Since You've Been Gone

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

Smith and The Bourne Identity comes a new film. It's your first job. I know what I'm doing. It's a little late for a crit change. Starring Matt Damon. Everybody in New England is after us. And Casey Affleck. Go, go, go, go, go. What are you doing? Taking notes. Taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. The Instigators, rated R. Streaming August 9th on Apple TV+. Arc 2, episode 48 of the DNR podcast is brought to you today by patreon.com/dandr. Swing on by today to hear an excellent character chat with Jameson, a two-part wonderful living in Tharia where you guys asked 100 questions about dragons and tons more.

Visit patreon.com/dandr today. Previously for group A, after a long trek from Winterhaven on their way to Aubrey, the team runs into a group of slavers. And after a long battle, Mattie confides in the group and apologizes for her brashness. Donovan finds out that his armor is somewhat haunted by a long dead paladin of a monitor. Now the group makes their final approach to the town of Aubrey to catch up with old friends and hear about recent events. Let's do that thing where we go around the table to introduce ourselves. I'm Jason. I'm the Dungeon Master going around the table starting with Kelsey.

Hey, I'm Kelsey, and I play Aster, the elven archer. And Robert. Hey, I'm Rob. I'm playing Ubo, the half-orc druid of the mountain. And James. Hello, it's James, and I play Masoka, the half-elf rogue. And Michael. Hey, I'm Michael, and I play Amvin, the half-elf wizard. And Susan. Hey, I'm Susan, and I play Mattie Ryoin, the human cleric. And Xavier. Hello, I'm Xavier, and I play Donovan, the human fighter. God, that's soothing. I thought I was louder this time. No, you just have a soothing voice, man. It doesn't matter to all of you. Just feels right. Get used to the new me listeners.

There's a baby sleeping within eight meters of me. How many feet is that? I was about to say, I was about to ask the most American thing ever. Four times three. Within 20 feet. Thank you. [LAUGHTER] Do you want to know how many kilograms 20 feet is? No. Oh, what? All of that out, then. Let's go. Whose foot are we talking about? Oh my gosh. Yeah, this must all go. No, it's staying in. It's beautiful. It's golden. So let's pick things up. On the 11th of Faeriehore, you guys have had a lovely night's sleep, I'm guessing. It's, yeah, soft beds. You're in civilization again.

I imagine you cleaned up in some respect. I don't know about you, but I need a shower before sleeping. It just feels better, right? So I imagine you guys are getting off the road. It's just checking into the hotel room late at night. And you're just like, all I want to do is get clean and fall into a nice straw mattress. And then I'm going to get some sleep. So I believe some of you crashed at the temple, correct? I believe Ubo did. And maybe Maddie? Yes, definitely Maddie. Yeah, Ubo's only comfortable sleeping there, considering what he knows now. Yeah, Ubo seems to have a real problem with vampires.

They're anathema to nature, Jason. [LAUGHTER] I'm not judging. It's not hard. No, I'm not judging Ubo's princesses. I'm just saying that they exist. It's for the listeners. They might have forgotten it's been a month. That's true. That's true. Yeah. So it might come up. Who knows? Maybe. I believe the rest of you guys, you took a nap at the Eternal Slumber Inn. Yes. So you are in town. You're in Aubrey. It's a bustling little place. What's on everyone's mind? You obviously have a mission, kind of a time-sensitive one, to get to Don Hurst, find out what's going on.

But you're rarely in town. Is there something like a checklist to do? Do you want to resupply? Do you want to talk to people? You're waking up, and it's a fresh day. What's the first thing that comes to each of your minds? Maddie has something she wants to do right away. Oh? So Maddie gets up before dawn every day and does her exercises. But she gets up like a kid on Christmas today, like eagerly gets dressed before dawn, like 30 minutes before dawn, and actually wakes up Ubo too. Like, come on, come on. I have to show you something. Ubo loves yoga. This is going to be great. [LAUGHTER] OK.

Get dressed. Come on. Ubo, you're worth it. I promise. Ubo just kind of like adjusts whatever leather he slept in. [LAUGHTER] OK. And then, Jason, I'm going to take a little bit of liberties with the temple. If I do anything too much, just let me know. You go right ahead. We've had enough talks. I think you know what's up. OK. So Maddie takes Ubo out to the main worshipping hall where everyone sits when they come to service. And I think because this is a temple to the sun, there's big windows to the east so everyone could see the rising sun. And they probably cleared out some of the trees so you could probably even see it as it just crests over the horizon.

So Maddie's like looking at this and like, oh, it'll happen any second. And then the sun starts to crest over the horizon. And then it comes brightly through the windows. And there's all these reflective surfaces in the whole temple to make it shine and light up with the first rays of sunlight. And it just makes everything shine. And it's beautiful. And Maddie also has like this huge smile on her face. This is literally like her Christmas. She is so excited. This is everything to her. And she's like, isn't it beautiful? Ubo crosses his arms and kind of like cracks like a little corner of his mouth smile.

And he says, you like the sun like I like the mountain. It is very good. Yes. This is what hope means to me. It's a fresh day. I-- it's everything in this temple just makes me happy. One day, we will have to watch the sun from the top of the mountain. Then we will both be home. I look forward to that day, Ubo. Ubo gives a single satisfied nod. And then Maddie just start-- is still smiling, goes looking back at the sunrise again. Ubo like pulls out his stones and starts doing his mountain rituals for his spells. This is as good a place as any. Fun fact. So obviously, this town has seen its share of vampire troubles over the course of a century or so.

And this was sort of a meeting place. When things got really bad and the vampires were attacking town, this was the best place to meet up because when the sun came in, it was like, OK, well, they can't come in here. That was-- it was just looked at as like-- it was-- it's a sign of hope for a bunch of different reasons. But quite literally, it was like the end of from dust till dawn, something like that. It's like, well, they can't get in here, that type of thing. So there are probably some grisly stories of getting through the night, that type of thing, when things were at their worst.

So I-- the thing that I guessed was correct about the temple? Yay. Yeah, no, it's very much-- The thing that I imposed on you on the second-- No! Again, we've had enough conversations because there are-- there are a few people in the show who will ask 6,000 questions, Kelsey. And it's-- I appreciate that because it's-- I want to share it with everybody. I want them to know. Cool. I guess that's where that scene will play out, just Maddie reverently looking at the sun and Ubo playing with rocks, doing a ritual. It is-- thank you. Thank you. There's death. There is culture and texture to what's happening here. [LAUGHTER] How about the rest of the group?

You guys are waking up in the inn. You kind of stretch in, yawn, and grab your continental breakfast. How-- do any of you have anything in Aubrey that it's time sensitive or something that you've got to check out? Or is there just something you'd like to take advantage of because it's going to be a little bit before you see a town again? I had some shopping to do. There's something I want to buy, a little gift. And then I believe I had stories of my paladin exploits to go tell to the temple after that. So we'll see if we get to that. [LAUGHTER] Does Donovan want to come with Masocha?

He needs to find a weapon shop. What were you shopping for? Oh, weapons as well. Well, you're in luck. What were you looking for? There's a place called the Trusty Blade in the town of Aubrey. And there's a lovely halfling you can speak to about all your bludgeoning, stabby, slashy needs. That sounds good. Let's go there. OK. Pastor, you need anything? Yeah, sorry. My mind was just like, no, no, no. I thought you were in 4K. It's like, I don't want to talk to him. No. No, but yes, yes. I was just going to say, the Astor would absolutely tag along for that kind of trip.

That sounds great. Sweet. And how's Ambin feeling? So in two moods at once, you know when you're like-- you've gone to a place that kind of gives you back some bad memories, but also some really good memories? Right. So Ambin's moving kind of slow. And we'll be waiting for Mattie to show up later. OK. Hey, Jason, what's the date again, by the way? It is the 11th of Ferriore. Thank you. No problem. And Uwe and Mattie would probably show up fairly early at the end, because that was just-- that was sunrise. So I don't know when you all are getting up, but that's really early, so. [LAUGHTER] North Ferriore.

Probably not that early. I'm going to break it to you. The eternal slumber inn does not have many large open windows. [LAUGHTER] So it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon. [LAUGHTER] Perfect. How about we go with Masocha Donovan and Aster to the trusty blade. Sure. Sure, sure. Making your way through town, there's a lot of activity, but it's very-- it's kind of quaint in that a lot of people kind of know each other. And they're like, oh, hey, how you doing, that type of thing. So you're going to hear a lot of casual conversation. It's not like a big city, where if you're walking through, like, say, a bright port, it's a lot of people really quickly about their business kind of getting from destination to destination.

This is very much-- you know, they're doing errands, but they're also relating to each other and catching up. The trusty blade is situated in-- Sorry, is there like fruit stands or anything-- Oh, yeah, dude. --that would be out along the way? Yeah, and there's fruits and veggies and stuff. Oh, you're going to steal something. Yes. [LAUGHTER] You can. That's who he is. Oh, OK. Yeah. So just as they're casually walking, talking, whatever, he would probably just hop to the side. I don't know if it's like a lot of people out in the morning. Maybe not at dawn, but as the sun's coming up, yeah, they're doing their thing.

Well, I doubt it's-- I don't think we'd get up at dawn. No, no, no, no, no. Let's say it's like 9 AM, 10 AM, somewhere in there. OK. Then he would definitely-- if there was like a cart with apples on it or whatever, he would definitely just take one as he's going in his stealthy-like ways and just casually start eating it and go. And hopefully no one sees him. Well, let's see if anybody sees him. This is going to be a low check, by the way. This is not exactly like-- but give me a sleight of hand check. Oh, Christ. I just saw your sleight of hand thought of fire. [LAUGHTER] That's a 17.

No one's going to notice. All right. It's going to be one swift motion, like, roink, and just, yeah. Donovan knows but chooses not to look. Even though, I mean, he doesn't know you did it just now, but in general, you always do it. He probably always ends up with food in his hand. He knows not to bother looking at your hands. Is it one of those things where you have to like-- when's the last time you bought a meal? Like that type of thing, where you're actually like-- Pretty much. So he'll hop back into the group and just take a big bite. Yeah. These are excellent.

You guys want a bite? Do you have multiple apples or just the one? See, I think ceiling three would be harder. [LAUGHTER] Although he's like-- Would I have to roll for ceiling three? I would-- look, with a 17, let's say you got three apples. I'm going to hit the heart with three apples. He'll clean a couple off on his-- Leather? No. Yep. Nothing polishes an apple like leather. Ready leather. That would be great. He'll just give a nod and a grin and toss one each to Astor and Donovan. Astor will turn their-- is that that? Yeah, let's go. I gotcha cut. I like that you guys will stab things to death together, but you will not share an apple.

It's like sanitary. I guess, yeah. You don't know where Donovan's been. That's fair. Yeah. Think about the dental hygiene in this era. That's fair, yes. Yeah. I'm just a hungry boy. I want a whole apple. [LAUGHTER] Dude, we got some barbering to do, maybe. All right, so getting to the trusty plate, this is a lovely little shop. Kind of quaint, but you can see it's equipped with smithy and all that stuff. Like this is clearly a shop that doesn't just sell goods, but they create goods too. And it'll advertise out front the finest weapons and armor in the west of Elara, that type of thing.

So if you were in town and listened to people, you'd probably hear a couple of people talk about this shop. It's definitely got a reputation. Some people like it, some people don't. But if it's like, oh, hey, where's the nearest weapon shop or general goods shop, something like that, there's a 50/50 chance of someone going, it's over there, watch out for this guy, blah, blah, blah. Or it's like, oh, yeah, it's over there. They made this for me and it was awesome. Walking in, there will be a chime that goes off. And there's a halfling standing behind the counter, clearly standing on some sort of step stool or box or something like that.

And you could see he was tremendously bored before you walked in. Wasn't-- didn't seem to be working on too much. Like, you might be his first clients of the day. And the second you walk in, well, hey. Yes. Hey there, my friend. How's your day going? And he's going to look at Aster. And-- and clearly speaking to Aster. Oh, well, it's a whole lot better now. I'll keep walking towards the counter. Yeah, Aster's going to look at Donovan like, you handle this. This is your area of expertise. You know what? Donovan kind of nods at you. He gets the cue and he looks back at Artemis.

Hey, I'm looking to buy-- get my hands on something large and hefty. Can you help me? Hold up. No. No, no, no. We're stopping this session right now. I know, it's perfect. I wasn't in this scene. I couldn't help myself. Rob, repeat what you said. I typed into the chat, hey, Susan, what does the Church of a Monitor serve for breakfast? Eggs sunny side up? [LAUGHTER] I mean, she could say no. Maybe they just serve sausages. I don't know. They definitely do. See, that's overstepping. That's the-- that's-- [LAUGHTER] That's where I'm taking liberties. That's the line.

That's the-- [LAUGHTER] Jason's like, no, they serve salad. [LAUGHTER] You have no protein to tide you over till lunch. [LAUGHTER] Pepsi Brown's chat was a sacred place. [LAUGHTER] OK, OK, I'll stop disrupting the scene. Enjoy your sleazy weapon merchant. Dang it. [LAUGHTER] I see. I thought we were talking about something big and hefty. I was like-- Yeah, we're going to-- Yeah, OK. I thought I killed it. [LAUGHTER] And he's going to-- he's going to kind of stand up. And it's like, OK, you're here to actually-- you're here to actually buy something. What were you looking for?

Like a mace or something? Yeah, something a little bigger. Something-- something he can wield with two hands at times. Something like a war hammer. You got anything like this? Maybe he points at, like, his-- the monitor crest, like something with these colors. [LAUGHTER] He's going to-- he's going to straighten up just a tiny bit more. Oh, you-- you with the church? Yeah. I'm looking to get something for someone I'm mentoring. Ah, OK. OK. Well, you probably heard about the discount. I got to-- I got to stick to that. So how about I bring you out a few things, and you just peruse?

I-- I thought I was going to look at Aster and Masuoka real quick and back to Artemis, going, yes, please. He's going to hop down off his-- his little stepstool here, and he's going to start to gather a couple of things. A couple of its behind the counter, and some of its display pieces. Like, in this place, you'll see some dragon scale armor. You'll see some-- you'll see some, like, highly polished shields and things like that. It's all meant to kind of catch the light of day from the windows and really, really catch your eye, bring you in. That type of thing.

And he'll line up a bunch of different stuff on the counter. And he'll-- he'll kind of casually approach. So if you don't mind me asking, just to-- just to help you a little further, what's-- what's your budget looking like? What is my budget looking like? [LAUGHTER] He will grab his coin purse that doesn't really feel heavy at all. And I see here that I have 60 gold pieces. So he'll just toss it on the counter. It makes no noise. [LAUGHTER] This is my laundry money. Oh, boy, what can I do for you with that? Let's see. [LAUGHTER] Something-- something basic will do.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, boy. He's going to-- he's going to kind of fumble through this. Oh. Well, no offense, that's not going to get you too far. I could set you up with your basic stock Warhammer, but if you're willing to go the extra mile-- Oh, I'm-- I'm willing to go as far as you want. What's the extra mile, my friend? [LAUGHTER] And he's going to-- he's going to sort of look both ways here. And you're not going to tell the church, are you? My lips are sealed. [LAUGHTER] Sorry to chat. Well, there's this guy who owes me money in town. And I kind of get the impression that he's going to ditch me soon and just kind of leave, traveling musician type.

I really can't trust him. And I spotted him, a couple of weapons the other day. I was wondering if maybe you could speak to him, get my money. Or at least get the weapons back. Um, see, we're-- we were just about to leave town. We're kind of in a hurry. I don't think I can help you with that. But there's other ways I can help you. Oh, yeah? Like what? And he's going to-- you're going to see where, like-- you're going to see where, like, light kind of dawns on him. Hey, wait a second. You said you're leaving town soon, right? Yeah. Which way are you heading? Heading east to Donners.

Wait, why? Well, we heard there's something pretty dire going on right now. And well, some fellow church members and myself and adventurers-- some adventurer friends are going there to solve the problem. Hmm. OK, OK. I think you and me can work together, friend. All right. I'm listening. And he's going to-- he's going to call all three of you in. Like, it's like, huddle up, huddle up. And he's going to lean in. So for reasons I'd rather not get into, I'm dealing with a little bit of a public relations issue. And it's really not making my shop look great. But if you're from the church and you're heading out to Donners to deal with the whole ghost town situation, and you were dealing with some of my weapons or armor, and maybe came back and told everybody about that, how I generously donated some goods, that could go a long way.

Well, now you're talking my language. I'll happily take-- oh, go for it. So Astrid's going to give Nod of Incredibles, like, a smirk. Like, aren't I? Like, yeah. So the church will take any of your fine donations and put them to good use. And we'll make sure that we lay it on thick. All right. I think I can-- I think I could donate a couple of items. You know, I got to say, you're a hell of a lot more reasonable than most of the stuff shirts over there. Hey, I mean-- Or can I say, I'm trying to make the religion more accessible to people, right? All right.

Right on. OK. He is going to lift up a heavy wooden box, and he is going to slam this down on the counter here. And he is going to reach over and undo the clasp in the front and pull this lid up. Again, this is a finely polished box. There's an etching here for the symbol of a monitor and stuff, and he's going to raise this. And inside is a beautifully crafted plus one war hammer. Ooh. Someone's going to stop complaining in the chat. Oh, Matty is going to-- He's going to lift it up and kind of assess it and just hold the weight, see how it feels, and just nod impressively.

This will do fine. This will be what helps us solve the problems of Donners. Put that on your fliers. I made that for someone a while back, but they just never came to claim it, and I never got paid. So kind of a specialty item. I think this is just what we need. So we're square here, right? You're going to tell people. Oh, you know it. We're more than square. And to be honest, if I was in such a hurry, I'd give you my special discount. Yeah, after that was candid. They just came like snorted. And he's going to kind of look past Donovan for just a minute. Now, I don't want to be rude to my two other guests here.

If there's anything you would like to buy, I'm out of charitable donations, but might be able to work out something for someone so beautiful as you, darling. Looking at Aster the entire time. Well, thank you. [LAUGHTER] And actually, Mistoka will walk up to the counter and drop down one of his dares and the knuckles. To what, pawn? No. He's going to want to-- So, guy, what's your name? Artemis. Artemis. Can you combine these things? I've been trying for the last week, and I can't tie them together or anything like that. I want to be able to punch and stab.

You know what I'm saying? Who doesn't, man? Every man's dream, am I right? Right. I know. And he's going to look at it. It's not as elegant as what I'm used to dealing with, but I think I can help you out. And he's going to-- he's going to-- after assessing the two items, sitting there, you could tell he's hashing it out in his head, and then he's going to look up to Mistoka how much he got. I happened to find this dagger to be very elegant. So I think it would be a treat for you to work on it personally. And maybe you could give out a discount to me as well.

He's going to narrow his eyes at Mistoka. Uh-huh. Here's the thing. I got a friend in the church. Who? My good buddy Donnie here. He's going to-- OK. He's going to reach up with his finger-- his forefinger and thumb, and just cradle the bridge of his nose, just like-- You're saying he doesn't want to drop Maddie's name yet? Yeah. All right, look. I could do it for 25 gold. Give me a couple hours. Well, there's one more thing. What? Just to make it worth your while. I'm looking for something-- something decorative. Not for the dagger. Something beautiful. But with that as a purpose.

It's a gift. He's going to look at you like, that is the vaguest. And he's going to try and offer up some options. What do you mean? Like a necklace? Like rings? Like, what are you looking for? Are you looking for something magically blessed? Are you looking for a weapon armor? Like, what are you looking for here? Yeah, magic. One of those. And he has this display case, like, in the counter. And you could see, like, a veritable smorgasbord of rings and medallions and things like that. And they're sitting in this beautiful velvet cushion. They're all kinds of different colors and assortments.

And he's going-- before he even takes anything out of the case. You're not looking for a discount on this, too, are you? No, no, no, no, no. I mean, not yet. Let's see what we got first. [LAUGHTER] Oh, my God. And he'll go through-- he'll probably start with rings, things like that. Like, he's-- he'll start with just the basic, these have no magical properties, your gold, your silver, you know, ruby inset stuff, sapphires, things like that. And then he'll go to, like, OK, for your more practical, adventuring type, you know, here's things that will ward off extreme cold, or, you know, here's something rumored to ward off necromancy, and all kinds of stuff like that.

Like, he'll run the gamut. And the prices are starting out at, like, 20 gold. And then they start charting up. And then the second you hit, like, you know, magical items, like, they get to a bit pricier, all the way up to, like, 5,000 gold. OK. Um, what about that necromancy thing? How much is that? And the entire time, he's eyeballing you. Like, OK, man, I feel like this guy's gonna try and rip me off. Whatever gave him bad impressions. Yeah, just... No one's physically dropped any money yet in this store. It's all just... Hey, I did. Nobody noticed. Yeah, he did.

He went poof onto the countertop. That's true, you did, yes. All right, all right, you got an astute eye. And this is a beautiful ring. It's kind of got a very faint glow to it. It is a... it's this ebony ring, kind of a matte finish, but there's this white swirl underneath, and the white is the thing that's glowing. So it almost looks like the ring has cracks in it, but, like, beautiful swirling cracks that kind of glow very, very, very dimly. He's like, that is a $500 ring, friend. Oh, yeah, it's nice. I don't want to pay that, though. And immediately just like, uh...

About 100 gold. Um... Yeah, that is a bold negotiation. 25%. Yeah. He will immediately put the ring back and start to put it back in the case. Okay, look, man, I'm really trying to work with you, but... I can't give you a 500 gold piece ring for 100. You got something to barter with? And he's going to look at Astor. Oh. Astor, by the way, is, like, over with Donovan checking out his new fancy gold banner. Right. And Astor's not having any of this. [laughter] Um, so Masoko will follow his eyes and throw a look behind him, be like, "What's she got to do with this?" "They sorry." Oh, they, yeah.

I mean, I know you guys aren't in town very long, but, uh... I can leave a lasting impression on a person. So if I had a chance to maybe get a drink or treat him to dinner, you know, I think I can... I think I might be able to persuade him to stay. And he's whispering this to you, like, it's like, "Hey, man, you know..." "So... you want to have food... with them." And then I get this for 100 gold. He'll look at the ring again. 150. And 100 gold. Okay, so he's going to, it's like, "All right, but you're promising me a date with her, right?" "I promise I'll... talk to them for you." "All right, I'll tell you what." "I get out of here at around eight." "And I was gonna slide on over to the tavern." "Maybe you could just arrange a little bump, bumping into each other." "And we could sit down and have a little roast boar." "And then just kind of see where the evening takes us." "Hey, Asta, come over here." Asta is going to... turn, look towards you, cross their arms, and just give you a look, like...

"Yeah?" "This guy wants to eat food with you." Okay, so immediately, Artemis is like, "Dude, you're blowing up my spot." Like, you just... And he'll try and straighten up and like, fix his hair a little bit, just make himself look more presentable, but try and keep it cash. Like, he's trying to like, he's trying to like, lean in, like, whatever. Asta's not even gonna look at Artemis, like, they're just looking for it, "Missoka, just never in a thousand years, why?" "Oh, no, no reason, I just, I told him I'd ask." Bold, but okay. "Artemis?" Artemis would speak up.

"Well, okay, okay, hold on, hold on, hold on. Look, all I'm suggesting is, you know, I can show you around town, we can get a little bite to eat, nothing unseemly, just, you know, two people hanging out." "You know, I think I'm beginning to see where this reputation of yours came from." "He'll, he'll kind of do like, this mock 'I'm wounded' type thing, just... And he'll kind of throw up his hands, "All right, all right, you can't, can't blame a guy for trying, though." "Or you can." "I mean, considering the method of how it was tried, yeah, no." From the back, Donovan's gonna say, "If it's for a discount, I'm in." "There you go, Donnie, I'll go to lunch with you." "Tell him what a pretty mouth you have." "Oh, no." "Yeah, you'd be better off with him, he's got more experience in bed than I do, that's for sure." "What, bed, huh?" "Donnie loves a good time.

You should hang out with him." "I do." "Maybe, you know what, Masoko, maybe we'll, we'll just go get some more money and come back at a later time, all right? I think we might be done here." "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan to me." "Getting out?" "Yeah." "Um, okay, are they still at the back of the shop? Or somewhere else?" "I figure I'm closer to the door than the counter." "Masoko will lean in then to Artemis." "Look, um, I don't think that's working out." "Here's the thing, either I pay a hundred or I get it for free." "Oh, this sounds like a threat." "It's just the truth." "I'm surprised he offered to pay." "He's, okay, he's gonna lean in too." "So let me see if I understand you.

You're saying that I give you the steepest discount I've ever given anybody, or you're gonna rob me?" "Yep." "Could you do me a favor?" "Uh, geez, that's so upfront, I'm not sure if that's intimidation or persuasion." "Stupidity. Is there a stupidity rule?" "No, I don't believe so." "So I would say give me an intimidation check." "You betcha." "That's a 17 again." "Hmm." "Let me, uh, look, sorry, look, I can't even do a voice right now." "I buy it now, or some point tonight, that ring goes missing." "You can tell the guards, you can set up traps, you can do whatever the hell you want." "That ring will be gone tomorrow morning, and I'm not getting caught." "Huh, he's gonna lean in even closer." "I like your gumption. All right, I'll give you this ring for 100 gold, but you gotta do something for me." "I'm listening." "All right, and he's going to, he's gonna kind of like, really quickly, have this ink and quill and like sketch out a couple of details." "All right, there's a bard named Sidney, he's over there playing at the silver flagon, and he's got two of my weapons.

All you gotta do is steal him back tonight, and we will be 100% square. How's that sound?" "That sounds like my kind of thing." "All right, I'd get him back myself, but no one wants to touch him. He's hiding behind some town hero bullshit." "Town hero." "Oh, and he's kind of giving this dismissive wave. It's nothing, man. He's, he hooked up with some guy named Braylon. Did the town of favor a while back, and now he's kind of riding those coattails. Says he knows them, they're real tight." "Kind of peer pressured me into giving him a couple of weapons.

I put him on a payment plan, and he just never came back." "Well, that doesn't sound very honorable to me." "So he's 100 gold." "Okay, he will, okay, he's going to take that 100 gold, and he will hand you that ring, and he'll even kind of put it in its own little box, like it's, you know, nice little jewelry box, and he'll hand it over. All right, man, I'm trusting you here." "Oh, I'll get you those weapons. You don't even worry about it." "All right, and he'll speak up this time. He's like, 'Nice doing business with you, sir.'" "And Masoka will give him a smile and a nod." "So, you are walking out of this shop with a plus one war hammer for free." "A ring of necrotic resistance for a one-fifth price discount, and, yeah, and a bit of a task." "Walking out, how would everyone feel?" "The moment we're out the door, I'm like, 'To Masoka, all right, asshole, I don't even want to know what your deal is.'" "Aster's gonna give Masoka, like, a look, like, they're kind of, like, squinting at him, like, you didn't do it anyways, right?" "Well, they wouldn't have heard that conversation." "Yeah, exactly." "That's what I figured." "No, no, no, I believe Aster's presupposing, like, 'Did you set up a date behind my back?'" "Yeah, because the last time they heard, he got the discount, so..." "No, no, no, no, no, no, I wasn't gonna make you do that anyway.

Come on, we're friends here." "Yeah, good of you to at least be above the table with it, asshole." "That guy was funny." "Uh-huh." "He's doing right by the church, right, Kirkland?" "Okay, here's the thing." "Yeah, how is that?" "Kirk, okay, so that entire time, I wanted to interject, but it's not... I do believe that eventually... This is kind of the first that Kirkland's really understanding, it's like, "Okay, there's something terrible happening in Donhurst." Like, he didn't appreciate the way that, like, you got the weapons, but it's like, "Okay, you're still doing the noble thing.

You're heading to Donhurst to solve this problem." I don't think there would be really too much in the way of objection yet. "Oh, I'm aware. I'm aware." I would say it's vague feelings that, like, there's a weird connection with Kirkland that's starting to form, where Donovan's starting to, like, pick up on Kirkland's feelings towards the situation. "Okay, he doesn't have to, like, speak." No, it's starting to... You might even get the impression that's like, "Oh, this is gonna get worse before it gets better." Like, there's a... Yeah. "All right, cool." "Uh, Anven, Maddie, Ubo.

Let's say you guys met up." "Oh my God." "How you feeling, Susan?" "I mean, Maddie's gonna get outfitted, apparently." "Oh my God." "Oh." "I can't even. Let's move on. Anven." "We got things to do." "All right, so not sure how we meet up, but we either run into each other or you come to the inn." "Maddie probably comes to the inn as Aster, Misoka, and Donovan are leaving." "But, yeah. I definitely did not join them." "Almost very purposely took my time, because I think we talked about it before, but I'm definitely not in the same joyous mood a lot of the other everyone else is." "But come out and see you." "And I ask, 'Hey, perhaps we want to go see if Clarissa's at the library or find her if she's not.'" "And Maddie kind of picking up on his mood." "Maddie will look him in the eye and..." "Yeah, yeah, of course.

Let's go find her." "And then as we're like walking, do you happen to know where they buried her?" "I assume Maddie would know where Anven's mother's buried." "She probably attended the funeral. Probably did rites." "So, yes. Yeah, yeah, I know where she is." "I'd like to go there after... afterwards." "Of course. Just let me know when and I'll show you where she is." "Sounds good. She'll probably get her some flowers." "Yeah, we could pick some up along the way." "Yeah, definitely." "And then Maddie's gonna do that thing where you put your hand on their shoulder and like do that rubbing up and down motion.

Like everything, it's gonna be okay." Anven nods. "And then Maddie's gonna look to Ubo. You want to see a lot of books?" "Do I?" "If the other thing is staying at the vampire house, I will see as many books as you want." Anven totally grins. "And let's go." "So, this library is gorgeous. There's a pretty large collection of all kinds of texts from around the world. This is actually quite an established library, actually. A lot of it has to do with weird... not occult things, but odd happenstance. Weird happenings. Everything from spooky ghost stories type stuff to a lot of text about dragons, actually.

And it would not take long to find Clarissa because she is the type to... She has a very hard time standing still. She is a very excitable person. So, sitting down and just reading is a feat for her. So it'll be like, "Oh, oh, oh, and I need this too." She's the type to walk around with a book in her hand while just mobile, which causes her to bump into a lot of stuff. But I'm not sure who notices who first, but if this is a thing where you see her in approach, she would definitely run at Maddie and hug her." Maddie will hug her right back. "Oh my god, Clarissa, it's been so long!" And then squeeze a little bit tighter and then realize that she's in a group.

"Look who I found!" And then turn to Ampen. "And she... Okay, so first of all, it would be like that. It's like, 'Oh my god, I didn't know you were in town!' That type of thing. And she's very, very excitable, speaks very quickly, tries to jam four syllables into the same... And okay, you know that deer in the headlights look when you introduce somebody or you run into somebody on the street and they recognize you, but you don't immediately recognize them. It's not like she's more like, 'I don't know who this is!' Like, just for a second." "It has been a while." "Yeah, it's been a while.

It's been a while." "Yeah, and then just like, it's like, maybe, I don't know, maybe he changed his hair. I don't know. It's like, 'Oh my god, Ampen?!' "Hey, told you I'd make it." "And she'd kind of, she'd give one of those awkward hugs where like, you don't get to get your arms up first. So it's like bear hugging like, all the way around your torso with your arms kind of like, like you're a snake." "So good to see you too." "When did you guys get here? I didn't hear anything about you, you getting into town?" "Late last night, actually. Tried to stop here, but it was closed." "And she would start pulling out chairs.

But please, please, please have a seat. Can I get you anything?" "I'm fine. I raise my hand to like, look at Maddie and Ubo." "Yeah, Ubo would be the curiosity in the party where like, she's not exactly sure Ubo's with you. That's how, like, I picture like, I don't picture he keeps a big distance, but like, maybe not as close as everybody else would be." "I mean, Ubo, like, if there's a sudden like, stop and look at him like, well, who's this third person? He just kind of like, raises one hand, makes a single wave and then just puts it down and just like looks around, you know, nonchalantly." "And she would address Maddie.

Is he with you?" "Oh, sorry. Yes, this is my good friend Ubo. Ubo, this is Clarissa." "All Clarissa needed to know was that Ubo was with you two. And she is going to run over to Ubo and and hug him in the same manner as Maddie and Anthan." "How does she endure stink?" "Well, okay." "He probably didn't smell good." "No, and here's the thing. Clarissa is the type of person to very, very politely back off afterwards, like, and just like, you'd never know that she knows, but like, she'll know." "Ubo in keeping up appearances and having been around Maddie long enough to see stuff like this, kind of like one hand, massive pats Clarissa on the back as she hugs him." "Yeah, and Clarissa's not large.

Clarissa's kind of tiny." "Yeah, and he says, uh, I don't know what he says, if anything. It's just kind of like a, you have a good town. Most mostly." "Well, thank you so much. I like it here too." "Are you here on business or just passing through? Are you back to stay?" "We're mainly here for business. We're going to be going through to Donhurst." "Second you mentioned Donhurst, her eyes are going to perk up. What are you doing in Donhurst? You've heard the news, right?" "Oh, we've heard some news. If you happen to have additional info, that'd be great.

But I don't want it to be all business. We can totally chat." "She's going to grab Amven by the wrist. Oh my gods. And she's going to start tugging you over to the table. And there are going to be many volumes of text out. And it's all about demonic activity and all kinds of stuff. I have so much to show you. Please, please come here." "Of course I go." "And she will start to speak and probably not stop speaking until she has to absolutely get air back into her lungs. And she is going to talk about the situation at Donhurst and all the rumors that have happened and the refugees that passed through and all that, just all this stuff.

And she's going to talk about all the possible demonic activity that could have happened there and rumors about what's happening in the city now, all this stuff. So it is a lot to take in. But the gist is that some sort of ritual went foul in the city of Donhurst. As a result, some sort of temporary door to the underworld was open and a demon came through. Quite a powerful demon. It was eventually banished, but not before the entire city, barring those that escaped and got out, were disfigured, mutilated, completely taken over by this demonic entity, and then resurrected.

It's a terrible, nasty, horrific situation. And it's not that she doesn't understand the human toll, that personal toll that it's taken, but she's so fascinated by how this could have happened and why that she's kind of speaking about it as if it were a story in a textbook, not something that's currently happening right now." - "Amin will actually understand completely because whenever he was in Umaniro, that's exactly how all of the teachers were. Because it's Umaniro and then there's the rest of the world. And so that's just matter of fact, abstracted, not part of it, just observing." - "It's data.

It's not like it's, yeah." - "And so he understands and also is not upset because he knows exactly how this happens. And then he was blown away. That's a ton. That's more than we had going into this. It'd be really good to have that. And then thinking over, how much of this do we have to be in there for? I'd rather not die." But keeping that to himself a little bit. And then he was just like, yeah, go on." - "She would continue that. It'd probably be a lengthy discussion about, 'Oh, I think it might be this type of demon and maybe this,' and on and on. But she would be quick to correct at the end in case there's some lingering worry.

It's like, 'Oh, from what we hear, the demon's been dealt with.' But there have been stories of the entire city being taken over by a bandit camp. It's just like she's going into it like, 'Now it's a bandit city.' And she's almost, again, telling it like it's in a storybook. Like it's fascinating. Can you imagine an entire city like Dunhurst just being taken over by bandits?" - "Well, we do have bandit's rest. I was making a play on words joke. And then, as I seem to be doing lately, and then I... Well, do you happen to know if there's any lingering magical residue?

Or is it just, 'It's happened. It's over. And now it's whoever can own Dunhurst.'" - "Well, we can't get in to find out. We've tried to get into the city. We've heard passersby who came to Aubrey afterward, and no one can get in to take a look around. They won't let anybody in." - "Well, I guess that's why they sent us." - "And she's going to... She's gonna kind of casually, 'How many of you are there?'" - "Well, there's quite a few of us. There's obviously Maddie and Ubo. And then we've got Aster and Donovan. And I'm like, 'Oh, you haven't met that. I will totally introduce you to the rest of our party.

We've got a great group. And I'm sure they'll love to hear this story.'" - "I kind of want to throw out something about being an honorable group, but, you know..." - "And she's gonna perk up, 'Wait, wait, wait. Are you coming from Witterhaven?'" - "Yes." - "Oh, that makes so much sense now. Okay. We heard that they were sending an army in to deal with the entire problem. That makes so much more sense. You don't have to introduce me to your entire party. That would take forever." - "Yeah, what?" - "Maddie does say that. Wait, wait. So there's enough bandits to have completely taken over a city." And then she looks to Anvin, "What was our mission again?" - "I pull out the scroll.

I think it was just to check things out. And I look over again. I think I have it." - "The point was basically, it's like, yeah, check things out, make sure there's no demonic activity and that we can reclaim the city and take it over again." - "And don't die." - "It seemed so easy at the time." - "We're more like a scouting party that gets to go on ahead to make sure that it can happen effectively." - "Yeah. And then Maddie's gonna look to Clarissa and say, 'At the time, the only information we had that was there was demonic activity in the city. We didn't know about the bandits taking it over.' She's gonna look back to, 'Anvin, is this still within our mission parameters?'" - "I think we owe it to the lives.

If there are going to be an army coming, we should make sure that it's at least possible for them to do it and not get killed needlessly because we didn't go uncheck. But we shouldn't do anything reckless." - "Then Maddie's gonna look back to Clarissa. So you heard that there was an army coming from Winterhaven that's confirmed?" - "Well, yeah, that's what we heard from the Donner's refugees. They started talking about it a couple of weeks ago." - "A couple weeks ago? Hmm." - "I doubt that information's correct because we were just there and we didn't hear any talk of an army." - "Oh.

Well, I'm sure they wouldn't have sent you in if they didn't think you can handle it. Maybe the situation's a lot better than what we've heard." - "That's rarely the case, but we'll definitely find out." - "She's going to reach out and kind of grab Maddie's hands. Could you do me the biggest favor?" - "Maddie will smile. What do you need?" - "Okay. And she's gonna start writing things down. Okay. While you're there in the city, could you grab me samples of everything?" - "Oh, also the abandoned temple and any textbooks, any anything that we could get back here and add to the collection, anything we could learn from that would be amazing.

Please." - "Well, I'm only in the interest of preserving the text if they are in trouble, but I don't want to loot the temple." - "And she would kind of, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to disrespect anybody, but, well, okay, this is my first big project in a while and I just want to learn everything about it. And she's going to look almost sad for just a second." - "What's wrong?" - "I don't, it's nothing, really. I don't get to research like this very often anymore and I was just, I get a little excited. A long time ago, I was gonna head out to Odysseus and try to find out more about the dragon, but I never really got the chance." - "Why don't you get to research as much anymore, Clarissa?" - "And she's gonna, like, you could tell it's like, okay, this is just, it's kind of a selfish thing to complain about.

It's, with Father White being sick, it's, I have to-" - "Wait, what?" - "You said that in character." - "Yeah, that was in character. It was in, wait, what?" - "And she's gonna, she's gonna, like, she was kind of staring off middle distance, kind of in a train of thought. Wait, you didn't hear?" - "No, I, we just got in last night and as soon as we woke up, we left the temple. I didn't get a chance to talk to anybody. Is he okay?" - "She's gonna, she's gonna furrow her brow and just kind of shake her head no really slowly. Well, he's, he's dying. We don't really think he has too much longer.

He's been, it's been getting bad for a while and it's gotten to the point where he's in and out of consciousness. I, I just thought you knew. I'm so sorry." - "As soon as she said, 'Well, he's dying,' you know that physical reaction that people get where like when they're hit with news, like they've been punched, like pull back suddenly? That's what Maddie's gonna do. And like just her face, she gets this blank mask as the more she keeps talking. I, I didn't know. I, um, are they, are they allowing him visitors?" - "Um, for short durations, yeah. It's, and she's gonna sit down with kind of this defeated posture.

Been kind of a mess recently, Maddie." - "Maddie's gonna sit down in the chair opposite her, like collapse into it. I can only imagine. Um, well, uh, she's gonna look up to Anvin and Ubo at some point before we leave. I, uh, I, I, um, want to see Father White." - "Absolutely. Do you know how long he has?" - "It's kind of touch and go right now. We don't, we don't think there's long. And then you can see that another, another thought occurred to her. We're, we kind of sent someone to find his son. I don't think he knows. And we kind of wanted him to be able to say goodbye, but it's complicated." - "Where, where, where did his son go?" - "And Maddie's like, just like, doesn't even know what to process yet.

Like she's like, oh, I don't even know where, what to grab onto right now." - "It's that thing where you run into somebody. It's like, oh man, shit's so fucked. I don't even know where to start." - "Yes, exactly. He's like, uh, son? What? Uh, where, where did he go?" - "Well, that's the complicated part. Um, so these refugees got to town and everything was fine. And we started catching up on stories. Apparently Grayson, his son, had a girlfriend that was in town and, and she'd been living here for quite a while. And one night she disappeared and Grayson went looking for her and we didn't really have time to assemble a search party.

He just left and he never came back. At least I didn't see him, but there was a note that was delivered for, for his dad. And then we heard that he, he was a vampire and his girlfriend apparently was afflicted with lycanthropy and it, there's a whole thing in town about it. And Ada went looking for them, but we're not exactly sure if she's gonna bring them in for trial or kill them or-" - "Wait, Ada was back in town?" - "And that's another thing. It's like, oh yeah, I don't even know where to start with anything." - "Addy was here?" - "Briefly? It's like she's-" - "Oh my-" Like, okay, Maddie puts her head on the table and puts her head in her hands, like on her temples, and is just looking ahead like, I don't even, what, where, who am I?

Like-" - "This is where Anvin does the same thing Maddie did for him." - "Does Ubo have any strong reactions to any of this?" - "Um-" - "Addy may have come up. That's, okay, Ada, that's Maddie's sister." - "Mmm, Ubo kind of frowns in concern. Like, he's kind of just like, wow, this is really one thing after another, isn't it? So yeah, he's just kind of like looking at Maddie concerned, but he's not touching her or patting her or anything. He's just kind of like, okay, I need your cue as to what to do, right? Like, whatever you need, I'm with you, but I'm waiting for like a cue.

Like, I need a social signal to figure out how to act on this." - "And too much information for Maddie, so I don't-" - "So it's gonna be a while." - "Yeah." - "Yeah, okay." - "There's no cues coming." - "So it's just like Ubo waiting in the wings, like, what do I do with my hands? I don't know." - "It's kind of awkward like that, yeah." - "And Clarissa would probably continue after a while. It's just with, you know, Thalen and Selena and Jonathan living in town, it got... I mean, it's tense, but it works. And then, you know, you find out people are secretly living in town who could have posed a real danger, and Ada was real upset about it, but everyone wants Grayson to be able to say goodbye, but you can't, you know?" - "Okay, Ada was here.

I guess she probably would have left me a letter or something. I should find that, and Maddie's like looking down, like going through an eternal checklist. A letter, okay, and then I got it that she'll look back up at Clarissa. I have to see Father White, and oh my god, people are by the light. People probably are upset with Jonathan and Selena and Thalen. Oh wow, took them so long to get emacclimated. Okay, and then she's gonna put her hands over her eyes. Wow, you weren't lying. There is a mess." - "I'm real sorry for dropping all that on you. It's just, there's so much to catch you up on." - "You go on one little pilgrimage and everything changes." - "There's one more thing." - "I was just about to ask anything else.

Okay, lay it on me." - "This is, um, it's really sensitive and strange. I'm real flattered. I just don't know how to deal with it, but they want me to take over at the temple if the worst should happen." - "Oh, Clarissa, you would, out of all the things, that is the best news I've heard. You'd be perfect." And then she's gonna take her by the hands. "That, I can't even process any of the other news you gave me. Not your fault, but that I know you would be perfect." - And you can see by the expression on her face, like, that means a lot. It's like this huge honor, but there's also a massive tinge of guilt that comes along with it, because you only get that position if you, I mean, in this particular instance, if someone dies.

And it's like, yeah, that's... And God, like, Father White practically raised half the people in the temple. Like, that's like, he's very much kind of like father figure to a lot of people, and, you know, it's a really harsh time. - Yeah. - I look over at Clarissa and I say, "Hey, if you ever need to take a break and just get some good old researching done, I'd be more than happy to do it, just like the good old days." - She kind of gives like a nice ear-to-ear grin at that. "I don't want to take up your whole day here. I mean, I'm gonna be here for a while.

Do you want me to try and get some information on the go? What are you guys taking off?" - Well, we got, you know, a little bit of business in town. I'd like to see my mom. And then I was actually kind of curious if this, the library had anything on the gates, if you're familiar with any of those. - Well... - Distract myself a little bit. - Yeah, we could do something. Maybe a little research in town. We could do that. - Yeah. - Maybe to round out things here, let's take a break from the heavy making Susan cry role-play. - Is that what you're going for? - No, it's not.

It just keeps happening. - Do you want that every single time? - I don't. I want nothing but smiles. - It's what the people want. - Let's bleed Susan of all that emotion. - There's an expectation now, Susan. - God damn it. - So let's say, over the course of the rest of the day, let's do a thing. I'm going to offer you the chance to kind of catch up on little activities. Like it sounds like if Masoch is down for it, he's going to attempt some thievery this evening. - Mm-hmm. - Okay. And it sounds like Amven wanted to do some research. - Yep. - Okay. Does anyone else have any kind of city-type activity that they'd like to attempt?

- Uh... - Anything pressing? - Avoiding vampires? - That's fair. There's no dice rolls in play there. That's just, yeah. - Well, the other thing I was going to do is just meet up with Maddie and Ubo at the temple. And if she was going to press me in telling my stories, like she said the day before I would have done that, but if the thing seems to be going somewhere else. - Well, no, no, no, no, no. Hold on. Okay. Here's what we'll do. We'll look into some thievery and we'll look into some research and then we'll round out the evening at the temple where everybody kind of meets up.

- Yeah. - And maybe Donovan can tell some tales to the youngins. - You got it. - To the younglings. - I don't want that to be where this ends up. Younglings. - So how's about we start with research? Now, normally this, one, takes a little longer, and two, it's a bit more expensive. Usually you need a hundred gold minimum to really sit down and plow through research and try to, cause you're greasing palms, you're like, "Hey, hey, hey." Cause you're basically trying to save yourself some time and energy and getting to know some information. But you're known here.

Now, two things. One, there's going to be a steep discount for you. This will only cost you 50 gold instead of a hundred to attempt this. Two, this is a stacked library. So I'm going to give you a plus one modifier off the bat because you're looking into odd happenstances. You're going to research the gates, right? - Yep. - I'd say that falls under odd happenstance and some folklore and legend and stuff like that. So I'm going to give you a plus one right off the bat. And all I need you to do is, if you're still interested, for every 50 gold that you plunk down, you're going to get a plus one modifier to your dice roll.

- Oh, I only have 78. So 50. - So 50. - 50 it'll be. - Oh, so check this out. You're getting a plus two modifier off the bat. - Nice. - All you got to do is give me a flat T20 with a plus two. - All right. Plus two, T20. No, not bad. - That is a 15. For the first time in a long time, Anven's going to actually have a couple of aha moments. Maybe it's something about being home. Maybe it's something about just being in a familiar place of research. It's like, oh my God, like two things are going to click. So I'm going to write this down. You're going to get two brand new pieces of lore about these gates and it's going to greatly help you in your research.

- Sweet. - Masoka. - Yes, sir. - Is it crime time? - It's a fine time for crime time. - So crime works like this. I don't know if you've listened to group B attempt this before. - Probably. - Okay. So essentially all you're doing is your character is kind of seeing angles, kind of an Ocean's Eleven type thing. So while everyone's hanging out at the bar or everyone's walking through town, you're eyeing up people who might have weaknesses. So I'd imagine you've probably eyed up Sidney, maybe even had a conversation with him. I don't know. But you're trying to suss out.

It's like, okay, where do you keep your valuables? Where do you live? Where's your room? That type of thing. - Right. - Now, the cool thing is, this isn't like robbing some big wig, right? This isn't like you're trying to rip off a shop or something. You're just ripping off a dude. So this is kind of lower on the scale of difficulty. This is basically getting past someone's personal lock, maybe a chest or something in a drawer, scaling the side of a wall, something like that. Like cat burglar stuff. - Okay. - Okay. So this is going to cost you 25 gold, because essentially what you're doing is you're maybe like bribing someone that's like, hey, when's that guy usually get back to his house at night?

When's his set? That type of thing. You're getting a little bit of information. - Okay. - Okay. So here's what's going to happen. This is essentially really, really low on the totem pole here. So the difficulty is going to be low. I'm going to ask you to make a series of checks. - Okay. - And based on the amount of successes and fails, we're going to move forward from that. Obviously you're wanting all successes. You want very few failures. Okay? - Gotcha. - All right. The difficulty for all these checks is 15. - 15 is the magic number. - 15 is the magic number. All right.

So we're going to start out with a stealth check. If you could give me a stealth check, please. So this is you skulking up to the property and yeah, making your way unseen as possible. - Oh, come on. - That's a 14. - I thought I was going to knock on the door. - So all's not lost. That's just one fail. - Okay. Okay. - Obviously three failures and we have a problem. - Right. - Like a big time problem. - Let's get this out of the way right now. - So now what I need is a dexterity check with your thieves tools. - Okay. - So this is a layup. You got this. This is with your thieves tools.

- Okay. - Well. - Y is plus three plus your decks. - Oh yeah. It's not calculating your decks, man. That's a set. You did it. Yay. - That was way too long. - It didn't calculate your decks, so you're good. Yay. Okay. And finally, I'm going to give you a choice. - Okay. - You can give me an investigation check, a perception check, or a deception check. Now this is to simulate something random popping up, right? So there's someone coming down the hallway or you're going to notice, "Oh, I left some evidence by accident." That type of thing. - I'm going to go for a deception check.

- Do it. So maybe someone's like, "Hey, what are you doing here?" And you're just like, "Yeah, man. Someone asked me to get his keys and just some bullshit story." - Yes. - This is how well you've deceived. - Yes. - 28. You've deceived very well. - Those acting skills are coming into play. - Right? - Yeah. - You are such a good liar. - So good. - Okay. So, okay. With one of these failing, normally what you're after is a gold amount, right? You're after the gold value. - Okay. - You're going to get out of here with those two weapons. - Yes. - But no extra gold. - Okay.

- Yeah. I figured you were kind of like, "Hey, I'm going to case this joint and see if I can get a little something extra." - Well, yeah, he would for sure. This is also an opportunity to brush up on his skills. - Mm-hmm. - That's why he would have had no problem with it. Okay. Excellent. Excellent. Um, so you will get out of here scot-free. No one's going to pick up on you breaking in. Well, I mean, Sidney will eventually, but they're not going to tie it to you. You're fine. I wouldn't stick in town too long. - So, okay. So, Sidney had these legitimately then, is what you're saying?

- I mean, no. He kind of stiffed Artemis. - Mm-hmm. - But he's relying on, it's like, "No, no, man. I know this guy. And I'm going to get you the money soon." That type of thing. - Okay. Well, he can get them back if he pays. - Yeah. All right. So you're dropping those off to Artemis? - Yeah. We don't have to play that out. If you don't want to, just take them back. - No. Hold on one second. - Okay. - Do you want to take a look at the weapons that you're about to hand over? - Oh, you're going to tempt me with something here, aren't you? - Hey, I'm just letting you know what you have in your possession.

- Let's look at these things. - Okay. So, you're going to have a rare plus one spear, the total value of which would be about 650 gold pieces, and a plus two long sword, which is worth over 5,000 gold. - Now, it must so good know the value. - Do you want to do a check so that it's not metagaming? - I should. - Yeah. Okay. Give me an intelligence check. - Okay. - That's just straight under abilities, right? - Yeah. Okay. Masoka doesn't know a lot in terms of market value and all that stuff, but he knows when something looks expensive. - Sure. He knows the scale from one to shiny.

- Yeah. This sword specifically is screaming, "This is worth something." - Okay. Does anyone else carry a longsword? - I don't think so. - In the group? No? Okay. - Yeah, I don't think so. - Well, if he had an inkling that it was worth something, he'd probably go back and try to get something more out of it. - Okay. So, we don't have to play that out, but here's what we're going to do. - Okay. - I want you to give me two more rolls. - Okay. - I want you to give me a persuasion check. - Mm-hmm. - And then... You know what? Give me two persuasion checks. - Okay. - We're going to cut this real cool.

We're going to cut this short. - Okay. 20. - A 20. So, at a certain point... Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. So, okay. Essentially, he's going to pick up that, "Okay, you know this is worth money. Well, shit. Okay. That's a problem." He was counting on you being skilled enough to steal, but dumb enough not to recognize that you could get something more for these. But at least you didn't take off. - Okay. - He's going to give you 500 gold to hand over those weapons. - And... Okay. Okay. - Do you hand over the weapons? - Yes. - Okay. - Because there's an important part to this whole thing that he doesn't want to fuck up.

So... - Ah, okay. So, not only did no one truly drop money in Artemis' shop, he paid you. - I'm sorry. I didn't know I wasn't muted. - No, that's fine. - Okay. So, I'm now plus 400 from where I was because I paid him 100. Now he's giving me five. - Okay. - Yup. - Excellent. Excellent. I'll put that in my pocket. And say good day, sir. - Okay. Xavier, is there still a baby? - I would say yes. - Yeah, I think so. - Okay. Here's what I'm going to do. I think that's a pretty good time for us to stop for the evening. And we'll probably wrap up everything in Aubrey with you guys in the next outing and probably hit the road toward Donhurst again.

Does that sound good? - Mm-hmm. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah, good stuff. - Yup. - It is very late at night for you guys, so I don't want to feel too much further. And it's Sunday. - Yeah. - Mm-hmm. - Thank you guys for sitting down and playing. - Thanks for doing Sunday. I know sometimes it's for everybody. - It was nice to finally get back. - Yeah. - Yeah. - So excited. It's only been two months. - We'll try and get some combat or something for you guys next time to get that blood pumping. - For the record, did I get the knuckles fused? - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He would have set that up for you.

- Okay. - So that's a terrible hybrid monster. - Gosh. - How did he get... - Masocha's so damn lucky. - It's like ignorance is bliss, right? - Oh my God. - He just kind of Mr. Magoo's his way through... - Yeah, he's Mr. Magoo mixed with Domino, you know? - 500 gold ring and then 500 gold on top of that. What? - That ring might come in handy. - I mean, five grand would have been great, but he wouldn't have known it was that much. But I think that... - Hey, you could always attempt a large-scale heist in the next town. - Oh my goodness. - How do I add the gold? I can't seem to adjust.

- Well, I'll take care of it for you. - Now, right? Thank you. - No problem. - Don't want to forget about it. - Well, I was trying to subtract earlier, but I was like, "It's locked. I can't do it." - I think that's to prevent cheating. - Yeah, good idea. - Not that I think it would be useful. - I could change mine, because you must trust me. - Yeah, I can trust everybody. I didn't check off anything. - You don't trust James. - Don't trust the thief. - No, yeah. - Don't trust the thief. - Good Lord, everybody. Thank you so much for listening today. A couple of quick announcements before you skip this or turn this off.

Obviously, Jameson's Kickstarter is just about to go live. That's going to go live on the 15th of October. We're going to be talking way more about it. It is a massive deal for him. He's taken a big swing on this. And I want to see everybody get out there and try to support in some way. Spread the word, do whatever. You're going to hear more about that next week. And we'll be sharing the link a thousand times. Don't worry. On top of that, we actually just got done a character chat with Jameson, where we talk about his journey to the show, everything about Larg, a bunch of other stuff.

You find out a bit more about Jameson as a person. And that is on Patreon.com/dandr, along with a two-parter about dragons. That's what we covered in Living in Theria this month. We're also going to be doing a new show where we give DM tips. And people on our Discord server have been amazing in giving us tons of suggestions for that. That'll be replacing the bestiary. And it'll probably be a 10 to 15 minute segment, something like that. It depends on what's being asked, obviously. But that's a brand new thing. We're going to be wanting your feedback. And of course, if you could go to iTunes, Android, wherever you get your podcasts, and give us a review, spread the word about the show.

That helps us immensely. If you have any questions or comments, if you want to give feedback, if you want to tell us what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong, send an email to dandrpodcast@gmail.com. That's dandrpodcast@gmail.com. We'll be back with a brand new episode next week. Thank you guys so much for your support. Thank you for listening. Thank you for spreading the word. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. That's where we give tons of announcements. And of course, our Discord server. Thank you guys. We'll see you next week.