Guided Tour

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. After finding a friggin' sweet risk chronobulator for Museum Replicas Limited that is currently available for $20, Dr. Breanna Marie vanished. She awoke to find herself trapped in another time and space, driven by an unknown force to change worlds for the better. Her only guide on this journey is Jason, an observer from her own time, who also showed up for some reason that only Breanna can see and hear.

And so, she finds herself leaping from world to world, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that her next leap will be the leap home. Okay, Jason. Where are we at? [sigh] Italy. 1503. But not our Italy. Think like Assassin's Creed. How is it like Assassin's Creed? Nothing is historically accurate, and no one speaks Italian. So why are we here? Well, there's this guy named Leonardo da Vinci, and he's about to be assassinated by a- Oh, okay, seriously. Could you stop with that f***ing accent? Um, sorry, I was trying to set a mood, kind of go for like a Dean Stockwell thing.

Well, stop it. So, wait, is that Leonardo da Vinci? Why is he naked? I don't know, but he's painting the Mona Lisa. Oh, that explains the smile. Hey, bro! Ah! Who are you? Why are you here? No one is supposed to be here while I'm creating my masterpiece. Okay, first, turn around. Second, do you have any weapons? Particularly any weapons sold by a company we might be promoting currently? Well, our promoting museum replicas is limited, because those are the only weapons with the Leonardo da Vinci seal of approval. Here, try this. A masterwork, the Hutton Fortune.

Is that from the Windlass Steelcraft's Battlecry Collection? Si. Oh, he can speak a little Italian. Good. I hear that it's designed specifically to be used in battle, made from 1065 high carbon steel with a darkened, battle-hardened finish, and an extra wide tang and temporary into a lot 50s RC. Is it even pre-sharpened? Si. Oh, that's the only Italian he knows, I think. It even includes a matching scabbard with belt-stop, custom packaging, and certificate of authenticity signed by each smith that touched your blade through every step of the forging process.

Is a man with such care you know believe the amount of care? Ah, Leonardo, I have come to kill you. Nope! [glass breaking] Well, at least we murdered one of these offensive stereotypes. That was so easy! Since the Hutton offers a sharp front-loaded blade whose center of percussion is capable of tremendous cleaving blows and chopping strikes, I whittled that assassin down in seconds. Weird that he came in wielding a blade instead of, like, poison or something. Well, thankfully, his blade was not crafted by museum replicas and was not nearly the quality of the Hutton.

Well, looks like we're done here. These problems seem to be wrapping up awfully quickly. I think that's because Museum Replicas Limited is such a reliable company. Use the code "dairy10" to get 10% off your order at checkout at museumreplicas.com. 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 Rob! Holy cow, do I have to fight? Do I have to fist fight someone? It's called showmanship, Robert. I mean, I've heard "psyched" before, but I'm worried you're going to have me box a man.

Oh, dude. And in this corner we have? He has been amping it up lately. I think it's getting close to 200, and he keeps getting more and more into the let's do the thing. Episode 200's coming. Let me tell you guys a story. I had a conversation with Brady the other day, and I was like, "You know what's coming? Here's what's coming." Because it doesn't necessarily affect her character. You told her? Who do you think I would tell? Let's just be honest. There's some stuff, guys. Oh my god. I've been setting up dominoes for years. 200's coming. Anyway, Rob! Hey, I'm Rob.

I play Malchus Grimn, a Stiefling Warlock. And Michael. Hey, I'm Michael, and I play Amvin Yamil, the half-elk Stormrage. And Rachel. I'm Rachel, and I play Tavine Brightheart, the Minotaur Shaman. And Kelsey. I'm Kelsey, and I play Arya Lethea, the Drow Sion. Guys, last time on the show, you were making your way south toward the Overwatch, and you stopped to do a good deed. You did, and a lot of people were proud of you for that. You stopped to help out some, well, seemingly they were merchants who were being attacked by hill giants. You stopped to dispatch the hill giants, and then very quickly you found out that the people being attacked weren't necessarily on the up and up.

Theo was taken hostage. Arya, acting in a very knee-jerk, "don't hurt my friend" type of way, took a shot at the bandit who was holding Theo at knife point and missed. As a result, the bandits slit Theo's throat, you guys got into another combat, and you managed to take care of the bandits and save Theo's life just barely. Like, just barely. He almost bled out. Afterwards, you had a very touching scene, and it felt like... I don't know, it felt like there was some bad stuff that happened at the party, but you guys weathered it. At least on the surface.

So, how's about we pick up, a few hours after that, and this would be toward evening. Now, you guys took a hostage. There was one of these bandits who was left alive, a female tiefling. Malchus tied this tiefling up, and then you took the extra wagon that was left behind. So you guys are traveling with two wagons now. Now, wagon number two is full of goods that were supposed to be delivered to the Overwatch. So, you're on your way anyway. This wagon is slightly nicer than the one that you paid to have, you know, you commissioned it and paid to have made.

Now, if memory serves, Malchus is driving one wagon, and who is driving the second? The original wagon. Me! Taveen. Taveen is driving. Okay. Now, it's coming on evening. Are you guys going to ride through the night, or are you going to set up camp? Because right now, I would put you... there's a gap just before White Wolf Valley. There's a gap between the Highland Mountains and Betrayal Ridge. There's going to be sort of a patchy forest that would be to the west of you because you're heading south. So, what would you guys like to do? Are you guys setting up camp, or are you continuing on?

Well, quick question. Is the road wide enough for two wagons to ride side by side, or would we have to be in line? No, this is a pretty big road. This is... I mean, if there's a Therian equivalent of a highway, that's basically what you've got. This road connects Winterhaven to Overwatch, and it's kind of the only one that does that with this efficiency. It's a big trade route. Or, well, it used to be before the war, and now I guess it's going to be again, hopefully. So, yeah, you guys could ride side by side. If another wagon or something comes along, you might have to go one by one until they pass, but other than that, it's wide enough for the both of you.

Or maybe they'll have to pull off the road. We'll see how generous we are. Yeah. We're at the bigger party. It just becomes a game of chicken. I speed up. Crack in the reins. Yep. Okay, so you said it's getting on evening. I think at some point, Tavina would look back also and kind of look at what is Amven doing in the back, like, alone? [laughter] Furiously masturbating. It's just... [laughter] We're finding out a lot about her. He looks away and be like, "Um, uh, Malchus, I think we need to stop." [laughter] So actually... Sorry, that's not... [laughter] It just came out. [laughter] So since he actually has the whole back to himself, because everyone else is in the other wagon, he actually has all of his notes spread out, and he's like, I guess, re-catalogging, re-writing connections.

To anyone else looking in, there's like, "Dude, that's a lot of paper, and are you like, did you drop it all?" It seems like it's not organized to anyone else who looks back. It just looks like he's immersed into... looks like maybe he... You know when someone's like, "Ah, what is that, the beautiful mind or any other one?" Where it's like, you're lost in what they're doing? He looks lost in cataloging, so... As if he just had a light bulb. But you can totally interrupt him if you want. It's fine. Okay. You can wander. [laughter] I think Kadeen would also look over at Amalkus and just kind of like, I guess, look and see if he looks like he's getting tired, or kind of gauge, like, you know, because everybody, we didn't get a full rest.

I know that Arya said she was enough, or she fell asleep probably. Theo might have dozed off. Anvin obviously is not sleeping. Obviously. He's furiously writing notes. So yeah, she's just gonna kind of look around it and see if she can judge, like, how tired does everybody look? Like, can we push on a few more hours, or should we stop now kind of thing? I mean, Arya'd still be asleep. She's out. Like, not awake at all. So... And how far again are we from civilization? Oh, you're probably another... probably a day and a half? Mmm. Mmm-hmm. Yeah, no point in rushing if it's not that close, I'd say.

My instinct is to stop. Okay. So yeah, Amalkus, do you think, do you know of anywhere along this route that might be a little bit safer, or do you think just anywhere's as good a place to stay for the night? Mmm. I don't know anything in advance. With your knowledge of the wild, could you select a spot? I would like to look around and see if I can select a spot, Jason. Do it. Do me a favor, roll an nature check. Oh, I'm good at those. Get 'em, superstar. Oh, come on. Oh, wow. I would be good at those. [laughter] Under normal circumstances. It's getting dark. If you want to wake up Aria and have her help out if you want, I mean, she wants to do that.

Well, the way it would work, basically, is to Tevin, it's like, "Oh, I've got this." Okay, gotcha. Like, it would be a... Yeah, with a 19, you can... [laughter] With a 19, basically, you'd find a nice, seemingly quiet place. Usually what you're doing is trying to find something where there's large rocks to your back or something. Something where you don't have to keep your head on a complete swivel, right? You can kind of look at one entrance, something like that. But most stuff in the wild won't bother you. You get your campfire going. Most regular wildlife, like wolves, bears, things like that, they don't come sniffing around.

Unless something's up or something like that. What you've got to look out for is bandits and things, usually, in this area. Well, we've killed them all, so that's great. Yeah, you've killed every bandit. Every bandit. [laughter] So, yeah, Tevin would find a little spot. Okay, I would just kind of motion to Malkus, like, "How about let's head over that way and go ahead and set up camp?" And then she's going to kind of poke her head down and talk back to Amban. "Hey, we're going to pull over and stop for tonight if that's good with you." "Sounds good to me." "You may want to clean that up so we can crash space." He looks down and, like, "Oh, gotcha." And then starts cleaning up.

Clean all that up before dinner. Yeah, clean up your toys, put them away. Okay. [laughter] So, you guys are going to settle in for the night. You get your campfire going, you get the standard camping affair, you know, your bedrolls, all that stuff. Again, it's starting to get pretty chilly at night, actually. Right now, it is the eleventh of Thorim. It's a pretty cool night and stuff, so you'd probably have to bundle up a little bit. Nothing too harsh, but are you... Is this this thing where you guys are going to enjoy a meal together or something before you just crash, or are you just crashing?

I'd like to set up some order of watch, at least, too. Right. I usually just assume that these days. Yeah. I never assume any group... Look, since the incident on group two, I don't assume any group is just going to be like, "Let's all put our guard down and go to sleep." It's just, it doesn't happen. I'd like to try naivety for just, like, one day. Just, like... Get us all murdered. Leap of faith. Let's just trust the universe to do the right thing. I feel like... Oh, sorry. How are you feeling? Oh, okay. I was going to say, it also, like, Tavine would probably want to tie the bandit lady to a tree or something.

Mm-hmm. Just to make sure she's not going anywhere, because she still doesn't trust her. That rock looks really good. Are you... Let me ask a question. Mm-hmm. Is this just for a chance to redo that roll that mounted the... No, this is actually tying her physically to a tree. Like, probably leaving those ropes that are on her, dragging her over, and just pushing her up against it and wrapping rope around her. Oh, okay. Enforcing those ropes that were already on her. Okay. So let's do this. Let's have Tavine roll a Dex check. Oh, because I'm so good at that, guys.

Okay. Yeah, I'm great. Then we put her in a puzzle box. And we light a fire alarm. Let's bury her in the ocean. So great. Okay, cool. That's a 27, guys. 27. That's a 27. That is exactly what Malchus rolled, a 14. Which, add them together, makes a 28, actually. Okay. I'll just throw that out there. It doubles. Can't... I'm not going by Monopoly rules. That's not the... They're stacking. If we do it again, she goes straight to jail. That's the... Okay. So anyway, she is going to be tied up to a tree. You did say you gagged her before, and you just didn't want to hear anything from her.

You didn't want to fucking... You didn't want to have to acknowledge her unless it's absolutely necessary. Can I also put a bag over her head? Sure. Sure. I don't want her... I wanted to throw her in the lake. I know. So I imagine you guys are getting some vittles here. You getting some food? Yeah, food would be good, I feel like, after that. It's been a day. Yeah. We could all sit by each other, kind of like... Yeah. Can't fire it. Arya's probably going to take some food over to the tiefling. I feel like she's probably been pretty quiet. Before she eats, she's going to take stew or whatever and actually go over.

I mean, she's tied up, but... Dump it on her? No! Hot, swollen stew? I don't know. Feed it to her or something. It's kind of a complicated situation, but she doesn't want her to be super uncomfortable or anything. Taveen won't stop you, but she's not going to give you a look of encouragement. Right. Well, let me ask you a question. How is she tied to the tree? Is she in more of a sitting position or a standing position? However, she was tied before, so I guess... Didn't he say, like, hogtied her basically? Yeah. Yeah, so she's probably on her knees, like awkwardly, maybe her side against the tree.

Like, Taveen wasn't going to undo those ropes. Right. Exactly. More ropes, good. Okay. Pretty much, yeah. Pretty much, yeah. Taveen's just like, "I just don't want to deal with you. Putting you over here so we can keep an eye on you and you can't get away." Right. By the way, she's not like beating her up and dragging her by her hair or something. You know, she's just not being overly nice either. Right, no, I understand. Like, I think I get the... It's like, look, you're taking her to the proper authorities. That doesn't mean you have to be insanely nice about it.

No. Meanwhile, Aria's just... And I don't think, here's the thing, I don't think feeding her is like necessarily cuddling her. Like, she can't starve to death. No. Like, that's... I get it. That's cool. Yeah, and that's like, Taveen's not going to stop her, but she's not going to help. Right. So, some time goes by, you get some food warmed up, and Aria will take that over to this tiefling lady. Does she say anything when she like, takes off the gag and stuff? I think it would be more of a situation where she thinks she's dead. Any minute you're going to kill me.

Any minute. And I feel like her eye movements, the expression on her face would put that out there. It's like, okay, here we go. Like, you take the bag off her head, and it's just like... And it would almost be puzzling to her. It's like, why are you feeding me? Like, who are you taking me to then? Like, you've got to keep me alive long enough to get me somewhere. Why? That type of thing. Okay, so she's like visibly afraid? Is that... I would say, yeah. Okay. At the very least, questioning. Like, why haven't you... Just why haven't you killed me? Type of thing. Okay, I feel like Aria's probably not going to...

She's going to kind of avoid eye contact and probably not say anything, but she's also kind of frowning while looking at like, the way that she's tied up. That doesn't look sort of comfortable sort of thing. I mean, is she... So is she going to eat still? Yeah, I think after a few minutes... Okay, I think the initial... Thought would be, that's poisoned. And I'm like... And I feel like she'd go, that's really stupid because you could have just stabbed me. Um, okay, fine. You've seen me punch things with pure force energy. Anyone in this party could have murdered her in a plethora of ways that wouldn't involve a slow poison.

Like, it doesn't make any sense. So that's probably not it. I just had a thought. Wouldn't it be weird if like, this is how a new character came on? Now meet your new... your next member. The group is closed. It would be honestly less weird than what happened with Theo. That's kind of fair. Group one just kidnaps new members. But yeah, she would eat after a bit. After she eats, I was going to glance towards the party and just sort of... I don't really want to put the gag back on. I don't think that it's necessary, but you'll keep quiet, right? That's not how this works.

Gag her. There's no need for that. If you don't want to gag her, I'll gag her. Look at her. She's terrified. She should be. If she is not gagged, she can yell for help. You cannot trust someone you're imprisoning. She is not our friend. That doesn't mean we have to be cruel. It is not cruel to gag her. It is precautionary. Fine. Yeah, she'll do it, but not... she'll be gentle about it. Right. A gentle gagging, right. I know what you mean. I know what you mean. She's even going to look a bit apologetic while she does it. We didn't have to make Arya do it. I could have done it if it was traumatizing for her.

Well, no. Well, she thinks it's better for her to at least be kind of gentle and nice about Malchus coming over here and ripping her jaw off or something. He burns. He doesn't rip, okay? Well, the problem is it's a fellow tiefling, so she has a resistance to fire. He would know that. That's true. Oh no. No, no. So let me ask a question. When you're putting the gag back on, is it more for show for the rest of the party? Like, I'm going to put this on but kind of loose. Or are you doing the job proper just to make sure that it's fine? Is it more like relenting or is it more like, "They said I had to put it on.

They didn't say how tight." No, I mean, she's going to do it, but it's not going to be... not in a way that it would be really uncomfortable or anything. If that makes any sense. I don't know how this works. I've never gagged anyone, surprisingly. Well, actually, there are several methods. Now obviously, audibly, she'd still be heard, but it would be something obstructing her mouth. It would be like that type of thing. But she's not going to be screaming for help. It's not the same. It would be muffled. So, sitting around this fire here after that's sorted out.

The view's been quiet for a while, obviously. He's normally a little more chipper than this, I guess. Or someone who would probably facilitate conversation a little better, a little more. But yeah, I've been kind of picking at his food, kind of quiet. I feel like even though they're kind of sitting in the wagon together and woke up and set up camp and everything, Arya's been avoiding him, kind of like glancing away if he looks at her or something like that. Kind of not wanting to face how things played out. Yeah, yeah. I'd say that. I'd say that Amvin would come and sit next to him, kind of recognizing that he's not, you know, his normal out-worthy self.

Where he's talking to everybody and making jokes. Or what we think is jokes. Yeah, he's not... I think he's the type more like, especially on long road trips, it's like, "So, weather's nice!" That type of thing. Just try to get, "Let's talk so the silence isn't murder." That type of thing. I don't think he likes quiet. And he would obviously greet Amvin when he sits down like, "Hey." But kind of quiet. Again, just picking at food. But she responded, "Hey man, how you doing?" "I'm fine. Long day." "Bad it was. Bad it was. You did great, though." "I need to get better at..." And he's gonna sort of gesture to the armor.

Just... This whole thing. I'm... Not really built for it. But... Maybe I can get bigger or stronger or something? I don't know. Well, I mean, look at us. We all started... And we were all in your shoes at one point. We were all wanting to get better. I mean, I even failed my entrance exam to even get into Uminyuro. We all fail. We all... We all have those days where we say, "Not again." What did you do when you failed? Well, I said to myself I was going to go back to the library and study and get better, but... Honestly, I was so upset and miserable I went to a...

There's a pub I could find. Because I felt like the world was crushing in on me. Nothing I would do was ever going to be good enough. And then he searches Theo to see if he can recognize that same feeling. I think there'd be a very slight nod. I get that. So, yeah, I went in there and there was this loud, boisterous person in there. He was bragging and... You know, I wasn't even paying attention to him other than I... Well, everyone could hear him. But I was upset because they were telling me to leave. And... Finally, I just... I sighed really loud. And he thought I was... sighing to him.

Suffice to say, I got beaten up real good. This was back before I knew any of the powers. I was trying to figure out who I was. I didn't think they had fights like that, Numenuro. Well... It's mainly between rival schools and... It's more of like the bullies in different groups. This guy was a pyromancer. He did some good fire punches. They were quite bad. I actually resigned to leave that night after that and was walking back to the... The study where I was spending my night because I couldn't even afford to sleep anywhere. It all kind of like stopped for a moment.

When did you start getting your powers? Or when did you know you had powers? I was younger. When I was a kid. And it wasn't... It wasn't a shock. My... My mom had magic, so... I guess she kind of figured I would too. Well, I really did know my parents. I hoped that I had magic. That day was the day I actually learned I had powers. Did yours... Did it happen after an event or... A reaction or something happened to you that day? No. I got picked on a bunch. I was kind of small. So... I was living in Esterhold at the time. It was before I went to live with my dad. Yeah, I guess...

One day I kind of defended myself. This kid got hurt. And... I just felt really bad about it because I didn't... I didn't even know I could do that and I wasn't trying to hurt him. I just... I understand. I guess I've just never been a big fan of it. Never felt like something I can really control, you know? I do know. After I left that bar, heading back to my... The study to grab my stuff, I ran into the same examiner. That earlier that day, after failing multiple times, couldn't light a candle, couldn't move a chest, couldn't do anything. And he asked me, "What am I still doing here?" And something broke inside me.

And a gush of wind and lightning pushed everyone around, including the examiner. I had no idea what I did. I know I hurt a bunch of people there. I couldn't control it, and I still couldn't control it for many years after that. But on that day, they took me in and trained me. So if you'd like, I could help train you. So you can feel like you can control. Don't get me wrong, I would love to learn how to... Just focus a bit more, I guess. I've never really... I always look at the spot that I want to hit. And I could usually get somewhere in that area, but never usually there.

And earlier today was the first time where it just sort of... clicked. Like... I could see the person I wanted to hit... And I didn't care if it hurt them. It felt like your heart and mind and eyes were one. I guess? There's definitely a commonality I've seen. When you believe with all your might that what you're doing is the right thing. When what you want to do happens. You can do some pretty amazing things. And getting back to that focus point is probably the hardest part. Because the power's in you. You can be anything you want, but that's all I'm at, knowing how to get back to that point.

And I can help you weather focus, some meditation, some different ways to kind of feel that inner power and kind of guide it. What you do is up to you. But you're not alone. I appreciate it. I could give it a try. Yeah. Well, we can try after we finish eating if you want to try something small. Maybe we could do it tomorrow? Yeah. Definitely need our rest. And he'll pat Theo on the back and resume eating. He'll kind of give like a sort of a forced smile. Just like, "Oh, thanks." Would anybody else be talking about anything? I think Tevin would probably walk over to Malkus and kind of motion to step away a little bit for just a moment.

Yeah, he'll come. Okay. So I don't think Theo is in the right role for us. I don't know how to put him where he needs to be, but that did not go how it should have gone today. I am inclined to agree, but until he has a greater mastery of his spells, we can't count on him in a spellcasting capacity either. So she's going to give you like a very sour look and be like, "And if he dies before he can master them, then he's not going to be able to be in that role that he needs to be." What do you suggest? Maybe when we get to Overwatch, we don't have a good timeline, but maybe when we get to Overwatch, maybe you and Aria and I can go speak to Liara and maybe him and Ambin can work together.

And maybe we can also talk to Liara about getting somebody else who could fill in for Theo in that sort of heavy role that we need. Because he... And she looks almost like she's getting upset a little bit. She's like, "He's not made for that. I think we made a big mistake convincing him that that's where he should be." I mean, he had to do something if he was going to pull his weight while traveling with us. I know it didn't go well today, but it didn't go well with the knife because of a fluke. You know, it's not... This wasn't how things normally go.

It was unexpected. That said, as I can see, you are uneasy with how things are arranged. There's no harm in talking to Liara and seeing what she can arrange. Sure. Okay. He's a good kid, and I don't think we need to be putting him out in danger like that unless he's completely willing to do it. And after seeing how shook up he was afterwards, I don't think he's as willing as we may have convinced him he was. I don't look at Theo like that anymore. I don't... I know... I mean, maybe you just were using a turn of phrase when you said "good kid," but in a lot of ways, he has pulled his weight in combat.

He has pulled his weight in the party. I think he's tougher than you give him credit. That kind of brush with death is going to shake anyone up. But he's going to know, once he works it out in his head, whether or not he's cut out for continuing this life. Well, after I saw the lightning from him, that's much more powerful than anything he's going to do in that clunky armor. And I would love for him to be able to do that every single time we get into a fight, but he's been inconsistent. Well, maybe with Anvin's help, he can be less inconsistent and provide better support that way.

It is worth looking into, for sure. But what do you propose we do with him in the meantime while he is still inconsistent in that regard? I mean, we can't stow him in the wagon when a fight breaks out. I don't know. It's worked pretty well for the tiefling. Well... what, the prisoner? No, she's... I'm just saying we need all the help we can get when we get attacked. Yeah. And I'm not arguing that point at all. Like, just... maybe... What if we do both? What if we do both? For now, he stays in the armor and he fights, but we make getting him more magical training a top priority.

So he does what he's always done for now. But on the side, we prioritize changing things. I'm okay with that. I think that's a great plan. Okay. And we'll see if Liara has any knowledge of someone who can focus it more. Or if, you know, Anvin can do that as well. Or even if there's a necklace or something that, you know, helps anything. I am open to any solution that works. I'm glad you're willing to work with everybody. And she's gonna just smile and kinda, you know, reach out and pat him on the shoulder. We're gonna be okay in the trial, I think. You're a strong leader and people will see that.

Leader, huh? Well, I ain't lead in this group. She's gonna look over her shoulder and like shake her head like, "Uh-uh." Let me make clear that I don't consider any of you obligated to help me as much as you have with this trial business. I am very thankful. And that's what makes a good leader. You don't subject people to things that they don't have to do, but that they want to. I accept your assessment. So, when we do get to Overwatch, what are we doing with her? And she's gonna motion her head to the tied up tiefling. We are turning her over to the local authorities, as I think most people would do with any criminal that they caught.

If the law decides that she dies, then... Oh, and he like, he does lower his voice before he says that because he doesn't want her like freaking out over off to the side. If the law decides that she dies, that's the process. But, I mean, believe me, after what she did to Theo, I wanted to do it right there. The problem is, I need to be a bit more by the books for now so that there's less leverage to call my character into question. Taveen's gonna nod. I agree with you there. I may not like it either. And that rock looked really nice by the lake, but it will hopefully sway in your favor when things come out to play at the trial.

Well, we're certainly doing our best. Rushing off all over Theria and gathering character witnesses and so on. And Taveen's gonna smile and be like, "We just need to find a few babies you can kiss," and things of that nature. Right, right. Plenty of people watching. And hopefully babies that don't cry when they look at me. That would help. Yeah, babies cry at the sight of everything, so it's fine. I think after time Theo would probably approach Aria. Okay. Okay. I think it would be that thing where you move over to somebody but you're not looking at them and you sit down and that type of thing.

It's very having a fight with one of your friends in high school. It's very that. Except there's not even a fight. No. Okay, okay. Let's do this. Okay, yeah. She's probably gonna glance at him and immediately look away but not say anything or move. She's probably after she ate kind of been sitting on her own kind of arms around her legs, curled up a bit. Mm-hmm. He'd sit down next to her. Hey. Hey. You okay? She's really she's gonna kind of look at him but she's gonna look at his she's looking at his neck where you said there was a scar right? Oh yeah. Yeah. A very noticeable one.

Yeah. Oh God. Um, so yeah, so she's looking at that and then I'm I'm fine. I'm I'm sorry. What? That she'll kind of look a bit startled and she's gonna kind of look at him but why did I she's confused that he's confused. What what what do you mean? What I I I messed up. I thought that you were dead. And it was my fault and I'm. He's gonna he's gonna motion towards towards his neck and sort of like touch the scar. This isn't your fault. You tried to save me and I I really appreciate it. It's not your fault that this happened. You didn't do this. But she's gonna tear up a bit and I thank you but I should have been better if I had just been able to do it well or I mean even it was just in the moment if I had stopped and stop to think we could have done something else or talk them down.

It was I'm so sorry. He's going to sort of scooch closer to Aria and wrap an arm around her. She's gonna not respond for a second and then lean into him. And you don't have to be sorry. You didn't do anything. I grew up around people like that. And I didn't I didn't even see that coming and I should have I just I wasn't. I could have been better too. I could have been better at spotting it. I could have been better. Fending fending them off. I'm supposed to be the one right at the front right that the person who's making sure nothing happens to you guys and I ended up just standing there.

I didn't do anything. I put you in that position to begin with and I'm really sorry. She's gonna look at him and frown a bit. Just if you say it's not my fault and it can't be your fault you you didn't do anything wrong. You were just being a good person. Can I ask why are you the one that's in the front? I mean, I no offense, but it seems like you have skills in other places. I kind of think I'm been just asked me the same thing. I didn't used to be just I don't have control over my powers like he does and that everybody else in the party can do things.

I just can't I don't I don't summon shadowy tentacles or grow bat wings and I can't I can't heal anybody or help anyone if they fall down unless it's with a bandage. I can wrap a mean bandage, but just kind of offering up what I can. I think that all of the mean even if it is just with a bandage that's important to and I mean if it makes you feel any better. I don't really know what I'm doing either. It just sort of happens and well, you said you're kind of new to the whole. Traveling and it's a century type stuff right? She'll nod. Well, I think you're doing pretty good for this being something you're new to and you're only going to get better at it and today was real bad day, but I think it'll get better.

The longer we're out there the more we do this. We'll just learn what to avoid. So give kind of like a small smile. Thank you. I mean you'll get better at doing things to then it's to stay safe in battle. But I mean, I don't know if you can stay any safer than you have been but I don't want to think that you're dead again. Or anyone but that was horrible. He's going to give like just a little bit of a squeeze just kind of a ratio. Like I said today was a real bad day and I don't think we're going to have another one like that for a long time. Hopefully we'll just we'll all pay a little more attention and everything's going to be fine.

More chads later that day. Yeah. Yeah, she'll kind of chuckle. If you say so I want to believe that. Thank you. Really, I'm really glad that you're okay. I thank you for trying to help me. You should try and get some rest soon. Okay. Yeah, you too. And he'll give kind of a slight nod and stand up and probably go back like go to his bedroll and start setting up for the night like kind of settling in. Yeah, Dario probably start getting ready to go to sleep too. Does anybody else want to do anything before we move on? Not here. Right. So settling in for the night it is going to take over to the 12th of Thorn and morning is eventually going to creep up.

And with the first the first sign of light I would imagine the party's going to start start waking up getting their stuff together. And I'm imagining you guys are going to get back on the road. Yeah. Yeah. Continue the note-taking adventure. So you guys got about a day and a half of journey. Who would like to do me a favor? Roll a flat D 20 because I'd like to see something. Is it a good day? Nice day? About to find out. That turns whether I want to do this. Let's see who hasn't done one in a while. Malchus usually bites the bullet. Inventor Tevin I feel like haven't done it recently.

I'll do it. All right. That's the spirit. Flat D 20. Flat D 20. Just a flat D. Minimum of a 27. Hey! Look at that. See you were worried. You were worried. The last three flat D 20s I rolled in games was a three, a seven, and a three. Not feeling too confident. You were due. That's the, that's the, that's Vegas logic here. Yahtzee. Oh boy. So honestly the day is going to pass with not too much in terms of events. You guys are going to pop your prisoner, this tiefling lady, back onto I'm guessing Malchus's wagon. Sure. Yeah, I guess. Okay. I could bore her to death with all my notes.

Well let me ask who's riding with who. So I'm guessing it's Tevin and Malchus driving the two separate wagons. Mm-hmm. Thea would probably ride with Arya wherever she would ride. Well I guess it's a thing so if, is Amphen still going to be riding with Tevin? I guess what happened last time, I didn't know if we were switching it up for this road trip or not. Yeah well it's just like, I mean, doesn't want to leave like Malchus like alone so they just do the same thing. Malchus isn't alone, he's got the prisoner. Yeah, well yeah, don't want to leave the prisoner alone.

Yeah, basically. Yeah, so it's a little Arya and Thea with Malchus and the prisoner and then Tevin and Amphen. All in that load space. In the study wagon. In the study wagon. The study bus. It's like the party bus but for nerds. Yep. If this wagon is a rockin', I'm taking aggressive notes. [Laughter] So the day is pretty much going to slip by with very little in terms of notable events. It's a pretty nice day, there's a breeze going on, it's very comfortable for travel. You guys would take a couple of leisurely breaks every once in a while, you know, grabbing a drink and letting the horses drink, that type of thing.

But other than that, you guys are making fantastic time. You're welcome. Yeah. I would actually, I put you several hours just outside of the Overwatch itself just before the big fork in the road. There's a fork in the road that if you were to take it would take you east towards either like Durnhollow or Esterhold, something like that. Let me do something, I want to see something. At a certain point in this journey, behind Malchus, this prisoner's going to start to... to try and talk. It's of course muffled, but it's just... Just very, very, just trying to get someone's attention, trying to get Malchus' attention probably, being the one driving the wagon.

Ahri would probably notice, right? Oh no, everyone in the... It's a wagon, I mean everyone can hear this. It would be sort of like just looking, just in case it's like urgent. Is this an 'I need to pee' muffled scream? Or is this... Cause I mean, that's a thing that's had to happen a few times on this journey already, obviously. I mean, yes, we can just assume that that's a thing that's happening. Everyone else needs to pee too, we don't go over that in extreme detail. Roll the pee, everyone. Yeah, I don't want to do those logistics. Are you encumbered? No.

Are you encumbered? Maybe you'll carry around like little poop shovels instead. Jesus. Trowel. Coming in season two. Bug or feature? Alright, Ahria, pull the gag off of her, let's see what's up. I hope she'll do that. There'd be that just kind of stretching her mouth out. Just like... And you can see where the cloth is sort of the in between her mouth, like you can see where it kind of changes the color of her skin just a little bit because it was sort of pressed there. That'll gradually fade. Are we almost to the city? We are getting close. She's... you can tell she's trying to look outside of the wagon, just like that.

Okay, when you say close, can we see guards? Are we that close? Or is this like later? Later that day? Like that type of thing. What are you going to do when we get there? We will turn you over to whatever authorities handle criminals. Because that is what you are. I didn't do anything to you. You don't have to do that. Who actually put the knife in Theo's throat? That would be... there was a large balding gentleman who... Oh, that's right. Okay. He's very dead now. You may not have done anything directly to us. You are, however, part of a group that did something very bad to other people.

And had we not discovered that thing, your friends would not have attacked us like they did. You are an associate of a criminal, if nothing else. Willing accomplice. That is what I will tell the authorities here, if that makes it any better. She's, uh, she's gonna look down. Please don't take me there. Please don't turn me over. I'll do anything you want. Just please don't. What are you concerned about? I mean, aside from the whole criminal process thing, is there something else? They're gonna kill me. I'm not gonna get a fair trial. In the Overwatch? Do you really think that's gonna happen?

I mean, isn't it different now? I thought there was a new government. She's gonna shake her head. Just like... Basically with the kind of eye rolling, are you fucking high? Like, really? Yeah, it's just better now. Like that type of thing. I mean, the authorities are laying it back on the ground. It's complete DVD, but you know. You could just throw me out of the wagon right now. I won't tell anyone about you. You could pretend that you've never met me. You seem remarkably concerned about the legal repercussions for your crimes now. Where was this concern when you associated with murderers for how long?

How much of your life did you spend associating with murderers? I was with Terrick for a few years. But he didn't start out that way. It's just he was a bad smith. He couldn't... He couldn't cut it. So he just started taking things to get by. And then... I don't know. It just got out of hand. Have you ever killed anybody? She's gonna go dead silent. Mm-hmm. Please, we all kill people. She is going to try and scooch closer to Malkus. Don't. Don't. I'm just thinking what the thought process is for that. He's the one I would want to be least around. Theo would tighten up just a little bit.

Obviously she doesn't offer much of a... It's not like she's going to put up much of a fight or try and hurt Malkus or something like that. But it's like, "Oh, what are you doing? What are you doing?" It's tied up. But, yeah. Aria, will you take the reins for a moment? First, can I just roll a perception or something? Just to see if she's doing anything else besides scooching? Sure! Yeah. That's not bad. She still appears to be tied up. Again, you're going to notice minor abrasions around the wrist and stuff like that where she has tried to struggle. She has tried, like, probably in the night, something like that.

Tried to wriggle and get free. And she's got a little rope burn here and there. Which takes effort as a tiefling. But, yeah. Just appears to be scooching right now. Okay. Well, Aria will take the reins, but she's going to probably slow down a bit. I mean, I don't know if they're going that fast. And also she's glancing back pretty frequently and keeping an ear on what's happening back there. So, being aware. Okay. So, Malchus will move back into the wagon. And as she has scooted forward a bit, Malchus will not kick, not stomp, but he will put his foot to her chest and push her back into position.

And he will say, "I want to give you some food for thought as your mortality looks you in the eye right now and you react with great fear and you are trying to do anything to talk your way out of what you suspect is about to happen to you. Ask yourself if the people you and your companions killed went through the same process as they saw they weren't going to see another sunrise. Ask yourself how much benefit of the doubt you gave them. You are going to be taken to law enforcement. I don't know if they will kill you, but you will have an example made of you.

Through the law. Because that is what is done to people who murder. Stay still. Do you have anything else to add before I put your gag back on? Do me a favor. Roll a diplomacy check. Diplomacy or intimidate? Because... I don't feel... Here's the thing. I'm going to say diplomacy. Not that what you said wasn't very scary. I feel like it was more in the vein to teach a lesson than it was to... It looks like they have the same modifier either way. Yeah, I'm going to say diplomacy. I'm going to say... Okay. 24. She's going to get real quiet. And the first part of this, the...

How many times did you know? Just making her think about all the times that they probably did really awful things to people to take their stuff, to... you know. And didn't necessarily give them a second chance. And then the bit about... You know what? I don't know if they're going to kill you. I don't know. That type of thing. Before you put the gag back on, she is going to change tact. Maybe I could convince you in some other way. Oh my god! Give it a minute. I don't think this is that kind of conversation. It's exactly the kind of conversation you think it is.

Oh no! It's exactly the kind of conversation. She is going to, just on a dime, just cut it like, "Okay, begging's not working. Let's try something else." And she is going to... Not... Obviously, she's restrained and your boot is against her. She's not going to... There's not much she can do. But... Very, very, very come hither look type of thing. It's just like, "Okay, well, then we're going to go with this." I mean... You seem really uptight and tense. Maybe... Maybe I could help with that. And... Then maybe I could just... Go. We don't... Have to go to the city.

Malchus will crouch down in front of her and say, "Your associates ran a knife along my companion's throat. You are desperate. So I'm going to overlook this disgusting offer you just gave me and I'm going to put your gag back on. I will, however, against my better judgment... Offer up the idea to the authorities in Overwatch that perhaps you could be rehabilitated. I will also let them know that I think it will be a lot of work. So it is up to them if they are feeling generous. Enjoy the rest of the ride." And he regags her. Yeah, she's going to narrow her eyes.

Kind of a "if looks could kill" type of thing. Malchus is probably giving her right back in kind, I would say. Right, yeah. Just like, "You fucker." Equal parts may be insulted and just like, "I can't believe that didn't work. You fucker." Like, really. I mean... Because that was... I feel like that was the ace in the hole, so to speak. Like, it's like, "Oh, well sure. Okay. I don't wanna, but..." It's that type of thing. You guys are going to ride along. This, by the way, would just be... just probably be looking at this woman in disbelief after... It's like, "Jesus.

This is so fucked. This entire situation." I feel like Aria would look back and share just a similar horrified kind of "what the fuck" glance with Theo. They're both kind of equally "what just happened?" Man, I was not expecting that. From me or from her or from both? Well, from her, I mean, your reaction to that is kind of what I figured it would be, but it was really well done. It was beautiful. You know what would be crazy? If Malchus was like, "Yeah, sure. Let's go." I know, right? "Everybody out of the wagon. Daddy needs some alone time." Oh, no! Malchus finally goes to trial and it's like, "Leaked Malchus sex tape!" The Winter Haven Examiner has gotten a hold of this.

Oh, boy. Guys! Guess what? You have made such wonderful time. That it is going to start to get on nightfall here. But I'm going to say that you are about three or four hours outside of Winter Haven. So it is up to you whether you would like to just ride along and get there in the night. Or if you want to make camp one final time. Malchus is disgusted with his monster of a prisoner and wants to finish this. Alright! Sevinne is okay with that. And she has no idea what happened in the other wagon. So you know what? You guys are going to ride along for another few hours.

It is now! I would say it is nearing the 13th of Thorne. Still the 12th, just late at night. And in the distance, the city of Overwatch is going to hove into view. Now, what I'd like to know is what would be going through Malchus' head. Because Malchus hasn't seen the city proper in a long time. He probably pulls his hood up over his head. He doesn't necessarily want to be recognized by anybody other than the people he has come to see. Because this place has uncomfortable memories surrounding it for sure. But he is kind of on task. He is kind of resigned to his mission here.

Because he knows he doesn't have time to spare getting wishy-washy about it. Yeah, just kind of trying, like, gritting his teeth, pulling up his hood and plowing through and kind of doing a mental inventory of what we need to do before we can leave this place. What about everyone else? Backing my notes up so I can look at the city. Don't want them blown away. And our breakneck speed. I think Sevinne would just kind of be quietly watching. She's not into Overwatch, but what she knows of Overwatch never really made her want to just jump in a wagon and come.

So she's just kind of watching. Yeah, it's never been a tourist destination for non-humans. It's almost an idea to a lot of people because it's like, "I'm not coming in within 100 miles of that place. Fuck that." I mean, not just the city, but there were Warforged patrol parties for miles surrounding this place. I mean, a lot of people never even get to see the city. So I think it's still kind of a weird thing for a lot of people riding in. What about Arya? I feel like, yeah, she'd be pretty apprehensive. She doesn't really know what to expect. I feel like she'd probably make a quick sketch in her journal of what the city looks like from approaching it.

Which is something to keep her hands busy and not really to focus on the sort of bit of anxiety. Would you guys just ride on it? What about Theo, Jason? Who's Theo thinking? Well, Theo's human, so the idea of being able to go to the Overwatch was never really off the table. It's never been his type of place, though. Predominantly, he grew up on the East Coast, so it's not really... this was never one of the things on his to-do list. It's like, "Ooh, gotta go to that big racist city in the Southwest." It was never one of those things. It would be more in awe of just the size of this place.

Because the place is essentially set up on a cliffside. There's a waterfall behind it, and it's only approachable from the front. From a defensive standpoint, it's amazing. It probably wasn't constructed with that specific intention, but eventually that came in handy. But the gates would be wide open, and there's some damage to the walls. There's some, obviously, from the siege that took place not that long ago. And they're still very much in the process of rebuilding everything. There's a huge transitional period for the city. I can't really take away from the fact that this place is immense.

This is a huge, huge city. So, let's drop our prisoner off first, get that done with. Would this be a thing where you were basically just finding some city guard, and it's like, "Could you deal with this?" type of thing? Yeah, I wanna flag him down and ask him where would we do a drop-off. I don't wanna just hand her off in the middle of the road. I will propose that maybe we let Tevin take point on this, just to avoid any recognition. Yeah, good call. Okay. I don't share. I mean, you seem like you're a responsible adult. I mean, I don't know. I can add old things.

We're just not sure how Malchus will be received in the Overwatch as a whole. Yeah, Tevin pays bills. She's a responsible adult. I do. I pay bills, I sew things. Okay, yeah. If you guys are basically just like, "Will you figure out where we gotta go? I'm trying to keep a low profile." She'd be like, "Alright." And I guess she'll kinda... Do you still wanna put my wagon kind of in front then, I guess? Yeah, I would imagine if you guys are coming in like a tiny little caravan, then it would be Tevin's wagon and then Malchus's, and then you guys would just be riding through.

There are huge gates that are open, and there are a cadre of guards by the front. We're talking six or seven just standing right out front, and you can see there are more within the walls just going back and forth. It's kind of a security check type thing. Okay. So she would probably just slow as she approaches the gates and do the wave, like, "Hail," kind of wave like, "Hello." And then as she approaches them, stop when she's within a couple feet and, "Good evening." This guard's gonna approach the wagon again, kind of before you even stop, just he's holding his hand up.

"Evening." We're coming in to take care of some business, but we have an individual with our party that we would like to leave with some officials in your town. What kind of individual? An individual with a possibly seedy past. We believe that officials of your town should deal with rather than us. They pull malkas off the bus after the... Yeah! Wow, we've been looking for this one for a long time! Thanks, lady! Alright. And he's gonna be checking over notes, that type of thing. And were you party to any crimes this individual may have committed? No, Sarah, we were not a part of her party.

Did you witness this individual doing anything or are they just suspected? Just describe the situation that we found her in. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Taveen will describe that we found them on the side of the road, attempted to help them, and then discovered that they had killed the owners of the wagon, and she'll motion to the wagon behind, saying that this is the wagon that they were trying to rob. So after getting a bunch of information, he'd point you. Alright, you're gonna follow this road, go downtown, there's a barracks located near the castle, you're gonna speak to them, and they'll tell you what to do with them beyond that.

Do we need any kind of note or anything, or just for you to go ahead? He's gonna sort of tear off this piece of paper that he was filling out, and he's going to hand it to Taveen. Just give them that, and then tell them what you told me, if they ask any further questions, give it to them. Okay, thank you very much. And she'll do the hand motion with Malkus, like, "Let's go." And away. Yep, start plodding through town in the direction he pointed to. A lot of torches lit. This is a busy city for it being late at night like this. Like, it's not super common.

Big cities usually have more going on after the sun sets and stuff, but this seems like there's almost establishments open around the clock or something, or at least very late into the night. It's gonna take you guys a while. This is a big city, and it's packed. And there are a lot of places in the city where people don't seem to give a shit that there's wagon traffic or horse traffic. They'll just kind of like dart out in front. A lot of jaywalkers. It's a problem. Everyone do me a favor and roll a perception check. Like, the theory of Hong Kong here. People everywhere.

Guys, I see everything. Everything. Oh, shit! You see almost everything. Again, a very, very densely populated city. Looking around, you guys are gonna spot, especially the closer you are to the front gates, you're gonna notice a lot of downed buildings. There's evidence of some fires that had broken out. But the further you get into the city, the better things look. You can tell that the outer perimeter here is what really got hit hard during the siege. And it does not take a historian to kind of tell you the tale of what had happened. A lot of pent up aggression over a long period of time.

And, you know, when you're fighting a war, stuff's gonna happen. Like, that kind of thing's gonna happen. That being said, for it being so remarkably close to when all of that would have happened, things look way calmer than they should. I mean, some level of normalcy, right? Like, the businesses are open, people are shopping, you know, people are going about their lives, that type of thing. It is remarkably calm for the overall situation. That being said, you are going to get some dirty looks here and there. Specifically, Aria, Taveen, and Malkus are going to notice that every once in a while, there are people who may not appreciate "your kind" rolling through town.

And there's the kind of anger that comes from them not wanting you here and not being able to do a thing about it. Like, the times they are a-changin' and these are the type of people that's like, "Things were better under Carter." That type of thing. And I've said so on other groups, but the kind of people that hang the old Overwatch flag in their window and tell you it's about history and pride. It's not about slavery or racism, it's about history and pride. So, that is a thing. That is definitely a thing. And they don't look violent, but they look like they might be if they thought they could get away with it.

I think people say it's kind of appropriate that it's Aria, Taveed, and Malkus that are the ones that are super noticing it. Maybe subconsciously you guys would be keeping a better eye on it. It's like, "I need to look." It's a thing here. It's definitely a thing. Meanwhile, there's a lot of people who are like you. There'd be a couple of stray minotaurs. Like one or two. Not a ton, but a couple. Bunch of tieflings, bunch of elves, bunch of dwarves. That type of thing. The city is... Cosmopolitan. Yeah, that's a word. Sort of middle school dance-ish, where one side of the room is boys, one side of the room is girls.

Not a lot of slow dancin' in the middle. A little segregated, a little bit. In terms of the city, they're all living there. But not really. They're kind of co-existing. Yes, they live there together, but begrudgingly. As we're driving and Taveed notices the minotaur, she's going to scrutinize the hell out of them and see if she recognizes them. Just saying. They wouldn't be familiar faces. They appear to be a minotaur that might have come from up north. Maybe popping in from Ebony Harbor or even further north. They appear to be sort of the less furry version of minotaur.

The more muscular version. Got it. Yeah, she wouldn't do anything. Just watching them like, "Hmm, more minotaurs." I'm assuming they all have hoards. Yes. They also appear to be very much haggling over goods. Minotaurs don't like to pay full price. Just not a thing. They don't feel like they should. It's just, "Yeah, but those aren't the me prices, right?" Got it. It's going to take you a while to get through this mess. Basically, travel slows down to a crawl, but at least you're not getting here during rush hour. Right around sunset? Oh my god, the streets are packed with people.

People coming back from hunting. People try to do that rush. You know when the sun's setting, it's like, "Oh my god, let's just get to the city. I don't feel like camping another night. Let's just get indoors." Eventually, you guys are going to get to the barracks that that guard was telling you about. I'm imagining you are going to drop this prisoner off. Is there anything you'd like to do before you hand her over? Malkus, that's you. Yeah, Malkus pulls his hood low as they're unloading her. Just offhand makes the point. Just to plant the idea, "I'll let you decide whether she's worth attempting to rehabilitate.

I'm just glad to have her off my hands." These would be human guards that kind of take her. Ginger isn't the way that I would describe they would take her. Not forceful, not throwing her around or anything like that, but very much like, "Come on, let's go." That type of thing. They would nod to Malkus, like, "Yeah, we'll take it under advisement, whatever. Let's just get her." That type of thing. Okay, yeah, that's all I had to say. Alright, Malkus, could you do me a favor and roll a flat T20 for me? Now, before you roll this flat T20, the higher the number, the less of a chance that someone is going to notice that THE Malkus Grimace is walking around on the streets of the Overwatch.

The lower the number, the more likely someone is going to notice, "This is where my past comes to haunt me!" With our big wagon that says "MG" on the side. Look, we all have regrets about how we designed our wagons sometimes. You might roll a 20, who knows? Actually, you just rolled a 20, so I don't know. I made a 27. How can you go wrong with that? A 27 on a flat T20! It's amazing! Number of the day, guys. 27. Oh my god. Okay. Let me ask the party a question here. Are you stopping somewhere for the night? Are you just making for the... I mean, what would be... so you're loose in this big ass city.

You dropped off your prisoner, so that is not your concern anymore. Whatever happens to that woman is out of your hands, done with. What would be the next order of business? It's late at night. It's basically the next day. I feel like stopping at an inn and getting an actual bit of good rest, not camping, would probably not be a horrible idea before doing stressful things. I wouldn't think Liara would like to be woken up at such an early time for a favor. I have a feeling she's more the type of person that just doesn't get much sleep. She's like Jason and Brie.

You know, just like, "No, I've got work to do. I can't sleep. There's too much stuff." We can also take a breather at the inn and figure out, okay, who's going where tomorrow, because we've got the wagon to deal with, and then to talk to Liara. So maybe just taking that, you know, a little bit of time at the inn tonight would be useful for everybody, and we can get cleaned up. Yeah. Let's make a point to take an inn in a nicer part of town, because I feel like that's nicer amenities and less likelihood of violence and... Stabbing. Nicer, also not human, which I feel weird saying, but I feel like that also kind of goes hand in hand with the not stabby.

Yeah, is there a ward of the city where it's like the international ward, where we keep you... The embassy. The most desirable is out of sight. What's starting to happen, and it's very interesting, is there's the predominantly human part of the city, and what originally was like, "Okay, what we're going to do is we're going to have a bunch of... Anybody can move in and stuff." So there are people starting to open up little shops within the, quote, unquote, well, the entire city was the human part of the city, right? And surely, humans started moving away from the shops that were opening, and it's like, "Oh, no, Moan's a filthy gnome.

I'm not living next to a gnome. I've lived here for... That type of thing." There's some people who have fought that, and some of these businesses have mysteriously burned to the ground, stuff like that. As a result, places like, "Oh, this is Little Evergreen, and this is where the elves are sort of like making a little home here, and they sell elven goods and stuff like that." There are little spots in the city, like little nooks and crannies that are taken up, and as a result, there are some inns that predominantly... They don't say that humans can't stay there, that there's nowhere posted that humans can't stay there, but they predominantly cater to non-humans as a result, like they're non-human friendly.

And there's a bunch of different places like that. There's a place near the bar called The Warrens, which... Um... Malgus would remember this bar from a long, long time ago. There was a guy called The Black Hand. Mmm. Can I just put out there that nothing good ever happens in places called The Warrens? That's like asking for alleys where people get shanked. We're not staying anywhere near something called The Warrens. Fair enough. There's a couple of different places, though, in town where you could... It would be more like... These aren't huge establishments yet, right?

Because they're just... So it's kind of like stopping at a Motel 6, right? It's clean enough, it's nice, but it's not luxury. It's owned by minotaurs, because I feel like with Tevin and our party that would give us an inn, but we don't want to go to a tiefling place where I might be more culturally a figure. Well, um... I like also... Are you drow or hospitable? Yeah, I was like, you don't even bring up the drow thing, like, okay. Well, the problem is drow don't own a lot of property on the surface. Aria wouldn't be on for that anyway, so he didn't even say that.

Like, okay, okay. I see you. Jason also didn't mention any drow congregating in the streets, so I thought that was a done deal. Because they hide in the shadows. Yeah, it's a problem in the drow community. That doesn't mean there's not drow in the city. You just won't see them until it's too late. That's the problem. Jason, I can't believe it! Some... look, the problem with some stereotypes is sometimes they're true, but society perpetuates them to make them true. It's a vicious cycle. Things are being dealt with in Esterhole. Maybe one day. Maybe one day. They keep everything a little darker, like, I don't want to stay at a place where I need a flashlight just to find the bathroom.

All the candlelight is very dim. Very dim. There's a dwarven place, actually. There's a dwarven place near you that you could stay that would be pretty reasonable, and it would be probably be the, you know, the closest you're going to get to... I mean, it's kind of the opposite of what you're looking for for minotaur culture, but I mean, it's, it's, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a reasonable place, like, expense-wise, and like, it's not luxury, but it's definitely a roof over your head and a place you can stay for the night. Okay, important question, then.

Is everything skilled for a dwarf? No, they're not. They, they, I mean, look, they're aware of how big they are. Yes. They're aware of how big they are. They're like, okay, well, we're, we're catering to a niche demographic here of gnomes, halflings, and us. Like, that's not gonna... Hey, you never know. I can give you a hint on that. Yeah, dwarves. Yeah. She has nothing against dwarves, so... Alright, well, the place will be called the Jagged Rock, and this, this is, this is a place downtown. It's not a huge establishment, but it would definitely be big enough for you guys for the night.

Cool. We'll take it. Alright, so... Checking in! Would this... Okay, let's, let's play this out. Fuck it. Let's, let's have some fun here. Oh. Who would be walking up to the counter? Everybody, or just, uh... We'd probably let Tavine do check-ins, 'cause she's sharp and... Do so well. Well... With a dwarf. Oh, yeah. Yeah, okay, so I, I feel like Aria's gonna be, she's, she's like hiding behind everyone else. I mean, not like hiding, but just kind of like, "I'm just gonna stay behind you guys. This is not being front." And also kind of like keeping, like, an eye out.

So, it, I don't know what role this would be in anyone reacting to us. Is anyone looking at us in any way or anything? Do me a favor, roll Perception. Yes. Drow and Minotaur are the party, and also Malkus. Mmm, better to check. We've, we've decided, we, we totally buy into that, we're basically, like, tactically trying to handle all of the various racism problems Theria has by, like, by, like, putting the best, putting the best face forward for any scenario. Okay, so... Oh, Perception from everyone, or just Tari? If you, whoever's going in. I'll be going in, but I don't think I should be the one talking.

I think we're all going in. Okay, cool. Cool. Malkus is clearly distracted. That's not contributing to success. Okay, so first of all, everyone's going to walk in and notice that it's pretty much just this, this one dwarf. Sort of, not aged, but, like, he's got some gray hair rocking. And for a dwarf, you know that that means he's well over a hundred. Well over. So, he's up there. Braided to the hilt, by the way. Just, like, just hair kind of messy, but beard braided, like, eight ways from Sunday. Just, just all kinds of, all kinds of braided, like, time and effort was spent.

The motif of this place, first of all, there's sort of a bar to the side, but no one's at it right now. And then there's kind of a front desk thing. And the motif of this place is definitely dwarven. Like, it's meant to be a little taste of home for dwarves while they're, while they're away. In a shitty, civilized, quote unquote, place like this, where it's just city life. It's just the worst. But this place, it's a lot of shaped stone, polished rock, that type of thing. Like, this, like, a lot of effort was put into the decoration. This dwarf is going to perk up when he sees you guys walk in.

Ah, what can I do? At the end, I don't know if Theo's gonna, where he's gonna come with us. It seems like it might be the right kind of non-racism. Do you have any rooms available? For you? For me and my group. Can I kinda nod backwards towards our group? Yep. Got a few left. Excellent. What's the rate? He's going to, he's gonna look, he's gonna look up and down the party. It depends, you, uh, just get in a room or food, armor clean and that sort of thing. Yeah, we think we'll be here a day or so, and the standard works for... Well, that's 15 gold per room. I got four left.

But, uh, someone's gonna have to stay with your pet. And he's gonna motion toward T'Vin. Oh. Oh, oh man. Green won't, she'll frown, but that's, you can see her just kind of like tense up like, "Mmm, I didn't have a problem with dwarves before, but I might now." I feel like Ari is gonna end up in Bristlebin. Her eyes are actually gonna start to go a bit white. Don't escalate. We don't need extra attention in the Overwatch, friends. And I, I failed the run. Well, how about I double your offer and you forget that we're even staying here? Tryna lay low. I respect that.

I'll tell you what. I'm just funning your friend, you know. She doesn't, uh, she doesn't look like she'd be too much trouble, honestly. We, uh, you're kind. And he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna motion. You can tell that he put, that was the polished version of whatever he was gonna say, the "you're kind" bit. He's trying not to offend. "You're kind, um, tend to be a clumsy lot and poodles and things, tear up bedspreads, you know what I'm saying." She's gonna nod and be like, "Most of them have horns and they don't know how to control them." And just leave it at that, like a very, she's not amused.

So he's gonna, he's gonna, okay, he's gonna, you can tell that that didn't even occur to him. Just like, "Oh, so you're like half a minute or you're barely even one of them. So okay, okay. I'll take twice the amount." "I'll take twice the amount." What? It's like, it's like, like, doesn't even want to like answer that or have anyone and basically just like hands the money over like, let's, let's just get this over with. And he's gonna, he's gonna hand you a set of keys. They're all upstairs. Again, if anyone comes asking, discretion is key. Exactly. Thank you.

And he's going to, he's going to give one last look to Devine and just like, like, just, just like, "Ah, we're just having fun." Right? Like just very, very that. She doesn't even like respond. Just turns and starts heading to the rooms. She's like, "Fuck you." "Jason?" That was him being cordial. That's, that's... I know, that's the problem. Just know that there are, there are, there are horrible racial terms for every race and area. Just know that. And he didn't use any of them. That's sweet. How many keys did he give us then? He gave you four. He just gave you the, the, you know, because you doubled the...

Yeah. Nice. Cool. As we get upstairs and kind of out of earshot, Malkus turns to Devine and Aria and says, "I appreciate your restraint downstairs. This is not a pleasant city. We just need to do our best, knuckle under and get through." Devine's gonna sigh and be like, "I'd like to show him what half a minotaur can do, but I will leave it because I know we have a time-sensitive matter." That's the spirit. Theo would raise his hand. Yes, Theo. Is, is everyone gonna be like that while we're here? The Overwatch has a colorful history. That's my diplomatic way of saying yes, it's going to be like that.

We're going to get through and we're going to leave this bigoted hellhole behind us as soon as possible. But we have business to attend to. So for now, we're going to be the party that takes the high road. That's how we get things done. Okay. I know it's uncomfortable. I know it is intolerable, which is why we have to do the impossible right now and tolerate the intolerable. Also, let our actions speak louder than words. He would also look over to Devine. I'm sorry, that guy was a... And he's gonna, he's gonna whisper, "He was kind of a dick." It's okay. I haven't encountered enough dwarves to know that all of them are like that, so hopefully it's not a common trait.

Well, not all Drow are like the ones we ran into in, in, in Fair Bay. When Theo says that, Ari's gonna kind of look at him. Can I ask what Drow you met in Fair Bay? Um, well, uh, we, we met some up north, uh, near Bandit's Rest, and they told us that they wanted us to meet them in Fair Bay. And then we had some in Fair Bay that wanted us to spy on someone in Esterholts. And we got the vague sense that they weren't great people. And he's gonna look over to Malkus for, like, confirmation, like, "Am I missing stuff?" Furthermore, it occurs to me that that might not be a closed issue.

Never know when that group may catch up with us. They seemed capable and not comfortable taking no for an answer. And then Theo would say, "Well, we didn't tell them no so much as just sort of...ditch them." Where were they from? Um, I don't know. I mean, I think they were from different places. I don't, I don't think they were all from the same place. Ooh! Um, the, not the guy. Uh, he seems, um, like a snake, almost? But, um, uh, the lady, she was important. I forget her name, though. She was the leader of something. But she was pretty quiet. Was, no, it couldn't have been that...

Malkus, do you know who it was for peace of mind? Rob doesn't remember. Does Malkus remember? Would that be the type of thing? Would Malkus commit something like that to memory? I, I couldn't tell you for sure, honestly. Okay, I mean, names of people that might be... Can I... Oh, no. Would you like some kind of check? What do you, what can I do for you? Um, give me, let's see. Or, Taveen was there, too. I mean... That's true. I'm checking my notes. It was, uh, Seraph and Orklat. And they were, they were properly introduced, and, like, the, the, the entire thing of child murder was there and all that.

Like, it was all basically presented to you guys. And I feel like they left an impact on the party because they pretty much split the party up canonically afterward. It was, it was something that the, uh, like, Yemir really wanted to pursue it. The rest of the party was like... "I don't really wanna..." type of thing. Well, yeah. I mean, it was, like I said, it's, I don't know how many months it's been since that session, but... If it's been a shorter time, perhaps Malchus would remember. Okay. So, uh, yeah. So, he, he explains that, so it was Seraph and the woman's name was Orklat.

Yep. Okay, when he says that, Arya's gonna kind of, like, step back a bit and her eyes are gonna go wide. You met with Orklat? We did. She's kind of lost for words, doesn't know how to respond to this. To the drow would be like, "Oh, you met the pope." Like, that would be a big deal. Like, it's, yeah. Are you implying that it was a terrible idea on our part not to acquiesce to her wishes? I don't, I mean, I, I've never met her or anything, but you said that you just left without saying anything? We did not commit to spy in exchange for favors from them. No, I, I'm not saying, I mean, that, that was probably the right decision.

I don't know. It's complicated. And she'll kind of shake her head and like, "I'll try to collect my thoughts." I mean, I left the underground to try and get away from all of that. It may or may not come back up for you, for, for us at some point. I don't know how important you were to them. When you understand what you need to explain to us, we'll take it as it comes and we will do our best to both protect ourselves and you from whatever you were trying to escape from and whatever consequences we've brought on ourselves by being non-compliant. I mean, it wasn't escaping from anything in particular.

I just, I didn't want to get involved with what was happening with my people. And I mean, you met her and whoever else she was working with, you know what they were trying to do. It's, I don't know if it is a good or a bad thing, but I just didn't want to get wrapped up in it. It's, I really don't know much more than you do, probably less. Sorry. Just a shock. Sorry. Like I said, in the event that that comes back up to cause us trouble, we'll handle it as it comes. No use in obsessing over the thing that we can't work on right now. She'll nod. You guys turning in for the night?

Yeah. I think so. Yep. Alright. It is now the 13th of Thorn. So daylight is going to approach. You're going to hear a lot of hustle and bustle out in the streets. It's actually even more densely packed than it was last night when you got here. People seem very busy, very rushing to and fro to get where they're trying to go. Now, are you guys just walking around town or are you taking the wagons? Because honestly, at this point taking the wagons might even be slower. I feel like we should drop off that one wagon though where it was going. Right. Go ahead and just get that taken care of.

Okay. Yeah. I mean, if that very well agrees. We could just do the one wagon, leave ours here. Yeah. And then after that walk. Maybe they'll clean it for us. Can they do that? Is that a thing, Jason? What, clean the wagon? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what kind of services they offer. They're dwarfs. I think double. I expect good service. I expect good service. I would also like to shit on the pillow before I leave as a, you know, a mince for them. Just, you know. What would probably happen is if you explained it to the guy at the front counter, you'd go like, well, yeah, I mean, you're going to have to defer everything.

You let your dog all over the furniture and it's going to get things messy. Yeah, sure. We can clean it. Like, it'd be very like, yeah, sure. We can help you out type of thing. Basically the whole time to be an interesting, they're like scowling at him, just like, just stop talking. Just stop talking. I feel like Jason's enjoying this too much. No, I, again, he's trying to be personable. Like it's like, well, I'm in the business of customer service. So like he's trying to like, he's very, he's very trying. He's very trying. It's just he thinks all dwarfs sort of thinks like, ah, like we're joking around.

If they're taking a tone that's much more aggressive, then they're not joking. They just don't understand how things might come across. They're a little dense. Yeah. I'm, um, it also comes from a dwarfs sort of think of themselves as superior to everyone else anyway. So it's just like, well, you know your place in the food chain. I mean, hey, it's not so bad. That type of thing. So I would say taking this wagon back would actually be a very simple thing of just like, hey, this is what happened. Bandits. Here's the, here's the stuff. We found this order slip, blah, blah, blah, blah.

They would reward you for doing this firstly, unless you outright said no, don't. They would absolutely want to reward you for one, being honest to all of your trouble. Character witness. Yeah, probably to be in what unfortunate players like to mean probably like now. Yeah. Okay. Would you ask them to like, Hey, there's a thing coming up in like a week and a half. Do you want to maybe like take a trip up north? I wouldn't object to giving them that possibility. If we could say, Hey, we're, we're, we reject monetary compensation, but it sure would be nice if, if you've got the time.

Or even just have, like, if that, like they can't do that for whatever reason, like happens at the letter, just something that'd be good. Yeah. Wasn't there a cart originally going to like Winterhaven? Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Like maybe they might not be too quick to travel again after that. Right. Well, I mean, you know, look, okay. Okay. So this is an older human couple, right? Oh, that's what makes them like travel far guys. Well, no, no, no. They, they, they, they, that's why they, they, they hire people to do that kind of thing for you. Goods, goods got to get places, you know?

So they're running this, they're running this little shop and would you guys, okay, what would be the pitch? Explain it to me. More or less just thanking them for their offer of reward and, and saying, you know, there is a legal proceeding coming up in Winterhaven for which I need character witnesses. I understand if it is an imposition to ask you to send a letter or, or even be present, but if you do have it in you, I would appreciate any support you can give. Otherwise, regardless, as Davine said, no reward required. We'll, we'll be on our way. Again, older, the older couple and you could tell they don't, maybe they've been in the city for a long time and they, you know, it's kind of shocking to them that like, it's like, oh wow, you returned.

And you're not even human. Wow. Wow. Okay, cool. And he's going to, he's, he's gonna again, like he's shaken Malchus's hand a few times, but like, I don't think he can get over the fact. He's like, oh, you're just, you're such a nice young tiefling boy. Just, just very, very just astounded at this. And he'd say, sure, sure. I'll, I'll, I'll travel up north, whatever you need. What kind of trouble did someone like you get into? You seem so nice. Man, hindsight's 20/20, huh team? I have a sensitive question to ask you, sir. And he's gonna, he's gonna lean in like you're, like you're telling a secret.

Oh, go, go right ahead. Just go. Do you think that the Overwatch is a better city, a city you like more since it transitioned government? Ah, who's to say really? I mean, I don't, I don't miss the hangings. It's constant, constant, always hangings, hangings, hangings. It's just barbaric. It's brutal. But things are a little more cluttered. You can't get anywhere. You can't get anywhere. It's shoulder to shoulder out there. You've had to notice. Why? Why? Why? Unfortunately, I think, I think based on that, it would create a conflict of interest for your, for your testimony.

So in this case, I will have to retract my request. Not offering, not asking for anything in exchange. Just, unfortunately, your, your attachment to Overwatch, as I, as I realize now, would complicate. The testimony you would give. There would be people who would question if there were some bias involved and all sorts of things like that. So I, I must retract my offer. But I do, again, I appreciate you saying you could do such a thing. Don't, don't worry about it. It's fine. Again, you seem like a, you seem like a nice boy and I would be happy to do anything to help you out if you need it.

Just, just let me know. Okay? I appreciate it. You stay in a nice place? We do. Our business here will be short. So we've, we've paid up whatever lodging we need at the moment. What does your, tell me more about your business though. You, you run merchant traders between the towns? It's, it's a lot of handmade items, things like that. Little odds and ends, decorations, trinkets, not a lot of high-end magic stuff. I don't, I don't think a gentleman such as yourself, and he's going to be like motioning towards all the stuff you're wearing. I, I mean... Not something of my particular fashion taste, hmm?

Well, I mean, you, you, you, you stand out. I'll put it that way. But, I mean, if you're looking for some sort of souvenir or a trinket, I could definitely give you a little something. I'd be open to seeing what you have, certainly. You've been very kind in a city where visiting as non-human is complicated. I would like to commemorate our meeting. Alright. Well, again, very, very appreciative of all you've done for us. You've saved us a lot of money today. And I'm going to have to warn you, some of the things in the shop are collector's items, let's put it.

And I don't, I don't condone a lot of the more offensive figurines that you'll find. But, especially the tiefling items. It's, it's, it was a different time. But, kind of clearing these things off the shelves, getting rid of them. We don't have to pander so much to the locals. I am happy to view your goods in historical context. Ah, good, good. You know what we do have? And, honestly, we couldn't keep these on the shelves for a long time, but we got a couple left. You ever hear of, well, I don't know if you're visiting or not, but Malkus Grimnus. He's sort of a local figurehead, historically speaking.

You know, I have, I have. But, what do you have regarding Malkus? Well, I got these little, these little hand-carved figurines, hand-painted by a lady who no longer lives here. She moved out of the city about two or three weeks ago after the siege. Lovely old woman. But, she wanted to make her way to Astorhold. Well, anyway, she used to make these little figurines, and they are adorable. Horribly offensive to tiefling people, but very adorable. Just the craftsmanship, the artistry involved. You understand? I do, I do. Let me see. I'd enjoy taking a look at these.

He's going to, okay, picture, picture the Therian equivalent of a Funko Pop. Okay. But the bobblehead portion of it is sort of this buck-toothed rendition of just very "gluh-huck," like that kind of expression on its face. Like a really racist precious moments doll? Yes, very much so. I love that. That's a good phrase. Good wording. Like, you ever, okay, you ever visit a friend's house and they have some really old memorabilia that you're like, "Oh, you should not be displaying this so prominently." Oh yeah, yeah. Like that kind of thing? It's like, you should not be as proud of this as you are.

I understand, historically speaking, whatever, but keep it locked away in a chest or something. Like that type of thing. Yeah, it'd be something like that. So are they like each posed doing something? How do they look? Well, this one actually is modeled after the treaty signing in Winterhaven. So this is like right out of the Bleak Ten, that like, "I'm signing something!" That type of thing. Like very, so he's got like an ink and quill set, like it's a little like he's holding something, but like the eyes are sort of like derpally crossed. And yeah, buck teeth and like, he's got like, he's got like little demon wings in the back, but like one of them is bigger than the other.

And like, it's very, it's not a flattering portrayal of, yeah, like the little tiefling tail in the back is gripping a knife. Which is not, yeah, it's very offensive. It is very hurtful. It was made in a different time. Oh my god, it's... Malchus looks them all over. And so how many of these are there? Ah, there's actually only a few left. Again, we're trying to get rid of them. It's a different climate out there in the streets. It's just not the time for this anymore. So they're marked down? You're trying to clearance them? I'd give them to you if you want.

Again, I understand that it's probably very offensive to your people and I more than understand that I used to have tiefling friends in the city many years ago. Many years ago. And Malchus looks over the figures again and he says, "You know, they are a bit offensive, but at the same time, I think it's valuable to know how people who dislike you see you. I would like to have these. If you'll give them, I would like to have them." Of course, take them. But I don't think these weren't exactly made with you in mind. It's not specific. It was more generalized.

And it was more about the Malchus fella anyway. Again, prominent figure in history. Real no-good Nick, from what I've been told. Not like you. You're a good kid. I've heard similar things about him. We always hope that those sorts of things are wrong, but I suppose you can never know until you find out in person, can you? Well, it's a little impossible for that, from what I hear. But if you're looking to find out more, I used to give these. There's a gentleman down the street, believe it or not, who runs a little tour out of their old house. Malchus and his known associates.

I've taken the tour like four separate times. This guy is amazing. Really paints a word picture. Just takes you there. That type of storyteller. I may very well do that if we have the time. What's his name? Oh, the guy down the street. It's an old, um, abandoned bar. Used to be a bar and something like that. Salinas, the last name. The guy's name escapes me. Salinas something. But nice, nice guy. I used to supply him with these little figurines. And, uh, yeah. Sold like hotcakes. Mm. Well, I'll take the ones I have and look over my schedule in the city. And in the event that I have time, I will see if I can take in some local culture.

Might be very educational. And he's going to kind of pat you on the shoulder. "Oh, you won't regret it. You should really take in history while you're here. Don't listen to all the rumors about the city. It's had its rough patches, but it's nice. It's nice. The food. Ah, the food. It's so good here." Well, if there's nothing else, I thank you again for your hospitality and for these little guys right here. This, uh, these will be memorable. And he'd kind of give this really mild bow and thank you for all your trouble. Really appreciate it. You kids, you enjoy your day.

Thanks. And, uh, Malchus will leave the, leave his, uh, establishment. Theo would want one of these. Oh my God. Like he would, okay. Here's the thing. To him, it's like, "Oh my God, are these supposed to be you?" Like, it'd be more like, "You have an action figure!" Like that would be kind of his, like, takeaway from it. Theo. How many of these do you have now? There'd be like four, like four left. Mmm. Uh, Malchus looks at Theo and says, "You can look for now. Let me, let me think about it. These, uh, I always, I always wonder how I am viewed in the places affected by some of my more.

Contentious decisions. I think I may end up wanting to keep these, uh, if nothing else, as a reminder to maybe think things through a little harder as I make decisions. We've all become very powerful and very capable. And I think these might help me appreciate the gravity of what we've become and what we're capable of." And Malchus just kind of like pulls one out and like turns it over in his hand and, uh, "Lopsided wings, huh? Cute." Theo would be enthralled by this thing, just like, "Oh my god, this is amazing." Probably not picking up on the racism, like, of it.

Like, just, like, just, it's just, it's more like, "Someone went to the trouble of making a bunch of these. This isn't..." That type of thing. Yeah. Hey, if it raises his, his, uh, spirits, it's great. Malchus, could you do me a perception check, please? Sure. Hmm. 13. Well, okay. Being back in the city and, like, it's, it's, it's daytime, obviously the city's changed a lot, uh, in the last couple of decades. Malchus is gonna get this weird feeling, though, like standing there in this, in, like, standing outside the shop and, and, and it's just kind of this weird, like, "I remember this street." Like, that type of, this section of town, like, "I remember this." And this, um, this, this, this portion of the city is a portion that, that, that Malchus used to live in.

Like, that, like this area, like this general area, like, you know, it's like, "Oh, I went to this bar and got blackout drunk one time and I did this thing." And it's like, "Oh, yeah, I used to eat here." Like, that type of thing. But the buildings would have changed or at least the facades of the buildings would have changed or owners changed hands, that type of thing. It's barely recognizable, it's like, "Wait, wait, I remember this used to be here and this used to be that type of thing." Where you're, maybe you, you go back to your hometown or something and, like, everything's changed but you sort of remember what stuff looked like.

Ah, I, it's strange to be back here, but we can't, we can't linger long. If, um, I am curious about that tour thing but only if I can find some adequate way to cover my identity. Odds are someone who runs a tour about me might be a bit sharper in catching on to who I am than our previous interaction. Unless all of you just want to go alone, I'm sure I could, I could find something to do in the meantime. Something less risky, less worth exposing my identity, potentially, over. I mean, if we were gonna go it'd be with you, it's the Malchus Grimness tour.

I'm curious, but it would be against my better judgment to walk into a place where I'm commemorated for awful things not adequately disguised. Theo. Theo would raise his hand. Go on, Theo. I mean, I'm not, not trying to pressure you, but you could put on my helmet. Yes, flawless. I'm not entirely sure that would be adequate. Wait, wait, that, would that even fit with the horns? That, it would, it, yeah, that would be the problem. Okay, if we're really bound and determined to see Overwatch history in motion, let's get, let's get a nice big hood, let's get some, some extra heavy clothing to put on me and a cane, perhaps.

I will walk hunched over so that my face cannot easily be seen and we will take in the sights. Lovely. Sounds like a plan. So we're doing this before we go see Liara. Yes, it's more important. Just getting our priorities straight, got it. Okay. Now that that's clear. I mean, we don't even know if we'll be walking out of the place with Malchus, like, let's at least have some fun before. It does get rid of one of our, one of our problems. I love that there wasn't a moment's hesitation. Yes, yes we are. No, I have no doubt, like, we're going to do it. It's just priorities, guys.

All right. So this place is run out of Group One's original home in Overdale. And walking up to this place again, like, Malchus, we, that feeling's like, oh wow, I remember this and this thing and this. This kind of like, wow, this brings back memories. Not all of them great. But there is going to be this building that, it's not a house. It was used as a house, but it looked like a giant renovated barn. I remember that description. There is a placard now hanging outside of the outside, kind of like hammered next to the next to the front door. And it is the historical home of Malchus Grimness and tours are given within.

So Malchus hunches himself over real good and pulls the hood down and kind of walks with a very much the old person hunch that he can generate leaning on a cane. And says, come on, we need to sell this if I'm going to walk through this place where I could be recognized. Someone hold my arm. Yeah, I was just going to say, Tavine would probably do the, you know, hold your arm kind of thing. Yeah. You're so ready for it too. If any instance comes up in which a name needs to be divulged, just remember, I am Rocka Can-Rever. Yes, sir, Mr. Can-Rever. That's the spirit, Lassie.

Oh my gosh. What she says. This is not going to go wrong at all. Oh, old Malchus. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all.

This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. This is not going to go wrong at all. In 1246, just two months after moving into this structure, Malchus Grimness and his crew of ne'er-do-wells brutally murdered several individuals in this very premises. You can see the blood stains near the door. Cut these individuals' hands off and then proceeded to go on a murder spree throughout the city that night, ending up in a bar called the Warrens.

They killed everyone. You can tell the guy is waiting for reactions. Like he's very campfire stories, like getting his voice very low. I feel like Arya played along like, "Oh, gasping at the right places, everything, shocked by these horrible..." "I'm a savage furnace man, Ironhide with him." "Oh, no." "Ah, you know your history." "I hear you could cook bread in his belly." "Oh, truly a monster if ever there was one, sir. But this was before we had control over the war forged. Well, when something like that just gets to run amok, I can't help but wonder why no one thought the worst was going to happen sooner." "Mm-mm." The night after these brutal murders, Mayor Carter simply asked this group to come to him and explain themselves, and in a show of amazing restraint, was going to set them free if only they could explain why they would take the law into their own hands the way they did.

And do you know what they did? And he's, again, scanning, just scanning you guys. "What?" "One of the members of their party turned out to be a vampire. And he sprung forward into action and tried to bite Mayor Carter's throat, tearing his jugular out. At the last second, Carter managed to fend off the attack and drive the party from his home, but the damage was done. He had to try to apprehend them, try to, at the very least, maybe at a later date, talk some sense into them, try to get them to see the error of their ways, but they were just too far gone.

They had a taste for blunt. They enjoyed it clearly." "Oh, they got that from the puppy eating." "Probably, sir, probably. Again, we have no official records to back that up, but where else would those animals have gone, really? It was on that day that Malchus Grimness fled from the city like the coward he was. Mayor Carter, who had later become king, kept this place in pristine condition as a reminder to everyone of what can happen if evil goes unchecked. In 1258, they made some repairs to the actual structure and there were some leaks, things like that, but as you can see, it remains standing to this day as a monument to what a monster Malchus Grimness was." "Mmm." "Are there any portraits or things of Malchus or any of the other people on the walls or anything?" "Not...

Okay, so the place seems to be divided into what... It's like, 'Oh, this is their actual living quarters. This is what things were like on the night of those grisly murders.'" "So there's that stuff. So there's possessions of the actual party sitting around. They're there. Malchus could... Oh, yeah, that's... And then there's some things maybe slipped in, like a club with spikes in it or... There are actually bones, tiny baby bones." "Oh, no." "And they're sort of set out on the tables like, 'Mmm, we love baby eating,' that type of thing. It's like, 'Oh, we don't exactly know what they were eating that night, but here's what we were thinking,' that type of thing.

And they were placed there, obviously. And there's artist renditions of the party, like mutated, hyper, complete hyperbolic versions of the party. There's goofy... In this depiction of Malchus, the one that signs the treaty later on is this coward who's just tired of running. It's like, 'I don't want to be held responsible,' that type of thing. This version of Malchus is like a twisted, hulking monster, like this red-faced, flame-covered demon that just... It's like, 'I'm coming to eat your puppies!' That type of thing. And behind him are slightly less mutated, but hyper-exaggerated versions of Duncan and Thorol and Ironhide and then Yenward.

Just like, again, all of them are much meaner-looking than they actually were. And there are portraits of them gleefully cutting the hands off of very... They're made to look like very innocent people, but just brutally hacking them to bits. It looks like they're cackling madly as blood drips all over their face, just like, 'Oh, no!' Enjoying it to the hilt. Like, very, very... It is a chick track of a tour, basically. Is there a guy at the end who's dressed up as Malchus that does signings? There is a person who does that within the city, but his day...

This is kind of his day off. They do... Yeah, there is a once-a-year festival that they used to have in town where there's pinata versions of Malchus that kids would break open and get little sweets and things. Man, they covered all the bases. So is that the... What would Malchus be thinking? That's basically the bulk of the tour, and it would be like, 'Oh, this is where the demon slept.' And it would show the bedroom, and it just kind of looks like a bedroom. Like it's not... 'Who knows what terrible thoughts would run through his head as he laid here at night, contemplating the next day's debauchery?' That type of thing.

Very, very much. Like just... Like, yeah. Every inch of this place. Yeah, this dead... I love it. So yeah, if the tour kind of comes to a close, Malchus says, 'Well, thank you for that rollicking description of how this all went down. Truly dastardly figures. So since things have changed here and the city is so different from back in those days, how is your business doing the tour? Do you get more business now?' Unfortunately, I give this tour mostly ironically now. People used to understand what the threat was, and they would leave with a sense of information, fear that they should be walking around with.

I get people who look a lot like yourselves and they come and laugh. You feel like you've been reduced to a sideshow here, huh? Oh, sir, I just wish people would realize that if we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it. I see. I see. I'm sure that particular lesson can be extended to a great many examples if we think very hard about it, but I digress. Don't you worry too much. I have no doubt that things are going to be... That Malchus Grimness, he can't run forever. He can't run forever from what's after him and what he did. I have no doubt about that.

One way or another, I'm sure justice will find that evil, evil man. Well, you take care and you have a lovely evening. You look after this barn here and we will be seeing you around. I very much appreciate you taking the tour. Are there any other seedy crime tours here in this city? Any other awful happenings? It is a hobby of mine to hear about these things. There is a lovely lady who lives across the city who used to do a walking tour of all of Malchus Grimness's old spots. A lot of bars on the list. He was quite a drunkard, actually. Isn't that the way?

And he's going to hold out his hand. My name is Cal, by the way. Oh, I'm Raka Kinreaver. Gentle with my fingers. I'm brittle these days, but he'll reach out and shake this guy's hand. Of course. Your hands are actually very youthful for your advanced age. You must take very good care of yourself. Do you moisturize? I eat well and I get lots of sleep. Keeps me supple. Ah, good. Good to hear it. You take care of yourself and you can take the tour anytime you like. Just maybe keep it between us that I gave you the old tour. There's a much more family-friendly version of the tour that I'm supposed to be giving these days.

I know you said it helps with the integration, but I... it's history, you understand. Well, if I run into anyone who needs a proper education on how these crimes happened, I will make sure to send them your way. Well, thank you so much. The rest of you take care too. I hope we've all learned something today. Of that, you have no doubt, my good man. No doubt. And Malchus flags it. And T'Vin will be escorting him. That's amazing. What would... okay, I gotta ask, what would be going through Malchus's head? Like what would like... Well, do you all have any questions to supplement your educational experience this evening?

Afternoon, right? Yeah, it'd be like morning-ish, yeah. Theo would raise his hand. Yes, Theo? Did... did you eat cats? No, Theo, I never ate cats. Or any other animals. Stop that. Okay. Strikes notes in his notebook. What I can tell you is that there are some things in that tour that, while exaggerated, have a grain of truth to them. And I will let you know that I have regrets about some of what happened in the early parts of my career, when I was less scrupulous about how I handled my jobs, when I was less... I don't even know how to put it. Thoreau? Ah, possibly.

The point is, I'm not always sure what the point is. I'm trying to do better, but at the same time, we're operating on a scale that normal people don't have to deal with. Normal people don't have to decide whether to push a button and wipe out an army. Normal people don't get flung through time. Normal people don't... you get the idea. I could go on. Well, I think that we're all just normal people, and that's what makes it difficult. But what I'm saying is, they don't have context to understand. That's the thing, right? What would they do, put in our shoes?

What would they do, making the decisions where cities rise and fall? I suppose I'll be remembered how I'll be remembered. There's not much use in complaining about it. I just need to go on continuing to figure things out and change the world for the better the best I can. I'd like to think it's better with me outside of prison, or out from under the Head's Been Zacks. I think everybody nods on that. So for the time being, I'll continue operating under that assumption, and keep my defense prioritized. Any other questions? There's a lot we should probably unpack, but I think we have other things to worry about.

Unless everyone else has something to say about it. No, I think we'll have a three day ride from here to Esterhold, if we want to do any of that. Fair enough. So on to the castle. Yep. No, no, no, no. Guys, I feel like that's a good time for us to stop for the day. And the next time we pick up, it'll be talking to Liara, which I feel like is going to take a while. I feel like that might be a lengthy conversation. I don't know. And then it would be, you guys are on a time limit, so it would be pretty much taken off for Esterhold right after to hopefully meet up with everyone else.

So how do you guys feel? How are you feeling about everything so far? I know today was a lot of tying up loose ends and checking stuff out and exploring, but... It was good. I think it went well. I don't know. It was fun. Yeah, no one's recognized Malchus yet, so that's something. We regret nothing. We got some sweet new figurines. We got a tour. What's up, listeners? Kelsey here. Just wanted to give you a quick reminder that you can head over to patreon.com/dandr. Every little bit counts of helping Jason and Bree continue to put so much of their time and energy into the show.

And if you can't or don't want to give us money, that's totally cool. You can still help us out a ton by heading over to iTunes and giving us a review. Doesn't have to be long or anything, but it actually is a huge boost to the podcast and helps to get the word out so more people can find us. We appreciate your support so much and hope you enjoyed. Thank you. Thank you. [END]