On the Mend

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

Smith and The Bourne Identity comes a new film. It's your first job? I know what I'm doing. It's a little late for a crit change. Starring Matt Damon. Everybody in New England is after us. And Casey Affleck. Go, go, go, go, go! What are you doing? Taking notes. Taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. The Instigators, rated R. Streaming August 9th on Apple TV+. Howdy, folks. This episode of Dungeons and Randomness is brought to you by Dungeon Fog. Dungeon Fog is an online authoring tool for game masters of all kind, virtual table or tabletop, that aims to make your time as game master easier and more fun to prep.

These tools are currently in development, but you can get early access to all of their tools for 10% off if you head over to their website right now. Jason has tried the software himself, and he told the group that created this that it is much more intuitive than most of the map makers he's experienced. Along with creating your own maps, you can post them for other game masters to see, as well as look through the collections that others have created, which are all also fully editable with their program. As a premium tester, you have access to all features, props, and textures that are available during alpha and beta.

You will also get 100% off your first year of Dungeon Fog Premium once they have launched officially in 2018. Most importantly, you will be able to say that you were there as this community was being built and supported the developers. Of course, if you do check Dungeon Fog out, let them know we sent you. And without any further delay, on with the episode. [MUSIC ENDS] [MUSIC ENDS] Let's do that thing where we go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason. I'm the Dungeon Master. Going around the table, start with Mac. Hi, I'm Mac, and I play Colonna Volgaris, the Wild and Shaven.

And Zach. Druid. Oh. [LAUGHTER] What's up? My name is Zach, and I play Evelyn Bates, the Human Fighter. And Jane. Hi, I'm Jane. I play Ephony, the Gnome Bard. And Bree. Hi. I'm Brianna Marie, and I play Clara Urothdale, the Half-Drow Fighter. And Jasper. I'm Jasper. I play Maric, Ethelred, Human Cleric. And Lisa. Hey, I'm Lisa, and I play Elorath Beestinger, the Halfling Barbarian. So here's what we're going to do, because we did our little what happened last time on the show type thing. And what I want to do is pick up later that night. So you guys have had some drinks in the bar.

You had your conversation with Po. And I would imagine a combination of you gambling all day, kind of partying it up in the city of Onakol. And Clara-- I would imagine Clara is pretty bruised up, just not disfigured or anything like that, but just pretty sore, I would imagine, at the very least. Right, yeah. What would you guys like to do here? I picture it being a little later at night. Things are open later here. So you could gamble into the morning if you wanted to, or you could get some sleep and do that, or you can stay here and drink. I guess it's completely up to you.

I think Elorath would probably want to go sleep just because she has been almost dead for like a week. Just got back today. So I think she'd probably be like, I'd like to get some sleep where I'm not throwing up or dying. That's super cool. Yeah, I think Clara kind of got her skull caved in. So she'll probably go to sleep too. Plus she's not that interested in gambling. Yeah, neither is Avalon. He's a little overwhelmed by-- we were just alone in the desert. Now we're surrounded by happy people. It's a little culture shock, but he's going to bed down too.

Well, you're surrounded by people. I don't know if they're all happy. I don't know if you-- True, true. Yeah, if you've ever been to a casino-- No, I haven't. They're not happy places. Is there-- OK, I need to ask. Is there a version of smoking in Theria that ruins everything for everyone? Cool. Did they make sure to put that section right in front of all of the restaurants here? There's a nice pipe smoking bar next to the buffet. That's where we want to-- Oh, yes, perfect. That's what we want to do. It's not that bad, but people smoke and drink and stuff like that here and there.

Kalloon is recycling it. Don't worry. Cleaning it up. Trees. Oh, right. I'm funny, guys. I'm funny. Best jokes you have to explain. So retiring back to the suite here, you guys have plenty of room to stretch out and relax. Is there anything anybody would like to do before we just sort of jump ahead to the morning and you guys get some rest? It's rest time. I would like to touch random paintings on the way to the room, but not much else. You get the texture feel. Avalon really enjoys that. That'll be a few-- I'd say if you did it once, you could probably get away with it.

But after a while, there'd be some eyes on you, like, hey, don't do that. I want Kaluna to see him constantly doing this and being like, why is he doing that? Is there something cool? And Kaluna starts doing it too? Just touching the exact same ones in the exact same spot. I was thinking the same thing. Just kind of falling behind, like shuffling. Just like he moves, and then they shuffle in. Kind of, hmm, hmm. Just trying to puzzle it out because they don't get it. They're pretty, but touching doesn't do anything. So they're like, hmm. After a while, though, when Avalon's told to stop, he kind of looks at Kaluna.

He nods and he shuffles to the room. Kaluna touches one more, just staring an employee in the eye. And just, you know that cat thing where they look at you and they very slowly do the thing that you just told them not to do? They're going to do that, and then they're going to run. Uh, can I actually, since we're not quite up in the-- well, we've kind of gone back down before we've gone up to the suite. Yeah. I'd like to retro think about what Merrick's doing. I think he would actually be a little bit intrigued by staying down and going to the pipe smoking bar.

And like, by himself, like sit down at the hotel bar about himself. Which is something-- Would that be cool? Yeah, no, you could do that. No, I mean, would that be cool? Oh, oh, yeah, totally cool. Cool, cool, cool. Yeah, no, Merrick's going to, like, after the whole day and after the whole gambling and after the po stuff, and he's going to be like, I'm just going to have a last drink here. Just going to relax for a little bit? Yeah, I mean, I think he's probably going to keep drinking. Like, keep bringing it. So is this a drink to forget or drink to relax?

This is a drink to forget. Okay. This is a drink to-- Yeah, this is a drink to forget. He's going to probably have more than he should. Interesting. All right. Okay, well, we'll get back to that. Yep, yep. Everybody else in the room, is there anything to talk about? Is there any ritual, I guess? If you're staying in a fancy place and you guys are used to staying on the road, is there something more than anything else that you're looking forward to? It's like, oh, I can't wait to get back to the room and blank. Um, Elorath's probably going to freak out about the shower.

I think everyone's going to freak out about the shower. They're going to be like, "Look at that." I'm going to be honest, I was thinking about the shower, too. I'm not going to lie. Group shower time. It's a bonding thing. Like, Evelyn would be so intrigued. I just, I can't. Everybody with their clothes on. Yes. We're all just standing in the shower. Just like, didn't take off anything. We're just like, "What the fuck?" It's raining inside. But it's warm and it feels good. Yeah, I think we're more playing with it than like actually doing anything with it. But I do imagine everybody gets clean eventually and kind of gets a chance to relax.

I think we already did the thing where we were like, "We're gross and dusty." So I think like, one day of being clean is satisfactory for adventurers. Oh, yes. But we're just like, "Rain inside, rain inside, rain inside." It's so convenient. So that sounds like everyone's going to get some rest and relax. Kelowna specifically is going to gather as many soft things that everyone else isn't using. And on their bed, they're going to just pile it all up and just make a nest and curl up in that. That's their idea of the lap of luxury. Like, hell yes. I can make walls out of a blanket and then sleep in that.

Pillow fort. I've done this before. It's very nice. Would recommend if anyone can do it, try it. How long does Merrick stay out? Well, let's see. What time would it have been when people were like just sort of as an analog to what we would do if we were going out? I'm picturing this. I'm picturing it would have been later evening. So like, you know, like 11, maybe midnight somewhere in there. Yeah, he probably like 130 or two. Somebody would probably kind of say like, you sure you want another kind of a thing? And he'd be like, yeah, no, I'm going to go up.

Kind of kind of that kind of thing. Would you classify Merrick as an angry drunk? I would not. OK. No, I would not classifying as he's not angry at all. He's not an angry person at all. He just has anger issues. He does. Yes. But there's a reason I'm asking. Could you do me a favor and give me a con save? Oh, man. Well, this is a good thing. This I would imagine is sort of this is Merrick getting to kind of relax, right? And yeah, yeah, yeah. Kind of replenish those stress hit points. Holy shit. Very relaxed. Wow. It's super. So he's in the pipe smoking bar. There may have been some strains of tobacco that were incredibly relaxing for him.

Oh, I got you. I'm just guessing with that role. Yeah, that's a 20, everybody at home. That's a lot. So yeah, I'm saying you are you are completely distressed. Like you had a good time. And I'd say you're probably you're drunk. But not crazy, fall down, kill yourself drunk. Just you're pretty drunk. Right. Exactly where he was trying to go and not beyond. And so he feels like that worked. That was good. That's good. That's what I needed. So around 2 a.m. you stumble back to the room. Yeah. And I think go straight to the shower, too. And like so like everybody sleep in and all of a sudden it's like.

Shower time again. Yeah, but sleepily coming into the shower. We just have hourly shower parties. Or Merrick turns around and avalanche is standing there. Staring. Right in the shower. He just wants to touch things. Sorry. Oh dear. Merrick's like a painting. No, it's not. So texture. So how about we pick things up the next day on the 24th? Unless there's anything anybody wants to do. So it is your second day in the casino. And if you remember, this would be your last. Sorry, do I get a long rest? Oh yeah, everybody does here. Yay. So again, if you remember, this is your second day and the last day that you have booked for this suite.

You could stay longer if you like. Totally up to you. But if we have the money cough. Yeah, I don't think we have any more money. I don't think we do. I think we still have credits. Yeah, but I don't know that we could use those for. That's mostly for gambling. Yeah, we could gamble and turn those credits into money. Exactly. Right. It's like an investment in your futures. Yes. When are we supposed to sit down and talk to Poe again? It was supposed to be sometime in the morning. Sadly, you basically know where to find him. Oh no. All right. So who wants to go talk to Poe and who wants to go gamble and stuff?

Given the choice between the two, I think Alarath would choose Poe. Kaluna is going to do neither of those things and is instead going to just go outside and suck up some sun because that's their morning routine. Okay, go do some yoga. Take some pictures for Instagram. Absolutely. Just standing in front of the fucking awful livewood door. Hey, look. Woo. I keep moving to do selfie poses and forgetting that I'm not on camera so it doesn't make any sense. Go Mac. Living the dream. I think Avlin will say, I think I'll go with Poe. I want to know what he has to say.

Merrick's going to do the same thing. He's going to just nod and sort of make a face like, yeah, that dude, man. We got to help him out. So as far as that conversation goes, like when they're all discussing where they're going to go for the day, could Clara ask what the deal with Poe is? Because Clara knows nothing about this drunk man we met, except for that he's very angry and very drunk. Yeah, Aph and I wanted to. And Alarath likes him. Same here. Well, if if Clara asks, then Alarath would probably just try and like explain it. Just be like, well, when I first joined the White Ravens, Poe was the one who kind of helped us organize our first group of people and gave us our assignment.

And then I haven't really seen him since. And he was like good friends with Queen Lyara and stuff. And so I just want to know, like, what he's been doing, because I haven't seen him in like two years now. Here he is, like drunk and stuff. I'm pretty sure drinking is what he's been doing. And Clara's going to kind of deliver that like you didn't figure it out yet. Honey. OK. But like from here to there, I mean, you can't just drink your whole way here. Right? She's going to get real confused. Look at you guys like, wait, can you? No, you're right. The path here is dangerous.

How do you know, American? Poe's friends of friends of mine, basically. I've met him a time or two. He's a good guy. Looks like shit. Well, I mean, to be fair, all of us kind of look like that until we got here. Fair. Especially me. So what's his story? I mean, he's at least had a chance to take a shower, but it looks like maybe he needs a little bit of a shave. Maybe we could maybe we could go like do like a mani pedi or something like that. What's that? Fingernails, toenails. Avalon tells his head like a dog. Never mind. Elrath does the same. That's just just for me.

Don't worry about it. OK. She's going to turn to Avalon. Is that like a human thing? I think so. I love that this is the inflection point for the next arc of DNR is something about mani pedis and just becomes the seed that plants for everybody. This is going to be great. I love it. So, Poe. So again, Poe's not hard to find. While Kalyn is doing their thing out outside, getting some rays, Poe would be in the same bar as last night. And it looks like he's got a little like a little command center type thing. He's got some papers. He's got some stuff going. And he's definitely got a he's got an empty glass next to him and then a full drink next to that.

And if he saw you guys coming specifically, you know, Elrath and Merrick because he spoke to you guys mostly last night, he'd give you a little wave and like, oh, come on over. Come on over. Hi. Yeah. What's the what's the setup here? Is he at a bar or at a table? Like a booth type of thing. Oh, OK. Got it. Got it. Got it. Yeah. Merrick would slide in on the other side, like facing him, not not next to him. I'm assuming everybody. I'm yeah. Not like go away. Not like I'm doing this, but come on in and like let's order breakfast or something. I think he's having a liquid breakfast.

Poe is. Yes, but they do. They do have things like eggs and sausage and stuff like that. Mealtime. They do have stuff. Who is it? Uh, is it complimentary? No. Continental breakfast. OK, well, OK. Continental breakfast is usually like here's a crappy stale muffin and that's for sure. That's that's what a continental breakfast is. A weird apple we found in the back. And a thimble full of orange drink. Yeah. Orange colored drink. Yeah. No, Merrick will just slide on in. Everybody else. Yeah. We'll just stand and watch you sit. He's going to say hi to everybody. So how's everyone doing this morning?

Stress free. Stress free. Thank you for asking. Poe's going to squint his eyes just a little bit at Avalon because Avalon can be a little off putting just just a bit. And you could see he's kind of just trying to size up. Avalon is like, what's his deal? Like that type of thing. So, so, what's your what's your day to day here? I mean, what's what's all this? He's going to sort of gesture to his little office setup. Well, I in a nutshell help people barter down debt, which happens here. People get in over their heads. They bet what they can't afford and then they can't pay.

So you can imagine how that would get somebody in trouble. Oh, yeah. How do you make that better? I mean, they owe what they owe, right? Or do you help negotiate? I try to help negotiate when I can. They don't like to put people to death here. It's a big thing, but that doesn't mean they're just going to let people go. And in the early days of the casino, prison cells filled up pretty quickly. So they negotiated work release. They negotiated entertainment, working at the casino, that type of thing. So it's like you bet too much and you like you're washing the dishes for a few months.

Pretty much. Every once in a while, he's going to take a sip of his beverage here. Looks like a brown liquor. Sweet. So like they have a debt and then they have to work for this person until they pay their debt off? Yeah. Does anybody actually ever pay their stuff off? Yeah, actually, I've helped more than a few people. Okay. Because I was like, that sounds like something bad. He's going to give a bit of a smile. Yeah. Yeah. Trust me, I'm not trying to enslave anybody. Okay. I didn't want to, like, assume, you know, but that's kind of what it sounded like. Like, you're working off your debts, but just kidding, you're in debt forever.

How much do you guys know about Old Unical? Not much. Just that it was like a dead city. Oh, yeah. History. Give me history. I'm part elven, not the right kind. But oh, nothing. What is this? Oh, hell yeah, Merrick. Actually, I take back not much. Let's walk that back. Merrick actually says not much. And then he thinks about it and he's like, Holy shit, I know a lot about this place. Not much, just everything. Where did that come from? I am knowledge. So Merrick and Elorath would actually know a fair amount about old school Unical before the Aladrin, before Brightport really got involved.

So Unical used to be a city that made a ton of money off of games of physicality. They made tons of slavery, a lot of slavery. They would buy up slaves. They would negotiate the surrender of people with life sentences from from Brightport, something like that, or people looking to escape, something like that. And they would purchase them, bring them to Unical and have them fight for amusement. It was not a kind city, but they were also pretty technologically advanced, too. They had money. They had things going on here that the infrastructure for the city has been pretty damn good for a while, and the Aladrin just came in and gave everything a real nice polish.

Most of the work was done for them, to be honest. The new Unical is a little different. It's more touristy. It's more family friendly. It's New Vegas. It's New Vegas. Basically, it's bad things do happen every once in a while because of the very nature of the place. It's lots of gambling and stuff like that. But they try to give it much more of a friendly face than old school Unical. You could be trapped here for life in old school Unical and never get out. Yeah. For New Hall, we might not want to ever leave. That's right. Yeah. Okay, cool. So I'm guessing you'd kind of lay that out.

Yeah. I mean, everybody would be like, well, I mean, we knew about the whole slavery thing, the fighting and all that stuff. And yeah, that's why I was asking because I know how it used to be. Just kind of tack on to whatever Merrick is saying. She's like, yeah. So here's what I got to know. What's it like with the Aladrin back? I just don't know what it would be like to be gone for a long time and then come back and then have to move to a new place. Like, what's the vibe? How do people feel about that? He's going to take another sip of his beverage. Oh, they were pissed when they first got back.

Wasn't great for the city. They were looking for some place new to settle. City was largely empty. It just seemed to make sense. There was some negotiations from up north in Brightport. And it just seemed to add up early on. The agreement was that the Aladrin would answer to the higher ups in Brightport. There's been some friction since then, though. So are they kind of autonomous now? I mean, in practice, like, do they give a crap about Brightport? They don't give a crap about much, to be honest. They kind of feel like the city's owed to them. They would. Well, my question is.

From what I know and my own stories about the Aladrin and what they accomplished before they were gone and the reason that they were gone in the first place, I kind of feel like maybe they they get pissed enough to take things into their own hands. You feel like that's something else they could do again? Like, I guess what I mean is that this seems really nice. And pretty safe. Is that for real? Oh, you mean the magic thing? Well, just the fact that they put all this together and it just looks like it's. You know, ready for tourists and ready for everybody just to be OK and happy.

And I just I don't know, I feel like if I were the Aladrin, I'd probably feel a little bit like, I don't know, maybe I want to. Lash out at some point, I don't know, this just seems it seems like two things are happening. It seems like everybody seems to be OK and that this is really nice. And at the same time, I feel like I'd be really, really pissed. He's going to he's going to motion for everyone to lean in a little bit. You want to know what I think? Yeah, yes. I think they're scared shitless. Scared of what? Think about it. They mess with some high level magic.

And then blink and a hundred years are gone. They lost their city. They lost most of their heritage on the mainland that I'd be scared. Plus, there was a whole thing with Dagon and he's going to take another sip. What's the whole thing with Dagon? Like Merrick's going to perk up for sure. Oh, you didn't hear about that. No. And he's going to motion around the table kind of his hand gestures are very loose. You could tell he's been drinking a bit and he's just you guys all know about Dagon, right? Clara is going to look over to Efthon and Avalon and then Avalon, sorry, and then over to Elorath and Merrick.

Who's Dagon? Dagon shakes his head. Dagon was a buddy. Turned out all the Eladrin were gone, right? Like everybody kind of knows about that. He wasn't. He was the one left behind. So he's kind of unique when it comes to the Eladrin, but I don't know much about anything after the seal. Well, it was him, he helped spearhead them coming on a call and acclimating them to modern society, all that stuff. Problem is, and he's got like reflux where like everyone saw him burp into his own mouth. Like just got a little Leroyan training. Tiny bit. Yeah. So he was a Sion, lost all that power after the seal, I guess.

Like free. Yeah. Yeah. So he talks to the Eladrin after everyone's back, brings them into the high council, that type of thing. This is some high up Eladrin stuff. And he wants them to help him get his power back. There are some measure of it, something. They refuse. This is the guy who helped them get free. The guy who helps bring them across the ocean, set them up in a new city and negotiate for them, and they won't help him get power back. That's rude. Why did they shit on him like that? I think it's because they're scared of him. What kind of power did this man have?

Merrick's going to, his eyes are going to be wide open. He's going to, you don't know the half of it. No, I do not. He could do things with his mind and powers and he could. He was a machine and he was a weapon. Let's put it that way. He was also a dick. And that'll be actually Eladrin's laugh. Yeah, Merrick will do like the head nod, like, I mean, yeah, kinda. But still, I mean, it seems like everything he did for his people was pretty fucking noble. So what happened to him? There was a bit of a falling out and, well, they're still trying to figure it out.

And this stays at the table. I can't stress that enough. Stays here, stays here. Somehow or another, he used one of the gates. There's actually one right below the city. He used it and left. No shit. Don't know how he did it. Shit. Hang on, wait. I've known Dagon to be able to use gates, but because he was a Sion. If he's not a Sion, and then Merrick's gonna just sort of lean back and fold his arms like, well, fuck me. Yeah, it was talk of the town for about a week, week and a half. And now we're all kind of not supposed to talk about it. How long ago was that?

He's gonna sit and think about that for a bit. Oh, man. Four or five months ago, something like that? Shit. Okay. Nobody is like saying them since. Not that I know of. No, no one's talking about it anyway. Hmm. That's an interesting question, actually, in the chat. Yep. Yeah, half of us don't know. Yeah, I can see this unfolding. Yeah, I can see this unfolding as the more things you get talked about. The more confusing it's getting until I feel like critical mass. Somebody's gonna be like, okay, stop. Right. Because, like, even Elarath doesn't know about what the seal is.

Right. But she knew what a Sion was. So she's like, okay. And she knows what the gates are because I think you guys met Finn at one point. But, like, how much of this have we talked about? How much haven't we? I don't think any of us know about the seal or the gods because that's just Kaluna and Merrick. And we just met them and we haven't had any real conversations. They totally. Well, what we could do is just massive info dump right now. Okay. Do we want to all be on the same page? Because, I mean, it only makes sense at this point. So, okay. Like Jasper saying, you have character, like, you basically have two of you guys who can keep up with half this conversation.

Then eventually it's one person. Then it's like everybody else is like, okay, what? Yeah, I feel like Clara probably knows most of what Elarath knows because I feel like they've been hanging out and they've probably talked about shit. Same for Avalon and Nefani because they were in group four with Elarath. But, like, I feel like they might know what a scion is, like, just because she's probably told them about Bree, but, like, really badly. So she'll just be like, yeah, she had, like, this power and can make the earth, like, shake. Like, she just punched the ground.

It was awesome. That's it. Oh, and she, like, saved my life and all that stuff. But, you know. So is this being- wait, wait. Is this being said out loud right there with- No, I just think, like, as they would have been traveling. Okay, I was thinking maybe this was being said right then at the table and I was like, hang on. This is different, like- So I have an idea. How about we just say there was an info dump where all of it was put on the table and those of us who didn't know about gods and seals just say how their character would react to this information.

That's a good idea. Okay. Wait, before we do that, before we do that real quick, though, I feel like Merrick would be like, hang on. I gotta go get Kaluna if this is gonna start, because- Kaluna is, like, you go out to grab them and they're just sort of, like, face down in the dirt just chilling. Like, if anyone else saw them, they'd be like, is this thing dead? Is it okay? Do we need to put it somewhere? But Merrick is like, look at you having a great time. Sorry to disturb you and your happy place. But yeah, they'd be like, ugh, but they'd come in. And they would absolutely, whenever they come to join everyone, they'd give him a poetry look, because I think they left before everyone started discussing and they still don't know that it's Poe.

Didn't you know it was Poe in the first place, considering Elorath screamed Poe and then chased after him? There's no reason you wouldn't know he was Poe. You're right. I forgot that happened. But yeah, Kaluna's still like, you're an asshole. Hmm. Kaluna doesn't say it. Doesn't say it, but gives the look. Kaluna goes through these moments, I think. But yeah, we're talking about some stuff here and you really should be involved. But what are we talking about? What's up? Just like sitting very prim, just like showing off that they're polite. They're a nice person.

Yeah, we got to catch everybody up because there's too much and Merrick's going to point at Poe. There's too many connections now and too much that hasn't been talked about. We kind of got to get everybody up to speed with, I don't know what the world's like. And then, blah, info dump. Sounds good to me. Like how people react. I think that's a great idea. Yeah. So we're talking, you know, psions and the seals and everything leading up to that and everything kind of post that when everybody splits all that stuff on the table now, everyone should be caught.

The whole time Kaluna's giving, like, they're not looking at anyone in particular, but they like, they roll their eyes. They kind of like huff. They're just generally disdainful about, like, all of the seal stuff. Obviously, like, not about Bree doing things, but just like the gods and the seal. I know we saved everyone. They're just like, ugh. Okay. What? Never. Kaluna takes a breath to explain it all over again. She's like, okay. And then I imagine, yeah. Yeah, no, no, no, it's okay. No, no, that's normal. It's okay. Okay. Okay. I'm with you. Cool. She's just going to process internally.

Okay. I think part of the info dump for at least from Merrick's point of view would be with his color about it. Like, and I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not sure that what people say happened and what is exactly what really happened. So he's just going to express his skepticism about the whole thing when it comes to the God stuff. I love that the people who are here explaining it are the two people who are like, I don't know about this God deal guys. I don't know. They say what they say was... Everyone said that we were freeing the gods. I didn't know.

There was a big flash of light. Maybe it was just some cool magic trick. But that's, I think that's important because I feel like that's, that is true. Like the story that the info dump that's being given, the story that's being given is kind of with this air of, I mean, there were people who were saying that this was happening and that this is what we needed to do. And then there were others of us who felt like it was just most important to keep the demons away because the demons, I knew those were real and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So it's basically just like venting and ranting in a way, but also in the same time.

It's one of those things where you're like, oh, I'm going to tell you a story, but while we're telling the story, it's going to be a therapy session where I just shaded everyone else. Yeah, that's kind of it. It's a story so fantastical. It has to be true. It's true. So what do people, what did, how do, how do people like Avalon, what would, what would that be like? Avalon is very overwhelmed. He, he was personally mentally tackling the idea of gods and like what exactly their role on him and the things around him were. He didn't, he had no idea that they were, I was doing like a finger quotations that like imprisoned.

And I don't know if Jason, I don't know if you'd help me on this, but like, was there like a massive change in the world? Like everyone just felt like, huh, something's different as soon as they were released or like, oh no, it's very open interpretation. Okay. Okay. So there's no, okay. So Avalon, he would have, no, he would just be overwhelmed. He personally didn't think gods existed. And now you're, now you're all saying not only did they exist, they were imprisoned and now they're free. So he's just thinking like, is there a god that's watching over me and reviewing what I did?

Am I going to be like smited? That's what he, that's where he's going. But to be clear, America is saying. Yeah. From both ends, it's like, maybe they were gods. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's, that makes it harder because like, you don't know, you just know something happened either way. Yeah. Okay. You're going to see a look of uneasiness on Avalon's face. Who else? How would Clara be feeling about all of those? First of all, how did, so Clara was probably in Aubrey. When the light happened and I imagine there was a big reaction in Aubrey that probably leaned a certain way.

So what was the prevailing idea? Like what did the father say? Honestly, with most, most religious people, it wasn't necessarily like, oh, the gods have been freed because they don't, it was more, oh, this is a sign. This is some sort of, because it's such a bright white light. It's usually attributed to something good, some sort of something coming that's good or some, or maybe even a reminder. It's like, hey, we're watching that type of thing. Right. So something happened and then stories and stuff kind of get spread between people coming back from the seal and telling their versions.

And then the people who are just either making shit up or just giving their interpretations of what they think happened. But the general prevailing idea is that it was a reminder that the gods are out there and they're watching. Okay. So she'll probably, honestly, the only part Clara would really have a hard time to believing is that the gods weren't around before. So like the idea of them being trapped, like she's all on board for the gods thing, but she's like, uh, I'm pretty sure that they were around before the light. Like you might've done something, maybe released a true power or something like that, but she wouldn't believe that they'd just been like that the gods could have been locked away.

She doesn't think that that amount of power exists. Would she have like voiced that or is that just like an internal, like, I didn't know that they weren't around. She probably wouldn't voice it. She'd probably just be thinking it. Cause yeah, that's, Clara doesn't want to force her opinions onto other people, especially when clearly everyone knows what they think at this table. Like if you're, if you're a Scientologist in like a Christian community center, you're not going to start talking about whatever it is that Scientologists believe in. Like, you know, you're not going to do that.

Aliens and volcanoes and shit. Right. You're not going to do that. You're going to kind of, I'll keep this to myself, but yeah. It would be cool. What about Ephany? I think she'd have been looking very wide-eyed through all this and very intrigued. She's kind of been trying to piece together, she's heard snippets of information. So she's actually been like trying to piece it together herself and she's actually like at the table, she's like desperate to take out a journal and like write all this down. So she's, you can see a kind of, that kind of light bulb going on over the head.

This is probably filling in a lot of gaps for her. And she's actually going to like a little nervously look to Merrick and ask, so you guys, you're not convinced the gods are back? Do you actually think they ever left? Merrick's going to have a super heavy sigh and like he's kind of collecting his thoughts to try to say it as simply as he can without getting into a big thing about it. And he's just going to say, okay, it's complicated for me. No question. But I don't know that they were ever there in the first place. And he's just kind of like wince, like it's sort of do the hands and like, yeah, like I don't know.

That's it. Kalluna will sort of, once Merrick is done, they'll say, we didn't believe. We still don't really feel it, but if we don't believe them, what did our friend die for? And they'll just sort of give a real weak shrug, like, eh. I agree with Kalluna. I haven't felt much of anything of a godly presence ever in my life. I don't know why it would start right now. Now that I know this, maybe they never existed, but if they do, I'm waiting to see if they'll ever show their power. Who else is? No, I guess everybody's reacted. Poets speak up. So look, the city itself isn't bad.

It's just got some rough edges and obviously they're still dealing with the whole diggum thing, or maybe they're done with it by now. I don't know. Maybe they don't care. The only way I can help out is by helping with the debt brokering. That seems to keep people out of trouble for the most part. And the Eladrin are happy with it because they end up getting paid back. I don't want this to come across the wrong way because I'm sure that you're incredibly valuable here. I mean, clearly you have been for not only the Eladrin, but for people who do visit. But is this what you want to be doing?

I say that because, you know, I've thought more of you than, you know, sitting in a bar working his books, you know? And again, this is like Jasper talking, not aggressively saying that to him very, very seriously. Poet, dude, you could do more than this. Is this what you're really happy with? Right. He'd take one small sip from his little beverage. I don't know if this is what I'm going to be doing for a long time, but I just sort of ended up here and I didn't feel like taking anything really high profile. I didn't feel like leaving. So, very, very fair.

What? How did you get here in the first place, though? Because, like, you know, you were in like Overwatch Dale steady and that's her. And now you're like here. And I guess I just don't get it. I tried to keep things going over there, but I felt like I had less and less support. The R was busy. Yeah. Finway was busy and it just, um, most people just wanted to move on. The war was over. The city was prospering. Most people just wanted to forget about it. Okay. Yeah. And she's going to make a face like, I understand that a lot. I don't agree with your chosen life profession, but I understand.

He's going to kind of brighten up a little bit. If you still want to help some people out, though, I could use a few extra hands. For what? I take your pick and he's that's he's going to start grabbing these papers up. So the problem with debt brokering is that it relies on the idea of people following through with the promises that they made. And as you might guess, people who flake on debts aren't the most reliable. What? Sarcasm. Sorry. Her attempt at sarcasm. Well, I liked it. Okay, thanks. It was like nobody reacts. I was like, wait, sarcasm. She's not that dumb.

I think Evelyn's going to speak up. He's going to ask. I do not understand. Why would someone gamble if they could potentially land in debt? Would you not just stop? Koolun is going to point over at Evelyn like, yeah, what he said, what he said. Well, I guess these people just thought they had a sure thing or thought. I don't know what they were thinking. I'm going to be honest. Some of these people are thousands of gold in debt. Those are the big ones. Merrick's going to chime in real quick and just say, and you know, some people gamble because they're trying to fill a hole of emptiness and sadness in their lives and in their hearts.

And it just keeps going and going. And then he's going to trail off. Koolun doesn't get it. So they're just going to fold their arms and just kind of shake their head like, that's so sad. Those poor people. Just not even looking at Merrick, just thinking about these hypothetical people. Yeah, poet, arch an eyebrow and just look at look at Merrick, depending on how many of those and on and on, like, depending on how long it's like, good lord, man, that's sad. Then he takes another little drink. There's a group that they're good folks. They really are. But what happens is they take debts that are of the same amount thereabouts and they cluster those people together and they get them to perform tasks sometimes.

So they got this group digging in the wastes that's outside the city walls to 10, 15 miles out somewhere in there. And they've been getting attacked at night. So trying to find somebody to go out there and stand guard, see what the heck is going after them. They're all still safe. They just ran. But yeah, they want they want people out there digging for artifacts. Artifacts. Yeah, apparently there's a crapload of them out there. Little odds and ends. Sadly, some of them are just from people dying on their way here or on their way back. Some of them are hundreds, maybe thousands of years old.

Not even sure. And then there's the arena. Go on. Have you guys caught one of the fights in the arena yet? Is that where Clara fought yesterday? No, that was that was they have like a they have like a boxing ring set up in the casino. That was where it was. Okay. No, haven't been to the arena. Well, they put on these gladiatorial games and everything. It's all supposed to be nonlethal. It's just exhibition type stuff, though things happen sometimes and injuries get so bad that people have to be put down. That's fairly rare, but boy, so there's a war forged in the city.

It's their it's their champion literal golden boy. They got painted gold catches the sun. It's real nasty, nasty guy. Name's Gar. And the group we have that are supposed to be paying off a debt by fighting him. Aren't too keen on getting in the arena with him. Gar doesn't really hold back, doesn't pull punches and has been known to inflict quite a few injuries on people. So when post war for which Kaluna kind of like perks up, like, uh huh, go on. Then he's like, you need to deal with the group is scared to fight and comes like, oh, man, just deflates again, starts like tracing their finger on the table like, hmm.

That's not exactly what he's getting at. Yeah, I was like, I don't think he actually said that, but that's that's how Kaluna interpreted it. Also, how Mac interpreted it. But that's war forged. Are there many war forged even left? Not around here. That's the only one in the city that I know of, but doesn't look sick. Really? Well, wait, doesn't look sick because he's painted gold or doesn't look sick because he just never happened. I have no idea. Just doesn't look sick. He's completely undefeated. They they must have paid top dollar to want to do something.

Damn. He said he's nasty guy. I don't think I've ever met a war forged that wasn't kind of nasty. To be honest. Well, I've never spoken to him. I just know his reputation in the arena, and that's not great. Interesting. And then I got something I'm dealing with later, but that's it's on me. So like, what are you needing help with? Because like, I don't think we want to be fighting this guy for the people. And yeah, I wouldn't ask you to do that for free. Okay. Oh. He slipped in the for free. She got that. Okay. The long story short is it makes me look bad, obviously, when I broker for somebody and get their debt barter down and then they don't show up to do the thing that they're supposed to do for the city.

It just makes us all look bad. Oh, you need somebody to talk to this gar and tell him to play nice. Oh, no, I don't think that's going to happen. And he almost chokes. Like, he's just... Kaluna pipes up like they're like perked up again. They're like, you want someone to kick his ass? Well, long story short, yeah, but it wouldn't be easy. And Kaluna is already getting up. Like, they're clearly like, this is the job. And they're like looking at everyone like, let's go get our stuff. Let's go. No, no, no, no, no. Wait, wait, wait. We're not just going to walk up to somebody and kick their ass and then walk away.

Kaluna is just like, they're looking kind of like a pouty kid that's like about to start like throwing a tantrum. Like, meerbeek. No, I'm white. I'm like, I don't want to fight this guy just because the other people are too chicken shit to do it. Like, why don't we go round them up? It doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong. Yeah. No reason to hurt someone for not doing anything wrong. Like the war force, right? Yeah. So like, I mean, I don't want to fight him just because some other people are like, I owe money, but I don't want to do anything about it.

Bye. Well, and Po would speak up. Here's the situation. If you wanted to, you could take their place and I could pay you for it for all the inconvenience and trouble. They're not really fighters. This was more them showing up, taking a few licks, and then the crowd gets a little something out of it and then we all go home. Oh, so we could take these people's places, give them, give everybody a good show. No, there should be no threat of death. And we'd get paid on top of that and the people would be able to start chipping away at their debt. That's pretty much it.

So wait a minute. So if we get into the ring with this dude one by one or as a group or however it works and we can help people get out of debt and also make some money off of this, that might mean that we could stay here another night. Kelowna is just bouncing in place like, yeah, yeah, that, yeah, yeah. And then Merrick's going to point, not point, he's going to turn to Poe and say, that's actually kind of a problem. We can't really stay here another night. In fact, we don't really have a place to stay. How much money are we talking? Bethany's just going to be really blunt.

That actually suits Poe just fine. Well, if the six of you took their place, I could probably set you up with 250 gold. Something like that. But more importantly, if you actually beat, beat Gar, we could spin that into something pretty big. We're talking someone who's never been defeated before. This is a nasty customer, but mainly this is just about taking the place of people who weren't going to put up much of a fight anyway. Do we get to use our weapons? Sure do. Clara's considering it. Elorath is considering it, too, but she really thinks that, like, these people are just going to get away scot free and not have to do anything.

So if she seems like not into it, that's it, because she's just like, well, what's going to happen to the people then? Like, are they going to have to pay you back some other way? Like, I don't... Does she voice that? Yeah. And he would say, well, this pushes back their debt a bit. You'd be doing them a favor, but they're going to be put on something else that they can handle, something a little less physical, probably. OK. I just didn't want it to be like, you know, we got ourselves into this problem and here's these random people that are going to get us out of trouble.

Thanks. Bye. Oh, yeah, that's not fair. Like, they're the ones who are gambling. I'm not trying to get them out of anything, but we could make some cash off of it. Yeah, no, I'm all about that. I just thought that, like, these people weren't going to have to, like, deal with their problems, I guess. Yeah, I'm not going to deal with their problem, but I'm going to deal with our problem, which is, and he's going to look back at Po, we don't have a place to stay tonight. Hint, hint. Yeah. Well, I was just going to say, and when would we want to fight? Like, when do you want to?

Well, the fight's scheduled for tomorrow. OK. And he's going to look at Merrick. I could cover your room for tonight. I get a discount. Oh, thank God. OK, that would be amazing. Amazing. OK. All right. Which room are you staying in? Whatever the name of that room. Probably has a name, right? Show him the nasty, like, foot and the foot has the numbers on it. And there'd be like, oh, come on. Like, there'd be kind of like that. It's like, oh, I'll have the lobster. Like, that's very... Oh, you're paying. Oh, well then. But he wouldn't go back on it. He'd just be kind of under his breath.

Shit. Like, you're really, really helping us out here. No, you're really helping us out here. This is like, you know, we don't know. We didn't even know we knew somebody here. So it's really, really great to be able to have some sort of connection. And actually, you're doing us a huge favor. So, I mean, I feel like we need to do you a favor. So I don't know. What do you think, everybody? Maybe we could fight a war forged? I mean, I don't... I'm gonna be honest with you. Going back out into the waste doesn't really, really strike me as something... Well, let's put it this way.

I think I've had enough sand in my shoes. In my craw. Not your craw. Anywhere but the craw. You don't know craw? Okay, then. How about my nooks and crannies? How about that? I'm just saying I always thought craw meant vagina. I always thought craw was like... Anything? It could have been. Up your butt. Around that area. Up your butt. I interpreted craw very differently. Okay, Urban Dictionary says a word used in place of any body part. So we're all winners. A catch-all. We're all pretty. Yeah, what a interesting word. Yeah, Coluna's response is like, they know that it's not happening until tomorrow, but they're still warming up anyway.

You know, they're like stretching their arms, just kind of like shaking it out. They're good to go. They're ready. Clara is going to stand up and tap on the table like, well, tap tap tap. If we're waiting until tomorrow to do that anyway, I'm gonna go find a minotaur. And she's just gonna... Coluna cheers. I think Merrick has this look on his face like, oh shit. Because he just realized that he actually has some of the tokens to be able to put down on this fight. You also made money because you bet against me yesterday. Or he's planning on doing the same thing.

Is that something the group knows about? Is that something like he would make public or would it be like... No. Okay. I don't think so. I got this money from gambling. Yeah, I mean, I think at this point, I don't think it's anything that would have been pointed out. Like it would just be like... I don't think anyone would have asked where you got it from. Yeah, it's just... I don't think anyone was keeping track. So it's like, we trusted you to keep track of your money. Yeah, I mean, that's not wrong. It's not like it hurts you. It doesn't make it worse for you.

Just feelings. Just my feelings. Just feelings. And your body. Well, the betting doesn't hurt her body. Yeah, that's what I mean. The betting is not... The losing does. It's completely unrelated to whatever's going on. I mean, winning hurts too physically. It does. Either way. Right. So I don't know, Poe, it sounds like at least Kaluna here is gonna jump into the ring with this golden war forged. Maybe a couple more of us. I guess we owe you if you're gonna let us stay tonight. Avalon, during kind of at the end of this whole conversation when Poe said he'd pay for the room or he'd vouch for us, Avalon has casually walked over to a stack on his desk, his improv 2 desk, and he's gently folding it, stacking papers as we're talking, and he just says, "I think it sounds interesting.

And I do think we owe." He's gonna look at Poe, "Poe, you're a favor." Just stacking papers, looking Poe in the eyes. I like that that's his thing, because he did that with Liara too. It's so comforting and threatening at the same time. I can't figure it out. No power play. And again, he'd be looking at you like, "Man, what is your deal? Like, what?" Cool. This is freaking me out. But cool. You're breathing right in my ear, so I'm going to... Well, again, it's really doing me a solid, and I'll do what I can to pay you back. I guess it's the least we could do.

I have to go deal with some things, so I guess I'll see you folks later. Kara's gonna kind of catch that, because the second time he's alluded to dealing with some things. Like, the first time she noticed but didn't say anything, but this is the second time. So she's gonna kind of give him a look and like, "Is everything all right?" Just some scumbags and a bar. It shouldn't be a big deal, but I know the bartender, so I said I'd help out. It's real low-key stuff. It shouldn't be a big deal. Kaluna, if you're looking for a fight, scumbags and a bar is your best bet.

Kaluna wasn't even thinking about that. Like, they were thinking about, "Klari's gonna go fight the minotaur again. This is gonna be rad." But as soon as you say that, they like, they spin around, because I guess they were like, getting ready to go ahead and go get ready to watch. They just spin around and they're grinning from ear to ear with their big pointy teeth and they're like, "Ahh!" And then they look over at Poe. Yeah. Poe, do you need a heavy? He's gonna hold up his hand. Just one second. I'll tell you what. I'm gonna try this peacefully. If this goes poorly, you guys are more than welcome to beat up some assholes if you like.

And he's gonna, he's gonna pause for a second. Let's just say that, uh, not everyone's happy that the Overwatch fell. Ooh. Yeah, good luck. When are you going to do that? Well, right now, actually. Okay. Uh, I would like to do one thing first and then I will meet you there if you tell me the name of the bar. He's gonna, he's gonna smile. Because as soon as you said that she was on, she was like, "Nah, that is my shit. Let's go." And since he sort of turned down their health, Kaluna's gonna go, "Oh, oh, we can do one thing. We can do one thing." And they're gonna put an arm, they're gonna put a hand on him and they're gonna say, "You got this." And they're going to, they're gonna use enhanced ability.

And it'll be for charisma since he said that's what he's doing. Well, thank you. Do you tell him that's what you're doing or did you just kind of do it? I mean, I imagine he can like, yeah, he can feel the magic happen. And if he asks, they'll explain. But otherwise, they're just like, "You got this." And he's gonna, he's gonna nod to Kaluna. Thanks. He, I like to imagine that everyone's like, "Did Pokemon charming? Hmm, weird." He just felt slightly more handsome. I don't understand what it is. The bar's the golden circle if you want to stop by. Again, shouldn't be a big deal.

Hopefully these guys just hightail it out. Okay. All right. You know where to find us. And he's gonna, he's gonna do a thumb, like pointing a thumb towards Klara. And he's gonna nod and take his leave. Let me ask you guys a question. Yes. So getting back into this, what would you guys like to do here for the afternoon? Is it, do you want to split up? Is everyone pretty much on the same page? Are you just killing time? I am punching a Minotaur. Punching a Minotaur. Okay. Yep. I'm doing that. And I believe the rest of us are watching said Minotaur punching. Okay. Except for Elirath.

A dead friend. It's a bad friend. Well, sorry, but she said she was gonna go help Po. Yep. And she also wanted to do one more thing and she told you how to fight the Minotaur last night. That's true. You said underbelly. Bob and weave underbelly. Underbelly and armpits. Tickle, tickle, tickle. Exactly. That's how I'm gonna win this fight. I love imagining that it's one of those cartoon fights where it's like, yeah, the gut is soft. This'll work. And then you hit it and it's just iron abs. It just like ripples. You just hear that sound effect as your punches bounces off.

So Merrick wants to stick around for the fight. Okay. For the moment, but I don't know how long that's supposed to take or like, is it just like every half hour on the hour or I can't remember what this is. This is like once a day, right? This is so it'd be more of an evening affair. I feel like it'd be like, oh, it's seven o'clock. Ooh, get ready for the fight. That type of thing. So there's still some time to like go explore Onakol. Okay. Is there is there something specific that like you're it's like, you know what? Today I want to find X. That's the thing is I know that I don't know what's in Onakol.

Honestly, I just kind of want to like go get lost. Okay. And we could totally do that. All right. If there's nothing else to do in the meantime, I mean, I know that there's the going back to the cleric for sure. Well, let's do the cleric thing first. Okay. Let's do that. Did you want to role play that out? Yeah, if that's all right. Yeah, no, no problem. So going back to this little temple, she would the face is the cleric that you'd met. Thank you. Is is going to see you coming and and give you a wave and actually approach you. Okay. How are you feeling? I'm feeling a lot better.

How are you feeling? I'm a little worn out, but I'll be fine. I know I said it like a bunch yesterday, but I just wanted to come in and like say thank you again, because, you know, I was all prepared to not be here today. And I'm really glad that I'm here. So I just wanted to say thank you again. She's going to and if this is if Elorath would would allow, she's going to sort of bend down a bit and hug Elorath. Oh, she would give her the biggest bear hug back. Oh, you know, you don't have to thank me, right? It's appreciated, but we all need help from time to time.

Yeah, I mean, like I've been close to like dying before, but it's been like in combat, so I couldn't see it coming. And this was the first time I've like stared it straight in the face as it was coming for me. So, you know, I just I just want you to know I appreciate it. And yeah, and I'm really glad you're OK, because I'm OK and I feel bad if I was OK and you weren't OK and probably going to stare at her feet because she's awkward. Shuffle them, you know. Well, I've I've come out a lot worse from from performing spells like that. So again, everything's fine.

I'm doing OK. I'm glad that I could be of some help. Um, what do you guys so other than like helping like me, what do you guys like do around here? Do you mean for entertainment? No, I mean like here in the temple, you just like wait for people to come in and. That does happen from time to time, but every day is not so dramatic. We do a lot of community outreach. We help people find homes who don't have them or places to stay. Um, there are sadly some people who have lost everything gambling. Yeah, I've heard about that. So weird. That sucks. Well, it's all about knowing when to stop.

Yeah. Um, I was wondering if I could like take a look around real quick and see what you've got going on. Of course, I could give you a tour if you like. Yeah. Yeah. So she'd take you on a tour of this place, which it's a pretty modest temple. It's not huge, right? But it actually is very well furnished and it's warm. It's friendly. And there are places for people to sleep, but it's kind of a shelter slash, you know, it's there. They serve some food. They just they're essentially there for people who have nowhere else to go. Like they would just be out on the streets otherwise.

So there's yeah. Okay. This place is really nice. Like I, I really like it here. No, we do what we can. Does, uh, does Vasis have like a holy symbol or something? Yeah, on robes and stuff. Is that the symbol of your, um, of your God there? She's going to point to it. And she'd shake her head. Yes. Is that Avandra? That would be, yeah. I had a friend once who was, I think she was a cleric like you of Avandra. And, uh, I don't know where she went or anything, but I was, could I have like a little symbol like that? Cause I really like what you guys are doing here and like what you guys did for me.

And I was wondering if I could have that and then maybe I could try and help people too. She can be really awkward. Just she's going to take the one that's on her robes right now and take it off and hand it to Elrath. You can have this one. I don't want to take yours. Trust me. I have plenty. Yeah. Thank you. And she's going to put it on if it's, if it's like a necklace or something, she's going to put on right there. No, she'd give you another hug, like a quick one. Mm hmm. Thank you. It's no trouble at all. Seriously. It's, it's fine. And she's going to kind of like fiddle with it for a second and she's going to look up it at her and she's just going to say, I promise to do my best to do good with this.

And that's the best any of us can do though. And she'd give a smile. Yeah. Elrath would smile back and probably try and give her another quick hug and then just be like, okay, I'll leave you alone now. I just want to say thanks again. Yeah. And she'd, she'd give you a squeeze and kind of send you on your way and just wish you luck. Okay. Bye. And she's waving as she's walking out the door. That is insanely cute. I was hoping it would come across as cute and not like awkward. I mean, like there's a touch. It's like cute awkward. That was the most adorable thing I've ever fucking listened to in my life.

Um, yeah. Yay. Oh. So exploring the city, if, if Merrick were just sort of out and about, there's bits of the city that are a little less opulent, I guess is the word. Like it's not, it's not lit up in glitzy lights and everything like that, but mostly it's a pretty comfortable looking city. Warm, definitely warm, but there's not like a string of homeless people. Like you put like, like it's being painted a little bit like, oh, there's a bunch of people who just, they gamble too much. Don't have anywhere to go. Cause there's, there's some outreach there.

There's a, there's a way to get back on your feet. And a lot of people kind of learn their lesson after the first time. It's like, oh man, I, I screwed up. Wow. That type of thing. Cause there are people like Poe trying to barter that stuff down. Right. But there's actually a couple of nice, there's a nice bar. There's a, there's a couple of places to stay on the, on the cheaper side of things. Yeah. I think Merrick would, would be kind of keeping an eye out for, you know, that wouldn't be a horrible place if we had to stay there. Kind of. Right. And it's the difference between like, yeah, if you've ever stayed at like a hotel versus a motel and like, we're talking like if you stayed at like a nice four or five star hotel and then it's like, yeah, I mean, this is play, this place has got a shower and a bed and like whatever.

Like it's, it's, it's the difference between that. Yeah. It, you just trying to be realistic. Like, okay, that was, that was a little bit of a coming out of the desert and let's see what we can do here, but we maybe need to get a little bit more responsible. Kind of a thing, but yeah, that's just, he's just keeping a track in his mind, a little bit of a list. Okay. So how about we advance time a little bit and we have a little fight. Do it. Does that sound good? Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight. So, okay, go ahead. Sorry. No, go right ahead, please.

No, I, so before all this is happening, Merrick is going to approach Clara. Yes. And say, okay, I, I don't know if you want any, I don't know, enhancements for your fight, but I could, I could make it seem a little bit like you're a little scarier than you might be if you want a little bit of an edge. I'm not trying to cheat or anything. I'm just saying it might, you know, might make you feel a little more confident. I don't know, but I could like make you glow and change your eyes and I don't know. Does that sound fun? Clara's gonna look confused at first because at first it doesn't really understand what you mean.

She's like, what? Are you going to give me drugs? Merrick, we talked about the drugs. Did you bring the drugs? Like, no. No, I, I could, you know, like I can make it seem like you're glowing red and maybe just have a little bit of a, maybe have a little fear come out of the other person. Clara's gonna kind of look down at her like outfit, like spread her arms. Am I not scary? Is this in front of the rest of the group? Yeah, it's not like, it's not like a, hey, I got a thing for you. I'm going to sell you a thing. It's, he's not like trying to cheat. He's just like, it's more like a fun, like you want to do something fun.

Kind of like I can make it like your, when you, when you stomp your feet, that it's sounds like a thunder rolling kind of a thing. Clara will look to the rest of the group and be like, is that cheating? Do you think? Kaluma's kind of squinting and like rubbing their chin. Like not like, oh, that's definitely cheating, but like, is it cheating? Well, I'm thinking about the theater. I'm looking, I'm thinking about the theater of this is entertainment. So I don't know. Let's give them a show. Clara's going to look over to Ephony and Avalon. Like, Avalon, why do I keep calling you Avalon?

It's fine. That works. I mean, he doesn't care. I think it's because Clara and then Avalon. It's fine. Avalon's gonna, he's gonna look over and he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna say, well, I think the only thing against the rules is killing the person if I remember correctly. And maybe no weapons. If you, you just stick by those, I think you'll be fine either way. Okay. Clara will nod. All right. And then she'll look over to Merrick. Make me scary. I mean, Merrick's gonna have a, like, he's gonna beam a little bit. He's like, I mean, I'm just, I think this would be a really cool thing, especially if you want to make a little bit of a splash, but I want you to know it doesn't help you.

If you win, it'll be because you win. If you lose, it'll be because you lose. But I don't know. Seems like it might be fun. I mean, look at this place. He's gonna just gesture. He's like, look at this crazy ass place. Let's, uh, let's give them something good. Yeah, it's just showmanship, right? Just giving the people a show. Exactly. Yes. Let's entertain these people. You're a serious deadpan, aren't you? Good Lord, man. Wow. Just kidding. Oh, he's, he's still in the spirit. He's slowly unzipping his shirt. Like, when Avalon gets into it. He's feeling the energy. Yeah.

Yeah. When Avalon gets into it, I feel like he's on like a similar enough wavelength to Kaluna because they're both sort of like not sure how to act around people. So like when Avalon gets really into something, Kaluna's like, that's my cue to be into this. Okay. Because he's a human and humans clearly know things and he telegraphs things much better than Merrick does sometimes. He doesn't have the mustache in the way. So Kaluna's like, yeah, a show. And kind of looks around at everyone else like, nailed it. Absolutely nailed it. Nailed it. Oh yeah, Avalon's just nodding back at you.

We're feeding off each other's energy right now. Someday this is going to go really poorly. Probably. Let's get Dragon Bulb. Oh no. Okay. All right. I'm going to share a little map with you just so that you can see it. It's just for reference. It's not really... Wait, but what did Merrick do? Well, the thing is, you're going to need to let... So you said like there's like a boxing ring type thing. Is there a way for Merrick to be like the... I don't know what you call it. Cornerman? Yeah. I mean, my Paul Heyman. No one's going to get that reference. Sorry. But yes.

But yes. Be my pole bearer. Anyone? Oh, maybe Lager. All right. So yeah, I'd say that there'd be like to have somebody in the corner stuff like that, because you're technically doing this by rounds, right? Yeah. So I picture every three rounds of combat that counts as like a round of the fight, if that makes sense. Oh, like the ding ding? Yes. Okay. So last time I was knocked out in like the first round. Well, that's not important. The important thing is this fight, like that was old stuff. You're bringing up old stuff. Also she has an axe, and I take umbrage with that axe.

The token has an axe. Teladi in real life doesn't. It's fine. Before Clara goes in the ring, could Efne do enhanced ability on her? Would she allow that? Or is that considered cheating? Well, that is literally a performance enhancer. But if they don't get caught, Jason, they still get the trophy. You know what? Do it with a stealth check. Oh no. Oh, I like this. Oh no, that doesn't sound good. Go ahead and do it. Okay. I forgot how to cast spells again. It's been so long. Oops. Sorry, you got it twice. So last thing before this fight starts, Merrick is putting money down.

I was about to say, is anybody betting? Oh yeah. And because of this whole "let's make you scary", he's actually going to put money down on Clara. I don't know how much I got here. I want to put some money on Clara too. Let's write all these down. Good pressure. That's what I wanted. You're like, yeah, you're insider trading though. And like, you're like, oh, here's a little bit of boost. Yeah, I only put some money on this. That's true, actually. I guess I am too. That actually puts the whole like, it's not cheating because we say it's not cheating into a new perspective.

Yeah, but it's the showmanship. How much, what's the, what are the rules here? What can we do? Is it increments of anything or does it matter? Just basically, what do you want to bet? How much do I have? It says I have 93 tokens and 10 tokens. 103 tokens. I'm going to put 25 to, I don't know. That's such a weird way to list that. I don't know why that's there. Maybe. Well, how much do you want to put down? I want to put 25 down. Okay. Is Efney able to put any of those tokens down or are they all Merrick's now? Oh, that's a good point. Can she like flutter her eyelashes at you like pretty please?

Oh no, they're not mine. I was just holding them for everybody. Like I don't, like Merrick doesn't feel like they're his. I have 25 tokens and I don't know where that came from. That was from winning. You won a bunch last time. Oh yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, in fact, what have I got here? Let's, I don't know what this 10 tokens thing is. Did I win that? I don't remember. Tokens are the things that we won, we had credits, which are different. Oh yeah. Cause I remember asking, why don't we just turn in those credits for money? And you got to explain to me that that's not something we're allowed to do.

Yeah, but I know that I didn't use, cause I had a ton of credits that just weren't used. Like they didn't get given to anybody and I didn't use all of them. So we got a hundred gold credit from the very beginning. I'm just looking at my notes. I have no idea what these notes mean. Oh wait, five, 10, 15, 20, 25. Okay. So Merrick had 75 gold pieces at the end of giving people stuff out. Basically what I wrote down in my stupid little notes is I gave everybody five gold pieces or five credits. Okay. Yeah. And then they went off and did whatever they wanted to do.

And that just meant Merrick had 75 credits, but I don't know what the 93 and 10 is here. I don't know what that would be. You won some from the roulette. Yeah, but it's just in two weird piles. So, okay. I can just take the 10 away. Just forget it. I don't want to have all the gold that we deserve. So Efenny's betting two, but it's from that pile. Yes, please. Yes. How much? I'll put 20 down on Clara. All right. Anyone else? All right. Got that labeled, got it listed. We're ready to go. So very, very simple. What we're going to do is a series of strength checks back and forth.

Okay. Are you ready to do this? Probably. Hang on. Hang on. Just for color. Just for color. Here's what's going on before the first going out into the ring happens. Two, three, like 18 things. One, you get whenever you stomp your feet or like run up or something like that, it's going to sell any. I'm using filmaturgy, just one of the cantrips. It's just silly. It's just making a noise. But I can also, at the very same time, I can make your eyes change color or do it like like, you know, like look crazy. And they're going to change like to like red irises. Nice.

That's going to look really cool because she's still wearing her mask and her cloak and a mouth guard. Boy, you are really worried about losing teeth. Look, I watched the fight between Seamus and Cesaro and Seth Rollins and Dean. That guy's teeth went into his own brain. That's fucked up. Shit. And then I'm also going to cast light, which normally if this were done against a creature, they would have to avoid with dexterity checks and everything. But if this is an assumed like go ahead and do this, basically all it does is it means that Clara's cloak, which is what I would touch, would glow like a bright light.

Right. So essentially, Clara has an entrance like this, you know, smoke and light. This is the girl on fire stuff. Kaluna contributes and uses Druidcraft to make like a wind whip up and like make her cloak billow really dramatically. It's going to be really bad when I lose. Yeah, yeah, we're setting you up for a really beautiful failure. Now, last thing is the light thing with this spell. I can make this could last up to an hour as long as I'm dealing with it and not stopping it and I can make the light change color. So basically I'm just going to be like it's going to be going like red, orange, blue.

It's just going to be like a complete spectacle of life. Now it's not blinding light, like it's not going to be right. Right. It's just like it doesn't do anything. It just makes me look awesome. That's it. All right, I'm done. I'm done. So Talati is going to square off with Clara here. And the thing is, she watched some of this magic be applied to specifically the ability enhancing stuff, like doesn't exactly know that's what's going on, but assumes it's like, okay. And kind of looking around just like, really, we're doing this? Okay. Clara is going to do a little head nod at her and then put out her fist like to tap.

And she'll tap it probably a little harder than she needs to. And then lean in. Just lean in front. Yeah. You think all that's going to help you? I think Clara is just going to kind of because she's wearing the mouth guard, so she can't really talk without sounding ridiculous. So she's not going to. She's just going to kind of shrug like a little, we'll see. All right, Talati is going to put up her dukes. The bell's going to ring. Oh, boy. This might go very, very well. We don't know. Sure. All right. Okay, here we go. Give me a strength check, please. Okay, the strength check is the one right underneath my strength, not my save, right?

Right. Okay, so this should roll twice, except for didn't roll even once. If I just hit strength, will it do it? That's a crit. Yes. Oh, yeah. Nice. Nice. All right. And 19. That means Clara is going to land the first hit. I love the just you think all that's going to help you get a crit with the advantage. It's fair. Give me a D4 plus two. Bam. Four damage. All right. Give me another strength check. Okay. Oh, drop dropped it. I dropped it too. How long does that last, by the way? Does that pretty much for the whole fight? I believe it said an hour. What's that? The advantage on checks.

Oh, shit. Undermine it says one hour. So there you go. 20. 22. Clara's 21. Give me another D4 with a plus two. Every time she lands a hit, every time she lands a hit, that light on her cloak is going to change to, like, bright red. Three damage. Three more damage. That's seven in total. So these first two shots are going to land, and it's just going to be like, oh, you son of a bitch, like that type of thing. And she's going to double down and try and hit you again. Do me a favor. Give me another strength check. Okay. 17. 23. 23. Man. That's the first time she's going to land a hit.

Six damage. So technically that is the end of the first round, right? You're just supposed to go three rounds. That's all you're supposed to do. So this is the beginning of the second round. So I imagine there'd be some like, okay, here's a drink of water. Here's some, okay, you're doing great. You're doing great. That type of thing. And then coming right back out. Are you ready? Yes. Give me another strength check. Oh, drop to one. Drop to one. You're taking 11. That's a 13. Yep. Yep. To her 11. Yes. Give me another D4 with a plus two. That's another four damage. 11 in total to T'Ladi.

All right. Give me another strength check. Okay. Is it... There we go. Another 13. I'm getting tired. Uh oh, to her 18. Oof. That is eight damage. Jesus. Ow. Okay. That is 14 damage in total. I am bloodied. Okay. I'm going to do one of the other thaumaturgy I can do. I can do three at a time. I'm going to make a round T'Ladi's head just ominous whispers. Like... You're gonna die. Oh my God. You're gonna lose. You're gonna lose. That feels an awful lot more like cheating than having a pretty close. Oh, that is an awful lot more like cheating. I feel like if Clara found out about that, she would not be happy.

Okay. This was a reaction to that second hit. And so I apologize. That's fine. As Jasper. Merrick had that reaction. Was like, no, no, no, no. And just did that. You're not good enough. Oh my God. No, no, no. You're gonna lose. Do me a favor and give me another strength check. And she's going to make one with disadvantage. All right. Before I got another 11. So before that, can I use precision attack, which is one of my maneuvers? I with no weapon. I wouldn't say so. Oh yeah. It does say weapon attack. Just kidding. Oh boy. That's a seven. She's going to drop a 10, which well, yep.

That would have beat it. But nope. Uh, with disadvantage. Um, now the D4 with a plus two, five, 16 total damage to T'lati. To the 14 total damage to me. Yep. One more time. Give me a strength check. Okay. Six dropped it. Yep. Drop the two to take a 14. That's 16 versus her 12. Do me a favor. Another D4 with a plus two. Three. Three damage. I'm hitting her a lot, but I'm hitting her like lightly. Yeah. It's it's it's you're the quicker fighter. Like that's the thing you're getting in there. I'm the AJ styles to her. Brock Lesnar. I'm throwing out all the wrestling. I know no one's going to get it.

Not fair. I gained a lot of cred with like five listeners and that's it. That is the end of round two. This is the beginning of the last round. All you got to do is stay ahead and you could win by decision. Okay. Give me a strength check. Drop to one. 15 to her 14. Go ahead. D4 plus two. Just the listeners at home. That was a 15 versus a 14. Like that was fucking close as shit. Max damage six. Give me a strength check. That's a crit. Crit glow red. Oh, versus her 11. Give me a D4 plus two damage. Three. Oh, my God. She is rocked on her feet. Like she she does not look good for the final time.

Do me a favor. Give me a strength check. Okay. That is another crit. You're kidding me. Versus her 21. Go ahead. Roll damage. Four. That is going to knock T'lati out. I was so sure I was just gonna win by like outlasting. I didn't think that she was gonna get knocked out at all. So the final time she is going to get hit right in the jaw and she is going to teeter back and forth and then fall backwards, dead on the back, out like a light, and the crowd's gonna lose their damn minds. Clara's arms are gonna go up over her head and she's gonna jump up and down, like, really excited.

Like, she can't hold it in. Like she's just she usually tries to be kind of composed, but she's just like, holy shit. I have a question. Would Kaluna have known that Efni used the Enhance Ability spell? I don't know. Like, is that something that they would have picked up on? Oh, like, ooh, magic. What's your perception? Hi. Let's see. 15. I don't even think Clara knew. I mean, if it's something where everyone was rallying around doing that type of stuff, it'd probably be pick something you'd pick up. Yeah, Kaluna is going to like do like, yay, and like clap along.

But they're going to try and like, like as they're doing that, kind of like step back into the ring and maybe go help Talati out, like, oh, this doesn't feel good. Guys, I think that's probably a good time for us to stop for the evening. Yay. What a really good note to end on. Undefeated. We hope you enjoyed the episode. If you would like to support us here at DNR, please consider pledging to us on Patreon, where you can find a treasure trove of content to get you through until next week's episode. Earlier this month, Jason sat down with Lisa of Group C for a character chat.

Here's a clip. Was there a bit of you that thought about playing something else or doing something else for Arc 2? Once Elorath got sick, yes, I started thinking about what would happen if she got sick and what kind of new character might I want to play. Oh, it got that bad. Yeah, well, because it was looking pretty dire, especially after like the sandstorm. I was like, I don't know if she's going to make it. Okay. You know, I was just kind of preparing myself because that last before we got to before we got to own a call, she had some pretty lucky saving throws.

Uh, that stopped her from getting sicker than she was. Yeah. But I was you know, I wasn't thinking I was like, okay, that's why I was like, that's why I wanted her to express her thoughts about, you know, leaving and saying thank you and all that, because that's a time that she doesn't get to be introspective a lot. And I think having to reserve her energy and just sit there and like contemplate on herself. To hear more content like that, as well as a behind the scenes look at this very episode, go to patreon.com/dandr to help keep us going. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you next week.