Acquaintances

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We're there to keep you company on Patreon. Shows like Living in Theory that tackles a random person, place or thing every single month. This month it's slavery. Hours of behind the scenes dialogue with the cast. A character chat with a random member of the cast each and every month. And two extra campaigns that we've got going only for patrons. Check out patreon.com/d8mdr for more details. Previously for Group C, as Tessie and Graddick left Brightport to head to Onakol in the south, they gave the group a bit of a task. Find Diana Astaroth in the town of Aldmoor.

As they began to head north, they ran into a bit of a toll scam with some bandits. Instead of fighting the group, they decided to just pay up, cross the bridge and be on their way. But as they approached the town of Aldmoor, they noticed that someone had been following them. And that's where we pick things up today. 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 Jasper. Oh, me? I play Merrick Elrath, Human Cleric. And Zach. What's up, my name is Zach and I play Aveline Bates, the Human Fighter.

And Ryan. Hey, I'm Ryan and I play Varys Alder, the Half-Elf Monk. And Bree. Hi, everyone. I play Klara Urath Dale, the Half-Drow Fighter. And Lisa. Hey, I'm Lisa and I play Elrath B. Singer, the Halfling Barbarian. You guys are at camp. You were making camp last time we sat down. It is the first of all to Ornn. It is nighttime. And you just spied someone way down the road, way back. Kind of peering at you through a spyglass, you could see the glint, the reflection off the setting sun, that type of thing. I guess I want to ask you guys, what's the course of action?

Are you ignoring it? Are you continuing with camp? Are you chasing after them? What would you like to do? How far away were they? Yeah. So, myself and Aveline, is that right? I believe so. Yeah. So, I don't think Merrick would have said anything, and I think at some point he would have just, like, with his elbow at Aveline, just said, "You saw that too, right?" Yes. Yes, I did. Think it's something we should be worried about? That I do, Merrick. I'm not sure what anyone would want at this time of night. I can't imagine it's anything good. I mean, the only good things that happen at night are after midnight, but that was a joke, Aveline.

He stares at you blankly. So, we got a couple choices. Number one, do we tell everybody? I think we probably should. Number two, do we backtrack and see if we can find out who this is, or do we keep watching them watching us? Quick question for Jason. Are they just standing there, like, stationary, staring at us? Yeah, they were kind of off to the side of the road. You could tell that they're probably keeping their distance, and this could be for a few different reasons. It doesn't necessarily have to be malicious. They might be scoping you guys out because you're a larger group than them.

They want to make sure that you're not bandits or, I don't know, homicidal maniacs, something like that. Or they could be spying on you. That is another possibility. They could even be just pursuing you just to see where you go. They might just be curious. Okay, with that information, Aveline's gonna say, "Well, for now, I think we have the numbers advantage. We could nip this in the bud right now and see what they want, or we could potentially alert some of our friends and make the situation worse." Hmm. Tell you what, let's make camp. Let's be on the lookout.

Maybe one of us could sort of backtrack a little bit just to see if somebody's following us, but other than that, let's just keep our eyes open. So do you want to keep this to ourselves? No. No. Good. I'm not very good at that. So if we haven't already, I think we get camp all set up and have the fire or whatever. And as we're doing that, just without making everybody stop and look back and point and that kind of thing, just kind of like, "Don't look over my shoulder, but there's somebody looking at us." But that kind of thing, but sort of just explain the situation and see if anybody has any other ideas.

But for now, just sit and pretend we haven't seen anything. But we got to be on the ball, basically. Anybody have any other ideas? How far away was the rider? I would say probably a good half mile back, somewhere in there. Like the way this road is positioned, you can kind of see him up on a hill. So they're a good distance away. And on horseback. Yep. Okay. I don't think Alarath would want to do anything. If he was closer, she'd probably go after him. But if we are agreeing not to, then she'll stay put and be unhappy about it. Just makes me nervous. Clara would probably just be like, "We're probably just two ships passing in the night.

There's a road here. It makes sense that there'd be other travelers. Let's just not poke the bee's nest." I just don't like that he's got that glass thing and he's like, "Oh, look at them!" And she's gonna be mimicking, holding one up to her eye, zooming in and out like, "Ooh!" Well, if you had one, would you be looking at him right now? I would. And then she'll point at him like, "Exactly." She's gonna give me a look like, "Well, fuck you. Yes, I would." "No." By the way, Aveline is clearly looking in his direction, like looking obviously at him. Pointing.

That guy. There. Barris would be doing the bad yawn, like stand up, stretch, look for a second, then turn back around. Smooth. Like, yeah, if there's a road, Aveline is like standing in the middle of the road looking at him. Just openly gawking? Yes. I love it. I love Aveline so much. Alright, well, probably nothing, but let's make camp and tonight we gotta make sure we're super on watch. Merrick will take the first watch if nobody else wants to. So how about we fast forward time a little bit here and just kind of pick things up in the morning. So you guys take turns, you're doing your watch stuff.

It is now the second of Alta Orn. And it's a beautiful, beautiful day. Sun's creeping up through the trees and man, just a cool breeze. Birds chirping. You guys are very close to Aldmoor. Now, Aldmoor is an interesting little town because it's nestled right up against Bandit's Rest. So there are, they're pretty vigilant about people trying to sneak in and steal weapons, food, sometimes people, all kinds of stuff. But they have these watchtowers set up mostly against the forest itself, but they do check people semi thoroughly who are rolling through. Merrick's definitely been there before.

Has anyone else been to Aldmoor before? Nope. Yeah, I'm gonna say no for Elrath. Yeah, I don't think so. I'm checking. I don't think so. It's quaint. It's homey, very, very old school log cavity type of town. You'll get to know it. How much would Merrick tell the group about Aldmoor, I guess? Just the quick and dirty version of things. Just whatever you kind of need to know to get around a little bit, like whether it's the stick close or if it's, yeah, it's totally cool. Like it's nice, you know, take it in. What would be interesting to me is if Merrick could roll for, I don't know, maybe history or I don't know what it is.

But basically, if he has any ideas of like, oh, there's this great like little diner or something like that for us to go to. Right, right, right. Something like that. Probably a tavern. But I was thinking more a little something like, oh, there's this woman. She has this little place. It's you wouldn't not even know it existed. But, you know, last time I was here, I checked this thing out. Just to treat everyone. Right, right, right, right. Give me a wisdom check. Do do do do do do do do do do do do. That's not right. It's a nine. Well, OK. You did spend some time at a particular place called the lantern.

There is a notable feature about Aldmoor that doesn't make it into the the advertising brochures. It's become quite a haven for warforged people. Displaced remnants of the old war. These somewhat cranky individuals all pretty much live in Oldmoor and they have a bit of a community. It's it's it's it's not militant, but they can be a little grating, I guess I would say. That is relayed to the people. Wow, is something grinding their gears? Wow. You know what helps with gears when they're grinding together? Lube. Lube. There it is. Industrial grade lube. Yep. So anyway, let's go pick up a pick up a warforged friend to join the party.

I'm still on that. Would there have been any like warforged and like over over Dale, over watch? Oh, goodness. No, there definitely was for a while. Yeah, I know. But like after everything went down. That's OK. So obviously, most of them are dead. Right. There was a massive cleanup effort to get rid of all the bodies that took well over a year and a half. But somewhere in the area of two to three percent of them survived. And yeah, there would probably be one or two, but they were definitely in the probably in the process of packing up and leaving. And as word spread about Oldmoor, it was just kind of a place where they started to meet up.

No real rhyme or reason. I was trying to think of Elrath has seen one before. So she's maybe seen bits and pieces of one. Yeah, probably. Yeah. Just from working with like Liara and them. Yeah, definitely. You've seen bodies. Absolutely. Yeah. OK. What's his name? The stomach bugs. Oh, Drack. Drack. Is he here? He's in Oldmoor. Yeah. Yeah. You can join the party. I'm going to stop by. I'm going to stop by and see Drack if we're here long enough. Sure. Yeah. So Drack runs the lantern, which is a little in. Very homey place. Sorry, I forgot he ran the damn thing. Yeah. OK, anyway.

And it's it's a very, a very small place. Very, very quaint. It has a little a little restaurant type area attached to the lobby itself. So people can kind of come down and get their little breakfast. And they they usually make something late into the night, so like they they kind of cater to people traveling through, because that's mostly the the the visitors. They get to Oldmoor, people kind of rolling through to get to Uminyaro or Brideport. So are you guys continuing down the road? Yes. On the way over, Varus would like to keep out for someplace to drop off a letter.

OK. Yeah. So I would say a few more hours go by and you are going to get to the gates of Oldmoor again. Big wooden structures. They have these they have these really tall lookout towers and you're going to hear like hollering before you even get to the gates. They're very aware of when people are arriving or leaving town. Now the gates are open. It's it's you can just stroll in, but they do keep note of like, all right, we got some travelers, that type of thing. You're going to you're probably going to hear some talking back and forth and you're going to see a couple of guards at at the gates.

Just just keeping an eye on you. Not not not stopping you or barring your passage. Let's see. We're on the sorry. We're on the cart, right? Yeah. OK, so as we approach the the the gates of this place, Merrick's going to kind of put up his arm into a fist, kind of like a like, oh, you know, kind of a hey, we're here. And then slow everything down and hop down to greet whoever is the gatekeeper. Yeah. And again, they're not stopping you. They're just if you do stop and start interacting with them, they'll probably strike up a conversation. It's like maybe even like offer a handout or something.

Welcome to Audemars. Yeah, I think it's just Merrick jumping down instead of going straight in like, hey, how are things going these days? Like, how's the how's the city going? How's the town? And just reach out his hand, just being friendly, but kind of getting a little bit of street knowledge. Ah, OK. Just kind of almost like checking in with the concierge. Like it's like, what's there to do? Yeah, like, is it a are we coming into like a weirdo place or are things cool? Should we just be able to be cool? I don't know. Basically, the bandits and everything is just put at least Merrick and I'm probably sure everybody else a little on edge.

It's just like, hey, everything, everything cool. Sounds like we're coming in to stop in for a day or two. All good? Oh, so, OK, one, if it's a safety concern, this guy would kind of bend over backwards to get rid of that fear. It's like, oh, you don't have to worry about anything like that, sir. And he's going to like point to the lookout towers and there are armed guards everywhere. It looks like these people are ready to defend this place at a moment. And probably have. OK, OK, cool. Yeah, he'll make the comments around like, yeah, we had a little bit of trouble with some bandits on the way up this way.

So, you know, just making sure everything's cool these days. So really appreciate it. Thanks for letting us through. And then, you know, with that, I guess it would be get back on the cart and just keep going. Yeah, he's like he would probably piggyback on this like, ah, disgusting lot. Don't have to worry about anything like that here. And he would probably point out a couple of because you're a visitor and they're all about that tourist dollar. Probably like point you over to the lantern and then like there's, you know, there are street performers over there.

There are places to kind of put your feet up, have a drink and and all that. So he'd kind of point you to Main Street. And if you were to roll through, you would definitely spot a few Warforged out and about. To the point where I would say maybe in a big city like Brightport, you might spot one. But it's it's it's a it's a big rarity. And I'd say within 10, 15 seconds of strolling through this place, you see two or three, including there's there's one kind of hunched over appears to be female and just ringing a bell asking for donations near this near this fountain.

And then behind that, to the left, you'd see the lantern and people enjoying a couple of drinks out front. And most most of the rest of the town's pretty much just going about its business. It's it's pretty early in the day. So it's it's very calm. Clara will go give give the lady some some some silver coins or something, whatever the coinage may be in theory. Wait, how do you not know? I don't pay attention when you talk. Oh, OK, cool. Yeah. Did you know that we're going to be bards at Dragon Con? Like that's the theme this year. Great. The real thing is like we always say gold, but I know that there are smaller pieces of currency.

Yeah, I just do it because it's easier. Yeah. Instead of sitting here doing math for. Yeah. Yeah. So just let's say you toss in a gold or something. Yeah. And she would she would stop ringing the bell. Now, have you ever been somewhere like Dragon Con or now shut up where there's where there's a big gathering of people and you'll see someone collecting for a charity or something like that. And you just want to be a good person. And you say, here, I want to here's here's, you know, 10 bucks, something like that. And the next thing you know, they're trying to collect your email and phone number.

Oh no. And they want to sign you up and they want to. Oh, Clara's going to reach back in and take the gold back out. I had the worst experience ever at Dragon Con. Jason remembers. Pepperidge Farm remembers. Nice. So this lady is going to be ringing this bell and she's got this raspy kind of shrill voice and donate for a better tomorrow for Warforged. Like just a very, very loud voice. Her voice carries. Have you heard of the Dragonborn named Kava? I feel like you two could have a conversation that would just kill everyone in the general vicinity. Imagine Bea Arthur just screaming at you and that's kind of what you got going.

Yes, I would too. Joke's on you, sir. She's screaming the lyrics to her holiday special song at me. The same way she does in the holiday special. Ah, so she is going to grab Clara's hand after you put in your donation and it kind of makes you're going to hear a sound that's so telling. There's one of two sounds you're going to hear if you put a coin into the slot in the top of this box. You're either going to hear that coin fall in and hit a bunch of other coins and make this delightful little ch-ching sound or you're going to hear it hit wood. And that's what Clara is going to hear.

Just dropping in one coin. Thump. And you could tell that that's the lone donation that this person has got. At least today. And she's going to reach out and grab Clara's hand. Do you have a minute to talk about war forged rights? Clara is going to say sorry, I don't speak common in drow. Wow. The avalanche on the car card is like, what do you mean? You could take this bullet. I like that like, Aveline might have responded in drow to her. She's like, what the fuck? I thought you did. No, no, for real. That's what she's doing. 100%. I think she would probably hold on for just a few more seconds.

And then after a bit, just realize this is probably a dead end. And let go of your hand and go back to ringing this bell and probably calling out to people who are very clearly avoiding eye contact with this woman to get to their little affairs. Like, just get across the street. They're like, Oh, my God, this lady like that type of thing. Clara's going to turn around and like facing Elrath and away from this lady just like make the biggest like, Oh, that was a mistake face. She's just gonna look at you like, woof. She's gonna write your email address in this scroll.

So you can send me your poorly spell checked newsletters every other week. God. Oh, my goodness. So where to first guys? Now Clara can't speak common as long as she's in this town. At least not around her. Because that's exactly the kind of person who will call you out for that publicly later too. Oh, absolutely. So, like, Varus is holding like his freshly folded, folded like letter that he wants to send. But as soon as he starts to see the street performers, he's going to like tap on anybody that's nearby. Look, look, just like watching them do stuff. And then he'll probably for whoever's there be like, Oh, I used to juggle.

I used to do what that guy did. And like finding a juggler in the crowd. That's like kind of probably entertaining like little kids like pointing at him. Maric is going to put his hand on Varus's back, you know, like, like, Oh, cool. Cool. And he's going to open a little pouch up. He's going to give a gold piece to Varus. And he's going to sort of pat him on the back like, you go give him a little coin. That is so pandering. Just running out to the coin. The coin in both your hands somehow. Here, mister. He's going to. So he'll hold it and then like look back and be like, but now he's getting paid by them.

Maric will take the coin. And put it back in his pouch and then pat him on the back and then go back about his business. Nothing mean, nothing mean. No, nothing. Yeah, just that's cool. Clara's going to nod to Varus. Good call. Yeah, you could tell there's like a it's it's it's almost like a midway. It's set up. There's there are definitely performers set up close enough to the front gates that they're trying to pull people in. And you'll see lots of you'll see lots of children crowded around. There's like a puppet show thing going on. There are there are jugglers and there are all kinds of like people doing like magic and stuff like that.

More illusions, not magic, because magic isn't magic in theory. You know what I mean? So they are all working for tips. You could tell. So like any time someone donates a coin or something to like the puppet show, they incorporate that into the puppet show. So like this little green dragon looking puppet will grab the coin and just like there and all the kids celebrate like there. It's it's part of it. It's kind of like the old school version of celebrating a Twitch subscriber. Like they're just very, very into it. So are you guys let me ask you a question.

Are you guys getting a place to stay or are you pretty much just refueling a bit and heading back out on the road? Is this this is earlier in the day, right? Yeah. You said. Because they're looking for somebody. But like you I didn't know if you guys were kind of setting up shop here. Well, we've got a mission. Let's see how long that takes. OK. And by the time we're done, it's probably going to be time to get something to eat. We might as well stay the night and then see what our plan is at that point. That's my thought. And Merrick would articulate that to everybody like, hey, you know, I don't know.

I've got a I got a place. I kind of know a guy. We need to. And he's going to pull that letter out. I think he's holding it. I can't remember if that's taking it. Anyway, you would have the letter and just say, like, got to take care of this for Tessia. So let's see if we can find this person. So you would have been given. Well, obviously, you have a name and a description. And I guess there's two ways to go about this. Really, you could either start asking around or you can start kind of casually looking around yourself and keep it close to your chest. One might take a little longer, but I guess you'd be more secretive if that's what you're going for.

Just to clarify, we are looking for Diana, right? We know that. So we know we're looking for Tiefling. Yes. Which I would imagine a Tiefling would stand out. I mean, I'd say the Warforged stand out more than anything. Like. Right. But like, OK, example, both you and I stand out in a crowd, me because of my hair and you because of your height, but we both stand out. Right. But like, not because I'm white. That's not like. You know what I mean? Like it's like, oh, no, a white guy. Like, yeah, I mean, we're everywhere. But like. But you're like nine feet tall. I'm six, too.

So this I think the description would get you more than anything where when you start breaking someone down, it's like Diana would probably be. Probably be described as almost kind of sharp, a little proper. Probably probably dress as well. That type of thing. Put together, I guess is how I would put it. OK, well, why don't we wander around? Merrick has at least a place to go, at least as a destination, if we want to, you know, grab a pint and some lunch by the time we get there. But in the meantime, we can sort of make our way that way, you know, however we want to and just sort of ask people around or look for somebody.

Does that make sense? Yeah, sure. It's just a destination is my point. Yeah. Do me a favor. Give me a flat D10 roll, if you would. Or. OK, so I would say that you probably you probably coast around for like an hour, seeing the sights and you're you're playing it cash, right? You just you just kind of looking around. If it's if if at a certain point, you know that they're researching something. So they're either they're either in the library or they're mingling amongst people trying to find something out socially. Right. Who you asking? I just generally, I guess.

Would you would you like to go to a place is basically what I'm asking. Mm hmm. Evelyn would definitely want to go to a place he is not. Thank you, friend. I mean, I think it's a good place to go. Yeah, roll initiative against the town. So, OK, that sounds like you want to go get a drink, something like that. I think so. I mean, we're kind of we're taking it easy, right? We could go to any tavern that we see if we happen to get the lantern. That's fine. But it really doesn't matter. OK. It does matter that we're going to the lantern. I feel like if Merrick mentions it, we'll probably go there.

Yeah, I mean, he's been saying, like, I know a place. It's not like the best place ever, but if we want to sort of make our way there, we might be able to see this person on the way. And if not, maybe they're there. And if not, we'll just grab something to eat. So there's a few things that are interesting about this place. Let's say it is the lantern, because half of it is like a bed and breakfast type joint. It's a very homey looking inn. A lot of inns kind of have a commercial feel. It's very not cold, but it's like checking into a day's inn. You know why you're there.

You're not anyone's guest. You're paying for a room. You're stopping for the night and you're getting back on the road. Right. This is more like it's a place run by an old ant or something like it's very warm and cozy. There's a there's a nice hearth inside. There's a lovely fire going. They have two of the best loot players that you've ever heard. Very, very. It's not it's not too loud. It's just it's just setting a mood. It's very atmospheric. So all of the Warforged that you've seen in town thus far, you notice that they're wearing clothes. And a lot of Warforged choose to do this because it helps them to not stick out so much.

And sadly, a lot of them are rusted through. Their bodies aren't exactly what they used to be. So they cover up to try and blend in with the crowd. You're going to notice this stocky, old school looking Warforged. We're talking a Gen 1 Warforged, not one of the sleek, more svelte Overwatch ones. This one was like it looks like if a metal barrel came to life and had a head. And he is ass naked. I love it. So you're going to notice that you're going to hear him before you see him, I think. It's almost like a furnace got up and started stomping around the bar.

That's basically Drack. So Drack is walking around. And you notice he had this apron and he just kind of threw it over the bar because he's not using it right now. And he's walking over to this table with three steins. And he's going to kind of slam them down to the table, almost looking like he's purposefully spilling liquid. Here! And you're going to notice something else. The three people sitting at the table barely look out at them. So either that means they're locals and are just used to this type of treatment, or they're scared to look up at this guy because he's so gruff and impatient.

And in the middle of stomping back to the bar, he's going to stop and look at the party and then completely disregard you and stomp back to the bar. Nice. I love him. Merrick's going to turn back to the party and say, "Oh, yeah, we can sit anywhere." Yeah, no one's going to stop you. I say we get like a table. Pull a couple of tables together if we have to. Oh, he would hate that, by the way. Yeah. Because I like people rearranging things. Um, you guys are going to take a seat and eventually, we're talking probably 10 minutes will go by, and Drak will come stomping across the barroom floor.

And you'll even hear a floorboard or two kind of creak or wince underneath of his weight. And he'll stand there for the longest time. And he's got these yellow jeweled eyes, and he's obviously unblinking. And he's just, there's a creepy thing about Warforged sometimes. They don't breathe, and they're not showing signs of life, and they don't blink. So there have been instances of people assuming that they have somehow shut down, when in reality, they're just staring at you. So this Warforged is going to walk up, say nothing, and then if the silence is too long...

What? Aveline jumps back. He is very creeped out. He's a guy that looks at signs and cues from people to know what to say, so he is at a loss. Oh, God, yeah, that's, that's, this is bad for Aveline. Merrick would say, "Drac." And he would push his chair back like he's going to stand up and like, "Hey, buddy." He's got to tilt his head ever so slightly. Do I know you? Oh, Drac, it's been a couple of years. I remember the old, the old wildin' with the stomach and the gettin' the stuff out of there stuff. Remember that? No. That was me. Oh, we had fun. Listen, pints all around, please.

He's going to grumble to himself and stomp back to go get you some drinks, and then after a few moments come back again, kind of abruptly slamming them on the table. And instead of asking you, "Hey, is there anything else?" or, you know, just, he almost seems like he is... He's not trying to sell you anything. He's just, he would rather you leave, if anything. And you are eating up valuable time in his day. So he's going to stomp back to the bar and begin cleaning these glasses. I... Okay. You ever see someone use an implement that's dirtier than the thing that they're cleaning?

That's how I would describe this once pristine white rag that he is just greasily fumbling over these glasses. And every once in a while he'll just drop one and continue, and then walk the... Wait, like onto the floor? Like smash? Yeah, like... You don't get the sense that he tried to, but he's not losing any sleep over it, and instead of cleaning it up, it's behind the bar. So he'll just traipse through the glass, and you'll listen to it crunch and grind into the wood. He's got butterfingers! Also greasy glasses. Seems to be losing some motor skills. Ha ha ha!

Motor. Motor oil. Jason, did you get it? Because I didn't hear you laugh. I, uh, I'm laughing on the inside. Okay, good. So how are the state of our glasses that we got? Curiosity's safe. You know what? Give me a flat D10 roll. The higher the roll, the cleaner the glasses. Here we go! Oh no, no, no, no, no. Got like a roach in one. So that's a one. So you asked for ale, and you're gonna- okay, what you thought was head on your beverage, just a foamy head, it's actually a film, like pudding skin that's on top of your beverage. And it's just kind of floating there like a tiny island bobbing up and down.

Ooh. Evelyn pushes his glass away in disgust, which is rare for him. Clara's gonna follow suit, just like, not as far away, just like, yeah, I'm good too. Is it pretty obvious? With a one? Yeah. What it looks like, so that's the inside of the glass, the outside of the glass looks like someone had Taco Bell and just kept touching their glass over and over again and it was never washed. Okay, okay. So it's got like gordita fingerprints all over it. Oh, gordita. Okay. See? Okay. Go ahead. I was just gonna say, I feel like Elarath would have it halfway up to her face before she realized everything.

Clara will put her hand in front of it. Okay. No. Don't drink that. Okay. Put it down. She's not very perceptive, so. Merrick. I thought you said this place was good. You know what? He's like gonna look down at his glass. Yeah. Merrick's not gonna actually acknowledge anything about the glasses. He's just gonna say, "You know what? Everybody put your drink down. I'm gonna treat us to something a little nicer." Right? And he's just deflecting. So he's gonna, you know, push his chair back and go up to the bar where Drak is. Okay, good. And say, "Hey, Drak." And just wait for him to get his attention if that happens.

The exact same thing where this Lumbering Warforged is going to turn around and again, the same dead-eyed stare waiting for you to speak. Um, thanks to the Ales. Listen, do you have anything in a bottle? Like looking for something that's just, you know, something a little nice, a little fancy behind the bar that I could just buy the whole bottle for me and my friends? He's going to turn around and reach up to a shelf and pull down some brown liquor in a medium-sized bottle. Nothing crazy. And he's going to not slam it, but there's a bit of a clank as he puts it down on the bar.

Ten gold. Merrick's gonna just check. Does it look sealed? Yes. Okay. I'll tell you what, I can, uh, I got eight. But maybe for some information, maybe I can do the whole ten. Do you know anybody named Diana, Tiefling, Asterothi? Asterothi? He's gonna be like, "I don't know. Trunk. That's all I got." Oh boy. You know, this is... Do me a favor, give me a persuasion check. I wasn't being very persuasive. But I am buying. That's a ten. Eh, that's ten. That's, that's fine. Twelve gold. Okay, but do you know the information, Drak? He is... Every ounce of the way he carries himself shows impatience.

Why would I be charging you extra if I didn't know where they were? Merrick's gonna take a really long pause, staring in. He's gonna kinda try to stare at Drak just for a little bit of like a, "I could play your game." But then it's gonna creep him out and he's just gonna have to stop. And then he's gonna shrug and be like, "You know what? Here." And he's just gonna do two stacks. He's gonna do two stacks of six gold. And he's gonna pick up the bottle. The second the gold hits the counter. Library. Thank you Drak. You are a sweetheart. And he's gonna go back to the table.

And when he gets by the table, he's gonna go over and he's gonna pick up the ale. These tankards or whatever they are. And he's gonna pick them up and just put them on the table next to them. Like, "Ah, let me get these out of the way." That was disgusting. So let me explain a little bit. This is him kinda feeling like a host. Kinda feeling like he owns a restaurant. There's dirty stuff coming on the table. And he's kinda mortified at that. So he's just kind of taking care of the table a little bit. But he's gonna open up the bottle of whatever it is and say, "This is some of the finest." And he's gonna just kind of trill off because he doesn't know what it is.

"The finest." And then he's going to take a big swig out of it and he's gonna put it back on the table in front of Varys. Okay, here's what I'd like to do. Eeny, meeny, miny, Lisa. Yes. Could you do me a favor? What we're gonna do is we're gonna have two d10 rolls here. One for the strength of the liquor that's in this bottle. And the second one for the quality of the liquor. It's smoothness. It's bouquet. So let's roll for strength. For a second I misheard that as bukkake. Wow. I mean if you roll a one... Why is it so salty? This is a really pale ale. Um, Calloraph, give me a d10.

Let's roll for potency. What's this? How strong is this? Holy shit! This is actually just paint, stripper. That's varnish. Yeah, that's not... We're all gonna get plastered. That's like 200 proof. That's a 10, everybody. Straight moonshine. Thank you, Lisa. You're welcome. Thank you. So, okay. So Marek chugged some of that, correct? That's true. He took a sip. Swig. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But here's the thing. Liquor works like this. Basically, when it's that potent, it's usually disgusting. Yeah. So you have to force yourself to drink it. You know what you're getting into. This bottle is completely unlabeled.

So if it's smooth, you wouldn't know that. Avalon. Oh. Do me a favor, give me a flat d10, sir. The higher the number, the more smooth and buttery this beverage is. Alright, let's go for it. Oh, that is... Oh shit! That's called the worst combination. That's a one. Okay. So, the cheap vodka from Safeway. Yeah, this tastes like... This tastes like you went into your high school, like, woodshop class, like, the closet in there and just grabbed some sort of, um, some sort of industrial solvent or something like that and just downed it. Like, nail polish remover. This is disgusting.

Might I make a suggestion? Given that Marek just took a swig of it without knowing, without even smelling it first, should you have to roll to see if you can actually swallow this? I'm just saying that I would spit it out if that happened to me. You know what? Give me a con save. Oh, yeah, you're a man's man. Oh, but this is... It doesn't hurt him physically, but also this is, I think, a reflection of him, like, taking a big swig of it after saying this is the finest and then just kind of looking like, "Mm, mm, mm, that is something else." So to everyone else...

Yeah. This is like... Yeah. If they don't, if Varus tastes this and doesn't pretend that he thinks it's good, then he should be embarrassed, right? He's thinking, "Ah, I mean, I should... there must be something wrong with me if I don't like it." You're trying to pass it off as, like, really high. Yeah. Shit. I want a hand. You have to tell the little baby of the group, no offense. He's so little and so little. I'm helping him grow. Yeah, yeah, sure. He's putting some hair on that chest. Yeah, on that great half-elf dangly chest. Yeah, so he'll pick the bottle up, kind of like tilt the top toward Marek, almost like a cheers, and then he'll take a swig.

I'm guessing con save? Yeah, please. Oh, that's good. That's 14. Okay. So he'll probably give, like, an immediate, like, "Oh, okay. Yep, not bad." And just, like, move over. Not, like, terribly bad, but almost like that I did not expect that strong of a hit. Yeah, he'll probably give, like, a little bit of a hit. What? So I'll take another. Yeah, no, yeah, swigs it and says, "Uh, hmm," and then does another one. Yeah, you weren't kidding. Well, after you do that. This sure is the finest. And Aveline's kind of intrigued, and he's having a bad day now because of Miss Warforged, so he'll all reach for the bottle.

Oh, don't drink depressed. It's too late. Oh, give me a CON save. Oh, that's an 11. That's not great. Now, do I spit it out or do I just get... I would say with an 11, it would be like that cartoon swallow of, like, "Mm, mm." Like, yeah, you'd be choking it back. Oh. You... you all like this? I wouldn't say like, but it's strong. Yeah, no, it was fine. At this point, Aveline's had enough, and he, he like, kind of lifts himself up off the, like, from hunching over and just sitting back in his chair, and he's peering at the Warforged now. Oh. Just peering at him.

Before we move on, is Clara gonna partake in this? I feel like Clara probably watched all this happen and isn't going to drink. Like, even if it's passed to her, she'd probably like give it a little sniff, and then it's like when El offers either of us whiskey, where we're like, "I'm good, thanks." Yeah, no, we have kitten taste buds, so no. Yeah. Okay. I think Clara could stomach it, but it's the strength of it where it's like, we still have a job to do, and I'm pretty sure you're all gonna be sloshed in a moment. So like, 'cause you all rolled to see if you could swallow it, not how it would affect you.

So... Just a swig, it was just a swig here and there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's just a nip for now. Except for Elorath. Just a nip of a ten. Yeah. Elorath's gonna be like rip-roaring by the time we get to the library. "What the fuck are all these books about?" Clara's just like, "All of them? Well, let's look." So to that point, Merrick is gonna sit back down after, you know, everybody's starting to take swigs, and he's gonna say, "Also, I know where..." And he's gonna hold that letter and goes, "I know where Diana is." Library. Yep, library. So let's finish up here and find her.

There's no, like, law about drinking outside, right? I mean, it's... It's not the area, that's not a thing. It is the morning. Isn't there a mini festival going on outside? It's fine. I think it's more like brunch. Oh, Merrick's gonna get himself some beans. I- Okay, the way I interpreted that was like Mardi Gras and he's gonna take off his shirt. Yeah, that's what I meant. Oh! Okay. Oh, okay. That gift you sent earlier is appropriate now. Yay! Merrick just lifts up his shirt, there's just veins around his heart just pulsating. Oh, god. You're not healthy, buddy.

You're not healthy at all. Sorry. No. So, um... I imagine Merrick's a very hairy man. Merrick? Yeah, I don't know why. Probably because of the mustache. Yeah, no, he's definitely her suit. He's a furry boy. As you guys are sitting there, a gentleman is going to come up behind Varys and kind of rest his hands on Varys' shoulders. Not in a creepy way, just like an overly familiar way. I don't think there's a not creepy way for a stranger to put their hands on your shoulders. I think it's- Okay, if it were one hand, I think that would be deemed a bit more like, "Well, hey, everybody!" That type of thing.

Because it's two hands, I guess it comes off as a little creepier than it should. But, um... This guy appears to be half-elf? He's going to lean down, sticking his face in between Varys and Merrick, but addressing the table as a whole. Why, hello, everyone. I could help with your beverages, if you'd like. And he's going to remove one of his hands from Varys' shoulders and kind of cup it around his mouth. The glasses tend to be ever so dirty here. I think Varys is going to punch him. Wow! Yes! Not like a full punch, but more just like a pop of like, "Hey, hey, back up." Like in his face?

No, more like in his chest or like the upper half of his arm or something. It's just kind of like a pop. You just put your hands on me and then put your hand in front of my mouth. No. No. Well, no, no, no. The hand was his mouth. Oh, okay. He's telling the secret. I thought it was his mouth, too. I was like, "Did he just cover Varys' mouth?" No, no, no. That would be super creepy. Yeah, no. He wasn't cupping your mouth. It was like he was leaning in telling you a secret, that type of thing. Get your hand from your mouth and punch through his chest. I also like how you tried to describe like a friendly little punch.

Just a little pop. Like a friendly little punch. I just kind of cave in his chest. He's... So, I think, what was it? Elorath was on his other side? So he's definitely gonna like lean towards Elorath and kind of like look at this gentleman that just appeared. Um, sure. Please don't touch me. Oh, the second you say that, he's gonna hold up his hands almost like he's surrendering? I'm extremely sorry. I tend to be overly friendly with travelers. It's only because I'm wishing you well. Uh huh. Well, we could use better glasses. This warforged. And he kind of peers over, menacingly.

Or he could do that with some bitterness. Ooh. So that was quick to it. That was like a hard R in there for warforged. Fucking warforged. He's going to kind of ignore that and he's gonna feel kind of bad that he made you uncomfortable. I'm very sorry. Here, it's the least I can do. And he's going to, um, he's going to wave his hands and then, um, very quickly drag his hands over his forearms in a very fast motion. And he's wearing these big billowy clothes, very fine garments, very, very high thread count, very soft. And your glasses are going to be clean.

There's going to be a quick glow and then just clean glasses. Oh, okay. And he's again, he's going to stick his hands up again and back away from the table. I'm terribly sorry for making you uncomfortable. Welcome to Almor. If there's anything you need, I would be happy to be your guide. Clara will kind of look over the glasses like, oh, good. And then look up to the gentleman. Thank you, Mr. He is going to take this big dramatic bow. Waleran. Waleran Kevnar. My friends call me Wally. Thank you very much, Wally. And Clara will take the glass and look at it closely just to make sure it is actually clean and then take like a little like sample taste to make sure that the grossness isn't still in the drink.

Oh, it's like a completely different beverage. This went from a one to a 10. Like it's it's it's very refreshing even. He may have chilled them. Like in the X-Men movie. Just oh, God. Last Stand? Yeah. Oh, wait, was that Last Stand? Yeah, probably that was all that was a good move. That was a really good move in Last Stand. Okay, but like he took the coke and he was just like, oh, and then it was all frozen. That was maybe I don't remember if that was Last Stand. I think that was the first one. If it wasn't Kelsey Grammer, I wasn't paying attention. Okay. Anyway, young Brianna really liked that move.

It's one of the reasons that she likes mutants as much as she does. It was like, that's really cool. That and the kid who blanks and it changes the channel on the TV. I like the part where they resettle the continuity. That's one of my favorite parts, too. So his name was you said his name was Wallerin? Wallerin. Wallerin. Okay. Yep. Wallerin. So I had Wallerin and I was like, I'm pretty sure you just heard like Wallerin, like you're Wallerin in a mud hole. I was like, that's not what he said. I think he had the big walrus mustache. His name is Wallerin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't though, because I like it better my way.

So this gentleman is to really complete the ensemble. He's wearing a cape. This cape is too long. Like it would drag. Okay. You ever watch something like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings and you're like, why is your cape nine feet long? It's going to drag through the mud. That's gross. But he's pristine. Like it looks like he's his garments have never touched filth and he is going to once more just give a half bow to the group. And I wouldn't say capes swish walk away, but he is definitely there's a bit of flamboyance to it. Like he's putting on a show like, you know, you know, so you'll remember me that type of thing.

Like he's very dramatic. Walking away with a little wiggle so he knows that we're staring at his ass. Oh, you'd have to stick it out really far for it to like make a bump in the cake. I can run for booty. Is he thick, though? You know what? Let's have a thickness roll. Yeah, let's do this. Flat T10. The higher the number, the more thick the booty. Yeah. Here we go. Eight. Oh, pretty thick. That's good stuff for the push. And that touched me. Not his butt. Oh, no, I think that's a separate role. He just rested his ass on Varus's shoulder. Oh my God. It's like when the teacher leans over to help another student and you're just like, would you not?

Let me just put this here. As that guy walks away, Varus is just going to like kind of like squint his eyes. I don't like him. Clara is going to pass him back his drink and be like, maybe this will change your mind. No, no, I don't like him. I like the drink, but I won't like him. I scream at you. True, but he just seems fake. That's fair. How long do you figure you guys stay here just till you finish your drinks? I think so. Finish drinks and head out. I vote for leave as soon as possible. That's just personal. OK, are you still mean mugging, Drak? As long as he's in my vicinity, he's given the heat.

OK. Do me a favor, roll an INTIMIDATION check. Let me see how... Let me see what kind of exudes off of you. Let's see. Are you breathing fire? Damn it. Well, that's an 8. He knows he's being mean mugged, basically. Well, there'll be other... I'll get more chances. Let's put it that way. Yeah, there's others in town. So you guys, you know where the person you're looking for is. So I'm guessing you're... Not to put words in your mouth, I'm guessing you're heading to the library. There. Yeah. OK. Leaving town? Just gonna pack up the cart? Go? Yeah. OK. Sweet. So the library is...

A little bit of a walk away from the lantern. It's actually kind of secluded. It's far enough away from all these street performers and stuff like that, that they can have the windows open and kind of get a nice cross breeze going through there without it being a cacophony of children screaming. I may have incorporated some of my life when writing that bit about Aldmoor. But anyway, they have a pretty darn nice library in Aldmoor. It's just a single story. Very, very quaint when you go in there. Like these hand-carved tables they got with designs and stuff on them, like running water or like there's a tree or something carved in it.

You could sit like that. You know, really, really fancy looking. And if you walk in, you're going to see just a couple of people in this place. Other than that, it looks pretty deserted. But there are just rows and rows of books stretching back to the back of this building. And there's these lovely beams of light kind of streaming through. They kind of have this skylight thing going on. Incredibly serene to just sit in here and, you know, nestle up with a book. Let me ask what... So the way I picture it, Iris and Diana are here. I think what exactly you'd be researching at the moment that you feel like?

Is there something that kind of strikes your fancy? Is there something that you'd like to kind of, while you're here, it's like, "Well, when am I going to be back?" Something you'd like to look into? I mean, I think Diana is probably just focused on researching what she's there for. Okay. So there's probably a couple of books about the occult. Probably the darker side of the pantheon, stuff like that. Talking about God's relationship to the demons or just demons in general, that type of thing. Possession, all kinds of stuff like that. So if someone were to roll up, there's definitely...

There's a pattern. So there's probably all kinds of terrible pictures of skeletal figures crawling out of someone's mouth. And stretching their face and head to almost claymation proportions. It looks like their skeletons are climbing out of their body. Weird fucked up stuff like that. What about Iris? I imagine, is Iris sitting with Diana or near? Probably near. She likes to hang out with her just because she needs somebody to be like, "Okay, you need to start reading now." And also just so she can look over and say, "Oh, what are you looking at? Oh, that looks interesting.

That looks way more interesting than mine. Oh, cool, cool." And she's also kind of looking into the darker side of their library. Just looking for anything that kind of catches her interest that might kind of... Especially dark magic. And she's like, "Oh, this is kind of cool. I like the pictures. Very nice. Interesting." Yeah, and I imagine it's probably pretty obvious that they've been there for a while. Like, Diana and Icy Myeras probably have their table or desk where you can tell there's a lot of books and stuff and notes and everything that are kind of...

Clearly, there's this ongoing project sort of thing. Okay, if someone were walking in, does this look like you were burning the midnight oil? Or does it look more like you guys are just at home and you probably clock in each day and it's like, "Okay, where were we?" That type of thing. Yeah, probably more the latter. Okay. I didn't know if you guys were just living there. Well, for low on gold. It's like, "Well, it's nice here. You won't find us." So the party's walking in and you're the only two in here right at this moment. What would they see? Basically, describe yourselves.

Like, what are you wearing? What do you look like? That type of thing. Let's start with the person that they're actually looking for in Diana. So Diana is... She is a female tiefling. She's, as you said, kind of a sharp looking. She has curved horns and I guess she's... I don't know what she would be wearing probably. I'm just trying to think. I don't know if there's a livery of house dragon keep or something. I mean, you could be wearing the insignia of the house and stuff like that. I don't know if... I remember in the adventuring days... Yeah, that's what I'm trying to remember.

It's like what I think like some kind of armor-ish. You definitely had an aesthetic and it was Addams Family-ish. Not quite that gothy, I don't think. Not gothy. It's just it's very... You were... Okay, I would say everything about Diana back in the day screamed, "Don't talk to me." Yeah, I mean, it's not so much of that. Like, right now, she's focused on her research. She glances up and catalogs. People enter the library and then immediately gets back to work. Like, just kind of like, uh-huh. Not... I don't know much attention, but she still has her staff, I think.

And probably since she's out right now, she is still... And probably would have kept at least some elements of that same armor that she had. Just didn't want to... It was pretty decent stuff and a little waste of resources. But there is probably like... She probably has like a cloak or something with her that's maybe like hanging on the back of the chair that has like, at least like a clasp or something that has House Dragonkeep's sigil on it. Yeah. Also another thing to kind of claim that spot, like you guys are... You're fully rooted in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh, good. Oh, and Iris. She is a human woman. She's a medium height. She has light brown hair and brown eyes. And she's wearing dark gray robes, almost black. Just really dark with dark blue lining. And hanging around her neck very prominently and proudly is a symbol of Vecna. And she's just kind of chilling there. She looks like she should be researching, but she's kind of like slumped along the thing. Just kind of like doodling. And whereas Diana's side is probably all neatly organized, hers just kind of has... Just kind of sprawled. And she has... The pages are to like pictures and she's like, "Ahh." And then a couple of the really like dusty looking ones are kind of to the side because she thought those were too boring.

And she's not super into it. So you can kind of tell she's just kind of hanging out right now, looking a little bored. And she kind of sees the people and is just like, "There's people. What?" And just kind of looks curiously at them. So the group's going to walk in and see these two. And as searches go, this one's been pretty easy. Like, "You found your person." Yeah. Merrick's going to say, "All right, spread out." And he's going to do like the Hansen symbols for like people that are in the military. And they're like, "Go this way. Go that way. Stop." You know, I'm just kidding.

None of this happens. It's just, "Oh, there's the person we're looking for. Done." So he's going to walk up and he's going to pull out a letter and he's going to say, "This must be for you." And he's going to just drop it in front of Diana. She probably, like when he approaches close to the table, she'll glance up and get more of like, "Okay." She's going to actually look at him and I don't know if she would know who Merrick is. He didn't ever really visit during the two years or anything, right? They cross paths. Yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah, so she would probably put down her pen and then look at Merrick and then look at the letter.

And is there anything on, like the envelope or anything? It would have a wax seal. So you'd know what's from House Dragonkeep right away. And if you were to open it up, it would detail everything that's been happening the last couple of weeks at the house. Including Graddick and Tessia leaving to go south and handle things in Ona-Kal and everything that's been happening with the Black Hand and how that situation is getting worse. And essentially just telling Diana to be careful and if you could meet them in Ona-Kal as soon as possible. Yeah, she probably takes a few minutes to quickly skins in and goes over it again more thoroughly.

And then after that's done, she's going to look up at Merrick again and just... And you are? Oh, I'm Merrick. These are my associates. I've known Tessia for a while and I probably owe her my life 20 times over at this point. We made sure she got out safe. And she wanted this to be gotten to you. So here we are. And she'll again kind of give him and the rest of the party a more thorough glancing over. I don't know if there's any way to tell, but she would be doing the equivalent of an Arcana check just to double check. Because when dealing with someone like the Black Hand, it's better safe than sorry with stuff like this.

But then she would nod back at him. Thank you then for all of this. I'm Diana, though I assume you know that. Yeah, like I said, I'm Merrick. And Merrick would go around and point at everyone and let them introduce themselves very quickly. Yeah, and then Diana would kind of glance over at Iris like, "You want to introduce yourself or should I?" Iris was watching the interaction with great interest and then when they kind of talk, she looks a little downcast. She's like, "Aw man, I thought you had gotten a love letter from somebody. We wanted to just meet your new boyfriend, but I guess not." But hello, I'm Iris.

Nice to meet you. I'm just here. Don't mind me. Merrick will do a quick little bow and reach out his hand and just kind of do everything. And I guess he'd say, "Back to Diana. So just a friend of yours? You working on something?" We happened to run into each other here in Aldamore and she's been assisting me with research, I suppose you could say. I'm very helpful. Yes. Well, listen, we certainly don't want to get in your way. Wait a minute, quick before any of this happens. I'm very curious about what Avalon is doing in the library. See, I was getting up to it and here we go.

I like thinking that all of a sudden it's like, "Wait, where'd Avalon go?" So you look back and you're introducing us and you're having this conversation. And then Avalon walks up to both of you and he says, "My name is Avalon." And this is like he's not using a quiet voice at all. And he puts two hands on the desk and he says, "What are you reading? Is it fun?" Oh my gosh. That is the most off-putting. I will kind of raise an eyebrow and then glance down at the book that she's currently reading, which as you described is not... It's a bit horrific and then back up at Avalon and define fun.

"Well, I had an old friend that he used to read to me. Will you do the same?" I love being read to. Yes, Diana, please do read a passage. I love it when you do that. Why do they say that like it's his kink? I love being read to. Do you have anything that I could read off of or anything? I don't know what kind of stuff. Let's say that Diana were to read a passage of what she were looking at right at that point. And I imagine there's a smattering of horrifically sketched images and stuff like that. "After a period of incubation, the demon hatched out of this individual's chest, tearing open the chest cavity." It would go on and on like that.

"And essentially the demon would step out of the person and run about town skinning children." Now imagine reading that but Avalon staring into your eyes. Yeah, she would be looking down at the text. There is probably a little hint of a grin around her like she is aware that no, this is not pleasant or anything. If you're just going to barge up to me and ask like that, you might as well have a little bit of fun with it. Iris is super amused just watching her read this and watching. I was just like, you guys are very interesting. Come sit with us. I want to hear more about your group.

You guys are fun. I can sense it. Thank you. People rarely invite me to things. And he takes a seat. Oh man, you know what? Speaking of hands on shoulders, Merrick is going to actually, whenever Avalon sits down, I'm assuming he's going to sit down like right next to Diana. Like great, done. Merrick is going to put his hands on Avalon's shoulders. He's just going to squeeze. He's going to be like, you know what? He deserves this. Whatever he is, he deserves it. Okay. Merrick is actually going to go to the other side. I don't know. I'm just trying to imagine the table here, but he's going to find a way to be able to sit down quickly and actually say, hold up.

Were you reading something about demons inside of people? Oh yeah, that would be interesting for Merrick. Yes. It was quite grisly, wasn't it? I couldn't imagine such a fate. I love that they both answer yes at the same time. Yes. That is what I have been researching. I love it. Huh. Okay. And they could come out at some point, that kind of thing. At some point, yes. And not without a great deal of unpleasantness to the host, but that's the idea at least. Is there something you're concerned about particular with that? Have you encountered any like this? I think Merrick would probably keep it close to his chest for the moment, but he would say, um, Haha, it's fun because of the chest.

He would, um, no, no, I just, just reminding me of some things, but anyway, that's fascinating stuff. I'd love to talk to you about it again later. And he would be looking at both Iris and Diana and then kind of get, like, he looks like he has a concerned look on his face, but he could back off for a minute. He's just musing in his head. Yeah. Like, like Diana probably catches on that there's something more going on with that, but she's not going to pry, especially if he's offering to talk later, but she'll sort of nod at that. I'd be happy to discuss things with you, especially if being all of this is in service of helping Tessia in some way, which seems to be a goal we have in common.

I appreciate that. Yeah, maybe I'll, uh, yeah, let's talk later. Um, question. So we know about the Black Hand and all of that. I cannot recall if Tessia ever told us anything to do with demons and the Black Hand. Is that new information for us? Or is that something that was talked about and I just forgot? I'm keeping better notes now, by the way. Haha! Um, the demon stuff is... I don't know if Tessia would just unload that on you, but it's probably something that would be given to you in, like, the packet of information you received. It's like, yeah, it's kind of... it's been guessed that there's some sort of demonic connection based on eyewitness testimony and stuff.

Also, she constantly seems to have a stream of information that she couldn't possibly know, even having informants in the streets. There's only so much that you can get, but there's... yeah, she's been linked to some things. So how long are you all in the city for? Have you just come? Yes, we got here today. I don't like some of the people, but I like you two. You read to me. Well, I like you too. And well, welcome to Oedmore. Do you mean that? She kinda just blinks. Yes, I like you very much. Good. I think I like you too. Both of you. So funny and popped up weird.

This is one of the best conversations he's ever had. Yeah, he's in hog heaven. So, Merrick would say, not quite changing the subject, but sort of just delving a little bit deeper. So, Tessia at least said that you were close, that you're helping. What are you up to? I mean, not to pry, but if there's anything that we can do to help, I'll be honest with you, we're a little aimless right now and Tessia has been so good to me and to us and we just kind of want to help. What he says, like, what have you been up to, Jay? And it just kind of like gestures to the books.

It's not anything exciting. But then she'll kind of pause and then look back at the letter. And when was the last time you saw her, he said? A couple days, right? A few days, like four or five. We left Brightport and came straight this way to give you the letter at the same time that she went south. So, very recently, Merrick's going to kind of gesture to his face to sort of suggest the scar that she has. Mm hmm. And she'll nod at that. And did she say where she was going? Well, just like the letter, she's headed very south. I don't know what was in the letter exactly, so I don't know if the details are there, but presumably it's that she's kind of given the lowdown.

Merrick's going to reiterate that we were on a call. They sent a message through us to Tessia. Now Tessia's sending notes. Basically, we're just carrier pigeons at this point. But Tessia went to own a call. They're wanting to secede. They don't want anything to do with the houses anymore. So I think she's kind of got it on all fronts right now. Yeah, Diane's just kind of like testing to see how much he was told and whatnot, just based on what she was given the letter, which had the broken seal and everything. So, yeah. But she'll kind of nod at that and glance again at her research.

And, well, as you can see, I've been trying to collect some kind of information about, well, anything relating to what we might be able to expect from adversaries and, well, from that, how we might defend against it and whatnot. The actual research part isn't that exciting, I'm afraid. I don't know, Jason, would there be something that Dana would know of that they could do? Like even relating to the research stuff? You know what? Let's see how helpful this could possibly be. Do me a favor, give me a flat d20. Sure, as your best buddy. Hey, 16. 16! Well, you did learn quite a bit.

So here's the thing. Let's say that Lauren, the Black Hand, let's say that she has made some sort of pact with the demon. Well, that only narrows it down so much. There are tons of different demons. There are foot soldiery types of demons. There's middle management types of demons. There are bigwig types of demons that could wreak a lot of habit. So there's a lot of stuff that this could be. So I would say this research has basically narrowed it down to a handful of the usual suspects, I'd say. So there is something the group could do, but it would involve a lot of travel.

And essentially, it would be you'd have to talk to somebody with some major magical pull. We're talking somebody who might be able to step in with either a possession or getting rid of demons. We're talking repelling them or severing the tide that someone would have with a demon. You're probably talking about Uminero. And that is exactly the opposite direction that Diana would be heading in now. Okay. So Uminero, you say? Yeah, so Diana then will look down at the letter again and then back up at Merrick and then, well, there actually is something, I think, if you're willing to keep on heading north, that is.

Not out of your way or anything. Anything for Tessia. Have you ever been to Uminero? Anything but that for Tessia. *laughing* Thought I won't do that, Merrick. What's wrong with Uminero? Oh, it's hard to get to. It's a lot of work. Well, yeah, it's in the air. I assume there's a way. Big ladder? Oh, yeah. I don't know. It's really so far up is the thing. The teleportation device. It's not that. Oh, that's lovely. No, he's talking over the platform. What would you need to have happen? Do you need us to get something? Do you need us to find a person? Do you need us to send a message?

He sounds so hopeful about that. Man, so it's just like, there's no specific person. Right? It's just like... There's probably a few people who can help you in Uminero. I guess it's who's not busy. But this would basically be like, "Oh, we gotta talk to a specialist. We gotta... there's a few people who can help us. Maybe there's some relic that can help us. Maybe there's a spell or ritual we could use to sever this tie. But we're gonna have to call in a bigwig when it comes to sorcery." Merrick's still trying to piece it together though. So it's like, wait, you need to... are you trying to find somebody that can be kind of like a hired gun to exercise a demon from the Black Hand or...?

It's a bit more complicated than that, but in essence, yes, or at least cut the ties of whatever bond exists there. At the very least, give us any more information towards what this could possibly be. At what point do we notice that Merrick has an issue with Uminero as a concept? Well, do me a favor and roll an insight check. Okay. Wow. Oh my god. How is Aveline so insightful? Oh, because he reads cues of people. Exactly. It's like uncarved block. Yeah, totally. Fuck it. Wow, Aveline and Alarath would know. The... yeah. Okay. Because we read people the same way.

Mostly body language. Yep. Merrick, you seem a bit uncomfortable with the idea of Uminero. Is there a reason? Uh... I just have... I have some... it's an old haunt, you know? Used to be there for a little while. I got some acquaintances there. I don't know. Just feels a little bit like maybe I don't want to run into some people. Wow. I can protect you, Merrick. Yeah. I appreciate that, buddy. It's a little bit more complicated than that, but if we need to go to Uminero, I'll go to Uminero. And I guess he'll look at Alarath. His insight check would be, "You know something's up." She'd just be staring at you.

She's like, "Mm-hmm." She's not one... she's not a big one for words, but she'd be looking at you like, "Okay. Sure, Jan." Sure, Jan! She doesn't know how to behave in a library, though, so that's why she hasn't really been talking. She's like, "Mm, books." Awesome. Okay. Clara's gonna lean against the table on her forearms and look from Iris to Diana. So what can you tell us about the person that we have to find? Or the type of person? Is there someone in particular you have in mind? Would there be any names or maybe authors of a few of the books that Diana's been reading or something?

Like, just a starting point? Well, your best bet is to find somebody who deals in either possession or demonology, which is actually a particular field of study. Just someone who flat out researches demons and nothing but. And Oominir is your best bet just because there's a wide, like just a barrage of different types of specializations. So there's almost 100% chance you'll find somebody. Mm hmm. So no one specific, but anyone specializing in possession or demonology in general would be a great help, honestly. And you want us to bring this person back to Brightport with us?

Brightport or Oda? Call if that's where... Well, good question. Yeah. Bringing them back probably isn't necessary so much as just learning what you would have to do to sever that tie. Okay. I thought this person was supposed to sever the tie. I guess I was still thinking exorcist. Yeah, you're thinking a priest. Yeah. Yeah. So Daniel kind of considered that. And as far as I'm aware, that shouldn't really be necessary if unless they have a particular skill or experience with it, of course, and any kind of relic or anything that's not more information would be more than welcome.

Really just the information here is key. We don't know where to start with what we're doing here and anything more that you could find and then bring to us would be monumental with this. Clara will nod and give them a little smile. All right. She'll look to her own group and kind of make sure that they're all on the same page, including eye contact with Merrick like we could. I've got people I need to find an Oda call anyway. He's gonna he's gonna pat his tunic like he's got something in there. Yeah. Okay. I think we'll probably head out tomorrow, if that's the case.

Say, Uminero you say? And she kind of looks to Diana is like, I know I've been wanting to end up in telling you I've been wanting to head out on the road soon as as fun as all this reading and whatnot has been. Would you guys be interested in another person to join you? I can keep my, you know, my own myself safe. You don't have to protect me. That sounds like it would actually be an excellent opportunity for you. Seems as though I'm going to be taking my leave of here shortly anyways. Clara will look to the rest of the group like, I mean, it does seem like we're just picking people up off the street anyway, so she's not gonna say that that's rude to Varis who's lovely.

Well, Merrick is going to look at Clara because their last conversation in the in the kitchen where it was sort of like, so we're losing people and we got to get some focus that you know that whole moment. He's gonna look directly at Clara and be like, I don't like it can't hurt, you know. All right. That sounds great. All right. I agree. You're on board. It's just smiles winningly. Thank you. You won't regret it. I promise I'll do whatever you need. If you want me to clean I can do that. Jason, is there anything like could Diana like write them like a letter or something to give just to give them a bit more like authenticity?

Oh yeah! That would be very helpful. Random people asking about demons because, yeah, okay. Yeah, I would imagine that you probably have some sort of like, like a diplomats kit, something like that so you could do your own wax seal type of thing. Oh yes. Representing. Very fancy. Yeah. By the way, we got to get wax seals made for the show. Oh, that'd be cool. Oh yeah. Fancy. Yeah. We could sign everything like the Phantom of the Opera. I'd write it all in verse too. So no sign doji. Who the hell is he? Guys! Ah, rug ghost. I think that's a pretty good time for us to stop for the evening.

Yay! It was nice meeting you Iris. Yay! New friends, new Manero. New friends, yeah. It's gonna be a great adventure. And some old friends in Umineiro. Holy snap. Man, I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Next week we'll be back with extended rest. We haven't done it in months because of the holidays and stuff, but on the 25th, that's a Friday, it'll be 9 p.m. Eastern, we'll be live on Twitch, and you can ask questions about the latest episodes. We'll have a cast of people there to talk about stuff, and it's been an eventful few months, so I'm sure we'll ramble on for quite a while.

Hope you guys can join us there. In the meantime, don't forget to check out patreon.com/danddr, there's lots of extra content. We've been talking about behind the scenes stuff for the Setting Book whenever we can. We'll probably be at the point in about a month or so where we can talk more clearly about the actual campaign and tiers and our goal and all that stuff. We're putting together a budget right now. That's a lot of effort, because this is a massive project, this is not a small book that we're working on, so we're kind of figuring stuff out along the way.

But if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, send them to dandrpodcast@gmail.com, that's dandrpodcast@gmail.com, and I'll try to answer them as quickly as possible. Of course, stuff like your reviews on iTunes, you guys spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, wherever you happen to be in social media, that stuff helps us just immensely. We actually came in fourth for Ian World's top RPG podcast of 2018, which is no small feat because I think there were 100 podcasts nominated and 10,000 votes, something like that. So thank you, everybody who swung by that and cast a vote for us, that helps us.

Wow, I honestly was pretty shocked that fourth place, because I think it was Glass Cannon, Took Two Slots above that, and then Adventure Zone, which is just... Yeah, they're all huge podcasts, so thank you guys so much, that kind of support means the world to us, we're always looking for ways to spread the word of the show and get new people to listen. So I'm going to stop rambling at you guys now, please enjoy the rest of your week, check in with the lovely folks on our Discord through our Patreon, they're always there chit-chatting, and we'll see you on Friday the 25th for extended rest.

Bye guys!