwatch. Bodily, to the place where they want to murder me. That is what is happening. Only some of them. That is, I am loathed, but I am a tortured hero, and we're going to go there to re... we're going to... marketing. We're going to sign it. We got to refresh that Malkus Grimness brand, because... Hey, you can visit your own house! Oh, it's become this little museum, and you can, it's like, look at the scourge of the Overwatch. You can see your own house, it's great.

They charge a small emission fee, but it's really nice. The tour guide there is lovely. For the repair and maintenance of the site. Well, yes, it's, yeah, it's for, okay, look, it's actually funded, it was an educational thing by the city, so I mean, like, it's, it's, you know, it's really just for... Kittens take field trips there. Yeah. I hope they, like, redecorated it, and added, like, fake bodies and stuff in the basement and everything like that. Only some of it's embellished, it's actually wonderful. There's, I'm not shitting you, there is an actual tour.

We have to go on that. We have to. I have to wear a mask and go on it. Yeah. I have to wear, like, sunglasses and a concert t-shirt. You get to be, you get to be the snooty guy who raises his hands. Actually, that's not what happened. So, let's, let's say it's, so the 10th you send out those letters, the 11th you guys are getting ready to go to wrap up the episode before we leave. Who would like to do me a favor and roll a flat D20 to see how the first leg of your journey? Now, now, keep in mind that you're pretty close to the city, it's Winterhaven, and you are headed directly south through 10,000 horns.

So it's not like you're gonna, you know, it's like, "Dragon!" Like, it shouldn't, it shouldn't be that bad, even on a one, but something will happen. Who would like to roll me that flat D20 to see how things are gonna start? I'll do it. Okay, Michael. Do it. The table chose me today anyway, right? Uh, oh, did it not go in the box? Nope. Oh, even though I tried. Eight. Well, Michael, you're off the show. That's not bad. You had fun? It was an 11-plyer. I was mad. So guys, I think that's a pretty good time for us to wrap things up. You guys got your, you got your new quest, you know what you're gonna do, and...

How long is it to get to Overwatch from where we are? By carriage? Um, as long as you guys are taking minimal breaks, stopping at night, that type of thing, it'll probably take you probably three days, barring any, like, really bad weather, anything like that. It's a pretty straight shot. Three-ish days. Three-ish days. And then from there to Esterle is how many days? It depends on what path you take. If you're going through the mountains, it'll be a little slower. And again, we're assuming everything goes smoothly, right? Yeah, yeah. So if you're going that way, it's probably gonna be almost another two and a half to three days.

So that's six days of travel right there, but if you were to leave from Esterhold and head straight back, you have places to stop in Durnhollow and Aubrey and then Winterhaven, that's about another two and a half, three days unless you really kick it in high gear and you're just, like, going... Since you have a carriage, the cool thing about that is you don't necessarily have to stop in the evenings. You can go right through and just drive in shifts. People can sleep in the back of that carriage. What about the horses? Well, it's a little cruel to the horses and you can only do that.

I mean, they will have to rest eventually, but in a pinch you can do it. Yeah. Okay. So I feel really good about this plan. So we're looking at, like, nine to ten days total for our trip with minimal stops and chaos just doing the math. Okay. Of course you have plotted so far. It's cutting it super close with do-able. Yeah. Too bad we don't have any teleporting stones. Okay. I feel really good about this plan. I feel like it's... I feel like it's the most solid plan we have. It's the most solid we're gonna get. Yeah. By the way, thank you guys, those of you who keep track of the show more aggressively than me.

Because like I said, I've been here forever and I, like... Four and a half years. It all has muddled together for me at this point. So without you guys, I would be at a loss for, like, names and people to help me and everything. Well, I know. I used to take it personally. You are just not a proper nouns guy. When you were on the show for a year, you weren't a proper nouns guy and you didn't remember any of this stuff. And I used to think it's like, well, when there's a map, it'll be so... It's not. It's just, you're not that guy. And that's totally fine. It's just...

If I haven't talked to the character in, like, one month of real life... Right. That character's dead. Right. That's not fully inaccurate. Yeah. So, yeah. Thank you guys for all the support on that and helping me make a better concrete plan here with, like, reinforced by actual data. I'm really excited for this, actually. I couldn't remember the name of my dog, so, you know. That's all good. Yeah, we have an episode that's like 10% roleplay and 90% talking things out. Well, here's the thing. We haven't had one of those on G1 in a very long time and it's not like people hated it when you guys were doing the army stuff.

Like, this is just different. And it's a very personal mission. It's not like fate of the world. It's like fate of Malkus. But it's important because this does set a precedent. This is interesting. Yeah. There are some horrifying implications, too. Like, if I win. So, Malkus has some of that stuff to think about as well. You never know, man. We'll see how things go. No, it's... At the end of the day, I can already tell that some, like, other power mad Winterhaven night is going to become Malkus's problem down the road. Wow! We don't know that. I know it. Look, it's just good writing at that point.

You thought the worst when you were coming back to Winterhaven. You thought it'd be, "Oh, they're just going to straight up murder me." And that didn't happen. Be optimistic. They're going to try you first and then murder you. Theria's been rough on my psyche. You've been rough on Theria's psyche. Okay, so it's even. We call it even, we cancel the trial, we all go out for air. Again, you buy the city a pizza, everything's square. Guys, I think that's a pretty good time for us to stop for the day, though. And I really appreciate y'all sitting down. And we will sit down sometime after Dragon Con and we will pick this up.

Okay, so that means I've got like a month, right? Oh, you guys got plenty of time. Not a month. I don't know. I don't know when. But you guys got plenty of time. Just enough time for Rob to forget everything. I'd say if you guys start plugging in, if you guys want to start a thing on the G1 page and talk about it, that's totally cool. Okay. Okay. Thank you guys so much. Yeah, see you guys there. Week and a half. Woo hoo. Bye guys. Bye. Have a good day. Hi, I'm Michael. I hope you enjoyed this episode. It would be awesome if you could hit our iTunes and give us a review and five stars.

It means the world to us. If you want, you can also go to our Patreon page. And for just a dollar you can get some awesome behind the scenes content. Or you can just reach out to us at @DNDOurPodcast on Twitter. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe to our channel and share this video with your friends.